Whoosh…

"The Emperor's inner realm is now open."

A gentle breeze filled the room, lightly rustling everyone's hair and the thin curtains half-shrouding the bed. Yuder gazed at the beautiful array of light manifesting over Emperor Keilusa's body, exhaling softly after confirming that the inner realm was open.

It felt easier and faster compared to before. The change in the direction of the will glimpsed in the Emperor's eyes seemed to have a significant impact.

Yuder surveyed the inner realm, which looked much the same as before. He concluded that the condition of the vessel was slightly worse than three days ago. Whenever the vessel failed to contain the inner power properly, all the flows of light scattered throughout the body trembled erratically, as though they would burst out. As this happened, the Emperor clenched his parched lips and exhaled painfully.

Despite the veins popping on his forehead and neck from the pain, the Emperor managed to endure it without a single groan. Whenever cold sweat formed on his face and neck, the chief attendant approached and gently wiped it away with a warm, damp towel. The Emperor breathed shallowly, as if clinging to each breath.

Yuder waited until the Emperor seemed to calm down before speaking. "Are you alright, Your Majesty?"

"Indeed... It's less shocking the second time around," the Emperor muttered, staring at one of Yuder's eyes, which had turned golden.

"As I mentioned before, I will now start collecting the red power scattered within your inner realm."

Yuder and Kishiar had anticipated that this would be the most time-consuming part of the process. After explaining this, Yuder turned his head towards Kishiar. Rolling up his sleeve, the man who had been sitting opposite flashed a relaxed and slightly mischievous smile—a smile that betrayed no tension.

"Your Majesty, I will now join this process as well. It may hurt a bit, but if you could bear with it, that would be much appreciated."

"Do you think I can't endure the pain?" the Emperor asked slowly.

"Not at all. What you must endure is not the pain itself but rather the thoughts that try to keep you shackled to that pain," Kishiar said.

"Thoughts that keep me shackled?"

"Based on what my assistant has discovered, the most important factor for becoming an Awakener and gaining new powers is a strong desire and will," Kishiar continued.

Placing both his hands on the Emperor's body, Kishiar overlaid them slightly over Yuder's fingertips. A cold warmth emanated from Kishiar's long, large hands.

"From this moment, please focus only on one thing," Kishiar said, signaling to Yuder without specifying what that 'one thing' was.

"Proceed."

Kishiar fully grasped Yuder's hand. Taking a deep breath, Yuder closed his eyes. The surrounding air rippled anew, centering around Kishiar, as a tingling sensation sprang up inside Yuder's eyes. Through their connected hands, Yuder felt a peculiar sensation—a wave of energy similar to what he had felt before was surging into him.

The connection between the two was now being intentionally activated again through Kishiar's power.

"...What in the world..."

A soft murmur came from the Empress, but it sounded as if it were coming from somewhere far away.

A colossal force brushed against something that had been dormant within Yuder. Immediately afterward, a sensation as though an unknowable power was pulling that something tugged at him. His entire body felt like it was being sucked into a void, inducing a dizzying vertigo.

The feeling was as if something within him, that he was normally unaware of, was forcibly dragged to the surface.

It was unfamiliar and frightening. Yet through several experiences, Yuder had come to vaguely understand what it was. Opening his eyes, he clenched Kishiar's hand tightly and found himself in a world completely transformed from before.

Between them, several strands of light intertwined, floating mysteriously as if unaffected by gravity.

These fragile threads, woven as finely as light itself, were not only around their bodies but between their interlocked hands and even within their eyes.

Kishiar slowly opened his mouth beyond their locked gazes.

"…Do you feel it?"

"Yes."

"I've also seen it. I've tried to activate it as weakly as possible compared to before. But we mustn't focus too much on this phenomenon; we have important work to do."

"I understand."

Kishiar offered a faint smile. Perhaps because they were connected, that smile felt like a powerful wave to Yuder. At the same time, a scent unique to Kishiar enveloped him like a thin cloth, leaving no gaps.

'Ah…'

His racing heart found strange comfort in that firm grounding, quickly regaining composure.

Yuder then looked down towards the Emperor, regaining his focus. Although only a brief moment had passed, it felt like an eternity.

"We will now search for the red energy within."

Yuder's hand began to slowly move upward, tracing the Emperor's body, before descending once more. Following the movement of his hand, the red energy within his palm began to ripple subtly.

It was the beginning of an attempt to locate the same type of energy within the Emperor using the pure Red Stone's power that Yuder possessed.

'If the Emperor has the Red Stone's power within him, that power will undoubtedly be drawn to this pure energy.'

From previous experiences, Yuder knew he could move the red energy within an Awakener. If the Emperor had absorbed that power, even if he was not awakened, he would certainly react here.

He had clearly sensed red energy here before.

He needed to prove now that it was neither an illusion nor a misperception.

Whoosh…

As the red energy moved according to Yuder's will, sweeping through the Emperor's body, the entangled energies within were disturbed, swirling erratically. However, when Kishiar's hand followed Yuder's, releasing a formless, whirlpool-like aura, the disturbed energies calmed and settled into place or stopped moving altogether.

Kishiar was reducing any potential shock the Emperor might feel, sensitively pulling or pushing the flow of energy within him, connected as he was to Yuder's senses and vision.

With their actions, the Emperor's breathing accelerated and then halted, repeating this cycle. Silently sitting beside him, the Empress's clenching hands tightened further. The chief attendant also looked on, unable to breathe properly, mesmerized by the surreal spectacle of energy flows moving as if with the wind.

As all eyes turned toward Yuder's hands and face, he began to release increasingly more energy from his hands while rapidly moving his eyes from side to side.

"Not here. Not here either… Let's go a bit deeper…"

"…!"

Emperor suddenly jolted.

"Your Majesty!"

The chief attendant quickly gripped the Emperor's shoulder to steady him. However, Yuder was too preoccupied to notice, his focus sharply drawn to the fleeting afterimage of a red light he had just glimpsed.

"It's there."

"Yes. We've found it."

The man who had sensed what Yuder saw through their connection nodded quickly.

"Proceed, I will help draw it out."

Energy enveloped Yuder's hand as it once again delved into the Emperor's being. At the same time, Kishiar, without missing a beat, exerted his strength to pull the twinkling shards of red light together.

The Emperor stirred once more, causing the bed to creak. Yet neither Kishiar nor Yuder halted. They continued to comb through the Emperor’s entire body in the same fashion.

'Just as we suspected; it's all scattered.'

Though it was deeper and more fragmented than they had initially thought, once they started looking, it began to come out in a chain. Yuder felt an odd sense of satisfaction knowing that his and Kishiar's predictions were accurate, and he concentrated his power flawlessly toward the red energies scattered throughout the Emperor's body.

Led by a pure force, red light sparkled from within the Emperor. Kishiar immediately used his ability to gather them together. From the Emperor's abdomen to his upper body, and then from his arms to his head and back down to his legs, the mass of red energy they collected began to grow, as if rolling up a snowball.

'So far, so good.'

Yuder assessed the situation while glancing at the long, pale fingers that followed his movements. Kishiar was, astonishingly, controlling his abilities so perfectly that it was hard to believe this was his first time doing something like this. Both their faces were drenched in sweat, but it was nothing compared to the pain the Emperor must have been feeling.

'He’s holding up remarkably well…'

Every time a bit of his energy was drawn out, the Emperor seemed to experience a ripping agony, pausing in his movements. Yet, he never let out a moan. Instead, his strained gaze remained locked onto his sweat-drenched younger brother's face and behind him, the Empress who had been muttering prayers all along.

'If it continues like this…'

They might be able to move on to the next phase without any major issues.

That's what he thought, when—

—Thud…

A heavy resonance was felt from somewhere beyond the closed door.