It wasn’t identical, but it was close enough that there was no mistaking it. The four demons I had sensed carried traces of that same warped signature. It was faint, deeply buried under layers of their own Essence and laws, but it was there.
Which meant one thing.
They were the hidden spies I was looking for and also, they will become the way for me to infiltrate into the other side. I smiled internally as I began observing the four demons.
They weren’t obvious spies. They weren’t acting strange. They were embedded perfectly into the command structure, one in logistics, one in coordination, one in projections, and one near the upper strategic floors.
But the question remained.
Why did their presence cause the Star of Origin to tremble?
I slowed, hovering near the edge of the command base, and replayed the sensation in my mind. It hadn’t been fear. It hadn’t been rejection either. It had felt like recognition, like the Star had sensed something familiar and dangerous at the same time.
The answer surfaced gradually.
Runes.
These were runes carrying deathmist, etched directly into their bodies and sustained by foreign law patterns. That explained the resonance. Deathmist alone wouldn’t have caused such a reaction, but deathmist structured through advanced runes ... that was different.
I marked the four demons’ location then pulled my perception back and slipped away from the command base. I positioned myself near the edge of the second layer waiting for Knight to arrive.
*****
Knight returned without sound.
One moment the void beside me was empty, and the next his shadow peeled itself away from nothingness and took form. He landed lightly on the edge of the platform, cloak settling around him as if it had never moved.
"You took your time," I said quietly.
"I had to," Knight replied. His voice was low but I could hear the weight under it. "What I saw wasn’t something to rush through."
I turned to face him fully. "Tell me."
He looked past me first, toward the distant glow of the rift, then back again. "The losses are worse than what Dravon talked about or even what Primus shared with us. Far worse."
I did not interrupt.
"Entire units are being rotated out with less than half their original numbers," Knight continued. "Some battalions don’t even rotate anymore. They just... fade out. Their names stay on the roster, but the soldiers don’t come back."
My jaw tightened.
"The morale is breaking," he said. "Not with shouting or rebellion. It’s quiet. Soldiers already know their death is close so many of them don’t even go for treatment. They don’t ask how long recovery will take. Medics don’t ask names anymore. They just treat whoever is in front of them."
That matched what I had seen.
"And escape," Knight added after a pause, "will be impossible if the entire base turns against us. Every layer is linked. Every weapon can be redirected. If they decide to erase a target inside the structure, there won’t be anywhere to run."
"I expected that," I said. "Anything else?"
Knight’s eyes sharpened. "Yes."
He stepped closer. "The demon who attacked Primus outside. Gorath."
My eyes narrowed. "What about him?"
"He belongs to a faction under an Upper Transcendent named Zerathul."
"...Zerathul," I repeated slowly.
Knight nodded. "I noticed Gorath on the second layer so I followed him. He didn’t return to standard command channels. He moved through a private route."
"And?" I asked.
"And he contacted Lana."
"She’s here?" I asked.
"Not physically," Knight said. "But she knows. Gorath informed her of our arrival at the rift. Of Primus."
For a few seconds, I said nothing.
Lana. Zerathul. Upper Transcendent.
"And Zerathul?" I asked.
"Lana’s new husband," Knight confirmed. "Their connection is strong. Political and personal."
I exhaled slowly, forcing my thoughts to stay clear. Lana had always been dangerous, but now I knew of her connection as well. An Upper Transcendent willing to move for her.
"This changes things," I said.
"Yes," Knight replied. "She can interfere here. Not openly. But she can push. Redirect forces. Create ’accidents.’"
I nodded once. "Good. I needed to know that."
Knight studied me for a moment. "You’re not in a hurry."
"I am," I said calmly.
I told him about the four demons I had sensed earlier. The ones carrying the same strange fluctuations I had felt on Peanu. The runes. The deathmist.
Knight listened without interrupting.
"Traitors," he said when I finished.
"Or tools," I replied. "Either way, they matter."
We stood there in silence for a moment.
Then Knight said, "What’s next?"
I looked toward the first layer.
"We go forward," I said. "Let’s have a look at the core layer as well. Saleos is there."
Knight nodded. "Alright. Just remember, you said ’have a look,’ not ’start a war.’ Let’s try to stick to the plan."
I chuckled and moved forward.
As we approached the first layer, my perception could finally stretch enough to cover the empty zone where the battle was ongoing. I let the scale of the battlefield enter me fully.
Rows upon rows of demon soldiers floated in formation across the void, their bodies anchored by their laws and Essence. Shields overlapped. Weapons hummed.
Opposite them—
The abominations came.
They did not march. They rolled.
A living tide of twisted flesh and corrupted law surged forward, led by towering Phantoms whose forms bent space around them. Their roars echoed through the void, layered with hatred and what sounded like excitement.
Then they collided.
The battlefield exploded into motion.
Essence flared. Laws shattered and reformed. Entire sections of space folded under the impact of domains slamming into one another. Transcendents stepped forward, their domains opening like worlds unfolding, clashing directly with the Phantoms.
Above and behind the demon lines, the core layer weapons fired.
Beams of condensed law tore through space. Fire, lightning, Ice, and force slammed into the advancing abominations, ripping holes through the tide. The void screamed under the strain.
Still, the abominations kept coming. Bodies were torn apart. Demon soldiers vanished in flashes of light and silence. Life was being erased by the thousands. I clenched my fists, then forced them to relax.
My blood was burning. My instincts were screaming at me to move. To step forward. To end it. But this was not the moment. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. Knight stood beside me, silent.
The war did not care that we had arrived. But soon, it would.