The palace door did not close.
Ever since it opened before Samy…
It remained waiting for him.
As if the place itself was certain he would return one day.
Samy stood before the gigantic white stairs, gazing inside.
There was something strange.
Something he couldn’t explain.
He had never entered this place before.
He was sure of it.
But his body…
His soul…
Everything within him was acting as if he had returned to an old home after a long absence.
He said in a low voice: “Why do I feel like I know this place?”
Seraphine did not answer him directly.
She was looking at the palace in silence.
Her eyes held a sadness Samy did not understand.
Then she said: “Because there are some things the mind does not remember.”
She looked at him.
“But the soul does.”
Samy fell silent.
But before he could ask…
Elyon stepped forward.
He opened his ancient book.
The book’s pages had been blank a moment ago.
But as he approached the palace…
Words began to appear on them, one after another.
Ancient symbols.
A language Samy had never seen before.
Elyon said: “Before you understand how to use the Imperial Domain…” “You must understand why it disappeared.”
Samy raised his gaze to him.
“Disappeared?”
Elyon closed the book.
“Humans think that history is written by the victors.” “But the truth…” He paused for a moment.
“History is written by those who remain capable of remembering.”
The scene changed.
As soon as Elyon raised his hand…
The garden in front of Samy transformed.
It didn’t disappear.
It became a memory.
He saw a massive city.
But it was not an ordinary city.
It was a city from an ancient era.
Its towers were higher than the mountains.
And its streets were filled with people possessing different auras.
But the thing that shocked Samy…
Was that every person had something behind them.
A small world.
Some had a sea behind them.
Some a forest.
Some a sky filled with stars.
Elyon said: “Thousands of years ago…” “Aura was not the basis of power.”
An image of a small child approached the scene.
A child holding a small flame.
Behind him appeared an entire world of fire.
He said: “People were not born with just energy.” “They were born with a world.”
A warrior appeared carrying a sword.
Behind him appeared an endless battlefield.
Then a woman appeared holding a book.
Behind her appeared a massive library extending to the horizon.
Then a king appeared sitting on a throne.
And behind him…
An entire empire.
Elyon said: “That is the Domain.”
Samy remained silent.
Then he said: “So…” “Aura is…”
Seraphine answered him: “The power that comes out of you.” Then she pointed to his heart.
“As for the Domain…” And she pointed to the world surrounding them.
“It is the place where your power becomes the law.”
Valdrak approached.
“Aura makes you stronger than others.” He raised his sword.
“But the Domain…” Then he struck the tip of the sword into the ground.
The sky cracked.
“Makes the world itself stand with you.”
Samy looked at the crack.
“Meaning…” “If someone enters another person’s Domain…”
Valdrak said: “They are not entering a battle.” He paused.
“They are entering enemy territory.”
Lyra smiled.
“Imagine you are fighting someone.” “You are using fire.” She raised her finger.
A small flame appeared.
“That is Aura.”
Then she closed her hand.
And suddenly…
The entire garden turned into a sea of fire.
“But this is Domain.” She smiled.
“Here…” “The fire doesn’t come from you.” “The fire is the place.”
Samy swallowed hard.
For the first time…
He began to understand why Eclipse was different.
It wasn’t just a sword.
It was a small moment…
Of his own world.
Samy said: “But if this power exists…” “Why does no one use it now?”
The expressions of the Four Knights changed.
This time…
No one laughed.
Valdrak said: “Because they were afraid.” Samy looked at him.
“Of what?”
He answered: “Of the Emperor.”
Silence prevailed.
Even the garden stopped.
The trees didn’t move.
The rivers stopped flowing.
As if the place itself was listening.
Elyon said: “Humans did not forget the Domain because it disappeared.” “But because it was too dangerous.”
Another image appeared.
An entire army standing before one person.
His face did not appear.
Only his back.
He was wearing a black cloak.
And behind him…
There was an entire world.
Elyon said: “In the past…” “There was a difference between a king and an emperor.”
An image of a king appeared.
Behind him was a palace.
He said: “The king rules a people.” Then an image of an emperor appeared.
Behind him were the sky and the earth.
He said: “As for the emperor…” “He rules a reality.”
Samy looked at the image.
“To that extent?”
Valdrak approached.
And he said the sentence slowly: “The king asks the world to obey him.” He paused.
“The Emperor…” He looked at Samy.
“Makes the world forget it ever had another option.”
Samy felt a chill.
It was not power.
It was weight.
The weight of something greater than a human.
Seraphine said: “But the true Emperor was not just a ruler.” “He was something different.” She looked at the palace.
“He was the only person capable of carrying the contradictions of the world.”
Samy: “Contradictions?”
She nodded.
“Life and death.” “Building and destruction.” “Light and darkness.” Then she looked at him.
“And that is why…” “He was the only one capable of using a complete Domain.”
Silence prevailed.
Then Samy asked: “And how do I use it?”
Lyra smiled.
A smile that made Samy feel danger.
“Oh…” “Here begins the fun part.”
Valdrak drew his sword.
Elyon closed his book.
Seraphine stepped back.
Valdrak said: “The problem, Samy…” “Is that you don’t need to learn how to create a Domain.” He raised his eyes.
“You need to remember how to rule it.”
And in the next moment…
The palace began to shake.
The giant doors that were open…
Began to close.
But before the vision disappeared…
Samy heard an ancient voice coming from inside.
A voice that was not one of the Knights’.
Nor Seraphine’s.
But the voice of the place itself.
“First heir test…” “Begin.”
And in the next moment…
Everything disappeared.
And when Samy opened his eyes…
He was standing on a battlefield.
Before him were four shadows.
Four weapons.
And four different smiles.
Lyra said happily: “Well…” “Let’s see how long the little Emperor lasts.”
Samy did not understand where the palace had disappeared to.
Just moments ago…
He was standing in front of the Red Angel Palace Garden, in front of a place he felt he knew although he had never seen it.
And now…
Nothing remained.
No roses.
No rivers of light.
No crimson sky.
No heavenly palaces.
Just…
War.
He found himself standing on black, cracked earth, extending to the horizon.
The sky above him was not a sky.
It was an open wound.
Black clouds moved slowly, and between them were red lines as if the world itself was bleeding.
Everywhere around him…
There were remnants of an ancient battle.
Swords embedded in the ground.
Torn banners.
Broken armor.
Traces of explosions still carved into the earth despite the passage of thousands of years.
Samy looked around him.
“…Where are we?”
A familiar voice came to him.
“In the place where no one can save you.”
He turned.
Valdrak was standing behind him.
But this time…
It was not the Valdrak Samy was used to seeing.
He was different.
His aura was not just pressure.
It was an entire war.
Behind him appeared thousands of shadows.
Faceless soldiers.
Swords without owners.
Distant sounds of screaming.
He took a step forward.
And the ground retreated under his feet.
Samy said: “Is this part of the Domain?”
Valdrak answered: “No.” He raised his sword.
“This is part of myself.”
Samy stopped.
“Of yourself?”
He nodded.
“The Domain is not a place you create.” “It is you.” And he pointed to the ground.
“Every wound.” “Every memory.” “Every fear.” “Every desire.” Then he looked at Samy.
“Everything you hide.” “Becomes your land.”
Before Samy could respond…
Valdrak disappeared.
His eyes widened.
Then he felt something behind him.
He turned quickly.
But it was too late.
Valdrak hit him with a single fist.
It was not just a strong hit.
It was as if a mountain had collided with him.
Samy flew dozens of meters, sliding over the black earth until he stopped.
He coughed.
“This is training?”
Valdrak appeared in front of him.
“Yes.” “But not training to become stronger.” He raised his sword.
“Training to deserve the power you carry.”
In the next moment…
He disappeared.
This time, Samy felt the danger.
He used his Aura quickly.
Eclipse appeared in his hand.
But before he could raise the sword…
He heard a voice from above.
“Mistake.”
He looked up.
Lyra was sitting on a rock floating in the air, eating an apple.
“You are still thinking like a normal fighter.”
She jumped from her spot.
She landed in front of him.
“The Emperor does not wait for the attack.” She smiled.
“The Emperor makes the attack regret it ever existed.”
And suddenly…
The place changed.
The battlefield turned into a maze.
Hundreds of copies of Lyra appeared around him.
Each one wearing a different smile.
“Test your intuition,” she said.
“Not your eyes.”
Samy rushed.
He hit the first copy.
It disappeared.
The second.
It disappeared.
The third…
It was real.
She appeared behind him.
She placed her finger on his shoulder.
“Dead.”
He stopped.
“What?” She smiled.
“In a real battle…” “If I were an enemy…” “You would have been finished.”
Samy narrowed his eyes.
“You are cheating.”
She laughed.
“Yes.” “I am Lyra.” “What did you expect?”
From afar…
Elyon was watching.
He opened his book.
And said: “First failure.” Then he wrote.
“He still relies on the laws of the outside world.”
Samy looked at him.
“Even you will attack me?”
Elyon raised his eyes.
“I do not attack.” He closed the book.
“I correct.”
In the next moment…
Thousands of words appeared around Samy.
Laws.
Equations.
Symbols.
Every step he took…
It would change.
Every strike…
It would be analyzed.
Every movement…
It would be read.
“You are trying to use power before understanding it,” Elyon said.
“And that is the reason for the fall of most Domain users.”
Then…
Seraphine’s voice appeared.
Calm.
But more dangerous than everyone else.
“Enough.”
The four stopped.
Seraphine appeared in front of Samy.
She was the only one who did not attack him.
She approached him.
She looked into his eyes.
And said: “The problem is not that you are weak.” “The problem…” She placed her hand on his chest.
“…is that you are afraid of yourself.”
Samy fell silent.
Because she had hit the truth.
Since his power appeared…
He had been afraid.
Of Eclipse.
Of Decay.
Of that moment when he felt something else inside him wanted to come out.
Seraphine said: “You do not lose control because your power is great.” “But because you refuse to acknowledge that it is part of you.”
Samy lowered his head.
“And if it is something dangerous?”
Seraphine smiled.
“Every great power is dangerous.” “The question is not…” “Can it destroy the world?” She approached.
“The question…” “Are you the one who decides when to do so?”
Silence prevailed.
Then…
Samy raised his head.
He looked at Eclipse.
And for the first time…
He did not see it as a weapon.
But as a part of him.
In that moment…
The earth shook.
Valdrak opened his eyes.
He smiled.
“Good.”
Samy looked at him.
“What?”
A thousand years.
A day passed.
Then two days.
Then a week.
But for Samy…
There was no such thing as “time.” Inside the Red Angel Palace Garden, the laws he knew as a human did not exist.
Night does not come.
And day does not begin.
Time does not move forward.
It changes according to the will of the place.
In the outside world…
A single day passed.
But here…
Thousands of hours of pain could pass.
On the first day…
Samy learned one thing.
That he was weak.
Not weak compared to the students.
But weak compared to what he carried.
He was standing in the middle of the garden.
In front of him was Valdrak.
And behind him was the giant Red Palace.
Valdrak said: “Use the Domain.” Samy was silent. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“I don’t know how.” Valdrak raised his sword.
“Then try.” “I can’t.”
In the next moment…
Samy was on the ground.
He didn’t see the strike.
He didn’t hear it.
He only felt the pain.
He stood up with difficulty.
He wiped the blood from his mouth.
“You hit me before I started.”
Valdrak answered: “Because the enemy won’t wait for you.” Eclipse appeared in his hand.
He rushed.
But Valdrak didn’t move.
He only looked at him.
And suddenly…
The sword disappeared.
Samy froze.
“What did you do?”
Valdrak said: “I did nothing.” “You are the one who lost control.” He approached him.
“You rely on the weapon.” “But the Emperor does not rely on his tools.” And he pointed to the palace.
“The palace doesn’t need doors to be a palace.” “And the sea doesn’t need waves to be a sea.” “And you…” He stopped.
“Do not need a sword to be an emperor.”
On the fifth day…
Lyra’s training began.
And it was worse than Samy expected.
Not because she was the strongest.
But because she was the most annoying.
“Again,” she said.
Samy was standing in the middle of a field of mirrors.
Each mirror showed a different version of him.
An angry version.
A scared version.
A weak version.
A version without emotions.
Samy said: “What is this?”
Lyra smiled.
“You.” “All the possibilities you hate to admit.” A version of him appeared in front of him.
But it was different.
A cold smile.
Empty eyes.
The version said: “You are afraid of becoming me.”
Samy froze.
Because the voice…
Was his own voice.
Lyra said: “Kill him.” He looked at her.
“What?” “Kill him.” “He is just an illusion.”
She shook her head.
“No.” “He is part of you.” Samy was silent.
Then he lowered Eclipse.
And said: “No.” Lyra smiled.
“Why?” He answered: “Because if I kill him…” “I will always be afraid of him.”
For the first time…
Lyra’s smile disappeared.
Then she said: “Good.”
On the tenth day…
Elyon began.
And the training with him was different.
No physical pain.
But mental pain.
Samy sat in front of him inside a library with no end.
Thousands of books around him.
Each book bore a name.
Elyon said: “Read.”
Samy opened the first book.
Then closed it.
“I don’t understand the language.” Elyon said: “This is not a language.” “These are memories.”
He opened the book again.
And suddenly…
He saw a war.
He saw cities falling.
He saw children crying.
He saw people dying.
He closed the book quickly.
“Enough.”
Elyon said: “No.” “The Emperor does not have the luxury of ignorance.” He opened another book.
This time…
He saw a moment of victory.
People cheering.
The army kneeling.
The Emperor standing alone.
But behind all that…
There was one thing.
Loneliness.
Elyon said: “Do you understand?” Samy did not answer.
He said: “Power is not carrying the world.” “Power…” “Is to carry the world even though you know how heavy it is.”
On the fifteenth day…
Seraphine’s training began.
And it was the strangest one.
She didn’t ask him to fight.
She didn’t ask him to use power.
She only said: “Close your eyes.” He did.
“What do you see?” “Darkness.” “No,” she said.
“You see what you think is darkness.”
She placed her hand on his chest.
And suddenly…
He saw something.
Inside his heart.
There was a black place.
But in its center…
There was a chair.
A throne.
And there was someone sitting on it.
He didn’t see his face.
But Samy felt something.
He felt that he was looking at himself.
He opened his eyes quickly.
Seraphine said: “You saw it.” She wasn’t asking.
“What?” She smiled.
“The throne.”
In the real world…
A month had passed.
At the Resonance Academy…
The students began to notice something.
Samy had changed.
The person who used to walk without interest…
Had become different.
Not more arrogant.
Nor more talkative.
But…
Calmer.
He would enter training with Celine every day.
But she began to notice something.
At first…
She would give him instructions.
Then she started watching him.
Then…
She started learning from him.
One day…
Samy was trying to control the Aura.
Celine said: “Don’t push it.” He looked at her.
“What?” She said: “You are always trying to control it with force.” She placed her hand on her chin.
Thinking.
Then she froze.
This sentence…
She had said it before.
But when?
She saw an image.
An old place.
A massive hall.
A woman with silver hair standing in front of a man sitting on a throne.
A voice.
“O Emperor…”
Celine stepped back.
Samy noticed.
“Professor?” She returned quickly.
“Nothing.” But she was lying.
Because in that moment…
She felt something she did not understand.
Longing.
Not for Samy.
But for someone she had lost a long time ago.
At night…
Celine stood in front of the mirror.
She looked at herself.
Then she whispered: “Who are you?” And for a moment…
Another face was reflected in the mirror.
Not her face.
A woman.
A different look.
A different confidence.
A royal presence.
Then it disappeared.
But the voice remained.
“Lyssara…”
Celine opened her eyes.
And in a distant place…
Inside Samy’s consciousness…
The Four Knights were looking at each other.
Lyra said with a smile: “It has begun.” Elyon said: “The memory has returned.” As for Valdrak…
His gaze was fixed on Samy.
And he said: “The First Advisor has awakened.” Then he smiled.
“The Emperor…” “Is no longer alone.”