Until this moment, Helos’s mind finally began to clear from the shock caused by her body’s strange transformation and Sylvia’s startling words.
She sat on the bed, her hands instinctively gripping the sheets beneath her.
The warning Sylvia had just given about the awakening of her power struck her heart like a heavy hammer, forcing her to reexamine every change happening within her body.
If what that ghost mentor said was true—that the long-dormant “curse of silence” was suddenly showing signs of awakening—this was absolutely not an isolated event.
This was no coincidence.
Helos took a deep breath, trying to calm her still-thundering heart.
She began replaying everything that had happened recently in her mind.
From losing control of her emotions last night because of Julius’s words, unlocking the Phantom Arts of alchemy, to this morning’s embarrassing yet undeniable physical development.
All of it seemed to point to a single common node.
That was the progress of the mysterious tome known as Ultimate Alchemy.
She recalled what she knew about that tome.
The life system represented life and healing, the Valiance Arts represented the body and strength, the Enlightenment Arts represented wisdom and creation, and the Phantom Arts represented the spirit and perception.
These four major branches were like the four pillars supporting a magnificent hall—none could be missing.
And now, with that crisp notification sound from last night, all four pillars had finally fallen into place.
Helos blinked, her brows furrowing slightly.
She felt like she was forgetting something very important.
Her memory traced back to the moment she first opened that tome within her Consciousness Ocean.
Back then, she had been so shocked that she’d only glanced at the table of contents, memorizing those crests.
But beyond those four crests arranged around the periphery, there seemed to be something else.
That’s right!
The girl’s pupils contracted sharply.
The crests in Ultimate Alchemy numbered more than just four!
At the center of those four crests—representing life, valiancy, enlightenment, and phantom—each governing a different domain of authority, there was embedded one most noble and most mysterious golden crest.
That was the Branch of Order and Judgment—the order system of alchemy.
Helos clearly remembered that line of tiny text regarding its unlock condition.
Unlike the other four branches, it didn’t require a specific recipe or the fulfillment of some harsh condition.
Its unlock condition was singular, simple and pure—yet the hardest to achieve.
That was—when all four other branches of alchemy were fully unlocked, the order system would automatically awaken from its slumber.
Helos swallowed hard, a clear gulp audible from her throat.
“Gulp.”
A mixture of anticipation and awe surged through her chest.
If it was true…
If what that so-called “awakening” referred to wasn’t the curse of silence running wild, but rather the activation of the order system—
Then everything made sense.
Why her body was changing. Why Sylvia sensed such terrifying fluctuations.
Because it wasn’t some monster’s nightmare at all. It was like a sovereign ruler opening its eyes.
She had to confirm it.
Right now.
Ignoring Sylvia, who was still floating nearby and examining her with that probing gaze, Helos closed her eyes again, took a deep breath, and deftly sank her consciousness into that familiar Mental Space.
The once pitch-black Consciousness Ocean had now become completely transformed.
Four colors of light interweaved brilliantly in the darkness.
The emerald green of vitality, the crimson red of valiancy, the deep blue of enlightenment, and the newly added deep purple of Phantom.
These four forces didn’t clash with one another as Helos had feared. Instead, like stars encircling the moon, they revolved slowly around a central point.
And at that center—sure enough—the golden crest that had once been dull and lifeless, seeming like mere background decoration, was now radiating an unprecedented, intense brilliance.
The light was so pure, so domineering, it was almost impossible to look at directly.
Unlike the other four branches, it carried no distinct elemental attributes.
It was pure light. Pure rule. Pure… order.
Its radiance was so powerful it threatened to devour the four already-illuminated crests around it.
Yet within that devouring, Helos sensed no aura of destruction—only a perfect fusion and unification.
Like four rushing rivers finally converging into the sea, finding their ultimate destination.
That was order—the standard by which all things were measured.
Helos’s consciousness felt so insignificant before this majestic light.
Trembling, she reached out her hand, wanting to touch that golden crest floating in the void.
The moment her fingertip was about to make contact with that radiance, she hesitated.
The mental storm from when the Enlightenment Arts had unlocked still haunted her.
Those cold blue eyes. The searing pain of her soul being torn apart. These were nightmares she couldn’t shake.
This time…
Would it hurt even more?
Would it burn out her brain entirely?
But the arrow was already nocked—she had to let it fly.
If she didn’t take this step, she would never truly master her own destiny. She would forever remain a wretch plagued by a curse.
“Here goes!”
Helos let out a low growl in her heart.
She stopped hesitating. Her fingertip pressed forward firmly, making solid contact with that golden crest.
The excruciating pain she’d imagined never came. No terrifying monster roared in her mind either.
The next second, the crest burst open with a blinding yet gentle white light.
Like a soft waterfall, it instantly washed over Helos’s entire Mental Space.
An indescribable warmth surged from the connection point between her spirit and body, flooding through the girl’s entire being.
What did it feel like?
Like soaking in the most comfortable hot spring in the dead of winter. Like a wanderer who’d been away from home for years finally returning to their mother’s embrace.
Comfortable. Blissful. Safe.
Helos felt every single cell in her body let out a joyful sigh in that moment.
The hidden injuries left by various experiments and battles. The exhaustion from overextending her mental energy.
Even the lingering sense of alienation in the depths of her soul caused by her transmigration—all of it dissolved and vanished under that warm current’s wash.
She had never felt so clear-headed, nor so…
Complete.
[The four foundational laws of the branches have been fully constructed.]
[Core circuit activated.]
[The order system of alchemy has been unsealed.]