The Extra's Rise-Chapter 798: Meaning of Love (4)

Three hours after Jack’s escape through the black rose portal, reinforcements finally arrived in numbers that could actually make a difference.

I stood atop the ruins of what had once been the Imperial Palace, my transformed senses cataloging the scope of devastation that stretched across Avalon City like an open wound. Thirty million people had called this place home that morning. Now, thanks to Elara’s sacrifice, most of them would see another sunrise—but the city itself would never be the same.

Military hover-vehicles from all five continents converged on the capital in formations that painted the sky with their running lights, while emergency medical teams deployed across every district to handle casualties that numbered in the hundreds of thousands despite Elara’s miraculous intervention. The political ramifications alone would reshape international relations for decades.

’Arthur,’ came Luna’s voice in my mind, carrying undertones of concern that had nothing to do with external threats, ’there’s someone who wants to speak with you.’

Before I could ask what she meant, reality shimmered around me—not the aggressive rewriting that characterized my Mythweaver Domain, but something gentler, like stepping from one room into another through a doorway that hadn’t existed moments before.

I found myself standing in a space that felt both familiar and impossible—the penthouse garden where I had proposed to Reika, but somehow existing outside normal time and space. The violet flowers bloomed with impossible perfection, while the city lights beyond the railing showed Avalon as it had been that morning, whole and peaceful and alive.

"Congratulations on the Third Gift," said a voice I recognized as my own.

I turned to see myself—or rather, the original Arthur Nightingale, the one who had lived this life before I arrived to change it. He looked exactly as I remembered from when I saw him last in this form.

"You," I said with recognition that carried no surprise. "I wondered if you were still... aware."

"Always," Original Arthur replied with a sad smile. "I’ve been watching everything unfold. You’ve done better than I ever could have imagined."

He gestured toward the impossible garden around us, where flowers bloomed in patterns that told stories of their own. "Mythweaver. The power to literally rewrite reality through narrative force."

"It came at a cost," I said quietly, thinking of Elara’s peaceful face as the light faded from her eyes. "A cost I’m not sure was worth paying."

Original Arthur’s expression grew somber as he studied my face with the understanding of someone who shared every memory except the most recent ones. "You loved her too, didn’t you? Even though you started courting her for strategic reasons."

"I did," I admitted, the words carrying weight I hadn’t expected. "Not the same way I love the others, but... she was special. Pure in a way that made everyone around her want to be better."

"And now she’s gone, and you have the power you always needed to protect everyone else," Original Arthur said with the kind of bitter wisdom that came from understanding cosmic ironies. "It’s bittersweet, isn’t it? Getting everything you wanted after losing someone you cared about."

I nodded, feeling the truth of it settle in my chest like a stone. "The Third Gift, Immortal-rank power, eight-circle magic—all of it came because she died. Because I failed to save her despite having five other women who trust me to protect them."

"That’s not how it works," Original Arthur said gently. "Power doesn’t come from failure, Arthur. It comes from choosing to grow beyond your limitations even when growth hurts. Elara’s death wasn’t the price of your advancement—it was the catalyst that showed you what you were already capable of becoming."

Before I could respond, the garden around us began to shift and change, the impossible flowers transforming into displays of light and energy that formed patterns I somehow understood despite their complexity.

"There’s something else," Original Arthur continued, his expression growing serious. "Something you need to see."

The lights coalesced into a three-dimensional map that showed not just our world, but others—dozens of planets connected by streams of energy that pulsed with familiar power. At the center of the constellation sat a world that radiated authority so intense it made my new Immortal-rank abilities feel insignificant by comparison.

"Now that you’ve reached Immortal-rank and unlocked Mythweaver, you’re ready for the next stage. The summoning network that brought the demon duke here can be reversed, but only by someone with your current power level."

The implications crystallized with horrible clarity. "You’re saying I can use it to travel to other worlds. To train beyond what’s possible on Earth."

"To become strong enough to protect not just your family and this world, but entire cosmic regions that will face threats you can’t even imagine yet," Original Arthur said with absolute seriousness. "But the window is closing. The network requires enormous power to activate, and it’s been draining since the duke’s arrival. You have maybe an hour before it becomes unusable."

An hour. To say goodbye to everyone I cared about, to explain why I had to leave when they needed me most, to somehow make them understand that temporary abandonment was the only way to ensure their permanent safety.

"How long?" I asked, though I suspected I already knew the answer would be devastating.

"Two years minimum. Maybe longer, depending on how quickly you can master the training that’s waiting." Original Arthur’s expression grew sympathetic as he watched my face process the implications. "I know what you’re thinking. Two years feels like forever when you’re leaving behind people you love."

"Stella," I whispered, thinking of my nine-year-old adopted daughter who had already lost so much. "How do I explain to her that Daddy has to go away for two years?"

"You don’t explain," Original Arthur said gently. "You promise to come back stronger. You promise that when you return, no one will ever be able to hurt the people you love again."

The garden around us began to fade as reality reasserted itself, but Original Arthur’s final words carried clearly through the transition: "Tiamat will help you activate the portal when the time comes. She’s been preparing for this moment since the day you first arrived in this world."

I found myself back on the palace ruins, with Luna’s concerned presence immediately wrapping around my consciousness. ’Arthur? You were unresponsive for several minutes. What happened?’

"I know what I have to do," I replied, then activated my communication systems to contact everyone who mattered. "And I have less than an hour to do it."

The next forty-five minutes passed in a blur of desperate farewells and hasty explanations that couldn’t possibly convey the necessity of what I was about to do. My parents understood with the practical wisdom that had made them successful in business—sometimes the hardest decisions were the most important ones. Aria hugged me with the fierce determination of someone who had grown into a remarkable young woman despite everything our family had endured.

Rachel, Cecilia, Rose, Seraphina, and Reika gathered around me with expressions that mixed support with barely controlled grief. They understood better than anyone what kind of threats required this level of preparation, but that intellectual understanding couldn’t ease the emotional cost of separation.

"Two years," Cecilia said with royal authority that couldn’t quite hide her tears. "You’d better come back exactly when you promise, Arthur. No delays, no extensions, no heroic sacrifices that keep you away longer."

"I’ll be counting the days," Reika whispered, her violet eyes reflecting absolute faith despite her obvious pain. "Every single one."

But it was Stella who broke my heart completely.

My nine-year-old daughter clung to me with desperate strength, her mathematical mind trying to process concepts that were too large and painful for any child to fully understand.

"But why do you have to go, Daddy?" she sobbed into my shoulder. "Can’t you just stay here and protect us? You’re already so strong!"

"Because I need to become stronger," I explained as gently as possible while feeling time slip away like sand through my fingers. "Strong enough that no one can ever hurt our family again. Strong enough to keep you safe forever."

"Two years is seven hundred and thirty days," she whispered with the precision that had always characterized her approach to difficult emotions. "That’s so many days, Daddy."

"I know, sweetheart. But when I come back, we’ll have forever. And forever is much longer than seven hundred and thirty days."

The summoning circle began to activate beneath my feet, ancient runes carved into stone that had been prepared by forces I was only beginning to understand. Power flowed through the geometric patterns with increasing intensity, while dimensional barriers grew thin enough to breach.

That’s when I felt her.

Tiamat’s presence touched my consciousness like the memory of infinite space and eternal fire, her primordial mana flowing through the summoning network to ensure its successful activation.

’Little Nightingale,’ her voice resonated through dimensions with amused affection, ’ready to spread your wings beyond this small world?’

"Ready," I confirmed, though saying goodbye to Stella’s tearstained face was the hardest thing I had ever done.

The portal erupted into existence with light that temporarily blinded everyone present, its edges crackling with energies that spoke to technologies and magics far beyond terrestrial understanding. Through the radiance, I could see glimpses of another world—alien skies, impossible architectures, and power signatures that made my new Immortal-rank abilities feel like a candle compared to the sun.

"I love you all," I called out as the portal’s pull became irresistible. "I’ll come back strong enough to protect everything we’ve built."

The last thing I saw before the dimensional transition consumed me was Stella’s brave attempt to smile through her tears, waving goodbye to the father who had promised to become powerful enough to keep his word.

Two years. Seven hundred and thirty days.

Time to become the protector my family deserved.

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