Chapter 222: New Fear Unlocked Part 3

Just a few minutes after Arias and Cheshire finished their little 'exchange,' the sound of helicopter blades could be heard from within the yacht. 

Both Cheshire and Arias left the lounge area and went up to the helipad, where the chopper was in the midst of landing. As soon as it did, Ivy and Enchantress emerged from it, with two masked men unloading sealed cases behind them.

Ivy was quick to frown upon seeing Arias, whereas Enchantress had a very hard-to-read expression. She often moved her head as if lost, her eyes wandering as if she were curious about everything around her.

Arias ignored Ivy's menacing glare and first addressed Enchantress. "Your job is done. Let Dr. June out."

Enchantress showed visible hesitation toward this instruction, hunching her back and letting out echoed whispers—her way of showing unwillingness.

"Now."

As Arias added this single word, the already cloudy skies rumbled furiously, lightning crackling all around the yacht, with the seas raging alongside it. His voice sent vibrations through the bodies of all who heard it, causing a dreadful feeling to arise.

The two masked men unloading the cases from the chopper clutched their chests, while Ivy, Cheshire, and Enchantress let out subtle, pained groans. Even Raven, who was meditating in her room, stopped and looked around in worry, relaxing only after realizing the voice belonged to Arias.

Enchantress let out louder echoed whispers and soon submitted to the request, her entire figure consumed by a thick, dark mist that rotated rapidly around her. As the mist subsided, it revealed a confused Dr. June, who looked around in worry but relaxed after seeing she was safely on the yacht.

"D-did we succeed?" she asked, showing an unsure look. After all, she had no recollection of what transpired when Enchantress took over.

Arias nodded subtly and smiled. "Welcome back, Dr. June, and yes, as you can see, the operation went quite well."

As he spoke, Arias gestured toward the cases being unloaded, easing Dr. June's worry. However, something still struck her as odd.

"Why does everyone look a bit pale?" she inquired, unaware of what Arias had done moments ago.

"Must be the weather. You should head inside and get some rest; you can study the artifacts you obtained later," Arias charmingly advised, a tone Ivy found to be pretentious.

To her, Arias was as diabolical as they came, and seeing him put on this farce of an act irked her to the very core. But unfortunately, she was powerless to do anything against him.

"Oh… thank you. Then, I'll do just that. Goodnight, everyone." Dr. June, still a bit confused over what was happening, simply chose to listen to Arias and rest. She said her awkward goodbyes and left for the lower levels of the yacht.

Without saying anything, Ivy chose to do the same and left, showing a heightened sense of worry as she walked past him.

Cheshire looked more impressed than anything else and came closer to Arias, showing a smile. "Quite the mouth you got there, boss," she playfully commented as they watched the two men unload the cases even faster.

"You should head inside as well. It'll be dangerous for you up here very soon," Arias warned, wearing a calm expression. In contrast, his eyes glowed with a powerful array of colors that resembled clustered galaxies.

Looking at them, Cheshire felt an indescribable feeling of inferiority and fear, as though she would die with the simplest of actions. Arias looked at her only for a moment before turning his gaze away to watch the chopper begin to take off.

Cheshire, unusually silent, left without one of her typical suggestive remarks, as her instincts told her to. The moment she was gone, Arias breathed out slowly, and the skies trembled once again, the clouds ominously encircling the area of the ocean where Arias's yacht lay.

Following this peculiar event, Apeiro's familiar voice resonated in his mind. *"You're evolving. There's no need to fight it, Ari. Unleash the power within."*

Arias, who was currently gritting his teeth while looking at the ominous clouds, began to feel his entire being grow lighter and lighter, until he felt like he weighed nothing. Numerous thoughts rushed through his mind, but he couldn't focus on even one.

His instincts all screamed for a single action: *release*.

And in the next moment, Arias did just that, his eyes flashing brightly for a second. In that instant, across all corners of the universe, every being saw nothing but bright light for a single moment, and then, in the next, all the light returned to Arias's eyes, casting the universe into a state of dark stillness, which also lasted only a moment.

For many beings, that moment, though odd, felt like a trick of the eye and nothing more. But for some who were unlucky, that brief flash of white and then black brought grave consequences.

For Arias, however, that single moment felt incredibly still and long. As the light from his eyes spread to all corners of the ever-expanding universe, he saw it all. He saw the universe for what it truly was, with all its flaws.

And as the light returned to him, it brought with it an unprecedented level of understanding. But before Arias could even ponder these changes, Apeiro's soft voice resonated within his mind once more.

*"How does it feel to grasp the universe?"*

Arias didn't immediately answer. Instead, he blankly stared at his own hands and flesh as if they were foreign to him. A look of bewilderment crossed his face as he raised his hand toward the sky and snapped his fingers.

In the next moment, an explosive dome the size of several nuclear blasts appeared dauntingly in the sky. But rather than spread, its outer surface expanded slowly.

All who gazed upon the deadly ball of fire that appeared in the sky paled instantly. But before any understanding could be formed, the deadly sight vanished at the snap of Arias's fingers. At that moment, Apeiro's voice questioned again.

*"How does it feel to be nigh-omnipotent?"*