He took a slow step forward, his gaze sweeping across all of us, making sure he had our full attention.
"There are many universes in the cosmos," he continued, "countless, in fact... but only eleven of them truly matter. Eleven universes," he repeated, raising a finger slightly, "where beings can go beyond the Saint rank... or whatever equivalent exists in their respective systems."
He paused briefly.
"And among those eleven..." his voice lowered just slightly, "...there is one that stands above all the others. That universe," Amun said, his eyes locking onto mine, "is the reason the Crimson Zone exists in the first place."
"All the known universes combined," he continued calmly, "would not be enough to deal with what comes from there."
"And that universe..." he said, a faint smile returning to his face, though this time it carried none of his earlier playfulness, "...is known as—"
He stopped.
"—well," he added casually, "names don’t really matter right now."
I narrowed my eyes slightly, he was holding back deliberately.
"But what does matter," he continued, his tone steady once more, "is this..."
"The Crimson Zone you’re looking at...is not the source."
"It’s just a leak," he said. "A side effect. A spillover from something."
"What is that something?" I asked, my gaze fixed on him, no longer interested in half-answers or vague implications.
Amun didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, as if considering how much he actually wanted to reveal, before letting out a quiet breath.
"Not sure," he said at last, giving a small shrug, though the seriousness in his eyes didn’t match the casual gesture. "There are... rumors."
I waited.
"Some say it’s an artifact," he continued, "something so powerful that even its presence begins to overwrite everything around it."
He paused briefly before adding, "Others believe it’s the core of that universe itself... something fundamental, something that shouldn’t even be exposed."
"And then," he said, a faint smile returning, though this time it carried a hint of something darker, "there are those who claim it’s neither of those."
I narrowed my eyes slightly. "Then what?"
He looked directly at me.
"The aura," he said quietly, "of the Monarch of that universe."
"Just... the aura," he added, almost casually now, as if he hadn’t just dropped something absurd. "Not the Monarch himself. Not his full power. Just what leaks out naturally from his existence."
I didn’t respond immediately, because if even a fraction of what he was saying was true, then whatever existed at the source of all this wasn’t just powerful in the way we understood strength. It operated on an entirely different scale, one that made everything we had faced so far feel... smaller.
Amun watched me for a moment before continuing.
"Now the reason I’m telling you all this," he said, "is because there is no direct way for us to deal with the Crimson Zone. It expands... and it devours. That’s all it does, and nothing we do can truly stop it."
He took a slow breath, then went on.
"So, a long time ago, the strongest beings across the cosmos gathered together. Not just from one universe, but from all the major ones... and they went to meet the Monarch."
I frowned slightly. "They confronted it?"
Amun let out a quiet laugh. "Confronted?" he shook his head. "No... they didn’t confront anything. They went there and begged."
"They asked for mercy," he continued. "They asked the Monarch to spare their universes from being consumed."
"And?" I asked.
"Rumor has it," he said, raising a finger slightly, "that the Monarch told them... they couldn’t help them. Whatever this thing is, it’s not entirely under control or the Monarch simply does not care."
He paused briefly, then added, "But they did give them something."
"A way out?" I asked.
"Not just a way out," he replied, a faint smile forming again, "but an opportunity. A system. A set of rules."
He leaned slightly forward.
"Games."
I narrowed my eyes. "Games? Why would something like that even care about games?"
Amun shrugged lightly. "Again... rumors. But the most common one is that the Monarch enjoys collecting souls."
"Not just any souls," he continued, "but the souls of strong individuals. People who fight, struggle, grow... and then fall."
I frowned. "So if you die in these games..."
"...your soul stays there," he finished calmly.
"If the Monarch is that powerful," I said, my tone steady, "why not just wipe everything out and take whatever they want? Why go through all this?"
Amun spread his hands slightly. "I don’t know," he admitted. "It’s not like I was there. All of this happened eons ago. What I know are fragments... stories passed down, pieces of information gathered from people who got a little too close to things they shouldn’t have."
He straightened slightly, his gaze returning to me.
"But the important part isn’t why," he said. "It’s what."
I stayed silent.
"You can’t deal with the source directly," he continued. "No one can. Not you, not me, not anyone in the universe you know."
His voice lowered slightly.
"The only way... is to participate in those games."
A brief pause followed.
"And that," he added, tapping his chest lightly, "is where I come in."
I looked at him, already knowing what he was about to say.
"I have the ticket," he said with a small, satisfied smile, "that can get you in."
"And what will we gain by participating in those games?" I asked.
"You’ll get rewards," Amun replied. "Not the usual kind. You can ask for what you want, and based on your performance, it will be granted."
He paused, then added casually, "For example, your Null Core... I got that from them after doing quite well."
He winked.
"That thing isn’t simple, Billion. It lets you gather souls and bind them to yourself. That wasn’t luck."
He continued without waiting.
"Theras participated as well. You know what he won?"
I didn’t respond.
"He made a deal," Amun said. "Every soul that dies in the Prime Universe... belongs to him."
"What?" I said before I could stop myself.
Even North reacted. "Doesn’t that mean–"
Amun’s expression turned serious.
"Yes, it does. And that’s exactly why phantoms and abominations exist the way they do. They’re created using the souls of our dead... because someone made that deal with the Crimson authorities."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"The Eternals were never capable of doing something like this on a universal scale. But the Monarch..." he shook his head slightly, "...for them, this is nothing."
His gaze locked onto mine.
"So to answer your question, Billion... if you want your parents’ souls back, or if you want to free your universe from this curse..."
"...the only way is to go there, participate in those games, and win."
A faint smile returned.
"Win big enough... that you get to make a deal of your own."