"It seems I've reached 2% of my power… I wonder how long it will take me to reach 100%," he murmured, exhaling slowly as his gaze drifted toward the ceiling.
The stone above him was cracked in thin, wandering lines, like veins in marble. He stared at them without truly seeing them, his thoughts circling lazily in the quiet stillness of the room. 2%. It felt insignificant. Barely a beginning. A single step at the base of a mountain whose peak disappeared into clouds.
A faint sigh escaped him again.
"Hm…"
His eyes shifted toward the other side of the room, where Nebula lay sleeping peacefully. Her breathing was steady, almost deceptively gentle. If someone were to walk in at that moment, they might mistake her for something harmless. Something ordinary.
Aurora knew better.
"For being a Superior Dragon, Althought its one of the strongest in the hierarcy," he muttered under his breath, correcting himself with a faint frown, "she's ridiculously fast."
His mind replayed the memory of their recent travel
"Travelling at speeds three times faster than a fighter jet from my old world…" he continued quietly, folding his arms. "I'm impressed."
"And pretty horrified."
He let out a dry, humorless chuckle.
"Definitely was not your average workday in the lab…" he muttered.
Nebula shifted slightly in her sleep, one wing twitching before settling again. Even at rest, there was something immense about her presence. Power coiled beneath the surface like a dormant storm.
Aurora leaned back, resting his head against the wall as his thoughts continued their restless march.
2%.
The number echoed in his mind. If progression followed some measurable pattern, then growth should be predictable.
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"Well," he thought, a faint spark lighting behind his otherwise weary expression, "I have an idea."
The boredom that had weighed on him moments earlier began to dissolve, replaced by something far more familiar.
Curiosity.
Aurora rose from his throne, the chamber echoing softly as he stood. Without hesitation, he reached for the metal mask and secured it over his face, its cold surface sealing away whatever uncertainty lingered in his expression.
Cleia straightened immediately.
"Lord Aurora?" she asked. "Where are you going?"
Aurora turned toward her, his voice steady, controlled.
"I'm just going to step outside for a bit. I'll be back soon," he said. "For now, keep an eye on Nebula."
Cleia hesitated for only a moment before nodding. "Understood."
As Aurora stepped beyond the castle walls, the open sky greeted him in heavy silence. His gaze instinctively lifted upward.
There it was again.
The Black Hole loomed above the world, vast and unmoving, its presence swallowing light without effort. It did not feel like a mere celestial phenomenon. It watched—not with intent, but with an indifferent authority, as though it existed in a higher plane of existence.
Aurora stared at it for a long moment.
"It's as if that thing is a realm unto itself," he murmured, "looking down upon this world from somewhere far beyond it."
The thought unsettled him.
"I wonder what its true purpose is," he continued quietly. "It can't be natural."
His fingers curled slightly at his side.
"Must be the work of the gods," Aurora concluded, a hint of resignation creeping into his voice. "As usual."
Aurora let out a slow sigh as he gazed into the distance. In the next instant, his presence shifted—space folding without resistance—as he appeared beneath the castle, standing between the vast mountain ranges that surrounded it.
"I'll see for myself," he muttered, "what these spells I possess are truly capable of."
A translucent, system-like interface flickered into existence before him, hovering silently in the air.
Aurora's eyes narrowed as he scanned it.
"…I only have access to one Arch Spell?" he said under his breath, irritation seeping into his voice. "That's it? Those are Tier 6 spells… well... anyways i think its enough"
For a brief moment, frustration threatened to cloud his judgment. Then he exhaled and steadied himself.
To cast a spell, you must formulate a sentence. This sentence refers to the sole entity above the gods, the Supreme Deity. Everything a spell says must be true, otherwise it won't work. Spells are reserved for only two categories of spells: Supreme spells and Arch spells.
Focus.
Raising his hand, Aurora began to cast one of the available spells. His voice was calm, deliberate—each word carrying weight far beyond its volume.
"Hear me, oh one who stands above weight and form."
"By the breath that bends horizons,"
"By the force that remembers when mountains were dust,"
"I deny this mass its right to endure."
Aurora's hand closed into a fist.
"Return to nothing."
For a split second, there was absolute silence.
Then—
it was as if a nuclear detonation had erupted at the spell's epicenter.
An overwhelming surge of energy expanded outward in a blinding wave, annihilating everything in its path. Entire mountain peaks vanished in less than a fraction of a second, reduced not to rubble, but to absence. Collapsing into nothingness as the destructive wall surged onward.
When the light finally faded, the landscape had been irrevocably altered.
Some mountains had been completely annihilated. Others stood only in broken halves, jagged remnants marking where immense mass had once dominated the horizon.
Aurora stood motionless amid the devastation.
"Yeah… I have a feeling Cleia isn't going to be happy about this," Aurora muttered.
A nervous laugh escaped him as he stared out over the ruined landscape.
Back at the castle—
"Say what?!" Cleia exclaimed, her voice echoing through the castle. "Why would you test spells of that magnitude within our own lands?"
She brought a hand to her forehead and sighed deeply, the weight of restrained frustration evident in her posture.
Aurora stood stiffly before her, sweat beading down his temple.
"Well, you see…" he began awkwardly, forcing a smile. "I may have… forgotten just how destructive they could be."
The silence that followed was sharp.
Aurora's expression shifted. His eyes slowly scanned the room, taking in details he hadn't noticed before—the stillness, the absence of a familiar presence.
"…Cleia," he said cautiously, "something's wrong."
Cleia raised an eyebrow and looked at him flatly.
"And what, exactly, do you believe is wrong here, Lord Aurora?"
Aurora's gaze snapped back to her.
"Where is Nebula..?"