Michael didn't answer right away.
He was still staring at the panel hovering in front of him. Everything about it screamed bullshit. The numbers didn't make sense. His entire stat sheet looked like someone had hacked into the system and rewrote the laws of reality for fun.
Tier 18? He was Tier 12 just a minute ago.
And yet, his body didn't feel like it had changed all that much. His breathing was still ragged, and his muscles still ached slightly from overusing his mana. But there was this strange... silence. Not in the surroundings—but inside.
"How?" Irelia repeated, slower this time, as if the extra second would help her brain process what she was seeing.
Michael glanced her way, then looked down at his own hand. There was no glow. No aura. Nothing flashy. And yet, the moment he curled his fingers into a fist, the air around him bent. Just a little.
He didn't even need to swing. Just thinking about it was enough to make the mana move.
"Trial and error," he replied flatly. "Mostly error."
"That's not possible. You can't just jump six Tiers like that."
"Yeah, well..." Michael looked over his shoulder as the cracked ground beneath him started caving slightly. "Apparently, you can."
"You combined affinities," she said, more to herself than him. "But that shouldn't work... they're supposed to cancel each other out."
"Supposed to." He shrugged. "But here we are."
Kael finally walked over, looking like someone who had missed the entire conversation and was just now trying to piece things together. His gaze flicked to the cracks in the floor, the bodies scattered around, and finally to Michael, who looked like he'd just stepped out of an oven.
"You good?" Kael asked.
"No," Michael replied. "But I'm alive. So... progress."
"That's one way to look at it."
Behind them, Arthur was still wringing water out of his sleeves, muttering about how inefficient these robes were for combat. Nyra had vanished again, though small streaks of blood on the walls marked where she'd last passed.
Michael rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled. His mind was spinning a bit slower now. He could feel his mana adjusting, the chaotic threads braiding into something more stable.
"Chaos," he muttered. "That's what it's called, apparently."
Irelia tilted her head. "That's not a real affinity."
"It is now," Michael said, stepping past her.
He wasn't trying to be cryptic either. He just knew deep down that the moment those affinities stopped fighting, something new had taken their place. Not a mix. Not a fusion. A replacement.
A single concept that existed outside the standard system rules.
Chaos.
Unpredictable, unstable, and somehow, it perfectly fit him.
"So what now?" Kael asked, tone light but eyes sharp.
Michael stopped walking and pointed toward the dark hallway up ahead. "Now?"
He grinned.
"We find the fucker who dropped us in here and return the favor."
Irelia didn't argue this time. She just followed.
Michael didn't look back as he walked. He didn't need to.
They'd follow—whether because they trusted him, or because they didn't have a better option. Either way, it worked.
The hallway ahead looked like every other one they'd passed since being dumped in this place. Same dull grey walls. Same unnatural hum in the air. No doors. No markings. Like the entire place was a loop designed to disorient them.
But something was different now. Michael could feel it. The mana here was rippling. Pushing against him and threatening to swallow him whole.
He pushed back.
With a simple thought, the mana around him shifted. It recoiled and then surged forward again, only to crash into the invisible field surrounding him and break apart like foam.
Kael watched it happen with narrowed eyes. "You sure you're okay?"
"No." Michael's voice was calm. "But I'm not broken either."
"You didn't answer her question earlier," Kael said.
Michael kept walking.
"Why did you save her?" Kael pressed.
Michael didn't answer for a while.
Eventually, he stopped in front of a dead end. At least, it looked like one. Smooth wall. Seamless. No sign of any passage.
"I'm not a fan of leaving people behind," he finally said, tone neutral. "Even if they're annoying."
Kael snorted. "You asked her to marry you."
"She's hot, not likable."
Irelia raised a brow behind them but said nothing.
Michael stepped forward and raised his hand to the wall. The mana here felt strange, so he closed his eyes, inspecting it.
Chaos...?
He didn't know how it worked. Didn't even understand the rules. But it responded.
He pressed his palm flat against the wall, and the moment his mana touched the surface, the entire hallway shifted as the walls began flickering.
And then the wall in front of him just vanished.
No explosion. No sound. It simply faded away, like it had never been there.
Behind it was a large chamber, circular in shape, lined with glowing runes along the edges. At the center was a pillar of light.
Someone stood in front of it.
Tall. Robed. Face covered by a metallic red mask.
Michael took a step in. The others followed without a word.
The masked figure didn't turn. "Took you long enough."
Michael tilted his head. "You sound disappointed."
"Not disappointed. Just surprised. I didn't think you'd adapt that fast."
Arthur frowned. "You know this guy?"
"Nope."
"I know you, though," the figure said, finally turning. His voice echoed unnaturally. "Michael Light. The failed experiment."
Michael didn't flinch. "You should update your notes."
"Or perhaps I wrote the ending too early." The figure raised a hand, and immediately the runes lining the chamber began to glow brighter. "You weren't supposed to make it this far."
"Yeah, I've been hearing that my whole life." S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"You're an anomaly. You weren't meant to inherit Chaos. That seed wasn't even ready."
Michael's eyes narrowed. "Seed?"
The figure paused. "Ah. So you didn't know. Interesting."
Irelia moved forward slightly, golden mana coating her hands. "Explain. Now."
"I don't answer to failures."
She raised her hand, but Michael stepped forward, cutting her off. His tone was calm, flat. "You're saying Chaos was something placed in me?"
"Not placed. Planted. It was a failsafe."
"For what?"
"For when the system broke," the figure replied. "For when rules no longer worked. You were Plan C."
Michael stared for a moment, then exhaled. "Of course I was."
"You don't seem surprised."
"I stopped being surprised two resurrections ago," he muttered.
Kael blinked. "Resurrections?"
"Don't ask."
The figure raised his hand again, and this time, the runes began to twist. The light from the pillar surged, flooding the chamber.
"Unfortunately," the figure said, "you've activated it too early. Now I have to kill you manually."
"Try," Michael said.
The instant he spoke, the air fractured.
Everything in the chamber warped slightly. Like reality had skipped a frame.
Kael stumbled back, clutching his head. Irelia bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, forcing herself to remain upright.
Michael stepped forward.
The masked man thrust out his hand, summoning a spiral of condensed light and fire.
Yet Michael didn't dodge as he simply raised his hand... and the spell froze mid-air, then shattered.
Pieces of it scattered across the floor like broken glass. No explosion. No impact.
Just silence.
Michael tilted. "You've already lost."
The being smirked. "I wouldn't be so sure."
In the very next moment, Michael felt the chaotic mana inside him swirl, as if it was reacting to the room itself.
"You see... I only made you come here so you could awaken the Chaos inside you. It's just a pity you escaped so soon..." the being muttered.
Then, under the gaze of everyone present, the being flicked its fingers, sending a bolt of lightning from the ceiling which crashed straight down onto Michael.
Or so it seemed. However, in the last moment, Irelia stepped forward and effectively blocked the attack with her hand, even managing to redirect it toward the masked being.
"I see you're not afraid anymore," Michael remarked with a smirk.
But he was only met with a small glare before Irelia dashed forward.
In the meantime, Nyra approached him and began slashing the air.
Immediately, he felt a certain type of relief envelop him, which made him regain control of himself and his body.
"Thanks for that," Michael said.
"Mhm." Nyra nodded as her eyes narrowed. "Your strength rose again..."
"Probably, but let's deal with this guy first," Michael replied. "I'm pretty sure he's one of the lackeys that I encountered last time."
But of course, unlike last time, he wouldn't be killed as easily.
The gods knew he existed ever since his return; this encounter in particular made it obvious.
Nonetheless, Michael gathered his bearings and turned to Arthur.
"Yo fish, are you still with us?"
"Barely." Arthur scoffed. "All of this fish talk has made me crave fish, no thanks to you."
"I suggest we go out for dinner after this then," Kael added, causing Michael to chuckle as he turned to the red-masked individual who was fighting Irelia.
"Fish it is."
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!