SWNOVELXO Chapter 150
T/N: Starting from this chapter. If MC was addressed as Thilan, it means she was using her black hair form at that moment.
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December in the Southern District, the height of summer.
A golden-haired girl, dressed in an ornate, layered dress, danced in the midst of an adoring crowd. The wide, snow-white skirt, adorned with roses fading into a fiery orange, resembled blossoming flames.
The performance on stage was reaching its climax. As the lights converged, golden radiance illuminated the dark surroundings. Beneath this glow, the golden-haired girl twirled and danced repeatedly before finally coming to a stop. She gently lifted her skirt, opened her pale gold eyes, and smiled.
Thunderous applause erupted in the hall as the lights gradually brightened, returning the room to full illumination.
This was Edess Academy, hosting the annual Winter Festival Gala performance, featuring acts from students of all grades.
“Truly magnificent. Evony’s performance was as dazzling as ever,” commented a blond-haired man seated in the VIP viewing box. He held a wine glass in one hand, leaning his head on the other as he watched the golden-haired girl gracefully exit the stage.
Beside him were several others, all dressed in formal attire, their badges marking them as members of the academy’s student council.
“Who’s performing next?”
The blond-haired man inquired, and a senior student, acting as a recorder or assistant, replied promptly, “President Amorth, next is Quentin from the second year. He’ll conduct the orchestra in performing the second movement of the Fourth Symphony.”
“How dull, the same old routine,” Amorth muttered, pouring the remaining wine from his glass onto the carpet, watching the red liquid seep into the fabric.
He placed the empty glass back on the table and leaned further into his throne-like chair, tilting his head in thought.
“Is she not performing tonight?”
“Who might you be referring to?” a council member cautiously asked.
“Who else? That black-haired, blue-eyed little darling.”
“Miss Thilan has no scheduled performances tonight.”
“Was she not invited, or was there another reason?”
“Apparently, Miss Thilan politely declined, stating that her skills were not yet refined enough for a sudden public appearance.”
“Is she being modest, or is she truly unprepared?” Amorth mused indifferently.
“I expected her to make waves upon entering the academy, but she’s quieted down far more quickly than I anticipated—what a surprise.”
“The elders seem to hold her in high regard, though they’ve given no specifics as to why. Presumably, she has some exceptional talent—after all, she does have an impressive older sister.”
As he spoke, Amorth’s thoughts drifted back to his early days at the academy. Back then, as a freshman, he had the privilege of witnessing the Winter Festival’s grand competition.
That mesmerizing and almost otherworldly figure had captivated the entire audience, himself included. Yet, after that performance, the legendary girl vanished without a trace.
“Enough about that. What about Valk? That boy’s been causing me quite the headache lately.”
“Valk has been staying in the practice room, training diligently. Aside from attending regular classes, he hasn’t gone anywhere else.”
“He’s been keeping a lower profile lately, huh,” Amorth remarked, shaking his head as he picked up a freshly poured glass of wine from his assistant and took a small sip.
“Any results from the investigation?”
“Yes. The person Valk sought to shield that night was a childhood friend and an orphanage companion.”
“Clinging to old bonds, huh? But such companions will only drag him down,” Amorth said, shaking his head again.
“What did the faculty say?”
“Professor Sima spoke with Valk a few times over the past few days and stated that Valk promised to cut ties with that person moving forward.”
“Words are one thing, but how binding are they in practice? Valk should understand that losing the academy’s support would make his future far more difficult. I hope he grasps that.”
“Students from impoverished backgrounds are always troublesome. Even with talent and effort, they inevitably have people dragging them down—whether it’s shortsighted parents, friends seeking to exploit them, or women driven by greed and ambition.”
Amorth’s tone carried a faint trace of mockery, as though he had long grown accustomed to such situations.
As Amorth conversed with those around him, a symphony performance was unfolding on the central stage of the hall. However, at Amorth’s signal, the sound from the hall was muted in the VIP room. They could only see the small figures on stage moving, conducting a silent performance.
“Let’s go. There’s nothing more worth watching tonight. Tomorrow is the main event—I wonder who will win this year’s Winter Festival competition.”
“This is my final year at Edess. I hope for a satisfying conclusion,” Amorth said, rising and leading the student council members out of the VIP room.
Meanwhile, inside the hall, Thilan sat with her classmates, enjoying the symphony performance. Though the music was grand, it felt somewhat monotonous and uninspired, as it was a familiar classic with little innovation.
When the performance concluded, applause once again filled the hall, though it lacked the enthusiasm of earlier.
As the night’s events came to an end, Thilan and her classmates left the hall, stepping into the cool night air. Annelie followed closely behind her.
As they walked through the courtyard, the black-haired girl gradually slowed her steps, causing Annelie to grow curious and step forward.
“What’s wrong, Thilan?”
“Just something I need to do,” the girl replied, a strange sensation stirring within her. It was as if a dormant corner of her consciousness had been awakened, bringing forth a feeling both novel and unfamiliar.
“You go ahead. I’m heading to the practice room,” she added, turning to Annelie. Her hair fluttered slightly in the night breeze, and her eyes shimmered faintly with a mysterious light.
“Alright…” Though puzzled, Annelie nodded.
Thilan quickened her pace under the cover of night, making her way to a gray, rectangular building—the second combat training hall of Edess Academy. Its aboveground portion was small compared to its extensive interior and underground facilities.
Entering the chilly hall, she swiped her access card to open a room and stepped into an elevator that descended into the quiet and fortified underground.
Thanks to her permissions, the training room she entered was exceptionally large, spanning about 300 square meters. It also featured a pool whose clear water rippled gently under the overhead lights.
The underground facility was especially silent at night, with only faint sounds of water breaking the stillness.
Thilan approached the pool and stepped onto a thin sheet of ice that had just formed on its surface. Step by step, she walked to the center of the pool before the ice broke, and she plunged into the water.
The cool water enveloped her completely, yet the girl remained calm. Closing her eyes and spreading her arms, she immersed herself in the depths of her mind.
Ripples of light danced beneath the surface, painting the ceiling with fragmented shades of blue.
The shimmering light continuously shifted, eventually transforming into hues of purple—strange yet captivating.
Submerged in the water, Thilan’s eyes seemed unfocused. The swirling blue and purple in her irises intertwined like a vortex. Around her, chunks of blue and purple ice formed and collided in the water, producing crisp, clear sounds.
By now, Thilan could no longer perceive her surroundings. Everything seemed to drift away, fading into an endless whiteness.
Who am I?
Where is this?
No one answered. Only an eternal silence stretched on, so long it made time itself seem irrelevant.
Concepts of time and space dissolved as if she had entered the hall at the end of existence—a vast, unchanging eternity.
The sound of gears turning echoed faintly, yet her surroundings were empty, as though the gears were transparent and colorless. The chaotic void around her was filled with erratic splashes of blue and purple, like endless, disordered graffiti.
Eons seemed to pass in an instant. Just as Thilan’s faint consciousness accepted the eternal stasis, the chaotic colors in the void began to organize.
Light hues rose, dark hues sank. Countless colors separated and converged, no longer chaotic but forming faint, structured patterns. These patterns spread across the void, encompassing both past and future.
Then, voices of prayer began to echo from all directions within the void.
“Become a god…”
“Become a god…”
“Become a god…”
“Become a god…”
The voices were unified, growing from faint whispers to an earth-shaking roar that filled the entire cosmos.
As if responding to these prayers, the patterns within the void grew ever brighter and more resplendent. Finally, in the sky of intertwining colors, a small sun began to rise—radiant and immense.
A golden sun, burning fiercely. An eternal flame of light. A god of absolute power. A crystallization of countless prayers, a dream of life itself, a symbol of strength and eternity—the ultimate crown.
This blazing sun traversed the infinite dark seas of the void, smoothing its chaotic and wrinkled expanse like a mighty iron.
Behind it, countless points of light followed closely, chasing the radiance and heat. They continuously transformed, shedding the shackles of their physical forms and the burdens of life, becoming higher and purer beings, transcending the mortal world. These entities, absorbing the blazing sun and radiating light and heat, drew nearer to the light, became part of the light, flawless and beautiful.
Through their traversing and efforts, the dark void sea gradually calmed, and everything began to fall into order.
Subsequently, surrounding the blazing sun, these points of light settled quietly, as if witnessing the sun’s reflection on the water. A virtual yet beautiful “sun” began to take shape.
It lacked the sun’s ferocity, instead exuding serenity and fragility. Unlike the sun, which symbolized strength and eternity, this existence represented regret and lamentation.
It mourned the time lost, regretted the moments of life filled with sorrow, wept for the unattainable, and cried for the unreachable distances.
This lamentation was so profound and heavy that even the sun had to pause and gaze at its reflection in the water. At this moment, it understood the name of this reflection—moon.
The sun wished to make this waterborne moon rise, but it was in vain.
The reflection on the water was ephemeral and wavering; a mere touch could shatter it. It did not truly exist in the world.
The sun’s light was so overpowering that even the dark void sea boiled under its brilliance. Yet, despite its immense strength, it could never influence the other side of its reflection.
The points of light orbited the sun, becoming its companions and planets, standing vigil in the void sea. Together, they gazed upon the reflection below, singing and praying repeatedly.
Thus, across the river of time, the voice of prayer once again resounded.
“Become a god…”
“Become a god…”
“Become a god…”
“Become a god…”
“Become a god…”
The voice echoed repeatedly, shattering the illusionary water’s surface over and over, until amidst the insignificant dust of nothingness, two minuscule points of light responded.
They appeared like entwined twin stars on the water’s surface, drawing the focus of countless points of light. Eternal and blazing radiance illuminated them.
The entwined twin stars grew ever brighter, emitting halos of blue and purple light. Eventually, an incomplete crystalline moon began to take shape.
The once-illusory water surface transformed into frozen ice crystals. The ephemeral visions from the end of time solidified into tangible existence.
The crystallized ice grew steadily, until finally, a full moon imbued with the sands of time gradually rose from the water. It was transparent and flawless, exuding faint blue and purple hues. Within it, two girls rested back to back in slumber.
They were inseparable, two sides of the same entity, akin to the ancient myth of Janus, the “Two-Faced God.”
Janus, one of the oldest and most revered deities in Roman mythology, faced both the past and the future. Known as the “God of Doors” and the “Keeper of Keys,” he guarded all passageways, protecting those inside and outside the gates. He bore two names of opposite meanings: Janus, the God of Opening, and Janus, the God of Closing. Armies marched through arches symbolizing him, which later inspired the triumphal arches in various nations.
At dawn, he opened the gates to let sunlight bathe the earth. At dusk, he closed them to usher in the night.
He was the god of all beginnings and all endings, the god of proper conclusions. Each new consul prayed to him upon taking office, and new lives were dedicated to him at their inception. His celebrations marked the first and last days of the year, namely, the first day of January.
Time and space, inseparable as two sides of the same coin, converged upon these two figures, ultimately forming this resplendent, eternal moon crown.
The silver crown rose slowly, its ripples of time and space spreading across the void sea, reflecting the blazing sun. As the crown’s brilliance intensified, the figures within the crystal moon gradually faded, dissolving into the radiant splendor of the brilliant moon.
They had no corporeal forms, existing between the past and the future. When the appointed time came, they would awaken and reappear.
In the depths of her consciousness, the girl stood quietly on the water’s surface. Her awareness gradually cleared, and her vivid blue eyes surveyed her surroundings before finally gazing at her reflection below.
In the water was a girl identical to her, yet with subtle differences in their eyes: one calm and blue, the other eerie and purple.
“So, this is the source of my ability…”
The girl looked at her palm. Her fingertips brushed through the air as though sensing invisible threads—the traces and threads of time.
The reflection also extended her palm. Subtle points of light and threads emanated from her hand as well, yet their essence felt distinct, belonging to another existence flowing from her fingertips.
Heaven and earth seemed to overturn as if the world had flipped. Thilan once again surveyed her surroundings and glanced at the water. The reflection’s eyes had turned blue, while an understanding dawned upon her. She gently placed her hand over her eyes, which reflected a faint purple glow.
“I am Themisia, I am Hestia, and I am Thilan…”
The girl slowly closed her eyes, then reopened them, returning to the world of reality.
The pool remained the same, deep in the underground training hall, as though time had never moved. Rising from the water, the girl returned to the shore. She shook her head lightly, scattering countless droplets. Lifting her hand, her dual-colored eyes—blue and purple—shimmered, reflecting the crystal formed within her palm.
Perhaps, having finally resolved her inner conflict, a faint radiance emanated from her body. Decay Sequence 4: The Violet-Blue Heart of Flame—achieved.
The crystal dissolved into countless specks of blue and purple flames, coiling gently around her. These flames were not searing but cool and icy, eerie and beautiful.
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T/N: Well… that’s kinda abrupt. I thought I skipped a chapter.