The walk back from the Neon Harem rooftop felt unreal.
Not because of the lights the noise.
But because Malerion's heartbeat wouldn't calm down.
It wasn't fear. lust or confusion.
It was the echo.
A deep, rolling vibration under his ribs the unmistakable signal that his Fourth Ring had begun to fracture open.
A breakthrough.
One he had not forced, not trained for, not meditated into.
It came because of her.
Verosika.
He hadn't meant to approach her after the show.
He hadn't planned that rooftop conversation.
He certainly hadn't planned the way she looked at him when he answered her questions calm, steady, real.
Or the way her voice softened when she thanked him.
The way standing two feet from her had felt like balancing on the edge of a blade.
Now, as he crossed into Sin Rouge's territory, the echo inside him pulsed again louder this time.
THRUM.
Alastor's dry voice flickered in his mind like a half-tuned radio.
> "Significant emotional disturbance detected
Congratulations, you've discovered what mortals call feelings."
Shut up, Malerion muttered under his breath.
> "You shut up. I'm enjoying this."
Malerion ignored him and pushed open the back door of Sin Rouge.
The world snapped into clarity every thread of emotion in the air sharper than before.
Someone in the alley was nervous.
Upstairs was excited.
In the hall was lying about something.
It all sang to him.
The Fifth Ring was coming.
Close.
In reach.
And that terrified him more than anything Verosika could have said.
Because breakthroughs for him weren't clean ascensions.
They were… shifts.
Reshaping.
Changes to instinct, perception, the way his body reacted to the Lust Ring's emotional weight.
He felt stronger. Faster. Sharper.
Like someone had turned up the volume on reality.
But there was something else.
Her voice still echoed through him.
Not literally but the emotional imprint of their rooftop conversation lingered in the resonance like perfume on skin.
And he hated that he noticed.
He stepped into his private room and finally let himself breathe out.
His hand slid along the wall to steady himself, and the surface tremored faintly.
Everything felt too close, too loud, too vibrant.
Alastor hummed.
> "You do realize this breakthrough happened because you finally stopped running, yes?
You chose to stop fearing 'the canon.'"
Malerion clenched his jaw.
It was never the canon I feared.
> "No? Then what scared you, darling?"
He didn't answer.
But he knew.
He feared the chain reaction.
Every choice he made around Verosika could twist something in the future.
Conversation could ripple into the world he remembered a world he knew she would one day break apart and rebuild with her fame, her spirals of self-destruction, her fire.
He feared ruining her story guiding it too much becoming part of it.
And the rooftop
Her confusion ,curiosity ,honesty about not understanding him.
And then the quiet "Thank you."
Something in him had clicked in place, like another tooth in a gear aligning.
He sank onto the edge of the bed.
So this is it, he whispered.
The moment everything starts shifting.
Alastor sighed not mocking, but almost sympathetic.
> "You can't live in someone else's story forever.
You made your decision on that rooftop.
You're done hiding."
Malerion rubbed his face.
I know.
> "And you know what comes with that decision."
He did.
Influence.
Responsibility.
Change.
Complications.
But also power.
The Fifth Ring stirred inside his chest, pressing upward like something alive seeking air.
He braced a hand over his heart.
Just not tonight, he muttered.
I'm not ready to ascend tonight.
> "It doesn't care if you're ready," Alastor sang.
"But at least now you understand the trigger."
Malerion leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
Verosika asking him who he really was.
Her irritation, sharp questions, refusal to be intimidated, curious stare.
Confusion at his calm, gratitude.
He shouldn't have gone to the rooftop.
knew that.
Went anyway.
And now?
Now there was no going back.
He opened his eyes.
Fine, he murmured.
I'll stop pretending.
Not pretending to be weak.
Pretending he wasn't changing the canon.
Pretending he didn't care.
He would see where this path went.
Even if it led to conflict, danger or her.
The echo pulsed again no longer chaotic now, but warm, steady, aligned.
He breathed in slowly.
The Fifth Ring waited.
And so did Verosika Mayday.
This time, he wouldn't run from either.