The horn didn't stop.
It dragged across the sky like metal against bone, shaking glass, rattling hearts, making even the air feel afraid. The clouds didn't just darken — they bled faint red, as if the world itself had been bruised.
Then silence.
A silence too heavy to breathe in.
Jed swallowed. "Please tell me that was just… thunder."
James didn't joke. Markus didn't speak.
Even Ring's expression hardened.
"He's here," she whispered. "El dolor mismo(Pain Itself)...."
The wind snapped.
The walls creaked.
The lights died.
Then—
Knock.
Not a normal knock.
Each strike shook the building like a heartbeat from something much larger than the world.
Ring didn't move. "Stay behind me. No matter what happens."
Xain's body obeyed before his brain could argue. His chest tightened. His breathing wasn't right. His heart beat too hard, like it wanted to escape.
The door opened on its own.
Nothing stood there.
No giant demon. No monster. No horned nightmare.
Just… stillness.
Then a laugh slid into the house.
Not loud. Not deep. Not echoing.
Just soft.
Cruel.
Playful.
"Humans always imagine too big," the voice said. "We don't have to tear your skies to destroy you."
James staggered back. Markus grabbed his head. Jed dropped to his knees clutching his ears.
They weren't bleeding. No bodies ripped open. No gore.
But the pain they felt wasn't physical.
It was personal.
Regret. Shame. Fear. Memories never healed suddenly came alive like claws dragging across their minds.
James gasped. "I… I can't breathe—"
Markus punched the wall desperately. "I DON'T WANT TO FEEL THIS—"
Jed screamed.
Ring reacted instantly, wings bursting out in a blinding flare of light, wrapping the boys in protection. The house trembled at the pressure of two opposite forces colliding — Heaven holding the line… something darker pushing through.
Then the voice giggled.
"Oh. Archangel defense. Boring."
Before Ring could answer…
Jed stood.
Slowly.
Wrongly.
Not like himself.
His eyes weren't glowing. They weren't black.
They were empty.
Like something kind had been scooped out of him.
"Jed?" James choked.
Jed smiled.
But it wasn't Jed's smile.
It was too calm. Too patient. Too knowing.
"I should thank you all," his voice layered with something ancient beneath it. "Being inside this body… hurts. I like it."
Ring stepped forward, eyes blazing. "Leave him. Now."
Jed tilted his head like a child learning how necks work.
"No."
A force exploded.
The house cracked.
Air warped.
Ring was slammed backward across the room, skidding, barely stopping before crashing through the wall. She bit down on pain and stood again, glowing brighter, power bleeding like light.
James didn't move. Markus trembled. Xain's fists clenched so hard his fingers shook.
Jed — or the thing wearing Jed — watched Xain.
"So… you're the almost-star," the demon whispered, amused. "You don't look like much. But you feel like something I'd enjoy breaking."
He took a step closer. Every step echoed with a pulse of agony that didn't wound skin — it crushed hope. Furniture cracked. Windows spider-webbed. Floors split.
Ring burned brighter.
"Touch him," she warned, "and I swear I will—"
"You will what?" the demon asked softly.
He snapped two fingers.
Ring collapsed to her knees, grabbing her chest, breathing sharp, like her heart was being squeezed.
Xain moved without thinking.
He grabbed Jed's shoulder.
"LET HIM GO!"
The demon looked down at Xain's hand.
Then smiled.
"Interesting… it doesn't break you instantly. You really are different."
He leaned closer.
Jed's face… But not Jed.
"Do you know why demons envy angels?" the demon whispered. "Because angels fight to protect. We just enjoy watching things fall apart."
He raised his hand.
James screamed. Markus shouted his name. Ring struggled, reaching for them.
A dark mark burned across Jed's arm… then crawled like a living chain around his chest, binding into him.
A contract.
Ring's eyes widened. "No… no no no— Xain, stop him! If it seals he'll—"
Jed's body shuddered once.
Then still.
When he raised his head again… He wasn't just possessed.
He was claimed.
Disciple.
El dolor mismo… had chosen him.
James fell apart. "Jed… please… don't—"
Jed looked at him.
And smiled kindly.
Too kindly.
"Don't worry, James. I don't feel pain anymore."
That kindness hurt worst.
The room shook.
The sky roared again, but this time it wasn't demonic.
It was something else.
Higher. Older. Uninterested in fear.
A warmth tore through the cold world like sunlight through storm clouds.
The ground stopped shaking. The air stopped crying. Even the demon paused… and frowned.
Everyone felt it.
The world felt it.
Animals lifted their heads. The ocean stilled. Mountains hummed. Even the stars seemed to hold their breath.
The horizon began to glow… Not gold. Not white.
Something deeper. Something alive.
A feather — burning like living flame yet gentle as falling snow — drifted past the window.
The demon's smile faded.
"…him."
James collapsed in relief he didn't understand. Markus cried without knowing why. Ring slowly stood, whispering like a prayer:
"Phoenix…"
Not appearing yet.
Just arriving.
Presence alone bent reality, not violently, not cruelly.
Just absolutely.
The air smelled like warmth after rain. The world felt judged… But also protected.
The demon tightened his grip on Jed's body.
"This isn't your stage, bird."
The sky disagreed.
Light rippled across the heavens like constellations bowing.
Heat rolled across the city without burning… but every wicked thing felt smaller.
Every heart felt seen.
Every sin felt heavy.
Every lie felt naked.
Phoenix wasn't visible yet.
But his name moved through existence like a whisper from creation itself.
Ring exhaled shakily.
"Xain… stay behind me."
Xain didn't answer.
Because for the first time since everything began…
He wasn't afraid.
He simply looked at the glowing horizon and whispered:
"…who is coming."
The world stood frozen.
Cities that had drowned in chaos suddenly felt… quiet. People who moments ago screamed now simply stared upward. The sky burned gold—not like flames, but like reality itself was being overwritten.
Then it descended.
Not flapping. Not roaring. Simply existing… and existence bowed.
A phoenix—colossal, ancient, older than resonance itself—materialized above Earth. Feathers shimmered like sunlight caught inside crystal. Every beat of its glow rewrote despair into awe. Humans didn't run. They knelt instinctively, not out of fear, but because their souls recognized authority.
Ring trembled, and that alone spoke volumes.
Archangels did not fear.
They calibrated risk.
But Ring? She refused to move closer.
Xain swallowed. He had never felt so small.
And then… the Phoenix spoke.
Its voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. It spoke directly into existence.
"El Dolor Mismo… you have broken resonance law."
The demon inside Jed's body snarled through a twisted voice, still pretending confidence.
"Relax, Firebird. Let's negotiate. You let this one slide—I clean my mess. Win-win."
The Phoenix smiled.
The sky warmed like a calm morning.
"You really think I bargain with imbalance?"
Wind stuttered. Oceans paused. Even thoughts hesitated.
"Understand something," Phoenix continued. "In one breath I could restore every broken city. In another, erase every memory of what Michael started. I could even replay time like a song and pretend none of this happened… but that violates resonance. So your 'deal' is noise to me."
El Dolor's sarcasm evaporated.
Fear finally surfaced.
"Fine," he hissed. "Then tell me the punishment. I'm tired of speeches."
The Phoenix didn't flare with anger. It didn't roar. It simply decided.
"You enjoy making humans suffer? Then live as what you toy with. Weak. Limited. Mortal."
Jed's body convulsed. The air cracked. Power evaporated from existence.
And where a demon once stood…
A tiny black cat blinked angrily on the ruined pavement.
Still able to speak.
Completely powerless.
"This is insulting," the demon grumbled.
"Good," Phoenix replied simply.
Then its burning gaze turned gentle toward Ring.
"I must leave. Balance restored—temporarily. Take care of Xain. He's critical… in ways none of you understand yet."
Ring stiffened. "Yes."
"And Xain…"
The Phoenix's tone shifted—calm, but pointed.
"Don't you dare try eliminating yourself from existence. You're not done. Not even close."
He froze.
How did it—?
"And the Writer?" Xain whispered.
The Phoenix paused, then smirked like it knew a joke no one else understood.
"The Writer is furious with you. Expect silence… days… years… it depends on how stubborn he feels."
And just like that—
It vanished.
No explosion. No beam of light.
One blink, and it wasn't there.
What it left behind was worse than any destruction.
Silence.
Reality trying to breathe again.
Humans attempting to comprehend something far beyond comprehension.
Then everyone noticed something else.
Jed's body.
He wasn't dead.
He wasn't alive.
He was empty.
Like a beautiful shell with no soul inside.
Ring's voice broke the silence.
"There are only three ways to bring him back."
Everyone leaned in. Even the cat—listened.
"One… someone travels to the Devic Realm and retrieves his soul."
Her face darkened. "Most never return."
"Two… El Dolor retrieves it himself." She glanced coldly at the cat. "But he's useless now."
The cat hissed. "Respectfully… rude."
"Three?" Xain demanded.
Ring hesitated.
"The last option is impossible. Ask the Writer. Only He could rewrite this fate."
"That won't work," the cat muttered. "The Writer never intervenes."
Xain didn't respond.
Because memory punched him.
The voice in his head.
The arguments.
The scolding.
The moments he thought were hallucinations…
The Writer had spoken to him.
Not once.
Not twice.
Constantly.
He stared forward, stunned. The truth crashed into him:
He had never been abandoned.
He had been… guided.
Ring watched his face shift. For the first time, she felt something terrifying:
Hope.
"Ring…" Xain whispered. "I've talked to Him. He—He's spoken to me. A lot."
Gasps filled the hall.
Even Ring stepped back.
If that was true…
Xain wasn't just a Star.
He might be something new entirely.
A project.
An experiment.
A becoming.
Something the universe had never seen.
The battlefield wind blew cold. Humanity trembled. A demon sulked in cat form. And above them all…
Fate pivoted.
Because suddenly the greatest mystery in existence wasn't Phoenix.
It was Xain.