CHAPTER 425: CHAPTER 425: THIS BETTER BE WORTH IT

She turned back toward where Vespera hovered, her silver mask somehow conveying compassion despite concealing her eyes. "You will face choices, Winter Devil turned guardian. But in every future I see, you choose loyalty over easy paths. That is why spring awaits you."

What the hell kind of power does she have? David thought, watching Vespera’s continued distress. And why does everything she says sound like prophecy?

****

Distant sounds of palace guards beginning their morning routines filtered through the reinforced walls, cutting through the surreal atmosphere.

"We need to move," David said, forcing himself back to tactical thinking despite the princess’s unsettling revelations. "If we’re going to do this, it has to be now."

Elyssira turned to Vespera, who was still recovering from her prophetic vision. "You possess ice magic of considerable power. There is a technique, ice reflection invisibility. It can hide us completely, but..."

"It will require significant mana," Vespera finished, understanding immediately. "More than I possess alone."

"Then we use mine," David said, though his head throbbed with another spike of power suppression pain at just the thought of additional magical strain.

Elyssira’s expression grew concerned. "The strain will be considerable for you, David. Your power suppression makes you more vulnerable to mana drain."

"I’ll manage," David replied with more confidence than he felt. "We don’t have a choice."

Vespera began the complex magical working, her ethereal form weaving intricate patterns as she drew on David’s mana reserves through their Aetenus bond. The spell was elegant and powerful, creating a field of ice-reflection magic that would render them completely invisible to both physical sight and magical detection.

The mana drain hit David like a sledgehammer to the chest.

His vision went dark around the edges as magical energy poured out of him in torrents. The power suppression that had been slowly killing him all night suddenly felt like a dam breaking, his legs gave out completely, his hands shook uncontrollably, and consciousness flickered like a dying flame.

He pitched forward, barely aware of gentle hands and ethereal touch catching him before he could hit the stone floor. Princess Elyssira’s warm grip on one arm and Vespera’s cool support on the other were the only things keeping him upright.

"Master!" Vespera’s alarmed voice seemed to come from very far away.

"I’m... fine," David managed, though even he didn’t believe it. The world swayed dangerously, and breathing felt like drowning in reverse.

"You are decidedly not fine," Elyssira said with quiet authority, her prophetic senses clearly picking up his deteriorating condition. "But the spell is complete."

A shimmering field of ice-reflection magic enveloped all three of them. David couldn’t see the effect, but he could feel it, a subtle distortion that bent light and magical detection around them like water flowing around a stone.

At least something went right, he thought as the princess and Vespera helped him regain his footing.

****

Moving through the palace corridors while invisible was surreal. Guards walked past them without any awareness of their presence, their eyes sliding over the distorted space as if it didn’t exist. The spell was flawless, but the cost to David was becoming devastating.

Each step was a monumental effort. He leaned heavily on Elyssira, who guided them through the palace with supernatural awareness of their surroundings. Her navigation was too perfect, too confident, she moved like someone reading the immediate future rather than just compensating for blindness.

"The Sun Door is three levels below," she said softly as they descended a servants’ staircase, "in the chamber you discovered earlier." She paused, tilting her head with curiosity. "Though I must ask, why do you need it opened?"

"I thought you knew everything," David managed between laboured breaths.

"Not everything, David. I see fragments of possible futures, not every detail of the present. Your motivations are... unclear to me."

Great. Even the all-seeing oracle doesn’t know what I’m doing.

"Master, your condition is deteriorating rapidly," Vespera whispered with obvious concern. "This much mana drain combined with your power suppression..."

"I’m fine," David lied, though his vision kept blurring and his legs felt like they were made of water. "Let’s just... let’s just get this done."

The mandatory system quest pulsed in his mind like a heartbeat, driving him forward despite his body’s protests. Whatever lay behind that door had better be worth nearly killing himself for.

****

They reached the ornate golden door that had tormented David earlier, its runes pulsing with solar energy that seemed to recognise Elyssira’s presence. The corruption he’d sensed before was still there, writhing beneath the surface like something infected, but now it felt more urgent, as if their approach was stirring things that should have remained sleeping.

"This door has been waiting for me," Elyssira said, approaching the golden surface with reverential care, "just as I have been waiting for you."

She placed her hand on the warm metal, and the runes immediately began to glow brighter. The door recognized royal sun bloodline, just as the system had indicated.

"Beyond this door lies the Sun Empress herself, David," Elyssira said, her voice carrying new gravity. "Are you prepared for what you might learn about yourself... and about us?"

Us again, David noted, though he was too exhausted to properly analyze the implications. Why does she keep saying that?

The golden runes flared with brilliant light as the massive door began to swing open with a deep, resonant rumble. Blinding solar energy poured out from beyond the threshold, forcing David to shield his eyes despite his weakened state.

One shaky step closer. If that door didn’t hold something worth nearly dying for, he was going to be pissed.

Suddenly, overlapping voices cut through the blazing light, the same voice speaking different words simultaneously, creating an unsettling chorus of divine authority warped by something unnatural.

"I know..." "You’re here..." "try and stop me..." the layered voices declared in perfect, terrifying harmony.

David’s blood ran cold as he realised they weren’t just entering the Sun Empress’s chamber, they were walking into something that existed in multiple states of time simultaneously. And whatever it was, it had been waiting for them.