The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

The aura was drawn into Ravian’s body, while the magic was brought into order outside his body and within his soul itself.

Then the two forces were bound together by the Void cycle that had formed within the Sovereign Pride Path.

Then the two forces settled.

Ravian slowly raised his head.

The strands of his white hair lifted around his face without any wind to move them, and crimson light burned clearly in his eyes, while a thin gray aura stretched around his body, ringed by points of Void magic.

It wasn’t only the quantity of power that had changed.

The way he perceived himself had changed.

When he had been Awakened, his soul had been something that awakened inside his body.

Now, though, he possessed a path for that soul to travel along, inside him and outside him at once.

It was then that he understood why this rank was called Walker.

And above his head, the second crimson gem within the crown’s ten hollows solidified completely. Eight hollows now remained before the crown would be whole... at least, that was how it appeared.

Then the System’s voice sounded inside his head.

[The host’s soul has crossed the Walker Gate.]

[Creation of the Sovereign Pride Path is complete.]

[Aura activated.]

[Magic activated.]

[Forbidden path activated: Sovereign Pride Path.]

[Ascension to the Ninth Rank — Walker is complete.]

Silence fell.

Ravian stayed where he was for several seconds, feeling the two new forces moving within him and around him through a single cycle.

Ever since he had woken in this world, every step forward had been wrenched out of him through death, pain, or deception.

And this one had been no different.

But he had arrived.

From the Tenth Rank to the Ninth. From Awakened to Walker.

After all that hardship and physical and mental agony... he had finally risen.

And the feeling of having arrived was beyond compare.

He slowly closed his hand, and the gray aura gathered around his fingers as though it had been waiting years for the order, while a point of Void magic drifted above his palm at the same time.

Two branches? Yes.

But one will and one soul.

A Dual Soul without equal. The soul of the Nightmare of the Taboos.

Before he could test either of them, a new window opened.

[The Walker Gate reward has been unlocked.]

[A Sovereign Pride ability has been generated, compatible with the host’s element and singular path.]

[The host has obtained a new ability.]

[Void Traverse]

[Classification: long-range movement ability.]

[Description: the host is able to traverse distance through the Void rather than crossing it within the material world.]

[More precisely, the Void element can erase the space separating the host from a targeted location, closing the distance instantaneously.]

[Cost: each use drains a large share of the host’s Void energy and soul energy before those reserves can regenerate.]

[Warning: miscalculated use at the host’s current rank may result in the complete depletion of soul energy.]

[Please use it wisely and remain within safe limits to avoid straining the host’s soul.]

Ravian read the description, then looked at the gray point, verging on black, circling above his palm.

This ability alone was enough to change a great many of his plans.

The City of Light, the capital, the border, and even the places he had previously been forced to spend days traveling to... he now possessed a means that might allow him to cut short the journey between them once he understood the ability’s limits and true conditions.

But he didn’t try to use it.

His body and soul hadn’t finished settling after absorbing the heart’s power, and testing an ability that consumed an enormous share of his reserves the instant he acquired it would be idiocy, not courage.

He closed the window.

He was on the verge of pulling his hand back from atop the empty box when a final message appeared.

[The closing stage of the ascension process has begun.]

[Re-anchoring the soul following the widening of its path within the body.]

[This stage does not affect the completion of the rank.]

Ravian felt a gentle force enclose his soul.

It wasn’t painful.

It was drawing back the edges of his perception that had extended beyond his body along with the magic and aura, anchoring them to his new center.

He shut his eyes and let the process finish.

A moment passed.

Then another.

And suddenly, everything froze.

The aura vanished from around his fingers.

The point of Void magic above his palm went out.

And the white window in front of him turned red.

[Warning.]

[An unknown external authority has been detected.]

[The external authority has intercepted the re-anchoring stage of the host’s soul.]

[Identifying the source...]

[Source identification failed.]

And before Ravian could issue a single command, he felt something that did not belong to him lay its hand upon his soul.

It began wrenching him away across distances and barriers at a horrifying speed—faster than he could have imagined.

Ravian didn’t try to move his body; he couldn’t.

The instant the unknown authority touched his soul, he shut down every unnecessary response and turned Absolute Focus inward.

His body was still seated in front of the Seal Box.

His heart was still beating.

And the aura and magic he had obtained moments earlier were still settled within his new path.

The ascension had genuinely been completed.

The problem wasn’t with his rank.

It lay in the part of his soul that had extended beyond his body when the Walker Gate opened and his new path began to form.

Something cold and shapeless coiled around it.

It didn’t press down on his soul, nor did it attempt to break into his Records; instead, it seized the exposed layer and dragged it toward some distant place.

Void Shadow moved at once.

The presence surrounding Ravian contracted and swallowed the trace of his soul, but the grip didn’t let go.

It had already taken hold of him.

[Attempting to sever the connection with the external authority.]

[Attempt failed.]

[Reason for failure: the authority is not tracking the host at present; it established a direct connection during the soul’s exposure.]

Ravian understood the nature of the trap.

This power hadn’t been capable—or hadn’t been designed—to tear a settled soul out of its body.

It had waited for that brief instant when the Walker Gate opened, when the soul widened beyond its old boundaries before returning and settling again.

It wasn’t a hand that had reached out toward him specifically—toward him alone.

It was a net spread wide, waiting for any soul that stepped into it.

...and here he was, caught in it without the net needing to exert the slightest effort.