I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 231: Light and Sacrifice

"You’re right," Alex continues grimly. "It ate them. All of them. Absorbed them completely. And that’s when the green mist became this powerful."

Silence falls between them.

Theo’s brows knit together as his thoughts churn. Something is missing. He can feel it, like a piece of a puzzle just out of reach. His mind circles the same facts again and again, searching for a connection that refuses to surface.

He lifts a hand and rubs his temple, then shakes his head slightly, as if trying to clear a lingering fog.

"Right now, we have more questions than answers," Theo finally says. His voice is steady. "And there’s no point chasing answers we clearly won’t get in this place. Let’s focus on what matters next."

He looks straight at Alex. "You still haven’t told me how you can help."

"Oh. Right." Alex bobs his head, snapping out of his thoughts. "That part."

His expression darkens.

"When I saw Ali again," he continues, "after cursing her for being unbelievably stupid, I wanted to get her out immediately. But before I could figure out how, I saw the green mist already sinking into her. The spider was closing in, that disgusting snapping mouth getting closer and closer."

Alex exhales sharply.

"I panicked. I didn’t think. I just shouted at her to wake up."

Theo blinks.

"And... miraculously, she did," Alex says, shaking his head in disbelief even now. "I didn’t know I could do that. I didn’t even know I existed enough to do anything. But she woke up."

He swallows.

"So I tried again. I shouted for her to run. And it was like she could hear me."

Theo stares at him, eyes widening slightly.

"Wait," he says slowly. "That was you?"

Then realization slams into him.

"It was you," Theo breathes. "You yelled at me too, didn’t you?"

Alex nods. "Yeah. That was me."

Theo exhales, a quiet, stunned sound.

"Theo," Alex continues, more serious now. "After I saved Ali, I realized something else. I could do more than just shout. I could protect her mind. The green mist doesn’t affect her anymore. Not even a little."

Theo’s gaze sharpens.

"But keeping her sane doesn’t mean anything if she can’t get out of this dungeon," Alex goes on. "That’s where you come in. And that’s where I need you."

He meets Theo’s eyes, steady and resolute.

"I know you have the ability to get her out. I’ve seen what you can do."

Alex takes a breath.

"So here’s my proposal."

"I’ll free you from the green mist. I’ll protect your mind from it."

"And you get Ali out of this dungeon."

Theo is still processing the fact that the voice was actually Alex.

And now Alex is saying he can free him from the green mist?

Ghost or not, no entity should be able to interfere with mana or corruptive magic without wielding magic themselves. Protection from mental corruption is not something that happens by accident. It requires Light. It requires control.

Then Alex must be able to wield magic.

But how?

Was it sheer will that awakened it? The will to protect his sister so strong that it broke whatever rules govern life and death?

Is that even possible?

And that leaves the most important question.

Theo is dying.

Thea’s body is mangled. Her right shoulder is destroyed. Ribs shattered. Leg crushed. Too much blood has been lost. A mind can only hold on for so long. Without the body, the mind dies with it.

But in Alex’s case, the mind stayed alive.

That is what truly baffles Theo.

Unless...

Theo lifts his gaze slowly to Alex.

"I’m sorry," he says carefully, "but before we go further, I need to check something." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He extends his hand.

"Give me your hand."

Alex gives it to him without hesitation, though confusion is written all over his face.

"Why do you need my hand?"

Theo does not answer. He grabs Alex’s hand firmly and channels his mana, checking his resonance the way he has done countless times before.

The contact is immediate.

Theo draws in a sharp breath.

He discovers that Alex has an extremely high resonance to Light. Almost pure. Almost one hundred percent. The kind of resonance that is very rare almost non-existent.

If he had been properly trained as a Light Magus while alive, he would have possessed the ability to resurrect those who had not been dead long.

With this new information, a lot of things click in Theo’s mind at once.

His brain kicks into overdrive, assembling fragments, connecting threads, forcing logic into place.

Light magic is one of the two most mysterious branches of magic. The other is Dark.

In Caelthorn, no magus ever fully understood what Light and Dark were truly capable of. They were studied, theorized, partially wielded, but never fully mastered. Even Theo, despite being an Archmage, had only grasped a fraction of Light’s true potential.

Now, he has a theory.

Since Alex possesses such an extraordinarily high resonance with Light, his sheer will to save his little sister must have forcefully awakened it at the moment of his death.

He did not need incantations.

He did not need training.

His incredibly strong desire replaced them.

And that same Light anchored him to the dungeon. Not because he intended to linger, but because he refused to leave while Alicia’s safety remained uncertain. His magic clung to the only thing it cared about.

Protection.

When he saw Ali again for the second time, that dormant Light must have flared once more. But he was still inexperienced. Untrained. Unrefined. He could not shape it properly. So all he could do at first was shout. Scream. Push.

Yet he quickly discovered something.

Whatever his mind wanted, as long as he willed it hard enough, it manifested.

Crude. Unstable. But effective.

However—

A lingering soul, no matter how strong its will, is not powerful enough to kill the Haelion King.

And it is certainly not powerful enough to drag Alicia out of the dungeon alone.

That is why he is panicking.

That is why he needs Theo.