Chương 23: Interlude

Somewhere in the depths of space, six figures sat upon thrones, the seats floating in the vacuum. The thrones' designs were more intricate than the finest of lace. Each of the figures' bodies was covered in shadows, rendering it impossible to make out any of their features and giving only a general idea of their appearance. Their extravagant clothes, though, remained perfectly visible. Amidst them, a lone, deserted throne stood, shorter and plainer than all the others. It was barren and cracked.

Entire chunks were missing, annihilated by attacks meant to slay titans. And yet, it still stood, a crumbling monolith. And, engraved upon the sides of the seat were faint, barely visible engravings, weathered away by time. Engravings of chains. The six remained seated in their seats, watching as, in the distance, a dying star began to collapse in on itself, preparing to go supernova. It had long consumed the planets that had once orbited around it, and now, only one remained.

The figures watched as the inhabitants of the unintegrated planet ran around in a panic, saying their final goodbyes. Ships that were incapable of reaching even the nearest star system flew from the celestial object as planetary shields flared to life around it, projected between its dozens of moons in a desperate, futile attempt at survival. The seated figures turned their attention back to the red giant. For a few seconds, they waited. Then, it happened.

One moment, it was there, a massive orb of flames sitting in the vast expanse of space. The next, it was gone, collapsed into a single point. Then, a wave of sheer energy burst outward, shining with countless colors. It washed over the lone planet, swallowing its defenses with ease, a single flash ending the lives of billions. Where the red giant had once been sat a tiny, impossibly bright, blue star.

And a few seconds later, as more mass returned to it, the newly born neutron star's life was cut short as it collapsed into a black hole. As the supernova neared the six thrones, a woman in a throne of something resembling molten, rainbow glass stood and raised a hand.

"Halt." The entire supernova froze around them, raging energies leaving beautiful streaks of color. Then, the woman opened her arms wide, welcoming the frozen energy as it flowed into her chest. For a few seconds, she stood there, absorbing the strength of a dead sun. Even as she tried to hide it, her body trembled with effort, but she didn't back down. Then, she sat back down, and the supernova burst back to life, all of the energy on track to strike them already absorbed.

A man in a chair made seemingly entirely of shadows snorted.

"Showboat."

"Oh, shut up, Tenebros. You're just jealous your skills aren't as visually appealing as Vitras'." Another figure jumped in; this one's voice was robotic, and yet it still carried emotion. The man, Tenebros, snorted again.

"At least I'm not a one-trick pony like you." Tenebros' shadowy figure looked different from the others, as if, rather than a shroud, it was his natural form.

"That's too far, Tenebros! And where are you getting all of these expressions? The hell is a 'one trick po—'""Shut. Up." The woman, Vitras, interrupted.

"Just…stop bickering like children, will you? You're above this."

"Yes, well, we're also above any rules that dictate whether or not we should be allowed to play around, aren't we? Tenebros and I were just—""Enough, Chrone." Vitras cut in once more.

"I appreciate that you sped up the star's collapse so that we could have the pleasure of watching it—""Oh, yes, just dismiss my effort like it was nothing. It only took a century's worth of mana to do so."

"—but that is no excuse for such childish behavior. Especially not now. You know why I've called you all here, don't you?" The source of the robotic voice, Chrone, looked like she wished to continue complaining about the lack of appreciation, but after a moment, just nodded.." He has returned, hasn't he?" At Chrone's words, the other figures, who hadn't spoken once during the entire exchange, leaned in close, waiting for Vitras' reply.

Vitras watched Chrone for a moment before giving a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. Immediately, exclamations sounded from the figures.

"How the fuck does he keep doing this?"" Again? AGAIN!?"" How? He isn't even that powerful!" This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Once everyone had quieted down, one figure spoke up.

"Well, where is he? Is he coming to reclaim his throne? Will he be here soon?" Ignoring the question, Vitras waved her hand, and a projection appeared, floating before them. On it, a strange landscape was displayed.

"Oh?" Tenebros stared curiously at the projection.

"Apocalypse Difficulty, huh? First layer? Hasn't changed much in the past few millennia, has it?" He sighed.

"Too bad that fool of a boy had to go and fight the King before he was ready. He had potential…" As he continued mumbling, the others glanced around in confusion until one of them spoke up.

"Why exactly are we looking at the Tutorial?" The speaker was seated upon a throne made of thousands of blades welded together, each weapon glimmering a different color in the light of the passing supernova.

"Aren't we supposed to be, you know, looking at him? Wherever he is?" Vitras nodded.

"Yes. And that's exactly what we're doing."

"... What?" Vitras sighed and waved a hand at the projection.

"We're looking at where he is. He's in the Tutorial."

"But…" Another figure asked.

"But that's impossible. How?"

"I don't fucking know!" Vitras screamed, teleporting before the seventh, cracked throne.

"I don't fucking know!" Drawing her fist back, she punched it with all her might, the movement too fast for even the other figures to see. Yet, as several of the other veiled beings stumbled backward from the force of the blow, the throne remained undamaged She punched it again, letting out a cry of frustration, and slammed her fist into the seat a third time, even more forcefully than before.

"Why won't it fucking break? It isn't even anything special! It's normal stone, for System's sake! He hasn't even touched it in millennia! So why won't it just break?

"I thought we'd done it. I thought we'd finally, finally finished that bastard off. But now, he's back. Again. Why, System, why?" For a few moments, the gathered figures just watched Vitras, unsure of what to say until one of them finally gathered the courage to speak up. Standing from their throne of blades, a figure tentatively stepped forward.

"Can we perhaps get more information than just…

'He is in the Tutorial?'" There were a few more seconds of silence before Vitras responded.

"No. You know how much the System restricts our ability to interfere with or even observe the Tutorial. Especially the first layer.

"He did something different this time, so he won't be coming for us yet. Hopefully we'll have enough time to properly prepare. In the end, all we know is that somehow, the Chained Lord has managed to get himself back into the Tutorial." — Rowan leaped to his feet, staring at his chains in alarm. He wasn't sure just what had happened, but he knew that something had awakened within his chains. He didn't understand what it was, but for a split second, the glowing links had come alive. Now, it was gone. Almost.

He could still feel something resting within the chains, laying dormant. After a few minutes of nothing, he let himself relax, slumping against the wall. As he continued trying to figure out what was in the chains, Rowan realized that he was a little bit grateful for whatever had awakened within. It had been a shock, but it had also been enough to snap him out of his downward spiral. Enough for him to stop wallowing in his own despair. He didn't even know how he'd sensed the presence.

It wasn't with his [Mana Manipulation] or anything else he could explain. Nevertheless, he'd felt it. And it was terrifying. In the brief moment it'd been awake, Rowan had felt as though he were an insect standing before the tallest of mountains, the vastest of oceans. An insect before the universe itself. And then, that mighty, all-encompassing presence had disappeared, leaving him with only the faint feeling that something still lurked within the chains. And that soon, it would return.

Taking a shaky breath, Rowan looked down at the ethereal chains wrapped around him, searching for any details he'd missed before. He hadn't paid too much attention to the chains since they'd initially been bound to him, but now, he looked more closely than ever before. It was hard to tell if there were many or few chains, for as they wrapped around his body, they shifted and merged together. From the front, it looked as if there were several chains at once.

After taking a closer look, he realized that there were five separate chains that he could wield, but once they got behind him, they merged together into just a few points. He'd known this already, but just never actually thought about it before. As for how the chains could seemingly extend forever as long as they were provided mana, Rowan didn't know.

But as he continued inspecting the ethereal links, Rowan found himself staring at something he hadn't paid much attention to since the very first day he'd had his class: the seals. Seven circles of mana resting upon the chains, each one becoming more and more intricate. When he'd first looked at them he hadn't understood what they were. And to be honest, he still didn't. But with [Mana Manipulation], he could get a feel for them, even if that feel was just how big a headache they gave him.

He couldn't even comprehend the first few seals, so he didn't even bother trying to figure them out. With a thought, he brought up the description of his class. Chained Lord (Unique-Inheritance) Eternally sealed, you forever fight to free yourself from the chains that are both your prison and salvation, inheriting the power of your predecessor. But be warned, for the power behind the seals comes at a cost.

-[Redacted] Stats per level: +1 Strength +2 Toughness +1 Vitality +1 Mana +1 Free Point Sealed: 7/7 Immediately, he fixated on the very last line.

'Sealed: 7/7.' Based on the cryptic warning at the beginning of the description, Rowan assumed that he could find great power behind the seals. But what if they weren't merely there to hold back the power but also to keep whatever entity was within his chains sealed?