Arya stood tall at six feet, deep black eyes framed by long, messy hair. His face was extraordinarily handsome, almost captivating. This was the complete opposite of what Zai had imagined. He had pictured an Asura—blood-red eyes, horns sprouting from the forehead. Instead, Arya looked like royalty carved from moonlight and shadow.
Arya extended his hand and took the file.
"What's this for?" he asked, voice calm and deep.
Hesitating, Zai replied, "Leo sir told me to hand this over to you."
Arya stayed silent. He slowly flipped through the pages, reading quickly. Then he gave Zai another blank stare before walking toward the exit gate—without waiting.
A little while later, Arya and Zai walked through the Garden District streets. Zai still hadn't recovered from the shock. He kept stealing fearful sideways glances at Arya. But Arya seemed completely unaffected—his face showed no emotion whatsoever.
the two reached the spot where Leo and Yodha waited. Arya looked sharply at Leo and asked in a deep, commanding voice:
"Why did you call me here? What is this file?"
Leo and Zai flinched at the tone and took a step back.
"This concerns the upcoming war," Leo explained quickly. "A message came from Chaya's followers inviting you to the discussion meeting. The file contains all the related information."
Arya nodded slightly, as if acknowledging it.
Yodha, standing beside them, let out a mischievous little smile while watching the exchange. Leo shot him a pleading look—eyes begging for help to escape the awkward moment. Unable to hold it in anymore, Yodha burst out laughing, clutching his stomach like it was going to burst.
Zai moved behind Leo while Leo rubbed his temples. Arya stayed still and unbothered.
"Today's the meeting, right? Then let's get going," he said calmly.
Hearing Arya's words, Leo extended his left hand to elbow length and started tapping his ring with his thumb and index finger.
"Just a minute. I'll quickly send a message to Kavya. I can't leave the first general out of something this important, after all."
At the mention of Kavya's name, Arya's eyes flashed with disgust for a split second before it vanished. Yodha knew well that Kavya was someone Arya didn't even like to hear about—but he stayed silent and watched Leo's ring with interest.
"What is that, dude? Never saw it before."
Leo turned with a teasing chuckle.
"Oh this? It's a ring communicator. Remember the pocket space ring? This is the next version. Unlike the first one, we can send emergency messages—with certain limits. Cool, right?"
Yodha rolled his eyes with a mischievous smile.
"Emergency messages? More like your full-time flirting tool. Whoever invented this thing would jump into a spoon of water and die if he saw what you're doing with it. Haha."
Leo just chuckled—because what Yodha said was true. He used the ring more for flirting with Kavya than for emergencies.
Receiving Leo's message, Kavya Zephyr—the first general and wind element Guardian—quickly flew to the meeting place at the exit gate. As Kavya landed, Leo ran toward her for a hug, but she slapped him away as usual. Yodha greeted her while chuckling at Leo. Arya stayed still and didn't even glance at her face. Zai returned to his quarters.
Unable to face Arya, Kavya lowered her head—guilt clear in her eyes.
The four of them moved forward like the wind. Leo rode on his elemental creature Firen the Phoenix, with Yodha beside him. Kavya rode Falcon the Wind Eagle. Arya flew calmly in front, carried by the wind power he possessed.
In no time, the group reached the Hellpit—the land of the Spirits. Unlike Paradise, filled with peace and greenery, Hellpit was the complete opposite: ploughed lands, corpse-eating monsters. The scenery was so awful it disgusted even them. Still, Arya remained calm. Yodha followed behind. Leo and Kavya looked around with visible revulsion.
As they reached the front gate, it slowly opened with a low creek. The four entered one by one. Inside they found thousands of beasts from various races guarding the fort—each with a terrifying form.
Even then, all the beasts stepped back in fear at Arya's presence. His eyes locked on the path with calm intensity.
Once fully inside the fort, in front of them sat Chaya on the throne. Her face and posture radiated absolute authority. Both hands rested on the throne's armrests, one leg crossed over the other. Her green eyes locked on Arya with intensity that could melt steel like ice.
Not flinching or showing any real emotion, Arya met her gaze head-on. His irises slowly turned red from black.
Chaya's strongest followers stood on either side of the throne. Their eyes held a rare glimpse of fear. Every one of them flinched with each step Arya took forward.
As they reached a certain distance, with a snap of his fingers, Arya raised a throne from the ground beneath him. He sat with one leg crossed over the other on his own throne.
Both Chaya's green eyes and Arya's red eyes stared into each other's depths.
Yodha, Leo, and Kavya stood behind arya.
"So, what's the business you called here for, Chaya? I think it's worth my time." arya's voice came, calm and commanding.
Chaya laughed at Arya's words and glanced at the other three.
"Don't get so impatient the moment you arrive, Arya Roy. I called just you to my courtroom, but you bring your underlings too? Maybe even you need security sometimes, haha… Anyway, coming to the point—let's make a deal. We swear alliance. We both rule—not just this dimension, but the world behind that barrier. The whole Shinzuku. What do you say, Arya? I don't see any reason to decline this."
Leo and Kavya froze at Chaya's offer. Even though this was Arya's call, if he accepted it would be the best outcome—because Arya was on the humans' side. Moving their influence to the outside world was already too much, but this seemed like the best way to avoid thousands of deaths. Their minds reeled with the possibilities.
Yodha stood still. Arya's face didn't change a bit. In that moment only Yodha knew what was coming. He felt guilty for hiding this from Leo—but this was for Arya, the man who trusted Yodha the most.
Arya stood from his seat. His long black coat hung on his shoulders. Looking straight into Chaya's eyes:
"I'm sorry if you mistook the situation, Chaya. I'm not on the humans' side, nor coming to your side. I have my own ways—my own things to achieve.
And to achieve what I want… I need this war to happen."
Arya's voice echoed through the courtroom. Stunned silence fell. Chaya's mouth gaped in shock. Her followers started whispering. Leo and Kavya froze in place.
Yodha took a step forward and stood beside Arya. His expression turned serious, eyes scanning the room for any sudden move.
Arya continued:
"Don't be shocked. In fact, I've been preparing for this war since six years ago. My old friend Leo here thought he sealed me—but the moment I was imprisoned, my plan started to take root. Yes, you heard me right. Everything that happened these past six years is all my plan—and that includes you regaining your power, Chaya.
There are no deals. No peace. No alliance. Only a brutal war. And I'm going to definitely win that… and claim what I want."