THE ASCENDANTS

"That's unbelievable. So, the Nova we felt earlier was Arthur's?" Mathew asked in shock and disbelief. He looked at the unconscious Arthur with a deep gaze.

"What? The manager also felt it?" Kael asked in doubt. Was Arthur Nova so potent to even feel

from a distance?

"That's right. Even Jayden felt it" Mathew nodded as he looked at Jayden who was also

looking at Arthur.

"I thought it was from one of those guys, but I never would have guessed it was Arthur's"

Jayden replied with a sigh. Suddenly he frowned and once again looked at Arthur.

"But previously, there was no light coming from him," Jayden said.

"Light?" Lyra asked in confusion.

"You know, this thing" Jayden replied as he materialized some Nova in his finger.

"You mean Nova?" Kael asked in realization.

"Nova?" Jayden tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah, the 'light' is called Nova" Lyra replied with a smile. She also materialized some Nova

in her finger.

"Oh, it's called Nova. Alright," Jayden said in understanding. Since he was all alone here for 5

years, everything he knew was learned by himself. He didn't know the terms, history and

such.

"Kael, are you sure about what you saw? Were his eyes-" Mathew asked with a frown as he

looked at Kael in doubt.

"Yes, manager. I'm 100% sure of it. His eyes changed" Kael replied in confidence.

There was no way he could ever forget that scene.

'My brain isn't even capable of imagining something like that. It should be real" he

thought.

"And a few lines connected in the center?" Mathew asked again.

"Yeah," Kael replied. He was sure some lines were meeting at the center, but since he

was in a state of shock, he couldn't count the exact number of lines.

"Mathew, could he be one of the Ascendants?" Jayden asked curiously.

"No that's not possible" Mathew replied while shaking his head.

"And why's that?" Jayden asked.

"If he was one, our Nova would've resonated with him" Mathew replied. If the nearby

Ascendants used Nova simultaneously, their Nova would slightly resonate with each other,

like they were familiar with each other.

"He should have no idea what he is," Jayden said with a sigh. Since he was in that

condition, he could sympathize with it.

"Yeah, poor kid" Mathew nodded.

"We weren't even able to stand his Nova," Kael said, there was a trace of fear in his eye

when he remembered the feeling of that Nova.

"He may have inherited the power of some other god" Mathew guessed. But no god could

make the Ascendants breathless with their power.

"Manager, I think it's best if we let Uncle Val decide on this" Lyra said with a sigh. Since she

was injured, she kept silent through most of the conversation.

"Yeah, that should be the best" Mathew nodded.

Since the topic of Arthur was concluded, Jayden looked around the group, hesitated for a bit

and opened his mouth

"Guys, I think this mirror world is collapsing slowly" Jayden dropped the bomb.

"Wait what??" Kael shouted in shock.

"I don't think I can prove it to you guys but it's slowly collapsing and crumbling. I think that's

why the crack in the real world is getting bigger" Jayden explained with a sigh.

"What will happen if we don't find a way?" Mathew asked with a frown. He already had a

guess.

"We'll crumble away with this place" Jayden replied while he looked at them straightly.

"Bro Jayden you gotta find a way out somehow" Kael urged him in desperation.

"Yeah, it's related to you. So try to figure something out" Lyra also looked at Jayden

helplessly.

"I've been trying for 5 years but all my efforts were in vain" Jayden shaked his head with a

sigh. He was truly helpless.

Suddenly Mathew smirked at Jayden.

"What is it, Mathew?" Jayden asked with a frown.

Out of nowhere Mathew took out his Nova blade and pointed it right at Jayden's face.

"If you don't find a way out, I'll cut open your face. So you better do something quickly"

Mathew said seriously.

"Manager? Why are you doing this? We can talk it out" Kael intervened trying to stop the

situation without escalating any further.

"It's not your place to intervene Kael. Step away" Mathew narrowed his eyes as he looked at

Kael.

"Kael, I think the manager has been taken over like before," Lyra said with a frown.

"I'm afraid so" Kael sighed helplessly. Now the situation was truly out of their hands.

Mathew covered the twins with a barrier. Within the barrier, two small light orbs formed and

entered the twins' heads.

"Mathew, are you out of your mind?" Jayden frowned in dissatisfaction.

Mathew didn't reply. He remained expressionless and looked Jayden right in the eye.

"Mathew I'm talking to you, say something" Jayden shouted.

Before Jayden could react, slashed the Nova blade right at Jayden's face. Jayden dodged it

but a small cut formed on his cheeks.

Mathew suddenly held Jayden's face and started to fly upwards, making a hole through the

building. After reaching the sky, without holding back, Mathew threw Jayden violently into the

ground.

Jayden hit a building and fell through it. He stood up slowly, cleared all the rubbles and

looked at Mathew. There was no trace of hesitation now.

"These are divine flames of heaven, you'll die instantly. So, be wise Jayden" Mathew looked

at Jayden as materialized a golden fire in his hand.

Jayden suddenly remembered an older conversation he had.

…

"Ok, maybe we can go to the real world through a mirror?" Kael asked.

"Kael, this world doesn't have any mirrors or any reflections" Jayden replied.

…

"Sorry, I lied to you Kael. Even though I did it by accident 5 years ago and ended up here

and lost control, I was afraid that I'd go out of control and destroy myself again" Jayden

muttered to himself with a sigh.

He looked at Mathew, ready to fight with his life on the line.

"So, that's your choice. It's nice knowing you Jayden" Mathew said as he threw the huge

fireball at Jayden.

Jayden knew it was not the time to play around and get serious. Unlike the previous

attackers, Mathew was one of the 12 fragments. Their potential was on par with each other.

"Even though I did it unconsciously, I still remember the feeling vividly" Jayden muttered to

himself.

As the huge ball of fire neared Jayden, a huge pillar of light fell right on top of the fire. It

looked like the fire went inside the pillar of light and vanished without a trace.

"I knew you could do it" Mathew laughed with a nod.

"Don't play your tricks on me Mathew, I'm gonna finish you right here" Jayden frowned

seeing Mathew's laugh.

"Bro Jayden, don't do anything rashly. It's all part of the Manager's plan" Kael shouted and came running from behind hastily.

"What??" Jayden asked in confusion.

"When he cast the barrier on his, he informed his plan through the light orb" Lyra

explained hurriedly, trying to avoid further misunderstanding.

"He tried to kill me" Jayden replied harshly.

"No, the manager told us he's gonna push you to your limits so that the dormant power

inside you will resurface" Lyra explained.

"Haha, looks like even magicians can be deceived" Mathew laughed loudly. There was no

trace of his previous seriousness.

Jayden wiped the blood on his cheeks and looked at Mathew with a weird expression.

"Haha, I'm sorry about that. Here this should do it" Mathew replied awkwardly as he sent a

wisp of fire onto that wound. Jayden was about to dodge when he saw the fire but controlled

himself.

The fire had a warm feeling and instantly healed Jayden's cut.

"You can heal?" Jayden asked curiously.

"Yeah, but only the wounds I caused" Mathew replied with a smile.

Suddenly the group heard the sound of buildings collapsing in the distance.

"Guys I think we should hurry" Kael shouted in alarm.

Jayden looked at the group and sighed. He once again summoned the pillar of light. The

object behind the light was revealed. It was a circus tent.

"C'mon, that's our way out," Jayden said with a smile.

The group entered the tent with doubt.