Chapter 251: The Following Morning.

Meanwhile, back in Kael’s room, just as he was about to proceed, Varek’s voice suddenly entered his mind.

"Master, it’s done."

Kael paused for a moment before a small smile appeared on his face.

"Oh, is that so?" He leaned back slightly, his expression relaxing as he continued, "Well, that’s good."

Now that the potential enemies threatening his family had been dealt with, at least for the moment, Kael felt a little less pressure weighing on his shoulders.

What had happened today had made one thing painfully clear to him. No matter how carefully one tried to protect someone, there would always be situations that could slip beyond their control. Ezra was the perfect example.

There were too many variables, too many things that could happen without warning. That was when a rather simple thought came to him. As a very wise man had once said, prevention was better than cure.

Rather than constantly trying to protect the people around him after danger appeared, perhaps it would be better to eliminate the danger before it ever had the chance to reach them.

"How did everything go?" Kael asked.

"Everything went smoothly, Master. There were no issues."

"Okay. That’s good." Kael nodded before adding, "Keep an eye on Ezra as well. Inform me immediately if there are any developments."

Understood.

With those words, the connection went quiet once again.

Varek shifted his attention elsewhere, leaving Kael alone with his thoughts.

There was something else Kael wanted to investigate.

The golden orb.

It was the mysterious existence that had been living within him, the same entity that had intervened during his battle with the Supreme Entity. Kael still knew almost nothing about it. Their interactions had been extremely limited, and the entity had never properly explained who or what it was.

Yet Kael couldn’t shake the feeling that if there was anyone capable of knowing the truth behind the mysteries surrounding him, especially the truth behind his regression, it would be that entity.

Kael’s expression became serious.

He closed his eyes and focused his consciousness inward, drawing on his recent experience with Dreamwalking to try to reproduce the sensation. Previously, his destination had been another person’s mind world.

This time, however, he wasn’t trying to enter someone else’s mind.

He was trying to enter his own.

Kael believed that if the golden orb truly existed somewhere within him, then there was a good chance it resided within his mind world. The serpent had been hidden within Ezra’s mind world, after all. There was no reason to immediately assume that his own situation was completely different.

He focused harder.

The familiar sensation gradually appeared.

His consciousness began to move inward, attempting to cross the boundary between his physical existence and his inner world.

Then he struck something.

Kael’s brows immediately furrowed.

It wasn’t that Dreamwalking had failed. The method was working exactly as it should. His consciousness had reached the point where it should have entered his mind world, yet something was stopping him from proceeding.

A barrier.

Kael slowly pushed against it, his consciousness pressing against the invisible obstruction, and the sensation he got from the barrier felt strangely familiar.

Kael’s expression became more serious as he recognized it.

This was the same feeling he had experienced during his battle against the Supreme Entity. The golden orb had protected him then, forming a barrier around his existence that even the overwhelming power of that Supreme Entity had struggled to breach.

The barrier before him carried the exact same presence.

So the golden orb was the one preventing him from entering his own mind world.

Kael’s brows knitted together.

Why?

The entity had protected him during the battle. With the amount of power it possessed, it could have harmed him at any time if that had been its intention. Instead, it had intervened to save him.

But that alone wasn’t enough to make Kael completely trust it.

Protecting him did not necessarily mean the entity had no ulterior motives. It was entirely possible for an existence to protect someone while still having its own plans.

Kael pushed against the barrier again.

Nothing happened.

He tried another approach, carefully probing its surface with his consciousness, attempting to find even the slightest weakness that might allow him to slip through. When that failed, he tried communicating with the entity directly, but there was no response.

He tried again and again, but each attempt was met with the same silence.

After numerous failed attempts, Kael finally withdrew his consciousness.

He opened his eyes and released a quiet breath.

It seemed there was nothing he could do about this for now.

He couldn’t break through the barrier, and the golden orb entity clearly had no intention of answering him. Whatever secrets were hidden within his mind world would have to remain there for the moment.

Kael stared ahead for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"This is going to be troublesome."

Perhaps Varek might know a way to deal with it. At the very least, Kael could ask him about it later.

With that matter temporarily set aside, Kael finally got up from the bed.

The dried blood covering his body and clothes immediately became noticeable. After everything that had happened tonight, he hadn’t even bothered cleaning himself properly.

It was finally time to take care of that.

Kael walked straight into the bathroom and turned on the water. He scrubbed the dried blood from his skin, washing away the remnants of the night’s events before drying himself and changing into a fresh set of clothes.

By then, exhaustion had begun to settle over him.

It had been an extremely long day.

Before going to sleep, however, there was one final thing he needed to do.

Kael raised his hand.

Seven Void Echoes emerged around him, each one carrying a faint connection to his consciousness. He gave them their instructions before sending them into the Tower.

They would cultivate while he slept.

Once that was done, Kael finally returned to his bed.

The moment his head touched the pillow, his body seemed to sink into it.

There was no reason to force himself to stay awake any longer.

He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

***

The night passed without incident.

When the first light of dawn began creeping through the room, Kael slowly opened his eyes.

For several seconds, he simply remained there before stretching his body, allowing the stiffness from the previous day to leave his muscles.

The apartment was quiet, which meant Lyra was still asleep.

Kael quietly got out of bed and decided to make breakfast before waking her. He moved into the kitchen and prepared the meal, eventually setting everything neatly on the table before walking toward Lyra’s room.

He raised his hand and knocked.

Knock. Knock.

Nothing.

Kael waited for a moment before knocking again, this time harder.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A faint rustling sound finally came from inside as someone shifted beneath the covers.

A few seconds later, Lyra’s sleepy voice reached him.

"Kael?"

"Yeah, that’s me." Kael glanced toward the door. "Come have breakfast."

Silence followed as Kael waited.

On the other side of the door, Lyra was clearly awake now, but she didn’t immediately respond.

Her mind was probably already trying to figure out why Kael had personally come to wake her.

Normally, even when Kael cooked, he would simply prepare her portion and leave it for her. He rarely bothered waking her himself, especially not by coming directly to her room.

So why had he done it today?

Lyra couldn’t help wondering what was going on.