Chapter 97

She considered letting Nash onto the bed. Despite their infrequent interactions, she felt comfortable with him; he was her fiancé, after all. Yet, she ultimately decided against it, fearing it would make her seem too easy. Instead, she sat on the bed and messaged Skadi.

[Skadi, you wouldn't believe how perfect Nash's abs are!] [I won't believe it unless you show me a picture!] [No! He's mine. Find your own!] [We're best friends! Do you think I'm some outsider? They're just abs; it's not like I'm sleeping with him!] [Tsk, tsk! You're not allowed to look at his abs either!] [So, friendships do die, then.] [You're being dramatic.]

Hera finished messaging as a thunderstorm erupted.

[It's thundering.]

Hera and Skadi sent the message simultaneously. Lightning flashed repeatedly, plunging the room into darkness.

Nash, already preparing for sleep, jolted awake. Autumn thunderstorms were unusual; the day's forecast hadn't predicted any rain or thunder. Even with a sudden weather change, such frequent lightning was improbable. Could it be…?

He rose from the sofa and approached the window. Purple lightning illuminated the sky, confirming something extraordinary. Grasping the window frame, his eyes blazing scarlet, he whispered, “Master, is that you?”

His master, an immortal cultivator, had ascended to godhood. Earth's spiritual energy depleted, he'd ascended at life's end. Simultaneously, high in the Capiton mountains, above a heavily guarded castle, a complex array shimmered above a massive castle. It rotated, cracked, and shattered, releasing a coffin that ascended into the air. The coffin lid opened, revealing a white skeleton that slowly sat up. Two green flames burned in its empty sockets. Its jaw moved.

“Have you finally left?”

An illusory figure, an immortal old man, appeared. He stroked his beard.

“I almost forgot about you.”

He placed a hand on the coffin, pushing it back into the castle as the array swiftly repaired itself.

“I shall seal you for another 300 days. Someone else will handle you then.”

“Ah, Jonathan, I'll ensure a terrible death for you.”

The old man smiled, glanced toward Capiton, transformed into light, and vanished.

On Phoenix Island, a powerfully built man, meditating above the sea, slowly opened his eyes, gazing at the stormy sky with a bittersweet expression.

Back in Hera's room, Nash knelt, bowing three times southward. He'd anticipated his master's ascension, but not so soon.

Seeing him prostrate, Hera nervously snapped a photo and sent it to Skadi. [Skadi, what do you think he's doing?]

Skadi replied with a horrified emoji: [Possession?]