Chapter 57: Unseen Evolution

Before Sen left home and Orson woke up from the bed that same morning, before a single news reached the district, the sky belonged to the burning cores.

Five golden suns hung at the zenith of the realm, casting a flat, clinical glare that stripped the dark ocean below of its shadows. Floating islands drifted suspended in that brilliance, their undersides jagged and naked under the light. For years, ever since the realm tore open District 12 and ground it into a wasteland, this had been the baseline.

Except at the dead center of one sun.

Right in the middle of the five golden cores sat a sixth presence—a knot of absolute darkness that the suns strained constantly to dissolve. It was a bruise in the sky, heavy and inert, until the day the baseline cracked. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

A pillar of gold tore upward from one of the floating islands, stabbing straight into the heart of the central dark.

The silence broke from deep within the void. The central sun did not merely fracture; it detonated, blowing outward in a wave of light that swallowed the four golden cores whole. The darkness trapped inside was not destroyed; it was uncorked. It billowed outward, spilling past the radiance, staining the upper atmosphere like ink dropped into milk.

Across the shattered terrain, Awakened and other contracted humans—some locked in running skirmishes, others nursing wounds in temporary camps—stopped. They tilted their heads back.

The spectacle was breathtaking. A blinding wash of gold flooded the world, turning the jagged ruins and the grey ocean into a theater of impossible brilliance. Because technology was useless within the realm’s boundaries, communication relied on foot and voice. Whispers raced through the camps like dry sparks: The Saintess’s weapon.

Already, lines of contractors were breaking camp, turning their backs on old skirmishes, and marching toward the epicenter. Some wanted answers; most wanted the weapon.

None of them looked down.

In the ravines and salt flats between the floating islands, the native horrors were shifting. Wolf beasts—creatures whose very existence carried the predatory burden of the wild—crouched low in the brilliant glare. Without a sound, their muscle density warped, bones snapping and re-knitting under the sudden atmospheric pressure. Powerful beasts were crossing a threshold, climbing a class in absolute silence, their forms swelling with a new, terrifying potency as they raised their heads toward the shining sky.

The humans marched toward the light, blind to the teeth sharpening behind them in the grass.

And news also spread among the Awakened into the real world.

---

Hours later, Orson was looking at the black-haired woman walking away. He had work in District 12, and this was not helping.

He walked up a hill where the district could be visible on the horizon. He looked back at the shop that was far from where he was before opening his ring. The blade was resting inside.

He removed it and looked at the blade. A system info appeared beside it.

[Weapon Specification]

Item Name: Storm Blade

Rank: Saintess

Class: Tier 5

Type: Weapon (High-Frequency Astral Blade)

Item Description:

Forged during the collapse of the atmospheric defense grids, this blade was synthesized from the remnant essence of an Emerald Calamity storm-type entity. Its translucent edge hums with a violent, compressed tempest that refracts ambient light into blinding starlight.

Astral Ability: [Storm Control]

[Starlight Transmutation]

[Absolute Rebound]

Astral Burden: [Mirror of Phobia].

He sighed as he looked up at the sky where the wound was.

A small girl appeared beside him. She looked young, and she was a shadow.

"Why did you come here?"

He looked to the side and saw his daughter, Lily, before looking at his hands. Right—he was holding the sword.

But the voice did not stop as it continued. "Well, if I am to guess, you came here to die again, right?"

"No. Why would I do something like that?"

"Wow. But you did."

She looked around at the wasteland. "Look around you. At this wasteland you call a city. What does it remind you of?"

Orson sighed and looked at the horizon. The sun was high in the sky as it shone down on District 12.

Orson said nothing, but just then a vision flashed in his mind. This wasteland and all the surrounding people who were trying to build their lives in this land would become nothing but a sea of flames.

Lily smiled. "Wow. Now you’re getting it."

Orson looked at the illusion that was trying to make him mad. "You know, I cannot even tell if it is my plan or yours—planning my death."

Lily smiled and vanished as a woman with big gloves and black hair appeared beside him.

"And who are you talking to?"

Orson was shocked as he looked down. The blade he was holding was gone—but it was in Robin’s hand.

"Wow. A Saintess blade that slowly eats away at your mind to make you afraid of everything."

Robin sighed.

Orson was shocked. He had not felt anything. It was like her being was in another realm that he could not feel. Even with three hundred years of experience, he could not feel her presence at all.

He looked at her and asked, "Wait—what rank are you in?"

Robin just looked at him. "You men just like to put your nose in what does not concern you."

"You are holding my blade, so I think otherwise."

After a while, Robin dropped the sword. "Wow. That thing is powerful. I’m a bit surprised you’re not dead yet."

Orson smiled. "Well, you would just have to get in line like the other people."

"Men. Always with their higher morals."

"What was that?"

Robin did not say anything.

He sighed. "Well, thanks for showing me my weapon."

Orson picked up his blade and was about to leave before Robin said, "Oh, now you want to leave after I came out here to find you."

Orson was not sure, but it felt more like a murmur than Robin calling Orson. But still, Orson looked back at her. As the light caught Robin’s eyes, she somehow looked beautiful—

Wait, wait, wait.

He looked down at his sword. Must have been the blade playing tricks.

Lily’s voice echoed back. "Do not push your perverted thoughts onto me."

And he immediately dropped the blade.

Robin just sighed and said, "Follow me."

---

As they walked, Orson studied Robin, and Robin did not say anything. She just walked till they reached her shop.

Robin led Orson inside before going out back and coming out. She said, "Look—one of the reasons I did not sell any weapon to you is because you do not have any astral energy in you. But seeing as you are about to hold a Saint blade, I guess you should be able to handle this."

Robin dropped a case on the table.

"First, I am sure you know the ranks of every blade and their class, but the system calls them tiers, not classes. Well, these weapons are not part of them."

Orson looked at her. "Wow. So what is in the case?"

Robin, for the first time since Orson saw her, smiled and looked at Orson. But the smile was cold as she looked at him and said, "Have you heard about the demons in the Astral Planes before?"

The word demon brought memories Orson did not want to live. He nodded.

"Well, it’s supposed to be classified information, but demons exist. And this blade was made from one."

Orson looked at her, not believing her words, and asked, "So do you know the demons in the Astral Plane?"

Robin looked at him. "Well, yeah. In a way. Do not judge, okay? So do you want the blade or not?"

Orson looked at the case and looked up before asking, "So which of the demons is in here?"

"Well, fear, of course. What else?"

Orson looked at the case. "You made this weapon out of a demon. What rank are you?"

"What is with the questions, young man? Next you will be asking me to list all the demons. You men are never satisfied."

Orson shut his mouth. "So how much?"

"Well, for five million silver credits, it’s all yours."

Orson had to process the words and could not hear anything.

"What? Five million for a weapon?"

"Well, it’s a weapon of mass destruction, sir."

"And why would you give it to a non-Awakened?"

"Well, you and the blade are giving the same vibe, so five million. Take it or leave it."

Orson looked at the blade and asked, "Can I pay in installments?"

Robin smiled. "Why not? I just need you to sign for me."

With that, Robin went in again and came back with a holo pad and gave it to Orson. It was a contract for his payment.

Orson looked at it. "Wait—what if I don’t pay?"

"Then you will work for me."

As she said this, Robin smiled again, but this did not reach her eyes.

After signing a deal with her, she did something, and a system prompt appeared in front of Orson.

You have gained an Astral Projection.

Orson looked at it before looking back at Robin. "I have a question."

"Let me guess—about the demon, right?"

"Yeah."

Orson’s face turned serious and asked, "What do you know about the Demon of Enmity?"

As he said this, he looked at her with the cold and serious face of a War God. And she looked back at him, not saying anything before looking away.

Orson sighed. Then Robin asked, "Why do you want to know?"

Orson smiled. "I have my reasons."

Robin just nodded and pointed up. Orson looked up at her shop ceiling. Before Robin sighed and said one word:

"The moon."