Chapter 112: Back In
Chapter 112: Back In
The following morning, five luxury vehicles arrived at the apartment complex one after another.
None of them had arranged to meet.
None of them had informed the others of their plans.
Yet every one of them had awakened with the same unbearable thought lingering in their hearts, a longing so persistent that ignoring it had become impossible. Business meetings, contracts, company schedules... none of it mattered anymore. There was only one thing they wished to do.
See Celia.
Damien stepped out of his car carrying a neatly wrapped box containing a handcrafted fountain pen and sketchbook imported from Europe after remembering a casual conversation in which Celia had once confessed she still preferred drawing ideas on paper before moving to a computer.
He had intended to surprise her.
Across the parking lot, Sebastian emerged from another vehicle, several elegant shopping bags hanging from one arm.
"...Damien."
"Sebastian."
The two exchanged brief nods before their attention was stolen by another familiar figure approaching them.
Matthias carried several carefully stacked pastry boxes from a small bakery nearly an hour away.
"I remembered she once said these were her favorite."
His voice was almost apologetic.
"I thought..."
He scratched the back of his neck.
"...perhaps breakfast together would be nice."
Before anyone could answer, another luxury sedan quietly rolled to a stop.
Ezekiel stepped out, looking noticeably more exhausted than usual.
Dark circles rested beneath his eyes, evidence that he had probably spent another sleepless night inside his laboratory.
Despite that, he held a paper bag containing several books on fashion design, a new digital drawing tablet, and a small mechanical pencil he had personally modified to suit Celia’s drawing habits.
"I may have overlooked several times where gifts would’ve been appropriate," he admitted quietly.
"...I wished to remedy that."
Finally...
The last vehicle arrived.
Aelith carefully climbed out carrying an enormous bouquet of fresh flowers so beautiful that several pedestrians walking past instinctively slowed to admire them.
He looked almost embarrassed.
"...I wasn’t entirely certain what ladies enjoy receiving."
Matthias glanced toward the flowers.
"I think you’ve covered every possibility."
For the first time that morning, a faint smile appeared on everyone’s faces.
Only for a brief moment.
Then silence returned.
The five men entered the apartment building together.
No one commented on the strange coincidence that had brought all of them here at exactly the same time.
Deep inside...
Each of them already understood.
Whatever had pulled them here...
Had called all of them equally.
The elevator ride felt unusually long.
No conversations followed.
Only the soft mechanical hum of the elevator accompanied the uncomfortable silence pressing between them.
Damien stood nearest the doors.
His fingers unconsciously tightened around the gift box he carried.
He could not explain it.
The closer they came to Celia’s apartment...
The heavier the uneasiness inside his chest became.
It was irrational.
Yet impossible to ignore.
Finally...
The elevator chimed.
The doors slid open.
The familiar hallway greeted them.
Apartment 403 stood quietly at the very end, exactly as Damien remembered.
"...Perhaps she’s still asleep," Aelith suggested with quiet optimism.
Sebastian glanced toward his wristwatch.
"It’s nearly ten."
"...She enjoys sleeping."
Damien found himself smiling faintly.
"...She does."
They approached the apartment together.
For a moment, Damien simply stared at the door.
He imagined Celia opening it, surprised to find all five of them standing outside.
He imagined Lilith making another sarcastic remark.
The thought almost eased his heart.
Almost.
Matthias stepped forward first and knocked firmly.
Three clear knocks echoed throughout the hallway.
Everyone waited.
Nothing.
He knocked again.
Still...
Nothing.
Sebastian pressed the doorbell.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Its cheerful melody echoed somewhere inside the apartment before disappearing into silence.
No footsteps followed.
No voice answered.
No lock clicked open.
"...Strange."
Ezekiel frowned.
Damien slowly removed his phone.
"I shall call her."
He selected Celia’s contact.
The call connected.
Or...
It attempted to.
Once again...
Silence.
No ringtone.
No signal.
No connection.
Only the motionless screen displaying a call that seemed incapable of reaching its destination.
His heartbeat immediately accelerated.
"...Again."
Aelith was already calling Lilith.
Nothing.
Sebastian tried next.
Nothing.
Matthias.
Nothing.
Ezekiel.
Nothing.
Five men.
Ten unanswered calls.
Every attempt vanished into the same impossible silence.
It was as though neither phone existed anymore.
The gifts each of them carried suddenly felt painfully heavy.
Damien slowly lowered his phone.
"...Something is wrong."
No one argued.
Because each of them had arrived at the exact same conclusion.
Matthias quietly stepped toward the door once more.
His eyes carefully examined every detail.
No sounds.
No movement.
Nothing.
He gently tested the doorknob.
Locked.
His expression immediately hardened.
"...I dislike this."
"So do I," Sebastian admitted.
Damien looked toward Matthias.
"...Can you gain entry?"
Matthias met his eyes.
The question required no explanation.
He simply nodded.
"...Yes."
Sebastian glanced briefly down the hallway.
"...We’ll be responsible for the damages."
"If necessary," Damien answered calmly, "I shall purchase every apartment on this floor."
No one doubted he would.
Matthias quietly handed his pastry boxes to Aelith before taking several steps backward.
His posture subtly changed.
For the first time since arriving in this world...
The businessman disappeared.
The Royal Knight Commander returned.
He inhaled once.
Then drove his heel directly into the lock.
The impact exploded throughout the hallway.
The door burst inward violently before crashing against the opposite wall.
Without hesitation...
All five men rushed inside.
"Celia!"
Their voices echoed throughout the apartment.
No answer came.
The sight before them made Damien stop breathing.
The apartment...
Looked lived in.
Two mugs still rested upon the dining table.
Breakfast plates remained inside the sink.
A blanket lay carelessly across the sofa exactly as someone had left it only moments ago.
Sketchbooks remained scattered across the coffee table, one page half-filled with unfinished clothing designs.
Lilith’s laptop remained open beside an equally unfinished manuscript.
Nothing appeared abandoned.
Everything suggested two sisters had simply...
Stepped away.
Yet they were nowhere.
"...Search."
Damien’s voice immediately cut through the silence.
The others moved without hesitation.
Bedrooms.
Bathroom.
Kitchen.
Balcony.
Every room.
Every corner.
Every closet.
Nothing.
No Celia.
No Lilith.
No signs of struggle.
No blood.
No broken furniture.
No explanation whatsoever.
Only...
Silence.
Then...
A faint humming reached Damien’s ears.
Almost too quiet to notice.
He turned instinctively toward the center of the living room.
"...What..."
Celia’s phone.
It rested alone upon the floor.
Its screen glowed with a brilliant silver light unlike anything any of them had ever witnessed.
The light wasn’t merely bright.
It seemed...
Alive.
Slowly...
The phone lifted from the floor by itself.
Sebastian stared.
"...That’s impossible."
The humming deepened.
Then the air shifted.
Papers scattered across the apartment suddenly slid across the floor.
Curtains snapped violently toward the glowing device.
Books toppled from shelves.
The bouquet Aelith carried bent forward as though caught within an invisible storm.
The apartment itself seemed to breathe.
No...
It was being pulled.
Everything.
Every loose object.
Every current of air.
Even the light entering through the windows twisted toward the tiny glowing phone.
"...Stand back!" Matthias shouted.
But Damien remained rooted where he stood.
His eyes never left the impossible sight before him.
The same emptiness that had haunted him since yesterday suddenly transformed into certainty.
This...
This was connected to Celia.
The silver radiance suddenly intensified.
The tiny device floating above the floor erupted into a blinding pillar of light that engulfed the entire living room within seconds. A deafening roar followed as invisible currents of wind burst outward, hurling books from their shelves, sending picture frames crashing against the walls, and sweeping loose papers into a violent spiral overhead. Curtains whipped wildly, furniture groaned across the wooden floor, and even the windows trembled beneath the overwhelming force.
"What in the world is this?!" Sebastian shouted, struggling to keep his footing.
"It’s pulling everything inward!" Ezekiel cried, shielding his eyes from the unbearable brilliance.
The light no longer resembled anything earthly.
It had become a vortex.
A doorway.
A tear carved into reality itself.
Matthias instinctively reached for Damien’s arm.
"We need to leave!"
But Damien refused to move.
His eyes remained fixed upon the impossible phenomenon before him.
"...No."
The certainty inside his heart had become absolute.
"Celia is beyond that light."
Before anyone could stop him, he stepped forward.
The others exchanged only a single glance.
None of them hesitated.
If Damien was walking into the unknown...
Then none of them intended to let him go alone.
One after another, they advanced toward the swirling light.
The instant Damien’s hand crossed its boundary, the world exploded into white.
The apartment disappeared.
The city vanished.
Gravity itself ceased to exist.
It felt strangely familiar.
As though they had once endured this very journey before.
Their bodies were torn apart and stitched together again in the span of a heartbeat. Every sensation blurred into one endless stream of light until, suddenly, warmth flooded Damien’s entire body.
Mana.
It flowed through him once more.
Rich.
Powerful.
Alive.
His heartbeat thundered.
The suit he had worn only moments ago dissolved into countless shimmering particles before reforming into finely embroidered royal garments. The weight of a ceremonial cloak settled naturally upon his shoulders, while the familiar sword hanging at his waist reappeared as though it had never left him.
Around him, the others underwent the same transformation.
Sebastian’s tailored business attire gave way to the noble robes of the Duke of Blackwood.
Matthias once again wore the immaculate armor of the Royal Knight Commander, his sword resting comfortably against his side.
Golden mana danced around Ezekiel’s fingertips as the Archmage’s robes returned, ancient runes glowing faintly beneath the fabric.
Beside them stood Aelith.
Not as the ordinary human physician they had become...
But once again as the elven prince, his long silver-blond hair swaying gently behind him, emerald eyes shining with quiet dignity as the pointed ears he had sacrificed returned.
They had regained everything.
Their titles.
Their identities.
Their race.
Their magic.
Their world.
The blinding light finally receded.
Stone replaced polished apartment flooring beneath their feet.
The scent of ancient forests filled the air.
A familiar breeze carried the sound of distant bells from the capital.
Damien slowly opened his eyes.
He recognized that sky immediately.
"...We’re...home."
Yet his heart did not rejoice.
Because there was only one question left.
If they had returned...
Then where was Celia?