System: Daily login!!, jackpot on the first day!!!-Chapter 489 - The Retruns
- Earth, Saranjana Kingdom.
It had been exactly one month since the entrance exam incident shook the world.
Just a few days ago, the Astral Nexus Academy finally released an official statement: the Academy would reopen.
Every prospective student who survived the event, and still met the entry requirements was ordered to attend the Entry Ceremony on a designated date.
Naturally, Askara and his siblings were on that list.
---
A full month had passed with no news about Ayana. Not a single trace. Not even a rumor.
Even Saranjana Satelit, the most advanced surveillance system on Earth, capable of monitoring the entire globe continuously, day and night, found nothing.
No anomalies.
No movements.
No hint of Ayana's existence.
Mukhlis had long withdrawn to his Tribe, the Dai-Yak Tribe, isolating himself so deeply that Askara barely knew anything about his current state anymore.
But he didn't need updates to understand one thing: Mukhlis blamed himself.
After all, the investigation into Ayana's powers… the curiosity that pushed them forward, all of it had been his idea.
And when Ayana vanished, Mukhlis collapsed inward, shutting the world out completely.
Even so, Askara refused to give up.
No matter how small, there was still a spark of hope in his heart, a stubborn belief that Ayana was alive somewhere.
And he would enter the Astral Nexus Academy to transform that hope into reality.
He wasn't alone in that conviction.
His siblings, though they hadn't known Ayana for long, shared the same determination.
They had failed to protect her when she was under their protection. They couldn't change what had already been lost… But if there was even the slightest chance she still breathed, they would burn through heaven and earth to find her.
Because that was what it meant to be a D'Archy:
You finish what you start. You don't abandon your own.
--------
In the morning, Askara woke up unusually early.
He dressed quickly and stepped out of his room, startling the maid who normally had to drag him out of bed every day.
"...Prince?" she blinked, as if seeing a rare phenomenon.
"What? Is it wrong for me to wake up this early?" Askara muttered.
"Well~ in your case, yes, it is strange, Prince," she replied with a teasing tilt of her head.
Askara clicked his tongue and kept walking toward the dining room.
The maid simply shook her head with a small smile before entering his room to begin the usual cleaning routine.
When Askara reached the dining room, he found the same reaction waiting for him.
Every family member stared at him with the exact same expression the maid wore earlier.
"...What?!" Askara snapped.
The room remained completely silent.
Then Marzuki broke into a grin. "Oh~ look at this. Someone is eager to go to school, huh?"
Askara ignored the teasing and took his seat. His gaze drifted, habitually, toward the master seat.
The one that should have been occupied by his father.
But for years, it had remained empty.
It was the reason the D'Archy family, immortals who could go decades without a single meal, still gathered here every morning to eat like ordinary people.
A way to hold onto something normal.
A way to hold onto him.
Askara lowered his eyes and let out a quiet sigh before starting on his food.
But then-
The air shifted.
A subtle tremor.
A ripple through reality itself.
And a voice followed:
"...Ohh~ all of you have grown, huh?"
The entire room froze.
No... The world itself stopped. Time ceased moving, yet the sound continued to flow.
"...Well~ this is awkward. Should I say... I'm home?"
One by one, every member of the D'Archy family turned their heads toward the source of the voice.
And there-
Sitting naturally in the master seat, as if he had never left... was the First King of Saranjana.
A son.
A grandson.
A husband.
A father.
Taufik D'Archy Hidayat.
After his long, impossible journey, he was finally home.
He looked exactly the same.
Not a wrinkle out of place. Not a strand of hair changed. The same presence, the same face, just like the portrait that hung in every corner of the castle, as if time itself never dared to touch him.
Askara blinked slowly.
Then he turned his head, scanning the faces of his siblings.
Aksara.
Litani.
Kiara.
Anindha.
Anggana.
Even Lavanya.
Every single one of them wore the same expression.
Eyes wide.
Breath caught.
A strange mix of disbelief and a hope too fragile to speak aloud.
Askara swallowed and shifted his gaze to the rest of the D'Archy family.
His Great-Grandmother.
His grandparents, Marzuki and Linda.
And then-
All his mothers. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Jenn.
Tina.
Anugerah.
Kaela.
Rani.
Gaia.
Every one of them looked as though their souls had been struck silent. Shock, disbelief, longing, as if they were staring at an illusion they desperately wished to be real, but were terrified to reach for, afraid it would shatter.
Yet the man sitting before them was not a ghost.
Not a dream.
Not a memory.
He was real.
Present.
Breathing.
Taufik had returned.
--------
- Back to several hours ago.
After leaving Asgard, Taufik returned to Álfheimr.
He had accomplished what he came for, the means to go home.
Odin had kept his word and granted him the Verdant Star, a rare fruit born from Yggdrasil only once every thousand years.
A fruit that held the raw Law of Creation.
A fruit that granted a single, absolute wish, absolute, but always with a balanced price.
Odin had used it himself.
To gain wisdom, he sacrificed an eye.
To grasp the deeper truths of existence, he hung himself on Yggdrasil for nine days and nights, pierced by his own spear.
To understand the cosmos, he wandered the multiverse, paying cost after cost.
The Verdant Star gives.
And it takes.
That is its law.
But such rules meant nothing to Taufik, the man who could rewrite even reality if he desired.
---
Now, back in the Kingdom of Light, he waited for Thalia.
As soon as he approached the castle entrance, a formation of Celestial Guards bowed their heads.
"We've been waiting for you, Sir," one guard said. "The Dawnmother is expecting you. Please enter"
Taufik nodded and followed them inside.
---
When he stepped into the throne hall, he was met with an unexpected sight.
Thalia was not seated on her throne.
Instead, she was kneeling at the foot of it, looking up at her mother with a serious, earnest expression.
Taufik stopped walking.
"Huh? What is this? A new hobby?" he asked.
Thalia didn't respond, too focused on the Dawnmother.
The Queen pinched the bridge of her nose, exhaling a long, tired sigh.
"You…" she muttered at Thalia, then shifted her gaze toward Taufik, resigned. "...Whatever. Just do what you want to do, Thalia. But promise me..." Her tone sharpened. "... you will return every ten years. Understood?"
Thalia's eyes lit up instantly.
"Really?!" she burst out, smiling wider than the sun itself. "Thank you, Mother! I promise, I'll follow it exactly!"
"Yeah, yeah. Now go," the Dawnmother said, waving her hand dismissively. "Before I change my mind"
Thalia nodded quickly and turned around, and only then did she finally notice Taufik standing near the entrance.
"...Fik!" she shouted, launching herself straight into his arms.
Taufik lifted his hands just in time to catch her. "I'll be joining you back to Earth! Wait for me, I'll pack my things first!"
And just as quickly as she arrived, she dashed away again.
The Dawnmother exhaled and shook her head, watching her daughter sprint with all the elegance of a startled animal.
A princess, yes.
But behaving like one?
Not even close.
Her gaze then returned to Taufik.
"You heard her," she said quietly. "Please take care of her"
Taufik nodded.
"Of course. But I didn't expect you to give permission so easily. I was prepared for some dramatic refusal or something"
At those words, Cealir gritted his teeth. Meanwhile Ardyn and Elaria stifled their laughter.
The Dawnmother continued, voice steady but tinged with concern:
"I've heard what you did on Midgard from Elaria. With that, I can already feel a storm brewing across Yggdrasil. And that girl… Thalia… she is not ready for the kind of storm you attract. Not because she is weak, but because she is too kind, too soft-hearted. If she stays here, her kindness will ruin her. I would rather she follows you"
The Queen lowered her head, slightly, but enough for the entire hall to feel its weight.
"So once again, I ask you: take care of her"
Taufik nodded again. "And as I said, don't worry. She'll be safe with me"
He turned toward Elaria. "Elaria. I need you to monitor the First Flame. Don't interfere directly, just watch in silence"
Elaria placed a hand over her chest and bowed. "Don't worry, Taufik. I'll handle it"
Taufik shifted his gaze to Cealir next.
Cealir immediately flinched.
"I still haven't forgotten what you said before," Taufik said calmly. "But since I'm in a good mood today, I'll pretend it never happened"
Cealir's ears drooped in relief.
Finally, Taufik turned toward Ardyn, who straightened, clearly expecting some heroic acknowledgment.
Taufik tilted his head.
"...Who are you again?"
"..."
This time Cealir burst into giggles while Ardyn stood frozen, mouth hanging open like a broken statue.
"Wa- Wh- I, I-"
"I'm ready!" Ardyn's sputtering was cut short by Thalia, who rushed back into the hall, carrying a simple travel bag, a sword at her hip, and wearing light armor fitted perfectly to her figure. "When do we leave, Fik?"
"Right now," Taufik answered.
He reached into his inventory and drew out the Verdant Star, its surface glowing with the deep green of primordial creation.
"We leave now"
....
...
..
.
