Free Web NovelThe battlefield burned.
The heavens screamed.
The earth bled.
Yet for a brief moment, none of that mattered to Etherius.
Not the collapsing city.
Not the barrier imprisoning thousands.
Not the impossible battle unfolding above.
Not even the being wearing Eternia's body.
Because a far more terrifying realization had begun clawing its way through his mind.
The First Dream's gaze had moved away from him.
Yet the damage had already been done.
Etherius stood motionless amidst the ruins of the underground auction hall.
Dust drifted through moonlight.
Broken stone littered the ground.
Several guards remained collapsed where the pressure had forced them to their knees.
Nysera was saying something.
He could hear her voice.
Distantly.
Faintly.
As though she stood at the bottom of a deep ocean.
Because his mind was elsewhere.
A single question echoed repeatedly.
Why?
Why hadn't he noticed?
The thought struck him harder than any attack.
His entire advantage after regressing had been knowledge.
Knowledge of the future.
Knowledge of important figures.
Knowledge of disasters.
Knowledge of wars.
Knowledge of opportunities.
That knowledge was the foundation upon which every one of his plans rested.
Yet standing beneath the crimson sky...
He suddenly realized something horrifying.
His knowledge wasn't complete.
Not even close.
Above him another explosion shattered reality.
A mountain-sized dimensional fracture collided with a river of golden ether.
The resulting shockwave turned entire city blocks into dust.
Etherius barely noticed.
His thoughts continued racing.
The Capital Massacre.
One of the greatest mysteries of the age.
He remembered it vividly.
Everyone did.
The capital had been devastated.
Hundreds of thousands had died.
Entire districts had vanished.
Powerhouses from across the continent had investigated.
No answers were ever found.
No culprit was ever discovered.
No organization ever claimed responsibility.
The event became a historical anomaly.
A mystery.
An unsolved disaster.
But now?
Now Etherius knew the answer.
The culprit had been standing above him.
The being everyone believed to be myth.
The being wearing Eternia's body.
The First Dream.
His stomach twisted.
If something this massive had been hidden from history...
Then what else had been hidden?
What else had he never learned?
What else had manipulated events behind the scenes?
The implications terrified him.
Because this wasn't some small detail.
This wasn't discovering a forgotten noble family.
This wasn't learning a secret technique.
This was discovering that one of the most important events in modern history had been completely misunderstood.
And if that was true—
How much of his future knowledge remained reliable?
The answer frightened him.
Maybe very little.
Far above, Lucien Valebrook unleashed another attack.
The heavens split apart.
Solar fire poured from an enormous dimensional gateway.
The heat reached even the exposed underground city.
People screamed.
Stone melted.
Metal glowed red. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
The barrier trembled violently.
Yet Etherius's attention remained fixed elsewhere.
On the words spoken by the First Dream.
"You have memories that do not belong here."
Those words echoed endlessly.
The creature knew.
Not suspected.
Not guessed.
Knew.
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
How?
How could it know?
How could it immediately recognize what even gods might struggle to detect?
The First Dream had looked directly into him.
And within moments had uncovered one of his greatest secrets.
That alone revealed something terrifying.
The creature's understanding of existence itself far exceeded anything he had imagined.
Nysera grabbed his arm.
Hard.
"ETHERIUS."
He blinked.
Finally focusing.
She looked pale.
Terrified.
Confused.
All reasonable reactions.
"What is wrong with you?"
Etherius stared upward.
For several seconds he remained silent.
Then finally—
"I think..."
His voice sounded strained.
"...I may have misunderstood the world."
Nysera looked even more confused.
"What does that mean?"
Etherius didn't answer immediately.
Because how could he?
How could he explain that his entire understanding of history had just been shattered?
How could he explain that the certainty he relied upon had begun crumbling?
How could he explain that he suddenly felt less like a regressor and more like a blind man stumbling through darkness?
Above them the First Dream briefly glanced toward the battlefield's edge.
That single movement sent another wave of dread through Etherius.
The creature wasn't focused on winning.
That was the terrifying part.
It wasn't struggling.
It wasn't desperate.
It wasn't even angry.
It was managing the battle.
As though everything unfolding belonged within its expectations.
As though it had seen this countless times before.
As though this conflict merely represented another move in a game spanning ages.
Then another realization struck.
A much darker realization.
The First Dream had said something else.
Something far more disturbing.
It couldn't extract the Axis.
Not yet.
The implication was obvious.
The creature wanted the Axis.
His Axis.
The Axis of Gateway.
Etherius clenched his fists.
Every instinct screamed danger.
The First Dream wasn't interested in killing him.
It was interested in what he would become.
Which meant the creature possessed plans extending far beyond tonight.
Far beyond the capital.
Far beyond the empire.
And somehow—
Etherius was involved.
The thought made him sick.
Far above, the First Dream watched Lucien's final attack descend.
The enormous wormhole connected directly to a distant star.
An ocean of solar fire flooded reality.
The attack illuminated the battlefield brighter than noon.
Yet before unleashing its response—
The First Dream's thoughts briefly wandered.
Toward Etherius.
Toward the future.
Toward possibilities.
This mortal is weak.
The thought moved through the ancient entity's mind.
Too weak.
Far weaker than the original timeline.
Its silver eyes watched Etherius.
The Axis of Gateway remained incomplete.
Dormant.
Unfused.
Still immature.
Not yet ready.
Not yet useful.
In the previous cycle—
Etherius had required nineteen years.
Nineteen years before fully understanding the nature of his Axis.
Nineteen years before achieving true synchronization.
Nineteen years before unlocking the power hidden beyond the Gates.
A slow process.
A predictable process.
One the First Dream had accounted for.
But now?
Things had changed.
The cycle had fractured.
Several Axis holders remembered fragments.
Dreams.
Visions.
Instincts.
Echoes from the previous reality.
The timeline had become unstable.
Unpredictable.
Dangerous.
The First Dream disliked unpredictability.
Especially regarding Axis holders.
Because Axis holders represented variables.
And variables represented risk.
Its gaze lingered on Etherius.
Tonight would change him.
The fear.
The uncertainty.
The realization that the world was far larger than he believed.
All of it would accelerate his growth.
Accelerate his obsession.
Accelerate his pursuit of power.
The First Dream understood mortals well.
Fear drove them.
Loss drove them.
Ignorance drove them.
And Etherius had just experienced all three.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Far below, Etherius suddenly felt something.
Not a voice.
Not a thought.
A sensation.
As though something ancient had briefly examined him.
Then moved on.
The feeling vanished instantly.
Yet it left him trembling.
Because he knew.
Somehow he knew.
The First Dream had been thinking about him.
The realization made his skin crawl.
Above them Lucien roared.
His final attack reached completion.
The gigantic wormhole expanded further.
Solar flames poured through reality.
Entire districts disappeared beneath the inferno.
The attack possessed enough power to vaporize armies.
Enough power to destroy cities.
Enough power to rewrite geography itself.
And yet—
The First Dream appeared amused.
That frightened Etherius more than anything else.
Because it meant the attack wasn't enough.
Nothing Lucien had shown so far was enough.
Not dimensional manipulation.
Not Sacred Arts.
Not his Axis.
Not centuries of preparation.
Nothing.
The gap between them remained overwhelming.
Etherius suddenly understood why future history never mentioned Lucien Valebrook.
Why the hidden protector of the empire vanished.
Why no records existed.
Why no legends remained.
Because tonight—
Lucien was probably going to die.
The realization hit hard. freewёbnoνel.com
Because Lucien wasn't weak.
Far from it.
He stood at the verge of Godling.
One of the strongest individuals on the continent.
Yet even he appeared insignificant before the First Dream.
If someone like Lucien could fall—
Then what chance did ordinary people possess?
What chance did Etherius possess?
The answer was obvious.
None.
Not right now.
The thought angered him.
He hated weakness.
Always had.
In his previous life weakness had cost him everything.
His family.
His ambitions.
His future.
And now—
Weakness had once again left him helpless.
Forced to watch.
Forced to survive.
Forced to rely on others.
His nails dug into his palms.
No.
Enough.
Fear alone solved nothing.
Panic solved nothing.
The world had changed.
Fine.
Then he would adapt.
The future was uncertain.
Fine.
Then he would learn.
The First Dream existed.
Fine.
Then one day—
He would find a way to oppose it.
The thought seemed absurd.
Ridiculous.
Impossible.
Yet it steadied him.
Because surrender was not an option.
Not anymore.
Not after seeing this.
Not after learning the truth.
Not after realizing how little he truly understood.
Above them the First Dream slowly opened its mouth.
Reality trembled.
Darkness gathered.
The battlefield fell silent.
Even Lucien appeared uneasy.
The ancient entity's voice rolled across heaven and earth.
Three words.
Three words that seemed capable of shaking existence itself.
"Divine Art."
The air froze.
The sky darkened.
The abyss below stirred.
Etherius stared upward.
Heart pounding.
Breath shallow.
Every instinct warning him that whatever came next would change everything.
And for the first time since returning to the past—
Etherius truly felt uncertain about the future.
Not cautious.
Not concerned.
Uncertain.
The regressor who had once believed he understood the road ahead finally realized the truth.
He had never seen the entire board.
He had only seen a tiny corner of it.
And somewhere beyond that board—
Ancient beings moved pieces he had never known existed.
The First Dream was one of them.
Perhaps not the only one.
That possibility terrified him more than the battle itself.
As darkness gathered around the ancient entity and the Divine Art prepared to manifest—
Etherius silently made a promise.
No matter what it took.
No matter how long it required.
No matter how many secrets he needed to uncover.
He would learn the truth.
Because ignorance was no longer a luxury he could afford.
And somewhere deep within the darkness—
The Gates inside his soul trembled.
As though they too had witnessed the nightmare standing above the capital.
As though they too had begun awakening.
As though something beyond them had opened its eyes.
And was now watching.
