Dark orange scales burst from beneath Solwyn's white fur, quickly overtaking it in a tide of armored plates. Their muscles swelled beneath the surface, their body bulking rapidly as they grew even taller, massive compared to their already formidable size, nearly reaching the ceiling. Two thick, spiraling grey horns jutted from their skull, curving upward.
As the transformation neared its end, a deep, thunderous roar erupted from their throat, shaking the entire room with its oppressive resonance. The walls rippled, and the floor vibrated from the sheer pressure. Reena collapsed to her knees, unable to lift her head. Her body was paralyzed, not by force, but by instinct. In the presence of this new form, her wariness and nerves were replaced by a far more primal emotion.
Fear.
She was like a rabbit cornered by a wolf, her life held in their hands.
Within Solwyn's shared consciousness, Thorwyn called out in alarm. 'Sol! You need to suppress our energy! You're scaring her—'
But Sol's mind boomed back like iron striking stone, cold and commanding. 'Silence. She should feel honored to be in our presence.'
Thorwyn instantly knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
Thorwyn moved to seize control of their body and cancel the law technique, but before he could, a force clamped down on his psyche. Sol's overpowering will held him fast as he struggled to break free.
'It's useless. Do you really think I don't know what you're doing? It was my plan from the beginning.'
'Let go of me!' Thorwyn roared, fighting against the mental restraints to no avail.
Treating his struggle as a minor nuisance, Sol sighed. 'You don't understand, Thorwyn. I was a coward for not using the law technique earlier. If I had, those elves would have bowed before my might, and we wouldn't have ended up here.'
'And now that I see the truth… someone as great as me doesn't need someone to keep me in check!'
Sol's voice echoed throughout their shared mind as he grabbed hold of Thorwyn's consciousness and shoved him deep into the recesses of their mind.
'Stay there. Stay out of my way until this is over.'
Having taken complete control in the blink of an eye, Solwyn turned to the frozen Reena, her face pale with terror. His reptilian eyes glowed red, and with each blink, sparks of flame danced in the air. Slowly, he crouched to her level, leaning in so close she could feel the heat of his breath on her skin.
"You needn't worry," Solwyn said softly, his voice rich and resonant, both soothing and deeply unsettling. "I am a man of my word. As long as you uphold your end of the agreement and get us back, nothing will happen to you. But if you don't…"
He didn't need to finish the sentence.
Reena managed a short, trembling nod. She didn't dare argue, she knew one wrong word could mean the end of her life.
"Good." Solwyn smiled, revealing a sharp set of teeth. "This is how you should have behaved from the start."
He rose to full height once more and turned toward the wall. But before passing through, he glanced briefly toward Amber, who stood not far behind. Her face was unreadable, but the unsheathed daggers in her hands made her stance clear, she was ready for anything.
"Cute." Solwyn chuckled at the sight, utterly unfazed. He turned away from the two women and, without hesitation or even checking if he really was now able to resist the void, leapt straight through the wall in full confidence and into the darkness beyond.
With Solwyn gone, Reena collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. She had been so afraid, she'd forgotten to breathe.
"What… was… that?" She asked between ragged breaths. She had never believed it was possible for an A-Ranker like herself to feel small before anything but the Yggtree, but facing that made her realize just how wrong she was.
Amber, who remained more composed due to her experience and training—and because she had seen this transformation before—glanced at the wall behind Reena and replied, "Sin of Pride. Not himself anymore."
Reena snapped her head toward her. "What does that even mean?! That aura they gave off, are they even human?!"
Amber didn't answer. Her gaze remained fixed on the wall. Reena followed her line of sight, and froze.
Solwyn was watching them.
Floating in the void, grinning back at them. The dark "room" around them, in truth, was mostly transparent. What seemed black was just the void outside, and Solwyn could see and hear them clearly.
Solwyn floated in the crushing nothingness of the void. The area around him twisted and shimmered as the void immediately moved to erase the foreign entity. Yet the draconic scales fully resisted it's attempts. Though it burned and hissed, the void's corrosive force could do little more than sizzle on his scales.
Unbothered by the void, Solwyn scoffed at Amber's words. "'Sin of Pride'? Is it really a sin to be confident in myself and my abilities? To know my true worth? Look at me, even the void cannot harm me. It's fine if you don't understand it now, I'll show you how much better I am this way."
Using the innate abilities of his Cinderstorm dragon bloodline, red hot air gathered around him. Since his transformation didn't come with wings, he instead used fire and wind to propel himself forward.
From deep within, a low voice tried to call out.
Solwyn's expression twitched, slightly annoyed, and he silenced it again.
He turned his gaze outward, and saw it. Just beyond the far side of the cube was a faint, shimmering line in the distance. His eyes followed it as it extended through the infinite dark. Based on what Reena had explained, it was the thread connecting them back to their dimension.
Solwyn narrowed his eyes, estimating the distance. "We may be further than expected… but it is of little importance. I will make it back."
Psychic energy spread outward like tendrils, wrapping around the room. Holding the other end like a leash, Solwyn ignited a blast of flame from his feet, launching himself, and the room , to which the others were still bound, toward the line.
Inside the room, Amber and Reena staggered, nearly falling from the force of the sudden movement.
Solwyn could see them struggling to stay on their feet, but didn't slow down. Instead, he tripled the flames emitted, increasing speed again.
"If you can't handle this much." He muttered, "Then you're too weak to be of use to me."
"Ahh—! Help!"
With the increase in speed, Reena lost her footing and slid backward. She tried to grab hold of something, but the room was featureless with nothing to latch onto. Tumbling toward the intangible wall and the void beyond, she braced for the worst.
Just before she passed through, a hand made of sand caught her midair.
Startled, Reena looked toward Amber, who had partially turned herself to sand. Multiple thin pillars of sand extended from within her in every direction, anchoring her in place.
The hand shifted into a rope, wrapping around Reena's waist and pulling her closer to Amber, securing her.
Reena exhaled sharply, clutching the rope, and gave Amber a grateful glance.
From a distance, Solwyn let out a low chuckle at their struggle, and continued forward.
But then he heard it.
A piercing screech.
He came to an abrupt halt, his brow furrowing. The sound hadn't come from him.
He turned toward the disheveled Reena, his voice cold. "I thought you said nothing exists in the void?"
Reena shuddered. "T-t-theoretically! It goes against all logic for something to exist inside nothing! But there are no records of anyone venturing into the void!"
Solwyn narrowed his eyes, debating whether he had misjudged her usefulness. But before he could act, more screeches rang out from all directions, growing louder.
He turned his gaze toward the source, and saw them.
A swarm of monstrous creatures, born from pure darkness. Each was unique, grotesque in its own way, but they all shared pitch black bodies and countless scattered eyes. Some had elongated limbs that bent at unnatural angles. Others had far too many legs, none of equal length. One had no head at all, only a gaping maw in its chest dripping with black mist.
They flew through the void toward him, shrieking with hostility.
Solwyn didn't flinch or reel from their monstrous figure. Instead, he grinned.
"Good." He said. "I was hoping for more of a challenge!"