Unholy Player Chapter 546: The Encounter

"We need the help of Rank 4s." Henry grasped the seriousness of the crisis. Yet it was slightly too late already.

Without any communication links, contacting people in the city proved impossible. Sending a messenger offered no assurance that aid would come swiftly, not prior to the chill completing its deadly task.

Adyr wasn't the sole individual at risk of succumbing to the freeze. The trio of Rank 3 Players were getting drawn in as well. Victor, Henry's very own son, was part of that group.

What started as an experiment aimed at awakening a single person was on the verge of concluding with the demise of four key figures—a domino effect triggered by a single choice, escalating far beyond anyone's grasp.

Despair descended upon the whole experimental grounds instantly. Their mistake loomed to impact not only them but the entirety of humankind in a catastrophic manner.

Right then, as hope teetered on extinction, an unexpected turn pierced the turmoil.

In the midst of disorder and abrupt quiet, two enormous edifices materialized on either end of the testing zone.

"W-what are those things...?" Researchers and troops remained rooted in shock, immobilized more by astonishment than the ongoing drop in temperature.

These edifices sprang into existence without prior notice. No noises of building or landing accompanied them.

Both edifices evoked colossal portals. Towering and expansive beyond belief, their outlines cut sharply against the ashen atmosphere.

The structure to the left of the testing zone parted to reveal a realm invisible to ordinary sight. Nevertheless, a torrent of screams poured forth. That cacophony chilled spines and instilled profound terror and apprehension, constricting hearts, churning guts, and numbing fingers.

Conversely, the one to the right unveiled a realm brimming with radiance, coziness, and solace. The emerging sounds resembled a celestial chorus, myriad instruments weaving in unison, joined by joyful human merriment that flowed like melodic verses, easing tensions involuntarily.

These clashing influences—one evoking hopelessness, terror, and fate's grip, the other boundless joy and optimism—engulfed every person there with an ineffable feeling, pulling them toward the portals while dividing their impulses between repulsion and yielding.

While still grappling to comprehend the significance of these portals, two colossal forms started to step out from them. The surrounding area appeared to push back against their advance.

They seemed ethereal, yet hauntingly recognizable.

"They are..." Dr. Mara along with the leading scientists gawked with bulging eyes at the divine-like entities unveiling from the portals, all seized by an identical recognition, their thoughts flashing to archived records and past discussions.

Before long, the source of that recognition dawned on everyone.

"They are Nephilim?"

Throughout Earth's numerous eras, whenever a cycle hit, human society, wisdom, and achievements were rebooted, the planet scouring itself bare regardless of prior heights.

Even so, after each erasure, certain artifacts lingered as buried relics. Nothing was utterly obliterated. These served as evidence of the cycles, hidden profoundly yet destined to resurface through discovery or fixation.

Examples included finds like Egyptian pyramids or Aztec ruins, which Adyr had subsequently studied via the 12 City Managers.

Certain relics went deeper, holding inscriptions and sketches—shards of preserved history.

Within those illustrations, one entity dominated repeatedly. It featured consistently in scholarly analyses. It garnered keen interest due to its uniform depiction across disconnected locales. Varied societies captured the identical likeness.

The illustrations portrayed a towering species with enormous builds, described in translated texts as offspring of deities and mortals, a primordial mixed lineage called the Nephilim.

Up to this point, scientists had only viewed rough sketches of the Nephilim in historical artifacts. They regarded them as imaginative creations from bygone eras, mythic tales rendered in scribbles and icons.

That said, upon reaching Beyond, their views had shifted. These artifacts spurred fresh arguments about their veracity. Numerous elements were converging. Innumerable improbabilities had turned factual.

Presently, witnessing the duo of immense figures stride from gateways akin to pathways to paradise and perdition, they instantly noted the resemblances. It aligned precisely with the old illustrations in scale and stance. No happenstance could account for it.

Beyond the scientists, Henry too identified that sense of recognition, the awareness hitting him like a tangible strike, parching his mouth.

"They were real?" he whispered. An odd, indefinable emotion surged inside him, blending surprise, apprehension, and incredulity.

Thus far, he had aided the 12 City Managers in seeking ties between Earth and Beyond. No solid links emerged, merely scattered pieces that failed to connect, suggestions devoid of resolution.

Adyr alone knew of a particular link—the Beyond's tongues, akin to Latin and archaic Chinese—but he withheld it, since sharing meant exposing his origin from an alternate Earth.

For the initial occasion, the Nephilim's reality, echoing figures from terrestrial digs, provided a tangible hint of historical bonds between the realms, not mere speculation, but observable proof.

Although Rhys had described glimpsing two portals and two outlines amid his awakening, his vision was hazy and vague—more impression than clarity.

Beneath the aura of those twin presences, every human remained rooted. They observed immobile, forms stiff and thoughts vacant amid the grandeur confronting them, surrendering their destinies to those entities, aware that resistance now would prove pointless.

The Nephilim likewise observed the minuscule humans below. They inclined their heads for a fleeting glance, an indifferent survey more chilling than enmity. Then, expressions unchanging, their attention turned to the solitary figure sprawled between them upon the aureate dais.

They regarded Adyr's form for an extended moment, unmoving. Profound sentiments flickered in their gazes, contained and enigmatic, reminiscence entwined with assessment in quietude.

At last, in flawless unison, they lifted their arms from their portals. Enormous digits extended toward him, deliberate and accurate regardless of stature.

It appeared they intended contact, yet they halted mere inches away, maintaining a slender, torturous void between flesh and void.

Next, they uttered in unified rhythm, their otherworldly tones merging to saturate the vicinity, evoking an archaic rite, an edict unsuited for mortal hearing.

"Stir, O One of Ages."

Subsequently, from their portals, a dark, suffocating radiance and a pale, searing brilliance surged, inundating the area in dual tones mirroring the Sun's stark hues.

—-

"Where am I now?" Adyr surveyed the boundless void around him, his words seeming diminutive in a realm that absorbed sound.

Neither shadow nor glow defined the area, yet his vision pierced the void flawlessly, or perhaps his consciousness perceived it sans sight.

Throughout his slumber, as he sought to restore vitality, true rest eluded him. Dreams recurred vividly, impossible to ignore.

Across all visions, his consciousness stayed whole. He retained most after each conclusion and onset. It was as if he traversed existences unbroken.

Certain dreams placed him on Earth, variously as a physician aiding the ill, a laborer at building sites, or a parent vacationing with kin, myriad existences unfolding as reveries.

Other visions thrust him into alien realms with diverse beings. He enacted varied existences... encounters unknown in his reality. Some culminated in profound sorrows. Others in joyful resolutions. Each evoked profound longing, like recalling unvisited locales.

Ultimately, post all reveries, he arrived in this solitary emptiness, bereft of firmament, barriers, or limits.

Lacking alternatives, he scanned and commenced traversing the shapeless terrain. It consisted purely of luminescence. Solid beneath his feet, it yielded no footfall echoes.

Following an extended trek in this eternal void, something finally emerged.

Nearby, two seats opposed one another, a peculiar arrangement amid nothingness.

Upon one seat, a figure rested still, as if anticipating his arrival.