"Why would I know?" he said, raising a brow as if the question itself was unreasonable.
"Because you have a habit of sticking your nose into other people’s business," I replied without missing a beat.
"That’s called being informed," he said calmly. "You should try it sometime."
"I prefer results over gossip."
Before he could continue, my grandmother stepped in, cutting through the exchange before it could spiral further.
"Anyway, Billion," she said, shifting the focus, "when is Vivi coming back?"
"Today," I replied, my tone settling. "I can feel it. She’s about to finish."
"That’s good," Edgar added, his usual sarcasm fading as he grew a bit more serious. "Do you want us to prepare anything? Just in case."
I shook my head.
"No. I’ll go to Vaythos and handle it myself," I said, already turning slightly as I prepared to leave.
"Has North returned yet?" my grandmother asked from behind me.
I paused for a fraction of a second before answering.
"No. It’ll take her two more days."
With that, I left Abor behind and returned to Vaythos. The transition was instant, and I arrived back in the garden, the familiar stillness settling around me as I moved toward the giant tree and took a seat beneath it.
The moment I closed my eyes, my perception stretched outward and then downward, slipping through layers of land and essence until it reached the deepest part of the planet.
There she was.
Vivi remained in hibernation near the core, her entire form encased within a crystalline shell that pulsed faintly at irregular intervals. The light within it wasn’t steady. It rose and fell, as if something inside was breathing, building, and stabilizing at the same time.
But now, there was a difference.
Cracks had begun to form across the surface.
They spread unevenly, thin lines at first, barely visible, but now they had grown more pronounced, branching across the shell like a web. Each pulse seemed to push against them, widening them ever so slightly.
She was close.
What caught my attention, however, wasn’t just her state. It was everything outside of it.
The Blue Spiral remained unchanged.
Despite the fact that Vivi had taken over the galaxy core, there was no visible shift, no sudden evolution, no large-scale disturbance that one would expect from something of that magnitude. The planets continued as they were, the flow of essence remained stable, and nothing hinted at the transformation taking place beneath the surface.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
Which meant whatever was happening... was being contained. I leaned back slightly, keeping my perception anchored on her.
As time passed, the cracks continued to grow, spreading slowly but steadily across the crystalline shell.
I kept my perception anchored on Vivi, watching the process unfold, when a familiar ripple brushed against my awareness.
Knight, Ash and Ragnar.
I had sent them ahead toward the Crimson Zone days ago to establish a base and observe what lay beyond, and now they were reaching back.
"Well, well," Knight’s voice came first, smooth as always, carrying that faint amusement he never seemed to lose. "Took you long enough to check in. We were starting to think you forgot about us while playing god somewhere else."
"I didn’t," I replied calmly. "I was busy working on some upgrades. Anyway what’s the status?"
"Straight to business," he replied. "Fine. You’ll be happy to know we’ve successfully established a base. Secure, hidden, and far enough from the main traffic that no one’s stumbled onto us yet."
"Good," I said. "What about the Crimson Zone?"
There was a brief pause before Ash spoke, his tone far more measured.
"It’s... not normal."
That alone was enough to get my full attention.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Ragnar’s voice came next, louder, carrying his usual blunt energy. "Boss, you’re gonna like this. The entrance isn’t some gate or rift like we expected. It’s a star."
"A dead one," Knight added. "Crimson in color. Completely collapsed, but still there. It just hangs in the void like it refuses to disappear."
Ash continued from there. "The moment you get close to it, the space behind it changes. It’s not immediate, but once you cross a certain threshold... everything beyond is covered."
"Covered how?" I asked.
"Crimson mist," Ash replied. "The entire void. Not just a region or a field. Everything. As far as we can see, it stretches endlessly."
Ragnar let out a soft whistle. "And I mean everything, boss. No stars, no clear space, just that mist swallowing the entire background. It’s almost... alive. Not in a direct sense, but it doesn’t behave like normal matter."
He laughed lightly. "Yeah, and Ash has been staring at it like it’s about to jump at him any second."
"It feels wrong," Ash said, ignoring him. "Just... different. Like it doesn’t follow the same rules. Different from Essence or Deathmist."
I stayed silent for a moment, processing it.
"And?" I asked.
"There’s more," Ash continued. "We’re not the only ones here. Multiple bases. Different races, different organizations. They’ve all set up around the outer boundary of the Crimson Zone."
Knight added casually, "Everyone’s watching. No one’s rushing in. Which tells you everything you need to know. Also, the mist is expanding. The process is slow but it is expanding."
I shifted my focus inward and activated the Sovereign Link. The connection with Ragnar deepened instantly.
In the next moment, my perspective changed. I wasn’t in the garden anymore.
I was standing in the void.
Through Ragnar’s eyes, I saw it.
The dead crimson star hung ahead, massive and silent, its surface dim yet still radiating a dull, unnatural glow. It wasn’t emitting light in the usual sense. It felt... contained, as if something within it was being held back.
And beyond it was the mist. Crimson and endless.
It stretched across the void like a veil pulled over reality itself, thick and all-encompassing. It didn’t swirl wildly or behave like a storm. It moved slowly, almost deliberately, covering everything behind the star as if hiding whatever lay within.
Even through Ragnar’s body, I could feel a distinct presence inside. I observed it carefully, letting my perception stretch as far as it could through the link.
"This..." I murmured through the connection, my voice reaching all three of them.
"This is going to be fun. We’re going to explore every corner of that mist, all of us together, and then we’ll find out who’s behind it."
Before the conversation could go any further, a sudden tremor passed through Vaythos.
I felt it instantly.
"Oh... looks like Vivi is ready to come out," I said, a faint smile forming. "I’ll meet you guys later."
Without waiting for a response, I cut the connection.