"Yes," I said evenly as I stood before her, meeting her eyes. "I am listening."
She tried to steady her breathing, but every inhale came out uneven. Blood dripped from her chin as she forced her lips apart.
"I need to know... you won’t kill me," she whispered.
I looked at her for a long second, and the expression on my face said everything.
"Are you foolish?" I asked quietly.
My hand rose and settled over her head.
The Abyss Core trembled.
In the next instant, I began devouring her laws.
It was not subtle. Runic fragments began tearing free from her body, peeling out like strips of light being pulled from beneath her skin. Each fragment shimmered briefly before being drawn into me, rushing toward the Dawn Core where they were absorbed and broken down.
Her eyes widened in raw shock as she felt it happening. She struggled violently, trying to activate her wind and sound laws, but the more she resisted, the faster the devouring accelerated.
"The only thing that saves you now," I said calmly, "is the answer I want."
A roar of pain erupted from the stone Elemental as the fire tornado intensified further, but I did not look away from her.
She continued struggling, attempting to summon her domain, trying to reestablish control over her major law, but nothing responded properly. Each attempt only resulted in more fragments being stripped away.
Finally, her resistance broke.
"My ring," she muttered weakly.
My gaze shifted to the storage ring on her finger.
Without stopping the devouring process, I waved my free hand and tore the ring from her hand, pulling it through the air into my palm. I scanned its contents instantly. There were artifacts, documents, and several other stuff.
I ignored everything. My attention went straight to a black star-shaped token resting at the center.
Her breathing had grown shallow by the time she spoke again, her voice barely holding together.
"The token," she rasped. "It opens the path... but you need three. All three."
I narrowed my eyes slightly but did not stop devouring her laws just yet.
"From them?" I asked calmly.
She gave a weak nod.
"Each of us carries one... anchor key."
That was enough.
I withdrew my hand from her head and halted the Abyss Core’s pull. The stream of runic fragments stopped abruptly, leaving her trembling and hollow-eyed, her aura noticeably diminished. She sagged in the air, barely conscious, but alive.
I turned my attention to the other two.
With a flick of my will, the fire tornado surrounding the stone Elemental dissipated instantly. The molten ground cooled rapidly, hardening around his partially liquefied frame. I extended my perception directly into his body and located the storage ring embedded within his reinforced chest cavity. Without ceremony, I tore it free using spatial manipulation, pulling it out through fractured stone and into my hand.
He roared in fury, but he was in no state to resist meaningfully.
I then shifted to the lightning Elemental. She was still kneeling in the crater, her severed arm slowly attempting to reform in faint arcs of electricity. I stepped forward and removed the ring from her finger before she could react, snapping the spatial constraint tighter for a moment to prevent interference.
Within seconds, I held three storage rings in my hand.
I scanned the contents of the second ring and then the third. Both contained similar assortments of operational materials. I ignored everything else and searched only for the signature I had felt earlier.
And there they were.
Three identical black star-shaped tokens.
Each one carried the same faint pulse.
I rotated one between my fingers and extended my perception into its internal structure. Just like the Feran toys in the shop, these were not mere transport keys. They were fixed-point anchors designed to stabilize and form a spatial gateway when arranged correctly.
Three points.
Triangular formation.
I fed a measured stream of Essence into the first token.
It responded instantly.
Fine lines lit up across its surface, faint runes flaring into visibility. I repeated the process with the second and third tokens. All three activated, emitting a low hum as their internal formations aligned.
I stepped back and placed them on the cracked battlefield floor in a triangular configuration.
The moment the third token touched the ground, a surge of spatial distortion erupted between them. The air folded inward at the center of the triangle, space bending and compressing as the anchors locked onto one another. The ground trembled as a circular aperture began to form, its edges rippling like black water under pressure.
Within seconds, a stable portal stabilized between the three tokens. I looked at the three injured Upper Transcendents one final time.
"You should be grateful," I said evenly. "You are still alive."
With a casual motion of my hand, I recalled the three black star-shaped tokens from the ground. The portal remained stable even as the anchors lifted, sustained by the connection already established.
I tightened my control over space around the three of them, binding their movements completely. Spatial bands wrapped around their limbs and torsos, not crushing, but ensuring that even a flicker of law activation would fail.
The stone Elemental glared at me through fractured layers of hardened magma. The lightning woman’s breathing was uneven, her severed arm still half-formed. The Feran hung limply, barely conscious after the partial devouring of her laws.
None of them spoke. I stepped forward and crossed into the portal, dragging all three of them with me.
The transition was instant.
And what awaited on the other side was not what I had anticipated.
"You should be grateful," I said evenly. "You are still alive."
With a controlled motion of my hand, I recalled the three black star-shaped tokens and secured them. The portal continued to hold steady. I tightened the spatial bindings around the three of them, locking their movements completely so that even the slightest fluctuation of law would fail before forming. Without another word, I stepped forward and crossed into the portal, dragging all three with me.
The transition ended in an instant.
But what greeted me on the other side was nothing like a hidden base carved into darkness.
I stood on open ground.
Grass stretched beneath my boots—thick, green, alive. A soft breeze moved across the field, carrying the scent of soil and distant water. Above me, the sky was bright blue, unmarred by storm or smoke. Two moons hung visibly in the daylight sky, pale and steady against the vast expanse.
For a fraction of a second, I simply stood there.
Then the reactions began.
People walking nearby froze mid-step. Conversations died abruptly. Faces turned toward me in widening recognition as they noticed not only my sudden appearance but the three bound figures hovering behind me. The silence lasted barely a heartbeat before a shrill alarm began blaring across the open field.
Mechanical structures rose from the ground in multiple directions, long-range energy projectors. Their barrels rotated and aligned with precise mechanical efficiency until every single one pointed directly at me.
I tilted my head upward once more, confirming what I had already seen.
Two moons. An atmosphere rich with life. This was not a dead world.
I extended my perception outward. And what I sensed made my expression shift.
Phantoms.
Eternals.
And people from our universe. They were walking the same streets. Working side by side. My face hardened in disbelief. This was not what I had been expecting.
The alarms continued blaring.
I remained still.