CHAPTER 97: PROBES FROM CHAOS

Rhys left the bustling plaza of the Base City and returned to the quiet solitude of his palace in the Eon Emporium.

The cheers of the hopeful crowd faded behind him, replaced by the silent hum of the formations that kept his city afloat.

He walked through the grand, empty halls, the only sound being the soft echo of his own footsteps on the polished crystal floor.

Sera had gone off to play with the Ashen Behemoth. Seduction had vanished to some unknown corner of the palace, likely bored now that the public spectacle was over.

Rhys was alone with his thoughts, which was exactly what he wanted.

He entered his personal chambers, a large, simple room with a single crystal window that offered a panoramic view of the city.

He stood before the window, his mind replaying the events of the past week.

His offer to the five great families had been genuine. A unified province, under his leadership, would have been stronger and more prosperous than their squabbling territories could ever be.

It was a logical, efficient path forward. And they had rejected it.

He wasn’t angry. He was not even truly surprised.

He was just... disappointed.

He had underestimated the depth of their pride. For centuries, their families had been the absolute rulers of the Azure Province.

Their power was not just a matter of strength; it was a matter of identity. The idea of serving someone else, especially an outcast they themselves had created, was an insult they could not swallow.

’They would rather be kings of a wasteland than ministers in an empire,’ Rhys thought to himself.

Their pride made them blind to the larger picture, to the threats that were gathering beyond their small borders.

They saw his power not as an opportunity for the province, but as a direct threat to their own status.

And there was another, simpler reason for their rejection: fear. They had all witnessed what he was capable of in the Labyrinth.

They had seen his army of the dead, his impossible regeneration, and his terrifying Origin Skill. They were afraid of him.

And because they were afraid, they saw him as an enemy to be contained, not a leader to be followed.

Their rejection was not a declaration of war, but an act of self-preservation, however foolish it might be.

Even fools can be dangerous.

He knew they would not remain idle. They would see his growing city as a threat. They would plot against him. They would try to find a way to destroy him before he became too powerful to stop.

’Funny...’

But...

’Better to check on them before their stupid ideas hinder the growth of the empire...’

He closed his eyes and focused his will. He reached into his domain, into the vast collection of monsters in the Ashen dimension.

He searched for a suitable vessel, a creature whose natural abilities were perfect for espionage. Then he found it.

It was an Elite-grade Shadow Hornet, a creature known for its incredible speed and its ability to become nearly invisible.

Its body was made of dark grey ash, and its wings were thin sheets of solidified shadow.

Type: Knight

Race: Ashen Phantom

Trait: [Void Phase] - Can temporarily become intangible, passing through solid objects. Its presence is completely masked from all forms of spiritual sense.

Cultivation: Stage 2 (High)

"I will call you Whisper," Rhys said, his voice a quiet command that echoed in the creature’s mind.

"Your mission is simple. Go to the lands of the five great families. Watch them. Listen to their plans. Learn their secrets. Be my eyes and ears in their world. Do not engage. Do not be seen. Just report."

Whisper bowed its head in a gesture of absolute obedience. Then, without a sound, it activated its Void Phase trait. Its body became transparent, like a ghost, and it flew straight through the crystal wall of the palace, disappearing into the mortal world without a trace.

With his spy deployed, Rhys felt a sense of satisfaction. He now had a way to monitor his enemies. He could finally turn his attention to a more important matter: his own power.

He had grown incredibly strong in the Labyrinth, but his power was still raw. His builds, the specialised dantians he had created, were powerful but simple.

He had been in a rush, choosing the most basic and direct properties for each element he bonded with.

Fire was for burning. Water was for freezing. Dark was for shadows. They were effective, but they lacked complexity.

Seduction had taught him the truth. The properties were not fixed choices; they were building blocks.

By combining mutated elements from different base elements, he could create entirely new abilities, new laws that were unique to him.

It was time to stop using simple tools and start designing his own weapons.

He sat down on the floor, crossing his legs. He entered a deep meditative state, his consciousness sinking into the vast, internal galaxy of his 108 Ascendent Cores.

He decided to start with his first and most-used build: the Silent Shadow.

Its primary element was Dark, and its chosen property was Shadow. It was the foundation of his stealth and assassination skills.

It was powerful, but it was limited. He needed to add another layer to it, another concept that would elevate it from a simple tool of stealth to a true weapon of annihilation.

He thought of the void. The absolute, all-consuming emptiness. It was the core of his own constitution, the ultimate expression of erasure.

Shadow was the art of hiding. Void was the art of unmaking. What would happen if he combined them?

[Be warned, Host, every use of a Conceptual element will draw the probes from the Chaos.]

’I know... but I am Tier 4 now. I will be fine, right?’

[You can say so. Your current strength is enough to prove yourself as reality.]

’That’s fine to hear.’

He focused his will on the dantian that housed his Silent Shadow build. He could feel the calm, quiet energy of the Shadow property swirling within it. Then, he reached for another core, the one that held the raw, untamed power of the Void element.

He carefully drew out a thin, single thread of Void energy. He brought it towards his Silent Shadow dantian.

The moment the two different energies came close, he felt a powerful repulsion.

The calm Shadow energy became chaotic, trying to push the Void away. The Void energy, in turn, tried to consume the Shadow.

They were two opposing concepts, and they did not want to mix.

This was the challenge Seduction had spoken of. He needed to find a bridge, a way to balance the two forces. He did not try to force them together.

Instead, he began to weave them.

He took the thread of Void and wrapped it around the swirling core of Shadow. He did not try to merge them; he tried to create a harmony between them.

He controlled the ratio with perfect precision, a concept he had learned from Seduction. He imagined a shadow that was not just an absence of light, but an absence of existence.

A shadow that did not just hide you, but could erase you from the world with its own destruction.

People without a shadow are, after all, people without existence. That was how he wanted to fool the chaos: to scam it into thinking he never existed in the first place, until he proved he existed.

[...]

’What?’

[Nothing. That’s a great idea. By this way, in the future, you can use any conceptual elements as you like. But every use will accumulate, and the day when your shadow can’t hide you from the probes, the results will be immense. The fracture points will be massive. Are you ready for it, Host?]

Rhys curled his lips upwards.

’What do you think?’

The process was incredibly difficult. It required an immense amount of concentration. His mind felt like it was being stretched to its breaking point.

He burned through millions of years of his lifespan, using the energy to stabilize the volatile reaction.

Slowly, painstakingly, the two energies began to change.

The repulsion lessened.

They found a point of balance.

The pure, simple black of the Shadow energy began to darken, taking on the deeper, absolute black of the Void.

The chaotic, consuming nature of the Void energy became calmer, more focused, contained within the structure of the Shadow.

They were no longer two separate things. They had merged into something new.

A new mutated element. A new law.

[New Mutated Element Created: Void-Tainted Shadow]

[Description: A fusion of the Shadow property of Dark and the Erasure property of Void. Allows the user to create shadows that are not just an absence of light, but a localized tear in reality.

These shadows can be used for absolute concealment, and any object or energy that passes through them will be slowly erased from existence.]

Rhys opened his eyes. He felt a new, terrifying power humming in his Silent Shadow dantian.

He raised his hand, and a shadow pooled in his palm.

It looked like a normal shadow, but he could feel its true nature. It was a piece of the abyss, a pocket of nothingness that he could hold in his hand.

He looked at the simple, wooden table in his room. He gently touched the shadow to the edge of the table.

The corner of the table simply... vanished. It was not broken or burned. It was gone, erased from the world as if it had never existed.

A slow, satisfied smile spread across his face. Then his energy burned as his own shadow slowly eroded, replaced by the newer and more darker form.

[You have veiled your self from existence. The Chaos forget about you...]

’That’s it..’