The next day, Dravon arrived and took us to the place he had prepared without saying much.
It was buried deep in the second layer, far from the main routes and even farther from where wounded soldiers gathered. From the outside, it looked like nothing more than another reinforced storage bunker, one of many scattered across the layer.
Thick slabs of dark stone floated together, held in place by dense Essence bindings. No markings. No identifiers. Just a structure built to endure.
Inside, it felt abandoned.
Broken weapons were stacked along the walls. Cracked armor plates lay piled in corners. Some still carried dried blood. Broken machine parts, construction materials lay in another corner. The air was stale. This wasn’t a place meant for people. It was a place meant to forget things.
"This is where you want him brought?" I asked, letting my eyes sweep the room.
Dravon nodded. "No one comes here unless they’re ordered to. Even then, they don’t stay long."
That was good enough.
I turned to Aurora. "You stay here."
She raised an eyebrow. "You’re not bringing me?"
"No," I said simply. "This will be fast. Grab and run. I need you here in case he acts out once he’s brought in."
Aurora smiled, the kind of smile that made people nervous. "Then I’ll make sure he behaves."
Korvath took up position near one wall, arms crossed, silent as ever. Mazikeen stood near the entrance, her hand resting close to her weapon. Dravon gave the room one last look, then met my eyes.
"Be careful," he said quietly.
I nodded and stepped back, letting space fold around me.
As I moved away from the bunker, I felt it immediately.
The watchers.
Three Transcendent demons had been assigned to keep an eye on us since we arrived. They weren’t hiding poorly. They weren’t sloppy. They simply hadn’t expected me to acknowledge them so openly.
Two of them shifted their positions as I left, their Essence signatures sliding into motion behind me. The third stayed behind, lingering near the bunker, pretending to be nothing more than another guard on rotation.
I didn’t react.
I moved through the second layer, back toward the core layer. I slowed my movement there, blending into the endless fluctuations of Essence and spatial noise. Battles never truly stopped here. They only paused and resumed.
I found a position high above the demon forces, tucked into a fold of warped space where explosions had scarred the void too deeply for clean scans.
And I waited.
Hours passed.
Thirteen of them.
During that time, the Eternal forces surged forward more times than I could count. Abominations rushed like living waves, guided by Phantoms that twisted space with every movement. Each time, the demon armies responded, formations tightening, weapons firing in disciplined patterns.
Then, without warning, the Eternal side would pull back.
Every time.
And every time, the demon forces froze, waiting, knowing better than to chase.
Saleos stood at the back of the demon formation the entire time.
He never moved.
Beside him stood Phegor. They watched, like hunters waiting for something specific to break.
Finally, it happened.
The Eternal forces withdrew fully.
Not a retreat but a pause.
The battlefield fell into an uneasy stillness. Weapons powered down slightly. Formations loosened. The almost one-hour window had begun.
I moved.
The first watcher never felt it coming.
I appeared behind him and closed my hand around his throat. Essence surged from me and locked his body down completely. His limbs froze. His thoughts stalled. I crushed the flow of Essence inside him just enough to shut him off, then snapped his consciousness into darkness.
I didn’t let the body drift but took him with me and appeared behind the second watcher.
I flashed behind him mid-turn and drove my fist into his stomach. The impact wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be. His Essence shattered inward, and he dropped unconscious before his body could even register pain.
I felt it then.
A change so small that most would have missed it. My perception had never left Saleos, not for a single heartbeat, and that was why I caught it. His posture shifted by the smallest margin, not a turn, not even a glance. Just a subtle tightening through his shoulders. His breathing paused for a fraction longer than before, as if his body had reacted before his mind allowed it.
He had noticed. I smiled faintly.
So he really was that sharp. He was pretending not to see, letting the battlefield noise and the chaos of the void hide his attention.
That was confirmation enough.
I formed a pocket of space around myself, sealing my presence completely, and summoned the duo.
"Knight. Lyrate," I called.
They stepped out of the summoning circle ready to act.
"You know what to do right?" I said looking at them.
"Of course. I am eager to act," Lyrate replied.
I nodded once and shifted the unconscious demons away, teleporting them to an empty place below one of the resting platforms where their presence would blend into the battlefield’s chaos. No ripples strong enough to draw attention.
Then my focus returned to Saleos.
He stood exactly where he had before, floating behind the demon lines like an unmoving pillar. Phegor was the only one beside him. The rest of the demons were already pulling back, drifting slowly away from the void battlefield as the fighting paused. Orders were being passed. Formations loosened. The one-hour window had begun.
It was the perfect moment.
My pulse picked up despite my calm expression. I could feel the tension coiling inside me, sharp and focused. Saleos knew. There was no doubt about that. His Essence was steady, but his awareness was too sharp for coincidence.
He knew I was coming.
And I knew that he was aware I was coming.
That silent understanding hung between us, stretched across the void like a drawn wire. I smiled faintly as I watched him from the shadows, my perception never leaving his form.
The only question left was simple.
Would he resist?
Or would he pretend to go along... and try to turn the situation against me?
Either way, I was ready.