Damon's Ascension-Chapter 148: Entering The Chaos Realm

An hour passed quickly within the silent working of Relay 5. The once elf laden halls now had the sound of automated drones cleaning, remapping, and rewriting elven-coded interfaces into a distinctly human format that was sharp, efficient, and surprisingly modular.

At the center of the relay’s Chaos Gate Bay, the air shimmered weirdly. The gate wasn’t exactly active yet, but it hummed with some form of power which made it seem like a pool of stable black water surrounded by a floating circular frame of obsidian-like metal.

Etched into it were runes from both the Universe Will’s language and the Chaos Realm’s ordering script, a double-verification mechanism necessary for cross-realm teleportation.

Damon stood near the terminal, configuring the jump.

Felicia joined him, a small holo-projector in her hand showing a current sector map.

"Safe Zone 5’s base is closer to Safe Zone 13 than Safe Zone 15." She noted aloud.

"Good, that cuts the trip by almost 40%. Sector 69 still won’t be easy, but at least we’ll have a head start." Damon replied while working rapidly.

She nodded, then glanced toward the others behind them, gathered and ready.

"Still think it’s wise to go in with only one avatar?" She asked softly.

"I have no choice." Damon replied, activating the gate deployment console beside the gate.

He sighed. "The Prime Rep avatar is still in the Human Embassy doing paperwork and overseeing diplomatic fronts. That one can’t move until Earth’s political foundation is stable."

Felicia watched as a third Damon avatar materialized to his left which was identical in form, dressed in the standard tuxedo Damon always wore, but notably lacking any weapons or Chaos Realm gear.

"And this one?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This one stays here." Damon said simply.

"As my last and only free avatar... It’ll manage Relay 5 with the support of the relay’s internal AI, bots, and eventually the first batch of human administrators. It’ll oversee explorer registration, Chaos Essence taxation, item cataloging, and political negotiations with rival relay overseers."

He turned to face the third avatar, who nodded back wordlessly before stepping toward the command terminal and merging with the relay systems, screens lighting up in response.

Felicia crossed her arms. "So just the first body then. The original I assume you’ve kept hidden?"

Damon looked at her, and for a moment, his expression turned unreadable.

"I’ve never once moved that one, not since awakening. Some things are best left where no one can find them."

Felicia said nothing, only giving a short nod as she understood. No one had ever seen Damon’s main body after the day they left Ambrose’s ship, not even her... and that was by design.

Behind them, Kyle’s voice rang out as he strolled toward the gate.

"Y’all done whispering trade secrets? Because this whole gate is starting to look like a glorified bug zapper and I’d rather not be the first lightning-fried human."

"It’s safe. The stabilization field is within normal oscillation range." Protizen muttered, visor flickering.

"That sounded nerdy, which means I trust you." Kyle replied.

Bane cracked his neck. "Ready when you are. Been waiting too long to throw fists in chaos."

Nicholas straightened his collar. "I’ve logged our relay access code with the IUAS oversight terminal and preemptively filed a complaint about the elves’ mismanagement. Let’s hope the PR fallout hits them hard."

Levi pointed a finger at the gate. "Is it too late to say this thing looks like something that eats your soul and sends a receipt to your next of kin?"

"Yes, it’s way too late." Xela replied with a roll of her eyes.

Damon stepped forward, the gate’s frame illuminating as it synced with his Chaos Access credentials and a deep chime sounded.

[Pathway Approved: Safe Zone 5 – Sector 22 Anchoring Coordinates Locked.]

[User: Prime Representative Damon Arnan – Team Designation Confirmed.]

[Vanguard Squad: Entry Permissions Synchronized.]

Henry stared into the gate’s swirling core. "Kind of disappointed there’s no dramatic countdown or giant ignition roar. I imagined it with more flair."

Marshal raised a brow. "You want fireworks while potentially walking into eternal oblivion?"

"I want style," Henry replied grandly.

Connor muttered. "It’s not too late for me to fake an illness and supervise from here, right?"

"Get in the gate, Connor." Damon ordered with a chuckle, patting him on the back.

Connor sighed and followed his boss.

One by one, the Vanguard Team stepped through the swirling black mass and the portal rippled with each entry like water accepting a pebble.

Felicia lingered, her gaze flickering once toward the terminal where Damon’s third avatar was already issuing internal commands.

"You’ll hold it down?" She asked one more time.

The avatar didn’t respond, but simply turned back to its console, already interfacing with incoming explorer arrivals while giving her a thumbs up.

Taking that as a yes, Felicia turned and walked through the gate.

Finally, Damon walked through to the other side with his arms folded behind his back.

.....................

The world they stepped into was not like the universe they came from.

The moment Damon’s boots touched the polished stone-like floor of Safe Zone 5’s arrival platform, he felt it... gravity was stronger here.

It was not crushing, but denser, like the weight of the world pressed just a little harder against his shoulders. His lungs expanded slightly slower, and even the act of blinking felt fractionally more deliberate.

A cool mist hung low to the ground, rising in small wisps from the platform’s joints while high above, an inverted dome of strangely cloudy sky was littered with soft gray clouds.

A faint violet hue shimmered at the edges of the horizon in all directions, as though reality itself was warping gently at the seams.

"...Anyone else feel like someone just doubled their weight class?" Henry asked, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck.

"It’s not just the gravity, the air density is off along with a heavier molecular structure. We’re probably dealing with Chaos-imbued oxygen layers." Protizen noted, his armored boots clicking lightly as he moved.

Kyle groaned. "So what you’re saying is we’re breathing spicy air."

Marshal frowned thoughtfully. "There’s something... off about the pressure. Like we’re being observed by the ground itself."

"It’s the Chaos Realm’s Will. Unlike the Universe Will, this one doesn’t speak. It watches, constantly." Felicia said softly, her brow furrowing.

They looked around.

Safe Zone 5 was a fortified plateau built atop what appeared to be a vast field of shifting stone slabs, like tectonic plates stacked over one another, constantly rearranging, but never overlapping.

The base was surrounded by crystalline towers glowing with blue stabilizing light. Drones flew in preset routes above, monitoring weather distortions and minor planar warps that shimmered like heatwaves in the distance.

Dozens of other explorer teams could be seen moving about. Most looked professional, armored squads from mid-tier and high-tier races, some bearing custom banners and others with adaptive suits humming with power.

A few glanced their way as the humans were noticeable, the most famous race in the galaxy today.

Not to mention that there were twelve of them, who radiated quiet force due to their powerful abilities.

On top of that, the group were stepping out from a relay gate from Relay 5, which was to be the human race’s.

"Everyone can feel it, they know we’re new. They’re already calculating our value or threat level." Nicholas muttered as his Mental Manipulation picked up on the thoughts around them.

"Let them calculate, I’m easy math: punch equals down." Bane said simply.

Connor squinted at the horizon. "So which direction’s Sector 69 from here?"

"East, but we’ll rest here for a bit. Calibrate our internal systems, attune our breathing and movement to the realm’s gravity, and prep traversal protocols for the trip." Damon replied.

He turned back toward the team. "Another hour, use it wisely."

But just as the words left his lips...

The ground trembled.

A low, pulsing thud ran through the stone beneath their feet, then another and another.

"...Earthquake?" Levi asked, bracing instinctively.

But it wasn’t just the ground.

The air vibrated too with a pressure deeper than wind and louder than sound.

The sky overhead darkened rapidly, like someone had drawn a curtain over the world. Clouds curled inward like blankets, pulled toward a single point in the far distance.

Then it appeared.

A massive eye.

Suspended in the heavens above Safe Zone 5, far away but visible to all in the Chaos Realm as if it was right above them, a gigantic celestial eye opened. It had no iris, only layered rings of shifting runes, with a pupil made from black fire.

Its gaze swept across the Chaos Realm like a god awakening in deep confusion and lethargy.

All across the Chaos Realm, from Sector 3 to Sector 104, every explorer in every safe zone and sector looked upward at once with horror at this sudden change. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

The eye shifted it gazes in a 360 directions rapidly, as if scanning the entire Chaos Realm before its focus stopped on Safe Zone 5...

Right on the Vanguard Team.