Chap 176: A Collision Of Truths

Both versions of Tee had seen her. In that instant, the battle between them ceased to be about dominance over each other. Their focus had shifted entirely, and the terrifying truth struck Tee like a blow. The fight was no longer between light and dark—it was about who would reach her first.

Her breath caught. She had no ability in that place, no powers, no way to defend herself. The emptiness of that reality pressed into her chest until it hurt. For once in a very long time, Tee felt utterly helpless. Weak. Cold. The certainty of failure sank into her like ice, and with it came something she had nearly forgotten how to feel. Fear.

The dark version of herself grinned, eyes glowing like molten embers, while the Ultramana side staggered forward with desperate light clinging to its skin. Both began closing in.

But before either could touch her, red glyphs burst into the air like a sudden storm of fireflies. Aven’s hand clasped hers tightly, and without hesitation he pulled her into a glass mirror that appeared out of thin air.

The memory-swallowing surface rippled around them, and Tee gasped as they slipped through.

The scene behind them sealed shut like a door slamming in their wake. The roar of pursuit faded into silence. When Tee looked up again, they were no longer in the fractured cavern of her Verge. Instead, they were running downhill across a sunlit field. The air was warm, grass soft beneath her feet, the sky an endless stretch of calm blue. For a moment, she thought she could breathe again.

Her gaze traveled further, and her heart stopped.

In the distance, two figures sat on the slope of a hill. A girl with white hair. A blond boy beside her. Tee’s knees weakened. She knew that place. She knew that moment.

It was her and Jack, years ago, at the hilly fields for a picnic. She could almost smell the fresh bread and berries they had carried in that woven basket. She remembered the way Jack had teased her for bringing too much food. She remembered the way they had laughed, careless and free, before the world had turned cruel.

Tee’s throat closed. Jack was gone. Dead. And yet there he was again, young and alive, sitting in the sunlight like he’d never left. The memory stabbed her chest so sharply she almost cried out.

Aven crouched beside her, calm and unshaken despite the shift. His voice was even as he gave the only instruction that mattered.

“Keep watch. The Seal will take time to complete.”

He sat cross-legged on the grass, his hands weaving glyphs of deep crimson that spun into orbit around him. His chants hummed low, almost like the earth itself was answering.

Tee forced herself to sit too. Her eyes, however, couldn’t leave the figures on the hill. She stared at Jack’s smile, at her younger self’s carefree laugh, and she wanted nothing more than to walk over, to join them, to believe for just a moment that he wasn’t gone. She wondered, if Jack could see her now—Sentinel, hybrid, half-marked by darkness—what would he think? Would he hate her any more than he did after finding out she was also covert?

The thought twisted bitterly. It didn’t matter. He was dead. He would never know.

The sunlight dimmed.

Dark clouds gathered across the sky with unnatural speed, lightning tearing jagged scars through the heavens. Tee’s stomach dropped. The world cracked open as a gash split across the sky. From it descended the dark version of herself, red eyes blazing, hair whipping wildly as she emerged like a demon unleashed.

A blast struck her dark form from behind—the Ultramana version, slamming her headlong into the water at the bottom of the hill. They both crashed in, their clash birthing a tidal wave that swelled higher and higher, blotting out the horizon.

Tee’s gut sank. She screamed, “Aven!”

He was already on his feet. Without hesitation, he pulled her once again into another mirror.

The tidal wave froze mid-crash, replaced by new surroundings—a wide room filled with rows of seats, glowing walls alive with projection screens. Tee recognized it instantly. A monthly meeting room where she and Jack used to gather, playing hologram games with friends.

She spotted them again—her white-haired self and blond Jack, seated near the front, smiling at each other. The detail was so sharp it hurt.

Tee’s knees trembled, but she forced herself into an empty chair. Aven sat cross-legged on the floor, red glyphs spinning around him faster. His chant thickened, filling the air with an otherworldly pulse.

But then the memory warped.

The ground shook beneath their feet. The roof split open with a deafening crack, sunlight shearing through in a blinding line. The crowd around them panicked, screaming, scattering for exits that never existed in the real memory. It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. That wasn’t what had happened back then.

And then Tee saw why.

Her dark self stepped through the crack in the ceiling.

The room emptied in seconds, leaving only Tee, Aven, and her nightmare.

Tee stumbled backward, her heart clawing up her throat. She had no power. No weapon. Nothing. The weakness was unbearable, like chains pulling her down.

And then—

A blast of pure Ultramana energy erupted, smashing into the dark Tee and hurling her through the far wall. The wall cracked open to reveal nothing but void. An endless abyss of blackness.

Aven didn’t hesitate. He seized Tee again, dragging her into the next memory.

She blinked, and found herself in chaos. A battle raged before her eyes—her and Kie, side by side, fighting Lilith. They moved so fast it was impossible to follow, their blades colliding, sparks scattering across the air. Tee couldn’t even tell who was striking who. Then, without warning, a tornado of wind and lightning spiraled into existence, tearing the battlefield apart.

At its peak, she saw her dark self again, standing in the heart of the storm like a queen, controlling it with one outstretched hand. Her red eyes locked on Tee. That hand reached forward, reaching to claim her.

Aven yanked her through another mirror, but not fast enough. The force of the storm hurled them backward, and they tumbled, rolling over rough sand.

Tee coughed, dazed. When she looked up, her heart wrenched.

She knew that place too. The swing.

Her earlier self stood behind Kie in the swing. Their conversation played softly, just out of reach, but the memory of that moment filled Tee’s heart all the same. She smiled despite herself. She had built that swing. And she remembered exactly how she had felt then—safe. Seen.

But the smile didn’t last. Her chest tightened. The sea in the distance roared, waves rising unnaturally high. Tee stiffened. She knew what that meant.

Her dark self was coming.

The tidal wave towered. Aven didn’t even speak that time—he simply pulled her onward, and they dove into the next memory just as the water consumed the swing.

A kitchen. A small round table. The smell of warm bread, the pale morning light through the grilled window. Tee’s younger self sat across from Tetra, laughing at something mundane, their hands curled around mugs of steaming drink.

Tee froze, the sight of Tetra twisting her gut in fresh pain. But the moment was cut short. Wind blasted through the corridor, tearing at the walls, sucking the kitchen into the abyss.

Next, a bathroom. Tee stared at herself in the mirror, younger, frightened, applying concealer to her neck. Over and over she whispered, “I am not a Xeno-victim. I am not a Xeno-victim.”

Her voice shook even as she watched it, the words sending shivers across her spine.

From the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Her dark self, crawling along the tiled floor, twitching grotesquely as she dragged herself closer.

Aven ripped her away again.

Another beach. Laughter. She and Jack running down the sand, chasing each other under a clear sky. The memory should have been pure joy. But the rain came suddenly, lightning striking, and then her dark self appeared again—soaked, wild-eyed, cutting into the scene like a knife.

Aven fired a blast of energy, blasting her dark form backward, and once again pulled Tee into the next memory.

The mountainous terrain.

Tee froze. She knew that place intimately. She scanned the slopes until she spotted them—herself and her teammates, standing near the massive stone eye embedded in the cliff. She remembered well the day Kie told her of the girl from his future prophecy. 

The sky split. A blaze of light tore overhead. Tee braced to flee again.

But that time, Aven didn’t pull her away. He exhaled with relief.

“Tee,” he said, his voice steady, “you don’t have to run anymore. The Seal is complete.”

She turned to him, eyes wide. “So what now?”

His answer was betrayal.

Before she could react, Aven shoved her off the mountain.

The world tilted, and Tee screamed as she plummeted. The ground opened beneath her into an abyss, endless and devouring. Tears streamed from her eyes as despair crushed her chest.

And then the dark version of herself dove after her, claws wrapping tight around her leg.

But the Ultramana self appeared too, glowing, and seized her other arm. Both held her tight, pulling in opposite directions.

Then came the force. Not a fall, not a dive—but a pull. Something was drawing her upward, lifting her toward the surface instead of dragging her down.

Aven gasped, eyes widening as the Ether fusion ripped him from the Verge before he could leave properly. His force shield shattered in the real world, leaving both of them exposed.

Tee too burst free of her Verge.

Her lungs expanded. Her body thrummed. She felt alive in every way. More than alive. Her veins surged with energy, her soul alight with power that refused to be contained. It was as though the very air answered her heartbeat.

Her eyes opened, glowing pure white. Her hair whipped around her face, stirred by invisible currents.

Aven staggered back at the sight. The sheer rawness of her Ether energy radiated in waves. He couldn’t stand too close.

“It worked!” he shouted, joy breaking through.

But elsewhere—Sade felt it.

The Seal he had placed so long ago shattered in that instant. He reeled from the severing of the Seal, yet no physical backlash struck him. Only emptiness. A hollow sorrow. For as much as he raged, he had cherished the link. Through it, he had been able to feel her existence. Now, he ached. He wondered when—if—he would ever find her again.

But Aven’s triumph was short-lived.

The sky above them ripped open with sound. Dark spirits poured forth in a tornado of writhing shadows, ragged bodies twisted, claws reaching. Their shrieks pierced the air, high and unending, slicing into bone.

Chewlete Vultures.

They wanted Ether.

Aven’s face drained of color. “They’re attracted by immense Ether. They rip it from your body in the most painful way possible.” He swallowed hard. “I’ve never seen this many before. Not in my entire life.”

Tee’s fists clenched. She remembered those same creatures from a past mission, how they had harmed her comrades. How they had parted the way for her alone. But she was different now. She was Ether itself.

“Fine. Then take it!” she screamed.

And she let it out.

Her Ether exploded in a flood, pouring from her body like a white-hot storm. Aven ducked and hastily threw up another shield to keep from being consumed by the sheer blast.

The creatures descended on the power, devouring it greedily. One by one, as they fed, their darkness bled away, their bodies shifting pale and luminous, their shrieks softening into silence. They floated upward, peaceful, verging like feathers caught in the wind.

The danger passed.

Aven sank to his knees, exhausted, his head bowing low to the ground.

Tee rushed to him, breathless. “Are you alright?”

He nodded faintly.

But far from them, Saeda stiffened. A ripple passed through her veins, foreign and unsettling. She couldn’t explain it. Something had shifted. Something deep within her. Anxiety clawed at her chest, sharp and unyielding. She hated not knowing.

Tee, meanwhile, looked down at her hands.

The marks were gone.

Her heart raced. She pulled back her sleeve, staring at smooth skin, flawless.

Aven murmured a chant, conjuring a glowing mirror-circle in the air. “Look. Your insignia.”

Tee turned her head. Her reflection stared back, her neck glowing faintly white where once the dark curse had scarred her. Not ash-black anymore. White. Alive. Beautiful.

She smiled, half-shocked. “It looks… better than a tattoo.”

“Listen carefully,” Aven said sharply, breaking the moment. His tone was grave, every word deliberate.

“You need to make that Seal stronger. Because you are a Ether source, you don’t need to verge to feed it, like Vergant Xeno-victims do. When I created it, I linked it to your life-force. That means meditation, focus—channelling Ether into the Seal—to preserve it. Do not neglect this. Do not run headlong into death like I’ve seen you do.

“This is the closest thing to a cure that exists. But if the Seal breaks—” his eyes darkened “—you don’t just die. You mutate. And the MegaSapian will not stop growing stronger until nothing remains.”

The words pressed down on her chest. Tee closed her eyes briefly, letting the weight of it sink in. There was no going back. No undoing that. But she had a chance now. A chance to live without fear.

She opened her eyes, steadier. “Thank you, Aven.”

They retraced their path in silence. He walked ahead, she trailed behind, her thoughts a storm of uncertainty. How would the others react? What would happen next?

At the gates of Primus, they parted ways.

Aven wasted no time reporting to the elders. But when he revealed what else he had found—that Tee once carried a Seal of dark origin—the elders’ silence told him the truth. They already knew.

They had discovered it after they found out about her hybrid nature, when they realized why they couldn’t sense her dark energy. The Seal had cloaked her. To tamper with it would have risked triggering the MegaSapian. So they had done nothing.

Aven revealed further news—news so disturbing it made the elders knit their brows, their expressions hardening into cold stone. He had seen multiple encounters between the Harbinger sorcerer, Sade, and Tee during earlier periods of her life while in her Verge. He believed the sorcerer had placed the Seal on her himself.

But that Seal was now destroyed.

And that truth raised a far more terrifying question: what plan did the Harbingers have that involved Tee?

Word spread quickly that Tee had survived. That the Balance Seal had taken hold. Relief swept through Primus.

The Sentinels exhaled at last.

With the massive protective barrier for the MegaSapian gone, the Primus soldiers and Sentinels were finally dispatched. On the road back to Primus, they crossed paths with Tee. She still wore the long ceremonial dress, but the curse mark that once defined her was unmistakably different.

Tee’s chest tightened the moment she saw her teammates, all clad in mission gear. They looked ready—ready for battle, ready for execution. She knew they would have been the ones to put down her MegaSapian if she had mutated.

The fact that none of them ran to her said everything.

They still despised her.

Kie felt a weight lift from his shoulders—a tension he hadn’t even realized he’d been carrying. He glanced at his teammates, silently urging them to speak to her. Their answers came in the form of silence and uneasy stares.

They didn’t want to.

Tee’s senses flared. She looked back just in time to see Kie approaching.

What did he want?

She already had the Seal. Was it about the crest she was not wearing? Or the dress? She intended to return it—ceremonial clothing had no place in her wardrobe.

She turned away, but he followed her into a hallway where the world narrowed until it was only the two of them. She stopped and faced him.

“Kie?”

His gaze swept over her, then froze at her neck.

The markings were gone.

In their place was a soft white glow.

“You look… better,” he said quietly.

She smiled, nervous and hopeful, stepping closer as her dress whispered against the smooth floor. “I know. And look—” She pointed to the left side of her neck. “This is so much better than a tattoo.”

He couldn’t look away. The glow pulled at him, blurred something deep in his mind. In the future he had known, Tee had taken Prodigy’s cure. She’d carried no mark at all.

But the Tee standing in front of him bore a glowing mark.

Different.

Changed.

The timeline had shifted.

His hand lifted before he realized it.

A breathy, half-laugh escaped him. “I’m surprised you even got the Seal, considering you didn’t complete your death list.”

Tee answered plainly, almost too casually. “Oh. About that.” She rubbed the side of her neck and stared at his boots. “There was never a list. I was just… making things up as I went along.”

Kie stepped back as the words sank in.

His lip twitched.

If she hadn’t been knocked out by that fusion during the mission against the intelligence Leaks…

She would have kept lying.

Kept pushing.

Kept trying to get him into her bed.

That witch.

He turned his face away.

“There it is again,” he said coldly. “People using me.” His voice cracked upward as he looked back at her. “How long were you planning to keep that up, huh?” He shouted now, veins bulging in his neck. “Did you even know what you were doing to me?!”

Tee staggered back, fear flashing across her face.

“You really are a horrible person,” he said, his voice sharp and final. “I hope I never have to see you again. Though somehow…” His mouth twisted. “I doubt that.”

He turned his back on her and marched away, leaving the archway cold and hollow behind him.