THE GENERAL'S DISGRACED HEIR
Chapter 406 - 406: DAVID, THE GODDESS, AND THE UNKNOWN

David drew a shuddering breath, his chest rising and falling in deliberate rhythm as he fought to steady his racing heart. The overwhelming pressure from the mysterious being had left its mark, his hands still trembled slightly, and the phantom weight of divine attention pressed against his consciousness like a half-remembered nightmare. Each heartbeat echoed in his ears, a drumbeat of mortality in a realm where such fragility seemed almost offensive.

Slowly, his gaze lifted to take in Nyxalia's form, and despite everything, he couldn't help but marvel at her ethereal beauty. Here in Seraphina's mindscape, freed from the golden chains that had bound her in their first encounter, she appeared as she truly was, a being of impossible contradictions.

Her figure seemed carved from moonlight and shadow, constantly shifting between states of existence. Starry hair cascaded around her shoulders like liquid night sky, each strand containing miniature constellations that pulsed with their own inner light. Her face was a canvas where light and darkness intertwined, creating features that were both achingly beautiful and utterly alien.

But it was her eyes that truly captivated and terrified in equal measure. Those void-like orbs held entire galaxies within their depths, swirling nebulae of cosmic dust, distant stars being born and dying in endless cycles, the very fabric of space folded and compressed into something that could regard him with what might have been curiosity or contempt.

A satisfied smile tugged at David's lips as he fully processed the situation. Nyxalia, a Sovereign, bound by divine contract to him, stood between him and whatever cosmic entity had nearly crushed him to paste moments before. She was a powerhouse of unimaginable scope, and she was his to command. The irony wasn't lost on him that his greatest protection came from a goddess he had tricked into eternal servitude.

His mind raced through everything he could remember from the novel, searching for any mention of a water-based Sovereign. The cosmic entity's oceanic throne room, the mermaids, the way reality itself seemed to flow around him like liquid, all of it pointed to dominion over aquatic realms. But David's memory came up frustratingly empty. The novel had mentioned several Sovereigns, certainly, but none that matched this being's description or apparent nature.

That gap in knowledge sent a chill down his spine that had nothing to do with divine pressure. If the novel had been incomplete about the Sovereigns, if there were cosmic powers at play that the story had never even hinted at, then how much of his supposed advantage was built on flawed intelligence?

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Nyxalia's voice cut through his contemplation, carrying an edge of expectation that made his jaw tighten. Her tone suggested she expected gratitude, acknowledgment of her intervention, perhaps even some hint of indebtedness.

David's expression remained carefully neutral as he met her galaxy-filled gaze. He knew exactly what game she was playing, the same manipulation that gods and devils had used throughout history. Save someone in their moment of need, then leverage that rescue into obligation and control. It was as old as divinity itself, and he had no intention of falling for such a transparent ploy.

"I'm glad to see a familiar face," he said finally, his tone deliberately casual, as if her presence were convenient rather than life-saving. "Though I'd appreciate knowing who the other guy is who just tried to kill me."

The calculated dismissal in his voice caused Nyxalia's ethereal features to shift almost imperceptibly, a flicker of annoyance quickly suppressed. She had expected him to be more pliable after experiencing such overwhelming power, more willing to acknowledge her as his savior. Instead, he treated her protection as expected rather than extraordinary.

From across the mindscape, the mysterious being's laughter erupted like a tsunami breaking against distant shores. The sound rolled through the space with such force that reality itself seemed to ripple, and David felt the vibrations in his bones. But it wasn't the crushing pressure of before, this was amusement, pure and genuine.

David's brow furrowed in confusion. What could possibly be so amusing about his question? The being had just tried to obliterate him, Nyxalia had intervened, and now there was... laughter? The tonal whiplash left him struggling to understand the dynamics at play.

Nyxalia's lips curved into a knowing smile, her void-like eyes glittering with what might have been mischief. "So," she said, her voice carrying that musical undertone that made reality shiver, "you aren't aware of the Divine Mysteries and their governing pillars."

The words hit David like a physical blow as understanding crashed over him. His mind raced back through the encounter, analyzing every moment with new clarity. When the being had spoken its name earlier, David had heard only static, incomprehensible sound that his mortal consciousness couldn't process. He had assumed it was some quirk of divine communication, but now...

Now he realized his mistake. The mysterious being was laughing because David had demanded to know his identity as if they were equals, completely oblivious to the fundamental laws that governed such knowledge. And Nyxalia was smirking because she had just gained a crucial piece of information about David's nature, a puzzle piece that helped explain how someone so apparently ignorant of divine law could have outmaneuvered her in their contract.

"So these Divine Mysteries and their governing pillars," David said slowly, meeting Nyxalia's amused gaze, "they prevent others from learning Sovereign identities unless the Sovereign allows it? And only if the other party is... qualified to know?"

Nyxalia's smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed to contain distant stars. "Precisely. Though I must say, your grasp of such concepts is improving remarkably quickly." Her head tilted slightly, causing her starry hair to cascade over one shoulder. "Which only makes me more curious about how you knew my true identity in the first place."

David felt the weight of her attention like a physical presence, probing and analyzing. More questions were piling up in his mind, about the Divine Mysteries, about the hierarchy of cosmic knowledge, about the true nature of Sovereign power. But underneath it all, one thought burned brightest: if he could find Ternion's Eye, perhaps he could finally get real answers instead of fragments and implications.

A sudden tremor ran through the mindscape, and David's attention snapped back to the immediate crisis. Around them, the ethereal landscape was beginning to show signs of strain, colours bleeding at the edges, architectural impossibilities becoming more pronounced, the very air taking on a quality that suggested reality was stretching beyond its limits.

"The mindscape is collapsing," he muttered, then looked sharply at Nyxalia. "You need to merge your heritage with his. Now."

Nyxalia's expression shifted to one of genuine confusion, her cosmic beauty marred by uncertainty. "Why should I do such a thing? The risks—"

"Because," David interrupted, his voice dropping to a tone of cold calculation that would have been familiar to anyone who had known Mark in his previous life, "I'm not actually obligated to fulfill our contract."

The words hung in the air like a blade suspended over Nyxalia's throat. Her void-like eyes widened as the implications sank in. David could simply choose not to free her, and according to the contract he had rewritten, there would be no consequences for him. She would remain imprisoned for eternity while he walked away with no penalty whatsoever.

"You..." she breathed, and for the first time since their encounter began, her divine composure cracked entirely. "You're definitely not like your counterpart, the Hero King of Nothingness and Blight." Her voice carried a note of something that might have been respect or might have been fear. "You're more like the other one.....Eclipse."

David's pulse quickened at the mention of his predecessors. Every fiber of his being wanted to demand explanations, to learn about the Hero King who had apparently died countless times for love, about Eclipse the mad Sovereign who had tried to consume Nyxalia herself. But even as the questions burned in his throat, another tremor shook the mindscape, stronger this time, accompanied by a sensation like time itself skipping beats.

Seraphina's consciousness was being torn apart by the conflicting divine heritages, and there was no time for personal revelations.

Across the mindscape, the mysterious being's attention focused on their exchange, his oceanic form shifting as mermaids continued their eternal dance around his throne. When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of tsunamis and the patience of geological ages.

"You are indeed an interesting person," the being said, and David could hear the smile in that cosmic voice even if he couldn't see it clearly through the aquatic veils. "I am willing to merge my heritage as you request."

Relief flooded through David, but it was immediately tempered by suspicion as the being continued.

"However," the voice added, carrying undertones that made the mindscape's waters ripple with anticipation, "there is something you must find for me."

David felt his heart sink even as his mind raced. Of course there would be conditions. Of course this cosmic entity would want something in return. The pattern was becoming depressingly familiar; every source of power, every potential ally, came with strings attached and prices to be paid.

But as another wave of temporal distortion washed over the mindscape, causing his own reflection in the ethereal waters to flicker and distort, David knew he had no choice. Seraphina's consciousness hung in the balance, and whatever this mysterious Sovereign wanted would have to be dealt with later.

"What do you need me to find?" David asked, forcing his voice to remain steady despite the mounting pressure of the collapsing mindscape around them.

The being's laughter returned, softer this time but no less meaningful, like the whisper of waves against a shore that had seen the rise and fall of civilizations.

"That," the mysterious Sovereign said, his words rippling through reality itself, "is a conversation for when we are not racing against the dissolution of a mortal's mind."