“Let’s go,” Arthur said softly.

They left the sky above Chicago behind by teleporting and reappeared over a quiet coastal island far from the mainland. The ocean stretched endlessly in every direction, waves crashed into each other under a pale blue sky.

Selene inhaled deeply. “This is… much better.”

Arthur smiled faintly. “Figured you deserved something that didn’t involve zombies for at least a few hours.”

They descended toward a crescent-shaped beach where white sand curved around a line of palm trees. Without ceremony, Arthur extended his hand. The ground rippled as matter was compressed, and rearranged by him, trees got uprooted from deep in the island. Finally, a simple seaside house stood near the waterline with wooden exterior, wide windows, and a shaded porch facing the ocean.

Selene tilted her head. “Why are you building a house on a beach?”

“Well, I figured it could be a nice place to retire with you,” Arthur replied jokingly.

But the faint humor faded as he turned to her more seriously.

“I don’t know how long the process will take,” he said. “And I don’t know what might happen when I begin. If something unstable or dangerous occurs… I don’t want you anywhere near it. So, I am going to the moon and start it.”

Selene’s fingers tightened around his sleeve before he could finish. She stepped forward and wrapped both arms around him, pressing her face against his chest.

“Please be careful,” she murmured as she looked up at his face with worry.

Arthur hugged her back, one hand resting gently on her head and patting her. “I will, don’t worry.”

He held her for a few seconds longer, then pulled away. Space folded around him again, and he vanished from the front of the beach house.

Selene stood there alone on the sand, staring at the empty air where he had just been.

…

The moon was silent as it had always been.

Arthur stood on the grey, cratered surface beneath a black sky studded with distant stars and earth hovered in the distance like a fragile blue jewel.

He looked at the ground and raised his hand again. Lunar rock peeled away, hollowing out a simple cave chamber. He reinforced the interior walls, smoothed the floor, and brought out a bed from his dimensional storage.

Once seated, he took out the Immortal Soul Crystal. It floated above his palm, transparent and fist-sized, with white smoke like energy swirling within like trapped dust.

“So this is it,” he muttered quietly.

He then closed his eyes and activated Energy Absorption. The moment he did, something unfamiliar entered his body from the crystal.

The energy from the crystal did not behave like mana, Aether, or spiritual energy. It did not flow through his meridians or settle into his cells. It passed into him and vanished somewhere within his body.

Arthur’s brows furrowed. He tried to track it, extending his perception inward, following the thread of foreign energy as it dispersed. But it was like following a footstep on the night of a heavy snowfall; there was no trace left to follow.

So, he focused on absorbing the unknown energy. The crystal contained an enormous amount of energy. Even with his absorption speed, it took nearly ten minutes to completely drain it.

When the last wisp of white smoke dissolved into him, the crystal turned dull and cracked into fragments.

He waited for a few seconds for something to happen but was puzzled, sensing no changes inside his body. 

He opened one eye slightly. “…That’s it?”

He began to examine his body internally when the world spun violently. His vision blurred and everything went dark as he lost consciousness the next second.

…

In an endless white expanse.

Arthur once entered this space after he had died from the meteor in Trakuun-5.

A stream of pure energy tore through the void and converged toward a pitch-black floating form. The figure was motionless, suspended in the white emptiness. Golden and silver veins traced intricate patterns across its surface.

It was Arthur’s soul.

The incoming energy collided with it, and was absorbed instantly. The golden and silver veins on his soul body brightened.

At first it was subtle, then the glow intensified until the veins started pulsating. And a cocoon began forming around his soul.

Layer by layer, golden and silver light wrapped around the soul, sealing it within a radiant shell. Though the white space around it remained silent, indifferent.

Time passed and it was unknown by how much, as there was no way to measure it here.

A thin crack appeared on the cocoon made of esoteric energy. It started as a thin line near the upper portion of the cocoon, then it started spreading outward in branching fractures. The entire shell splintered like glass under pressure.

With a silent implosion, the cocoon shattered into countless specks of light and vanished.

Arthur’s soul hovered there once more, but it was no longer the same.

The body remained the same but from his forehead upward extended a crown of golden spikes, joined at their base yet not touching the soul itself. The central spike rose highest, with each adjacent one slightly shorter, forming a symmetrical arc. It floated like a manifestation of divine authority rather than a simple accessory

His soul stirred and he slowly opened his eyes.

“So… that’s how it is.” Memories flooded his mind and he had a look of understanding.

He finally understood the mystery behind his transmigration and his abilities.

While undergoing Soul Metamorphosis, he received a lot of information from something known as Soul Origin. After he died in his previous world, he appeared before what looked like a black hole, but it was not a black hole but something beyond his understanding, he was in the dark even now after receiving these memories. 

That phenomenon that had merged with his Soul Origin and facilitated his transmigration.

It was not conscious or sentient but more like a program. To ensure his survival it had granted him immortality and powers based on his subconscious desires. 

Arthur felt a chill but not due to fear, but of his Soul Origins’ capabilities. He couldn’t imagine the limit of that thing if it could just hand him powers like these.

He shifted his attention to the crown on his head; it was another wonder.

His Soul Origin had used the energy from the Immortal Soul Crystal as a catalyst to push his soul into the next stage of evolution.

The crown was not just a decorative piece, it fortified his soul and which in turn would allow him to withstand soul attacks even from someone stronger than him. Though he would have to figure out its limits by himself on how much strong attack it could withstand.

Beyond defense, the evolution also granted him many new abilities like Soul Puppetry which lets him dominate and control significantly weaker souls than him.

He could now attack someone’s soul directly, attacking the essence rather than the body.

He could also resurrect someone if they hadn’t died for much longer by returning their soul to their bodies, Astral Projection which lets him separate his soul from his body at will. And many more minor abilities that required experimentation.

All these abilities were consolidated into a single ability that appeared on his status panel, and it was called Animakinesis-Lv1.

He then closed his eyes and retrieved his consciousness from his Sea of Consciousness, which he had decided to call the endless white space as such. 

…

His consciousness returned to his body and he opened his eyes, he was still inside the cave while sitting on the bed.

He got up and decided to check the time, he widened his eyes seeing more than seven months had passed since he started to absorb the Immortal Soul Crystal.

“…Seven months?”

Space folded around him, and he quickly teleported to the beach house he had created for Selene.

…

Selene was sitting on the porch of the beach house, while staring at the moon.

The ocean waves moved lazily under the setting sun. She had grown accustomed to waiting these past months, but ever so often she visits the Sanctuaries to escape boredom. She felt Arthur would be surprised if he saw what had happened after all these months.

And as soon as Arthur appeared, she immediately sensed his presence.

As she saw him walking towards the house, she stood so fast the chair behind her tipped over, and ran toward him without hesitation and collided into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

Arthur caught her instinctively and held her just as tightly.

For a few moments, neither spoke. Then she pulled back slightly, her hands moving over his torso, his face, his arms checking for any wounds.

“Are you hurt?” she asked quickly. “Did something go wrong? Why did it take so long?”

Arthur smiled gently. “I’m perfectly fine.”

Relief washed over her face so visibly that it made Arthur’s chest tighten in guilt.

He hugged her again, this time more firmly. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I worried you a lot.”

Selene shook her head within his embrace. “It’s alright… as long as you’re okay.”

Arthur sighed with relief seeing Selene was not angry at him, but he still felt guilty as he had promised her not to leave for too long.

They then walked back toward the beach house together, with their fingers intertwined.

As they did, a single thought lingered in Arthur’s mind. One memory he couldn’t understand and that worried him.

Before he died he had come in contact with a metallic orb which entered his body, now that he knew about the multiverse, and entities who could possess terrifying powers he knew it was not a simple coincidence.

If his Soul Origin had been responsible for his transmigration and abilities… then what was that orb?

It could become an unknown variable in the future, but he shook his head and removed the thought.

He looked at Selene who was walking beside him, the last rays of sun hitting her skin, and he felt like he was falling in love all over again.

Whatever that orb was, he would deal with it when the time came.

For now, this moment mattered more.

***

——————————: END OF BOOK IV :——————————

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