Far beyond the countless worlds scattered throughout existence, Nyssara moved through the dimensional currents with effortless grace.

Her elongated body stretched across layers of reality that ordinary beings could never perceive. One moment she appeared as an endless serpent gliding through a river of stars. The next moment, her form dissolved into flowing cosmic mist before reforming again somewhere farther ahead.

Entire constellations seemed trapped beneath her translucent scales. Galaxies reflected across her shifting body like decorations woven into living flesh.

Around her, dimensions passed one after another.

Some worlds glowed with vibrant life and others had long since died and drifted through the cosmic sea as empty husks. There were more vast domains ruled by entities similar to herself that existed beyond mortal understanding.

Ancient pathways carved by forgotten gods crossed through regions where reality itself behaved according to unfamiliar laws.

Nyssara ignored all of them. Her thoughts remained fixed upon the task ahead.

The favor she had just obtained from the Void Architect pleased her immensely.

Few things possessed greater value than a debt owed by a cosmic being.

Especially one as old and powerful as the Void Architect. Eventually she would claim that debt.

When the time came, she intended to use it against an enemy she had wanted to destroy for a very long time.

The thought alone improved her mood considerably.

As she slithered through the dimensional currents, her mind drifted toward the Dragonborn mentioned by the Void Architect.

Honestly, she wasn’t particularly worried. Dragonborn were rare. Extremely rare.

Long ago they had been far more common. Entire generations of Dragonborn had risen across countless worlds. Some had eventually ascended beyond mortality itself and become deities, cosmic guardians, or entities powerful enough to shape the destinies of civilizations.

But those days belonged to an unimaginably distant past. Most of them have perished now. Others had disappeared. Entire bloodlines had gone extinct.

For a very long time, Nyssara had assumed there were no Dragonborn left.

But now these Dragonborn had been born within mortal worlds.

They were strong, certainly. Strong enough to inconvenience the weakened Void Architect.

But Nyssara was not the Void Architect.

She had not suffered catastrophic defeat against the Creator of the System.

She had not lost the majority of her authority. In her mind, this assignment remained relatively simple. She just has to retrieve the Creation, remove any obstacles, and then collect her reward.

Nothing more.

Eventually she detected the world. The dimensional currents shifted subtly around it.

A faint trace of the Void Architect’s influence lingered upon its reality.

Nyssara immediately recognized it. "There you are."

Her enormous body slowed. For several moments she simply observed from afar.

Then, rather than entering directly, she extended only a fragment of her consciousness, a single thought, a tiny portion of her awareness slipped through the dimensional boundaries and entered the world unnoticed.

She preferred observing first. The consciousness drifted silently across continents, kingdoms, cities, and battlefields.

Almost immediately she found evidence of recent conflict. The ruined districts, collapsed buildings, and countless dead.

She also feels the lingering fear, grief, and despair caused by it.

Nyssara smiled. The Void Architect had actually performed reasonably well.

The world remained wounded. Chaos still lingered everywhere.

Had he possessed even a fraction more of his former strength, he might have succeeded already.

Unfortunately for him, weakness had become his greatest limitation.

"He really has fallen far."

The observation carried no sympathy. Only amusement.

Her awareness continued moving across the recovering kingdoms seeing people rebuilt, mourned, and struggled to survive.

However, beneath everything, she sensed uncertainty.

Fear still existed there. The world remained fragile, and fragile worlds were easy to break.

A pleasant feeling spread through her. This task might be easier than expected.

All she truly needed to do was locate the Creation and bring her back to the Void Architect.

But perhaps she could have a little fun while she was here.

After all, chaos often made hidden things reveal themselves. Nyssara had always enjoyed watching worlds panic.

Her smile widened as her consciousness continued drifting across the recovering kingdoms. Genuine excitement began growing inside her.

This was going to be entertaining.

—

Erend remained floating high above Leonora while the night continued deepening around him.

The cold wind brushed past his body and carried the distant sounds of the recovering capital far below. Tiny lights illuminated portions of the city where healers still worked tirelessly through the night.

Soldiers moved supplies between districts while groups of civilians cleared debris from collapsed buildings. Even from this height, Erend could see that nobody was truly resting.

Neither was he.

Although his body had recovered considerably since the battle, traces of exhaustion still lingered deep within him. Closing massive portals in succession while fighting creatures across multiple kingdoms had consumed an enormous amount of energy. The System power accelerated his recovery a little bit, but even that had limits.

So he remained there in silence here while watching and waiting.

The stars stretched endlessly overhead while his thoughts drifted between the Void Architect, the missing signal, and the countless cosmic entities Veyrun had described.

Then suddenly...

"Erend."

Veyrun’s voice echoed inside his mind. Something about it immediately made Erend straighten. The Administrator rarely interrupted him without reason.

"What is it?" Erend asked.

A brief silence followed. Then Veyrun spoke. "I have detected something."

Erend’s eyes narrowed. "What kind of something?"

Another pause. This one lasted longer. When Veyrun finally answered, his voice carried an unusual level of seriousness.

"An attention."

Erend frowned. "An attention?"

"Yes." The Administrator continued. "A powerful entity has directed its awareness toward this world."

Every trace of relaxation vanished from Erend’s body. Immediately his senses expanded across the sky around him. His Dragon instincts flared.

"What do you mean powerful?" Erend asked.

Veyrun answered immediately. "Cosmic level."

For several seconds Erend simply stared ahead. The words hit harder than he expected.

Cosmic level. The same category Veyrun had just explained earlier.nEntities capable of existing beyond worlds and comparable to the Void Architect.

Entities capable of treating entire civilizations as insignificant.

A cold sensation spread through Erend’s chest.

"How strong?" he asked.

"I cannot accurately quantify it. The presence is not fully here. It appears to be observing from afar. However, the amount of power contained within that attention is immense."

That answer only made the situation worse. Erend slowly clenched his fists.

"Why would something like that suddenly focus on this world?"

"I do not know. I have never previously detected its presence near this reality. There is insufficient information to determine its purpose."

Erend lowered his gaze toward Leonora.

The recovering kingdom suddenly felt much smaller. Much more vulnerable. His thoughts immediately drifted toward one possibility.

The timing was too suspicious.

The Void Architect had failed and now a cosmic entity was paying attention to this world.

"Veyrun."

"Yes."

"Do you think the Void Architect sent it?"

The Administrator fell silent. Several seconds passed. Then Veyrun finally replied.

"It is a possibility."

Those words were enough. Erend’s expression hardened immediately.

If a being comparable to the Void Architect had entered the situation, then the danger they were facing might be far greater than he originally feared.

Deep within his instincts, the uneasiness that had haunted him since the invasion ended suddenly became stronger than ever.

—