Somewhere deeper within the underworld—beyond even the voids the group had been scattered into—Zeraphon stirred.
He sat once more on his throne of bone and obsidian, fire curling behind him, shadows knelt in rows before him.
The Smiling Man's laughter echoed faintly in the distance, but Zeraphon didn't smile.
Instead, he raised his hand—and snapped his fingers once.
The shadows shivered.
From the ground, from the walls, from the cracks in the dead stone itself—souls began to rise.
Not countless. Not overwhelming.
Just enough.
Enough for a message. Enough to challenge the ones still standing.
Warriors without faces. Kings without names. Children with broken limbs. All bound by death. All made to serve.
Their eyes burned with ghostlight.
Zeraphon's voice, smooth as a tomb closing, echoed beneath the world.
"Let them feel what it means… to be forgotten."
He opened his eyes fully now—piercing through the void, through the illusions, past the fog—and watched.
Not Jalen. Not Kullen. Not Lucio.
Rhea.
And he smiled—not wide like the Smiling Man, but cruel. Intent.
"Let the girl be tested."
Inside the dimly lit chamber, Rhea swung, her blade sliced clean through the Smiling Man's chest, only to find nothing.
No blood. No resistance. Just a ripple of translucent skin that shimmered and reformed like water disturbed by a stone.
He didn't flinch.
He laughed.
"Oh darling," he cooed, voice oily. "You're trying. I admire that. But you're not cutting me."
His hand twitched—faster than her eyes could follow—and suddenly he was behind her.
A sharp elbow drove into her spine.
Rhea crashed to the ground, breath torn from her lungs, armor cracking beneath the blow.
"RHEA!" Stix screamed, still chained to the wall. He thrashed against the restraints, his wrists bleeding.
She coughed hard, rolling over onto one knee.
The Smiling Man stepped forward slowly, head tilted upside down, arms dangling like a puppet cut halfway from its strings.
"This power of yours, is it a lifeline? It must be because I can tell you are trying to draw out more power than what you were allowed." The Smiling Man let out a cackle and stepped past Rhea towards her little brother.
"It appears that your sweet sister has a death wish. How cute is that... It's almost enticing." He twisted his neck, looking directly back at Rhea. "Maybe I should fulfill it and have the master bring her back as mine, it has been such a long time."
Stix's face contorted in disgust as he tried to pull free from his chains. "Rhea, you're free! Run away! Please just get out of here!"
"Stix, I'm not leaving you anymore. And yes, I'm terrified, but if I've learned anything since I left Veyport with Jalen and the others, it's that I cannot be afraid to risk my life for the people I love." She wiped the tears that began to fall from her eyes and looked directly at the Smiling man.
"This time, I will protect my little brother!"
Rhea gritted her teeth, the glyph on her skin flaring brighter now—brighter than before. Too bright.
The light pulsed violently along her veins, golden turning to white. It seared across her arms, her back, her chest. She could feel it—not burning her, but unraveling her. Like her body was a vessel starting to crack from the inside out.
But she didn't stop.
She raised her hand and slammed it into the chains binding her brother.
"Let. Him. Go."
With a scream of effort, the glyph surged again—once, twice—and then burst.
The sound was like glass exploding in a cathedral.
Stix dropped to the ground, coughing, stunned. The chains clattered beside him, steaming.
Rhea collapsed to one knee, hand trembling. Her breathing turned shallow. Sweat dripped down her brow.
The Smiling Man paused.
He stared at the spot where her glyph had glowed… now dim, flickering like a dying ember.
He clapped once.
"Oh… that was beautiful," he said, delighted. "Burning through godhood just to break a few links in some cursed chain. That wasn't bravery, sweetheart. That was desperation. And now you're empty."
He stepped forward.
Rhea couldn't move. Her limbs felt heavy. Her vision blurred at the edges. She couldn't feel her fingertips. Her glyph—the one Jalen gave her—was still there, but faint, dulled by overuse. She'd pushed too far. Drawn on a power not fully hers, and now… it was retreating.
"Stix," she gasped.
He pushed himself up—limping, dazed—but alive.
"Rhea, get up," he said, reaching toward her.
The Smiling Man struck him across the face with a flick of his fingers, sending him crashing back into the wall.
"I've had enough of the reunion act."
He turned toward Rhea.
"You gave him his chance. Now I'm going to take you. And when you're mine—body, soul, and every lingering spark left behind—I'll make sure he watches."
A flash.
Then a fist.
The Smiling Man's head jerked violently sideways.
He stumbled—not from pain, but from shock.
Stix stood again. Face bruised. Eyes lit with something unexplainable. And his hand? Still curled into a fist.
The Smiling Man slowly straightened, jaw clicking back into place.
He touched his cheek.
Blinking.
"...Oh?"
Rhea's eyes widened. "Stix…?"
He stared down at his own hand, confused. "I… I hit him?"
The Smiling Man began to laugh.
Not mocking—genuine. Unsettled. Intrigued.
"You hit me," he said with childlike glee. "That shouldn't be possible. But you did."
He looked closer, eyes narrowing. "Ah… but you didn't use power. You didn't use magic."
He stepped closer.
"You hit me with something older than both. Something raw. Soul energy. Unformed, unfiltered, pure will. And that makes you—oh, I could kiss you—dangerous."
He lunged.
Rhea shoved herself forward—weak, slow—but still trying to protect.
The glyph Jalen left her—once brilliant gold—was dim now, flickering like a failing star.
But even in the weakness… There was still a tether.
Still a connection.
And somewhere far from that room, the other end of that tether pulled.It tugged against Jalen's chest like a hooked thread snapping tight.
He felt it. Not the pain—he'd gone numb to that long ago.
But the panic. The desperation. The calling.
His eyes flew open. The void around him trembled and screamed in resistance.
It wasn't a place built to be walked.
It was a wound. A grave. A lock.
But Jalen didn't stop.
The tether to Rhea was fraying. Her glyph dimmed with every heartbeat.
He didn't know how far she was.
Didn't care.
His legs moved with a force that didn't belong to muscle. His breath came like thunder, each exhale shaking the airless dark.
And then—like fate snapping taut—
He wasn't alone anymore.
From the shadows ahead:
Lucio. Kullen. Nathan. Kuromi. Vexa. Ember.
They weren't talking. Just standing—disoriented, exhausted, blinking against the weight of being alive in a place that devoured the concept.
Lucio was the first to notice.
"Jalen?"
He didn't answer.
Didn't slow.
He grabbed Lucio by the shoulder as he passed, yanking him fully awake. "They're in trouble."
"Who—"
"Rhea. Stix."
A beat of silence.
Then the void pulsed again—heavier this time, as if it had taken notice.
Kuromi stepped forward. "You know where they are?"
"No." Jalen's voice was low, cracked. "But I know how to get to them."
The others followed.
They didn't ask how he was moving. They didn't ask where they were. They just moved with him.
Until the pressure in the void became unbearable—soundless, sightless, a storm of screams pressed behind a veil.
Jalen stopped.
He could feel it now—right there, just ahead. The wall. The final shroud.
Behind it… her.
Rhea.
He stepped forward, lifted his hands—
and dug his fingers into the void.
It screamed in protest. Reality bent like metal warping under pressure.
"Hold on," Jalen growled. Not to the group. Not to the void. But to Rhea. "I'm coming."
With a roar that wasn't human, Jalen ripped the wall apart.
The opening he made glowed like firelight against the dark.
Through it—Rhea.
And the monster about to take her away.
The moment they stepped through, the underworld retaliated.
A sensory flood crashed into them.
Not a wall. A tsunami.
Memories. Smells. Sounds. Touch. Pain. Pressure. Time itself rethreading into their bodies.
Kuromi was the first to drop—eyes wide, then blank as she collapsed.
Vexa followed, clutching her head. Ember shrieked once, then crumpled into silence.
Kullen staggered, dropping to one knee. Nathan's fingers twitched as timelines bent inside him like coiled springs. Lucio stumbled, clutching his side like something ruptured inside him.
Even Jalen faltered—his breath hitching as his vision swam. For a split second, the void tried to reclaim him.
But then—His aura ignited.
Like a sun piercing through thunderclouds.
"Se-see Stix.. I ju-just needed to stall him long enough."
Her voice cracked as the last word fell apart.She smiled at her little brother one final time—
And collapsed.
Still.
Silent.
The room didn't move.Even the shadows seemed to pause, holding their breath.
Stix stared, frozen in place."...Rhea?"
And then—
a slow clap.
The Smiling Man had moved away from Rhea to Jalen, hunched and gleeful.
"Oh, how tragic," he whispered, voice dripping venom. "She almost made it."