Chapter 247
Inside his racing mind, one option after another emerged, only to be immediately discarded.
Conventional medical knowledge, basic recovery spells, even every form of psychic intervention he knew—all of them felt useless against the existential collapse unfolding before his eyes.
Aldraya was not suffering from an ordinary illness.
She was being eroded from within by an identity crisis that had manifested physically.
Then, like lightning striking in the dark, his memory leapt back to an earlier moment, to Ilux and the potential of "The Nothing."
A concept of nonexistence that could consume and store everything, a paradoxical physiology that transcended the laws of nature.
Perhaps only a principle just as absurd could restrain this collapse.
Driven by a decision born from the most primal survival instinct, the hand gripping Aldraya's shoulders tightened.
Instead of gently shaking her to rouse consciousness, he now shook her with full force, as hard as he could, as if trying to vibrate the soul on the verge of slipping away back into its vessel.
The shaking was harsh and brutal, snapping Aldraya's head forward and backward.
The effect appeared—if only for an extremely brief moment, the agonizing series of convulsions stopped.
Aldraya's body went limp like a cloth doll, the internal spasms subsiding for a moment, granting a precious pause, albeit at the risk of further physical injury.
Seizing the small gap in the storm of suffering, without allowing himself time to think further or doubt himself, Theo pressed his face close to Aldraya's pale, expressionless one.
His voice, still carrying remnants of panic yet hardened by iron resolve, delivered an offer that sounded more like an ultimatum or a salvation spell.
"There are two choices.
First—you follow all of my instructions.
No bargaining. No delays.
And you live."
Hssssshhh!
"Or the second—you refuse.
But if that is what you choose, you must leave everything behind.
The twelve Supreme Angels, every bond, and everything you have ever protected until now."
Uuuuuuh!!
"I am not threatening you. I am merely stating the consequences.
So choose now."
The silence that followed the question felt heavier than before.
The storm of convulsions may have subsided for a moment, but a far greater storm was ravaging Aldraya's soul.
Her already deathly pale face seemed to lose its last traces of pigment, making her resemble a wax statue beginning to melt at the edges.
Her remaining breaths sounded shallow and spaced apart, like a fading wind echoing through the cave.
Every passing second felt like grains of sand slipping through clenched fingers, signaling that the time she had left was no longer measured in tens of minutes, but perhaps only minutes—or even seconds—before her existence truly froze and collapsed into nothingness.
Yet, at the very edge of destruction, Aldraya still gave no answer, as if her consciousness were suspended somewhere unreachable by decision.
Realizing that the pause he had created through that violent shaking would soon run out, and that Aldraya did not possess the luxury of contemplation, Theo pressed further.
His voice, now stripped of all traces of panic, turned flat, cold, and heavy with inescapable gravity as he delivered his ultimatum.
He presented two choices, a brutal dichotomy without compromise, each path determining Aldraya's fate forever.
The first option sounded like salvation, but at an immeasurable cost.
Aldraya would have to surrender all of her will, following every instruction from Theo without condition.
Total obedience in exchange for the continuation of her existence.
It was an offer to live—but live as what?
As a tool?
As a follower?
As part of Theo's vast and dark narrative?
The second option was refusal, and its consequences were no less terrifying.
If Aldraya refused, she would have to abandon everything.
Not only her fragile life in that moment, but every bond and meaning she had ever held.
Theo's words deliberately targeted the deepest ties of all.
Her twelve Siblings.
This was not merely a threat of physical death, but a threat of total severance from all love, responsibility, and history that had ever made her "Aldraya."
She would be erased from Their story, from Their memory, becoming a nothingness that was not even remembered.
"If that is the only path, then I will follow you."
Fhuuuuh!
"I choose the first option."
The silence that followed Theo's ultimatum was not an empty one, but a high-pressure void filled with unseen inner struggle.
Within that silence, Aldraya's body was still gnawed at by lingering waves of pain, though the intensity had faded from violent convulsions into deep nausea and uncontrollable shivering.
The sensation was like an echo of a far greater collapse, reverberating within every cell of her being.
Behind her pale face and half-closed eyes, a silent battle of fate was being waged.
Aldraya's mind, usually clear and measured, now spun between two equally dark abysses.
Every memory of her twelve Siblings, every oath and responsibility she had ever borne, clashed with the primal instinct to survive, to not fade into nothingness.
Two minutes passed in the absolute silence of the cave, a duration that felt like eternity to both figures within it.
Theo stared without blinking, watching those precious seconds slip by while calculating the remaining strength in the body nearly collapsing before him.
The pressure of Aldraya's silence grew palpable, a test of patience perhaps as torturous as the convulsions she had endured.
Then, at last, the silence broke.
Not by a scream or a sob, but by a voice that was exceedingly weak, hoarse, and broken by ragged breaths.
Aldraya spoke.
Her words came haltingly, restrained by exhaustion that had reached the marrow of her bones and by the weight of the decision she had made.
She voiced her consent.
She chose the first option.
She chose to live, whatever the price she had to pay.
"Hand over your core essence to me now.
You do not have time to stabilize it yourself—I will restore it."
Fuuuuuh!
Haaaah!
Fuuuuh!!
'Here it is, standing between Resolve.
Will.
Intent.
Ambition.
They are asleep, as always—calm, deep, and far too confident in their own stability.'
Usssssh!
'Just a little.
Only a fragment of RWIA is enough to keep her core essence from eroding.'
"Forbidden!!"
'—What?'
'Is this a warning? An emergency alert?'
"Forbidden!!"
'Why are you stopping me now, you ridiculous RWIA?!'
"Forbidden!!"
'Honestly, persuading RWIA to loosen even slightly is extremely difficult.
But if I delay any longer, Aldraya may no longer exist in this world.'
Fhhhhh!
'Whether I like it or not, I have to take the risk.'
"Hold on just a little longer, Aldraya."
"It's only a minor issue. I'll be back soon."
A thin smile—not a wide smile of triumph, but a faint expression of satisfaction—spread across Theo's lips.
Aldraya's consent had been secured, and now it was time for the true act of salvation.
Without further preamble, he immediately demanded the core essence of Aldraya's existence, the most fundamental foundation that allowed her to be recorded and recognized within this reality.
A core that was now violently unstable, nearly slipping away, like a candle flame battered by fierce winds on the brink of extinction.
Aldraya, in her extreme weakness, did not protest or ask for explanation.
With the last remnants of strength born from her will to live, she relinquished that essence.
A dim light—or perhaps more accurately, an abstract impression of existence—shifted away.
To be continued…