Caelia's eyes widened at the sight of Nyx. He didn't know if she was able to grasp the gravity of his condition with such a quick glance and split focus on top of it.
It was obvious to the naked eye that he was hurt, badly at that. That he was slowly, painfully dying though? Nyx didn't know if Caelia would be able to see that much.
It was a gamble, a dangerous gamble, but his only option with even the slightest chance of survival. But even this small, almost non-existent chance was hope.
Hope that Caelia had something up her sleeve, a hidden card of sorts which could save him.
While Nyx was still in thought, asking himself if Caelia managed to understand his silent question and life-threatening condition, the environment turned completely silent.
It wasn't natural, and it definitely wasn't because the thousands of monsters decided to turn silent and start crouching around. No, this silence was enveloping the whole atmosphere.
Every monster, every animal, in the sky or within the ground, every plant—nothing was spared or allowed to make a sound. No matter how much they tried or how ear-piercing their screeches were, at this moment, all of it became silent.
Normally, something like silence would never throw someone out of his thoughts if he was in such deep focus. But it was so unnatural and disturbing that Nyx subconsciously woke up from his trance as if someone had called him directly or screamed right in his ear.
But he didn't even get the chance to feel anxious, as the moment he woke up from his line of thought he realized that the silence originated from Caelia—or to be more precise, her sword, which Nyx was sure was some kind of divine item or ancient treasure just from the aura it emitted.
This spreading silence and dread from her weapon just confirmed that the sword's origin was anything but mortal.
With the silence pressing down on everyone, some kind of invisible pressure started to hold them. Locking them in place or slowing them down. Following was the dimming light of her weapon; where it had shone like a brilliant star before, it now started to flicker.
'The fuck, is that it?'
Nyx couldn't help but be a little bit disappointed. He had entrusted his life to her, and all she could do was eliminate the noises around them.
'Here goes my life—goodbye everyone. I won't say that I will miss anyone or anything about life, but it was good knowing it existed.'
Caelia's weapon dimmed further until the light completely vanished, but it wasn't just the light of her sword that had been sealed away—also the moonlight was gone. Every source of light in the environment had been denied.
The silence became even more unbearable as it didn't stop at devouring sound, but also sight. Enveloping everything in darkness. Thanks to Nyx's ability to sense shadows and see in the dark, he was not completely blinded. But even he had a difficult time.
"What in the holy name of nothingness is this?"
Nyx couldn't help but mutter, even if no sound left his vocal cords.
Even time seemed to gradually slow down until a single sound broke the absence of sound.
It was a breath. A single breath that seemed to come from the world itself.
The single breath was slow and seemed to last for eternity until everything was bathed in a blinding white brilliance.
For a moment, all Nyx could see was white, not just because there had been a sudden radiance of blinding light so bright he didn't even know was possible before—no, his eyes had been simply bleached.
He lost his sight, but the aftermath of the light was so strong that instead of the anticipated black that one would expect from turning blind, his sight stayed white, as if the white light had burned itself into his eyes, nerves, and brain.
It took a bit of time until Nyx was over the shock of what had just happened and his sight started to return gradually from Avelyne's healing.
Surprisingly, she hadn't stopped healing him the entire time, even with the world-shattering events occurring around them.
Being able to see his own hand again, Nyx took a glance at the person responsible for this eerie display of supernatural power.
Standing there completely alone was none other than Caelia, battered but still upright—and beyond her—nothing.
Nothing remained; not a single abomination, not a single plant. No matter how far Nyx tried to peek with his eyes, he didn't spot a single clue that there was still life in the area before them.
His eyes widened at the unbelievable sight. Was this truly the power of someone at her level?
No, that wasn't the question that should be asked right now. Is this truly a power someone mortal should possess?
He was pretty sure that his hatefu—cough, lovely sister wasn't able to harness even a fraction of such power.
'Just where did my trial send me, and who is she to hold such power?'
Nyx wondered inwardly.
He knew that powerhouses existed, and the higher one climbed the ladder of ascension the more powerful one would become, but the destructive power to annihilate everything in its path, not even leaving ash or pebble behind, was truly frightening.
Taking in Caelia's lonely figure at the front, Nyx couldn't help but shudder at the thought of what she would do with him. He might have played along with her so far, but he was far away from trusting her.
Now that she showed such might, he was even more sure of this.
If even his own family was not willing to support him in any way without conditions or gains—then why should a random person like her buy a random slave like him?
On top of that, she even provided him with everything he could ask for and told him that he was allowed to do what he wanted.
'Yeah, no chance. Some strings are attached, even if I can't see them yet.'
Unfortunately, he had no way to go against her, and for now it was probably best to cling to her and use her as his lifeline.
Nyx's eyes wandered from Caelia to her sword—the weapon he was sure was something holy or divine.
Caelia herself was currently looking at the weapon in her hand.
The sword had lost all of its otherworldly shine; what looked so divine and noble before was now dull. Looking more like junk than an actual weapon.
Soon, the sword started to turn to ash. But not even the ash of the once holy blade seemed to be allowed to exist any longer, as it began to disintegrate into nothing.
Just like that, the weapon was erased from existence as if it had never existed.
Caelia turned toward Nyx, opening her mouth—it seemed as though she wanted to say something to him, but no words came out.
Time seemed to pass in slow motion as Nyx saw Caelia falling to the ground