Re:Awakening with Ultimate Power as a Cosmic God-Chapter 75: Ch : The Curse - Part 3

Nova stood motionless as Queen Eleysa’s hand rested near his jaw, her nails grazing his skin like a challenge.

He didn’t move away, nor did he lean closer.

Their breaths mingled in the narrow space between them—his cold and measured, hers slow and burning with something too complex to name.

"This is dangerous."

Nova murmured, not in warning, but in quiet observation.

"I don’t mind danger."

Eleysa replied, eyes half-lidded, voice dipped in something that could almost be affection—but wasn’t. It was curiosity. Testing. Power curling into something intimate.

Nova’s fingers hovered at her waist, never touching.

"You’ve played this game before."

"Not quite like this."

Their energies flickered around each other.

Aether hummed faintly in the walls, reacting to the quiet tension in the room. Neither moved past the threshold they’d reached—but neither stepped away either.

Nova’s gaze bore into hers, unblinking.

"If you want something, you’ll have to ask for it directly."

He said calmly.

Eleysa’s smile curved with slow amusement.

"And if I wanted you?"

Nova raised a brow.

"Then I’d ask what it is you actually want—me, or control over me."

The kiss turned heated. Their tongues mingled against each other and the pair fought for dominance.

The queen tried to push her luck, but Nova’s tongue licked the top of her mouth, making her melt against him.

Nova pushed for advantage, dominating the queen for a few seconds before he eased away. His kiss also turned more gentle and it coaxed the queen.

Despite the heated moment, they both felt like they were forming a boundary that they did not cross. At least, for now.

Nova’s instincts told him not to lose himself in pleasure at the moment and the queen did the same.

That was the line. It hung in the air between them.

She didn’t cross it.

Before either of them could move again, the atmosphere shifted. A low pulse reverberated through the room, like a heartbeat skipping out of rhythm.

The lights dimmed for a moment, flickering unnaturally. Both of them froze.

Nova’s eyes narrowed.

"Did you feel that?"

Eleysa stepped away, her expression sharpening into something colder, more composed.

"The planet’s aether. It just shifted."

The mood vanished instantly. Nova reached for the door while Eleysa adjusted her robes. Neither said anything until they were halfway down the corridor.

Soldiers were already running toward them, panic written across their faces.

"My Queen! There’s been an attack—several, actually. Monsters are appearing in the outer villages. They’re... spreading. Our squads are overwhelmed." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

One of them called out, sliding to a stop.

"How many villages?"

Nova asked, voice already taut.

"Four, as of now. We lost contact with a fifth just minutes ago."

Eleysa cursed under her breath.

"This isn’t a coincidence. That aether surge was the warning."

Another soldier joined them, bloodied from a shallow wound.

"We’ve sent reinforcements, but they aren’t holding. Every unit we deploy ends up losing more people. It’s like... like they’re being hunted."

Eleysa’s fists clenched.

"This shouldn’t be happening."

Nova glanced skyward, eyes narrowing as he reached out with his own aether.

The planet’s energy was no longer steady—it was erratic, warping in certain regions like heatwaves off sunbaked stone. He didn’t like the feel of it.

"Corruption. It’s spreading faster than we thought."

He said, more to himself than anyone.

Eleysa turned to the nearest guard.

"Ready the aerial mounts. I’m going to the front lines."

The guard blanched.

"Your Majesty—"

"I won’t sit on a throne while my people die. This isn’t up for debate. Tell the other units I’m coming. Have them hold their ground until then."

Her voice cut clean through his hesitation.

The soldier quickly bowed and ran off, already calling for messengers.

Nova looked at her.

"You’re leaving the palace unguarded."

"It’ll hold. Right now, they need strength. They need to see their queen isn’t afraid to bleed for them."

Nova didn’t argue.

"I’ll come with you."

Eleysa tilted her head.

"Because you care?"

"No. Because I need answers. And this chaos? It’s leading to something."

Nova said.

They both knew it. Whatever was happening—whatever had triggered the core, the aether, the monsters—it wasn’t over. It was just beginning.

______

Golden chains blazed through the battlefield like streaks of divine judgment. Queen Eleysa stood at the front, her arms raised and her body glowing with radiant aether.

Wherever her gaze landed, chains erupted from the ground—binding, tearing, shattering the malformed monsters that had flooded the outer village.

Cries of panic turned to silence. Then awe.

The broken bodies of corrupted creatures lay still in the dust. Steam hissed from their wounds where golden heat lingered like molten sunlight.

The soldiers who had been on the verge of collapse could finally breathe again.

The queen stood tall amidst the carnage, her armor marked with clawed scrapes and blood, her silver hair dancing behind her like a banner of war.

Those who had once cursed her under their breath, who had blamed her for their poverty, their losses, their hunger—now looked at her with reluctant reverence.

Her aether shimmered with purity, unmarred by hesitation. She hadn’t sent others. She had come herself.

"Step back. Your queen will handle this."

Eleysa called, her voice carrying across the battlefield with the weight of command.

The soldiers, still catching their breath, exchanged uncertain glances before slowly backing away.

The fatigue etched into their faces began to lift, replaced with something long absent—hope.

And for the first time since the attacks began, there was no screaming. No death cries. Only the sound of chains coiling, and monsters falling.

Deep below the surface of Callex, far from the cheers and bloodied soil, a quiet pulse echoed through the cavernous halls of an ancient underground arena.

A core—half buried in the floor, glowing with veins of raw mana—beat like a heart. Each throb filled the air with unsteady, warped aether.

Crystals embedded in the ceiling flickered as the energy grew unstable.

Near the core stood a woman, her coat singed, her hair tied up in loose braids. She had the eyes of someone who had stared too long into the void—and smiled back at it.

Betty.

She adjusted her gloves, tapping them against her belt in rhythm with the pulsing energy.

"How’s the experiment holding up?"

She asked, her voice sing-song, but with a dangerous undertone that made the air feel colder.

A tall figure beside her, clad in flowing robes made of woven mist and gold threads, glanced up from a floating console of light.

"Final stages. We need to extract the core and evacuate. Callex won’t last through the final collision."

The man replied.

Betty leaned toward the core, her lips curling into a wicked grin.

"You think it’ll explode?"

"No,"

The man said.

"I think it will unravel. Betty, if we don’t move now—

He turned to look at her.

"—we miss the finale. Yes, yes. Always so dramatic, X’lat."

X’lat’s form shimmered faintly at the edges, like he didn’t quite belong to this world. His aether was not from Callex.

It pulsed differently. Wrong, in a way that matched the core’s rhythm too well.

Betty crouched down beside the artifact, her hand hovering just over the runes etched into the stone.

"But you haven’t answered my question."

he said suddenly.

"What about the anomaly?"

X’lat stilled.

"...Nova?"

Betty’s grin widened.

"When did he awaken?"

He asked slowly.

She tilted her head.

"Don’t know. But he’s here now. Interfering."

X’lat exhaled, and it wasn’t relief.

"Even so, it won’t change the outcome. He’s too late. This experiment has already gone too far. The core has rooted itself into the ley lines of Callex. When it destabilizes, the collapse will be absolute."

He murmured,

Betty sighed and stood up again.

"Shame. I thought the gods would try a little harder."

X’lat raised an eyebrow.

"You think he’s one of theirs?"

"I don’t think. I know."

She said lightly.

Then she twirled around and stretched her arms.

"Still. Maybe the anomaly will surprise us."

X’lat didn’t answer.

The core pulsed again—louder now, a hollow thrum that made the walls tremble slightly. The two of them turned toward it in unison.

Time was running out for Callex.