5th Day of the 1st Fire Cycle[1], 2000 g.c.
As the dirt on the floor of the Fighting Pits finally settled back into stillness, the chamber fell quiet in that eerie way only heard on battlefields. The torches crackled along the walls, their flames flickering over blood-slick stone and shattered bone. Alex stood across from the Blood Witch, shoulders squared, chest rising and falling in steady heat. Azure-colored mana rolled out from his eyes as he looked past her blonde hair and crooked grin.
Behind her, Ameera knelt in the dirt.
Her knees were stained dark, her hands trembling as they cradled her father's lifeless body in her lap. Melech's head rested against her thigh, his fur matted and cold. Her face was wrecked with tears, eyes swollen and unfocused as she stared down at him, praying and waiting for him to breathe again.
The Blood Witch clicked her tongue and smiled.
"Found us that quick? That's cool. It's your time to die anyway."
Alex's jaw tightened.
"No more games, bitch."
He couldn't feel any life in Melech. No pulse. No warmth. No echo. That absence hit him harder than anything Kiranna had thrown at him all night. It dragged him straight back to memories he didn't ask for. A different body. A different battle. Another father he didn't save. Another death added to the guilt he already carried.
Before he could speak to Ameera, the dawnstone necklace under his armor started to pulse.
Alex froze.
The warmth spread across his chest, sharp and rhythmic. He yanked the chain out, staring at the crystal as it glowed brighter with each beat.
"My necklace is feeling weird."
Ameera lifted her head, voice cracked and hoarse.
"Lord Alex! My father... my father is dead, but the Pack Chief is still alive."
That was when it happened.
Soft motes of light peeled away from Melech's body, drifting upward like fireflies made of breath and memory. Spiritons. They rushed toward the dawnstone, spiraling into it and vanishing inside. The crystal flared strongly, then settled, its glow fading like nothing ever happened.
Alex stared at it, confused as hell.
"What the hell just happened?"
Ameera swallowed hard.
"Pieces of father's soul..."
Danica's voice slipped into his mind, light and curious.
"Ooh, I know this one. That's because the star accessory you wear is a Dawnstone. Those crystals aren't just mana boosters. They can store sprites too."
"So it can keep a soul in it?"
"If the spirit matches the frequency, yeah. You can pour Astral Mana into it, so in principle, it should work."
"I thought you said you knew."
"Souls are like, big sis Omnia's lane. I'm better at making things go boom and act weird."
"The hell, Dawn?"
Kiranna's laugh snapped him back to the pit.
"If you came here to save those doggos, you're too late. But don't worry. You and that fox bitch will be joining them soon."
Grief flashed cold through Alex's veins.
Then it burned.
He turned back to her, fangs bared, eyes blazing. The Blood Witch reached into her pouch, fingers brushing the dagger artifact before pulling free her last Cultivation Pill. She hesitated, just for a heartbeat, then popped it into her mouth and swallowed.
Divinity Mana exploded out of her.
Iridescent light surged through her body, veins glowing beneath her skin as her aura flooded the Fighting Pits. The air thickened, heavy with copper and pressure, like the room itself was bleeding.
"This time," she sneered, "I'll make sure to rid my life of an annoying asshole like you."
Blood Mana crawled up from her boots, scarlet tendrils coiling around her legs and torso, writhing like living snakes as her power stabilized.
Alex rolled his shoulders and spun the Dawn Goddess into his grip.
"Shut the fuck up and run me my fade."
Azure-blue fire spiraled around him as his mana surged. Ameera dragged her father's body beside Roman's unconscious form, pulling them away from the center of the arena. She watched, breath shallow, hands shaking.
Kiranna threw her arms wide.
"Drown him in a sea of hemorrhage! Crimson Tide—[Red Water: Bloody Mary]!"
Blood erupted from every puddle in the pit, forming jagged, eldritch tendrils that snapped toward Alex at hypersonic speed. He deflected the first three with sharp cracks of metal on liquid, then ducked and rolled as more slammed into the dirt where he stood. He flipped backward, landing light but angry, eyes never leaving her.
"I won't let you keep running away, asshole!"
"Nor will I let you get close enough to hit me!"
Fear crawled down her spine anyway.
She felt it. That stare. That tunnel vision locked on her like prey.
Tendrils lashed from every direction, but Alex held his ground, staff moving like it was part of his body. Then he saw it. A hitch in her rhythm. A fraction of a second where her control lagged.
"Danica, get ready," he said under his breath. "Art of Zo: Morning Wolf Fang!"
He spun once and hurled the Dawn Goddess like a spear, red-shaded magitons wrapping around the staff as it screamed through the air. Kiranna threw up a wall of blood, tendrils crossing in front of her.
A useless defense.
The Dawn Goddess vanished mid-flight with [Quantum Leap] and reappeared past her defense, impaling her clean through the stomach and pinning her to the stone wall behind her. The impact shook the entire pit, dust raining from the ceiling.
"Finish her, Lord Alex!!"
Ameera's voice broke as she screamed it, tears streaking her face.
Alex walked forward as the staff snapped back into his hand. Kiranna slid down the wall and collapsed, blood pouring from her wound and mouth as she spat in the dirt.
"Fuck. Ouch. That shit hurts."
She pressed a hand to her wound, trying to manipulate her own blood to heal, but her Divinity Mana flickered like a dying flame.
"Why isn't the pill healing me? What the fuck did he do?"
Fire Mana poured across Alex's weapon as he raised it.
"You're just another useless man," she hissed. "You should've killed yourself."
"You first, you miserable bitch."
He swung. But he didn't notice the moving liquid construct beside him.
The blood tendril struck first. The dagger artifact stabbed into his calf, lightning pain ripping through him as his mana vanished in an instant. The Dawn Goddess dissolved into motes as his swing ended in empty air. His magickal pressure collapsed and vanished.
"Arrgh! Shit—huh?"
"Danica? Dawn? I can't feel her. I can't feel any magick."
Before Alex could even turn his head back toward Kiranna, a boot slammed into his chest.
The hit landed clean and mean.
His body lifted off the ground like he weighed nothing, skipping across the Fighting Pits as dirt and stone cracked beneath him. He bounced once. Then again. Each impact knocked the air further out of his lungs until his breath came out in broken gasps. He clawed at his chest instinctively, fingers digging into armor like he could pull the pain out with his hands.
The dagger jammed in his leg tore free mid-flight, spinning end over end before skidding across the dirt near Ameera's feet. Ameera's head snapped up. Her ears flattened as her nose twitched, panic flashing across her face.
"I can't smell his signature anymore. What did she do to him?"
Alex wheezed, rolling onto his side, one knee dragging weakly through the dirt.
"Fuck... I think she bruised a rib."
Kiranna laughed.
It was ugly. Loud. Full of teeth and satisfaction.
"You know, I didn't think that stupid artifact would work," she said as she strolled toward him, boots crunching through grit and dirt. "But look at you now. It's givin' dead fuckboy."
Blood trailed behind Alex as he tried to push himself up. That shit didn't stay on the ground for long.
Kiranna lifted a finger and flicked it like she was brushing off lint.
The blood answered.
Scarlet liquid peeled up from the dirt, gathering into floating orbs that hovered around her like obedient satellites. More blood crawled out of Alex's wounded leg, tugged free against his will. It wrapped around him in tightening coils, forming a translucent red sphere that sealed shut with a wet, echoing thump.
One second, he had the upper hand. The next... victory got yanked out from under him like a bad rug pull.
"Die, Tengu scum," she said calmly. "Superior Yang/Water Mixed Arts: Blutbläschen!"
The bubble constricted.
Alex's breath vanished as liquid pressure crushed in from every side. Blood pressed against his face, flooding his mouth and nose. His vision blurred red as he thrashed, muscles screaming, while Kiranna leaned back and laughed like she was watching street entertainment. She enjoyed every second of it.
Ameera's fear spiked so hard you could damn near taste it through the mana in the air. Another death. Another loss. Another name she wouldn't survive losing.
Her eyes darted wildly across the arena. Then they locked on the dagger.
She didn't hesitate. Ameera launched herself forward, scooping the artifact out of the dirt. Her hands trembled as she pulled it close, breath hitching. Blue sparks snapped around her fingers as she started converting what little life energy she had left. Electricity crawled over the blade, thin and desperate, like it knew it was being forced into existence.
She swallowed and whispered, voice shaking but firm.
"Don't worry, Dad. I'll fight with all I have. Just as you said."
One sharp exhale.
Then she threw.
The dagger screamed through the air like a lightning bolt ripped straight from her chest. Kiranna turned just in time to see it.
Too late to dodge it, though. The blade punched into her arm with a wet crunch.
The iridescent glow around her flickered once, then died completely. Divinity Mana evaporated like smoke in the wind. The blood bubble exploded outward, splashing apart as Alex collapsed onto his hands and knees, coughing violently. He hacked up liquid and air in ugly bursts, chest heaving as he sucked in oxygen like it was the first breath he'd ever taken.
Kiranna screamed. She yanked the dagger free, blood spraying as she stared down at her arm in disbelief.
"Fucking furry shitbag," she snarled. "Damn. Now the blood won't answer my command."
She didn't get another second. The atmosphere changed. Pressure slammed down on the Fighting Pits so hard the torches flickered. The copper stink of blood got drowned out by heat and something feral. Something ancient.
Alex's near-death experience snapped something inside him clean in half.
Rage surged.
[Dominus Irae] detonated.
Azure and red mana erupted around his body, flames licking off his shoulders as his Sonata Core roared back online. His mana signature skyrocketed, flooding the arena as he stood upright, breath heavy and controlled like a beast pulling itself out of a cage.
The roar he let out wasn't ignorable.
It rolled through the pit and crawled up Kiranna's spine, freezing her solid.
Before she could blink, he vanished.
Space folded. Alex reappeared midair, leg already swinging.
The enhanced roundhouse kick landed.
Kiranna's head left her shoulders instantly. Blonde hair, shattered glasses, and blood sprayed outward as her skull bounced and rolled across the dirt. It came to a stop just a few steps from Ameera, eyes still twitching as life drained out of them.
Her last sight was Ameera's face. Angry. Broken.
Furious.
"For my father," Ameera said, voice low and shaking. "Rot in the pits of Infernia."
She lifted her foot and stomped.
The head shattered. Bone fragments, grey matter, and blood splattered across the floor. The sharp clap of her shoe against stone echoed through the arena.
That sound was it. No music. No cheers. Just silence.
Then Ameera's legs gave out. Tears poured from her eyes as everything she'd been holding back finally crashed through her chest. Joy. Pain. Relief. Loss. All tangled together until she couldn't tell one from another.
Alex limped over and wrapped her up carefully, pulling her into his chest. He held her like she might break, hand rubbing slow circles against her back.
"I'm so sorry I didn't make it in time," he murmured.
She didn't answer.
She just cried harder.
They stood there like that for two long minutes, her sobs bouncing off bloodstained walls. Even with Kiranna dead, the victory felt hollow as hell.
Then Alex stiffened. His ears burned at the ends. The air shifted again. Divinity Mana flooded the arena, thick and overwhelming, far stronger than anything before. It hit like a storm rolling in with no warning. A voice came from behind him.
"I didn't expect to find another worthy meal in this pisshole, but I can recognize the smell of a Sonata Core in here."
Alex turned slowly.
"Taurus," he said, throat tight. "Shit."
He stepped in front of Ameera without thinking, fists clenching until his knuckles went pale. His mana was damn near empty. Roman was still down, slowly bleeding out. The Wolfpak was nowhere in sight. And the Zodiac Key was smiling.
Alex squared his stance anyway. Ready to fight something he had no business fighting alone.
While Floor Thirty-Five was easing into a new kind of quiet danger, I was touching down in the loudest damn place I'd hit in the Sycamore Tree so far. Floor Fifty.
My teleportation circle collapsed under my boots with a soft spatial hiss, and my senses were instantly jolted. Noise hit first. Drums thumping like a slow heartbeat. Strings crying in looping patterns. A recorder chirping something playful and wrong at the same time. Then came the smell. Earthy and damp like tilled soil after rain, mixed with an almost syrupy berry sweetness that clung to the back of my throat. It made a weird musk that didn't belong anywhere near a battlefield.
I lifted my head and finally took in the scene.
Thirty-two Pandaren Beastwomen, black-and-white fur shining under mana crystal lights, half-naked and fully gone. Hips rolling. Tails flicking. Thick thighs clapping together in time with the music. The multi-squared dancefloor bounced under their weight as they twerked and threw it back like the world wasn't ending five floors below them.
To the side sat a raised stage. Three Light Elves stood there with glazed eyes and metal mana collars locked around their throats. Colorful mana crystals floated above them, pulsing in rhythm as they played. An hourglass drum thumped slow and deep. A lyra hummed with shimmering harmonics. The recorder stitched it all together with a sound that crawled straight into the skull.
[Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] slid into my thoughts like cold moonlight.
"Master, the frequency of the melody being played is creating a sonic drug effect. The women here appear to be under hypnosis induced by the magickal instruments."
[Midnight Star: Belial] snorted right after.
"Those weak-ass, wannabe artifacts ain't shit. Lesser enchanted gadgets at best."
"They are ineffective against us," Tsukuyomi added, calm as ever. "However, the magick effect is laced with Yang and Astral Mana."
I could feel it. The air itself vibrated, invisible threads brushing against my skin, trying and failing to dig in.
I clicked my tongue.
"But fuck all that. Where's this Ebony bitch at?"
I didn't linger. I didn't dance. I didn't even slow my pace as I moved through swaying hips and furry asses thrown back with reckless joy. Part of me knew that under different circumstances, I might've enjoyed the chaos. The music wasn't bad. The visuals were wild. But my chest was still tight with Omnia's name, and ever since I stepped into this damn Tree, it had been business from the jump.
No sightseeing. No afterparty. When I left, this whole floor was getting shut down permanently. The deeper I moved into the chamber, the more the scent changed. The berry sweetness faded, replaced by sandalwood and vetiver. Rich. Warm. Intimate. It curled into my nose and refused to let go. That was when I spotted the thick blanket hanging over a doorway at the back of the chamber.
It didn't block sound worth a damn. Muffled groans slipped through. Wet smacks. Ragged breathing that rode the line between pain and pleasure.
I sighed and activated [Heaven's Kaleidoscope].
My gankyril unfolded around my eyes, reality peeling back as X-ray sight kicked in. Through the wall and cloth, I saw it clearly. A Light Elf knelt on the floor, shaking, his back a mess of torn flesh. In front of him sat a Lesser Erinyes, legs crossed atop a massive chair, chin resting in her palm as she giggled.
The man was struggling to breathe.
I reached the curtain and yanked it aside. The smell of blood hit harder immediately.
The brown-haired Light Elf was mid-swing, whipping his own back with trembling arms. Each lash split skin open again, fresh blood running down his spine and dripping onto the floor. His muscles spasmed as he groaned, sweat and tears streaking his face.
He looked up, desperate and exhausted.
"Have I punished myself to your liking, Mistress Thicc?" His voice cracked. "My arms are getting too tired to continue."
The Erinyes rolled her lavender eyes, scratching lazily between the knotted parts of her hair. Her mouth twisted in open disgust.
"Well, that's too damn bad," she said flatly. "I don't give two high fucks. You will continue until I'm satisfied."
"Y-y-yes, ma'am."
The whip came down again with a wet crack.
That was when she noticed me.
Her gaze snapped to the doorway, confusion flickering for half a second before landing on my horns. She froze, then dragged a hand down her face.
"My luck can't be this shitty," she muttered. "I guess my fun for the night is over."
I stepped fully into the room.
"Aye. You," I said. "You the Ebony Witch?"
She squinted at me, lips pursed.
"Lemme guess. You're the Devil of Velonica?"
"Demon Lord Xiro of the Mikazuki Clan," I replied. "I see you've heard of me."
She let out a sharp breath, eyes flicking over me with clear annoyance.
"Fuck. It doesn't help that you're cute, too. With them trippy ass eyes."
"So, witch," I said, voice even. "I need a word with you."
"My name's Danni," she said, pushing herself up from the chair. "And please don't start a fight. I'm not dressed to throw punches right now."
That was when I really looked at her.
Coffee-brown skin, smooth and bare beneath a yellow lace robe that covered just enough to be a tease. Black-and-red wings flared once behind her before folding back in, showing off a bottom that had no business being that heavy. She caught my stare immediately.
"You must like what you see?"
I shut [Heaven's Kaleidoscope] off. My tri-color glow faded as my eyes returned to normal.
"Even if I did," I said, "I ain't here for ass. I'm collecting bodies. Dead and alive."
Her brows lifted.
"Silver eyes now?"
She flicked her wrist and muttered a chant.
Devil Mana pooled beneath the kneeling Light Elf, black and purple like living oil. The floor dissolved as the ethereal acid grabbed him, dragging him down like quicksand. His screams shifted fast. Pleasure turned to panic. Panic turned to agony as skin sloughed off bone, muscle melting into the bubbling ooze.
I watched it happen.
Didn't flinch. Didn't feel shit.
My eyes lifted to her as she approached. She stopped in front of me, barely reaching my chest. Her gaze searched my face like she was trying to find a crack. When she didn't, she turned away, dragging a finger slowly across my bioarmor.
"I'm not looking to be collected," she said. "I'm tryna enjoy the rest of my night, and you're blowing my buzz looking all angry and shit."
I didn't answer.
I just watched her stare back out at the dancefloor. The Pandarens were still moving, still lost in the music, oblivious to the melting Elf behind them. She glanced back at me with a bratty little smile. That was when I stopped playing nice. I lifted my left arm and opened my hand toward the party. Lunar Mana molded at my fingertips, bending gamma and ultraviolet photons into a spinning, shrieking sphere. The air screamed as electromagnetic force compressed into a crescent blade.
I released it.
The wave tore through the chamber like judgment. Pandaren bodies split clean in half. Fur, flesh, and bone scattered in sprays of red. The dance floor collapsed as the Pandarens were sliced apart mid-note, their bodies clattering lifelessly as blood painted the chamber. The crescent wave slammed into the Sycamore wall and detonated, leaving a glowing scar behind.
Stillness followed, but the music played on.
The Pandarens weren't victims needing to be saved. They were Panty Raiders. Panty Raiders that were still bandits and terrorists to many local villages and towns. And I wasn't asked to spare anyone but a few extra witches. Danni ran onto the floor, eyes wide, breath hitching as she looked at the carnage. She snapped her head back toward me, horror written plain across her face, while the notes of music echoed on.
"What the hell, man?" she shouted. "See, this that bullshit I didn't wanna deal with. How you just gonna kill all my minions like that?"
"The party's over," I said. "I'm shutting all this shit down. Now make this easy on yourself before I get rough."
She smirked despite herself.
"Oh? You think I don't like it rough, Mr. Devilman."
I stared at her.
"Stop being a brat, Danni."
Before she could step back up into my space, something rattled overhead.
Metal scraped. Something fumbled. A clumsy, panicked sound bounced around inside the vent above us.
We both looked up at the same time. I took two steps forward, directly beneath the vent, curiosity tugging harder than caution. The grate popped loose a heartbeat later, and whatever was stuck inside finally lost its fight with gravity.
A black blur dropped straight down. I caught it on instinct.
A black cat landed in my arms, light but solid, claws barely grazing my armor as I steadied it. Lemon-yellow eyes blinked up at me, wide and glossy, before it let out a relieved meow. A soft purr rumbled in its chest, vibrating against my forearm.
That's when I felt it.
Magick. Dense. Layered and palpable. Way too clean for a normal pet or familiar.
Danni's voice cut in, sharp with disbelief.
"Trixy? Where did you come from?"
The name hit, and the cat shimmered.
Fur folded inward. Bones stretched. Light warped like heat over asphalt as the feline shape unraveled into a humanoid form. In my arms now was a catgirl with bangs and black locs spilling down her back, tiger stripes etched across tan-beige skin. Her feral tail flicked once as she stretched, flexing like she'd just woken from a nap.
She froze when she really looked at me.
"Thanks for catching me, umm—" Her eyes widened. "Oh shit. You're the Oni from Velonica."
"You're welcome," I said flatly.
The realization hit her body before her mouth caught up. Fine hairs along her thighs and arms stood straight up. Fear spiked sharp and clean. She launched herself out of my arms, landing low and wide in a defensive stance, lips pulled back as she hissed.
Her hand dipped between her breasts and came back up with a Tarot Card pinched between her fingers, mana already crawling across its surface.
"Danni-boo, back me up!" she snapped. "We got a better chance if we jump him together."
Danni didn't even raise her hands.
"Trixy, girl, no," she said calmly. "That'd be stupid. I can't even sense his aura, which means either he's vastly weaker than us…"
Trixy swallowed hard.
"Or stupidly stronger," she muttered. "Fuck."
"Riiight."
Trixy's ears flattened, grip tightening on the card.
"Well, that don't mean we just give up and die at his hand."
"I feel that," Danni replied. "But he hasn't attacked me or gotten aggressive yet."
Trixy snapped her head around, yellow eyes burning.
"What do you mean yet? Then where the hell did all these dead bodies come from?"
Danni glanced at the bisected corpses scattered across the floor.
"Umm. Well damn," she said. "You're right about that one. That was him."
Trixy groaned.
"Where the hell is Luvina? She's gone missing. I can't find her ass anywhere."
Their bickering faded into the background noise for me.
I glanced down at an imaginary watch on my wrist, jaw tight. The bards were still playing behind us. Soft. Uneasy. Every note started to scrape my nerves raw.
"Enough."
I snapped my fingers.
Space folded inward with a hollow pop, and a portal yawned open above the floor. Luvina dropped straight through it, landing on her feet with a stumble and a glare already loaded.
"Goddamnit, Xiro," she barked. "You know how jarring it is to be snatched out of a conversation like that? Give me a heads up next time."
I tilted my head toward the two witches.
"Speak to your girls. They look lost."
The sound of her voice hit Danni and Trixy like a truck.
They both froze, eyes wide, then screamed at the same damn time.
"Luv, you're still alive!"
"Did you really get him on our side?!"
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.
While Luvina started explaining, I turned my attention back to the stage. The Light Elves were still playing, hands shaking, fear leaking into every note. Their eyes stayed locked on the witches, bodies trembling like they were scared to stop breathing.
"Yo," I called out. "Y'all can cut that shit, now. Ain't nobody pussy poppin' no more for y'all to keep playing."
Danni leaned out of her conversation just enough to shoot me a look.
"They're my slaves, Mr. Xiro. They won't do anything unless I tell them to."
I cocked my neck, irritation flaring hot.
"I wasn't asking."
I raised my hand, palm open. Wind Mana condensed instantly, air screaming as three dense spheres formed and snapped forward. The blasts hit the instruments one after another. Drum shattered. Lyra exploded into splinters. The recorder snapped clean in half.
The sound alone damn near made the Elves piss themselves.
"Problem solved," I said, turning my gaze back to Danni.
She exhaled slowly and looked at Luvina.
"Is he always this rude?"
"He has his moments," Luvina replied.
Trixy stepped forward, ears twitching.
"You two are way too relaxed right now. Orion invited that stupid ass Taurus back. That's what stopped me from stealing Luvina's crystal ball for her."
My head snapped up.
"Who did she just say?"
I didn't walk. I flashed.
One step, and I was suddenly right behind Luvina, leaning into the circle.
"Where did you see my favorite walking roast beef with wings?"
Trixy blinked.
"Huh?"
She stared into my eyes, studying me, then smiled slowly.
"You don't like him, do you?" she said softly. "If that's the case, he might still be on the top floor. Secret room in the lounge."
"Orion probably thinks we still don't know about it," Luvina added.
"He brought in some unconscious woman," Trixy said. "Two tails. Never seen her before."
That was all I needed.
"Omnia."
My chest tightened, then eased just enough to breathe. I couldn't sense her, but knowing Orion hadn't gotten far did something fierce to my nerves.
Luvina turned to me, eyes sharp.
"Xiro, I need one more favor."
"Huh?"
"I know you're about to head out," she said. "If you see a crystal ball artifact, grab it for me. It's important. More than I can explain."
I paused. Then nodded.
I clasped my hands behind my back and turned away. A massive portal opened beneath the three witches, my [Midnight World] swallowing them whole before snapping shut. Before I left, I glanced back at the Light Elves. They were shaking, pale, lost. The enslaved bards didn't ask for this, so I decided to give them a chance at freedom.
I flicked my finger and opened a doorway portal beside the stage.
"That'll take you outside," I said. "Run. Don't look back. If you stay, I can only promise death."
They stared at each other. Then at me. Then at the portal.
The drummer bolted first. The recorder player followed. The last Elf hesitated, bowed his head, whispered a thank you I barely heard, then dove through as the gate closed.
That left me alone.
Blood soaked the floor. Bodies lay split and still. The air reeked of iron and burned mana.
I'd collected all the witches Luvina asked for.
[Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] spoke softly in my mind.
"We're ready for teleportation, Master."
I didn't answer.
Indigo and cerulean light wrapped around me, space collapsing as my spatial teleportation tore me free from the chamber. The next destination was the coordinates where I last sensed my Twilight Goddess.
It didn't even take a full second.
Space folded, light snapped inward, and I was suddenly standing on an ottoman in a darkened office dressed up in Victorian-style bullshit. Heavy furniture. Velvet drapes. Old-world ego leaking from every polished surface. The hidden room sat dead quiet at the very top of the Sycamore Tree.
The air reeked of Paradiso.
That clean, sharp, nauseating musk hit the back of my throat the moment I inhaled. Yeah. I was in the right spot. That Dominion fuckboy had definitely been there. His presence still stained the room like cheap cologne.
But when I looked around, my jaw tightened.
A desk was wrecked. Splintered wood. Shattered drawers. Papers scattered like somebody threw a tantrum mid-thought. The damage didn't match the rest of the pristine room at all.
And there was no Omnia.
Not a trace.
I felt my temper climb, fast and ugly. I couldn't sense her anywhere in the Tree. Not a flicker. Not an echo. That absence dug into my chest and twisted. Anxiety started crawling up my spine, thick enough to make my vision sharpen.
That's when [Dominus Superbiae] kicked in.
The pressure rolled through my soul like ice water, forcing my emotions down into something manageable. Pride straightened my posture. Fear-altered anger got boxed up just enough to think.
Still didn't feel good. Because the truth was nasty. I was getting emotional over a woman who had manipulated most of my new life and damn near all of my old one. If I kept it a stack, I shouldn't have given a fuck about Omnia at all. Not after the lies. Not after the half-truths. Not after the way she treated my existence like a chessboard. But I was never the smartest nigga. Prideful, sure. Powerful, absolutely. Still human at the deepest part of my core.
And that humanity stayed clingy as hell. Something about her love was infectious. Twisted. Parasitic in the worst and best ways. She latched on and refused to let go, and I… I didn't want her to. Finding someone in any universe that crazy about me wasn't some shit you stumbled on twice.
I didn't want to lose that. Not for anything.
I floated off the ottoman, boots lifting without a sound. That's when [Midnight Star: Belial] slid into my thoughts, tone way too casual for the mood I was in.
"Yo, Bossman. I've got a question. And I need answers."
"Word?" I thought back. "Shoot. I'm listening."
"If we're planning on taking over this world," Belial said, "why don't we just kill everybody in our way? Why are you playing nice with these bitches?"
Before I could respond, [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] eased into the mental space like a calm blade with his suggestions.
"He could also simply mind-control them," he said. "I've been refining several spells that would make large-scale compliance efficient."
I snorted.
"Y'all both extreme as fuck," I thought. "I actually like this place now. Yeah, the people running some countries in Arcadia need work, but that can be fixed."
"Fixed?" Belial scoffed. "You gon' rewrite their brains or some shit? Compared to Earth, the women here are either annoying misandrist or unchecked sluts with power."
"That sounds like a few first-world countries back home," I shot back.
"Maybe, but Earth had assholes and superheroes to balance it out," Belial replied. "And way better food."
"I would recommend some kind of structured civil control," Tsukuyomi added. "If the goal is improving living standards and technological growth under our rule."
"I don't fully agree," Belial said. "This shit needs more chaos."
"Chaos requires Order to complete the triune of existence," Tsukuyomi replied evenly.
They weren't wrong.
Both of them had a point in a way.
"Same way y'all balance me out," I thought, "that ideology gotta be applied here too. Gaia… nah. The whole Prime Realm System needs a rebalance."
"Do you really think it's worth it?" Belial asked. "I say we wipe this pussy ass universe and make another."
"We have the Mana," Tsukuyomi replied, "but the omniverse is a collection of infinite multiverses. We lack the current understanding to rebuild it all."
"Y'all dramatic," I thought. "I'm only crashing out like that if I can't get Omnia back. I'll wipe the entire omniverse if I must."
"You really got a thing for the former Creator," Belial said. "I get it, though. The sex was godly."
"Losing Omnia would also mean losing Kyttin, Karma, and Chomei," Tsukuyomi added.
"Yeah," Belial muttered. "Even our bioarmor is boring as hell without Karma's clingy ass life force within it."
"Don't matter. That shit ain't happening," I thought. "Especially since I just got my full Guardian Armament. Barely been two days. I'll be damn if I lose her now."
That's when the ceiling light flickered off something, catching my eye.
Light reflected off something buried in the wreckage of the desk. A glass orb. Small. Half-hidden under splintered wood. Its enchantment felt... different. Familiar in a way that tugged at my memory.
Too close to the artifacts that once housed my Guardian Summons.
[Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] didn't waste time.
"That is The Paradis's Eye," he said. "An artifact older than recorded history on Gaia."
"I'm guessing this is what Luvina wanted," I muttered, picking it up.
The mana around it was alive. Vibrant. Pressing against my skin like it was curious about me. Then it started pulling at my mana. Not draining me, not hurting me. Just... sipping. Like it recognized me. A soft glow bloomed inside the orb. Light spiraled, forming an image. A place I didn't recognize. But the white-haired man moving through it?
"Oh, hell no," I said. "That's Alex. What lil' bro doing?"
"The Paradis's Eye is currently in control of surveillance and spatial mapping of the Sycamore Tree," [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] replied. "It's now displaying the Fighting Pits."
"Which means I can find Omnia and the Angels with this," I said. "What floor is that?"
"Floor 35."
The artifact reminded me too much of my mnemonic crystals. The playback was clean. Too clean. Alex filled the image, but something was wrong.
Blood streaked his face.
"Why my nigga look beat up?" I muttered. "Who the fuck is hitting him like that?"
Then I saw it. And I smiled.
Cold. Slow. Nasty. Entropy crawled through my chest, lighting my brain up with dopamine like I just found my favorite song at the perfect time.
"Let's go, fellas," I said softly. "Time to get back to the party."
Space collapsed again. I vanished just as fast as I arrived, leaving the office almost how I found it.
The masquerade was over. And it was time to wrap all this shit up.
[End of Chapter]
[1] April on Earth