Chapter 30: The Lightning Gaze

Orson looked at his wife, who had just come out of the bathroom, still puzzled about seeing his own death.

Weird enough, Orson felt nothing knowing he was going to die. Apart from the last time he was almost killed, Orson wasn’t sure why he even fought back. Was it because of her?

Well, that just made things even weirder, he thought. He hadn’t even gotten to know her apart from her pride and self-importance. Still, he had fought back. But this time, the feeling was not there. Maybe because he had Orson’s memories now. Or maybe he just—

Ahh, Why am I even thinking this hard? I’m not going to die now.

Shaking his head, Orson helped wheel Lenora toward the match that was about to start.

---

Meanwhile, down below in the Eternal Breach of the Golden Sun Realm, Rain sank deeper into the oppressive dark of the abyss, descending toward the burning Titan chained beneath the ocean floor.

The passive heat radiated off its massive form in shimmering waves, the boiling water searing against her skin. She looked up through the dark, murky waters toward the distant sky she had fallen from.

Was this really how it ended?

After surviving centuries as an immortal, outliving everyone she loved, dying in a demon war, and being resurrected into this strange world—was she going to be boiled alive at the bottom of an ocean?

Despair began to drown her mind.

Then, a clear, resonant system prompt materialized right across her vision:

[NOTICE: You have slain an Azure Ravager: Golden-Eyed Wolf.]

[Select Reward:]

1. Contain its Astral Soul to forge an Astral Weapon.

2. Release its Astral Soul to absorb an Innate Ability.

Rain stared at the translucent text hovering in the dark water. Although her lightning was buzzing back to life through her nerves, her limbs were still locked in place—her body remained completely paralyzed.

A weapon is useless to me right now, she thought bitterly. I can’t even lift my hands to swing a blade.

An innate ability, however—that carried a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, whatever power the Ravager granted would give her a way to break her paralysis or escape this boiling grave.

Absorb innate ability, Rain commanded in her mind.

Deep below her, near the feet of the chained Titan, the corpse of the Golden-Eyed Wolf began to shine. Its massive form dissolved into a river of blinding light, surging upward through the water and slamming directly into Rain’s chest.

Under normal circumstances, Rain would have preferred an Astral Weapon over a raw ability absorption—the direct infusion of foreign energy was violent and chaotic. The moment the wolf’s power flooded her system, her Emerald Class life gate vibrated violently, and foreign memories erupted inside her skull.

The vision hit her like a physical blow.

She wasn’t in the ocean anymore. She was standing in a grand, ancient hall built from towering white stone. A king sat upon a high throne, flanked by five knights clad in brilliant golden armor. Surrounding them was a massive crowd of people, all staring intently.

They were looking at her.

Rain felt herself being dragged, bound and helpless, toward a massive stone altar at the center of the hall. As she reached the altar, every person in the crowd bowed their heads in unison—except her. She was forced onto the stone slab, tied down, unable to move.

She strained her neck, looking up to see what hung above the altar—

The memory violently cut off.

[NOTIFICATION: Ability synchronization complete.]

[Innate Ability Gained: Lightning Gaze.]

Rain read the notification, feeling the remaining strength drain from her spirit.

Lightning Gaze?

After enduring a memory invasion, absorbing the soul of an Azure Ravager, and praying for a mobility or defensive skill—she was given an eye technique.

If she could have moved her face, she would have laughed hysterically at the sheer irony.

Her paralyzed body continued its painfully slow descent through the boiling water. The five sun-like orbs and the chained form of the Burning Titan grew larger with every passing second, the intense heat creeping closer as she drifted helplessly toward the ocean floor.

---

Meanwhile, high above, Steven and his men reached the temple on one of the floating islands.

As they reached it, the temple was like the golden sun shining down on them all, with its golden pagodas. There was a gate. Steven looked at it and sighed.

"Finally. Start setting up the arrays, okay? We do not have much time."

The man with the mechanical wings said, "Do not worry, sir. Everything is going according to plan. But what about Rain? I mean she fell into the ocean—would she discover the Titan?"

Steven smiled. "It doesn’t matter. Did you bring the weapon I gave you?"

"Yes, sir."

With that, the man pulled out a distress tier 5 weapon and smiled. "This will be our bait."

But the man just looked at his master. "But Mister Steven, a weapon like this—we lost half of our own men trying to get it from the Sector 5 deep ocean."

"You mean the Pacific, right?"

The man was a bit surprised. "What is that, sir?"

"It’s the formal name of the ocean. But never mind."

He collected the weapon and smiled. "Stop thinking small, Nyx. We will sacrifice this weapon for the keys to become a Saint. A small sacrifice for the greater good."

Nyx looked at his master. "But Master Steven, what if no one shows?"

Steven just laughed, a devil’s smile in his eyes. "Simple. We destroy the sun and release the Titan onto District 12. And trust me, with that, even the government will be forced to come as well."

Nyx opened his mouth, but Steven cut him off.

"Nyx, enough of your questions. I told you to stick with me when I plan, but no—you just had to go for your daughter’s bat mitzvah. And now you are just asking questions after questions, and it’s a bit annoying, okay?"

Nyx just raised his hand. "Sorry, boss."

"Good. Prepare the array while I get the temple ready, okay?"

With that, Steven moved toward the gate and removed his hand from the gloves he was wearing and touched it. Just then, the gate started to groan as some black substance was released from Steven’s hand and started to mix with the golden metal gate before it dissolved into nothing but ash.

Steven smiled and went in.