As soon as the words left her mouth, Soren instinctively jumped back. The light flashed brightly, painting the entire room white. Not even their shadows were spared.

Half a second later, he felt his ears erupt as gravity's grasp on his body loosened. He and the others flew backwards from the explosion, knocked directly into the brick wall. The impact blew the air out of his lungs.

For a few moments, Soren felt the world turn dark. But then his vision returned—a blurry mess void of any meaningful scenes. And with it, came the pain… Immense pain. His ribs had once again fractured and there was also a sharp sting at the back of his skull.

He coughed blood violently in between gritting his teeth. He knew he needed to get up—his survival depended on it, but his legs were frozen solid. The immense clouds of dust and smoke didn't help the situation either.

Suddenly, he felt his hearing return to him. Screams and cries filled the air. Several voices came from next to him—the other sisters who were also knocked away from the blast were still alive but severely injured.

Damn it!

Damn it all!

He couldn't believe this could happen. In the Temple of the Stars of all places. The Whispering Dream had returned…

Am I his target again? There wasn't enough information to confirm anything, but if he had to guess, it was most likely related to him.

Finally feeling his legs, Soren gave it his all to stand up. Despite his nausea, he still expanded his Soul Realm while foraging for his wand in the nearby rubble. The first thing he did was immediately cast Fairy Barrier around himself, forming a temporary glass shield.

Where is Solyara and Myrin?... Although Soren couldn't see through the clouds of dust, he should've at least felt their presence. If he was able to survive that blast, then surely an Archmage wouldn't succumb to it. And that logic extended to Myrin as well, who was clinging to her when Venissa… cast that explosion.

Speaking of which… Where is she? How did she become one of the Whispering Dream's puppets?

In all honesty, he should have seen this coming… Venissa had acted very strangely when she first came to escort him here. As joyous as she was, the woman still held an air of grace and calmness to her that was colder than ice. She was a very powerful magi—one that was closely compared to even Sienna.

Clutching his ribs, he slowly dragged his feet to the other side of the large room where he noticed something strange. What should have been another brick wall ruined from the blast had instead been turned into a bottomless abyss… The bricks were missing, but a strange and dark barrier still remained—one that Soren felt he could pass through.

"Is this… subspace?"

From his experience journeying through the Avalon Ruins, Soren was fully aware of the indestructibility they possessed. The walls were powerful enough to withstand several tons of explosives detonating all at once. And even if they did sustain damage, the Dungeon's Shroud would set out to immediately repair them automatically.

So then how was it that the walls that should have been standing before him were now missing? As if they had been erased completely…

Did Venissa's explosion do this?... He thought about it for a few moments then realized that couldn't be possible. The explosion was massive, but its impact couldn't even kill them. There was no way for it to affect the walls.

Not to mention the fact that the missing sections that lead to subspace were concentrated in one area, rather than spread around the entire room. Meaning, it had to be caused by someone purposefully…

"Mistress Solyara?..."

His eyes widened as he came to the realization.

Did she escape with Myrin and Venissa to keep us away from the battle?

The dust clouds were finally beginning to settle, giving him a clearer view of the room. Many of the women were still unconscious while others frantically tried to carry the rest out of the room.

He clenched his fists. That bastard… I will make him pay.

Glancing back at the empty void where the walls should have been, Soren finally came to a decision. He let go of his hesitation and took a step forward.

At the back of the room where the least damage occurred, a sister of the temple swiftly wrapped bandages around another's arm, trying her best to stop the bleeding. She was far away enough to only be pushed back against the wall and lose her hearing slightly, leaving her to be one of the only ones who could help the others.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

However, she was also a magi with the All-Seeing affinity. The High Mistress had specifically ordered her to watch over Myrin's ritual in case anything went wrong. And because of that, she bore witness to it all…

The Super Nova spell sister Venissa cast was never complete. Just a second after its activation, High Mistress Solyara used Her Soul Weapon to take away most of its impact. Then, She used Her control over the dungeon to transport Herself and Venissa away…

Myrin was taken too… Her frown deepened as she finished bandaging another one of her sisters.

Suddenly, her magecraft spell alerted her to something else. On the other side of the room, a young man limped slowly toward the edge of reality. Before him stood a tall mantle of darkness—the boundary between the material and immaterial. The fabric that holds this dungeon together…

Her eyes widened in shock. "Don't go! It's dangerous!" And yet, despite her warnings, the man continued on his path unphased. Before she could protest any longer, his figure was slowly absorbed by the darkness until nothing of him was left in the room.

Passing through the boundary turned out to be far less disorienting than he had initially assumed. Though, to be fair, he did assume other things as well… Like whether he would even survive such a venture.

He chuckled to himself nervously. How can I call myself The Traveler if I'm afraid of traveling anywhere?

That being said, he still found the place eerily creepy. The darkness was all around him, stretching to infinity. It somewhat reminded him of the Rift, but unlike that strange realm, gravity still existed here. Or at least, some form of it? Although he couldn't differentiate between anything, there was still a solid floor beneath his feet.

Although he only took a few steps forward through the barrier, it had immediately disappeared behind him, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere. Using [Eyes of the Fairy] brought him no results either. Panic slowly set in…

"Calm down," he mumbled to himself. "Think of this logically…"

According to Solyara's explanation, subspace was simply the boundary between the material and immaterial. It was the strange realm that overlapped the conceptual Beyond with the physical natural world. These two things which were essentially no different from oil and water, could easily mix here.

I am still technically inside the Temple of the Stars. But because this dungeon is shaped by Sienna's Soul Weapon, its endless corridors mirror the paths that the Fate Stars take. If I were Mistress Solyara, where in this infinite subspace would I take Venissa?

The answer was obvious. She would likely take the possessed girl to the most remote region possible—away from any of the Fate Star's paths so that she could not find a way to escape back into the dungeon.

WIth that idea forming in his mind, Soren decided to perform a divination. Since subspace was still technically connected to the Beyond, some information must have leaked there for him to exploit…

One by one, he asked his book whether he should head in a certain direction and allowed The Records to do the divination for him. Eventually, he settled for North. According to the results, walking in that direction from here will eventually lead him to the most isolated location in this subspace, away from the majority of the charted paths.

With the soft golden light being emitted from his Soul Weapon, Soren began walking on his journey.

His divination might have pointed a direction, but questions like distance or the passage of time remained a mystery. He wasn't sure if his pace meant arriving there in a few hours or perhaps a year… Every step forward left him thinking more and more deeply—the isolating void meant that only his thoughts could keep him company.

Despite this, Soren didn't regret his choice. It was the most logical decision he could make. With how the Whispering Dream's abilities operate, being around a crowd of people was definitely not a good idea. Just like with Venissa's surprise attack, there was no way to know when one could come… And what if the enigmatic saint simply decided to turn everyone in the temple into his puppets? Soren wasn't confident he could fight all of them.

As ironic as it sounds, the isolation this subspace brings was a safer refuge than his own mistress' home.

Hour after hour passed in absolute silence. With no indicators or markings of anything, Soren couldn't even be sure that the path he was walking was correct. The darkness was so oppressive, he could hardly see the path he walked behind him.

Fear naturally gripped his heart, but Soren remained steady. His belief in himself was what kept him grounded—Soren was sure that the divination he conducted was correct.

And sure enough, just before his patience was sure to run out, he noticed a change in the distance. A bright flame illuminating brightly in the darkened skies, like a Northern Star meant to guide travelers along their path.

As he drew closer, he noticed another figure as well. A woman with a tender face and bright red hair with strands of white that slowly cascaded past her shoulder. She stared up at the flaming star, eyes filled with happiness.

"Venissa?" He mumbled quietly while speeding up his pace. Eventually, he was able to identify the bright star floating beautifully amongst an ocean of darkness as Solyara… She had once again transformed into this flaming white figure, just like when she interrupted the fight between him and Cassia.

Could it be Her Soul Weapon? Is she an Augment Class Phantasm?

Collecting his thoughts, Soren continued to observe the strange scene. Below Solyara's levitating figure was Myrin who lay unconscious on the floor. Despite Solyara being many times more powerful, neither side made a move. They both stood there, gazing into each other's eyes.

Except, Solyara wasn't looking at Venissa… She was looking at what was inside of Her.

"Speak before my patience runs out," The High Mistress' voice boomed across the silent void. Her question to the enigmatic saint ringing loudly in Soren's ears:

"What have you done with my only disciple, Sienna?"

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