Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 445

Chapter 445: War XVIII

Aiden and his team gasped as reality snapped back into place. They were once again standing on the ruined battlefield, as if nothing had happened.

But something had changed. The energy lingering in the air was gone. The chasm that led to the figure’s presence had vanished, as though it had never been there.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Then, finally, Myne broke the silence.

“…What the hell was that?”

Aiden exhaled slowly, his thoughts spinning. “Something big,” he murmured. “Bigger than anything we’ve faced before.”

Rick crossed his arms. “And we’re just supposed to wait until this ‘truth’ reveals itself?”

Aiden shook his head. “No. We find it first. Before it finds us.”

His team exchanged glances, then nodded in unison.

Because if what that figure had said was true, their war against the Abyss was only the beginning.

The journey back to their base was marked by silence, each of them lost in thought. The weight of the encounter lingered in the air like an unshakable presence, pressing down on their minds.

Aiden led the way, his steps steady but his mind anything but. Marked. Chosen. A conflict older than the Abyss. The figure’s words echoed in his head, refusing to fade.

Back at the stronghold, the team regrouped in the war room. A holographic map hovered over the central table, displaying the most recent battle data. But tonight, strategy and tactics felt secondary.

Rick leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Alright, let’s just get this out there. What the hell was that back there? Some kind of Abyssal trick? Or something worse?”

Dren frowned. “If it was a trick, they didn’t attack us. That means either they wanted to warn us… or test us.”

Myne, who had been silent since they arrived, finally spoke. “It felt real. And… familiar.”

Aiden turned to her sharply. “Familiar how?”

She hesitated, her crimson eyes shadowed. “Not the figure itself, but the way the space bent around them. Like they weren’t just in that place. They were that place.”

Rick exhaled. “Great. So, we ran into a living paradox.”

Aiden ignored the sarcasm. “The bigger question is—why me? Why did they say I was marked?”

Myne studied him. “You’ve always been different, Aiden. Stronger, faster, more… attuned. Maybe this ‘marking’ has been with you all along, and you just never knew.”

Aiden clenched his fist. He had always pushed himself to the limit, always fought harder, but he had assumed it was just his drive—his will to protect. Not something preordained.

Dren rubbed his temples. “So what do we do? Just wait for the next cryptic shadow to show up and drop another bombshell?”

“No.” Aiden’s voice was firm. He looked at the map, his golden eyes burning with determination. “We dig. We find out who or what marked me, and what it means. And we find out what they meant by this ‘cosmic war.'”

Rick smirked. “That’s more like it. And where do we start?”

Aiden’s gaze moved to a marked point on the map—one of the few places the Abyss never attacked.

“The Ruins of Vael’Theris,” he said.

Myne’s expression darkened. “That place is cursed.”

“Or it holds answers,” Aiden countered.

Silence stretched for a moment. Then, one by one, his team nodded.

Because no matter how dangerous the path ahead was, they all knew the truth—

Waiting for answers was never an option.

Aiden and his team stood before the towering remnants of Vael’Theris, an ancient city swallowed by time and shadow. Once a beacon of civilization, now it was nothing more than ruins wrapped in an eerie silence, untouched by the Abyss.

Strange symbols covered the broken stone walls, pulsing faintly as if whispering to those who dared to approach. Aiden could feel it—the same unsettling presence from the battlefield.

“This place is wrong,” Myne muttered, eyes scanning the ruins. “It’s not abandoned. It’s… waiting.”

Rick adjusted his gauntlets. “Great. Love places that wait to kill us.”

Dren crouched near the entrance, running his fingers over the ground. “No tracks. Nothing living has passed through here in years.”

Aiden stepped forward, feeling a pull deep within his chest—the mark. It reacted to this place. He took a breath and activated his Spirit Sense, sending waves of energy through the ruins. The response was instant.

A whisper. A pulse. A presence stirring.

Something was here. And it knew they had arrived.

“Stay sharp,” Aiden warned.

They advanced cautiously, moving through the crumbling archways and broken columns. The deeper they went, the heavier the air became, pressing against their chests like an unseen force.

At the heart of the ruins, they found it.

A massive obsidian monolith, covered in the same glowing symbols as the walls. The pulsing intensified, growing in rhythm with Aiden’s heartbeat.

Then—

A voice.

“At last… the marked one stands before the gate.”

The shadows shifted, coalescing into a form—tall, robed, with piercing, hollow eyes. It wasn’t Abyssal, nor was it fully corporeal.

Aiden stepped forward, gripping his sword. “Who are you?”

The figure tilted its head. “A question best reserved for yourself. You bear the mark, yet you do not know what you are.”

Aiden’s grip tightened. “Then tell me.”

The being raised a skeletal hand, pointing at the monolith. “Beyond this gate lies your past… and your fate. But knowledge comes at a cost.”

The air trembled. The ruins groaned. The symbols flared brighter.

“Will you claim what was meant for you?” the figure asked.

Aiden hesitated, feeling the weight of the decision. Then, with a steady breath, he reached out—

And the world shattered.

Aiden’s vision blurred as reality fractured around him. His outstretched hand made contact with the monolith, and in an instant, his consciousness was wrenched from the present.

The ruins, his team, even his own body—gone.

Instead, he stood in a vast expanse of swirling darkness, where whispers echoed from unseen mouths. The air crackled with energy, neither light nor shadow, but something in between.

Then, the whispers ceased.

A single voice spoke.

“You have come at last, bearer of the mark.”

Aiden turned. Before him stood a towering figure—clad in silver-black armor, its face hidden behind a jagged, obsidian mask. The figure radiated a presence that sent a cold shiver down Aiden’s spine.

“You do not know what you are… what you were meant to become.”

Aiden’s fists clenched. “Then tell me. Enough riddles.”

The masked figure extended a hand, and the darkness shifted. A scene unfolded—a vision of a war unlike any other.

Blazing celestial armies clashed with monstrous entities of writhing void. Titans of light and abyss locked in combat, their strikes shaking the very fabric of existence. Among them, a lone warrior stood at the battlefield’s center, wielding a sword of pure radiance, cutting down both gods and horrors alike.

Aiden’s breath caught.

The warrior… was him.

Or rather, someone who looked exactly like him.

“You were not always Aiden.”

“You were once the Harbinger of Equilibrium—the one who stood between creation and oblivion.”

The scene changed. The warrior raised his sword, preparing for a final strike—one that could end the war. But before the blade could descend, a force intervened.

A fracture. A split.

And then—nothing.

Darkness. Oblivion. Silence.

Until now.

Aiden staggered back. His mind reeled from the implications. “That’s not possible. I… I was born in the mortal realm. I lived my life—I wasn’t some celestial warrior!”

The masked figure stepped forward, voice unyielding.

“You were shattered. Cast into the cycle of reincarnation. Your memories—your power—sealed away until the time was right.”

“And now… the seal is breaking.”

Aiden felt a searing burn in his chest. The mark on his body pulsed, its golden glow intensifying.

It was awakening.

The figure loomed over him.

“The choice remains. Will you reclaim your past… or will you remain bound to the illusion of who you are now?”

Aiden’s mind raced. If this was true… if he was truly meant to be something more… then what did that mean for everything he had fought for?

His team. His friends. His mission against the Abyss.

Were they all just remnants of a life that was never meant to be?

His fists tightened.

No.

“I don’t care who I was,” Aiden said, his voice resolute. “I decide who I am now.”

The figure was silent for a long moment. Then, a low chuckle echoed through the void.

“Then prove it.”

The darkness collapsed inward.

Aiden barely had time to brace himself before reality snapped back into place.

Vael’Theris Ruins – Present

Aiden gasped as he fell back, breaking contact with the monolith. His team surrounded him, their voices urgent.

“Aiden! Are you alright?!” Myne’s voice was laced with worry.

Rick’s eyes darted to the monolith, then back to Aiden. “What the hell just happened? You were standing there, glowing like a damn beacon!”

Aiden steadied his breathing, his mind still spinning.

He could feel it—something inside him had changed. The mark was no longer dormant. It pulsed with power, as if responding to an unseen force.

But more than that…

He knew that the war he was fighting now was only the beginning.