S Ranked Reincarnation: My Infinite Leveling System-Chapter 26: The Sovereign War (2)
Chapter 26: The Sovereign War (2)
The sun rose slowly, shining across a sky that looked broken. The clouds were torn and colored strange shades of purple and gold like bruises.
The platform near the Third Gate looked like a sharp rock sticking out from the world, and it gave off a weak, tired energy.
Below them, the sea no longer spun wildly but now moved slowly in quiet waves like it had taken a deep breath and was holding it. The air didn’t smell like salt anymore; it smelled strange like lightning and an old forgotten dream.
Ning Que was on his knees at the edge of the platform. The wind pulled at his coat like angry hands. His face looked tired in a deep way, like the tiredness lived in his bones. He didn’t look at the sun or the sea. He only looked at the person lying beside him.
Mireya was there, not moving very quietly. Her body wasn’t fading as fast anymore, but it still blinked in and out like a weak light. Parts of her skin looked clear like glass, glowing faintly.
When Ning checked her pulse, it was very soft like the wings of a butterfly under his fingers. He brushed a strand of her wet hair from her face and gently touched her cheek.
"Stay with me," he said softly, his voice shaking. "Don’t leave. Please."
The glowing light under her throat, her sovereign power was almost gone. It used to shine bright, but now it was only a small dying spark. Her breathing was shallow and rough, and it was hard just to take the next breath.
Not far from them, Aeris stood with her arms crossed, her body stiff. She looked out at the sea, then spoke into the small device at her ear, giving orders. But there was only static.
No one was answering. The quiet felt strange and heavy, like the world had paused and didn’t know what to do next.
Lyra sat beside a broken stone holding her spear tightly in both hands. She didn’t move or speak. Her eyes were wide, staring at the sky like she was waiting for something bad to happen again. She looked like a guard waiting for the next storm.
Viera was holding up a glowing shield around them to protect them from any remaining danger. She was tired, her hands shook, and her face looked pale but she didn’t stop.
She stayed strong, using all her energy to keep everyone safe. No one spoke much. It wasn’t quiet because they were calm. It was quiet because they were all afraid of what might happen next.
Then Mireya coughed a hard, painful sound that cut through the silence.
Her body shook, and the glow inside her flared bright, then quickly faded again, this time even weaker.
"Mireya!" Viera rushed to her side, checking her heartbeat. Her voice cracked. "Her pulse is dropping! Fast!"
Lyra turned quickly, her spear hitting the ground.
"What’s happening?"
Then Ning felt a sharp alarm in his mind from the system inside him. Not just a warning, something more urgent.
The bond that had saved Mireya before when he had taken part of her power was now breaking.
The system told him the truth: the transfer wasn’t enough. Her body was rejecting the new energy. She was dying again.
He had taken a piece of her but it wasn’t the right piece. It wasn’t strong enough to keep her here to keep her alive in this world.
Then he remembered deep down in the Third Gate beneath the seal her original sovereign power still waited. That missing part was the real anchor. Without it she wouldn’t make it to the next day.
"Her connection is breaking," Ning said quietly, his voice flat but full of emotion. "What I took from her wasn’t enough. Her original power... It’s still down there. Inside the Third Gate."
Viera looked shocked.
"Ning you can’t. The Rift is still unstable."
"It’s worse than unstable," Aeris added in her sharp voice. "It’s deadly. You go down there now and you’re not coming back."
But Ning was already walking toward the center of the platform, toward the floating stones that made up the Gate.
"I’m going," he said. "I won’t come back without it."
Lyra stepped forward.
"I’m going with you."
Ning stopped and looked at her.
"Lyra..."
"I’m not connected to the Rift like she is," Lyra said. "I’m steady. And I trust you, Ning. I’ll watch your back. Let me help."
He nodded, thankful. They didn’t need to say more. Everyone knew what this was: a desperate chance to save someone who mattered.
The others watched in silence as Ning and Lyra stepped into the circle. The symbols carved into the stones lit up.
They spun faster, glowing like stars lining up in the sky. The Gate opened not a tunnel going down, but a path that pulled inward.
They were going into the heart of the Rift.
The fall wasn’t smooth. It felt like being yanked through dreams and memories that didn’t belong to them. It was strange and scary.
Lyra gasped.
"Why do I see this?" Her voice shook. "I have a child. A family. A happy life. But I’ve never had any of that... What is this?"
Ning saw things too. He saw Mireya becoming the seal. He saw himself ruling like a king. He saw a world where Haven never fell. But he also saw what it cost.
Every step through this strange space felt like walking through regret. The Rift wasn’t just testing their bodies; it was testing their hearts. It wanted to break them by showing them what could’ve been.
Ning grabbed Lyra’s arm and squeezed it, pulling her back to reality.
"Focus," he said through clenched teeth. His head was pounding with painful memories that felt like they didn’t belong to him. "It’s not real. These things you’re seeing, these visions, they’re tricks. They’re just reflections. Don’t let them trap you."
They fell hard, landing with a heavy thud on a strange new ground. Around them stood something like a half-built church but it wasn’t made of bricks or stone. It was made of living material shaped by memory.
Above them wasn’t a normal sky. It looked like a ceiling made of glowing glass threads shining with soft light. The ground wasn’t solid either. It moved and pulsed full of strange energy, just like the glowing sky above.
The air around them hummed with a deep sound like the slow heartbeat of something old and alive.
In the middle of this huge place floating in the air was a shining crystal. It was Mireya’s original power core, her real sovereign energy frozen in time just as it had started to break. It gave off a weak but steady light like a small lighthouse in a dark storm. But it wasn’t alone.
Around the crystal floated ghost-like figures, echoes from the past. They moved like dust in the air, hard to see. But then one of them became clear, and it turned into a shape Ning knew all too well.
It looked like Denz. Ning froze.
"Denz," he whispered the name, hurting his throat like an old wound.
The ghost looked like a dark, twisted version of Denz, but it was still clearly him. He held a sword made from pure sorrow, glowing with cold, painful light. His eyes, which were once kind, now burned with fire and anger.
"You say my name?" the ghost of Denz growled, his voice twisted and bitter. "You dare say my name, Ning Que? After what you did to me?" The sword shimmered. "You left me. You let Haven fall. You gave up everything for what? Your guilt? Your need to feel like a good person?"
Ning stepped back, hand reaching for his own weapon, but he stopped. He knew this wasn’t truly Denz. But the pain still felt real.
"I didn’t leave you, Denz," Ning said, his voice low and filled with pain. "I made a hard choice. A horrible one. But I did it to protect "
"Protect what?" the ghost shouted, stepping closer. "Your conscience? Your pride? You let us all die, Ning. So you could live with yourself." He raised the sword and attacked.
The fight was unlike any Ning had ever known. These ghosts didn’t bleed. They made him feel pain through memories. Every time he hit the ghost, it hit him back, not with a weapon but with memory.
He felt Denz dying in his arms again. He saw Mireya collapse. He felt the moment he chose to forget everything, to cut off his emotions so he could keep going. Every strike hurt his heart more than his body.
Nearby, Lyra was fighting too. She moved fast and fiercely, pushing back the other ghost-figures. She created walls of energy using the living ground beneath her, holding the echoes back. Her blade flashed through them, but they kept coming, never stopping, always accusing.
"Ning! Fight back!" Lyra shouted, struggling as the ghost’s hands pulled at her. "Don’t let them break you!"
But Ning was trapped in his own fight. Denz’s ghost pushed harder, their blades clashing again and again.
"You ran, Ning!" the ghost shouted. "You ran when Haven needed you most! You buried the truth and left us to die! What kind of protector does that?"
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr(e)𝒆novelkiss