"What a joke!" The Eye's voice cracked with genuine outrage, "I choose neither!"
It didn't want to serve a Human God. It also didn't want to die. It had a dream—to grow beyond a Supreme God Tier artifact into a God Monarch Tier Artifact! That dream required being alive, and it refused to believe those were truly the only two options available to it.
Haru said nothing and started walking forward. Slowly. The Eye tracked his approach with its single blood-red pupil. Each step brought his Divine Power closer, and the weight of it pressed against the seal from outside.
The Eye tested its cage again. Found the same result it had found every time. The combined strength of four Supreme Gods, and its own core origin partially consumed, no avenue of resistance remained. The slow walk continued.
"Master…" The Eye said, "…I'm done."
Haru hadn't wanted to force it. He'd wanted the same willing capitulation he'd gotten from Elyndor. Things that bent on their own were more useful than things that had to be broken.
…
The Divine Power filled with Abyss Law that poured from Haru's palm when he pressed it against the seal was immediately recognizable to the Eye. This was its own law, worn by someone else, used with complete fluency.
Inside the seal, Haru's consciousness pushed through and found what it was looking for almost immediately: a dark phantom coiled at the center of the Eye's origin, radiating pressure so dense that even Haru felt its edges. Dark purple eyes. Ancient authority. The unmistakable signature of something that had ruled unchallenged for hundreds of thousands of years.
'A pseudo God King.' Haru noted. 'Just as I thought. Maybe slightly weaker than Celestia at her peak, but not by much.'
The phantom's eyes opened and found him.
"A new Demon Lord." The voice hit like thunder, slow and certain, "Where did you ascend? Which planet? I received no report."
A pause, during which the phantom looked Haru over with the particular contempt of something ancient for something young, "Doesn't matter. You invaded 'my' Eye. That's quite bold."
Haru, still wearing the Abyss Law like a second skin, said: "You've ruled the Abyss for too long. It's time for someone else to sit on that throne."
The phantom stared at him, "Another ignorant challenger. This Emperor has killed thousands. Tell me your Divine Name, and I'll find you to give you a glorious death."
A God's Divine Name carried their divine imprint. Someone powerful enough could use it to track and destroy them across any distance. As anyone with even a shred of common sense, Haru had no intention of obliging.
"When we meet on the battlefield." He said, "Your Majesty will know who I am."
He hit the phantom with everything he had. The Demon Emperor's true strength was beyond him, beyond any God or Goddess on the Endless Continent, including the ancient Supreme Gods like Elunara, Varkath, or Svetlana.
That wasn't in question, but this phantom was only an origin imprint, carrying enough strength to match a newly ascended Supreme God at best. For Haru, there was no resistance at all. The phantom roared once, and was gone.
After that, the Eye cooperated without further argument. The Demon Emperor's imprint was erased. Haru's own mark settled into its core where the Demon Emperor's mark had been.
The Eye of the Abyss, a top-quality Supreme God Tier Artifact, now belonged to the 'Divine Emperor' Kazehaya Haru.
…
Not far away, Svetlana had watched the whole thing with her silver eyes slightly narrowed. She'd known it was coming—she'd pieced together his Godhead's capabilities earlier, and knew that Haru would master the Abyss Law. But knowing it and watching him casually unleash the Abyss Law in front of her were two completely different experiences.
"Before you have absolute power…" She said softly, "…keep that ability hidden. Anyone who sees it will reach the same conclusion Phoebe and the Eye did. It's a perfect disguise, but a dangerous one to expose early."
Haru nodded. He'd already thought the same thing. The Abyss Law stayed in reserve until the moment required it.
…
In the depths of the universe, far beyond the Endless Continent, the Abyss sat at the intersection of overlapping Space-Time fields that made divine surveillance nearly impossible. Its boundary wall was thick enough that even Supreme Gods couldn't penetrate it from outside. For hundreds of thousands of years, nothing had threatened it. Nothing had even entered it uninvited.
Inside, there were an uncountable number of demons. The roar that shook the planet didn't need a source announced. Every demon who heard it simply dropped to their knees and waited, trembling, for whatever came next.
The twelve Demon Monarchs of the Abyss, summoned to the black temple at the planet's center, filed in and knelt before the throne. They maintained the careful posture of beings who understood exactly how thin the margin was between the Demon Emperor's tolerance and his wrath.
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