CHAPTER 164 — THE EYES OF TROJAN
Above the chamber, a burning sun hung motionless in the sky.
Its radiance drowned the world beneath it in crimson light, turning the mountains into black silhouettes and the rivers below into flowing streaks of molten gold. Heat rolled endlessly across the realm, distorting the air so heavily that even distance itself appeared unstable.
Around the artificial sun floated dozens of figures.
Fifty.
Each one suspended silently in the sky with purple signatures flowing around their bodies like translucent flames. The pressure leaking from them was enough to flatten cities in the lower worlds, yet within this chamber, they were merely echoes.
Inscription echoes.
Remnants left behind by cultivators who had once failed to advance beyond their domains.
Even dead, their identities remained.
And today, every single one of them had been awakened.
Far below them sat a girl beneath the burning sky.
Frigga.
Her legs were crossed atop a shattered plateau, her crimson hair moving slowly beneath the heatstorm currents flowing across the realm. A black band of cloth remained tied over her eyes, concealing them completely, though the pressure radiating from beneath that blindfold had already begun twisting the air around her.
The surrounding mountains trembled.
The echoes above moved first.
One disappeared from the sky.
The sound came afterward.
BOOM.
The plateau behind Frigga detonated as the echo appeared at her back, its fist crashing downward with enough force to split apart an entire mountain range.
Frigga tilted her head slightly.
The strike missed.
Her hand rose lazily before closing around the echo's wrist.
The world shook.
The delayed impact erupted outward from her feet, obliterating the plateau beneath her and sending cracks racing across the earth for kilometers.
Still seated, Frigga tightened her grip.
The echo exploded.
Purple flames scattered violently through the air before being consumed by the chamber itself.
Another appeared instantly.
Then another.Then twenty.
The sky ruptured as sonic detonations echoed across the realm in succession. Purple streaks descended toward her from every direction, each carrying enough force to reduce fortresses into ash.
Frigga finally stood.
The moment her feet touched the ground, the earth beneath her liquefied from heat alone.
One echo reached her first.
Its signature condensed around its arm before releasing in a concentrated burst of destructive force directly toward her chest.
Frigga caught the attack with her palm.
BOOM.
The mountains behind her vanished.
Not cracked,Gone!
The compressed force ripped through everything in its path before disappearing beyond the horizon.
Frigga lowered her hand slowly.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"I thought inscription echoes would be stronger than this."
The echo froze.
Then her fingers closed.
Purple cracks spread across its body before it split apart violently into three burning fragments.
The others arrived.
The chamber descended into chaos.
Shockwaves tore across the earth as the echoes attacked together, their signatures flooding the realm with destructive force. Mountains collapsed. Rivers exploded into steam. Entire sections of the chamber folded inward from repeated impacts.
And in the middle of it..Frigga moved.
She disappeared beneath a barrage of attacks before reappearing behind an echo at impossible speed. Her hand pierced through the purple signature surrounding its body before ripping the condensed core from within its chest.
Another attacked from above.
She leaped upward.
The realm cracked beneath her feet.
A sonic explosion erupted through the sky as she collided with the echo head-on, her claw tearing through its neck before the body even realized it had been struck.
The remaining echoes hesitated.
That hesitation lasted less than a second.
Frigga smiled wider.
Then the slaughter truly began.
She moved through them like a wildfire unleashed into dry land.
Each collision shook the chamber.
Echoes capable of leveling mountains were torn apart one after another as explosions swallowed the sky in violent flashes of purple and crimson. Some tried to retreat. Others condensed their signatures into defensive barriers.
None of it mattered.
Frigga tore through all of them.
And throughout the entire massacre..Her eyes remained closed beneath the blindfold.
Minutes later, silence returned to the chamber.
Smoke drifted through the air.
The burning rivers had begun overflowing from shattered terrain while pieces of broken mountains floated overhead, suspended by unstable signature currents leaking from the earlier battle.
Frigga stood alone at the center of the destruction.
Steam rose slowly from her body.
The skin along her arms had split apart in several places, revealing glowing crimson veins beneath. Even the black cloth over her eyes had darkened slightly where blood had begun soaking through.
Her breathing was uneven.
The battle had cost her more than she expected.
Around her, the remains of the inscription echoes slowly dissolved into the earth beneath the chamber, their shattered signatures sinking back into the realm that birthed them.
Then..the air changed.
Frigga looked up.
Three figures stood above the battlefield.
A woman.
A young man.
And another girl beside him.
The woman stood calmly at the center, her crimson robes untouched by the heatstorm raging through the chamber. Elegance radiated from every movement she made, yet the pressure surrounding her distorted the nearby air so heavily that space itself seemed reluctant to approach her.
Beside her stood a young man with short crimson hair and sharp golden eyes.
Unlike Frigga, he wore no blindfold.
He did not need one.
The heat leaking from his gaze alone caused faint fractures to spread through the space directly before him.
And beside him..
A beautiful young woman whose expression remained perfectly composed.
Too composed.Frigga's smile faded slightly.
The young man looked over the ruined battlefield before finally settling his gaze on her.
For the first time since arriving,His expression shifted.
"You're hurt."
The words were calm.
But the chamber reacted violently.
The surrounding temperature rose instantly as invisible pressure spread outward from him in waves. The already fractured earth began melting further while the distant mountains started collapsing beneath the weight of his signature alone.
Frigga noticed it immediately.
So did the woman beside him.
"It was a minor accident during training," the woman said smoothly before the pressure could spread further. "Nothing serious."
The young man slowly turned toward her.
Silence filled the chamber.
Then..the heat rose again.
The space around him warped as if the world itself was beginning to soften beneath his attention.
Even hidden observers throughout the chamber stiffened.
Frigga clicked her tongue before stepping forward quickly.
"Enough, brother."
The pressure vanished.
Instantly.
The young man looked back at her for a moment before sighing softly.
Then he appeared before her.
Frigga barely had time to react before he pulled her into a crushing embrace.
"Good," he muttered quietly. "You're alive."
Frigga burst into laughter immediately.
"You're squeezing too hard!"
He ignored her completely.
The warmth in his expression erased the earlier pressure so abruptly that the contrast itself felt unnatural.
The beautiful young woman beside the Marquis watched silently.
Her smile never changed.
Neither did the coldness hidden beneath it.
The Marquis stepped forward gracefully, her gaze moving toward Frigga.
"It's good to see your cultivation progressing smoothly."
The moment those words left her mouth
The chamber became silent.
Completely silent.
Even the hidden elders observing from within the realm froze.
Frigga stared at the Marquis for a few seconds before smiling brightly.
"Thank you," she said politely.
Then her smile widened slightly.
"It's good to know you still mean well, auntie."
The atmosphere changed again.
Sharper this time.
The beautiful young woman's fingers twitched slightly beneath her sleeves.
Erasmus suddenly burst into laughter.
"Why is everyone so tense?" he said while lifting Frigga onto his shoulder effortlessly. "I leave for one campaign and suddenly the whole house becomes depressing."
Frigga laughed again despite herself.
"You came back early," she said. "The Soulis event is still weeks away."
"I know."
Erasmus grinned.
"That's exactly why I came back."
His eyes settled on the black blindfold covering hers.
Then his expression softened slightly.
"So," he said quietly.
"You finally awakened Father's eyes."
The world stopped.
Even the heat disappeared for a brief moment.
Frigga's smile faded.
The Marquis' expression hardened instantly.
And somewhere deep within the chamber.
Several hidden elders abruptly severed their perception from the realm entirely.