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The night in the personal dimension was calm. Too calm. The sparring field still carried faint scorch marks from earlier—evidence of the chaos they'd left behind. The air smelled faintly of ozone and burned earth, but now the only sound was the soft crackle of the campfire and the steady breathing of Kunou, curled up beside it, clutching a pillow almost as big as her.
Koneko was still unconscious in one of the guest rooms, recovering from the brutal exchange she'd had with yasaka earlier. Her breathing was steady, but her body clearly needed time. I made a mental note to check on her later in the night.
Rias sat cross-legged by the fire, absently poking at the flames with a stick. Her crimson hair glowed under the firelight, her eyes occasionally flicking toward me, like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to start.
Akeno lounged on the other side of the fire, leaning back on her arms, her expression half-amused, half-thoughtful. Even she seemed more mellow than usual, the playful spark in her eyes dimmed just slightly.
Yasaka sat closest to me, golden eyes half-lidded in thought. She didn't need to say anything for me to feel the energy radiating off her—steady, composed, but still burning with the desire to push further.
I broke the silence first. "You all look like you're planning to jump me or have an intervention. Which is it?"
Rias snorted softly. "If it were an intervention, we'd tie you up first."
"Please," I smirked, "you'd need a cosmic rope for that."
Akeno chuckled under her breath, shaking her head. "Cocky as always."
"I've earned the right," I replied with a shrug. "But seriously… you've all been quiet since the sparring ended. What's going on in those heads of yours?"
Rias looked into the fire again. "I thought I was ready. I really did. But today made me realize I've been… holding back. Not intentionally, but maybe I've been relying too much on the 'Power of Destruction' as a crutch instead of exploring what it could truly become."
Her voice carried a mix of frustration and determination.
"That's because you're still thinking about it like a weapon someone handed you," I told her. "You need to make it yours—so much that no one else could wield it the way you do. That's the difference between a master and a prodigy who burns out before their prime."
Rias gave me a faint smile. "So… you're saying I'm still a prodigy?"
I raised an eyebrow. "I'm saying you're on the edge of being terrifying. Just don't waste it."
Akeno leaned forward, resting her chin in her palm. "And what about me, hmm? Am I terrifying yet?"
I gave her a dry look. "You? You're terrifying in a completely different way."
She grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Yasaka finally spoke, her voice soft but carrying weight. "For me… it's frustrating. I can feel the gap between us, but at the same time, I can feel how much closer I am now compared to before. I almost landed a hit on you."
I smirked. "Almost. You're learning to read me better, but you're still giving away your intent with your body language. I knew when you were going to strike before you even decided to."
Her tail flicked once in annoyance, and she muttered, "Smug bastard."
"That's my secret," I said, leaning back against the log. "I'm always smug."
That earned me an eye-roll from Rias and a quiet laugh from Akeno. The tension in the air loosened a little.
For a while, we just sat there, listening to the fire and the distant hum of the dimension. I kept a fraction of my awareness split off, my cosmic senses scanning far beyond this place, searching for any trace of Vorath's other fragments. Still nothing. Even after weeks of searching, the bastard seemed like a ghost in the folds of existence. I'd even torn apart a few corrupted narratives that had survived my initial purge of creation, but not a single trace.
It was… irritating.
I didn't let it show. Not now. This was their moment.
"You all did good today," I said finally. "Better than I expected."
Akeno smirked. "You expected us to fail miserably, didn't you?"
"I expected you to get your asses handed to you," I corrected. "Which you did. But you lasted longer than I thought you would, and you adapted—at least a little. That matters."
Rias crossed her arms. "Not sure if that's a compliment or an insult."
"It's both," I said.
Yasaka leaned slightly toward me. "You really believe… we could reach godhood?"
I didn't answer right away. I looked at her, then at Rias and Akeno. All three were staring at me, waiting.
"Yes," I said simply. "But it won't happen in a month, or a year. Godhood isn't just about raw power—it's about understanding yourself so deeply that reality itself bends to that truth. Most people never reach it because they don't know who they really are. You three are getting closer, but you're still finding the path."
Rias gave a slow nod, like she was committing that to memory.
Akeno's eyes softened, and she looked into the fire. "It's strange… before you, I thought my path was clear. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted. But now…" She trailed off.
"But now you see more," I finished for her.
She gave a small smile. "Yeah."
Yasaka glanced toward Kunou, who was still asleep, hugging her pillow. "And what about her?"
"She's got time," I said. "Right now, her job is to eat snacks, annoy me, and grow up without the weight of the world crushing her."
Rias chuckled. "Sounds like a good plan."
We fell into a comfortable silence after that, the kind you don't need to fill with words. The fire popped softly, embers floating into the air before fading into nothing.
I could feel the exhaustion in all of them, not just physically but mentally. They'd been pushed to their limits today, forced to confront weaknesses they didn't even know they had. That's never easy. But they were still here, still determined.
I glanced up at the sky of this dimension. The stars here weren't like the ones in the outside world—they pulsed faintly, alive in a way that real stars couldn't be. Sometimes I wondered if they were watching us.
Yasaka broke the silence again. "You're always on guard… even now, aren't you?"
I didn't deny it. "When you've seen what I've seen… you don't really stop."
"Sounds lonely," she said quietly.
I gave a faint smile. "Sometimes. But then I get moments like this, and it's worth it."
That earned me a small, warm look from her.
The fire was dying down, the night air getting cooler. Akeno was the first to stand, stretching her arms above her head. "I think I'm going to call it a night before you start giving another lecture."
"Lecture?" I smirked. "That was wisdom."
"Uh-huh," she said, walking toward her room.
Rias followed soon after, though she gave me one last glance over her shoulder. "Don't stay up too late. You'll need your strength if you're going to keep knocking us down tomorrow."
I grinned. "Bring your best shot."
Yasaka lingered a little longer, her eyes on the fire. Finally, she said, "Thank you. For pushing us. For not letting us stay comfortable."
I looked at her for a long moment before answering. "You'll hate me for it before you thank me. But when that day comes, you'll know why I did it."
She smiled faintly, then headed off to her own room.
And just like that, it was quiet again. Only me, the fire, and Kunou's soft breathing. I let my awareness drift outward again, beyond this dimension, into the vast fabric of existence. Still no sign of Vorath's fragments. No sign of what I was really looking for.
But that was fine. I had time.
For now, I let the peace linger a little longer. Nights like this were rare.
---
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