The Sinking Void did not vanish all at once.
Like a tide that had forgotten why it was advancing in the first place, the black fog finally dispersed into nothingness, leaving behind air that felt strangely clean. The oppressive pressure that had weighed on the realm lifted and with it came a silence so profound it bordered on unsettling.
Vastarael watched it happen in silence for a while before his Divine Transformation collapsed.
The authority in his presence vanished as he turned back into his original male appearance.
The Nanorunes that made his combat suit flickered weakly across his skin, struggling to reassemble after being pushed far beyond operational thresholds. Large portions of the suit had simply failed, leaving him half-naked. Steam rose from him in thick, curling plumes. His body was venting excess Soul Energy. Every inhale burned. Every exhale tasted metallic.
A portal opened.
Vastarael froze as a woman stepped through. For a moment, the world forgot how to function.
She was beautiful in a way that felt hostile to the senses. Her black dress flowed as if gravity itself was undecided about touching her. Her skin was pale beyond normal. It was so devoid of color it seemed translucent, as though blood was a concept she had long since discarded. Her luminous amethyst hair fell down her back, glowing softly and independently of any external source. Her eyes matched it perfectly.
She looked at Vastarael.
"You really are a handsome man."
The words hit him harder than Diov's void ever had.
"Greshina?"
The name escaped him before caution could intervene. The woman tilted her head.
"That is not my name."
His mechanical heart skipped a beat.
"No. You're Greshina Emberforge. Empress of Earth. You were... you were-"
He stopped. Her eyes didn't show any familiarity at all. She really did not know him at all.
"I do not know that name nor do I care for whatever past life you are attempting to impose upon me. Even if we met once, it would mean nothing. I do not retain memories of a former existence. Transmigration erases such trivialities."
Vastarael felt her Divine Presence.
'She is at the Sixth Enlightenment?'
Unlike Diov, this presence was stable in the truest sense of the word. His exhaustion suddenly mattered. His instincts told him to run. Vastarael straightened as much as his battered body allowed.
"You're a vampire, Greshina."
The woman smiled wider. She snapped open a silver fan with a sharp, ringing click. Runes etched along its surface flared faintly,. She leveled it at his chest in am instant.
"My name is Edarea Avinaris, Reniatsus of the Ledatic Siloportem. And I am here because another Reniatsus has vanished. Explain, truthfully. If you lie, I will kill you here and now."
Vastarael did not reach for a weapon. He was spent. His pseudo cores were dry. His Soul Energy reserves scraped bare. Even his Nanorunes were still crawling back into coherence. Fighting her would not be a battle. It would be suicide.
Slowly, he lowered his gaze.
"I killed him."
He said it with no embellishment or pride.
"He abused the role given to him. Used souls as fuel. Corrupted the afterlife. The Sinking Void was his doing. I ended it."
The fan did not lower but something in Edarea's eyes shifted. Interest, perhaps?
"You speak boldly for someone who can barely stand."
Vastarael exhaled steam from his lips.
"I'm not asking for absolution. I know what it looks like but Diov stopped being a custodian a long time ago."
Edarea laughed softly.
"Oh," she said, folding the fan closed and resting it against her shoulder. "This is far more interesting than I expected."
She stepped closer. Her presence was suffocating him now.
"You recognized me. Which means your soul remembers things mine does not. And that means you know more about me than you should."
Edarea Avinaris did not lower her fan when the silence stretched between them.
"Your name."
"Veneri."
"So it is true," she murmured. "A Royal Aeterium. That explains your Soul density and your regenerative absurdity, your audacity. It also explains why Diov never stood a chance, no matter how desperately he tried to convince himself otherwise. Unfortunately, as much as I would enjoy killing you, I have other matters that require my attention."
Vastarael did not respond. He simply watched. She turned and walked to the epicenter of the devastation where Diov had been erased not just in body but in soul. There, amid scorched earth and fractured reality, something remained.
Diov's Divine Core.
Edarea crouched and lifted it effortlessly. The core hovered above her palm as void energy rippled weakly within it like a dying heartbeat.
"With Diov gone, a vacancy has been created. The Reniatsus are not optional positions. Order abhors absence."
She glanced back at Vastarael over her shoulder.
"The turtle, Luke. A Landscape Turtle is patient, immutable and incapable of ambition. It is ideal for overseeing an underworld that should function, not scheme. Ensure he is placed in charge."
The core dissolved into motes of black light and vanished into her fan. Then she faced Vastarael one last time.
"You live because you ended something that needed to end. Do not mistake that mercy for forgiveness. And do not assume I will be so lenient the next time our paths cross."
With that, she stepped backward into the portal. Vastarael remained where he stood with steam still curling from his skin and the nanorunes slowly reassembling across his body. Only then did he allow himself to breathe.
She had looked exactly the same. She had the same facial structure, the same eyes and the same presence, only drained of warmth. Back in the Submerged Islands, he had seen her in a future vision. He had dismissed it at the time as one of many branching possibilities. But now, was that future already set in motion?
How had she retained her original appearance after transmigration?
How had she ascended to become a Reniatsus?
Why was she a vampire?
And most unsettling of all, why had she let him live, when she had every reason to end him where he stood?
"Dad!"
He turned.
Asenane was flying toward him. Her armor was cracked, waving with a grin that was far too bright for someone who had just survived that level of combat. Behind her, Shimmer and Runner followed. Vastarael exhaled slowly and let his shoulders drop.
"Yeah," he muttered under his breath. "Not now."
Some questions could wait. Some truths were too heavy to confront when what mattered most was right in front of him.