The snow world fragment that the captain had brought out to hide them from the head began to slowly disappear after a few hours.
At first, the change was subtle.
The vast red landscape around them began to shrink little by little, as if the world itself was being folded inward by an unseen hand. At the same time, the crimson lands gradually lost their color and slowly turned pale white as soft snow began to fall from the sky.
The transformation spread like frost crawling across glass.
The once blood-red ground was soon covered by a thin white layer. Snowflakes drifted down endlessly, landing on Grey's shoulders, on Roxanne's hair, and on the captain's cloak. Within minutes, their clothes and hair were dusted white, making them appear like silent statues standing in the middle of a frozen meadow.
Above them, the red sky that had once burned like a sea of blood slowly dimmed.
It turned darker and darker, until it resembled a cold, gloomy winter sky heavy with snow clouds. The air became quiet and still, filled only with the gentle whisper of falling snow.
Then, the captain's voice suddenly rang inside Grey's ears.
"In a few hours, the snow world fragment will disappear."
Her tone was calm, yet faintly excited.
"Are you ready to face the power of Soul Ascendancy?"
Grey did not respond.
He simply stood there in silence.
However, the calmness on his face soon faded as his expression slowly turned solemn. His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared into the falling snow, as though trying to see through the illusion that surrounded them.
Beside him, Roxanne slowly opened her eyes.
Her eyelids trembled slightly as she regained awareness. When she finally lifted her head, her expression was dark and grim. It was clear that she also understood what was about to happen.
The snow continued to fall.
Time passed quietly.
By the time five hours had gone by, Grey watched as the snow meadow around them began to grow faint.
The ground beneath their feet slowly lost its texture, becoming translucent like mist. The falling snowflakes dissolved before even reaching the ground.
Then, the entire snow world fragment started to collapse.
The frozen meadow cracked apart like a fragile illusion. The white landscape faded piece by piece, dissolving into countless particles of light that scattered into the air.
Very soon, everything vanished.
The snow meadow disappeared completely.
And the red world returned.
The blood-red sky reappeared above them, and the crimson land stretched endlessly in every direction once more.
The moment the snow world vanished, the massive head above the crystal palace slowly turned.
Its gaze descended upon them.
Its expression remained completely indifferent, like that of an ancient god looking down upon insignificant mortals.
High above the sky, six blazing suns shone brightly.
Each sun radiated a different color and emitted a terrifying aura that spread across every inch of this world.
Grey's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at them.
He already knew what those suns represented.
They were not ordinary suns.
They were the six mystical eyes that only cultivators who had stepped into the Soul Ascendancy Realm could manifest.
Each eye represented a completed inner reality.
Each reality symbolized the cultivator's control over a fragment of existence.
The more realities one formed, the more powerful their authority over the world became.
Once these inner realities evolved from illusions into true realities, the cultivator would take the final step.
That step was the Nihility Realm.
A realm where one could create existence from nothingness itself.
Grey slowly exhaled as he stared at the blazing suns above.
So in truth...
The Eye of Fate they had come here to steal was one of those suns.
Stealing it meant tearing away one of the six realities left behind by a dead Soul Ascendancy expert.
The idea sounded insane.
Almost impossible.
But Grey had personally witnessed the captain accomplish things that should have been even more impossible.
Summoning a divine being.
Tearing open sealed worlds.