Chapter 319: Time... Is Weird (3)

"Hmm?" Sunya arched a brow as her eyes left the map of nearby multiverses and found the bird instead.

The bird crossed the length of the hall with its purple-and-white wings, and as it passed, the wood and gold lost a little of their hardness; everything stayed in place and solid, just less sharp at the edges, as if a dream were beginning.

It flew until it reached the edge of the map, wings folding in tight against its body as feathers seemed to melt away.

In the same spot, a man appeared, solid enough to cast a shadow over the projection.

He had light-brown skin, long hair streaked white and gray, a broken infinity symbol etched beneath his left eye, and a matching incomplete mark dangling from the thin white band around his neck.

"Multiversal Empress of Rooted Hours," Akasha said, turning a slow look over the hall. "It has a nice ring to it, right?"

In that instant, Sunya’s eyes widened.

’Why... does he seem so familiar?’ she wondered, as she studied Akasha, trying to connect him to the warm pull of memories that tugged at her mind, yet refused to align him properly.

It wasn’t entirely her fault—Akasha changed his appearance far too often, and each transformation was far more than a simple hairstyle shift.

"Who are you?" Sunya asked, the words slipping out before she even realized she had spoken them.

"Don’t tell me," Akasha said as he put on a playful frown. He then walked forward through her map, completely paying it no mind.

"Is Lord Dream dead in the future?"

Sunya’s body was rigid on the throne before she finished saying the second part of the name, her fingers gripping the green-and-gold wood tightly, shoulders squared, and her breath held high in her chest.

"Lord... Lord Dream?" she murmured, as memories came flooding back all at once.

’Impossible,’ she thought. ’He left the lower realms before I was even placed in this future.’

It seemed surreal to her that Akasha could be standing before her, because five thousand years ahead, Akasha—better known as the Lord of Dreams—was nothing more than a myth whispered across the Multiverses.

Yet, despite that, the Lord of Dreams held far greater significance in Sunya’s life, especially after spending 150 years in the future, than he could ever have imagined.

HUMMMMMM!!!!!!

In that moment, her aura tore up off the throne in a single rising surge, and the hall was instantly filled.

Thousands of elves stood in the space that had been empty a breath ago, White Elves, Dark Elves, Grave Elves, each one an Unbound God, bows already drawn, swords already clear of the wood, some with power sitting in open palms and waiting for the word. The air around Akasha became a ring of points.

Seeing such an instant show of power, Akasha let out a low whistle as he turned his head.

"I guess that physique of yours isn’t just for show," he said, tilting his head as he glanced back at Sunya.

"Number one in all of existence and all that."

"Kill," Sunya said as she stayed in her place, "this imposter, now!"

HUMMMMMM!!!!!!

[Wood Affinity]

[Darkness Affinity]

[Shadows Affinity]

[Grave Affinity]

In that moment, the circle moved together.

White Elves sent arrows soaring through the air in crisp, luminous arcs, while others pulled wood from the floor and rails, shaping it into deadly projectiles and hurling them ahead.

Dark Elves, harnessing their mastery of darkness and shadows, unleashed arrows formed from pure essence.

Meanwhile, Grave Elves summoned pale flames and spectral blades into their grasp, casting them with the same swift breath as their companions.

The first volley was heavy enough that any other Unbound God standing in Akasha’s place would not have had a body left to argue with.

Akasha, however, only smiled and was not where the first arrow wanted.

The moment the Elves locked onto him with hostile intent and launched their attacks, his battle art activated.

And the most dangerous thing about his Battle Art was that there was never any hint of him getting ready to strike.

BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!

By the time the arrows, wooden spears, dark nets, and pale grave-fire burst from the elves’ hands, Akasha had already vanished from the place they’d targeted, as if he’d never been there at all.

In the next moment, in front of every White Elf, Dark Elf, and Grave Elf, there was a version of him with a weapon in it that was nothing but raw affinity, already reaping the lives of everyone who launched an attack.

SHKKKKK!!!!!

SHKKKKK!!!!!

SHKK!!!!!!

As the glare from their attacks faded, the thousands of Unbound Gods had already fallen, and Akasha stood once more in his original spot before the map, unscathed, watching Sunya from the very spot where the first attacks had been aimed.

"Look," Akasha said, deciding not to waste time trying to convince her he was genuinely himself.

He had no real desire to learn what might happen to him in the future, as he was fairly certain it wouldn’t be anything terrible.

’Right... as long as I stay true to who I am,’ he thought, a smile forming on his face.

’I’ll be just fine.’

He spoke once more, gazing into Sunya’s green eyes.

"I won’t waste time explaining how... I know about the Celestial Moon, Kalpa, Nara, and everything else."

Yet, in the same breath, he completely contradicted himself.

Sunya’s eyes went wide, awe from the fight still sitting on her face when the names landed on top of it: Celestial Moon, Kalpa, and Nara, spoken by a man who should not have been able to stand, let alone speak them, in this hall.

’The Celestial Mother...’ she thought, and her mouth opened on an answer that did not make it out.

Akasha winked at her, noticing she had finally remembered, but by the time his eyes opened again, he had vanished from the throne room.

In his place, an envelope hovered in the air, a single line written across its face.

’Only open if... and when you are ready to return.’

Sunya came up off the throne swiftly.

HUMMMM!!!!!

As she headed for the exit, a single sweep of her arm transformed the fallen elves into shimmering green motes that rose and drifted away, leaving the hall empty except for the map, the envelope, and the sound of her breathing.

She took the envelope and left the room with it, and the question she gave the corridor was only for herself.

"Lord of the Dreams... or the Lord of the Nightmares... which one are you?