Chapter 83: I Will Trust You

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Elisa gasped as she stared at the portal floating just a few steps away, the full truth of the situation finally settling over her.

"So... the Gate that disappeared, you did this?"

"Yes. I intend to continue. I won’t stop until every gate under my family’s name becomes free once again. No more fees, no more payments. Gates are for the people. They are fragments of abandoned worlds that suffered the same fate we will soon suffer if we don’t help the entire population grow!"

"That’s... related to the dream you told me about? Of the future?"

Riven nodded. He felt a quiet wave of relief that Elisa still remembered the long conversation they had shared over a week ago. "That’s right. I’ve been having continuous dreams about the future, and I’ve realized many of them seemed prophetic."

Elisa covered her mouth in shock, her eyes wide. "Back then I foolishly thought you were only messing with me."

Riven gave her a gentle smile and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I would never mess with you about something so important."

"So... the reason you know that my sister did this to me... is it because of those dreams?" she asked quietly.

"In that future I watched, I ran a full investigation and eventually discovered the truth," Riven nodded. "What I didn’t tell you was... that your sister almost killed me the moment she found out I had learned everything. She forced me to burn all the evidence before I could bring it to the authorities."

"?!"

"Or rather... I did try to submit it, but they stopped me before anything could come out," Riven continued, his voice growing heavier. "This society... it is incredibly corrupt. Hunters abuse their power every day and never pay for the crimes they commit. There are no real trials. No justice. Their power is absolute."

Elisa remained silent, absorbing every word.

"But... I have awakened these powers for a reason," Riven said, meeting her eyes. "Look, I am not someone religious, and I have never believed in fate either. I don’t think I am any kind of ’chosen one’ or any of that nonsense. But I... want to use what I have awakened to save us. To save our home, this planet. I am not a hero. I’ll never put on a damn cape and claim I fight for justice. But... in three years from now, Elisa... this world will come to an end."

"H-How...?" Elisa muttered, her voice trembling. Then she forced herself to calm down, letting out a long breath as her expression turned serious. "Close that thing and sit down. Let’s talk properly."

Riven nodded and sealed the gate with a single gesture. The pulsing dimensional energies faded away instantly, as if they had never existed. Yet the weight of their conversation remained, leaving the air thick with tense stillness. Daniela and Carlos sat quietly on the sofa, occasionally glancing from the television toward their adoptive parents.

"Well, from what I remember..." Riven began, deciding to explain everything as clearly as possible.

He told her about the Abyssal Gaze, about everything the Claymore family (and also the Frostbane family) and the other powerful houses associated with them had done to the planet. He explained how their constant hoarding of resources and opportunities would ultimately leave humanity completely unprepared and under-leveled when Ascension finally arrived.

"What... what is this Ascension?" Elisa asked. "What does it even mean?"

"I am not completely sure," Riven shook his head. "It was only announced once, and then... that eye in the sky and the endless darkness... it simply ate everything."

Elisa stayed silent, listening intently.

"However," Riven continued, "I can only assume it means that a certain percentage of the population must reach a high enough level of strength. As things stand right now, roughly only half of the population has even awakened. From that fifty percent, only twenty-five percent are E Rank or above. Then, from that twenty-five percent of the original fifty, only five percent are above D Rank... and among them, only one percent ever reach above C Rank. From there it’s easy to see the problem. Humanity is completely unprepared."

Elisa nodded slowly, already running the numbers inside her head. "I suppose that means we need every single person to awaken then? That’s factually impossible. How could you even force an entire planet’s worth of people to risk their lives? Even with the gates being free, it would still be an extremely dangerous endeavor, Riven."

"I know," Riven nodded. "But we have to give it a try."

Elisa looked deep into his eyes. She was still mildly skeptical, yet after everything he had revealed—his powers, the dreams, the future he had witnessed—she could no longer deny that there must be real truth behind his words.

And beyond all of that... he was her husband. Everything he had done so far had been genuinely for her sake.

She already knew it deep in her heart. He loved her more than anything else in the world.

Elisa let out another long sigh and finally nodded. "Okay. I believe you."

Riven’s face lit up with a bright smile. "Thank you."

She lowered her gaze for a moment. "I suppose you already have your own plans in motion, but could you share a few of them with me? I want to understand everything properly."

Riven nodded and began explaining the full plan. He would continue stealing gates using his fourth Authority while growing stronger through his first two. At the same time he would keep using the third Authority to accelerate her recovery. The gates he "stole" would only remain under his control briefly before he opened them completely to the public. He would also summon "Believers" to mine and gather resources inside those gates, and he planned to keep hunting alongside Daniela to gather surplus amounts of high-value loot that they could sell for even more funds.

Elisa listened carefully, her eyes growing sharper with every detail. "Your plan is to overtake the greatest family in the world—your own family," she said quietly. "And... you intend to do it by fully abusing these incredible Authorities of yours. I see."

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