The Heavenly Demon of Terror-Chapter 324: The World Shift

Samuel's POV — After the Fall of Skarnyx

Ash still drifted from the sky like black snow, settling into the wounds Skarnyx had carved into the earth. My chest rose and fell like a war drum, sweat and blood dripping into the dirt. The silence that followed was... unnerving. No wind. No echoes. Just the quiet aftermath of something colossal being erased from existence.

Then—

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION – WORLD SHIFT DETECTED]

A blinding pillar of light burst from the center of the crater, but it wasn't warm or holy. It was old. Ancient magic twisted with threads of cosmic fate, reaching into me like it knew who I was becoming.

The screen in front of my eyes flickered—

[NEW WORLD ACCESS UNLOCKED – "The Withered Spiral"]

A long-lost realm suspended between timelines. Known as a prison-world built by forsaken architects to contain the most dangerous of their kind.

---

[NEW QUEST CHAIN UNLOCKED – "The Forgotten Pantheon: Part II"]

Objective:

Track and Defeat the Forgotten God of Silence – Thal'Zir the Voiceless Choir

Location: The Withered Spiral – Sector X-0

Coordinates Locked. Access Point: Rift Gate near the Obsidian Thorns, Realm Border

Warning: This entity exists across three timelines. Slaying it in one is not enough.

Special Reward: Second Fragment of the Forsaken Crown + ???

Additional Conditions: Allies will not retain memory of events unless bound by soul pact. Reality will distort.

---

I blinked. "Voiceless Choir? Are they just pulling names out of nightmares now?"

I reached for the air, and the portal shimmered before me — jagged, pulsating, and humming in three overlapping frequencies. The Rift Gate. It was already forming.

Roselle would've probably told me to scout first. Henry would've said 'wait for backup.' Owen? He'd track the scent of something this vile just to test himself.

But me?

I looked down at the blood dried on my fists, then cracked my neck.

"I live for this kind of madness."

One step into the rift and my senses went numb. Color inverted. Sound became pressure. My own heartbeat began echoing backward in my chest. The Withered Spiral was already pressing against my mind like a thousand quiet voices begging me to turn around.

Too late.

I smirked as the Rift sealed behind me.

"Alright, Thal'Zir... let's hear how loud silence can scream."

And I ran headlong into the next hunt.

________________________________________

Samuel's POV.

Awakening in a New World

A faint breeze brushed my face. The air—cleaner than anything I'd breathed before. It smelled of pine, wildflowers, and something... ancient.

I sat up from the patch of moss I'd woken on, my vision adjusting to a forest bathed in golden sunlight filtering through thick, towering trees that looked like they'd been here since the beginning of time. Enormous birds circled high above in the distance, and in the far-off hills, I could see floating stones... no, islands, defying gravity like something out of a fantasy novel.

"What the hell is this place...?" I muttered, my voice oddly clear.

The last thing I remembered was the lab, the explosion—then darkness.

And now this.

Ping.

A light-blue translucent window appeared in front of me, shimmering like holographic glass.

Welcome, Samuel. You have entered: Elaria – World of Dominion.

Would you like to access World Data?

My eyes widened. A system? I wasn't dreaming.

"...Yes," I said cautiously. "Give me information about this world."

The panel shifted.

Scanning...

World Name: Elaria

Status: Divided among Five Kingdoms and Thirteen Independent Factions

Technology Level: Magi-Tech Tier IV

Dominant Races: Humans, Elves, Draken, Fae, Arcani

Current Era: Year 7514 – Age of Reclamation

World Description:

A high-magic, post-cataclysmic world recovering from the Great Shatter. Magic, once unstable, has begun to settle, creating zones of balance and chaos. Power is determined by strength, status, bloodlines, and system mastery.

Danger Level: 67% (High). Survival advised only for Ranked or Gifted Entities.

Your Status: Classified as "Unranked – Gifted Variant."

Special Note: You possess a unique seed-class Authority. Awaiting Awakening Trigger.

I blinked, absorbing each line.

"Wait... Gifted Variant? What does that mean?"

The system responded instantly.

Gifted Variant: A rare existence outside the standard power systems of Elaria. Capable of forming new laws or breaking existing ones.

Current classification: Unstable Potential.

"Unstable, huh?" I muttered, then smirked.

I stood, brushing off the dirt. The world around me was wild, beautiful, and—based on that danger rating—utterly deadly.

But something stirred deep inside my chest. A kind of fire, a whisper that this wasn't a curse... it was mine now.

"Alright, Elaria," I said aloud. "Let's see what you've got. And System—"

Ping.

"Mark my first goal: survive. Then... conquer."

Objective set: Survive – Phase One.

I took a step forward into the unknown, a rogue breeze swirling past like it, too, was watching.