[ Bonus Chapter 3/3 ]
Igaris had questions, but it seemed Evernight wasn’t in any state to answer them.
Curious, he stepped forward and picked up the decayed eye to examine it more closely. It felt cold to the touch...Unnaturally so, and yet, even in its lifeless state, the eye radiated a domineering presence. Ego clung to it, etched into the depths of its dull pupil.
Though clearly nonfunctional, Igaris couldn’t shake the feeling that it was staring into his very soul.
"So this belonged to a fallen powerhouse... There’s no way something isn’t useful," he muttered, half to himself.
As that thought formed, a strange instinct overtook him, like a whisper threading through his emotions. A buried impulse. Something calling to him from the eye itself.
"Acquire," he said, the word slipping from his lips almost mechanically.
The moment he spoke, a burst of platinum energy exploded from his palm, enveloping the eye completely. He felt some resistance, as if the eye itself still clung to remnants of its former will, but it lacked a soul. So the process continued unhindered.
[ Acquisition Successful ]
There was no soul to bind, yet something extraordinary occurred.
A burning sensation spread across Igaris’s own eyes, followed by a surge of power that made him flinch.
His vision shimmered, blurred—and then sharpened with terrifying clarity.
[ You Have Acquired: The Architect’s Eyes ]
[ Architect’s Eyes: A remnant organ of a being that saw across time, matter, and dimensions. Grants unique visual capabilities ]
The notification cut off for a moment as his body adjusted.
Igaris staggered, breathing hard as he clutched his forehead.
This wasn’t just some ancient rotten body part. This was something born from a godlike entity. A part of forgotten Architect who once reshaped destiny itself.
And now, its gaze... was his.
Evernight’s red lips parted, quivering as her gaze locked onto Igaris’s face.
His eyes, now glowing with an ethereal blue radiance, mirrored something long buried in her heart.
In that instant, the image before her blurred. The rough edges of reality melted, replaced by a silhouette she had yearned for all these years.
The silhouette of him.
Without thinking, she lunged forward and threw her arms around Igaris, clinging to him like a desperate child. Her curvaceous frame trembled, her voice choked by sobs as she buried her face into his chest.
"Sob... Father... Is it you?"
Her words were soft, but each one pierced the air with the weight of longing.
"You’ve finally come back to see your daughter, haven’t you? Mm... I knew it. I knew you’d come back. You can’t be dead!"
Her dreamy violet eyes shimmered with unshed tears, staring up at him like a little girl seeing the stars again for the first time.
Igaris stiffened in place. Not because of the soft melons pressing against him. But because of his eyes could now see through clothes like crystal-clear X-ray vision.
Her birthday suit was now completely exposed. Literally everything.
Those supple round mounds, those proud peaks pressed against his chest.
Seeing them, he nearly got a nosebleed. And his little brother, ahem, his body got hot, feeling her warm body temperature and the faint scent of night blossoms clinging to her hair.
"Control youself... " Igaris said to himself, looked away.
He felt guilty for having such shameful thoughts when she was broken down by grief.
"Evernight, It’s me. I am not your father. Snap out of it," he whispered, gently shaking her body.
Evernight paused, snapping out of her illusion.
She looked at Igaris, slightly stunned. "It’s you...?"
She backed away, slightly embarrassed. Her face flushed red, remembering what she had done.
"I... I’m sorry," Evernight whispered, her voice barely audible over the low rumble of the golems still working in the background. "For a moment, I thought—" She trailed off, clutching her arms tightly.
Igaris shook his head, offering a small, understanding smile. "Evernight, You don’t need to apologize. I understand you must have remembered something truly grieving. Anyone would lose themselves in a moment like that."
She turned away, hiding her face behind her cascading black hair.
"He was everything to me. My father. The only one who truly cared about me. Seeing that eye... and then your eyes..."
There was a long silence between them.
Igaris gently placed a hand on her shoulder, grounding her. "I understand. And I am sorry for taking your father’s eyes. But I promise I will fulfil your one wish, even if it means going against my morals and ethics." He promised sincerely.
Evernight blinked slowly, the weight in her heart easing just a bit. "Thank you," she whispered. "And... I’m sorry if I—"
"You didn’t," he cut her off gently. "Let’s keep moving. We’ve got a mountain of Spirit Stones and... Some unwanted company approaching us."
His newly evolved eyes pierced through the walls, watching several fogure approaching the Den.
She nodded, wiping away the last of her tears. "Right. Back to work, my liege."
And just like that, the moment passed, but something had changed between them. A little more trust. A little more truth. And a shared mystery still waiting to be unraveled.
Afterward, Mountain King created a large pot of stone to store the Spirit Stones, and Igaris used Acquisition on the pot to convert it into a portable storage item, since he couldn’t absorb all the Spirit Stones at once.
The idea was ingenious; proposed by Igaris himself. For some reason, his thoughts processed faster than usual, making him efficient at decision-making and invention.
Perhaps Ultra Comprehension was one of the passive effects of the Architect’s Eye.
In this way, he managed to store nearly 5,000 Spirit Stones for later use.
After that, they exited the cave, only to sense the presence of unwelcome guests approaching.
"Is this the place, Ophelia?" William asked, standing before the entrance of the Wyvern Den.
"Yes, I’m sure. Look—there are even signs of battle," she said, pointing ahead.
"Ohh, someone’s approaching, young miss!" one of the guards said, alarmed.