The sky had drawn a black curtain over the world, letting darkness blanket the earth and swallow Midgar, the largest city on the planet.
But because Midgar possessed the world's richest supply of mako as an energy source, it had become the brightest city that never slept.
That brightness, however, was limited to the wealthy districts within the city. Out on the outskirts, where the common people and the slums were, the lighting was far dimmer.
Shadowed corners could be found everywhere, so black they almost seemed connected to some abyss, as if a monster might come rushing out at any moment and drag someone inside.
"They're not following anymore?"
Tifa suddenly murmured the question.
Someone had been trailing them in secret the whole way. It was clearly Shinra's people, who had come after them again, but they had only followed from a distance.
The reason they had not approached was probably because Mr. Kain was with them.
Most likely, Kain's battle with Sephiroth had been witnessed. Shinra knew he was an extremely dangerous individual, so they did not dare come close recklessly.
No doubt Shinra was also preparing sufficient force.
"Probably because my house is up ahead. They know this place well enough, so there's no need to get any closer."
After watching her for so many years, Shinra's people already knew the area around Aerith's house inside and out. There was no need to send more people closer.
Perhaps they had also planted plenty of surveillance devices nearby. The three of them might already be appearing on Shinra's monitors right now.
As for why Aerith had returned home, it was because the place where they had fallen was already relatively close to Sector 5. She had come here to pick up her foster mother and bring her to Tifa's Seventh Heaven, where she could look after the others there and be looked after in return.
Otherwise, if Aerith left her foster mother here alone while she went to Shinra, she would not be able to stop worrying. If something happened, there might be no one around to help.
Yes, she was going to Shinra for a showdown. Together with Mr. Kain, she would face everything head-on.
Hm?
Aerith's expression shifted slightly. She had seen Whispers drifting above her house.
Those Whispers had been appearing from time to time along the way. Although they had not attacked, they had continued following them.
She immediately broke into a sprint toward the house.
"Mom?"
The moment she pushed the door open, she called out in a hurry. Then she saw the familiar figure inside, apparently unharmed, and let out a breath of relief.
"Aerith? Why are you back? Weren't you going to stay at Tifa's for a couple of days?"
"Ah? Well, there's been… something. Um, Mom, I have something important to tell you!"
"I understand."
Sensing something, her mother set down the sweater she had been knitting.
Aerith could feel the tension, reluctance, fear, and other emotions in the look her mother gave her.
"Mr. Kain, what are you…"
Tifa had not entered the house, leaving the mother and daughter space to talk alone.
Outside, she suddenly stared in confusion at what Kain was doing. He had abruptly cut his own hand with a knife, leaving her completely puzzled.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had just used a piece of Materia. He seemed to be directly extracting the power inside it, drawing from the Materia that contained this world's Lifestream, rather than the magic stones he had brought over after crossing into this world.
Once he had drawn out most of it, he suddenly sliced open his own hand. What was he doing?
The next second, Kain moved his other palm over the wound. Gradually, white light shone from his hand, forming a sphere of light in his palm.
Looking closely, Tifa could see strange geometric patterns rotating within the glowing orb.
Then, as the light from the orb shone over his injury, the wound began healing rapidly before her eyes.
Tifa froze for a moment, then understood something. But her expression soon turned stunned all over again.
"Mr. Kain, did you obtain the magic of the ancient Cetra from the Materia?"
She said it with disbelief.
That was how Shinra had introduced Materia. Apart from containing Lifestream energy, the company had also claimed that Materia held the wisdom and knowledge of the ancient people.
The reason Shinra wanted to find the ancient race, the Cetra, was precisely so they could use the Cetra to understand the knowledge contained within Materia.
Now, Mr. Kain had understood the knowledge contained within this piece of Materia. In other words, he could use magic.
And this magic appeared to be for healing.
"Yes. But not completely."
As Kain answered, the light sphere in his hand suddenly burst and vanished like a soap bubble.
Since this world's psychic energy was more or less similar to the other side's, he had tried using his ability to manipulate psychic energy, something he could not casually use over there.
So after carefully absorbing the psychic energy belonging to this world from the Materia in his hand, he had truly sensed the "formula" inside it.
It was just that the formula was incomplete, so it had collapsed after only a few seconds of operation.
Looking at the almost-transparent Materia in his hand, Kain attempted another experiment.
He carefully sensed the psychic energy being devoured by his Blank nature, then let his consciousness follow the flow of that energy inward.
So after a Blank devoured something, where exactly did it go?
The next second, Kain once again observed the core region of his Blank nature. It was also the core of his mind and will—the end of his soul.
How should he describe this place?
Right. He could borrow the terminology of another work. It was similar to the so-called microcosm from Saint Seiya.
The psychic energy that had been drawn in seemed to evaporate into countless points of light, then swirl around like a vortex. It looked like a spinning galaxy.
However, that radiance quickly vanished, absorbed by the space itself and turned into nourishment, allowing the space to expand and upgrade, increasing its capacity to store psychic energy.
In other words, this could also be described as his own personal Warp. At the moment, however, it was still a space that could not store psychic energy. Anything absorbed into it would become fuel for its own evolution.
He had discovered this while he was being resurrected back then. Through that power, he had carefully examined himself and confirmed it. Incidentally, that same process had also resurrected the Astartes.
That power had probably been the "extra life" the Emperor had given him, but it had not been absorbed by his personal Warp.
Since this place could be compared to the microcosm in Saint Seiya, that power was something fixed in place here, unable to be absorbed. It was a star that shone continuously.
When he suffered a fatal attack, that star would shatter and release its power to revive him.
But now, there were no stars shining constantly in this microcosm. That meant if he died in this world, he would truly be dead.
As for the psychic energy being drawn in now, Kain was trying to see whether he could compress and fix it in place, preventing it from being devoured and used for further upgrades. Could he store it instead?
If he could, then in this world, he would be able to draw out psychic energy and use it himself, rather than having to carry Materia around. That would be far more convenient.
The instant that thought crossed his will, he was stunned.
He could.
And it was not the kind of fixation where the energy had to be compressed into a solid state, like gas under pressure, so it could not be digested. Rather, he could simply stop it from being absorbed.
Then why had this been impossible back in the Warhammer world?
Suddenly, Kain realized where the difference lay. The psychic energy from Warhammer had not been absorbed through Materia.
He would have to test that again once he returned.
For now, he would proceed with another experiment: an experiment on the so-called arbiters of fate, the Whispers.
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]