CHAPTER 458: ENTER THE NEXUS.

"How far are you willing to go to keep your loved ones and friends safe Sol Vestic? To what end will your atrocities masked as a righteous crusade rott before you see that you are not on the side that is good?"

"You are merely a pawn of light killing for the selfish notion of survival and the lies of life where there should only be void and nothingness; where there should only be me."

"I fight as hard as I do for the same reason you do, Giza," Sol replied calmly, staring at a great mass of black before him. "I want to live just as badly as you don’t want to exist, just as the very thought of everlasting life makes you break into hives, the thought of disappearing forever doesn’t sit well with me."

"But just think about it for a moment, be rational, all that life offers is torment and struggle until it’s inevitable end-"

"I’m perfectly fine with it."

"Creation was a mistake, quite literally an accident!" She retorted and as she did the mass of black swallowed Sol swirling around him while he held his hand to his chest taking a deep breath while a small pulse began to beat and emit light at the same pace as his heart, leaving a thin halo of light around his body. "Why must you be so stubborn to the truth!?"

"Nothing happens without a reason, why is it so hard for you to see the beauty in life?" Sol answered her heated response with a cold tone of his own.

"There is only pain in existence..." Giza slowly released him, taking form before him with her head slightly lowered as she stared at the "gift" he had left her, something that Umbra had failed to extinguish because of how perfectly she hid it within herself. "This little thing, holding on to it is painful, it holds emotions I do not want or understand, yet I am unwilling to release it and let it wither, even though it clearly brings me nothing but agony and attachment." She complained, staring up at him after he remained silent.

"That is what life is, surrounded by darkness and misery with beauty and purpose at the core," he reached for the light within her and she flinched away from him.

"Do not touch me-"

"Stop visiting my dreams, we are only connected by that light we share, I have grown tired of your attempts to deter me." He Rested his hand at his side and sighed."If what you want is to disappear and stop feeling then all you need to do is stay put and stop running, I will put an end to you myself."

"Sol,"

"...Hey," Sol opened his eyes to Ikaris’s call, taking a deep breath and releasing his anger after feeling her hands clasped over his fist, he then looked to his other side where Talia was sitting up and staring at him with her eyes watery and her fists clenched.

"Papa, did you win?"

"Win?" Sol sat up glancing at Ikaris and then his daughter again. "Win what?"

"Mama said you were fighting the bad lady in your dreams," She continued to stare at him intently.

"Is that what she said?" Sol peeked at Ikaris again who gave him a soft smile and then released his hand with a relieved huff.

"I wouldn’t call that fighting, baby, I only got angry because she is stubborn and keeps trying to tell me to stay away, she only wanted to talk."

"Is she really the bad lady then?" Talia raised her brows in confusion, from the little she knew, bad people aways wanted to fight and make a mess of things.

"She is," Sol answered seriously. "She is very bad, Talia, she wants to make all the lights and stars disappear forever." He rested his hand on her head with a diffusing smile once more. "But I won’t let her, no matter what it takes, I won’t let her." He declared bracing himself when the child leapt into his arms and turned making a small orb of warm golden light and releasing it into her grasp.

"She is afraid," Ikaris spoke up, sliding off the bed to her feet and turning around while Talia stole Sol for herself. "She is afraid of what you can do, Dear."

"I think She’s more afraid of what I can’t," Sol rebutted. "Ever since my fight with the third, I’ve felt something... off about myself-"

"What?" Ikaris blurted taking his hand and attempting to probe his mana with hers. "What happened to you-"

"Not like that, silly," Sol pulled his hand away and flicked his finger against her forehead causing Talia to burst out laughing. "I mean that my mana is undergoing another metamorphosis, the problem is I can only monitor it while I am completely unconscious, but whenever I try to she is always there, she’s trying to stop me from finding out what’s going on."

"How bad could it be if the harbinger and the avatar of the void herself wants no lot or part with it?" Ikaris shook her head. "Are you sure it’s safe?"

"I can feel that it is, there’s a force trying to reach out to me," His mana slowly engulfed him and Four rings appeared at his chest and back while a flicker of light above his head signalled the pseudo birth of a fifth halo. "Something that she knows will ensure I win, even against her." He cancelled his mana’s flow and watched his daughter pout after the halo she was holding on to disappeared from her grasp.

"Aunty Dina!" Talia leapt off the bed, floating to the door and pulling it open a second before Dina knocked, causing her hand to swing through.

"Hey there little one," Dina smiled, catching the girl before she crashed into her and then looking into the room atr Sol and Ikaris who shared a serious glance back at her. "Master, Ikaris..."

"I know," Ikaris flopped onto the bed with a loud groan and kicked her feet into the air. "We are a day away from the edge of the Nexus I have been getting more nervous by the hour, this place is dangerous."

"Indeed," Alpha appeared with breakfast for the three of them. "Good morning Master Vestic, we have made it to the centre of the Grand Collective."

"Yeah, I can sense them already." Sol nodded. "Even while I’m within my collective, I can feel their presences."

"Who do you speak of?" Arla popped her head around the corner, kissing Talia’s cheek and smiling when the girl gently placed her hand on her cheek and chuckled. "Who do you sense, Master?"

"I can feel Umbra’s malice, I can sense Giza... there are a lot of powerful people here, there are those with pure mana, but most of them are corrupted and they all exude or bottle mana on a scale similar to and greater than what I have seen of Xie, most of them, and they have been watching us ever since we crossed the threshold."

"We are in enemy territory."