Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 177: The Timeless and Spirals

Uriel’s vision went dark, and he blinked.

When he reopened his eyes, he realized they had already reached their destination.

The dome of energy covering the floating platform shook, then burst apart, revealing a gigantic hall within which they had arrived.

The floors were made of cold silver steel, the walls of dark ruby-red crystal rising and vanishing into ridiculously large ceilings, curling inward toward a roof of stained glass in red and dark blue hues.

Light poured down from the ceilings, drowning the hall in a majestically eerie radiance.

The air was cold, the vastness of the hall unfathomable for mere humans, and the grandeur of it all overwhelming.

Uriel stood in awe as his gaze panned across the entire hall, taking everything in with a thundering heart and glistening eyes.

’This is beautiful.’

He fully turned around, and his gaze panned down from the stained-glass ceiling toward a gigantic gate standing in the distance, entirely made of gold, standing out like a sore thumb amidst the hall.

Upon the gate, various beasts and heroes were sculpted, the etched fresque depicting an ancient war between man and beast.

His heart skipped a beat and he nearly fainted from sheer shock and excitement.

His head snapped toward Mariah. "W-who made this hall...? Which architect built this heaven?"

"Who?!"

Mariah rolled her eyes and ignored him, stepping off the floating platform and beginning to make her way toward the gate.

Uriel sheepishly followed, still awestruck.

"This is the Spiral Core Hall. Everything above was not built by the tools of the Spiral House but rather by summoned spirit workers."

"It is the lowest of the low because only the Spiral Master deserves the best. If you wish, in the future, you may redesign the entire House and Tower."

"The tools of the Spiral House will also extend to your dimensional space since the two are now one and the same, so you’ll also be able to design it as you wish."

Uriel bit his lip, holding back tears as his fists tightened and his heart slowly calmed.

’God truly rewards the patient and the martyrs.’

Ignoring his dramatic display, Mariah continued.

"Uriel, what do you know of your world?" Her voice suddenly became impossibly serious.

"What do you know about Ithuril?"

Hearing those words awakened Uriel from his folly, and his rose-coloured eyes glimmered, his aether presence unknowingly blooming as he focused.

The air suddenly became several degrees colder and gravity seemed to grow... heavier.

Mariah didn’t react.

Uriel softly smiled. "I don’t know much."

"I know our planet has five continents and one gigantic ocean, taking up most, if not all, of the remaining space."

"I also know our world is led by three main factions: the Mercury Star Federation, the Elemental Heaven Association, and the Azure Sky Armies."

"As I said, I know the basics."

Mariah remained silent for a couple of moments.

"You know quite a lot for a child who grew up away from the world and its civilizations."

Uriel’s smile widened. "And you know quite a bit about me for a spirit who is supposed to only exist within this trial’s space."

Mariah shrugged. "I do."

Then she fell silent again as they continued walking.

Their steps echoed across the hall, as did their rhythmic breaths, which fogged against the cold air and brushed against their skin like smoke escaping a chimney.

It didn’t bother Uriel in the least. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked alongside her, continuing to marvel at the hall.

He almost found it thrilling to be in such situations without his spark. Not because he enjoyed being deprived of it, but because it excited him.

He was eager to know what he would be able to do when he got it back. He was only a couple of evolutions away.

"Ithuril, or Ithurial for some, is a strange world." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

At last, Mariah broke the silence.

"It is a strange world, and thus it births strange people."

"More accurately, Ithuril has three specific ’special’ types of people. There are what you call the ’regressors’, those who swim across time. Then there are the ’travellers’, those whose minds have wandered to other worlds and come back."

"And finally, you have the ’anomalies’, those like you who simply do not make sense. They innately break limits."

Uriel’s smile mellowed and his expression became neutral, but he didn’t interrupt. He listened calmly.

Even the little fox on his head had awoken, seemingly sensing that something important was about to happen.

It curiously observed the conversation.

"These types of people are known across the wider universe as the ’Starless Axis Chosen’."

Uriel’s brow furrowed as he remembered something he had seen multiple times on his status.

...

•>Natal Spark: <Dormant>

•>Starless Spark: <Dormant>

•>Forbidden Taboo Spark: <Dormant>

...

’Starless and... forbidden taboo?’

"But that name is the technical term the old scholars like to use, as their more common name isn’t very well liked."

She paused.

"Usually, they’re known as the Timeless."

Uriel felt something deep within him stir, and his breath suddenly hitched. The sensation of something vast looming over him overwhelmed him completely.

And then, in a blink, it stopped, leaving him heaving for air, his knees weak and his heart racing.

Mariah threw him a glance but didn’t stop walking.

"Your body’s decent enough to handle the Fate Echo of your title. That’s good."

Uriel rapidly recovered, his face ashen, and caught up to her.

"When dealing with the Timeless, time becomes cloudy and unreliable. A second, a minute, an eternity—such terms usually blur into one for them, especially when their lives tick not with seconds but with loops."

"In a sense, these beings perceive time and causality entirely differently. But I digress."

They were getting closer to the gate, and within minutes they would reach it.

"Long ago, countless loops ago, the Timeless of the world—the Timeless of Ithuril—all gathered together and created a ritual that bound them to one another."

"That ritual was rooted in power, as only such a thing could bring so many monsters together."

"I do not know the details, but I know that as a result of the ritual, the Timeless all died."

Uriel’s eyes widened.

"And from their ashes, the Spirals rose."