Chapter 713: Inheritance 5.5

In an endless expanse of darkness—

Something watched.

A massive silhouette, shapeless yet unmistakably feminine, rested upon a throne that seemed carved from the void itself. Her form shifted slowly, like liquid shadow, never fully still, never fully defined.

And yet—

She was smiling.

Before her floated a fractured screen of light, its surface rippling as it displayed a distant scene.

Riley.

Standing within the dungeon.

Using his divinity.

A quiet chuckle slipped from her lips.

“…How cute.”

The sound echoed softly, swallowed almost immediately by the endless dark.

The evil goddess—Erebil—leaned slightly forward, her presence pressing against the void around her as if even nothingness struggled to contain her.

Despite everything…

Despite the power he was showing—

He was still holding back.

“He’s resisting,” she murmured to herself, amusement lacing her voice. “Even now…”

Her smile widened just a little.

Not mocking.

Not cruel.

Just… interested.

Riley was cautious of her.

She could feel it in the way he moved, in the way he used his power—not fully.

Especially when it came to causality.

He understood the cost.

And that made it all the more entertaining.

Eribel let out a soft hum, resting her cheek lightly against her hand.

“Relax, little light…” she whispered, though her voice would never reach him. “I did promise, didn’t I?”

Non-interference.

At least—

Within the academy.

And she had every intention of keeping that promise.

For now.

Interfering here, at this moment, would only disrupt the flow she had so carefully set in motion. It would ruin the shape of things… and worse—

The backlash from causality alone would be annoying.

Even for her.

No.

Patience was far more rewarding.

After all—

The brightest lights were always the most satisfying to watch…

Right before they broke.

Her smile softened, almost fond.

“…I can wait.”

Silence returned.

But her gaze never left the screen.

…

Back in the dungeon—

The Frost Queen stood facing Riley, her expression unchanged.

But she was not unaware.

Not in the slightest.

From the very beginning—

She had known.

Riley was not ordinary.

The moment he interfered with the cultists—those temporary allies she had allowed within her domain—everything became clear.

They carried fragments of divinity.

And yet—

Riley had taken it from them.

He had siphoned it.

As if it belonged to him in the first place.

That alone told her everything she needed to know.

So when she looked at him now—

At the distortion surrounding his body, at the broken, unreadable nature of his existence—

She didn’t show surprise.

Only quiet acknowledgment.

“…A being that holds divinity,” she said softly, almost to herself.

Her gaze sharpened slightly.

“…and yet, you’re still standing here as a human.”

Something about that—

Interested her.

There were rules in this world.

Unseen.

Unwritten.

But absolute.

The higher a being rose—the further they stepped beyond mortality—the tighter those rules became.

Power demanded restraint.

Existence demanded balance.

And for those who had surpassed their very nature…

Those rules were not optional.

They were binding.

The Frost Queen understood this better than most.

As an ascended being, her power was not truly her own to use freely. Outside her domain—her dungeon—she was limited, restrained by the laws that governed reality itself.

Inside it?

She was absolute.

But even that came with conditions.

Everything did.

So someone like Riley—

Someone who wielded divinity…

Someone who may have already crossed into the realm of gods—

He should have been bound even more tightly.

Stricter rules.

Harsher consequences.

That was how it was supposed to be.

And yet—

“…Strange.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Something wasn’t right.

The flow of causality around him… bent.

Not broken.

Not shattered.

But subtly distorted, like reality itself was adjusting to his presence rather than rejecting it.

That alone shouldn’t have been possible.

Even the most powerful beings paid a price for defying the natural order.

But Riley—

He stood there as if those rules only half-applied to him.

As if the world itself couldn’t fully decide what to do with him.

The Frost Queen observed him carefully.

Her perception wasn’t absolute. She didn’t possess the all-seeing clarity of celestial magic, nor the overwhelming authority of those who wielded true reality manipulation.

But she didn’t need that.

Her senses were sharp enough.

Sharp enough to see what lay beneath the surface.

“…You’re hiding it.”

She could feel it.

Buried deep.

Layered carefully beneath his existence, like something deliberately concealed.

Was his true divinity.

And yet—

Even that wasn’t what unsettled her.

“…An unknown divinity…”

Her voice lowered slightly.

When he had siphoned the power from those cultists before, she had already formed a conclusion.

Their divinity had been corrupted.

Something dark.

So naturally—

She expected his to reflect that.

Something tainted.

But what she sensed now—

Was neither.

It wasn’t pure.

But it wasn’t corrupted either.

It wasn’t light.

But it wasn’t darkness.

It felt like both—

And at the same time…Neither.

An anomaly.

The Frost Queen’s gaze lingered on him, her expression unreadable.

“…What exactly are you?”

Riley didn’t reply.

He just looked at her.

His eyes—

They weren’t normal anymore.

Light flickered within them, faint at first, then clearer… like distant stars scattered across a dark sky. The glow shifted constantly, unstable, like an entire galaxy trying to exist inside something too small to contain it.

And yet—

His expression remained calm.

Curious.

’She’s still fine…’ he thought.

That alone told him everything he needed.

The moment he let his authority slip—even slightly—this entire space should’ve reacted.

It always did.

[Passive Authority: Unreality Field]

[Effect: Within a certain radius, reality becomes unstable. Names are forgotten. Gravity falters. Even gods hesitate to speak, fearing their words may twist into something else.]

It wasn’t something he actively controlled.

It simply… happened.

A byproduct of what he was.

And yet—

The Frost Queen stood there.

Unaffected.

Just watching him.

…Tch.

Riley exhaled quietly.

’I figured it wouldn’t be that easy…’

Part of it was obvious.

He was holding back.

What surrounded him right now was only a fraction of what his authority could actually do. A thin leak. A controlled exposure.

Nothing more.

But even then—

This should’ve been enough.

Which meant…

“…She’s just that stable.”

Not just strong.

Her existence wasn’t easily shaken. Her mind, her identity—everything about her was anchored too deeply to be affected by something like this so casually.

Or—

Another possibility.

They were still inside her dungeon.

Her domain.

That alone changed the rules.

Riley’s gaze shifted slightly, the faint starlight in his eyes dimming just a bit as his thoughts settled.

Right now—

He had the advantage.

The dungeon core rested in his hand, its faint pulse syncing with his grip. As long as he held it, he had leverage. Control, to a certain extent.

But control didn’t mean certainty.

If things escalated here—

If this turned into a real fight—

He didn’t know how it would end.

Not completely.

Of course…

There was always the other option.

His authority.

He could force it.

Overwrite the situation.

Lie to the world itself and make that lie true.

Change outcomes.

Rewrite cause and effect.

Make it so—

Snow was already safe.

The Frost Queen already defeated.

The dungeon already broken.

He could do it.

But—

“…Not like this.”

A shallow use of his divinity wouldn’t be enough to bypass everything here.

This place had rules.

And forcing his way through them halfway would only make things worse.

If he wanted certainty—

If he wanted to pull Snow out safely—

He would have to go all out.

And that…

Was the real problem.

Riley’s grip tightened slightly around the dungeon core.

Because going all out didn’t just solve problems.

It created them.

The more he used—

The more attention he drew.

And there was someone he couldn’t afford to attract.

Erebil.

Even if she wasn’t interfering now…

There was no guarantee that would remain true.

And beyond that—

Liyana was coming to the academy soon.

Things were already moving.

Already fragile.

If he made the wrong move here—

It wouldn’t just affect this dungeon.

It would ripple outward.

Farther than he could control.

Riley closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Thinking.

Weighing.

Calculating.

Then—

He opened them again.

The faint starlight returned, sharper this time.

Colder.

His gaze locked onto the Frost Queen.

Steady.

Unwavering.

“If Snow’s life is actually on the line…”

The space around him grew just a little quieter.

Like something was waiting.

“…Then none of that matters.”

The Frost Queen watched him closely.

Every slight inconsistency in the way he held the dungeon core.

He was hesitating.

Just a little.

But for someone like him—

That was enough.

“I believe,” she began calmly, her voice cutting through the stillness, “there has been a misunderstanding between us… oh great anomaly.”

Riley didn’t respond.

But his gaze sharpened.

“I understand your concern,” she continued, unbothered. “You fear for your… beloved human.”

A faint pause.

“But you should know—my intentions have never involved harming her.”

Riley’s expression didn’t change.

“If erasing her existence doesn’t count as harm,” he said flatly, “then me erasing you should be justified too.”

Silence.

For a brief moment—

The Frost Queen simply looked at him.

Then—

“…You truly misunderstand my purpose.”

Her voice softened, but it didn’t lose its weight.

“I only wish to pass on what I am… to a successor. That much is true.”

Her gaze shifted.

Not to Riley—

But to the dungeon core in his hand.

More precisely—

To what was inside it.

“I believe she will succeed,” she said quietly.

There was certainty in her tone.

“What you are witnessing now…” she continued, “is merely part of the trial.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Whether she loses herself… or not…”

A faint chill spread through the air.

“…is simply the consequence she must face.”

Riley’s grip tightened.

But before he could respond—

Something changed.

The Frost Queen took a step forward.

And with it—

Her presence expanded.

Cold.

Pure.

Absolute.

Frost spread from her feet, not as wild ice, but as something refined—controlled to perfection. A translucent white glow wrapped around her body, soft in appearance, yet suffocating in weight.

The space around her began to freeze.

Not just physically—

Conceptually.

Movement slowed.

Sound dulled.

Even the air felt heavier.

Her authority.

Fully active.

She approached him slowly.

One step at a time.

But the closer she got—

The stranger it felt.

“…?”

A faint crease formed in her expression.

Her thoughts—

Weren’t as clear.

It was subtle.

Like trying to think through a dream that kept shifting shape.

Her instincts told her to stop.

Her mind told her to proceed.

And for the first time—

Those two things didn’t align.

“…So this is it…”

Her voice dropped slightly.

Even approaching him—

Was dangerous.

“The trial should be nearing its end,” the Frost Queen said calmly. “Why don’t we avoid unnecessary vio—”

VOOOOSHHH—!!

Her words cut off.

For the first time in millennia—

Something touched her.

No—

Someone.

A hand.

Tight around her neck.

Her body froze.

Not from her own power—

But from shock.

Cracks spread faintly across her ice-like skin as Riley’s grip tightened, the pressure unnatural, overwhelming.

He stood in front of her.

Silent.

Unmoved.

“…Why are you lying?”

His voice was low.

Flat.

She hadn’t seen him move.

Not even a trace.

One moment he was standing across from her—

The next—

He was here.

Her instincts reacted instantly.

Her authority surged.

Cold erupted violently around them as her power activated, aiming to freeze him completely—body, soul, divinity—everything.

And it worked.

Slowly—

The arm holding her neck froze over.

Frost spread rapidly, encasing it entirely.

Then—

It shattered.

Not like ice breaking—

But like something dissolving.

His arm dispersed into mist, fragments of divinity unraveling into nothingness.

Riley’s eyes flickered slightly.

Just for a moment.

But his expression didn’t change.

CRACKLE—!!

The air split.

FOOOOOSH—!!

Power surged.

Her frost.

His divinity.

Two forces pushing against each other, reality itself beginning to strain under the pressure—

And then—

Something else cut in.

A third presence.

Red.

It slipped between them like it didn’t belong to the same system at all.

It didn’t clash.

It didn’t resist.

It simply… bypassed.

Their authorities faltered for a split second.

Interrupted.

“Now~ now~…”

A playful voice echoed.

Light.

Mocking.

Too casual for the situation.

“…don’t be so hasty, everyone.”

A puff of grey smoke burst between them.

And from it—

A wide, grinning face emerged.

Eyes curved in amusement.

A Cheshire smile stretching far too wide.

“…it’s not like we’re all enemies here~”

Cheshire floated lazily between them, completely unfazed by the overwhelming forces surrounding him.

“And besides…” he added, his grin widening, “you might regret fighting here right now~”

The red energy lingered faintly around him, unnatural and impossible to pin down.

“Why don’t we all just get along, hm~?”

He turned his head slightly—

Looking at Riley first.

“Don’t worry, Riley~” he said, almost reassuringly. “She means no harm to Snow~ I can vouch for her.”

Then—

Without missing a beat—

He turned toward the Frost Queen.

And his tone shifted.

“…And you…”

Still smiling.

But sharper underneath.

“For someone who’s about to die anyway… why are you making things so complicated?”

A pause.

“I believe I did advise you, didn’t I?” he continued lightly. “No unnecessary moves that might upset him~”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“Especially no use of Authority.”

Then—

A quiet chuckle.

“After all…”

He glanced back at Riley.

“…he’s quite sensitive when it comes to his lovers~”

The grin never left his face.

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