Chapter 161: Second Disciple?
’Perfect...’ Akasha thought to himself, as from what he could tell at a glance, this was not the kind of woman who would go around stirring up trouble.
Not that he particularly cared how his disciples managed their personal affairs, but for this disciple in particular, he wanted someone who would prioritize expanding the future pantheon’s knowledge above all else.
Honestly, he wasn’t even concerned about their ability to fight; what mattered to him was simply that they weren’t "weak."
Before the transformation could fully settle, Akasha finished his scan and answered with the same absolute authority.
"Restore the rules of this realm to normal."
HUMMMM!!!!!
With a soft, almost imperceptible pressure, reality settled back into place.
The walls, once stretched and warped, eased into their familiar form, and the strange, distorted space folded in on itself until it was gone.
For the first time, Calista’s carefully maintained composure faltered, a flicker of real panic flashing across her pale features as both of her meticulously planned escapes crumbled one after the other.
Akasha’s smile stayed gentle, unshaken by her distress.
"Nice to meet you, Calista Shade," he said smoothly. "I’m the Lord of Dreams... and I believe we might be able to help each other."
The moment the words left him, internally, the self-mockery came at once.
’I really need to get these master-and-disciple introductions under control... With Melvin I simply kidnapped the boy. Now I am standing here sounding all corny and cringe...’
Catching his thoughts, Luna’s soft giggle grazed the edge of his awareness, followed a heartbeat later by Yume’s quieter laugh.
Calista heard their laughter but, missing the joke, let out a wry, dry sound that barely passed for amusement.
Her face stayed composed, almost expressionless.
"And what exactly could I offer someone clearly stronger than me, already standing between two beings of that caliber?"
Her black eyes shifted deliberately from Yume to the blurred space where Luna stood, the caution in her gaze only growing sharper.
Akasha inclined his head slightly.
"Touché."
He shrugged, the motion easy and unconcerned.
"Well, I’m not too good with words." He said as he continued, "So, I think it would be faster if you simply came with me and saw for yourself rather than listening to me talk."
HUM!
He lifted one hand, and a neat portal split open in the deserted library, its edges revealing the shattered upper platforms of the Dark Thorn stronghold and the endless void beyond.
He motioned toward it without offering any further explanation. When Calista still hesitated, he locked eyes with her.
"Look... you’re pretty impressive for your rank," Akasha said, noting that she could easily overpower most Star Union cultivators thanks to her Forbidden Knowledge.
"But... your Stage One Language of Gods isn’t enough to keep you safe here. If I’d wanted to do anything to you, I would’ve done it already."
Calista met his gaze for a long moment before giving a brief, reluctant nod.
"Fair."
Without hesitating a moment longer, she stepped through. Seeing this, Akasha exchanged a glance with the two women, and together they followed closely behind.
---
The portal delivered them into the open void above Noxara.
What remained of the Dark Thorn stronghold drifted in broken pieces around them—shattered fortresses, torn walkways, and the scattered corpses of countless Dark Elves floating in the cold emptiness.
In this moment, Calista’s composed mask cracked for the first time... for a few reasons.
For one, she had never stood in the true void before... hell, she hadn’t seen anything in her lifetime aside from the Secret Realm.
The curve of the drained world far below, the reddish-yellow glare of the four suns unfiltered by atmosphere, and the sheer number of dead all hit her at once—yet the devastation itself remained strangely distant at first.
What truly stole her breath was the openness.
The endless black stretched out in every direction, broken only by faint pinpricks of distant stars she’d previously known only from the sealed records.
"This is..." she murmured, her voice softer and less steady than she expected.
"This is the real void... the world of Noxara... I’ve only ever seen it written about in the oldest archives."
Then in that moment, the devastation came into focus.
The ruined stronghold of the Dark Thorn floated in broken pieces around them—shattered fortresses, torn walkways, and the scattered corpses of countless Dark Elves drifting in the cold emptiness like discarded debris.
There were even rivers of dark blood still clinging to some of the larger fragments, slowly freezing into black crystals in the vacuum.
To all her shock, Akasha remained silent, continuing his descent and letting the outcome of his orders speak for itself.
When the three of them and their reluctant companion leveled out above the continents, the full picture became clear.
Even more rivers of dark blood cut across the cracked red earth.
Endless fields of Dark Elf corpses stretched to the horizon, a grim and silent reminder of the slaughter.
The surviving people of Noxara huddled together in large, stunned groups, their eyes fixed on the ten-thousand-strong legion hovering above, still locked in flawless formation.
The whole brutal cleansing had been over in less than thirty minutes.
Calista finally looked at Akasha, black eyes reflecting the scale of what he had done in so short a time.
"Just... what is going on?"
Akasha answered by deactivating the array with a single thought.
The ten-thousand-strong legion vanished from the skies in the same clean instant it had appeared, leaving only the three of them and Calista floating above the continents.
The sudden absence of that overwhelming formation made the emptiness feel even larger.
’That... was only an array?!’ Calista’s eyes narrowed slightly as understanding settled in.
Everything she had just witnessed had been the work of a controlled array rather than an actual standing army.
The revelation caught her attention for a fleeting moment, but a surge of caution quickly pushed her curiosity aside.
’These people... they’re far more dangerous than I imagined,’ she mused silently.
Akasha faced her completely now, that same calm, unshaken smile never wavering.
"Well, I’ll be straight with you." He said as he finally decided to grace her thoughts.
"The world of Noxara is mine now... or it will be soon enough. Driving out the mongrels who had trespassed was merely the first step in what needed to be done."
At this, Calista held his gaze without flinching.
"Why?" she asked, voice steady despite the lingering shock. "Why are you doing any of this, and why are you so interested in me?"
Yume’s soft chuckle floated through the air around them.
"Oh, it’s best not to convince yourself you’re uniquely special," she remarked, her blue-streaked hair drifting lazily around her face.
"That would be a mistake."
Akasha’s quiet laugh answered her.
"Well, she’s right. I wasn’t looking for you in particular."
He spoke as though he were being sincere, but she was simply the last survivor of the faction that had brought him to her.
"Anyone with a real knack for preserving knowledge... and a few other handy skills, could have done the same job."
Calista stepped back slightly into the open space, her black eyes narrowing.
"So, you want my Star."
Akasha lifted one hand and pressed it briefly against his forehead in a small, resigned gesture.
He couldn’t really fault her for making that assumption; being that cautious was the very thing that had kept her alive for so long.
"No," he said, lowering his hand. "My reason for seeking you out is simpler than that. I am offering you the position of my second disciple."
A faintly conceited edge entered his smile.
"It is not something you will regret. You will not be tied down any more than necessary... and the only true obligation is that you remain loyal to the pantheon I intend to build."
Calista’s expression did not change, but one dark brow arched with clear skepticism.
"Disciple?"