Chapter 178: A Token Of Love
A week had passed since Akasha went to check in on Melvin, and by now the formations between Noxara and his Divine Domain were fully connected.
All that was left for him to do was wait two years until the world was ready for the next step...
Well, it’s more accurate to say six months, since from the moment the Divine Domain spread across the World of Noxara, the time needed for its "editing" was drastically reduced thanks to the Absolute Purification.
Currently, Akasha sat on the highest plateau of Dreamer’s Peak, the soft purple-and-white barrier of his domain humming quietly around them.
Luna rested against his right side, pink-and-purple hair drifting in the gentle mountain breeze, while Yume occupied the left, her blue-streaked locks cool against his arm.
A short distance away, close enough to be part of the circle yet deliberately separate, Calista watched in silence.
For the past week, ever since returning from Melvin, Akasha had remained here in quiet expectation that Jovian would already have summoned him into some new world.
Of course, the summons never arrived, and in its absence, he’d let himself settle into the quiet comfort of his own space, enjoying the calm and contentment it offered.
[Dream Affinity]
In this moment, he turned to Luna, fingers tracing a slow pattern in the air.
With a thought, his affinity activated and soft dream-light gathered and shaped itself into a delicate necklace, the pendant shifting through several forms under his thoughtful gaze until a clean purple infinity symbol settled into place.
He fastened it gently around her neck, then repeated the process for Yume, adjusting the design once more until both pieces felt right.
"Let’s call this... a token of my love," he said, his voice warm and unhurried.
"And... you already know its two simple purposes."
The moment the necklaces were clasped around their necks, their functions became obvious... even without them, they could peer into his mind.
However, they were simple—only allowing them to teleport to him no matter the distance.
The second function let him come to them, and vice versa, but through their dreams, instead of teleportation.
It served as a protective measure in case the two ever found themselves unable to teleport.
Luna’s eyes lit with open delight the moment the purple infinity pendant settled against her skin.
She leaned in at once, arms sliding around his neck, and pressed a lingering kiss to his mouth that carried both affection and clear possession.
"Fufufu~ A token of your love, is it?" she murmured against his lips, voice warm and teasing.
"You do know I already belong to you, right? But I will wear this every day... and if anyone looks at it too long, I might have to remind them who it belongs to."
Akasha’s soft smile grew warmer as he gently tucked a strand of pink-and-purple hair behind her ear with deliberate care.
"And... I wouldn’t expect anything less."
Yume watched the exchange with bright, unguarded eyes, the cooler mask she wore around outsiders nowhere in sight.
She moved in without hesitation, looping her arms around Akasha’s neck from the other side and kissing him with clear, playful affection, the infinity pendant swinging lightly against her collarbone.
"Hmm, Master, when did you learn to be so sweet?" she teased, a soft laugh lacing her words.
"Still... I love it, and I’m keeping this forever. If anyone tries to take it, I’ll freeze their hands off."
Luna’s bright laughter rang out as she gave Yume a gentle nudge with her shoulder.
"I raised you well~."
Yume playfully stuck out her tongue before leaning her head against Akasha’s shoulder, perfectly at ease.
"You raised me? Yeah, right, Mistress~."
Akasha’s fingers traced the edge of Yume’s pendant once, a small private gesture that drew another quiet, happy sound from her.
"I can be sweet when I want to be... besides, let’s hope you two will never have to use these," he said.
In truth, Akasha had grown more than a little possessive of the two women, knowing they were the only ones—aside from perhaps his mother—who truly understood him.
He believed they would always be safest by his side, and he didn’t mind the thought of them watching from the sidelines, sharing in his glorious moments.
Still, deep down, he recognized that this was selfish, especially knowing Luna had endured seven hundred trillion years without ever having the chance to live her own life.
Yume, on the other hand, was his star, yet she was undeniably her own person as well.
As much as he longed to be their protector, he couldn’t bring himself to take away their freedom.
So, the next best thing, he decided, was to find another way to keep them safe. It was also worth noting that the necklaces they wore could only be removed by stepping into Dream Land.
’I should reach the next rank soon...’ He thought to himself, knowing that would give Luna her full power and also give Yume more to work with.
While the two women lingered close, trading soft banter and easy smiles, Calista remained where she sat a short distance away, gaze lowered slightly as her thoughts turned inward.
’Have I been... seeing him all wrong?’ she wondered, struggling to make sense of the kind of man Akasha truly was.
When he first asked her to become a disciple of his Pantheon, her decision had already been made...
She wanted nothing to do with any Pantheon, convinced they were nothing more than greedy factions.
Her plan was simple: learn what she could, then slip away.
But as they spent more time together, especially over the past week or two, her certainty began to waver.
It was his ambition—or perhaps the lack of it—that unsettled her.
Despite wielding the power to reshape entire worlds, to wipe out Pantheon members with ease, he seemed to have no real desire for anything, none of the relentless drive she had expected from a Pantheon leader.
He had never once shown hunger for her forbidden knowledge, nor any restless urge to act.
The measured calm he carried, and the quiet way he treated the two women at his side, made her wonder not for the first time whether she had been too quick to measure him by the standards of every other powerful figure she had known.
Before she could settle on an answer, Yume’s voice rose again, cool and precise.
"Master... should I add the two new paths?"
Akasha immediately grasped her meaning.
With both Liliana and Amber having finished their tasks, it was clear that Yume could now add more paths to her Star.
Yet, in Akasha’s mind, there was no real necessity for Liliana’s star—after all, it was something he could accomplish through other means at present.
With that thought, he gave a slight shake of his head and said, "
We’ll only add Amber’s... but not right now."
A quiet smile curved his lips as the Dreamer’s Scythe appeared across his lap, drawn from inventory in a single smooth motion.
The blade caught the light of the seven suns with a soft, dangerous gleam.
"It is time," he said, "that I exterminate a certain someone."