Chapter 126 — The Collapse Begins

The sky cracked.

A massive fracture stretched from one end of the pocket world to the other.

Kael looked upward.

For the first time since entering the pocket world—

there was no doubt.

It was dying.

The System displayed:

[Ancient Entity: Successfully Contained.]

[Containment Vessel: Stable.]

[Primary Threat: Neutralized.]

[Pocket World Collapse Sequence: Initiated.]

[Structural Integrity: 87% → 76%.]

Kael's expression became serious.

“That's dropping fast.”

The Shadow Lion answered from the conscious machine gun resting across his back.

“The entity was the final reason this world remained connected.”

Kael looked toward the black tower.

“What happens when the integrity reaches zero?”

The Verdant Serpent's voice came through the armor surrounding his body.

“Everything inside loses structural support.”

The Bone Sovereign added from the necklace around Kael's neck:

“The domains will collapse first.”

Kael frowned.

“And the people inside?”

Silence.

Kael understood.

There weren't supposed to be any people.

The only living beings remaining inside were the three old Legendary Beasts.

And they were no longer bound to the world.

But—

there was something else.

Kael's eyes moved toward the distant horizon.

The three eggs in his Space Ring pulsed.

He immediately remembered.

The offspring were already outside the prison's rules.

They had been entrusted to him.

They needed to survive the collapse.

Kael tightened his grip.

“We leave.”

The First Domain Collapses

The ground beneath the Bone Domain cracked.

A gigantic fissure opened.

White light appeared beneath the soil.

The remaining ruins collapsed.

The Bone Sovereign's former wasteland began disappearing in sections.

The conscious necklace around Kael's neck became warm.

The Bone Sovereign spoke quietly.

“Do not look back.”

Kael turned anyway.

The Bone Domain had been his battlefield.

It was where he had fought thousands of skeletons.

Where he had entered the Soul Realm.

Where he had finally subdued the Sovereign.

Now—

it was vanishing.

Kael stopped.

The Bone Sovereign noticed.

“Kael.”

“I know.”

Kael continued walking.

The next tremor was stronger.

BOOM!

A mountain in the distance broke apart.

The remains of the Necromantic Formation vanished into white light.

Kael looked at the System.

[Bone Domain: Structural Integrity 63% → 41%.]

The Shadow Lion's machine gun spoke.

“Keep moving.”

Kael nodded.

The Verdant Forest

The path ahead suddenly became green.

For a few seconds—

Kael found himself back inside the Verdant Domain.

The forest was still enormous.

Ancient trees reached toward the sky.

Streams flowed between roots.

The remains of the containment network glowed faintly beneath the soil.

Kael slowed.

The Verdant Serpent's voice became quiet.

“This was my home.”

Kael looked around.

“You lived here for thousands of years.”

“Yes.”

The armor around Kael's body shifted slightly.

Its green scales hardened.

“I thought I would die here.”

Kael kept walking.

“But you won't.”

The armor remained silent.

Kael continued:

“You have a future now.”

A long pause.

Then—

“Thank you.”

It was the first time Kael had heard the Verdant Serpent speak those words.

Another crack appeared in the sky.

[Verdant Domain Integrity: 72% → 54%.]

Kael looked toward the center of the forest.

A massive tree was collapsing.

Then another.

Then hundreds.

The forest wasn't being destroyed by fire.

It was simply—

ceasing to exist.

Kael's expression became grim.

The armor tightened around him.

“Don't stop.”

Kael nodded.

The Shadow Domain

The final stretch brought them into darkness.

Black trees.

Crimson mist.

Shadow energy.

The Shadow Domain.

The Shadow Lion's machine gun became warm against Kael's back.

“There.”

Kael looked.

A massive black tree still stood.

The same tree that had once been part of the Lion's dual-core system.

Its branches were fading.

Kael approached.

The Shadow Lion became quiet.

“You want to say goodbye?”

The machine gun remained silent for several seconds.

Then:

“Yes.”

Kael stopped before the tree.

The Shadow Lion's weapon form detached from his back.

It floated in front of him.

Crimson energy spread from the machine gun.

The old Beast's consciousness manifested briefly as a translucent lion.

Kael stared.

The Shadow Lion looked at the tree.

“You kept me alive when I no longer remembered why I was alive.”

The black tree cracked.

“You were my prison.”

Another crack.

“You were also my home.”

The tree began dissolving.

The Shadow Lion lowered its head.

Then—

the entire tree became crimson particles.

They flowed toward the machine gun.

The System appeared.

[Shadow Reservoir transferred.]

[Conscious Weapon Synchronization increased.]

[Sunlight Assimilation Efficiency: +35%.]

Kael smiled.

“You got stronger.”

The Shadow Lion answered:

“Apparently.”

Kael looked toward the sky.

The Shadow Domain was collapsing rapidly.

[Shadow Domain Integrity: 51% → 29%.]

Kael's expression hardened.

“We're leaving.”

The Shadow Lion returned to his back.

“Yes.”

The Final Archive

Kael suddenly stopped.

The Bone Sovereign noticed.

“What?”

“The archive.”

Silence.

Kael turned toward the central region.

The ancient archive still contained countless records.

Books couldn't save everything.

But the data could.

Kael immediately activated the Space Ring.

He expanded its storage capacity.

The ring resisted.

Kael poured mana into it.

Metal Control synchronized with the ring's ancient mechanisms.

[Storage expansion detected.]

[Temporary archive transfer possible.]

Kael smiled.

“Then we're taking the history.”

He activated the archive.

Crystal records began floating through the air.

One.

Ten.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

They disappeared into the Space Ring.

Ancient metal tablets followed.

Then sealed documents.

Magical diagrams.

Bloodline records.

Weapon formulas.

Prison records.

Everything.

The System displayed:

[Archive transfer: 12%.]

Kael waited.

Another tremor.

BOOM!

The chamber cracked.

Kael increased his mana output.

[37%.]

The floor broke.

He activated Administrator Authority.

[63%.]

A section collapsed.

The Shadow Lion's machine gun spun up.

“Kael.”

“I know.”

He kept transferring.

[81%.]

The Verdant Armor reinforced itself.

The Bone Necklace increased Kael's available mana.

[94%.]

One final crystal remained.

Kael reached for it.

The crystal showed the first Darven standing before the ancient forge.

Kael's eyes widened.

His ancestor.

The same man who had discovered the Fifth Path.

Kael grabbed the record.

The archive disappeared into the Space Ring.

[Transfer complete.]

Kael exhaled.

“Now we can go.”

The Last Message

As Kael turned—

the black tower pulsed.

The ancient entity was already sealed inside the vessel.

But the tower remained.

Cracks spread across it.

The Four-Principle system attempted to stabilize it.

Shadow.

Nature.

Death.

Choice.

The system fought the collapse.

But it was no longer sustainable.

The System displayed:

[Central Tower Integrity: 32%.]

Kael stared.

“Is there anything left inside?”

The Bone Sovereign answered:

“No.”

Kael frowned.

“Certain?”

“The ancient entity is sealed.”

The Verdant Serpent added:

“The three eggs are with you.”

The Shadow Lion:

“The archives are with you.”

Kael looked at the tower.

“Then there's nothing left to save.”

The tower responded.

A final pulse.

A single message appeared.

[Pocket World Purpose: Complete.]

Then—

the tower began collapsing.

Kael turned toward the exit.

The Portal

The external portal was visible in the distance.

Its surface flickered.

[Portal Stability: 100%.]

Kael smiled.

“Finally.”

He sprinted.

The three conscious weapons remained with him.

The Shadow Lion on his back.

The Verdant Serpent wrapped around his body as armor.

The Bone Sovereign around his neck.

For the first time—

they truly looked like his permanent arsenal.

But they weren't just equipment.

They were alive.

They spoke.

They had opinions.

And they had chosen to remain with him.

Kael reached the portal.

He stopped.

He looked back one last time.

The three Domains were disappearing.

The Shadow forest.

The Verdant wilderness.

The Bone wasteland.

The central tower.

Everything was being swallowed by white light.

The Shadow Lion spoke.

“Don't look back too long.”

Kael nodded.

“I know.”

The Verdant Serpent added:

“There is nothing left for us there.”

The Bone Sovereign said:

“Only history.”

Kael smiled faintly.

“And I have that.”

He touched the Space Ring.

Three eggs.

The ancient vessel.

The Shadow Seal.

The recovered archives.

Everything.

He stepped toward the portal.

The Last Collapse

The instant Kael crossed the threshold—

the pocket world began its final collapse.

[Structural Integrity: 11%.]

[7%.]

[4%.]

The Four-Principle system released one final pulse.

Then—

[1%.]

The three old Legendary Beasts felt it.

The Shadow Lion's consciousness became quiet.

The Verdant Serpent's armor tightened around Kael.

The Bone Sovereign's necklace released a final wave of mana.

Then—

[Pocket World Collapse: Complete.]

The portal closed.

Silence.

Kael stood somewhere beyond it.

The real world.

But he didn't yet open his eyes.

He felt the ground.

Real soil.

Real wind.

Real air.

Not the artificial atmosphere of the pocket world.

He slowly opened his eyes.

The sun was shining.

Kael stared upward.

For several seconds—

he did nothing.

Then the System appeared.

[External World confirmed.]

[Pocket World connection: Severed.]

[Ancient Entity: Contained.]

[Legendary Beast Eggs: 3/3 secured.]

[Conscious Beast Weapons: 3/3 synchronized.]

Kael exhaled.

“We made it.”

The Shadow Lion answered from his back.

“Obviously.”

The Verdant Serpent:

“You were surprisingly slow.”

The Bone Sovereign:

“Your exhaustion is severe.”

Kael smiled.

“Good to have everyone complaining again.”

Something Changed

Kael stood.

His body felt strange.

The world outside seemed—

larger.

Louder.

More alive.

His Evolution system appeared.

[Real-World Environment detected.]

[Evolutionary framework fully restored.]

[Temporal discrepancy detected.]

Kael frowned.

“Temporal discrepancy?”

The System displayed:

[Pocket World temporal ratio: 1:3.]

[For every 1 year experienced inside the pocket world, approximately 3 years passed in the external world.]

Kael froze.

The Shadow Lion went silent.

The Verdant Serpent stopped moving.

The Bone Sovereign's voice became quiet.

Kael stared at the next message.

[Pocket World Entry Age: 11 years.]

[External time elapsed: Approximately 4 years.]

[Current physical age: 15 years.]

Kael's eyes widened.

“Four years…”

He slowly looked at his hands.

His body had grown.

His voice was slightly different.

He hadn't noticed because the pocket world had remained his reference point.

But the real world had continued without him.

Four years.

His family estate.

The attack.

His old home.

Everything he remembered—

had been four years farther away.

Kael stood completely still.

Then he whispered:

“So much time passed.”

The three old Beasts didn't speak.

Kael looked toward the horizon.

He had survived.

He had defeated the three Legendary Beasts.

He had contained the ancient entity.

He had escaped.

But now—

he had to see what remained of the world he had left behind.

The System displayed:

[Current Age: 15.]

Kael tightened his grip.

“Let's go.”

He began walking.

The three conscious weapons remained with him.

Behind him—

the pocket world was gone.

Ahead—

the real world waited.

And somewhere out there—

the ruins of the Darven family still existed.