Inside the dimly lit meeting room at the Void Archon Castle, a heavy atmosphere was hanging in the air. Both couples, Zephyrion and his wife Nihara, sat without uttering a word, which amplified the weight of the moment. Nihara's mind was a storm with many emotions, unable to take in the result of her son's coming-of-age battle. Her illness had stolen precious time she could have spent with him, leaving her heart heavy with regret. Zephyrion sat rigid, his hands tight as if clenching at the strands of his wavering emotions, caught somewhere between faint fear and resolute pride in his son.
"Zephyrion, what do you think of our son's outcome?" Nihara's voice broke the thick silence as her gaze fixed on him, tugging all her focus into that question.
Zephyrion nodded, first slowly, then more insistently, a reassuring rhythm starting in his movements. "You needn't be concerned," he said; his tone was even and resonated with conviction. "Compared to other kids, he started his training as early as seven months old. And in every sparring session with me, he's proven himself. Every failure pushed him to come back stronger." His words carried a quiet fire, and he met her gaze with a confidence that seemed to bloom like light piercing a shadow.
He leaned forward slightly, a softening of the eyes with pride. "And after learning my fist technique, he didn't stop there-he refined it, took it further. At a minimum, he is way stronger than I was of his age."
Nihara's eyes sparkled, maternal instincts suddenly ablaze. As she listened to her husband speak, it was as though every word he spoke had thrown more fuel into the embers of her heart, feeding her faith in their son. "That's true," she said, her voice brightening, almost shining. "He has shown great intellect since birth. Do you remember how he mastered that unique body size control so early? Slipping through doors that even we couldn't stop him from entering and leaving this heavy castle like it was nothing?!"
Her smile stretched wide, a strange mix of pride and mother's fierce protection-nearly unnerving, like a flame that danced too close to wildness. She banged her hand on the center table with sudden violence, making the noise ring out almost like the declaration of war. "I trust my boy!" she exclaimed in a voice that cut through tension as sharp as a blade.
The room fell silent again, but this time it wasn't the silence of dread; it was a stillness of anticipation, alive with the promise of something more. Both Zephyrion and Nihara sat there, this flicker of faith in their son burning brighter in their eyes, filling the room with a charged sense of resolve.
Meanwhile, inside the ancestral world, Nyxander, still gripping the dead Primordial beast by its horn, tossed it aside with a flick of effortless strength, its massive frame landing with a dull, resounding thud to his right. The flipped Rhinoceros on his left wavered, its limbs trembling as it fought to regain footing, the ground beneath it cracking slightly under the strain.
Nyxander's razor-sharp eyes locked onto the Rhinoceros that had staggered, while his focus became akin to that of a predator honing in on wounded prey. But as he surged forward in its direction, this lead Rhinoceros, commanding and fiercely leading, let out a blinding beam of light through the air that forced Nyxander to retreat backward swifter than swift, movements fluid and calculated.
"Wow," Nyxander mused, his voice tinged with a mix of curiosity and amusement. "It seems that reaching the Ascendant Realm not only grants control over certain laws but also awakens intelligence." His gaze shifted to the lead Rhinoceros, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. "So, you're the one behind their strange movements."
He charged headlong toward the leading Rhinoceros, a blur of motion and intent. The beast retaliated, firing another searing beam of light, but Nyxander's reflexes were razor-sharp. With the grace of a seasoned warrior, he slid across the desert soil, the beam whizzing harmlessly above him, cutting through the sky like a comet. The lead Rhinoceros's crystal horn pulsed with an ominous glow as it readied another strike, but Nyxander was already beneath it.
He gave it a quick, calculated kick to the jaw, throwing its aim off and sending the Rhinoceros's massive front hooves off the ground. The beam shot skyward, disappearing into the heavens like a star's dying breath. Before the beast could regain its balance, Nyxander spun on his heel, delivering a powerful left kick to its head, forcing it to stumble to the side.
But before Nyxander could press this advantage, the Rhinoceros on his left charged, its massive body seemingly defying gravity as it flung itself at him with lethal intent. Instinct took over, and Nyxander shifted fluidly, clamping both hands around the beast's thick neck as he slid back to absorb the impact. The Rhinoceros bucked furiously, but Nyxander's precision never wavered.
In one swift motion, he freed his right hand from its neck, his muscles rippling as he shifted his grip to its back. The movements were a ballet of strength and control. He slammed the beast into the ground with a sharp and decisive twist, with earth-shattering force; the impact sent tremors through the ground and raised a dense fog of sand and debris cloaking the scene.
Without wasting a single moment, Nyxander drove his left fist into the beast's abdomen with a force that seemed to shake the very core of the ancestral world. The body of the Rhinoceros went limp, its essence fading as it surrendered to eternal rest while the fog settled around its still form like a shroud of finality.
Nyxander adjusted himself, rising slowly to his feet, his breath steadying as his muscles coiled for whatever came next. Then a sound shattered the heavy silence, slicing through the air like a blade. He turned sharply toward the lead Rhinoceros, whose deep, resonant growl, "Rrrrrrr," rumbled with fury and rage.
In the blink of an eye, a piercing light burst forth from the lead Rhinoceros's horn, spiraling around it in dazzling streams like threads of molten gold. Before Nyxander could react, the light shot forward with incredible speed, a beam of brilliance that struck him squarely in the chest. The impact was a force of unrelenting power, lifting him off the ground as though he were weightless, his legs flung forward as his body arched mid-air.
He hit the ground hard, skidding and rolling with brutal force, leaving deep grooves in the earth. "Cough, cough," he sputtered, his body trembling as he raised his head slightly from the ground, his vision blurred but his mind racing. "What…? Wait," he muttered, his voice thick with disbelief. "It doesn't just bend laws related to light, it controls its movement, manipulating gravity around it like… like telekinesis."