Chapter 1582: Embrace

Erend passed through the portal and entered the familiar tunnel between worlds. Swirling colors of red, blue, and white surrounded him from every direction, twisting and flowing like endless ribbons of light through the darkness.

He deliberately allowed himself to move slowly. He did not want to rush through the tunnel this time, and the portal seemed to respond to that desire by carrying him gently through its endless passage.

For a while, Erend simply floated there without doing anything. The strange colors reflected across his body and disappeared into the distance as the tunnel carried him closer to his own world.

But at this time his mind refused to remain quiet. The thought of Ascension had followed him into the tunnel and no matter how hard he tried to push it aside, it kept returning.

Askar’s words were still clear in his memory. There was a way for a mortal to rise beyond the limits of their physical body and become something greater, something that could stand on the same level as the cosmic beings they had already encountered.

Yet Askar had also made it clear that Ascension was incredibly difficult and that no universal method existed. Every cosmic being had apparently followed a different path, which meant Erend would have to discover his own.

"Can I really do it?"

The question appeared in his mind so persistently. He had no answer. He did not even know where he would begin.

The idea felt impossibly distant, almost like trying to reach a place that existed beyond the edge of the universe, yet something about it still caught his attention.

Eccar, Aesa, and Sylven had not seemed particularly eager to discuss Ascension either. Perhaps they simply wanted to forget about everything after what they had endured inside the Trials.

Erend could understand that. The Trials had pushed all four of them to their limits, and none of them probably wanted to think about another enormous challenge immediately afterward.

But Erend could not shake the feeling that Ascension meant something important. It was not just another method of becoming stronger. It represented a completely different level of existence.

He thought about everything they had already faced. They had fought monsters, armies, ancient beings, gods, and two cosmic entities-even though they hadn’t used all of their real power.

They had survived battles that should have been impossible for mortals to survive, yet they still remained painfully aware of the gap between themselves and beings like Nyssara and the Void Architect.

They had survived those encounters partly because their enemies had not revealed their full power. Erend did not know what would happen the next time they encountered something like that. He did not want to depend on an enemy holding back forever.

The thought made him wonder what his own path might look like. Would it come through the System? Through his Dragonborn power? Through the connection between his soul and the ancient powers he carried?

Or would he have to find something completely different that he had never even considered before?

Every possibility only created more questions. He could not even tell whether Ascension would take years or centuries to achieve. For all he knew, he might spend the rest of his life searching for a path that did not exist for him.

Yet despite all those uncertainties, the thought continued to pull at him.

Erend eventually stopped trying to force it away. He accepted that he did not have an answer yet. He did not need one immediately. Ascension remained far beyond his current reach, and he still had countless things to deal with before he could even consider pursuing it seriously.

For now, it was only an idea planted in his mind, but he had a feeling that it would remain there for a long time.

The swirling colors around him slowly began to fade as the portal carried him toward its destination. The darkness ahead brightened, and the familiar feeling of his own world surrounded him once again.

A moment later, Erend emerged from the portal and found himself standing inside the familiar space of his room on his own world.

The quiet surroundings immediately felt different from the strange post-apocalyptic world he just visited. He stood there for a moment and breathed slowly, glad to finally be home.

It was morning in this world. Sunlight poured through the window and filled the familiar space with a soft golden glow.

He walked toward the window and looked outside. The streets below had already come alive with the ordinary rhythm of the modern world.

Everything looked completely normal. There was nothing mysterious or extraordinary about the scene. It was simply the world he had grown up in.

Erend stared at it for a long moment. It felt strangely distant. It was so long since he looked at an ordinary street. He had spent so much time traveling between worlds and fighting things that the mundane sights around him almost felt unfamiliar. Even the faint pollution hanging over the city seemed strangely comforting.

A small smile appeared on Erend’s face. He never thought he would feel happy to see something as ordinary as this.

After everything he had experienced, the pollution, the noise, the concrete buildings, and the endless traffic reminded him that he was home.

Erend eventually stepped away from the window and left his room. He went downstairs and found Arty sitting at the table, quietly eating breakfast.

His mother was there as well. By now, they didn’t react with much surprise when Erend disappeared for several days and then suddenly appeared again without warning. They had grown accustomed to it.

But Erend could barely think about anything else as he looked at them. His chest tightened. The Trial had shown him their mangled bodies lying on black sand. He had watched himself lose control and kill them with his own hands.

He knew it had been an illusion but the memory was still painfully vivid.

Erend walked toward them without saying anything. His mother looked at him with mild confusion when he suddenly stopped beside her, but before she could ask what was wrong, Erend wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

His mother remained still for a moment before gently returning the embrace.

Erend then released her and turned toward Arty. His sister barely had time to react before he pulled her into another hug.

"Erend?" Arty sounded confused.

Erend said nothing. He simply held her tightly and closed his eyes again.

When he finally released her, Arty stared at him with an increasingly confused expression. "What’s wrong with you?"

Erend looked at her and smiled. His eyes had filled with tears, but he did not let them fall.

"Nothing," he said softly. "I’m just glad to be back home."

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