Levi's eyes flickered open.
His chest ached, each breath shallow. The stone floor beneath him felt cool— no, wet. He lifted his head, feeling droplets of water rolling down his face.
Slowly, he pushed himself upright. The chamber was not the same.
The once dark stone walls were cracked, half-flooded. Clear water pooled across the floor, reflecting a fractured ceiling. Patches of sky and forest canopy peeked through the gaps above, soft shafts of sunlight spilling into the room. The air smelled clean— like rain after a storm.
For a long moment, Levi could only stare. His mind struggled to keep up.
Then his gaze fell forward. His throat tightened.
Not far away, two figures lay still.
The first was himself— his old body. Nothing but bones now, brittle and pale, the ribcage split open as though something had clawed its way free. The skull stared back at him with hollow sockets, its jaw frozen in a silent scream.
Beside it lay Lyra. Or what was left of her. Her skeleton leaned back against the wall, head tilted upward, jaw unhinged as if caught mid-chant. Empty eye sockets gaped toward the broken ceiling, and water lapped gently at her knees.
Levi's stomach twisted.
He touched his chest, feeling his heartbeat, fast and uneven.
"…What happened?". His voice cracked, thin in the vast silence.
It was sudden, one moment he had everything under control and at a snap of a finger, everything crumbled.
Levi staggered to his feet, swaying. His reflection rippled faintly on the water's surface. But it wasn't steady— every few seconds, the image flickered, like a candle about to go out.
He froze.
Then he caught a clear glimpse of himself in the water.
His black hair was gone. In its place, short, untamed strands of lavender fell loosely, faintly aglow, as though each lock had been spun from starlight.
His face, too, had changed— no longer the same. It was a strange fusion of his old self from Earth and the one from this world, as though his features had been woven together with those of his predecessor. Different, yet disturbingly familiar.
If it wasn't for the fact that it was his face, he would had missed it and thought he had transmigrated again.
His gaze locked on his eyes.
Lavender. Not just in color, but alive, glowing with a faint brilliance, like a star-filled sky trapped inside his irises.
He staggered back, heart hammering.
It wasn't a trick of the water. The glow didn't fade. It was steady and unnatural.
"The hell…". Levi whispered, his voice trembling.
"System!". Levi cried out in horror. "What did that being do to me?".
[It's not about what the being did to you, it's about what that Bird did]
Levi stared at the message dumbfounded. Levi's jaw clenched. "The bird…?". His mind spun, clawing for answers. "What could it have possibly—".
Then a thought, sharp and venomous, cut through his haze. His lips peeled back into a snarl.
"You bastard…". He hissed, trembling with fury. "Just admit it. You don't know either, do you? You're trying to bury your ignorance under riddles. Misleading words to keep me dancing."
He stomped a foot into the shallow water and the stomp sent a huge splash across the chamber. For a moment, he froze.
That… strength. It wasn't normal. His foot had hit the water like stone striking stone. The weight behind it was something his body shouldn't have been capable of.
The system began to speak, but Levi cut it off, voice sharp. "Something's wrong with me".
He forced himself to slow down, breathing steady, thoughts cooling. That was when he felt it— a quiet strength buried deep inside, pulsing with his heartbeat. It wasn't loud, nor was it raging. Just… there, like a natural part of his body.
Similar to how the eye would ignore the nose, his body ignored the strength and if he hadn't stomped his feet, he would had been left in the dark.
Confused, he muttered under his breath. "I haven't even formed a node yet. Where's this power coming from?".
[That's what I've been trying to tell you.]
Levi blinked, startled. "Then say it clearly. What are you talking about?".
[Look closely at the environment.]
He frowned, glancing at the fractured ceiling, the shafts of light, the forest beyond. "What does the forest have to do with me?" he snapped.
[Then tell me] the system pressed calmly. [What do you think caused the change in scenery?]
Levi's frown deepened. He thought back to the story he had once read. Slowly, the pieces fell into place.
'…In the novel". He muttered inwardly. 'After merging with Cecilia, the bird tore the realm apart. The realm would drift naturally to the resting place of the Phoenix, and because the crow had a link to his birthplace, it could then track it in the future to enable Cecilia inherit the mantle of the Phoenix'.
That was also his backup plan. If Cecilia had lost her memories after he used his Avater technique on her, he would collapse the realm using the crow's power.
That way, he would be sent to the Southern Domain where the resting place of the Phoenix— escaping the Kindlehart Clan's grasp in the north.
Then he answered the question of the system. "The change in scenery… it must be because of the bird."
[Exactly,] the system said. [So let me ask you this— where was the bird supposed to be in?]
Levi's breath caught. He stood frozen, dread crawling up his spine.
And then, in a broken whisper. "…My soul".
The thought hit like thunder. If the bird could tear through realms and space itself… what about his soul canvas, the fragile world that lived inside his soul?
.
.
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[Power stones, comment, essential for this story]