Even Death Grew Tired of Killing Me-Chapter 43 - 38

I reached the Realm Union in just under thirty minutes. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

That alone told me something had changed.

I slowed to a stop a few steps away from the entrance, more out of habit than exhaustion, and waited for the familiar burn in my lungs. It never came. My breathing was steady. My legs felt warm but not strained, like I had just finished a light jog instead of sprinting across a good portion of the capital.

I blinked and straightened, flexing my fingers once.

So that’s how it feels.

Back in Hearthroot, even walking fast had felt like I was pushing a body that wasn’t built for it. Now my steps had been longer, my turns sharper, my balance cleaner. I hadn’t tripped once, hadn’t slowed on corners, hadn’t needed to pause and recalibrate my direction. It was subtle, but unmistakable.

The stat increase mattered.

I looked up.

The Realm Union building stood at the edge of one of Solcarth’s outer administrative districts, where the streets widened and the traffic thinned into something more deliberate. The structure itself was large, but not in the towering, domineering way the palace was. Instead, it felt... deliberate.

The building followed Solcarth’s architectural language at a glance. Pale stone, clean lines, tall archways, and layered terraces that stepped upward rather than rising sharply. But the details gave it away. The stone was smoother, almost seamless. The edges of the arches carried faint, constant light that pulsed gently, like a living thing breathing. Symbols were carved into the walls, not decorative, but functional, each one humming with quiet energy.

It didn’t clash with the capital.

It didn’t belong to it either.

I walked up the wide steps and passed beneath the archway. The air shifted the moment I crossed the threshold. Not colder or warmer, just... different. Like stepping into a place that operated on slightly different rules.

Inside, I approached the reception desk and presented myself.

"My name is Theo Finley," I said, keeping my voice even. "I received an emergency summon from my system."

The attendant glanced up. A woman, human, probably from another realm. Her eyes flicked to the space in front of me, where my system interface would be visible only to authorized parties. Her fingers moved through the air, interacting with something I couldn’t see.

Her posture straightened.

"Yes," she said. "We have it logged. Please follow me."

No questions. No hesitation.

That alone made my stomach tighten.

She led me through a series of corridors that grew more... unfamiliar with every step.

The interior of the Realm Union was nothing like the rest of Solcarth.

Gone were stone walls and banners. Instead, the space opened into something that felt pulled straight out of a science fiction film from my world. The floors were smooth and faintly reflective. Light sources hovered overhead without any visible support, casting a soft, even glow. Transparent panels floated in the air, layered with scrolling text, diagrams, and symbols that shifted as people passed by.

And the people.

Humans, yes, but also others. Taller figures with elongated limbs. Shorter ones with too many joints. Beings whose skin shimmered faintly, or whose eyes glowed softly as they interacted with floating displays. Everyone moved with purpose, tapping, swiping, speaking in low voices, occasionally projecting holographic windows that snapped into place and vanished just as quickly.

Their clothing matched the environment. Sleek, fitted uniforms in neutral colors, threaded with subtle lines of light. Nothing ornate. Nothing wasted.

It felt efficient.

It felt unsettlingly familiar.

"This way," the attendant said, guiding me toward a side corridor marked with a simple designation.

R-000890

My world.

The corridor opened into a workspace that felt smaller, more grounded. Five people were inside, all human, all unmistakably from my home realm. Their accents, their posture, even the way they leaned into their work screamed familiarity in a way I hadn’t realized I missed until that moment.

They were busy. All of them.

Floating screens hovered in front of each person, filled with logs, timelines, and system readouts. One of them glanced up as I entered, recognition flashing briefly across his face before professionalism took over.

"That’s him," the attendant said. "Theo Finley."

The man nodded and stepped forward. He looked to be in his late thirties, maybe early forties, dressed in the same sleek uniform as the others. His expression was calm but serious.

"I’m Officer Hale," he said. "You were summoned because your system flagged a priority cross-realm matter."

"I figured," I replied. "What is it?"

He gestured toward a floating panel that expanded between us. My system logs appeared instantly, lines of data scrolling past faster than I could read.

"There’s been a request," Hale said, "for your immediate return to your origin world."

My chest tightened. "I’m not interested to go back, not now atleast."

He looked at me, unimpressed. "That’s not relevant."

I stared at him. "You’re telling me I don’t get a say?"

"I’m telling you this isn’t optional," he replied calmly. "The request is tied to unresolved matters surrounding your parents’ deaths and assets they left behind."

That hit harder than I expected.

"I don’t care," I said after a moment. "Whatever they left, whatever questions there are, I don’t want anything to do with it."

Hale’s gaze sharpened slightly. "Theo, listen to me carefully. You can refuse to engage emotionally all you want. That’s your right. But if you refuse the summon itself, the Realm Union will be forced to reclassify your status."

"Reclassify how?"

"As a noncompliant Crosser," he said. "You’d lose active support. No priority assistance. No mediation rights. No cross-realm protections. You’d still exist in Aetherfall, but you’d be treated as... independent. On your own."

A dependent Crosser.

"That’s not a threat," Hale added. "It’s procedure."

I closed my eyes briefly and exhaled through my nose.

Of course it was.

"Fine," I said. "I’ll go."

He nodded, as if he’d expected nothing else.

"You’ll be granted a return authorization," Hale continued. "Since this is an official summon, it comes with a closed-loop transit. You won’t need to traverse the Expanse manually."

"A roundtrip," I said, relief slipping into my voice before I could stop it.

"Yes," he confirmed. "A controlled return and re-entry."

"Within the day," I said. "I’ll settle things here and come back."

"You should do it quickly," Hale said. "The request is marked as immediate."

I nodded slowly.

"One more thing," I said. "I have a companion. She doesn’t know about this."

"You can inform her," Hale replied. "But the summon applies only to you."

That didn’t make it feel better but I understand. It’s not like I can just drag Astrae to our world without questions and documentations. It would be very risky.

I stepped back as the floating panels retracted. The space around me felt suddenly louder, heavier, like the quiet order I’d felt earlier had been replaced with urgency.

I turned to leave.

As I walked back through the corridors, past the screens and the people and the impossible blend of magic and technology, one thought kept looping in my mind.

My parents.

I had crossed worlds. Died hundreds of times. Walked beside a goddess. Sat across from people who could reshape kingdoms.

And now, after all that, I was being dragged back to the one thing I had never managed to face properly.

Whatever they left behind.

Whatever questions I had avoided.

The system had decided it was time.

And I had a sinking feeling that this return wasn’t going to be simple.

Not at all.

~~~

Theo didn’t slow down until he was back inside the residence.

The door shut behind him with a soft, muted click, the sound strangely grounding after the tension of the palace and the Realm Union office. For a moment, he just stood there, hand still on the latch, letting the familiar air of the place settle around him. It smelled faintly of old wood, incense used to keep pests away, and whatever herbal cleanser the staff favored. Ordinary.

He exhaled, long and slow.

"Okay," he muttered to himself. "Focus."

He crossed the room and dropped his pack onto the low table, then crouched beside it. His magical belt bag lay open, its interior space folding far deeper than its size suggested. He moved with practiced efficiency, packing only what mattered. Extra clothes. Basic tools. His personal notes. A few copied archive fragments he had permission to carry. Coins, carefully separated. He did not take everything. Experience had taught him that carrying too much only made things worse.

As he worked, his thoughts kept drifting back to Astrae.

He straightened, fingers still resting on the edge of the bag, and frowned.

She should have been back by now.

Theo stood and stepped out into the corridor. A few other residents were passing by, merchants mostly, judging by the way they talked in low voices about shipments and prices. He stopped one of the staff members, a middle-aged man who managed the day-to-day affairs of the place.

"Hey," Theo said, keeping his tone casual. "Have you seen Astrae today? The girl staying a floor below me."

The man thought for a moment, then nodded. "Ah, yes. She was here before lunch. Left sometime after. Haven’t seen her since."

Theo nodded slowly. "Did she say where she was going?"

"No," the man replied simply. "She usually doesn’t."

"Thanks," Theo said. "If she comes back and asks for me..."

He hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

"Tell her I was summoned back to my world. Emergency call. I’ll return as soon as I can."

The manager blinked, then nodded, clearly used to strange explanations. "I’ll make sure she gets the message."

Theo reached into his pouch, slipped him a small coin for the trouble, and thanked him again before heading down the stairs.

He stopped in front of Astrae’s door.

For a brief second, he considered knocking anyway, even though he knew she wasn’t there. It was a pointless impulse, born more from unease than logic. Instead, he pulled a small slip of paper from his bag and wrote a quick note.

Summoned back home by the Realm Union. Emergency. I’ll return as soon as I can. Be careful.

He folded it once and slid it neatly beneath her door.

"There," he murmured. "That’s the best I can do."

Theo stood there a moment longer, then turned and headed out.

The walk back to the Realm Union facility felt faster than before. Maybe it was adrenaline. Maybe it was the growing sense that events were moving whether he was ready or not. The streets of Solcarth were busy even now, merchants calling out, guards moving with practiced precision, banners catching the light as they shifted in the breeze.

It struck him, not for the first time, how quickly this city had started to feel real to him. Not like a game or a dream.

Like a place he belonged to.

The Realm Union building loomed ahead, its clean lines and softly glowing surfaces standing apart from the rest of the capital. Guards recognized him immediately and waved him through without delay.

Inside, the process was efficient. Almost unsettlingly so.

His identity was confirmed. His system logs checked again. Permissions verified. A Realm Union officer explained the return procedure in a calm, neutral tone, as if this were a routine errand and not a sudden rupture in his already fragile sense of stability.

"You’ll be returned to the same entry point you last departed from," the officer said. "This is a closed-loop return. You are expected to report back within the allotted time window."

"I understand," Theo replied.

The officer paused, then added, "Once you’ve resolved the matter in your origin world, you can return. You’ll not be forced to return here if you decided to settle down back at your place."

Theo nodded again. "I’ll definitely come back, I won’t be long."

They guided him to the return chamber.

The realm door formed in front of him, expanding outward like a sheet of glass being drawn from thin air. Symbols flickered briefly along its edges, then stabilized. It was roughly human-sized, tall enough for him to step through without ducking.

Theo hesitated for only a second.

Then he stepped forward.

The transition was smoother than he expected. No tearing sensation. No vertigo. Just a brief pressure, like moving through water, and then...

He was standing outside the gate.

His world.

The air felt different immediately. Thinner. Sharper. Familiar in a way that made his chest ache. The sounds were wrong too. Too orderly. Too restrained. Cars in the distance. Voices without the underlying hum of magic.

A Realm Union officer from his world approached him, dressed in a uniform that felt almost painfully normal now.

"Theo Finley," the officer said, glancing at a handheld device. "Return confirmed. This was a requested summon, not a voluntary rest cycle."

"Yes," Theo replied.

The officer scanned him quickly, then nodded. "All clear. You’re free to go."

"May I know what date is today?" Theo asked.

The officer answered as though he expected it and left. Just like that.

Theo stepped away from the gate, heart pounding harder than it had in days.

He stopped a short distance away, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

Theo had known, in theory, that time moved differently.

Aetherfall did not run faster or slower in the simple way people imagined. Days there were not shorter. Nights were not compressed. The sun still rose and set as it should. What changed was how time mattered.

In Aetherfall, time bent around endurance.

A body that aged slower, healed better, and resisted decay made months feel light. Years passed without carving deep marks. Life stretched, not because hours were fewer, but because existence itself was less fragile. Mortality was diluted.

Here, in his world, two weeks had passed.

In Aetherfall, it had been months.

Not because time accelerated there, but because this world punished every moment more harshly. Because life here broke faster.

Theo exhaled slowly.

Aetherfall did not steal time.

It simply refused to waste it.

He opened his eyes and looked around.

The world he’d left behind hadn’t changed much. Same streets. Same sky. Same dull rhythm of ordinary life. And yet, he knew he wasn’t the same person who had stepped through that gate before.

Not even close.

Whatever waited for him here, he would deal with it.

And then, as promised, he would go back.