Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start
Chapter 314 - CHAPTER 314 - Unknown Interference.

The flames of Simharia still burned.

But under this storm, even fire could flicker.

Bahir landed beside Reganath atop the ramparts, sweat trailing down his temple despite the cool wind sweeping the city.

His voice, hoarse from shouting commands and battle, barely managed a whisper.

"The sky..."

Everyone raised their gaze instinctively, eyes widening at the sight before them.

Above the city, near-invisible cracks shimmered in the air like fractures in glass—splintering lines that spiderwebbed against the sky itself.

They pulsed faintly with an eerie, violet glow—not an ordinary rift.

One couldn't see anything coming out of it, but Alex, who had Sophie with him, could tell that wasn't the case.

Hearing Sophie's analysis of the crack, he muttered.

"Dimensional interference," he breathed. "The glitches—they're causing it."

There was something invisible leaking from it, causing people to transform.

However, not everyone was transforming.

[One won't transform because of whatever's leaking from the cracks.]

Alex, hearing Sophie's words again, frowned. 'What do you mean?'

[I mean, those who transformed had something within their bodies that reacted to whatever was coming out of the cracks, turning them into glitched entities.]

'Does that mean...?' Alex's eyes sharpened.

[Yes. They were either fed something or were under the effect of some magic that worked as a trigger.]

Alex closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, but before he could dig deeper into the topic, another voice growled.

"How do we close them?"

It was Reganath, his fists clenched and jaw tense.

Everyone turned toward Alex as Reganath asked that question.

They felt that Alex might have an answer.

Even Zahara, with hope in her eyes, turned toward him, making him clench his fists.

"We can't." Alex shook his head, his teeth grinding. "Not unless we find who opened them."

Below, the screams continued.

Mira joined them on the rampart, her light blue eyes calmly scanning the skyline. "If this spreads beyond Simharia..."

"It won't," Lilia said from behind, crimson aura burning back to life.

She wasn't a saint—far from it. But that didn't mean she would let people die even though she could save them.

Yes, none of them could save every person in the crowd; it wasn't possible for them.

No matter how fast they were, people would die.

People were dying.

So, without waiting, they moved.

There was no need for any discussion. Not right now.

Reganath turned back to the square. "Kael! Bahir! To me!"

He jumped forward, followed by Kael, Bahir, and the soldiers behind Bahir.

Alex exhaled, surveying the scene before him. His aura, which seemed exhausted, flared again, Verathian getting covered in solid aura.

"Let's go," he said, glancing at Lilia, Mira, and Zahara.

They nodded, taking their stances before jumping into the crowd with Alex in the lead.

"I saw the ribbons," Zahara said softly as she cut one of the corrupts. "And I swore they'd never fall again."

Alex stepped to her side. "For that, we need to find the one behind this. And I will make sure to do it."

As he said that, his gaze turned to the crack in the sky, his eyes squinting.

Zahara didn't say anything and nodded, trusting Alex like always.

Together, they prepared to cleanse the city and save as many people as possible.

But just then—

A pulse rang out.

Not of energy.

Of sound.

A note. A single, crystalline tone that rang like the toll of a divine bell.

It vibrated through the air, cutting through screams, fire, and even the corrupted growls.

Everything stopped.

The glitching paused.

Entities froze mid-lunge.

Flames faltered.

Screams quieted to sobs.

Then a second note followed—softer and calmer.

Alex turned midair, eyes wide. "What is that—?"

And then... they saw it.

A light beam began rising from the southern edge of the city, near the old cathedral ruins—long abandoned and buried beneath time.

It wasn't fire nor an aura; it was a golden, warm glow that shimmered like sunlight in water.

Out of the cathedral ruins, a column of radiance burst forth, reaching into the sky like a beacon.

The air bent around it, and the fractures in the sky above shuddered.

The glitches... recoiled.

The corrupted twitched violently and began disintegrating where they stood, vanishing into motes of ash as the golden light swept outward.

"No way," Bahir muttered. "That's... that's—"

Reganath's eyes widened. "The Old Faith."

Zahara stared, stunned. "The cathedral had been silent for decades—no priest could awaken it..."

But something was awakened.

Every eye turned to the dais. The high priest, who had been praying relentlessly, could now be seen staring at the light with tears in his eyes.

"She's here. Finally. Our god has awakened."

He kept muttering those words continuously, but no one could hear it.

Another pulse rang out, causing everyone to turn to the light again.

From the base of the light, emerging slowly through the golden haze, came a figure, cloaked in white and gold, barefoot, hair like sunlight, eyes shut in meditation.

A child.

A girl no older than ten.

She hovered a few inches above the cracked stone, hands glowing with sacred runes that pulsed with the spreading light.

That light was fire—everyone could somehow tell that.

Yet, it didn't feel like fire. It felt soothing and healing.

There were some translucent figures surrounding the girl. Some were recognizable by Reganath, Kael, and Bahir.

"Isn't that the last pope of the old faith?" Reganath squinted his eyes, focusing on a smiling old man.

"Yeah, and that—the one with a spear—is the greatest commander in Simharian history," Bahir continued, his eyes wide.

"They are all great figures of the past," Kael added, causing everyone to go silent.

The city's old protectors had returned.

"Who… who is she?" Mira whispered.

Zahara stepped forward, breath caught. "I don't know. But I can feel her aura. It's... pure."

As the light expanded, reaching even the deepest parts of the city, the glitches were forced back, unable to withstand its touch.

The distortions in the sky splintered and snapped, vanishing one after another in bursts of light.

Then the girl opened her eyes.

And with a voice that echoed with divine weight, she spoke just three words:

"You are safe."

The light erupted outward one final time.

And all across the city... the glitches vanished without much resistance.

People collapsed, exhausted but unharmed.

The possessed were freed, but their memories were erased, saved from the trauma of what they'd become.

The infected were purified, bodies restored, and minds intact.

The dead weren't revived, but the ones alive were all safe.

The ones who were severely injured were also healed.

Zahara, looking at all this, fell to her knees, overwhelmed. Tears spilled down her cheeks—tears not of grief, but of impossible hope.

Alex exhaled, slowly lowering Verathian. "That wasn't us."

"No," Lilia agreed, stepping beside him. "That was… something greater."

Reganath simply stared at the girl in the distance, a rare softness crossing his war-worn face.

The battle wasn't won by blade or flame alone.

Something—someone—had heard Simharia's cry.

And answered.

The flames of Simharia still burned.

Now not only against the storm—

But with the blessing of light.

However, as they were relaxing, the girl, standing far away from them, turned toward them, her eyes flashing.

"What? Where did she go—?" Reganath, seeing the girl disappear, stepped forward, wanting to rush to her spot, but before he could move or even complete his words—

"You."

—her voice was heard from behind, causing everyone to turn around, their breaths caught as they saw her floating in front of Alex.

Her voice rang clear through the air like a bell, soft but infused with unshakable gravity.

Everyone froze as the girl vanished from her spot in the distance—

—and reappeared right in front of Alex.

Hovering.

Unmoving.

Unblinking.

Alex's body tensed immediately, a chill running down his spine.

'Fuck! When?!'

He hadn't sensed her approach. Not even a ripple.

He stepped back instinctively, arms lifting, and Verathian gleaming with aura.

But the child only tilted her head, as if in simple curiosity.

"I want to talk to you," she said softly.

Her tone wasn't demanding. It wasn't threatening.

It was soft yet absolute.

But Alex didn't move to listen.

Because when something far beyond reason, wrapped in light and power, appeared out of nowhere and asked to speak—it wasn't asking.

It was choosing.

And choices like that? Always carried weight.

With a cold gleam in his eyes, Alex struck.

Verathian surged forward, his aura erupting around it—pure, clean, and sharp.

It was an attack strong enough to cut through corrupted beasts and tear through hardened barriers.

But the blade never reached her.

Mid-air, just inches from her chest, it stopped—froze—as if the world itself refused to let it pass.

Alex's teeth ground together. His muscles trembled as he tried to push forward, but Verathian remained suspended.

His instincts screamed. 'This isn't a child.'

Whoever she was, she was powerful, and Alex knew that he wouldn't be able to defeat her by normal means.

He wasn't even sure if he could defeat her, but he had to try.

'Fine,' he thought grimly, closing his eyes for a fraction of a second.

A whisper of destruction laced his blade, an element even he hesitated to invoke carelessly.

Then he struck again.

This time, the girl's eyes widened ever so slightly—her golden glow flickering.

In that split second, she dodged, the strike missing her cheek by a breath.

Then she exhaled.

Snap.

Her small fingers clicked; the sound was light but shattering through the silence.

And Alex froze.

Not just in motion. Not just in the body.

Even his thoughts stilled.

Time didn't stop. But for him, it might as well have.

He couldn't move.

Everyone behind him stepped forward in a heartbeat, the space behind him filling with resolve and warmth.

Lilia was the first. Her crimson aura crackled to life, flaring high behind her.

Then Mira appeared to his left, her arms turning into blades, calm but unwavering.

Zahara stepped to his right, bright red flames wreathing her blade, her eyes locked on the child.

And from thin air, shimmering like moonlight, Sophie stepped out of the dream space, standing behind Alex and placing a steadying hand on his shoulder.

None of them said anything.

They didn't need to.

They weren't powerful enough to challenge this being.

But that didn't matter.

They stood between her and Alex.

That was enough.

The girl—no, the goddess—hovered silently, watching the four of them with unreadable eyes. For the first time since she had appeared, her expression shifted.

Not with anger.

Not with amusement.

But with something far more unsettling—interest.

'They are... unique,' she thought before she smiled.

A quiet, small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Snap.

With another click of her fingers, everything got enveloped in light so bright that everyone had to cover their eyes.