I scoffed and stepped out of the folded space.
My presence unfurled without restraint. The pressure hit first and the upper Transcendent’s aura collapsed as if someone had blown out a candle. In the same instant, I was already in front of him, my hand locked around his throat, lifting him just enough that his feet scraped uselessly against the air.
"There’s no need for you to interfere," I said calmly, my grip steady. "We can talk first. That will be easier for both of us."
Knight moved the moment I did.
Shadows burst outward from his form, stretching and splitting into bladed tendrils that struck. He chose targets, engaging the other Transcendents one by one, forcing them into close combat where their coordination broke down and their advantages vanished.
The phantom in my grasp finally spoke, his voice distorted but controlled. "What are you doing here?"
I tilted my head slightly, studying him.
"You recognize me," I said with a faint smile. "Good. That saves time."
I caught movement from the tower. Traitors from other races, those who had embedded themselves into the base structure, were pouring out of hidden passages as they realized how badly the situation had shifted. Their destination was obvious.
The portal gates.
I didn’t let them get close.
I raised a finger and traced a simple line through the air. Essence condensed instantly, and a freezing wave shot forward, branching into four streams mid-flight. Each one struck a portal gate dead center, ice exploding outward in layered, crystalline sheets. The structures froze solid in a heartbeat, spatial runes trapped mid-activation beneath thick, unyielding frost.
The exits were sealed.
I looked back at the phantom, still struggling weakly in my grip.
"Now," I said evenly, "we wait for the others to finish."
It didn’t take long.
Knight needed barely two minutes to end the remaining Transcendents. Shadow swallowed shadow, his tendrils piercing, binding, and finally consuming the phantoms one after another until the base fell unnaturally quiet.
Below us, Steve and North were still carving through the Grandmaster-ranked abominations, bodies moving through the horde like blades through tall grass.
Knight flashed back to my side.
"I can hold him for you," he said, a grin tugging at the edge of his mouth.
"Yeah," I replied with a chuckle. "Thanks for the help."
I released my grip.
Before the phantom could even drop, Knight’s tail snapped forward, coiling around his neck with effortless control, lifting him just enough to keep him restrained but alive.
Knight glanced toward the battlefield below. "What levels have they reached now?"
"Steve’s at 311," I said, eyes still on the fight. "North’s 314. By the time they’re done here, I expect both of them to push into the 330s."
He hummed thoughtfully. "And between them who is the stronger one?"
I paused.
My perception slid outward, scanning through both of their bodies, not just skimming the surface but diving deeper, Essence flow, law resonance, muscle response, reaction timing. I went further still, pushing my Psynapse to approximate what their stats were.
That gave me something to think about.
Essence stirred, responding to my intent, and two translucent status projections unfolded in the air between us. Their names settled at the top first, followed by cascading lines of data
Steve:
Attributes :
- Strength: Alpha(1800)
- Constitution: Alpha(1600)
- Dexterity: Alpha(1900)
- Psynapse : Alpha(1700)
- Essence : A+
North:
Attributes :
- Strength: Alpha(1900)
- Constitution: Alpha(1700)
- Dexterity: Alpha+(2000)
- Psynapse : Alpha(1800)
- Essence : A+
"What do you think?" I said, glancing at Knight. "It’s approximate, but it should be close enough."
He leaned in slightly, eyes scanning the projections. "Hmm. Based on this alone, North looks a bit stronger."
I shook my head slowly. "I wouldn’t put it that way. Raw values don’t tell the full story. Laws matter just as much, sometimes more. Steve’s laws spike harder under pressure. North’s stack better over time." I paused, watching the numbers stabilize. "Overall, they’re extremely close. Different paths. Similar threat levels."
Below us, the fight dragged on for another ten minutes. As their levels climbed, the change was visible even without the panels. Steve’s lightning grew denser, his shadows sharper, every swing of his sword carrying more power than the last. North moved faster with each exchange, her strikes cleaner, her presence carving through the battlefield with quiet inevitability.
By the time they finished, there wasn’t a single abomination left standing.
As the last corrupted body fell apart, my gaze lingered on the remains longer than necessary. The battlefield was quiet now, but something about it bothered me.
The souls.
Even after reaching Transcendence, even after everything I had learned and stolen and forced into understanding, I still didn’t fully grasp how the Eternals were doing it, how they were capturing souls so completely, so consistently.
That reminded me of the offer the Chained Fallen had made, about knowing where my parents’ souls were.
Steve and North landed beside us a moment later, their auras still unsettled from combat.
"Everything done on your side?" North asked as her blades dissolved back into motes of wind and light.
I nodded. "For the most part. There’s just one thing left." I turned toward the phantom dangling from Knight’s tail. "Information."
I met its gaze calmly. "We want to know where these portals lead. Every destination you know. And if possible, the location of your headquarters."
The phantom twitched once, then chuckled.
The sound grew louder, harsher, until it tipped into full laughter. Deathmist churned violently around its form, thickening, writhing like something alive.
I exhaled slowly. "Yeah. I expected that."
The next instant, its body ruptured.
But before the explosion could scatter anything, I raised my palm. The Star of Origin pulsed once, and every strand of deathmist was ripped inward, swallowed cleanly without residue.
Silence returned.
"Well," Knight said dryly, retracting his tail, "that was useless."
"Not entirely," I replied, my gaze shifting toward the figures frozen near the tower entrances. "We still have people who actually fear dying."
North glanced at me. "By the way... did you get another quest from the System?"
I shook my head.
"I did. Steve did too." She said.
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "What does it say?"
Steve shrugged. "Nothing special. Destroy the base, eliminate phantoms and abominations, standard stuff. Merit points as reward."
I dismissed it with a wave of my hand. The System’s expectations mattered less and less these days.
With a thought, I summoned the rest of my forces.
I addressed them evenly. "I want everything. Portal routes, command structure, communications, anything they know."
My gaze hardened as it swept over the tower. "Interrogate the traitors. Search the tower. Bring me answers."
They moved instantly.
I remained floating above the hollowed basin, watching the operation unfold, my thoughts drifting back to souls, to deathmist.
Soon, I would have more pieces. Specifically, Hollow Star is known for holding information.
And once I did, the picture would stop being incomplete.
======
Bonus release: 1 Chapter for every 100 GTs