The echoes of Adam's massive blue energy slash, the one that had forced both Prince Raven and Prince Leonard to intervene, still seemed to hang heavy and dangerous in the air of the stadium.
The sheer power of it had left everyone stunned. But even as the last remnants of the blue energy faded away, something else was already happening, set in motion by the Emperor high above.
Just moments before, as his two elder sons leaped down to intercept the devastating attack aimed at the magician, King Noor IV had made a subtle yet clear gesture. It wasn't a shout or a grand command, just a sharp, almost invisible, wordless signal directed only at Raven and Leonard.
They, trained since birth to understand their father's slightest commands, reacted instantly. They didn't just block the attack; their intervention was part of a larger, pre-planned or perhaps instinctively understood, maneuver.
Without any hesitation, both Raven and Leonard moved with incredible speed and perfect timing, so fast it looked like time itself slowed down just for them. Their focus was absolute as they jumped down from their seats in the royal box, crossing the considerable distance of the arena in a blinding blur.
They didn't just aim to block the attack; they positioned themselves strategically, one on each side of the magician, placing themselves directly between the spellcaster girl (the magician opponent) and the overwhelming devastation roaring towards her.
Using both their incredible skills—Raven's master swordsmanship channeling fiery red energy, and Leonard's powerful magic manifesting as golden shields—the two brothers managed to meet Adam's massive blue energy slash head-on just nanoseconds before it would have annihilated the magician.
Their own infused energies crackled and flared, their protective auras shimmering like heat haze as they clashed violently against the raw, untamed force of Adam's attack.
It was a brief but incredibly intense struggle. With sheer willpower and their combined prodigious talents, they finally managed to dissipate the attack, breaking it apart, scattering its energy harmlessly into the air.
When the last flicker of blue light finally vanished, a heavy silence swept through the stadium again, colder and more profound than before.
The two brothers, Raven and Leonard, lowered their weapons and magical defenses slowly. They glanced quickly at each other, their usually confident or analytical expressions now heavy.
They didn't look relieved that the danger was over; they looked burdened, maybe even a little shaken, by the sheer power they had just barely managed to contain together.
They knew, perhaps better than anyone else, just how close that had been.
All around the huge stadium, the audience remained completely frozen, like statues. No one dared to make a sound, not even to breathe too loudly.
Nobles, magicians, council members, commoners – everyone stared with wide, unblinking eyes, their minds struggling to catch up, to process the sequence of impossible events they had just witnessed.
Even the tough, experienced warriors scattered throughout the stands looked stunned, their faces pale. You could almost feel the leftover static electricity from the magical clash tingling in the air.
Not far from the now-quiet central battlefield, the Queen—Eric's mother, and unknowingly, Adam's true mother's counterpart or descendant in this world—could be seen rushing down the steps from her royal booth.
She practically flew down the stairs, her elegant flowing gown trailing behind her like a silken banner.
Her usual regal composure was gone, replaced by frantic urgency. Her heart pounded with a terrifying mix of fear for her son's safety and maybe a flicker of bewildering hope after seeing such power.
Her gaze was fixed desperately on the figure standing alone in the center of the arena – the boy who looked like her son Eric, but who had just acted like… someone, or something, else entirely. Adam.
At the very center of the arena, Adam stood still. He was panting slightly now, the exertion of controlling Eric's body and unleashing that massive attack finally catching up to him.
His eyes – Eric's golden eyes, currently under his control – were wide with a lingering shock, not from fear, but from surprise at his own power. The ground beneath his feet was a mess – scorched black in a large circle, deeply cracked, and uneven from the impact where the lightning spell had missed him and where his own energy slash had originated.
He had known, theoretically, that his power was immense, far beyond anything in this world.
But actually feeling it flow through a physical body, seeing the sheer scale of destruction it could cause with just a fraction of his true strength… it was beyond anything he had anticipated. It was intoxicating, but also a little frightening.
"Did I really just do that…?" Adam wondered, a flicker of disbelief momentarily clouding his thoughts.
That one slash could have probably leveled a small building. He had almost killed the magician, and forced the two powerful princes to intervene. The level of power was staggering.
He started to take a step forward, maybe towards his brothers, maybe towards the defeated magician, his mind still processing the rush. But just as he began to move, something invisible and incredibly fast stirred around him.
A strange, almost imperceptible ripple passed through the air nearby. It felt like a change in pressure, a subtle disturbance in the energy field.
Then, without any warning at all, an unseen energy suddenly burst into view all around him. It took the form of shimmering, translucent chains woven from pure, bright golden light.
They materialized out of thin air, appearing instantly around Adam's body. They moved with eerie silence, slithering around him like living, golden serpents made of light.
Before he could even react, they wrapped tightly around his arms, pinning them to his sides. More chains coiled around his chest and waist, locking him completely in place, stopping him mid-step.
"What… what is this!?" Adam shouted, his voice echoing strangely in the quiet stadium. He looked down in shock and anger at the golden chains spiraling around his limbs and torso.
They pulsed with a soft, rhythmic golden hum, and with each pulse, they seemed to grow tighter, brighter, binding him with incredible force.
He tried to struggle, to flex his borrowed muscles, to call upon his own power, but the chains felt… absolute. They seemed to drain his strength, nullify his connection to Eric's body.
And then—just as suddenly and mysteriously as they had appeared—the golden chains yanked him backward with immense force. It wasn't a physical pull, but something deeper, something pulling on his very consciousness, his spirit.
His eyes snapped shut against his will.
The world around him—the arena, the crowd, the sky—faded instantly to black.
And then—
GASP!
The eyes flew open again.
But this time… the expression behind them was completely different. The cold confidence, the ancient intelligence, the sharp focus of Adam was gone. Instead, the golden eyes were wide with confusion, disorientation, and lingering fear.
They weren't Adam's eyes anymore. They were Eric's.
The mysterious golden chains had done their work. They had forcibly pulled Adam's consciousness out of Eric's body, severing the temporary connection he had established.
They had dragged his spirit back through the invisible barriers, returning it forcefully to the sealed domain where he was imprisoned. Meanwhile, Eric—the original owner of the body, the frail prince—was suddenly, jarringly, back in full control.
He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. His chest rose and fell with heavy, gasping breaths as his own consciousness slammed back into place. He looked around wildly.
All around him, the world was still in chaos from the battle – the smoking crater, the broken walls, the fallen opponents – though the intense energy had finally settled down. He felt incredibly weak, shaky, and utterly confused.
Back in the sealed domain, the place of darkness and shimmering energy, Adam felt his spiritual form being dragged through the air by the relentless golden chains.
They pulled him like a captured prisoner across the strange, crystalline skies of his personal prison. They hurled him through what felt like the very fabric of space and reality, a disorienting, nauseating journey that lasted only seconds but felt like an eternity.
Then, with a final, unceremonious heave, the chains released him, and his form crashed down hard onto the same gray, comfortable sofa he had created earlier out of pure thought.
He landed with a heavy grunt, the impact jarring even his non-physical form.
The domain felt different now. Before, it had been responsive to his will, malleable. Now, it felt… tighter, more rigid. The boundaries seemed stronger, pressing in on him slightly, as though the seal had not only pulled him back but had actively reinforced itself, resisting his presence more strongly than before.
Adam sat up slowly, pushing himself upright on the sofa. He took a ragged breath, then let out a low, frustrated growl that echoed in the emptiness. The taste of freedom had been so brief, so tantalizing. To be snatched back like this… it was infuriating.
"Millenia!" he shouted, his voice filled with anger and frustration, bouncing off the unseen walls of his prison.
In an instant, Millenia's familiar blue, glowing form appeared before him. She bowed slightly, her usual calm demeanor perhaps holding a hint of something else – apology? Frustration? It was hard to tell.
"Master," she began calmly, her voice echoing in his mind. "My apologies. I was attempting to fully destabilize and break the seal using the energy surge and the host's state of unconsciousness... but no matter what method I employed, no matter how much energy I directed, the seal only weakened temporarily. It would not break completely. The power holding you here is… immense and ancient. I could only create a window, grant you approximately one minute of partial freedom where you could exert direct control."
Adam clenched his fists tightly, digging his spiritual fingers into his non-physical palms. The brief taste of control, of power in the real world, now felt like a cruel joke.
"One minute…?" he muttered, the words bitter. "All that, just for one minute?"
Millenia's form pulsed slightly, perhaps in affirmation. "Yes, Master. Approximately sixty-three seconds of viable control was achieved before the seal automatically began to reactivate."
"And once it started reactivating," she continued, "the system detected the overwhelming counter-force. The golden energy you perceived were likely the seal's own defense mechanisms, forcefully reasserting containment. The system instantly prioritized your preservation and pulled your consciousness back into this domain to avoid potential disintegration or permanent damage. Now… Eric, the original host consciousness, has regained full control over his physical body."
Adam's jaw tightened as the harsh reality sank in. He leaned back slightly against the sofa cushions, his eyes narrowed in frustration. His voice was low, dangerous.
"So… that's it then? I can't actually be free permanently… not yet anyway. I can only take over his body temporarily, for short bursts, when the conditions are perfect..." It wasn't freedom. It was like being let out of a cage on a very short leash, only to be yanked back violently.
Meanwhile—outside, back in the real world, in the chaotic arena…
Eric stood amidst the destruction, blinking rapidly, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Everything was slowly coming back into focus, but his head felt fuzzy, his memories jumbled. He saw the scorched earth around him, the fallen swordsman near the tree, the magician being helped up by his brothers…
In front of him stood Prince Raven and Prince Leonard. They looked calm now, but their eyes were wary, watching him closely, as if unsure whether they were talking to Eric or the terrifying power that had just been unleashed.
Not far behind them, the Emperor stood tall and imposing, his arms clasped behind his back, his gaze steady and unreadable once more.
Near him, the magician girl (who Adam had fought earlier, apparently named Esse was male in the previous prompt, this seems like a correction?) sat on the ground, looking pale, exhausted, and wide-eyed with lingering fear. Her breathing was shaky, her hands trembling slightly as she stared down at her lap, avoiding looking at Eric.
To the side, near one of the fake decorative trees, the Royal Knight swordsman lay unconscious or barely conscious. A few healers in white robes were already huddled around him, urgently chanting recovery spells and applying glowing healing salves to his crushed chest.
Eric turned his head, more memories flooding back in confusing fragments. He remembered the pain… being stabbed… asking the system—Millenia—to activate a hidden power… then overwhelming energy… and then… blackness, until just now.
His eyes darted downward instinctively. He cautiously lifted the hem of his tunic slightly, expecting to see terrible wounds.
But there was nothing. Not even a scar. Not a drop of blood. His skin was completely smooth and unbroken where the daggers had been only moments before.
His breathing hitched. He quickly checked his right hand—he was still clutching the simple sword. It felt strangely warm, almost hot, pulsing with a faint, lingering heat. Tiny wisps of steam curled upward from the metal blade, as if it had just been pulled from a blacksmith's forge.
What… what happened to me? Eric thought, his mind swirling with confusion and a growing sense of dread. That power… that fighting… it wasn't me. Was it… him? The one Millenia called 'Master'? The one sealed inside me?
He was just about to whisper, to call out to Millenia, the System, for answers—when a familiar voice suddenly called out his name urgently from behind him.
"Eric!"
His heart skipped a beat. He froze.
That voice… he recognized it instantly. He would know it anywhere.