Back in the living room of the cabin, Miranda leaned against the back of one of the chairs with her arms folded loosely. Vastarael sat forward on the couch. The others sat on other couches as well.
"This entire realm is called the Hidden Citadel. It isn't a city in the usual sense. It's more like a convergence point for things that don't belong anywhere else."
Shimmer nodded enthusiastically from beside him. "Aunt Phae told us you were from Earth too, Dad. Like, the same Earth."
Runner chimed in. She was calmer but just as certain. "Twenty-first century Earth."
Miranda's lips twitched. "They catch on fast."
She pushed off the chair and paced slowly.
"The Hidden Citadel is home to a lot of humans, non-humans, constructs and anomalies. But most importantly, Transmigrators. People pulled from destroyed timelines, failed realities, or doomed futures are born here. Earth's twenty-first century just happens to be… popular."
That earned a dry snort from Phaenora.
"The realm you fell into, the Sucking Void, is one of the Citadel's outer realms. It isn't random chaos, despite how it looks. Every few cycles, it manifests a black portal. Anything caught in its pull gets dragged inside. No one gets out mostly because the Void is massive
We're talking planet-scale. And, it's saturated with elemental darkness. Light doesn't function there."
She looked directly at him. "It absorbs mystical energy."
That clicked immediately.
"That's why I couldn't wake up."
"Exactly. Your body was intact but your internal systems were being drained constantly. If it weren't for my husband, you wouldn't be sitting here."
Vastarael inclined his head. "I owe him my life."
"You do. And he will absolutely remind you of that when you meet him. He's a little glad that there's another man to talk to."
That earned a small chuckle from the room.
Vastarael frowned slightly. "Then how did Phaenora and my daughters enter the Void without suffering the same fate?"
Miranda smiled as if she'd been waiting for that question.
"Necklaces."
Phaenora stepped forward and lifted the chain from beneath her collar. The pendant shimmered softly. There were a white crystal embedded on it.
"These," Miranda said, tapping it lightly, "were made by my husband. The crystals you saw in the tunnel before you fell, the ones that drained your energy? Those were prototypes. These are the refined versions. They prevent energy absorption and actively resist the Void's influence. Now that I summarized the situation, Miss Phaenora, you said your theory worked. Care to explain that part now?"
Phaenora flicked her wrist. A three-dimensional hologram bloomed into existence above them.
"For six months, I studied the creatures inside the Void. They move with patterns and routes. At first I thought it was territorial behavior but the longer I watched, the clearer it became."
She expanded the hologram. Shapes formed on it.
"They form concentric structures. They are like guards on rotation."
Miranda crossed her arms, impressed. "She figured it out faster than anyone else ever has."
"Because I wasn't looking for monsters. I was looking for intent."
The hologram shifted again, revealing the full scope. There were nine concentric circles. Vastarael stood abruptly the moment he saw that.
"Enlarge that."
Phaenora did. He stepped closer, eyes scanning every line, every spacing and every symmetry.
"Is this accurate?"
"Yes. I mapped it personally. Six months of routes, engagements, near-death experiences, and a frankly unreasonable amount of patience."
"Convert this into a Mystic Circle format."
"Thought you'd never ask."
The hologram shifted again. Vastarael summoned The Mystic Book of Altherion into his hands. The pages fluttered on their own, stopping at a blank sheet. He began to draw once the quill of the book appeared in front of him. His hand moved smoothly. Also, his speed was incredible so it didn't take long. When he finished, he raised the book and projected the diagram onto the hologram.
The overlap was perfect. Shimmer gasped. Runner went still. Phaenora's eyes widened slowly as realization dawned on her.
"A Ninth Star Mystic Circle. As expected. In Magecraft, the higher the Star Class, the more concentric layers are required to stabilize the effect. Depending on the structure of this, the layers means one thing."
Phaenora snapped her fingers. "Teleportation."
"And not just any teleportation. This structure only exists in one known application. The creatures aren't guarding the exit. They are the exit."
Miranda laughed. "You're telling me the most inescapable realm in the Citadel is sitting on a Ninth Star Teleportation Circle?"
"Yes. And it's been active this entire time."
Shimmer's eyes sparkled. "So we can leave?"
"If I take control the formation correctly, yes. Even if this is a Ninth Star Teleportation Mystic Circle, it's incomplete."
Everyone looked at him again.
"The structure exists but it doesn't have any authority. Whoever designed this intended it to be finished by someone else."
Phaenora tilted her head. "Meaning?"
"Meaning, that to complete it, I need to inscribe the final authority layer myself. And that requires Ninth Star Magecraft."
There was a pause.
"Darling, you are a Ninth Star Mage."
He turned to her so fast it almost hurt his neck.
"No, I'm not. I was advancing from Seventh—"
"You were. Well, before your body decided to treat reality like a stress test. You advanced while you were unconscious. Resisting a planetary-scale natural phenomenon while your pseudo-cores were shattered tends to… force progress. Your Star resonance stabilized months... or years ago, since you were in that temporal field for fifteen years."
Vastarael stared at them. He didn't expect to advance two Star ranks in such a short time. He was one star away from being a Grandmaster Mage.
"Even so, completing the Circle is only half the problem. To activate it, we'll need to use the creatures themselves. They're not guards. They're living anchors maintaining the formation. And if I trigger it directly, I probably won't come out unscathed."
He felt it before he saw it. Phaenora stiffened. The girls' grips tightened just a little too much. Guilt rose in his chest. His eyes drifted to Phaenora, Shimmer and Runner. Phaenora already knew why he had gone quiet. Risking himself wasn't new but doing it after everything, that was different.
So he did what he'd gotten very good at. He lied.
"If I use Runes, I can bypass direct energy expenditure. The activation can be externalized. I won't need to fuel it myself."
Shimmer exhaled in visible relief. "So you'll be okay?"
"Of course. Worst case scenario, I get tired."
Runner studied his face for a long second longer than her sister did, but she said nothing. Phaenora said nothing either before she stood up.
"I'm going to take a walk," Phaenora said calmly, already turning toward the door. "We've found a way out. That's enough for today. All that's left is waiting until Darling stabilizes and adjusts to his… changes."
The door closed softly behind her..The room felt emptier immediately.
Shimmer frowned. "Something's wrong."
Vastarael sank back onto the couch, suddenly exhausted in a way that went deeper than normal energy usage.
"Yeah, I know. I think I should get some rest too."
Miranda watched him carefully. She could clearly tell that he was fatigued.
"That would be wise."
"Why does it feel like it's getting worse? I thought I was stabilizing."
"You are. Your body is just adjusting to the Void's residual influence. You didn't walk out unchanged."
"That makes sense. Wait. Why don't I have a necklace like the others?"
"Because you don't need one."
"That's not an answer."
She shrugged. "Your arms are the necklace."
"Come again?"
"You'll want Reynolds to explain it. It's his work. And he'll be back soon."