"That basilisk just took Diantha and Denji! And you're still letting him breathe?" Mina hissed, nodding at Jalkra, who knelt in the center of the crater, head bowed, fists digging into the earth.

  "Mina," I said, quietly, "Don't."

  "No! He brought this! That damn ego of his got them taken, and now he expects us to help fix it?"

  I turned, meeting her glare head-on. "You think I don't want to scream too? That I'm not thinking of every way I could've stopped her—?"

  "Then why won't you just kill him?" she growled.

  "Because I have to think bigger than rage right now! Damn it!"

  The words cracked louder than I meant. Behind me, I heard Ume exhale sharply, and somewhere, Whirlkool was muttering to herself.

  I kept going, my voice shaking now.

  "She knew how to bait us. She knew exactly where to strike, and when. And we have to outmaneuver her, not just outpunch her!"

  But before Mina could fire back—the ground split as Jalkra roared, slamming both fists into the earth. A ring of raw force burst out from him, flinging dirt and crystal shards in every direction.

  He snarled, voice echoing with that unmistakable, war-drummed rage.

  "You—! You let her take them!"

  I stared at him in disbelief. "What did you say?"

  "You built this den of peace and softness," he spat. "You invited her with your weakness. You distracted my wife, filled her head with lullabies and roots, and now—now she's gone. Because of you!"

  Mina stomped forward. "Say that again, I dare you—"

  "No," I snapped, stepping in front of her. "Let him talk. Let's hear what the mighty Jalkra blames everyone for this time."

  His eyes burned as red slits, blistering with something deeper than hate. It radiated with pain and shame. But there was zero chance that he would admit it.

  He growled, rising taller now, his breath ragged.

  "I offered mercy. I honored the boundaries of this wretched place. I allowed my Pillars to stand down. And in return? You let my world get taken!"

  His roar shredded the forest's stillness.

  An aura flared around him. My ears rang as the aura hit. A pressure so monstrous it buckled my knees and sent Mina staggering back. Even GamaGen hovering silently above let out a rare note of alarm.

  "He's shaking the entire UvoSath Realm," GamaGen uttered from my shoulder. "His wrath touches even the Domain's roots…"

  The sky changed color as Jalkra's body resumed to blaze with the raw power of a flaming furnace.

  "You think I'll let this circus of misfits challenge me on even footing? I will grind you into the dust you grew from. Your monsters. Your shelter. Your sweet, naive vision of 'unity.' You think this is a family? No. This is a weakness Violet smelled from leagues away."

  He spat blood to the side.

  "My Pillars will crush yours. Ume. Whirlkool. Pzion. Even the ones you haven't met yet."

  "You would really crush the ones who sheltered your wife?"

  "Yes," he said, and there was no hesitation. "Because it will make me stronger. And because the only way to get them back... is to win."

  But something in his stance gave him away.

  He didn't strike. Not when he could've. Not when Mina challenged. Not even when I called him out. Somewhere in that twisted storm of fury, Jalkra still saw me not as a threat… but as a tool. A means to an end. A pawn worth sparing, for now.

  "You've got fourteen days. Train. Fight. Bleed. I want to break you when you're strong, not when you're pitiful."

  Then he turned his back, and stalked into the trees. And I swear, the forest exhaled as he walked away, leaving cracks in the ground and tension thick enough to chew. Ume followed—hesitant. Whirlkool marched after them, and Pzion silently hovered away with the statues of Biscuit and Gamuikaze trailing behind him.

  I noticed how Tilz's gaze flickered from the shuddering Tailza in his protective arms to the back of his ex-companions. Mina watched them disappear too, her chest still heaving.

  "You still want to work with that?"

  "No," I said. "I want to beat that."

  Her eyes lidded slightly. "Then we need a plan."

  I nodded slowly, gaze turning skyward. Where Violet had carved the sky with her shadow, and left nothing but questions in her wake.

  "No more parties. We've got fourteen days. Let's train like monsters."

  GamaGen was silent, watching and weighing. His floating form turned, addressing me.

  "KiAera… You've barely scratched what the Mark can offer you. But I can unlock the next stage. I can begin your ascension."

  "You can?" I asked in surprise.

  He floated down until his feet touched the grass.

  "You may become something far closer to what we call an [Alpha]."

  Then he gave his next words consideration.

  "Yet the chance of success…" he resumed, "is extremely low. It will likely tear you apart before it rebuilds you. Few survive the trial, even when guided. If you fail—"

  I swallowed the anticipation in my throat.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  GamaGen lowered his head.

  "You still have a chance to walk away."

  I looked at my claws. Then to Mina, whose fists were clenched but whose eyes were locked on me with something deeper than fear.

  "You can perform this Ritual Rite?" She asked.

  "Yes. But it is not free for either party."

  "Of course it isn't."

  "I can perform the Ascension Rite," he held my gaze. "Before I begin you must understand: this path is irreversible. There is no true 'undoing' of what you'll become."

  "I already became something else the moment I woke up in this world. You know that."

  His brow furrowed faintly. "Yes. I know." When he next spoke, his voice dropped in register.

  "KiAera… are you certain you wish to ascend? This will not simply empower you. It may evolve you beyond recognition. You may become something that rivals an [Alpha]. Something not even I could predict."

  "I need to protect them," I said softly, but firmly. "If that means becoming more monster than I am now… I'll choose it."

  His eyes closed, as though bracing. Then he opened them again, and looked not at me, but through me.

  "…I knew it would come to this. But I had hoped…"

  His words trailed off. He took a breath he didn't need, and stepped around me. His voice dropped into awe and something close to grief.

  "She's still here."

  I turned, but saw nothing.

  "Who?"

  His answer came slow. "You."

  He lifted a wing toward empty space, yet I felt the pressure, like someone brushing just behind my shoulder.

  "She's always been there. Since the beginning of your transformation. I thought… perhaps a phantom. A remnant. But she isn't fading."

  "GamaGen. What are you talking about?"

  "I never told you because I didn't understand it fully. But now I do. There's a… fragment of your original self. A ghost of the human KiAera."

  He raised his wing higher.

  "Right now, she's standing behind you. She mimics every movement you make. Every breath. Her expression… it mirrors your uncertainty, your pain, your hope."

  Goosebumps raced across my skin.

  "Why can't I see her?"

  "Because she isn't visible to the world you now belong to. Only those who walk the edge of realms—like me—can perceive her."

  He looked back to me.

  "She is your shackle. She is your anchor. The part of you still waiting to wake up from this… still waiting to reclaim her old name, her old shape, her old fears."

  I felt cold.

  "What happens to her… if I ascend?"

  "She may vanish. She may scream. Or she may fight you."

  "Or perhaps… she may finally become whole with me again."

  He stepped back, slowly raising his head high, sparks of impossible color gathering around his figure.

  "But once we begin… I will no longer be able to intervene. Or to speak. I will vanish from this realm… for a time, or perhaps forever."

  I blinked hard at the revelation.

  "…Wait—what? Why?"

  He didn't answer. He only gave me the smallest, most human smile I had ever seen from him.

  "I am not worried for myself," he said gently. "I am worried for you."

  Then, for just a moment, I saw it. A shimmer like heat distortion behind me. The spirit of my human self. Pale skin, messy hair, wide eyes trembling with a kind of frightened recognition. She mirrored my stance perfectly, her face contorted with the same tension I felt. But she was faint, translucent, barely a wisp tethered to my shoulder like a chained memory.

  "My soul?"

  My human self still lingered, silent. Her eyes searched mine, not pleading… just afraid. But curious too. I turned back to GamaGen.

  "I want to protect them all. Even if it costs me everything… Let's begin."

  "Acknowledged," he said.

  GamaGen raised his voice. "Let the Rite commence—"

  "Allow me to undergo the Rite as well."

  We all turned. Even GamaGen froze.

  The owner of the voice stood just beyond the circle—half in the shadow of the treeline, half lit by the crimson afterglow still leaking from Jalkra's tantrum.

  The Dorvus. The Doom Deer monster.

  That silent, staggering presence we had housed and half-doubted. I'd nearly forgotten he was even there. Probably because he was so still, so silent these last few hours, like he was listening to the dirt breathe.

  His voice, when he spoke again, was the same as always: low and level, tinged with something soldier-casual, as though he was just reporting movement on the horizon.

  "I know the risks. I want them."

  "You don't need—" I started, but stopped myself.

  He tilted his head ever so slightly, one of the glowing orbs atop his antlers flickering like a flame caught in a draft. "You misunderstand. I've always needed it."

  Mina gave him a look that could slice through bone. "You've barely spoken to half of us. And now you want to join some transformation death ritual like it's a group exercise?"

  He looked at her, unflinching. "I have fought alone for most of my life. But even I can see what is coming will not be stopped by a single beast."

  I focused my gaze on him. Really looking this time. Something had changed. His posture hadn't shifted. His wounds from the last encounter were still slightly visible beneath the black-crimson fur, but... the pressure rolling off him was heavier.

  The Dorvus had grown again. No doubt about it—it was because of his [Vital Hart]. A rare Zeldritch trait.

  He had grown twice as powerful after his recovery.

  Creature: Dorvus

  — Species: Dorvus

  — Faux Nym: [None]

  — Sobriquet: "Doom Deer"

  — Evolution Stage: [Fledgling]

  — Variance: [Uncommon]

  — APU: [36,114] Particle Units

  — Attributes: [Voltage], [Grim]

  — Zeldritch Traits: "[Vital Hart]"

  [Vital Hart]: When critically injured, the bearer of this trait experiences exponential growth upon full recovery. The more lethal the wound, the sharper the increase.

  "When you recover," I said. "Every time you nearly die… you come back stronger. That's your edge."

  He didn't deny it. Instead, the orbs on his antlers sparked with crimson electricity dancing between them like some silent agreement.

  "I do not grow because I heal. I grow because I endure."

  Mina folded her arms. "Sounds broken."

  "Sounds earned," I murmured.

  "He can," GamaGen interrupted. "He is already marked. Deeply."

  I blinked. "Like me?"

  GamaGen shook his head. "He carries an inherited brand. It's older than your soul. Older than this forest. I sensed it the first time he touched the threshold of this shelter. Dormant, but not dead."

  The Dorvus stepped forward as his hooves left shallow scorches where they fell.

  "I am not here to impress you," he said to no one in particular. "Or to replace your champions. But the creature who took your people…" He paused. "They are not just your enemy."

  Something dark passed over his eyes. And even if I hadn't heard the story, I would have known. The Ilosphats. And I became intent on listening. It wasn't his tone that changed. It was the stillness around him, and how it deepened.

  "She was not working alone," he added quietly. "And if I am to face them again… I must be ready."

  "You know what the Rite does to the unready," GamaGen said carefully. "You know what you're risking."

  "I do," the Dorvus replied. "And I know what happens when I recover."

  GamaGen shifted in his position as his wing touched his chin. "…Two souls ascending at once. One tethered to the past. One broken free of it. Very well." A circle of his omega symbol appeared on the ground.

  Oath then stopped just short of the ritual's boundary. She lowered her body, and Liozel obediently slid down her side, landing beside me with a soft pat. He pressed against my hip, claws clutching at my chest.

  Oath, meanwhile, looked up at GamaGen.

  "I go too," she said. Her voice still sweet, but it also held something deeper.

  I was prompt to turn to her as my instinct rose fast in alarm. "Oath, no. You don't have to do this. You don't need to prove anything. You're already—"

  "I go too," she repeated in a softer voice that could have never been more final.

  She didn't posture. Didn't shout. But she was still a commander. One of my first. One of my best. And when she made a choice, it was because something deep inside her had already decided it long ago.

  "I am Oath Orselith. Oath protects. Oath feels. Oath remembers things… even if Oath doesn't know them."

  "Remembers?"

  Her head tilted in an almost curious fashion.

  "I don't want to lose you," I added.

  Her giant head nudged against mine. "You won't. Oath will still be Oath. But stronger."

  Then she looked to GamaGen.

  "Let Oath join. Like Dorvus. Like KiAera."

  GamaGen who was usually unreadable, looked wounded. No... not wounded. Afraid, and not for himself, but for her.

  "You don't know what you're risking," he said softly.

  "Oath knows enough. Oath sees KiAera's heart. Oath wants to help. KiAera… Oath follows you. Always."

  I thought I'd known loyalty. I thought I'd earned it. But this was something else. Something much lovingly greater than words.

  Slowly, I nodded. And my voice came out raw.

  "Fine. We rise together."

  "Then so it shall be," GamaGen said, stepping back, eyes shimmering now with something almost like reverence.

  "Three shall stand in the Rite of Becoming. Three shall step beyond the form they know. One for vengeance. One for love. One for truth…"

  Lightning struck the edges of the circle, and immediately the world began to fall away. Light roared. Time buckled. I heard Liozel scream my name as everything faded into the void.