CHAPTER 417: RHYTHM OF HIS WILL

The air trembled.

The Labyrinth Grove, a sanctum of silver light and ancient circuits, had become a symphony of divine resonance. The entire grove throbbed with harmonic vibrations as if reality itself were trying to keep pace with the rhythm of Ethan’s will.

Above the Grove, he remained suspended cross-legged in the air, his glowing silver eye now surrounded by rings of equations, runes, and spell matrices, all spinning at impossible speed. The popcorn bucket now floated lazily beside him, forgotten, as his concentration deepened.

From his chest emanated two beams of light, one of golden-white energy and another of deep violet, threaded with silver veins. They stretched far beyond the horizon, one diving through the soil and into the veins of the planet, the other piercing through dimensions like a blade cutting through silk.

And somewhere far beyond the stars, in the Will Planes, the second seed responded.

...

The Will Planes were never still.

They were a realm of living skies, amber clouds swirling through pale teal horizons, and earth that pulsed with consciousness. The Will Clan’s proto-city had grown vast, an intricate web of spiraling stone towers and bronze structures with glowing glyphs etched across their surfaces.

Behind their main stronghold, a massive tree of crystallized roots and branches stood, the Heartseed Tree, the Will Clan’s link to their Lord and to the energies of the Will Planes and the Beast Plane as a whole.

Today, it glowed brighter than ever.

The council was still in session when the tremors began.

A low hum resonated through the chamber, shaking the walls and making the ground pulse like a heartbeat.

At first, no one panicked. After all, the Will Planes were alive, and it wasn’t rare for them to stir. But when the Heartseed Tree began to sing,

a deep, reverberating sound like a thousand voices overlapping in harmony, every head turned toward the window.

"...The seeds..." whispered Queen Ashtoria, rising from her throne, her four eyes widening. "They’re... connecting."

A bright silver crack tore across the sky.

It wasn’t lightning. It was reality folding inward.

The Will Clan members rushed out into the open, shielding their eyes as the heavens split and threads of golden light descended upon the Heartseed Tree.

From the base of the tree, sigils began to bloom across the ground, spreading through the proto-city like blooming vines of light. They wrapped around every building, every tower, every being, resonating with an ancient pulse that only those of the Will Clan could feel, the heartbeat of their Master.

"Lord Ethan... he’s doing it..." murmured Tyria, one of the Frost Spirit emissaries. Her breath came out as glittering mist. "He’s actually merging the realms."

Even the Brelores, stoic and primal by nature, bowed their heads as the tattoos on their backs flared with light, the beasts they represented roaring in ghostly unison.

The Druids gathered around the Heartseed Tree, placing their palms against its trunk, their dreadlocks swaying with the wind that didn’t exist. Their melodic voices joined the song of the Tree, guiding and stabilizing the flow of the power streaming from Anbord.

And then...

a pulse.

Not of light, but of presence.

Every soul in the Will Planes felt it, the gentle, commanding, familiar warmth of Ethan’s will washing over them like sunlight after endless rain.

From the Heartseed Tree, a massive, translucent ring expanded outward, each layer pulsing faster and faster, creating a dome that encompassed the entire Will Clan territory.

The world began to bend.

...

Back in Anbord, the Labyrinth Grove had turned into a storm of radiance.

Mountains trembled. Skies cracked with silent lightning. Streams of energy shot into orbit and began tracing hexagonal patterns through the upper atmosphere. From above, one could see the shape of an enormous seal, spanning thousands of kilometers, centered directly on the Grove.

Regnare, standing with his arms crossed on a nearby levitating platform, frowned slightly. His usually calm eyes were narrowed with both pride and disbelief. "He’s... actually doing it," he muttered. "Father’s binding an entire dimension to ours without tearing either apart."

"Of course he is," said Asteria, her silver hair flowing behind her as if caught in invisible wind. Her tone was calm, yet reverent. "He’s not just merging worlds. He’s rewriting the boundaries between them."

Her eyes shimmered with divine comprehension, the mark of one who once wove stars with her hands. "The structure he’s building, those sigils, they’re not mortal. They operate on divine logic. He’s calculating in four simultaneous temporal layers."

Beside her, Vaeloria shielded her eyes from the blinding light and gave a soft laugh. "Leave it to my husband to work casually in the realms of gods while eating popcorn."

Barki, the Fire Dragon Ruler, smirked. "He probably still thinks this is ’light work.’"

Delphina, calm, golden-eyed, and carrying an elegance that mirrored her father’s, watched silently. The glowing threads reflected in her eyes made her look ethereal. "The resonance link is stable," she said softly. "Father’s maintaining both sides perfectly... How do I know this?"

The entire Grove shifted tone.

The sigils began to slow, forming coherent spirals of light. The two beams, the one from Ethan’s chest and the one from the Heartseed Tree, aligned.

"...Now," Ethan murmured, his voice echoing through both worlds.

The beams connected.

A tremor rippled through everything.

For a moment, all sound ceased.

Even time seemed to halt.

Then, the world breathed.

The skies of the Will Planes shimmered with reflections of Anbord’s continents. The Heartseed Tree’s roots burst downward, sinking into the void between realms and anchoring themselves into Anbord’s ley grid. In response, the Grove’s sigils erupted in fractal bloom, bridging every leyline of both planes together.

When the light finally began to fade, the air felt... different.

Heavier. Fuller. Harmonized.

The two worlds, Anbord and Old Gassendi, were now one.

A hush fell across the Will Clan.

The Frost Spirits, Brelores, and Druids all lifted their gazes to the sky, where a faint reflection of Anbord’s sun now gleamed faintly through the veil.

Tears rolled down Ashtoria’s cheeks as she looked at the living miracle before her. "He did it..." she whispered. "Our Lord... brought us home."

From the Grove, Ethan finally opened his eyes. His aura dimmed, his expression softening as the glow around him faded to a gentle silver.

He reached for his popcorn bucket again, casually tossing a kernel into his mouth.

"...And that," he said with a grin, "is how you bridge two realities without breaking a sweat."

Asteria sighed softly beside him, shaking her head with equal parts awe and exasperation. "Ethan Voryn Kael’Dri... even gods would envy your arrogance."

He smirked, eyes glinting with quiet warmth.

"Not arrogance, love," he said, turning toward her as the twin worlds aligned under his gaze.

"Just... family." And he collapsed with Barki catching him in her arms.

"You would be the death of us. Wait till mother-in-law finds out..." She commented with a light smirk, her eyes glowing with love.