NOVPUBThat alone might have given them an edge against the divines and brought stability to their realm.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Iyriath Zi'ria chose not to provide any further explanation.
"Let us begin," Iyriath Zi'ria said.
Orion signified he was ready with a nod.
Boom!!
Suddenly, the White Flame ignited on the Morphic Puppet.
It burned fiercely.
The Vylkr Armour no longer resisted the scorching flames. Its sleek, inky-black, scaled surface was soon engulfed in blazing fire.
After a few seconds, Orion felt a warm sensation spread across his body and saw that he, too, was now burning with the White Flame.
Yet, it did not harm him. Instead, a soothing coolness spread through every fibre of his being.
After eight years, Orion felt a shift in his consciousness. He realised he had regained the ability to sense the outside world from within the cocoon.
He sighed in relief, sensing that everything outside was still intact.
Suddenly, bluish lightning emerged from within his body. It crackled around him, intertwining with the White Flame that bathed his form.
A miniature version of the Vylkr Armour appeared before him. Parts of its inky black surface had turned white, now covered in glowing wisps of ever-burning White Flame.
Orion could sense the Vylkr energy within the armour being purged. What remained was a shell infused with a White Flame. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
He also felt the Vylkr containers within his body melting away, their corrupted essence being expelled. At first, he tried to resist. He had worked too hard to gather them, and couldn't bear to watch them disappear.
But when he realised there was no way to halt the process, he reluctantly ceased his resistance.
Outside,
A cocoon bathed in White Flame hovered beside the Spiritual Link Point.
Despite the flame's intensity, the grassy plain beneath it remained untouched.
General Reynold, Oberon, the Will of the Divine Mysteries, Ilse, Zera, Sylvalis, Zymera, and her sisters floated above the area in solemn silence.
Suddenly, they sensed a familiar presence sweep through them from within the blazing cocoon.
"It seems that he's fine," General Reynold said, exhaling deeply in relief.
"That child is something else," Oberon said. He was also relieved by this revelation.
It had been eight months since Orion began his ascension.
At first, they hadn't been worried.
Orion was treading a path no one had ever walked before, so obstacles were expected.
But as time dragged on without the slightest sign of progress, worry began to settle in.
Even the Will of the Divine Mysteries had somehow entered the realm once more, sensing the strangeness within Orion.
They had considered intervening.
However, they held back. They chose to wait, no matter how long it took, rather than risk inflicting irreparable harm to Orion with their actions.
Suddenly, the spiritual pressure around him surged.
General Reynold, Oberon, the Will of the Divine Mysteries, Ilse, Zera and the others narrowed their eyes as Orion's aura began to rise through the Demigod ranks.
Sixth Order!
Fifth Order!
Fourth Order!
Third Order!
By the time he reached the Second Order, Orion's spiritual pressure was already affecting distant planets across the nearby galaxies.
By the First Order, the Mysteries of the Twelve-Step Stairs sprang into action, containing the overwhelming pressure.
Given the Spiritual Link Point on the planet's connection to Floating Frost Valley and other regions, they were already prepared to protect the planet.
Aside from a varying degree of atmospheric intensity, there wasn't much damage.
"He's managed to cross through all the Demigod Orders in one step," Oberon muttered, his heart brimming with a complex storm of emotions.
"AMAAZZING!! THAT'S MY BOYY!! You see, isn't he worth something pouring my resources into?" exclaimed the Will of the Divine Mysteries.
He clapped his hands joyfully as he focused on Orion.
Many had boasted of breaking through the Demigod Order in a single step. But who could claim to have done so on their very first ascension, while burdened by a curse, branded as an anomaly, and forging a unique path with the aid of a mysterious entity like the White Flame?
None could.
General Reynold and the others stood in silence, their hearts flooded with conflicting emotions.
'As expected of the Supreme Leader,' Zymera smiled faintly.
Just when she believed herself stronger than the Supreme Leader, confident she could protect him with all her strength, he had once again grown stronger, matching her current power.
She glanced at her other sisters.
She had spent time forming bonds with the true bodies of Orion's other wives and had come to realise this was a common experience with him.
It was now up to her to continue growing, or risk being left behind as the gap widened.
All of them watched intently as the cocoon began to peel away.
Within the cocoon
The cocoon unravelled like wisps of White Flame, slowly wrapping itself around Orion's form. It seared into him, branding itself deep into his very essence.
Suddenly, the miniature Morphic Puppet, now cloaked in blazing White Flame, expanded and enveloped him, wrapping snugly around his body.
Orion felt both his body and the Vylkr Armour being wholly baptised in the White Flame.
He couldn't feel even a trace of Vylkr energy anymore.
His Vylkr containers merged, transforming into a single glowing sphere of white flame, tinged with a unique, unfamiliar energy. He wasn't sure what it was, but he sensed it was the gift Iyriath Zi'ria had given him.
From his seated position, Orion stood and looked toward the sky, where a radiant Twelve-Step Staircase descended from the clouds and extended between the heavens and the earth.
"All I need to do is step onto the Twelve-Step Stairs to complete my ascension," Orion muttered.
Just as he was about to take a step forward, a voice echoed from within the armour.
"Don't take another step. You do not need to bind yourself to a Mysteries to ascend to divinity. I am still here, and I will help you complete your ascension," said Iyriath.
Orion nodded.
"Head towards the direction I have shown you," Iyriath Zi'ria added.
Orion nodded again. He transformed into a blazing comet covered in countless flickers of fierce blue lightning as he soared into the air, emerging from the clouds, and vanished into the cosmic sea above.
General Reynold and the others exchanged confused glances.
They couldn't understand why Orion hadn't ascended by stepping onto the Twelve-Step Stairs.
At the same time, they sensed that Orion was heading toward the edge of Paradise's cosmic roots.
They couldn't help but frown deeply.
Was there something they had missed?
Unable to grasp the situation fully, they could only trust in his judgment.
General Reynold glanced at the Twelve-Step Stairs, which were still connecting the earth to the filament. Then, he refocused his gaze on the others present.
He nodded at them, "Let's see what he's up to."
He wasn't afraid to bring them along with the Will of the Divine Mysteries to witness what was about to happen. After all, if they weren't safe within the Paradise Realm, they wouldn't be safe anywhere.
With a wave of his hand, they vanished into thin air.
They reappeared at the edge of the cosmic tree roots—the domain of the gods.
They observed as Orion halted upon the crystallised roots, which glowed with a spectrum of vibrant colours. Fortunately, he remained within the roots, avoiding the void where countless unforeseen dangers lurked.
Meanwhile, Orion looked at the roots of the cosmic tree, the foundation of the realm they had built. Each root radiated different arrays of light at varying intervals and was now so unfathomably large that, with his current divine senses, he couldn't even grasp a fraction of its scale.
Portable dimensions and realms were protected by layers of space, each differing in degree. These layers posed a challenge for those with little understanding of spatial laws.
But they did nothing to halt the dominance of the Material Realm within them. Thus, even the Divine Mysteries could exert their power within.
Meanwhile, the Paradise Realm was safeguarded by the Mysteries of the Twelve-Step Stairs, with a structure resembling the tree that was influenced by the spiritual tree bearing fruits containing primordial energy, fruits typically used in human awakening ceremonies.
Neither the Material Realm nor the Divine Mysteries could penetrate it, and even doing so from within would be a challenge. It was an isolated realm that existed alone.
With the aid of the Mysteries of the Twelve-Step Stairs, General Reynold and Oberon, the realm would continue to expand unobstructed through the void.
This was what set it apart from other portable realms and dimensions.
Orion wondered why Iyriath Zi'ria had led him here.
"You will not understand what I am doing until I am finished. Do not fight it," Iyriath Zi'ria's voice echoed within him.
Orion nodded in understanding. He had already come this far and wasn't about to second-guess his decisions now.
The White Flame flared around him, burning even more vigorously.
