Its light deepened, colors bleeding into one another, and an unfamiliar aura began leaking out from it—cold, vast, and wrong. The abominations reacted instantly. Thousands of them roared at once, their twisted bodies shuddering as if responding to a command that bypassed sound entirely.
Saleos turned his head toward the tower.
He scoffed.
The sound carried, low and dismissive, echoing across the void like a challenge. Whatever was watching from that place, whatever presence had stirred, he was not impressed.
Without another glance, Saleos flashed back to his original position at the rear of the demon forces, his aura retracting as if the outburst had never happened.
As he settled, the tower’s glow dimmed.
The abominations quieted.
The battlefield resumed its rhythm, as if the interruption had been nothing more than a passing tremor.
But I had seen it.
I narrowed my eyes, my thoughts racing.
That wasn’t coincidence. That was communication. A silent exchange between two powers that knew exactly what the other was capable of.
’We can’t stay here,’ I said to Knight through our link, my tone tight. ’We’ve been noticed.’
Knight didn’t argue.
’That punch wasn’t meant to miss,’ he replied grimly.
I nodded.
’Let’s move. Now.’
Without wasting another second, I shifted our position again, pulling us away from the core layer and toward the third layer at full speed. As the battlefield shrank behind us, I kept my perception stretched wide, alert for pursuit.
We had learned enough for now.
When we returned to Dravon’s residence, nothing had changed on the surface. The three Transcendent demons were still stationed outside, their auras carefully restrained, their attention split between the surroundings and the structure itself. They hadn’t moved an inch. They hadn’t relaxed either.
I slipped back inside without disturbing the air and sent Knight away first.
Ten seconds later, the door slid open and Dravon stepped in, laughter already on his lips as if the battlefield outside didn’t exist.
"Haha, I’ve arrived," he announced, his voice carrying an easy confidence that didn’t quite match the tension in the air.
Mazikeen followed a step behind him, quieter as always, her sharp eyes sweeping across the room in a single glance. She noticed everything.
Dravon’s gaze moved from Primus to Steve, then to North, then Aurora. His smile thinned just a little.
"Where is the boss?" he asked.
I stepped out from the bedroom and into the hall.
"I see you arrived on time," I said calmly.
Dravon’s eyes snapped to me at once. For a split second, his body tensed, as if he had expected me to appear from anywhere except there. Then he relaxed and let out a breath.
"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "One hour went by too fast."
Mazikeen glanced at him briefly, then back at me.
"So," Dravon continued, straightening his posture, "should we begin the discussion?"
I nodded.
With a simple wave of my hand, Essence gathered and condensed in the center of the hall. Stone flowed upward from the reinforced floor, shaping itself smoothly into a wide, round table. Chairs followed, forming one by one, solid and stable, each positioned with deliberate spacing.
"Come. Sit," I said.
Everyone stopped doing their fake activities and sat down for the discussion.
Dravon hesitated for half a heartbeat before taking his place. Mazikeen sat beside him, back straight, hands resting lightly on the table.
"There is something you need to understand first," Dravon said. "This battlefield does not follow any schedule."
Steve asked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean the fighting never truly stops," Dravon replied. "But once every day, there is a gap. Roughly an hour. Sometimes less. Sometimes a little more. The assault from the other side slows down or pulls back entirely."
"Because of the Eternal," I said.
Dravon nodded. "Yes. The break does not come from us. It comes from them. We react to it, not the other way around. When the Eternal decides to pause, the battlefield breathes."
Aurora leaned back in her chair. "And that’s when you want to grab Saleos."
"Exactly," Dravon said. "That one-hour window is the only time the core layer loosens even slightly. Patrols are reduced. Domains are withdrawn. Attention shifts to recovery and reorganization."
North crossed her arms. "If the window is random, how do we prepare?"
"You don’t," Dravon replied calmly. "You stay ready at all times. When it happens, you move immediately."
I stayed silent, letting him continue.
Dravon exhaled slowly. "My plan is simple. During that break, you remove Saleos from the core layer and bring him to a secured residence I can arrange in the second layer."
Steve raised an eyebrow. "You already have a place ready?"
"I have several," Dravon said. "Safe houses meant for emergency command transfers. Shielded. Isolated. Cut off from standard communication."
"And you’ll be there waiting," I said.
"Yes," Dravon replied. "I will already be inside when you arrive. That way, when Saleos wakes up, he sees a familiar face first. Not strangers."
"That’s smart," North said quietly.
Dravon inclined his head. "Fear makes people defensive. Familiarity makes them listen."
Aurora smiled. "Awww."
Dravon ignored the comment and continued. "Once he’s there, we talk. You explain what you intend to do. You show him what you can do, if needed. But we do not drag this out."
"How long?" I asked.
"Minutes," Dravon said firmly. "Not hours. The longer Saleos is gone, the higher the chance the Eternal notices the imbalance. If that happens, the retaliation will be brutal."
Primus frowned. "So if we fail—"
Dravon said flatly. "We lose thousands because of a single mistake."
Dravon looked straight at me. "There is one more thing."
I met his gaze. "Go on."
"I cannot help you take him," he said. "I am not competent enough for that. So the kidnapping is entirely on you. How you do it, how you restrain him, how you move him, that is your responsibility. I will not ask, and I will not know."
Aurora chuckled softly. "Very clean."
"Very necessary," Dravon corrected. "If this works, I can protect you politically. If it fails, I can deny involvement."
I nodded slowly. "You want control without exposure."
Dravon did not deny it. "I want this rift closed. That is all."
I leaned back in my chair. "And if Saleos refuses to listen?"
Dravon hesitated for the first time. Just a fraction of a second.
"Then you let him go," he said. "Alive. Unharmed. We return to the stalemate."
Aurora tilted her head. "You don’t sound convinced."
"I’m not," Dravon admitted. "But I am willing to gamble. Because doing nothing guarantees loss."
My fingers tapped once against the table. "Sounds like a good plan to me."
Everyone looked at me.
"We’ll handle the removal," I said calmly. "You prepare the place. When the break comes tomorrow, we move."
"I hope this works," he said at last, his voice lower than before. "I hope you can really do what you think you can. Our situation at this rift is bad," he continued. "But if you scale this up to the entire galaxy, you’ll understand how desperate things truly are. This isn’t just one battlefield. It’s a slow collapse happening everywhere at once."
There was no anger in his voice now. No authority. Just exhaustion and resolve mixed together.
He straightened, pulling himself back together, and nodded once. "I’ll see you tomorrow."
With that, he turned and walked out, leaving the room quiet behind him.