Chapter 176
His breath faltered.
A cold and inescapable understanding seeped into his mind.
He realized, with a sorrowful certainty, that this was the climax.
This was the point of no return.
This was the time for Aldraya to transform.
Not into something better or brighter, but into the form Theo had only ever known from game lore, from battle strategies, and from the list of enemies meant to be defeated.
Those evaporating tears were the final fertilizer.
That total rejection, the crushing humiliation, and the sorrow without understanding were the catalysts.
From the ruins of a trampled soul, a figure would rise—one that would terrorize, one that would become the first trial in a long journey.
Theo, with the eyes of an observer and future participant in history, acknowledged an undeniable truth.
Aldraya, the former Highest Angel, was now about to become the Hideous One.
The first antagonist among the ten main antagonists to be faced and defeated by the game's protagonist, Ilux Rediona.
'What a pity. I didn't even get to see her final form.
She vanished too quickly, swallowed by something that refused to give me a second chance.'
Hssssh!
'But her black hair earlier—so deep and strange—like night emerging from light.'
Fuuuussh!
'This isn't a normal change. This is the beginning of something far greater.
And if that sign has already appeared, it means the shift to mid-phase nine… is only a step away.
So close—'
Fhhhhh!
It was truly unfortunate.
Theo was not given the chance to witness the transformation to its end—to the darkest and most spectacular point.
Aldraya disappeared suddenly from his sight, vanishing from the middle of the green field like a shadow struck by scorching sunlight.
She was gone long before her new form—the Hideous One—could be fully carved before Theo's eyes.
One of the most important moments of observation, the climax of all his watchfulness, was severed just like that, leaving behind a tingling curiosity mixed with deep frustration.
However, Theo was not the kind of observer who gave up easily.
He still managed to catch one clue, one undeniable sign that the great transformation had truly begun.
Before Aldraya fully vanished, in a flash of a moment, Theo saw a change in her hair.
The hair that had always radiated a pure silvery white, spotless like snow under a full moon, began to shift.
A deep black spread rapidly, super thick and invasive, like ink staining the finest silk.
That black was not merely a change of color.It felt alive, feral, and filled with sorrow rotting into hatred.
From that single change he managed to witness, Theo drew a certain conclusion.
The transformation was real.
The seed had sprouted quickly and irresistibly.
The process of becoming the Hideous One had passed its turning point and was now moving with its own momentum.
That brief visual clue spoke louder than a thousand words.
With that knowledge, a solid prediction formed in Theo's mind.
He sensed, with the intuition of a player who understood the narrative rhythm of a grand adventure, that a major shift was near.
Early phase nine—filled with inner tension, divine conflict, and personal destruction—had reached its end.
The threshold had been crossed.
Aldraya's transformation was the final gong for this chapter.
Thus, Theo was certain.
The transition from early phase nine to mid-phase nine—the arc where true chaos would begin and the academy would be thrown into disarray—was about to unfold.
'Alright, there's no point staying here any longer.
I need to catch up before Aldraya truly disappears.'
Tsuuff!
'Disappear? Huh…? The teleportation point… is gone?'
Hhhh!
'Impossible. This isn't part of any scenario procedure.'
Faaaaah!
'Something is observing me… no, more precisely, attempting to assess my entire being.
Whoever it is, they're too close. Too bold.'
"...."
'Do my Resolve, Will, Intent, and Ambition have autonomy to act?
Even more than that—without my command, did they take the initiative to stop the invasion and instead break into that entity's consciousness?'
Knowing it was useless to linger in a place that now held only silence and the remnants of destruction, Theo decided to leave.
His intent was clear.
He had to hurry and chase after Aldraya—follow the trail of a being who had just undergone a tragic transformation, who had left this illusionary realm before him.
His steps were set, his body prepared to dash.
But right at the threshold of his departure, the unexpected occurred.
The beam of light that served as the teleportation point—the only door he and Aldraya used to enter this isolated dimension—suddenly went out.
The light vanished instantly, like a candle with its wick severed, leaving Theo in a green room that suddenly felt like a doorless prison.
His run came to an abrupt halt.
A flicker of confusion brushed his mind, wondering why the mechanism disappeared so suddenly.
But confusion was quickly drowned out by something sharper, more primal.
His instincts—honed through his adventures and relentless observations—screamed louder.
He sensed another presence in this room.
Not the twelve Highest Angels, nor Aldraya.
This was a presence faint yet vast, a consciousness that sought to observe him, evaluate him entirely, like a scientist examining a specimen beneath a magnifying glass.
The feeling seeped from every corner of the space, with no visible source, yet undeniably real and threatening.
And then, an automatic response surged from within him.
Something that had always lain dormant and peaceful within Theo—something intrinsic to him—suddenly awakened.
Resolve, Will, Intent, and Ambition—no longer passive abstract concepts, but living, structured entities—activated.
They were the legacy of the Author who created him, rooted deep within every cell of his being.
When that foreign consciousness attempted to probe and touch Theo's core, the four pillars reacted not with passive defense, but with an organized and offensive counterattack.
An internal security protocol he never knew existed was triggered.
Resolve, Will, Intent, and Ambition had their own protection system.
Rather than allowing him to be evaluated, they turned around and attempted to invade the consciousness of whatever was daring to peer inside.
Together, they tried to flip the table—turning the observer into the observed, trying to understand and perhaps neutralize the intruder.
This event unfolded in a realm unseen, a battle of awareness beyond ordinary perception.
Theo was stunned.
He stood still, not because the door had vanished, but because of the revolution erupting within him.
He realized that the foundational pillars accompanying him—those he thought were simply natural parts of a writer's soul—actually had layers, structure, and agency of their own.
They had protocols.
They were safeguards.
They existed to prevent anyone—god, angel, or mysterious observer—from doing anything inappropriate to Theo Vkytor.
The realization hit him hard.
He was not merely an observer in this story.
He was a fortress, armed with the legacy of his creator—and in this case, himself—and that fortress had just revealed its thorns for the first time.
To be continued…