On the Path of Eternal Strength.-Chapter 77 - 75 The Pillar That Has No End

The automobile continued moving along the highway while the dawn finished settling over the city, and Selena’s question remained suspended inside the vehicle like a presence that did not need to be repeated to stay alive. The traffic increased around them, an unceasing current of people beginning their day without knowing that inside that car the silence had a different weight, denser, charged with something that still had not found a definitive form. Virka remained in the back seat with her back resting against the seat, her shoulders tense despite the exhaustion running through every muscle in her body, her skin stained with dried blood and sweat, her black hair falling disorderly over her chest and back like a living shadow. The pain in her head kept throbbing with a cruel cadence, a constant reminder that the Battle Domain had disappeared and that her perception of the world was once again confined within limits she had not felt in a long time. The aura inside her was barely a faint thread; an absence more than a presence.

She did not answer immediately. Her red eyes, without a defined pupil, remained fixed on the reflection of the windshield where the dawn’s light mixed with the shadows inside. Selena’s question had not been a provocation; it had been a crack opened in something Virka had never considered necessary to question. Her instinct did not doubt. Her nature did not argue. Sebastián was her bond, her choice, something claimed not by imposition but by mutual recognition. And yet, the possibility raised had entered her mind like a thorn difficult to ignore.

When she spoke, her voice came out lower, heavy with physical exhaustion and something deeper that was not weakness but forced thought. “I don’t know.” The words seemed strange even to her, as if she had never before had to pronounce them in relation to something she considered obvious. The car continued moving between lanes filled with lights and distant horns, but inside the cabin everything seemed to slow down.

Selena did not intervene. She remained driving with the same calculated calm, allowing the silence to push Virka to continue.

“We are... complicated,” Virka added after a few seconds that seemed longer than they really were. The word came out with difficulty, as if describing something she was not used to naming. “He and I.” Her breathing was irregular. Every inhalation carried the echo of the recent fight and the absolute exhaustion of having emptied almost all her aura. “It doesn’t work like other bonds.”

The city lights reflected in her red eyes as the car moved deeper into the urban heart. Dawn had already completely defeated the night. The clarity revealed details that had previously remained hidden: the old scars on Virka’s skin, the constant tension in her jaw, the way her fingers closed slightly each time the pain in her head intensified.

“I’m possessive.” She did not say it as an apology or confession. It was a fact. “It’s part of what I am.” Her lips tightened slightly. “I know when someone gets close. I feel it without needing to see it.”

She paused for a long moment.

“But I also know what he is like.”

The phrase remained suspended while the automobile crossed an elevated bridge from which the city could be seen awakening in layers: illuminated buildings, increasing traffic, people moving like small currents within an immense system.

“Sebastián does not abandon what he chooses,” she continued. “He doesn’t run away. He doesn’t change because someone pushes him.” Her eyes closed for an instant, not from sleep but from pain. “If he decided something... it would be because he decided it.”

Silence settled again. This time it was not hostile. It was introspective.

“And if I tried to break that...” Her voice dropped almost to a low murmur. “I would be breaking his path.”

Selena listened without interrupting, her gaze fixed on the road. The rhythm of the engine was steady, almost hypnotic.

Virka opened her eyes again. The territorial threat was still there, intact, but now it coexisted with something less clear. “I don’t want to lose him.” The words were simple, without adornment. “I don’t want to share him.” The tone hardened slightly, recalling the beast beneath the surface. “That doesn’t change.”

The traffic forced Selena to reduce speed slightly. A bus merged in front of them and then moved aside, leaving the lane clear.

“But I also don’t want to become something he would reject.”

The phrase remained floating, heavy, sincere in a way Virka rarely allowed.

Selena spoke for the first time since the previous question, her voice controlled, without unnecessary softness. “That means you understand more than you think.”

Virka let out a slow exhalation. The pain was still there. The lack of aura made every physical sensation feel rawer. She leaned slightly forward, resting her forearms on her legs, looking at the road stretching ahead of the car. “It doesn’t mean I accept it,” she said firmly. “It only means I don’t know what I would do.”

Selena nodded slightly, an almost imperceptible movement. “Not knowing is also an answer.”

The sun was rising slowly, bathing the city with warm light that contrasted with the cold that still seemed to envelop the inside of the vehicle. The day was truly beginning now, and with it an uncomfortable sensation of transition that neither of them could ignore.

Virka remained silent again, but her mind kept turning around the question. She imagined possibilities she had previously discarded automatically. They were not clear images, but unpleasant sensations, fragments colliding with her territorial instinct. Each one awakened a primary reaction: protect, claim, eliminate threats. However, alongside that impulse existed another force harder to accept: the understanding that Sebastián walked by his own choice, and that forcing that path would turn him into something different from what she had decided to follow.

The contradiction irritated her.

Her fingers closed slowly, marking the contained tension. It was not fear. It was frustration at something she could not resolve with strength or instinct.

“If someone else gets close,” she finally said, her voice lower but firm, “I don’t promise calm.” Her red eyes reflected again in the rearview mirror, intense despite the extreme exhaustion. “But I also can’t say I would break everything.” A pause. “Not yet.”

Selena did not respond immediately. She watched the flow of the city opening before them, the traffic lights changing, hurried people crossing streets, normality slowly reclaiming the world. “That is enough for now,” she said at last.

The automobile moved forward through the growing movement of the day. Silence returned, but it had changed shape. It was no longer confrontation or vigilance. It was a space where both processed something neither could resolve at that moment.

In the back seat, Virka slowly rested her head against the seat. The pain persisted, the fatigue was deep, but her gaze remained open, fixed on the light coming through the window. The new day offered no answers, only continuity.

And while the city fully awakened, the conflict that had been born in her mind did not disappear. It only settled in a deeper place, waiting for the moment when Sebastián’s path would demand a real decision.

The automobile continued moving through the increasingly steady flow of the morning, the city expanding around them like an organism slowly waking up. The first hours of the day were no longer a promise but a reality: active traffic lights, distant horns, pedestrians filling sidewalks still damp from the night’s humidity. Inside the vehicle, silence returned with a different weight after the words that had remained suspended between them. Virka remained in the back seat with her gaze fixed on the window, watching the concrete structures slide by one after another while the pain in her head persisted like a constant pulse, a discomfort that was no longer sharp but exhausting, a pressure that reminded her of the loss of the Battle Domain and the void it had left behind after disappearing. Fatigue accumulated in her muscles like a dense burden; every breath seemed to drag along the echo of the recent fight.

Several minutes passed before she broke the silence again. Her voice came out low, rough from physical wear. “Where is Sebastián?” There was no detour in the question. It was direct, necessary. Her red eyes reflected briefly in the glass before turning forward again. “Where exactly are we going?”

Selena kept both hands on the wheel, her posture intact, her gaze fixed on the road opening toward wider areas of the urban center. “The triangulation of the call I had with him was clear,” she replied with controlled calm. “His last recorded position points to the central park of this city.” She paused briefly as she changed lanes smoothly. “It is a large area. We are heading there.”

Virka listened in silence. The traffic flowed around them like a continuous river. The central park appeared in her mind as a diffuse image, an open space far too large for a simple search. Exhaustion weighed more heavily on her shoulders with every passing moment.

“I’ll let him know when we arrive,” Selena added without taking her eyes off the road.

There was a moment of stillness inside the vehicle. Virka briefly closed her eyes, letting the pain in her head expand and then descend in a heavy wave. She knew her body had reached its limit. The almost extinguished aura could not sustain her much longer in a state of constant alertness. The need for rest stopped being an option and became a biological command.

“Then I’ll sleep,” she finally said.

Selena did not respond immediately, but a slight inclination of her head indicated acceptance.

Virka took a deep breath, the air entering with difficulty due to the accumulated tension. “Wake me when we arrive.” There was a small pause, barely perceptible. “Despite everything... I trust you.” The words were not warm or gentle. They were a dry, direct statement, spoken with the raw honesty of someone too tired to disguise her thoughts. “I’ll trust you with my life for now.”

The phrase remained suspended inside the car like something unexpected.

Selena kept her gaze forward, but her fingers adjusted the pressure on the steering wheel slightly. She did not respond immediately. She simply let the silence absorb the statement.

Virka let out a long sigh. With slow, almost heavy movements, she brought a hand to her side and dropped the two crystal spheres onto the seat beside her. The transparent material caught the morning light, reflecting faint glimmers while the objects inside rested inert. She did not look at them again. She crossed her arms over her chest and rested her head against the seat. Her eyelids lowered slowly until they closed completely. Her body, accustomed to remaining in constant tension, took a few seconds to yield, but exhaustion finally won. Her breathing became slower, deeper. Sleep came not as peaceful rest, but as an inevitable fall after the absolute emptiness of aura.

The interior of the automobile fell silent once again.

Only Selena remained awake.

She exhaled softly, almost a sigh that was lost beneath the noise of the engine and the flow of traffic. She did not take her eyes off the road, but her thoughts shifted toward the back seat where Virka’s figure rested, still covered in dried blood and signs of combat. She had expected resistance, hostility, perhaps absolute distrust. She had not expected trust. Much less expressed so directly.

The surprise did not show on her face. Her expression remained cold, analytical, coherent with her nature. However, inwardly she recognized the weight of those words. Virka was not someone who granted trust easily. The fact that she had done so in that state revealed more than the beast herself possibly intended to show. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The vehicle continued moving forward. The morning progressed slowly. The sunlight rose and changed the color of the asphalt, transforming the gray tones into warmer surfaces. The shadows of the buildings shortened. The flow of people increased on sidewalks and crosswalks. The city left behind the silence of dawn to enter its usual rhythm.

Selena drove without haste, maintaining a constant speed. From time to time, a brief glance at the rearview mirror allowed her to confirm that Virka was still asleep. Her features, even at rest, retained a natural tension, as if her body did not know how to relax completely. Dark hair spread across the seatback, and the dangerous presence that had filled the Veil now seemed reduced to something silent, fragile only in appearance.

The crystal spheres rested beside her, motionless, reflecting occasional glimmers when the light changed angle. Selena watched them for a moment. She did not ask about them. She did not need to yet.

Time passed in small invisible transitions: a traffic light passed, an avenue crossed, an elevated bridge from which the distant green of the central park could be seen slowly approaching on the urban horizon. The morning advanced and with it the sensation that something new was beginning, even though it still had no clear form.

Selena maintained her firm posture, steady breathing, mind focused on the route. The silence in the car was not uncomfortable. It was a space suspended between what had happened and what was yet to come. For the first time in several hours, there was no combat, no immediate decisions, only the constant movement toward an uncertain destination.

As they drew closer to the central park, the traffic changed its dynamics. More family vehicles, more morning runners visible on nearby sidewalks, more signs of everyday life. The contrast with the violence of the previous night was almost absurd.

Selena allowed a brief thought to cross her mind: the image of Virka wounded not physically, but by something harder to measure. She had not expected to provoke that with a question. Yet the answer had come in the form of silence and unexpected trust.

She said nothing. She simply kept driving.

The morning light filled the interior of the vehicle completely as the car advanced toward the park, and in the back seat Virka continued sleeping, slowly recovering what she had completely consumed. The day was now fully awake, and time seemed to move with deceptive calm, as if allowing both of them a breath before the world’s next movement.

The automobile continued moving through the city while the morning finished settling over the concrete and glass of the buildings. The streets were already filled with constant movement: pedestrians quickening their pace, buses opening their doors at every stop, motorcycles cutting through lanes with the urgency typical of the start of the day. Inside the vehicle, however, time seemed to move at a different rhythm. Virka slept in the back seat, her breathing deep though irregular, her body still rigid even at rest, as if the habit of remaining alert did not allow her to surrender completely to sleep. The two crystal spheres rested beside her, catching flashes of light each time the car passed through more open areas.

Selena kept both hands on the wheel, posture straight, gaze fixed ahead. She drove with the automatic precision of someone accustomed to processing multiple variables without losing stability. The silence inside was almost absolute, interrupted only by the soft noise of the engine and the distant murmur of traffic filtering through the windows. The central park was still some distance away, but the route was already clear in her mind.

It was then that a brief sound broke the stillness.

A discreet tone vibrated from the compartment next to the gear lever, the space where she usually left small objects while driving. There rested a blue-gray hands-free device, small, with a perfectly circular shape designed to fit in the ear. The sound was not insistent nor shrill; it was precise, controlled, like everything related to those who could contact her directly.

Selena removed one hand from the wheel without haste. She took the device between her fingers and brought it to her right ear with a fluid movement, keeping the vehicle steady while traffic continued its rhythm around her. She pressed the earpiece and spoke in a low, professional tone. “Hello, Helena.”

The response came almost immediately from the other end of the line. Helena’s voice was firm, clear, with the natural authority of someone accustomed to directing without raising her volume. “Selena. How is the operation you are carrying out going?”

There was no unnecessary greeting. It was a conversation between superior and subordinate, but colored by years of mutual professional trust.

Selena kept her gaze on the road. “Everything is moving along well.”

There was a brief pause.

“Well?” Helena repeated with a slight inflection that did not quite reach open doubt, but was a calculated observation. The background noise on the call was minimal, as if Helena were in an environment as controlled as herself. “Interesting.”

Selena did not respond immediately. She smoothly changed lanes, avoiding a vehicle that was slowing down in front of her.

“It sounds as if you are trying to simplify something that is not simple,” Helena continued with analytical calm. “When you say everything is going well, it usually means you are hiding variables.”

The comment carried no reproach. It was a diagnosis.

Selena kept her tone steady. “The procedures are following their course.”

Helena let out a slight exhalation, almost imperceptible. “Procedures rarely change their behavior. Personal relationships do.” She paused briefly before continuing. “And when you move personally, instead of delegating, it is usually because something went outside the initial calculation.”

Traffic moved forward in waves. The sun already fully illuminated the city, reflecting on the windshield and casting intermittent flashes inside the vehicle. Selena did not take her eyes off the road.

“I’m managing a necessary variable,” she replied.

Helena did not contradict the statement, but her tone shifted slightly, revealing a deeper understanding. “The only person capable of altering your decisions outside the expected parameters... cannot be yourself.” The silence stretched for a moment. “Then it must be the anomaly.”

The term remained suspended in the air.

Sebastián.

The mention was unnecessary; both knew who she meant.

“And those allied with him,” Helena added with calm precision. “Virka.”

Selena held the wheel with the same firmness as before, but her breathing became slightly slower, almost imperceptibly so.

Helena continued, her tone always professional, never losing the hierarchical distance. “I am not asking about the operational result. I am asking about the change.” A brief pause. “What happened between the three of you for you to decide to intervene personally?”

The automobile passed by a wide intersection where the flow of people was beginning to intensify. Selena observed the peripheral movement without losing focus on the road.

“The circumstances required direct presence,” she finally replied.

Helena remained silent for a few seconds. She did not insist immediately, as if weighing the answer before moving forward.

“Selena,” she then said in a lower voice, though equally firm, “you rarely allow yourself to get involved beyond what is necessary. When you do, it is because something changed on the human level, not the strategic one.”

The phrase was not an accusation. It was an exact reading.

In the back seat, Virka moved slightly in her sleep, her breathing changing for a moment before stabilizing again. Selena noticed through the rearview mirror, but said nothing.

“There were no critical deviations,” she replied, choosing each word. “Only adjustments.”

Helena let out a brief sound, almost a restrained smile. “Adjustments.” She repeated the word as if testing it. “I understand.”

The city continued rushing around the vehicle. The central park was beginning to appear in the distance, a green expanse among buildings, still far but clearly visible.

“What I need to know,” Helena continued, “is whether those adjustments compromise your objectivity.”

Selena took a moment before responding. “No.”

The answer was immediate, firm, without hesitation.

Helena accepted the response without disputing it, although the silence that followed made it clear she did not take it without analysis. “Very well. Keep me informed when you locate Sebastián.” Then she added, with a slightly softer but still professional tone: “And remember that not everything can be reduced to procedures.”

The call ended.

Selena removed the hands-free device from her ear and placed it back in the compartment beside the gear lever. Her hand returned to the wheel with the same precision with which it had left. There were no visible changes in her expression. However, the echo of the conversation remained in her mind like a silent current.

She looked through the rearview mirror once more. Virka was still asleep, her face relaxed only in appearance, her body still charged with residual tension. The trust she had given her moments earlier continued to resonate in her memory, unexpected, difficult to classify within her usual frameworks.

Selena exhaled softly, almost imperceptibly.

The automobile continued moving forward as the morning finished consolidating. The shadows shortened. The urban noise increased. The world continued its course indifferent.

Ahead of them, the central park approached slowly, a broad expanse of trees and paths that promised answers or new problems. Inside the vehicle, silence settled again, but now it carried with it the awareness that even those who seemed immutable could be observed, analyzed, questioned.

Selena kept her gaze forward.

The journey was not over yet.

he automobile continued moving through the city while the morning advanced toward its final stretch, and time seemed to stretch between saturated avenues and endless lines of vehicles that forced them to slow down again and again. The traffic had transformed into a heavy flow, a slow current where every meter gained was a small concession from urban chaos. On both sides of the road the city was fully awake: street vendors setting up on corners, hurried office workers crossing pedestrian lanes, crowded buses stopping abruptly to let passengers on and off. The constant noise of engines, horns, and voices blended into a layer of sound that seemed to envelop everything, a reminder that the world continued its routine indifferent to any invisible conflict.

Selena kept her hands firm on the wheel, moving forward with measured patience through the congestion. The central park was not yet fully visible, but she knew it was close; the route had been clear from the beginning and the time lost in traffic was the only real obstacle. The sunlight had changed, higher and warmer now, casting short shadows on the asphalt and passing through the windshield with a clarity that left little room for the residual darkness of the previous night.

In the back seat, Virka remained asleep, her breathing deep and steady, though her body retained a certain rigidity even at rest. The crystal spheres remained beside her, motionless, catching brief reflections when the car turned or when the light entered from another angle. The presence of the beast seemed subdued, contained by extreme exhaustion, but even asleep she retained something unsettling, as if any disturbance could wake her immediately.

The slow progress of traffic allowed Selena’s thoughts to drift toward places she normally kept under strict control. It was not her habit to analyze personal relationships beyond their operational utility, but the journey had been long and the silence insistent. The conversation with Helena still echoed in her mind, as did Virka’s words before she fell asleep. She had not ignored the weight of that unexpected trust nor the tension that had arisen around Sebastián. For Selena, relationships were structures that had to be defined to avoid dangerous ambiguities. The most efficient thing would be to confirm with Sebastián at what point their bond stood: allies, collaborators, perhaps friends, or simply professional connections that had to remain within clear limits. It was not an emotional matter. It was order. Clarity.

She thought also of Virka. The relationship between them had not progressed beyond what was necessary. There was no friendship. No real closeness. Only an equilibrium built on convenience and shared circumstances. Virka trusted to a certain degree because she recognized usefulness and capability, nothing more. Selena understood that and expected nothing else. In a way, it was better that way. Relationships defined by necessity were easier to control.

Traffic began moving more fluidly after several minutes of being stalled. The automobile advanced along a wider avenue and, finally, the green mass of the central park appeared in the distance among the buildings. It was an extensive space, almost disproportionate in the middle of the concrete, with trees of different heights forming a natural mosaic that contrasted with the urban rigidity. Wide paths could be seen, scattered cultural structures, statues rising among well-kept gardens, and groups of people engaging in various activities: morning runners, families walking, street artists preparing equipment, tourists stopped in front of sculptures.

Time seemed to have passed faster than expected. Selena’s internal analysis had occupied enough mental space for the remaining distance to disappear without her fully noticing.

Reducing speed, she merged onto a side road leading toward one of the main entrances to the park. A few hundred meters still remained when she noticed movement in the rearview mirror.

Virka opened her eyes.

The awakening was silent, but immediate. There was no confusion. Her red gaze regained focus within seconds, though exhaustion was still present in the way she slowly adjusted her posture. She sat up slightly, observing the surroundings through the window as her breathing stabilized.

Selena spoke before she could ask. “I was just about to wake you.”

Virka brought a hand to her temple, feeling the residue of the pain that still persisted, though less intense than before. Sleep had eased part of the exhaustion, giving her some clarity back. Her eyes fixed on the park stretching ahead of them.

“When we get closer,” she said in a low but firm voice, “it will be better to get out of the vehicle.”

Selena kept her gaze forward. “Any specific reason?”

Virka closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating. The mark that bound her to Sebastián began to vibrate faintly, a distant resonance that did not come from a fixed point. “The mark is reacting,” she explained. “It resonates with the park... but he isn’t in the same place.” Her tone became more serious. “The only possibility left is that he’s inside the Veil.”

The words remained suspended as the vehicle continued moving slowly forward.

“To enter,” Virka continued, “I’ll have to activate my aura. I’ll extend it over you as well so that both of us can cross.”

Selena absorbed the information without altering her expression. She had expected something similar to happen; Sebastián rarely remained where he seemed to be.

“Understood,” she replied calmly.

The automobile moved forward a few more meters. The park now rose before them in its full breadth, filled with everyday life unaware of the possibility of hidden planes layered over its reality. People laughed, walked, ran without knowing that, under certain conditions, that same place could become something else.

Virka observed the movement outside with renewed attention. Although the exhaustion had not completely disappeared, her posture was firm again. The rest had returned enough energy for her to act.

Selena reduced speed, looking for a suitable place to stop the vehicle before the main entrance. The morning continued advancing, the sun high and clear over the city.

Inside the automobile, both understood that the journey had ended.

What came next would be something else.

The automobile finally stopped in a side area near one of the main entrances to the central park, where the line of vehicles moved slowly and everyday life continued with the indifference typical of a late morning. The engine shut off and for a moment the silence inside seemed denser than the noise outside. Outside, people walked leisurely along paths, runners crossed the entrance with headphones on, families and tourists dispersed under the shade of the trees, unaware of any danger that might exist beyond their immediate perception. Selena removed her hands from the wheel and briefly observed the surroundings before opening the door. Virka was already fully awake, her red gaze focused toward the park while something invisible seemed to gently pull her attention from within.

Both stepped out of the vehicle. The morning air was cooler under the shade of the nearby trees, but charged with the vibrant energy of the awakened city. Virka remained still for a few seconds, eyes narrowed, as if listening to something that could not be heard normally. The mark that bound her to Sebastián began to resonate more intensely; it was neither pain nor heat, but a deep vibration that crossed her chest and extended toward the park like an invisible thread. Every second strengthened the signal.

“He’s close,” she murmured, though her tone held no absolute certainty. “But not here.”

Selena watched her with controlled attention. Before taking another step, she spoke with precise calm. “Before proceeding... I want to confirm something.” Her gaze briefly dropped toward Virka’s hand, where the aura was beginning to show itself faintly as a dark shadow. “The aura. Is it the same type of power Sebastián used to heal Helena?”

Virka turned her face toward her, surprised only enough for it to show in a slight tension of her jaw. “Yes. It’s my power.” She paused briefly. “But it isn’t the same as his. The origin is different.”

“Why ask now?” she added without looking away.

Selena kept her posture straight, her voice neutral. “I was waiting for the right moment.” Her eyes evaluated the surroundings once more. “Not inside the automobile. I needed to rule out possibilities before entering.” She paused briefly, measured. “While parking, I analyzed something. If what you call aura were the direct manifestation of a presence... then I would have felt another reaction near the park.” Her gaze returned to Virka. “It didn’t happen. So I discarded that theory.”

Virka held her gaze for a few seconds before nodding slowly. “You’re correct. Aura is not presence. It is energy.” She offered no further details. It was not necessary.

Without adding more words, Virka extended her hand and placed her fingers on Selena’s shoulder. The contact was firm, direct. An instant later, the black aura emerged.

The energy surged like a liquid shadow spreading with a will of its own, wrapping around Selena’s shoulder and moving over her body in a thin, controlled layer, without visible aggression but charged with a contained force difficult to describe. Selena felt the change immediately. The cold came first, a sudden drop in the temperature of her skin, followed by a deeper sensation, as if something fierce moved through every fiber searching for possible paths of destruction and yet remained perfectly restrained. It was an energy that spoke of battles survived, of violence mastered by absolute will. It was not indiscriminate chaos. It was a beast chained by its own decision.

Selena remained still, her breathing steady despite the intensity of the sensation. She showed no discomfort or fear. She simply registered the experience with analytical precision, understanding that this was not merely power, but the living imprint of everything Virka had endured.

The aura finished enveloping her.

The environment changed.

The transition into the Veil was not a sudden leap, but a slow overlay that distorted reality before them. The colors of the park began to fade, human voices dimmed as if absorbed by an infinite distance, and the air grew heavy, charged with invisible pressure. When the change ended, the park was still there... and at the same time no longer existed.

Where clean paths and well-kept trees had stood before, a devastated landscape now stretched out. Deep craters marked the ground like open scars. Benches and structures were destroyed, twisted by violent forces. Uprooted trees lay tilted at impossible angles, their trunks split like broken bones. The silence of the place was absolute, an unnatural silence that seemed to absorb even thought.

Selena scanned the scene while the pressure began to settle inside her body. It was not an external force crushing her; it was an internal sensation, as if something invisible was trying to compress her from within outward.

And then they saw it.

A pillar of energy rose from the center of the park, dark and blackened, crossed by bright veins similar to liquid moonlight that coiled in violet spirals. It ascended toward the sky of the Veil without seeming to have an end, a living column whose presence altered the very perception of space. At mid-height, embedded within it, a suspended cocoon could be distinguished, pulsing faintly as if it contained something that had not yet fully awakened.

Behind the pillar, partially covered by its immensity, stood the entity.

A figure shaped like a gigantic butterfly, about thirty meters in length, whose body combined beauty and corruption in an impossible balance. Six pairs of translucent wings stretched slowly, displaying spectral patterns that shifted with the nonexistent light of the Veil. Long antennae floated like filaments of black light. The central body was stylized, almost elegant, yet visually fractured between perfection and decay. The face was a white expressionless mask, broken on one side to reveal an ethereal smile that conveyed not life, but something older and unknown.

The creature remained behind the pillar like a silent guardian, motionless and yet profoundly present.

The pressure increased.

Both Virka and Selena felt something inside them being pushed downward, as if the mere fact of existing in that space implied an unbearable burden. Selena maintained her firm posture despite the cold now running through her body along with the echo of Virka’s aura. Virka, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes, the mark on her chest vibrating with greater intensity.

“This isn’t just the Veil,” she murmured in a low voice. “Something is holding it up.”

The nonexistent wind of the place barely moved Virka’s dark hair while both stood facing the devastation, understanding that whatever had happened there surpassed any recent confrontation.

The real park remained full of life on the other side of reality.

Here... only ruins, silence, and that immense presence watching them from behind the infinite pillar remained.

__________________________________________________________________

END OF Chapter 75

The path continues...

New Chapters are revealed every

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