Power of Runes Chapter 524: Breaking the Chains

Ten years had passed since Whisperer left Amelia and chose to live in seclusion, and during those ten years, he had devoted himself to understanding the changes brought by the formation of the Realm of Eden, carefully studying his own Fate while adapting to the increased lifespan and cultivation he had gained after the fusion of the worlds.

The first two years had mainly been spent adapting to his new strength, as the disappearance of Akumia’s restrictions finally allowed his cultivation to advance beyond the limit that had trapped him for countless years, while the increase in his realm also gave him a much deeper understanding of Fate than he had ever possessed before.

It was during those years that Whisperer began noticing something that piqued his interest.

The Fate of the newly formed Realm was extremely chaotic, and at first, it was natural to assume that such chaos was simply the result of the massive changes caused by the creation of an entirely new Realm.

But even after a decade had passed, the Fate of the Realm remained chaotic.

Arthur could feel through his Fate affinity that Fate was currently adapting to the changes, and although the speed of this adaptation was extremely fast, something was constantly causing it to fail before the process could truly stabilize.

Who else could it be but Ash?

The changes he was bringing were creating more and more chaos throughout Fate, preventing it from properly adapting to him and forcing it to continuously adjust itself again and again.

That discovery gave Arthur an opportunity he had never possessed before

For countless years, Whisperer had studied the restrictions placed upon him and understood them better than almost anyone, yet he had never found a way to break them because they were too deeply connected to his existence and the stable order that had once existed within Akumia.

Now, however, that stability was gone.

As the years passed, his newly increased realm allowed him to perceive things that had once remained beyond his understanding, and after carefully observing the fluctuations of his own Fate, he eventually noticed something even more important.

The restrictions changed whenever his Fate changed.

The difference was extremely small, but after observing it repeatedly, Whisperer became certain that the two were connected, and the realization became even more significant because his destined death had already been changed.

The Fate that had once been leading him toward his inevitable death had already been disrupted by Ash Burn, while the changes caused by the anomaly continued happening faster than Fate could fully adapt to them, creating a narrow window that Arthur could exploit to break his restrictions.

If the Grand Fate were working at its full strength, Arthur knew that even the slightest chance of success would still end in failure.

But now, Fate was weakened and still struggling to adapt to the changes brought by Ash, giving Arthur the opportunity he had been waiting for.

He didn’t need to destroy the restrictions through brute force, because that was impossible with his current strength. He only needed to interfere with them while Fate was weakened, and if everything went according to his plan, he might finally be able to break free.

The past eight years had been spent preparing for this moment, as Whisperer carefully accumulated his power, studied the fluctuations of the restrictions, and waited until he was certain that he could finally make the attempt.

It had taken him ten years to reach this point.

But now, everything was ready.

Inside the secluded dwelling, Whisperer sat quietly with his legs crossed, his old body now resembling that of a middle-aged man after his increased lifespan, remaining completely still as he slowly entered meditation while his consciousness sank deeper into his Soul.

There was a saying that everyone’s Fate had been written by God since birth.

There might have been some truth to it, but if that was indeed true, then where was free will? If the Fate that had been written was destined to happen, then there could be no true free will, because no matter what one chose to do, everything would still happen exactly as it was meant to.

He himself was an example of that.

As these thoughts passed through Arthur’s mind, his gaze sank deeper into his Soul, passing beyond its inner workings and reaching a layer that existed even deeper than the origin of Soul, where the Fate of every individual was present.

The deeper his consciousness went, the more distant the familiar structure of his Soul became, until even the faint traces of his Soul gradually disappeared behind him, replaced by an indescribable feeling that he was crossing into a place that existed beyond the boundaries of his own existence.

Then, as his consciousness finally passed through that last layer, the surroundings before him quietly changed.

The space beyond the Soul was nothing like the quiet darkness of the Inner Soul, because an vast Web of Fate unfolded before Arthur, stretching so far that its boundaries could not be seen, with countless golden threads extending through the vast emptiness and connecting with one another in ways that formed an intricate and constantly shifting web.

Those threads were Fate.

Some were thin and faint, while others shone brightly enough to illuminate the surrounding space, stretching through the vast emptiness and connecting with countless other threads, constantly crossing, intertwining, and separating from one another to form an immense and ever-changing Web of Fate that represented the countless possibilities, choices, and outcomes of every existence within the Realm.

Yet among that endless Web of Fate, one particular thread called out to him.

His gazed looked it the direction of that calling.

His thread was far thicker than most others, stretching through the Web of fate like a brilliant golden flame illuminating its surroundings, but unlike the countless threads surrounding it, his Fate was covered in countless golden chains that wrapped around it from every direction, with some chains crossing through the thread itself while others tightly bound the manifestation hidden within it.

As Arthur’s gaze shone with power, he saw even more things.

At the center of those chains stood a hazy figure.

It resembled Arthur, yet it wasn’t truly his body, because it was the manifestation of his Fate itself, an existence formed entirely from countless strands of golden light that constantly shifted across its body while remaining completely bound beneath the countless golden chains.

The appearance of that manifestation was not clear, but it was a male that was obvious from what he could perceive.

Some of the chains wrapped around its arms and legs, while others crossed over its chest and back, and several enormous chains were tightly wound around its neck before extending into the endless Web of Fate, disappearing among countless other threads as though their other ends were connected to something far beyond Arthur’s understanding.

The sight was strangely beautiful.

The countless threads of Fate intertwined throughout the space, forming a magnificent golden Web that stretched endlessly in every direction, yet the chains covering Arthur’s Fate made the sight feel strangely suffocating, as though something had taken an existence that was meant to move freely through the Web and forced it onto a path from which it was never allowed to escape.

Arthur stared at his own Fate in silence.

He had seen the restrictions before, but never from this perspective, and with his current realm, he could finally understand the relationship between them and his Fate far more clearly than he ever could while he was still within Akumia.

His gaze slowly followed one of the golden chains until it disappeared into the endless Web of Fate.

They were connected directly to the Web of Fate.

They were forcing him to move along a predetermined path, keeping certain possibilities closed while allowing only those that belonged to the path originally assigned to him.

Arthur’s eyes slowly narrowed as he looked toward the countless chains surrounding his Fate.

His destined death had never happened.

Ash had changed it.

The fusion of the worlds had changed countless other things.

And Fate was still struggling to adapt to all of it.

Arthur’s consciousness slowly moved forward through the endless Web of Fate, approaching the manifestation of his own Fate with the intention of doing something he had never dared to attempt before.

He raised his hand toward the nearest golden chain.

The moment his fingers touched it, the entire Web of Fate suddenly trembled.

Countless threads surrounding him violently shifted and vibrated, while the golden chains wrapped around his Fate began shaking as though they had finally sensed the presence of something trying to break them.

Arthur’s expression became serious.

His power began gathering around his consciousness, slowly pushing against the golden chain.

**