The golden hour bathed the Central Court of the Mind Palace in ethereal light.
Flames of will flickered along the hallways, dancing between banners stitched with Kaen's symbol: a crown split in seven, each point glowing with a different aura hue.
Kaen sat upon the Dream Throne, Crown of Clarity humming against his temple.
The air buzzed.
A disturbance had breached the outer gates.
⸻
⚔️ The Arrival of the Hunt
Renzu stormed into the hall, his aura like a thunderclap trapped in a human form.
"Sire, they've come. As predicted."
Behind him, Mora arrived with trembling parchment in hand, lips tight.
"Not assassins. Not mercenaries. Worse—Hunters.
Hired by one of the Kakin princes, embedded with Phantom Troupe DNA.
They hunt Nen artifacts like yours.
They're specialists in illusion, corruption, and chaos loops."
Kaen didn't flinch.
"What are they after?"
Renzu cracked his knuckles, grinning.
"You.
Or your throne.
Possibly both."
⸻
🧠 Vision through the Crown
The moment Kaen focused, his Architect's Sight activated.
The glowing sigils on his crown burst into radiant circuits, illuminating the world through layered perception.
He saw:
• A Manipulator manipulating their own mind, rewiring emotions to mimic others.
• A Specialist who could split his Nen threads into fake aura echoes, like shadow clones.
• A conjurer who created illusory terrain—rooms folding, collapsing, shifting in spirals of confusion.
But even more chilling…
One had no Nen signature at all.
Just silence.
A black void.
A phantom who absorbed others' auras.
⸻
🔥 The Phantom Strikes
Outside, near the Gates of the Mind Palace, fire and smoke erupted as Selva, Kaen's beast-conjurer, screamed:
"They're folding the terrain! My summons are getting lost in shifting walls!"
The enemy had arrived.
Five figures, faces wrapped in ceremonial cloth, walked calmly over inverted space.
The lead stepped forward.
"I am Nurai, the Warden of Lies.
This Palace was built on delusion.
I come to collapse the dream."
Kaen stood from his throne, each step echoing like a war drum.
"A dream that endures attack is a kingdom.
And this Kingdom does not kneel."
⸻
🛡️ The Crown's Defense – Domain of Absolute Sight
Kaen closed his eyes.
The Mind Palace rumbled.
He activated a new construct forged from the Vizier's schematics:
Domain of Absolute Sight
An aura barrier expanded across the battlefield, reaching into physical and metaphysical layers of perception.
• Illusions shattered.
• Echoes revealed.
• Nen threads pulsed with their true colors.
Even Nurai paused.
"Impossible…"
Renzu exploded into the field, fists glowing.
He tackled one Phantom Hunt member with a crash that blew the courtyard wall into powder.
"WE. DO. NOT. BOW!"
⸻
⚔️ Showdown: Mora vs. Echo Weaver
One of the Phantoms—the Echo Weaver—surged forward, sending echo-aura doubles in waves to confuse the mind.
Mora didn't run.
He drew a single sigil with his finger in the air.
"Script: Anchor Thought."
All fake images paused, then crumbled. Mora had locked his perception into a single, undeniable focus.
"My mind is not yours to steal."
He launched a counter—a scroll exploding into a storm of paper talismans, slicing through illusions and wrapping around the enemy like sentient chains.
⸻
🧠 Kaen's Duel with Nurai
Nurai smirked and removed the cloth from his face, revealing nothing.
His head was empty—a spiraling black hole of aura that devoured perception.
"My Hatsu is 'The Lie Without a Source.'
I remove the foundation of understanding.
You cannot comprehend me."
Kaen smiled.
"Then I'll use the one thing you never could—imagination."
He summoned his Crown.
The jewels on each point burst alight:
1. Insight – Revealing Nen threads
2. Stability – Locking reality frames
3. Creation – Dreaming alternative reactions
4. Mirror – Reversing attacks
5. Scale – Adjusting energy ratios
6. Intuition – Predicting intent
7. Will – Overwriting all with dominance
"Let's see how you handle a mind that refuses to forget itself."
Kaen lunged forward.
⸻
💥 The Collapse and the Capture
With a shattering sound like glass imploding inward, Kaen slammed his aura through Nurai's false perception field.
The Crown's Will Point activated—overwriting the surrounding space into Kaen's own mental frame.
"This is MY world.
And here, you're just a shadow."
Nurai screamed.
His form tore apart—his aura unraveling into shreds of regret and broken illusions.
Kaen stood above the fallen Phantom, gaze unshaken.
"Take him.
Study his mind.
Add his lies to our truth."
The Vizier stepped from the shadows with silent approval.
"The Mind Palace… evolves."
⸻
🏰 Epilogue: The Dream Is Not Fragile
Later that night, as repairs began, Mora approached Kaen.
"They'll send more.
The princes.
The factions.
The Troupe, the Zodiacs—perhaps even him."
Kaen didn't hesitate.
"Let them send armies.
Let them send ghosts.
I will answer them with dreams so vivid they'll drown in color."
The Mind Palace shimmered behind him.
Bigger.
Stronger.
Awake.
⸻
👑 TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 44 – The Summit of Seven Dreams