A/N: Feel free to point out any mistakes. Let's keep building this story together.
[The old version was bad. So I rewrote it. Changed some names and gave them personality which the old version lacked. It happened due to my inability. I fixed it and I will continue to fix such chapters if it happens again. Just to let you know, I didn't add new info or removed old info. Just refined the flow of it]
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The smoke cleared.
Four figures stood in the wreckage of the ritual site. Every one of them injured — burns, cuts, one's hands was even barely functional. The damage healed fast, wounds sealing and fading like they'd never been there.
Dark Master Zel, A giant of a figure and the biggest of them rolled his shoulders. His eyes were nothing but two holes of pure abyss. He opened his mouth and roared.
The sound wasn't just loud. Reality buckled around it. Cracks split the air itself, fractures spreading through the space above them like shattered glass before slowly closing.
"Shut up, you idiot!"
The voice was from Dark Master Omega. He looked a lion on 2 legs. He had his arms crossed, jaw tighten and the contempt on his face barely contained.
Zel's head snapped toward him. "Bastard. Wanna have a go, huh?!"
Omega took a step forward—
"Quiet down. Both of you."
It was from Dark Master Seth. He looked like a Namekian but darker. And Unlike the two of them, Seth's voice didn't rise. It didn't need to. His voice carried weight of a leader.
Omega stopped. Zel stopped. Neither saying a word.
Seth turned to dark master Dray, who stood apart from the others, staff in hand, eyes already scanning residual data from the site. Quiet, as always.
"What was that, Dray." Not a question. "I thought I asked you to prepare a location without disturbance."
The tone was calm. Which was exactly why it was dangerous.
Dray met it without flinching. "Lord Seth. I prepared the site exactly as instructed. Even Dark Master Rez would not have been able to detect it."
Seth processed that. He knew Dray didn't lie — it wasn't in him. And Rez's name meant something. The greatest inventor in the entire realm. It was her work that had finally let them breach the guardian's defenses, slip past the Grand Priest's seals and traps, and capture the newly appointed Guardian of the Dragon without a single alarm going off.
If Dray said Rez couldn't have found it, then whatever found it wasn't operating by normal rules.
Seth turned slowly and looked at the site. Scorch marks. Broken sigils. And the empty spaces where several dragon balls had been.
"A few of the dragon balls are missing." He glanced back. "Have you identified what attacked us?"
Dray looked briefly at his staff. "Yes. I retrieved the data. But… the readings are strange."
"Good. Analyze it quickly and pass everything to Rez. We don't have much time."
Zel shifted his weight. "Lord Seth — shouldn't we go after him? From what he wished, we could probably recapture them and take back the dragon balls."
"Are you actually an idiot?"
Omega again, not even bothering to look at him. "That being walked into this place, did all of this, and slipped past the Leader's Sage Eye without a trace. Do you understand what that means? And that attack—" He paused, something uncomfortable moving across his face. "It felt like dread. Actual dread. You understand how insane that is, considering what we are? Besides We've made all the wishes we needed. And we were about to destroy the dragon balls entirely. So, what we need now is to understand what this intruder is."
Seth nodded. "Omega is correct." He turned to face all three of them. "The Omni King is sealed in sleep, a barrier surrounding him that no one can breach. That was our greatest obstacle — and it's handled. But now there is an unknown variable. Someone who located this site. Bypassed my Sage Eye. Injured all four of us." A pause. "Before we move forward with the plan, this threat must be completely neutralized." His eyes swept across them. "We cannot have any unknown variables affecting our goal. So, we must be patience. All for our glorious purpose."
The three answered together, voices low and absolute.
"All for our glorious purpose."
***Line Break***
From the shadows, plans were already taking shape.
And far above, unaware of the trap tightening beneath him… Jin flew on.