Chapter 39: The Weight of Tomorrow

CLANK!

Ren blinked, his vision clearing as his pupils adjusted to the dim surroundings.

Thick cold-iron shackles gripped his wrists, pinning his arms to a damp stone wall. Heavy iron chains wrapped around his ankles, locking his boots to the cold floor.

Through the tangle of his messy black hair, he looked straight ahead.

A row of thick, solid-iron prison bars blocked his path.

He was alive. And he was trapped in a subterranean cell.

"What... what the hell happened?"

Ren looked left and right, examining the masonry. Judging by the heavy archways and moisture-seeping walls, this was the underground dungeon of a royal castle.

He wasn’t entirely surprised to find himself chained like a dangerous beast. The dark god inside him had seized control while he was unconscious; it was only natural for the locals to react with extreme caution.

His mind immediately turned to the system.

Before he passed out, the system interface had issued a clear warning: once the Nyx Seal reached 100 percent, the entire system would lock down for seven full days.

Testing his luck, Ren whispered into the dark cell.

"System."

BZZT.

[System activated.]

[Loading data...]

[Initialization successful.]

[Status: Active]

[Nyx Seal: Reset to 0%]

[Host Resources: CM: 2,458 | CP: 776]

A translucent blue interface expanded into the air before him.

Ren stared at the floating text, his eyes widening.

’Wait... how is it online already?’

’Wasn’t it supposed to be locked out for a week?’

He ran through the timeline in his head, trying to make sense of the anomaly.

Then he pushed the thought aside. How it happened didn’t matter—the active status was a massive win. He was alive, the threat of Nyx taking over was reset to zero, and he could finally tap into his stored resources without a dark deity breathing down his neck. The zero percent read-out brought a wave of relief over him; for now, the timer was back at zero.

’The real problem is these chains. And these stone walls.’

Ren studied the iron bindings biting into his wrists.

’I need to get out of here.’

His core objective hadn’t shifted: survive in this strange, hostile world. He needed to break out, fire up the system’s functions, and secure a territory of his own. Building a stronghold—a kingdom—had sounded absurd when he first gained the interface, but after surviving monsters, subspace dimensions, and ancient gods, the magic and blood of this realm were starting to make sense to his mind.

Yet behind those calculating thoughts, a dull ache lingered in his chest. He couldn’t shake the memory of Liora’s final moments, nor could he stop wondering about the others. Were Evelyn, Reika, Miku, and Ryu still breathing?

The sharp click of heels echoing down the stone corridor snapped him out of his thoughts.

Ren raised his chin as a shadow stretched across the damp floor toward his cell. He couldn’t move his head far enough to see around the bend due to the wall anchors.

A familiar figure stepped into the torchlight outside the iron bars.

"Elysia...?" Ren said, his voice raspy.

"Ren. You’re finally awake."

Elysia pulled a heavy key from her belt, fitted it into the lock, and swung the cell door open with a metallic groan. She stepped inside, crossing the cold floor to kneel directly before him.

"Elysia... why am I locked up in iron?" Ren asked, keeping his tone measured as he looked for straight answers. Guessing wouldn’t get him anywhere. "What actually went down out there?"

"You’ve been unconscious for eight days, Ren," Elysia said, her emerald eyes searching his face with clear concern.

Ren’s breath hitched. ’Eight days...?’

That meant he had been lying in the dark for over a week.

"Don’t misunderstand," Elysia added quickly, reaching out to rest a hand near his bound knee. "You weren’t down here the entire time. You spent the first seven days in the castle’s medical wing under constant care."

She looked down at the stone floor, her expression turning uncomfortably stiff. "Once the royal mages confirmed you were out of immediate physical danger, my sister... Evelyn... ordered the royal guard to transfer you to this cell."

Ren didn’t flare up. Evelyn’s decision made tactical sense. She had witnessed Nyx pilot his body firsthand; locking him up was the only logical precaution against a second possession.

He glanced down at the shackles gripping his wrists. They weren’t standard iron. A faint, purplish mana hummed along the metal links, suppressing his physical output.

"What about the rest of the group?" Ren asked. "Did everyone make it?"

Elysia’s gaze dropped further, her voice turning quiet. "The others survived... except for the silver-haired woman."

Ren’s chest tightened, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

’Liora...’

The lingering memory of that white void was real. Her spirit really had come to say goodbye before dissolving into the air.

"Reika, Miku, and Ryu survived the collapse," Elysia continued. "Ryu spent a day in the infirmary, but he’s standing now. The refugees they pulled out are recovering well." She paused, her brows drawing together. "As for Kurogane and Arata... we haven’t found any sign of them yet."

"I see..." Ren replied softly.

"Ryu, Reika, and Miku explained how your group split up over different choices inside the sub-space," Elysia said. "We still have search parties out looking for the remaining two."

Ren kept his head down, offering a faint nod.

Elysia watched his quiet posture, picking up on the silence that settled over him. "Ren... we retrieved her body from the plateau. Once Princess Evelyn heard the full account from Ryu, she ordered a full royal burial. Liora was interred in the Heroes’ Monument with full honors."

Hearing that lifted a slight weight off his mind.

Ren drew a slow, heavy breath through his nose and let it out. He forced his mind to accept the reality of her death. Without Liora anchoring that dimension and burning away her life force, none of them would be drawing breath today. That was the harsh calculus of their survival.

It was a cold lesson, but one he wouldn’t forget.

’Sometimes, reaching the end of the road requires a price no one wants to pay.’

"Ren... I’m sorry," Elysia murmured, bowing her head in genuine remorse. "I’m the one who dragged all of you into this nightmare."

Ren raised his eyes to meet hers.

There was no point in assigning blame now. He had weighed the risks before stepping through that portal, and dwelling on past decisions was a waste of energy. Every trial in that sub-space had given him combat experience, system resources, and a clearer picture of how this world operated.

He was still breathing. That was what mattered.

"Forget it, Elysia," Ren said, offering a faint, relaxed smirk to break the tension. "I signed the contract. You gave me the coordinates to the junkyard, and I provided the muscle. A deal’s a deal."

Elysia looked up, her green eyes shimmering as she took in his steady posture.

"Thank you, Ren..." she whispered, her voice softening.

"So, what brings you down to the dungeons?" Ren asked, adjusting his arms against the wall.

"I came to check your condition," she replied, standing up straight.

Elysia extended her hand toward the chains. A quick pulse of light shot from her fingers, striking the locks.

CRACK!

The purplish mana binding the metal shattered into light, and the heavy iron shackles popped open, clattering uselessly onto the stone floor.

Ren rubbed his wrists, stretching his fingers and shoulders before pushing himself up to stand. The tension in his legs melted away as he got his footing back.

Elysia smoothed down the skirt of her dark green off-shoulder gown, shaking off the dungeon dust.

"My sister wants to see you," she said, looking toward the cell door.

Ren’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’Evelyn wants a face-to-face? Is this about Nyx?’

Considering Evelyn had survived the final clash, she likely wanted to verify whether the entity in his body was truly dormant—or if she needed to finish what she started.

"Lead the way," Ren said, stepping out of the cell.

Whatever the royal house had planned, he would play along for now.