Chapter 223: Waking Up [2.]

Just as Kael’s consciousness grabbed onto that faint thread of warmth connecting him to his body, the supreme entity moved.

Its enormous fist descended once again.

The golden shield that had withstood attacks capable of erasing galaxies immediately trembled beneath the impact. Cracks that had already covered its surface widened at an alarming pace before the barrier finally gave way.

The fist broke through.

Golden fragments scattered across the void as the shield shattered, and the supreme entity’s massive hand pushed through the collapsing defense, its fingers reaching directly toward Kael.

Yet Kael never looked back.

His eyes remained tightly shut as his entire focus stayed fixed upon that distant thread. At this point, he had placed complete trust in the golden blob. If that strange existence had managed to stand against a monster like this until now, then Kael believed it could buy him the few moments he needed.

And fortunately, it did.

The golden blob reacted instantly.

A furious wave of radiant light erupted from its tiny body as countless golden chains burst forth from the brilliance. Each chain shot across the void like a living dragon before wrapping tightly around the supreme entity’s arm, coiling around its wrist, forearm, elbow, and shoulder in countless layers.

The chains tightened.

The supreme entity’s hand stopped mere moments away from Kael.

The entity roared as it struggled against the bindings, yet the golden chains anchored its arm in place, pinning that terrifying existence to a single point within the void.

Kael ignored everything.

He pulled.

The instant his consciousness tugged upon the thread of warmth, the connection between him and his body strengthened.

The endless void around him began fading.

Darkness slowly dissolved into fragments of translucent light as though the entire world was being erased from existence one layer at a time. Even the distant stars began losing their brilliance, their forms becoming increasingly transparent as Kael’s consciousness was gradually pulled away from this mysterious realm.

Seeing this, the golden blob let out a sound that was half laughter and half an irritated curse.

"Not bad," it grumbled. "But don’t make me do that again!"

The next moment, its tiny body exploded into countless particles of golden light.

Those particles surged toward Kael like a golden river before crashing directly into his chest. They disappeared into his body without resistance, and almost simultaneously, Kael’s entire figure began fading from the void.

His arms became transparent.

Then his legs.

His entire body gradually vanished as though someone was erasing his existence from this realm.

With the golden blob gone, the chains binding the supreme entity immediately lost their support.

CRACK!

The supreme entity snapped them apart with brute force.

Golden chains shattered across the void as its arm broke free, and without wasting a single moment, the colossal being reached toward Kael with terrifying speed.

Its massive fingers closed around him.

Too late.

They grasped nothing but a faint wisp of distorted space where Kael had existed only an instant earlier.

Kael was gone.

The supreme entity remained suspended within the endless void, its enormous hand slowly closing into a fist before a deep groan of frustration echoed through the emptiness.

At that exact same moment, Kael’s eyes snapped open.

The first thing that entered his vision was an aggressively pink ceiling.

He stared blankly for several seconds before a weak smile slowly appeared on his battered face.

"Yeah..."

He let out a tired breath.

"I’m definitely back."

There was absolutely no way anyone besides Aiona would decorate an entire room with such an absurd amount of pink.

Just by seeing the ceiling alone, Kael was able to tell where he was.

He had returned to his start room.

Unfortunately, the relief lasted less than a second.

A violent wave of pain suddenly erupted throughout his entire body.

"Argh!"

Kael groaned as his body instinctively curled slightly.

Every inch of him hurt.

It genuinely felt as though his entire body had been placed beneath an enormous hydraulic press before being crushed under unimaginable pressure.

Gritting his teeth, Kael slowly forced himself into a sitting position.

Sweat immediately formed across his forehead as he struggled against the pain, and only after stabilizing himself did he finally lower his gaze toward his own body.

His expression immediately darkened.

Since he had returned directly after his battle against the monk, none of his injuries had disappeared.

The Spectre-X Nano Armor covering him was in a miserable state.

Large sections had been ripped apart during the battle, exposing the damaged inner layers beneath. Deep cracks spread across multiple pieces of the armor while countless dents and scratches covered nearly every visible surface.

The surviving nano particles were still moving tirelessly, slowly attempting to repair the damaged sections, but Kael could already tell the truth.

They wouldn’t be able to fix this on their own.

He sighed helplessly.

"Seriously..."

To think the first time he used the upgraded Spectre-X Nano Armor, it would end up getting damaged this badly.

It looked like he’d have to pay another visit to the Spectre Guild.

Without wasting any more time, Kael willed the armor to retract.

Thankfully, that function still worked.

The damaged armor immediately dissolved into countless streams of silver-black nano particles that flowed across his body before gathering around his wrist.

Within seconds, the entire suit had disappeared, transforming back into the familiar nano bracelet resting quietly against his arm.

With the armor gone, Kael’s injuries were fully exposed.

His battle suit had been shredded in numerous places, leaving large portions of his body uncovered. Cuts, bruises, and deep wounds covered almost every part of him, some gruesome enough to make an ordinary person faint at the sight alone.

Kael stared at it silently.

"Well..."

His lips twitched slightly.

"That’s really bad."

Fortunately, he had prepared for situations like this.

Without hesitation, Kael reached into his inventory.

Within moments, several dozen high-level healing potions floated before him, their glass bottles filling the room.

Kael didn’t bother counting.

He grabbed them one after another and began drinking without pause.

The bitter liquid continuously flowed down his throat as he emptied bottle after bottle with complete disregard for the absurd amount he was consuming.

Under normal circumstances, such reckless use would have been pointless.

Even millions of healing potions wouldn’t be enough to heal injuries of this severity through ordinary means alone. The damage Kael had sustained during his battle with the monk was simply beyond what conventional healing potions were designed to handle.

But Kael wasn’t ordinary.

The potions weren’t meant to heal everything by themselves.

They were meant to trigger something else.

The moment the accumulated healing energy entered his body, an intense heat erupted from within him.

Kael’s entire body became scorching hot.

He gritted his teeth as every muscle trembled violently, enduring the overwhelming sensation while the healing energy converged throughout his body. Rather than dispersing aimlessly, the immense medicinal power seemed to ignite the absurd natural regenerative ability hidden within him.

And it worked.

The protruding bone slowly began retreating back into place.

Damaged flesh knitted together at a visible pace as torn muscles regenerated and deep wounds gradually closed. Bruises faded while broken tissues reconstructed themselves, the healing occurring far faster than any ordinary human body should have been capable of achieving.

Minutes passed.

The unbearable pain gradually weakened.

Eventually, Kael released a long breath as his body finally stopped screaming with every movement.

He could move again.

Not perfectly, but enough that simply sitting upright no longer felt like torture.

There were still plenty of injuries remaining, and his body was nowhere near fully recovered. However, the regeneration had already taken over. As long as it continued working, those wounds would gradually heal on their own.

Kael leaned back against the wall of the aggressively pink room before letting out another tired sigh.

For now, there was something else far more important that demanded his attention.