Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2698: Out of the Void

Just a few days earlier, Emery had finally stumbled upon an exit from the Eternal Void after what felt like an endless nightmare—two full weeks of wandering through its savage, formless expanse. When he emerged, it was not into safety, but into chaos.

The first thing that greeted him was a sky littered with tumbling asteroid fragments, jagged and fast, spinning in wild orbits around a volatile spatial anomaly.

"Please tell me this is the Magus Realm!" he muttered, half desperate, half hopeful.

He weaved through the swarm of tumbling rocks, each near miss sending sparks of energy across his protective barrier. In haste, he checked the Khaos Hub, attempting to connect to any available waypoints. Now that he had escaped the void, he hoped the waypoints would function. Instead of relief, frustration surged as the hub flickered uselessly. His thoughts darkened.

"What now?!" he demanded.

Two voices rose in answer, reverberating within his consciousness.

<I have told you already... the gates cannot be accessed for some time. Why do you persist in doubting me?>

A calmer, serious tone followed. <Master... the backlash from the Convergence still lingers. It will take time before the currents stabilize.>

Grinding his teeth, Emery muttered, "How much longer?"

<Thirty to Forty days.>

His hands tightened into fists, followed by a deep sigh,

"I can’t just stand here waiting!"

With a sharp motion, he swung his arm, and a small figure leapt forth from the dimensional space. A bronze monkey-like automaton clattered into view, its polished surface glinting faintly in the fractured light. In its hands, it carried a peculiar round device studded with thin, twitching needles. The instrument clicked and hummed as delicate rune glyphs lit up across its surface.

Then, through the automaton’s speaker, a familiar male voice rang out.

<Good... we are indeed in the Magus Realm... but far to the east, in the Neutral Zone.>

Relief washed over Emery. "Senior... then lead the way."

<Very well. Head toward the star on your left. I need to cross-reference with the star chart using my compass.>

"Alright. Will do."

Without hesitation, Emery activated the artifact grafted to his back. Metal unfolded with a resonant hum, revealing a pair of wings wrought from gleaming alloy and lined with feathers that shimmered in a verdant green glow. Cosmic energy coursed through him, flooding into the wings until they pulsed like living flame.

A powerful thrust carried him forward, and Emery shot into the void, streaking past asteroid belts like a bird of emerald fire soaring against the eternal night.

The first two voices belonged to the Khaos guardians—Killgragah and Daurgothoth—while the bronze monkey was none other than Grand Magus Vayarel, whose soul had long since lost its living vessel. With no body to anchor himself to and unable to inhabit Emery’s wood or stone golems, Vayarel had been forced to devise a desperate solution. Through painstaking effort, he assembled an array of artifacts and components, merging them into a refined construct of bronze and steel. This became his makeshift vessel—a metal puppet sturdy enough to contain his soul and prevent it from dissipating into the void.

The metallic wing that shimmered with a faint golden light was the [Icarus Wing], one of the high-grade artifacts left behind by Kronos. Though Emery had only managed to refine fragments of its original functions, even this partial restoration granted him immense speed and maneuverability. This artifact was, in fact, one of the key elements that helped him escape the belly of the beast.

The wing cut through the endless dark, gliding past barren worlds and distant suns. Once Vayarel stabilized their position, they relied on VIA, the artificial intelligence, to plot a course back to the Alpha Quadrant of the Magus Alliance.

However, attempting to cross multiple quadrants solely with the Icarus Wing was impossible. Its fuel was not metal nor crystal but Emery’s own cosmic energy, and the strain of long-distance flight would burn his reserves dry long before they reached friendly space.

Thus, they needed another path. With VIA’s assistance, they scanned the surrounding systems, searching for any sign of settlements or facilities—anything that might house a teleportation gate or a functional spaceship. The search eventually yielded a faint signal: a mining outpost on Planet 8632, situated in a relatively obscure solar system.

Compared to other colonies nearby, this one had just been marked for evacuation.

When Emery descended upon the colony, he cloaked himself in spirit suppression, blending seamlessly among the miners. His spirit reading allowed him to mask his presence entirely; no one questioned him. He was just another face among the desperate colonists preparing to evacuate.

Until the raiders came.

####

The answer he requested was disappointing.

No warp drive.

"That’s unfortunate," Emery muttered.

The raider leader, trembling yet sharp-eyed, sensed danger. He could not feel a shred of spirit energy from Emery. That made him even more terrified. Anyone who could mask their aura so completely was a nightmare to fight. He bowed low, his voice cracking with forced humility.

"Senior... we are but victims of this endless war. Please... have mercy on us."

Emery turned away from the cowering man, his gaze settling on the elderly miner."I destroyed the female magus’ core. She’s harmless now."

The old man hesitated, still suspicious despite Emery’s intervention. "Who are you? What do you want?"

Though Emery had just saved his family, suspicion lingered. Such was the way of those who lived in the harsh natural zones, hardened by solitude.

"I want nothing," Emery replied evenly. "Just... thank you for letting me rest here a few days."

His gaze flickered toward the girl who was still clutching her grandfather’s sleeve. For a fleeting moment, a memory of Shinta rose in his chest. He pushed it away with a small, fleeting smile.

Without another word, he walked toward the trembling raider leader. His voice was calm, yet it left no room for refusal.

"You’re going to take me to the nearest Magus Alliance post."

The raider didn’t dare argue. Grateful just to be alive, he nodded furiously. Emery chose one of their ships, boarded it with the leader, and left the rest of the raiders to the miners. Without their magus, they were nothing more than thugs—no threat to the colony anymore.

The ship lifted off, streaking into the void.

It had no warp drive, but Emery didn’t complain. A two-weeks-long journey across the Neutral Zone was still better than drifting aimlessly in the Eternal Void. At least now, he was moving forward.

And deep in his chest, anticipation burned.