"If you’re not from here, not marked, and powerful enough to casually stop my attacks, then why are you really here?"
"I’m looking for some people."
She raised an eyebrow.
"That’s a very vague answer. A human somehow appears inside the Prime Territory, specifically inside Region Three, and you’re expecting me to believe you’re just here looking for people?"
"That’s exactly what I’m saying."
"And I’m supposed to believe that?"
I shrugged.
"Whether you believe it or not doesn’t really change the truth."
She stared at me for a few seconds before shaking her head.
"Fine. What people?"
"People carrying the surname Ironhart."
The reaction lasted less than a second. A slight widening of her eyes. A tiny pause in her breathing. A flicker of recognition.
Then it was gone.
But I had already seen it.
"Never heard the name before," she replied calmly.
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Her answer came too quickly.
"There are millions of humans spread across Region Three alone. I don’t keep track of people’s surnames. Most of the time I barely remember their names."
I slowly nodded.
"Fair enough."
The room grew quiet for a moment.
Then I smiled.
"What is your name by the way?"
"Andrea."
"Pleasure meeting you, Andrea."
I stood up from the sofa.
"My name is Billion Ironhart."
This time the reaction was even smaller. Yet it was still there. A tightening of her shoulders. A slight change in her eyes.
"Anyway," I continued casually, "I guess there aren’t any Ironharts in this city after all. Maybe I’ll try my luck somewhere else."
At the same time, I waved my hand. The space locking her in place disappeared instantly. Andrea looked surprised by the sudden freedom.
Before she could speak again, I took a step backward and folded space around myself.
The living room vanished.
A moment later I appeared several districts away atop the roof of a quiet building overlooking the city.
Hidden beneath layers of illusion, I looked back toward the distant residential district and smiled slightly.
"She definitely knows something."
The conclusion wasn’t even a question anymore.
"She recognized the name. She just doesn’t want to talk about it."
That usually meant one of two things. Either she was protecting someone. Or she was afraid.
Neither option mattered.
Because people eventually led somewhere.
I raised my hand.
Blue light gathered in the air before me.
The summoning circles that appeared now looked noticeably different from before. Gone were the crimson formations that had accompanied my summons. Instead, brilliant blue circles layered with silver-violet runes expanded one after another.
Figures stepped through them. The moment they arrived, every one of them immediately looked around.
Silver was the first to react.
"Whoa."
He took a deep breath and grinned.
"So this is the Null Realm."
The surrounding soul force swirled naturally around him.
"Just standing here feels amazing. I can literally feel my strength increasing."
I looked toward him in surprise.
"You can?"
"Yeah."
Aurora nodded as small arcs of lightning flickered across her fingertips.
"I can feel it too. It’s easier to draw on my soul force here."
Her gaze shifted toward me.
"And our connection feels stronger."
I thought about that for a moment before nodding.
"That makes sense. Our bonds are tied directly to the soul. The entire realm is saturated with soul force, so naturally the connection would be amplified."
"I’m not complaining," Silver said with a grin.
The others seemed to agree. I quickly summarized everything that had happened since arriving.
Specially Andrea and finally the possibility that she knew something about my family.
When I finished, I pointed toward the distant district where her house stood.
"That woman knows something, but she isn’t willing to talk."
"I can get the information out of her."
Lyrate’s answer came immediately. The smirk on her face made it very clear what she meant.
"No."
I didn’t even hesitate.
"Absolutely not."
The smirk disappeared.
"Worth trying."
"No, it wasn’t."
Lyrate looked mildly disappointed. I ignored her and continued.
"We don’t need force yet. We need information."
My gaze shifted toward Knight.
"You keep an eye on Andrea. Follow her wherever she goes and whoever she talks to."
Knight immediately nodded.
"Got it."
"Don’t approach her. Don’t talk to her. Just watch."
"Still got it."
I looked toward the rest of them.
"Meanwhile the rest of us need to understand how this region actually functions."
That got everyone’s attention.
"We know there are administrators. We know there are phantoms. We know there are two Saint-rank Eternal Overseers somewhere in the region. What we don’t know is how power is structured here."
I paused briefly.
"More importantly, I want to know what happens if someone takes over a city."
Several expressions immediately brightened. Especially Ragnar’s.
The giant ape-man grinned.
"Now we’re asking the important questions."
I pointed at him.
"Which is exactly why you’re gathering information instead of starting a fight."
His grin widened further.
"That’s not a no."
"It absolutely is."
Ragnar looked disappointed.
"Fine."
"Stay hidden," I continued. "All of you. No fighting. No causing trouble. No drawing attention."
The silence that followed told me nobody intended to follow that instruction perfectly.
I sighed.
Then he vanished.
The others quickly followed. Within moments only I remained standing atop the rooftop. Far in the distance, beyond countless buildings and glowing streets, the house belonging to Andrea sat quietly beneath the night sky.
I looked in that direction for a few seconds.
Then smiled.
Because one thing was already becoming clear. The moment I had mentioned the name Ironhart, her reaction had stopped being that of a stranger.
And that meant I was finally getting close to something real.
I’d refine it like this to add more observation, tension, and make the realization feel earned:
One by one, they disappeared into the city.
Within a few moments I was standing alone atop the rooftop once more.
My gaze drifted toward the center of the city.
If Andrea truly knew something about the Ironharts, then I would eventually get answers from her. For now, however, another question interested me far more.
How exactly were the Eternals controlling millions of souls?
More importantly,how were they transporting them?
So far I hadn’t seen a single indication of how that process actually worked. Which meant the answer was probably hidden somewhere important.
I stepped forward.
Space folded.
The city blurred.
Then folded again.
And again.
With each teleportation I crossed enormous distances, moving over districts, markets, residential sectors and administrative zones. The closer I approached the center, the more noticeable the security became. Patrols increased. Monitoring formations became denser.