My Shard Bearer System - Elias's Legacy-Chapter 213: Red Lined Question

The ache of Kikaru’s absence was still in him. So was Dot’s silence. But the question wasn’t just a distraction—it was a bridge, something to grab onto as the void pressed closer.

The godless crucifix squinted slightly, holding Elias’s soul aloft in one hand. His silver eyes narrowed, that ever-present smile curling again at the corners of his mouth.

The room didn’t change.

But the air around his voice bent just enough to respond to the name.

"No," he said. "I’m not afraid of the sun."

The mist at his feet twisted once, curling upward like it wanted to grin with him.

"But I’ll admit..." he continued, eyes narrowing with a distant glint, "the legends didn’t come from nowhere."

He studied Elias’s form for a beat, then tilted his head back slightly.

"I once fought a man like that. White hair, white coat, blue trimmings along the sleeves—fancy stuff. Had a sword drawn in silver, made from sharpened Aetheric glass. Told me he was going to free this realm with his bare hands."

He let the memory settle.

"Eventually, he did."

The crucifix’s smile didn’t break, but his voice lowered a shade.

"He earned it. Freed himself... and his girlfriend, too. They were stubborn. Messy. But committed."

His gaze shifted down to Elias’s glow again, the smile sharpening just slightly.

"Reminds me of someone."

Elias’s pulse flared once. He didn’t back away—just hovered more still than before, his voice softer but steady.

"I... why are you telling me this?"

His words weren’t laced with fear anymore—just confusion wrapped in something else. A quiet question beneath the question:The godless crucifix tilted his head.

His silver eyes narrowed again, that same unreadable light threading through them like a reflection of stars that never belonged to this sky. The faint smile curled once more at the corners of his mouth—not warm, but deliberate. Measured.

He studied Elias’s soul for a long beat.

"I believe in fairness," he said.

His voice didn’t rise. It pressed outward—deep and resonant, threading through the Expanse like a tremor that passed through no air at all.

"Even those who start weak can do what those born strong cannot."

The crimson mist stirred at his feet, coiling tighter, as if feeding off the truth behind his words. The crystalline walls shivered in sync, their bone lattice responding with faint tremors that reached through the seams in the floor.

He took one step back—just one—but it carried the weight of retreating from a conclusion. Something had shifted.

Then the doors opened.

They didn’t creak. They groaned—deep and heavy, the kind of sound that suggested age and purpose. The carved runes lining their surface lit with a slow, pale blue glow, soul energy running across them in lines like veins. The sound echoed through the chamber like thunder heard from inside a tomb. Even the air trembled as the slabs settled into place.

Elias’s glow tightened reflexively.

Then she entered.

The woman he’d seen earlier stepped through the doorway, brushing a few strands of auburn hair back behind her ear. It had loosened from her braid again—just enough to frame her face in soft arcs. Her hands were stained with green and gold—residue from the vials she’d been working with, still faintly shimmering in the dim light.

She didn’t flinch at the presence in the room. freewebnøvel_com

Didn’t even pause.

"Dracula, sir," she said, stepping to the edge of the crystalline floor. Her voice carried cleanly—unafraid, direct, and practiced. "I’ve keyed in the coordinates for the Giselsin Planet. It’s currently orbiting at a drift of 42 kilometers an hour."

She tapped a small device on her wrist, the screen flickering open, projecting shifting lines and planetary models into the open air.

"If we fire his soul at a 37-degree arc," she continued, eyes still fixed on the readout, "he’ll land on the western side of the capital. Quiet sector. Good cover."

Her voice didn’t waver.

"That region is currently controlled by a neutral family line with confirmed wealth, influence, and minimal alignment with either ruling faction. If he’s reborn into their care, the environment will give him the highest probability of success."

She looked up then—calm, but focused.

"This placement ensures the best chance at acquiring the gemstone."The godless crucifix tilted his head, just slightly.

His silver eyes remained on Emma as she stepped back from the projection, the screen flickering shut with a soft chime. His expression barely shifted—but the faint smile at the corners of his mouth deepened by a fraction, his presence casting a ripple through the mist at his feet.

"Perfect," he said.

Each word rang with intent, crisp and final. The crimson mist coiled tighter. The crystalline walls responded with a faint, echoing tremor that hummed underfoot, as if the space itself acknowledged the command.

"Thank you, my dear Emma."

His tone dipped—warmer, but still impossibly heavy. The words didn’t fall like conversation. They landed like pillars being set into place.

Elias’s glow pulsed, the pressure around his form twisting slightly as his voice cut through the room again, lined with both tension and disbelief.

"Okay... but how do you just casually have a girl working for you?" he asked.

"Is that... normal? In this not-quite-space full of soul traps and mist and scary architecture?"

He hovered forward an inch, flickering slightly at the edges.

"This whole place looks like a funeral for the end of time, and she’s out here with a clipboard and soul chemistry."

His voice wasn’t panicked—it was trying to ground something. The ache of Kikaru’s absence and Dot’s capture still sat behind the words, but now there was the sharp bite of trying to make sense of everything at once.

The crucifix didn’t bristle.

He just turned—slow, fluid—his silver eyes locking back onto Elias’s soul.

"It only feels random," he said, "because you’re still tied to a linear perspective."

He motioned loosely toward the chamber around them, the fractured sky beyond the walls bleeding faint starlight through the spires.

"This realm isn’t chaos. It’s just vast. Just layered. Space here is unlimited, yes—but not empty."

The red lining of his cloak shimmered in the low light as he turned again, facing the center of the room.

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