"I need a substantial amount of power to fight him and his Gods," Arcturus murmured, his eyes distant.
Scream placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is a multiverse said to be filled with powerful beings."
Arcturus glanced at her. "Is that so. How do I not know of it?"
"It's far from here," she said calmly. "Devoid of light. The last time I went anywhere near it my ship was swarmed before I even landed."
Arcturus stood. "Then we go there. I will absorb their power and store it in this."
He held up the orb, turning it slowly in his hand. Then quietly, almost to himself — "I will call you the Absolute."
Scream said nothing. She turned and began preparing the ship for takeoff. Arcturus watched the stars through the viewport, something close to anticipation on his face, as the ship pulled away into the dark.
Eight years passed.
The final planet of the void multiverse trembled beneath Arcturus's feet. He stood over the last surviving being of an entire multiverse — a creature that had outlasted everything else, worlds and gods alike — and it looked up at him with broken eyes.
"Please," it said. "Show me mercy."
Arcturus extended his arm. The light left the creature's body slowly, drawn upward like smoke, and flowed into the Absolute. The ground began to shake. Across the dying planet, the last embers of life went out one by one until there was nothing left. The Absolute's surface shifted and deepened — and turned pitch black.
Scream approached from behind, her footsteps careful on the crumbling ground. "Now that you hold the power of an entire multiverse — what is our next step?"
Arcturus held the Absolute out toward her without a word.
She reached for it. The moment her hands closed around it her knees buckled. She fought to hold it — arms shaking, teeth clenched — and then it slipped. The impact as it hit the ground sent a shockwave rippling outward, carving a crater into the planet's surface. Scream stared at it, her voice barely steady.
"I can't hold it. It won't allow me to."
Arcturus looked at the crater for a moment. Then he reached down and lifted the Absolute effortlessly. "Don't trouble yourself. I'll carry it."
Back aboard the ship — a vessel large enough to crush a small city beneath its shadow — the army waited. As Arcturus and Scream walked through the corridor every soldier dropped to one knee. Most of them were survivors of worlds Arcturus had torn apart. They had chosen to follow the thing that destroyed their homes rather than die with them. Arcturus had never asked them why.
He stepped up beside his throne and turned to face them.
"The Absolute God has spent eternity pursuing perfection," he said, his voice carrying through the silence without effort. "He destroys everything that falls outside his design. He fears the strong because the strong are the only ones who could ever challenge his rule." He paused. "I am that challenge. And with this—" he raised the Absolute, its black surface drinking in the light around it, "—I will kill him. And every God he ever made."
The army roared.
Arcturus stood before his throne, the Absolute hovering before him. He reached out and tried to draw its power into himself.
Nothing.
He tried again. And again. Each attempt met with the same silence. The power sat within the orb — vast, absolute, completely out of reach.
The temperature in the room dropped. His servants felt it before they understood it — a pressure settling over them like a physical weight, squeezing the air from their lungs. Several fell to their knees not in reverence but in the simple inability to remain standing. None of them dared make a sound.
Scream stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "Calm yourself, my liege."
The pressure lifted slowly. Arcturus exhaled and lowered himself onto his throne. His servants trembled back to their feet in silence.
"Your power only allows you to absorb energy from living things," Scream said quietly.
Arcturus stared at the orb. "I conquered an entire multiverse." The words came out low and controlled, which somehow made them more frightening than if he had shouted. "And it fails me."
"There is a way."
He looked at her.
"Our scouts found a planet," she said. "Abundant with life. Enough to awaken the Absolute's power from within."
"What planet?"
Scream met his gaze.
"Earth."
"You can," Arcturus said.
The maid entered, connected the television set, and looked up at him. "What would you like to watch? History, geography, politics?"
"History."
She left. Arcturus settled into the chair across from the screen and watched the small moving images in silence.
Now I will know more about these people.
A week passed.
At the hospital Annie was staring at nothing again. Debra noticed first.
"Something on your mind?"
"It's nothing," Annie said, unconvincingly.
Ivy appeared and wrapped both arms around Debra from behind, grinning over her shoulder at Annie. "Look at her. She's obviously in love."
Annie looked at both of them. "Unlike the two of you, this is the first time I've ever felt this way about someone."
Ivy released Debra and took Annie's hands. "Then what are you still doing here? We can handle the patients. Go to your man."
Annie was already reaching for her coat.
She arrived at the hotel slightly out of breath and asked the receptionist for Arcturus's room.
The receptionist smiled gently. "He checked out a couple of days ago. Is he your boyfriend?"
Annie's face went pink. The receptionist chuckled and slid something across the desk — a watch. "He left this behind."
Annie picked it up and turned it over in her hands. Then she heard her name.
She turned. Arcturus was standing in the lobby, a bag over one shoulder, looking at her like he'd been half expecting her to show up.
They went for a walk. The city moved around them and neither of them paid it any attention.
"I thought I might not see you again after the last time we spoke," Arcturus said.
Annie glanced up at him. "You did say I could visit whenever I liked."
He stopped walking. He turned to look at her — and smiled, slow and certain.
"What took you so long?"
Her cheeks burned. "Well I — I just—"
He laughed quietly. "Are you free tomorrow?"
She nodded, trying to look composed.
"Good." He held her gaze a moment longer than necessary. "Go on. You'll be late."
She walked away smiling. He watched her go.
You will be the vessel for the Absolute, Annie.
Three months became six. Six became a year. Arcturus proposed on a quiet evening — just the two of them, no ceremony, no audience. Annie said yes before he finished asking.
They married. They moved in together. A year later Annie was pregnant.
She was watching the evening news when the report came in:
Following the Rippers' attack on the eastern province, S-Rank Protectors Dan and Owen pushed back the assault. Seventy-six people are confirmed missing. Fifty-two confirmed dead.
Annie placed a hand over her belly. "These attacks are getting worse," she murmured. "I hope you won't grow up afraid, little one."
She didn't hear Arcturus approach. A hand passed slowly over her head and she slumped forward, unconscious before she could react.
Arcturus stepped in front of her. He held the Absolute in his palm and looked at it for a long moment.
"Your birth will be the key to my rebellion."
He compressed the orb down — smaller and smaller until it was almost nothing. Then he gently tilted Annie's head back, opened her mouth and let it dissolve past her lips. Her body absorbed it without resistance.
Her womb began to glow.
Arcturus leaned forward and studied the silhouette within. A grin spread slowly across his face.
Nine months later Annie was in the labor ward. Debra held her hand, coaching her through every breath. Ivy paced behind them both, equal parts nervous and encouraging.
Twenty-four hours passed. Arcturus sat outside the labor room alone, completely still.
Debra appeared in the doorway. "You can go in."
Annie was sitting up in bed when he entered, exhausted and glowing in the way only new mothers do. She looked up at him and smiled. Then she looked back down at the small life in her arms and kissed his forehead softly.
"Your name," she whispered, "will be Kagekami."
Ten years had passed.
Kagekami grew up under Arcturus's watchful eyes — helping Annie around the house, learning the shape of ordinary life, never quite understanding why his father looked at him the way he did.
One afternoon Kagekami was sitting in the living room watching television when Arcturus appeared in the doorway.
"Follow me."
Kagekami switched off the TV and followed him out of the city, through the edge of town and into an open field far from anything familiar. He looked around then back at his father.
"Dad, what are we doing out here?"
Arcturus turned. Ten years of frustration sat behind his eyes, barely contained.
"Ten years," he said, his voice low and tight. "Ten years I waited. For what. Nothing."
Kagekami took a step toward him and reached out, his hand finding his father's shoulder.
Arcturus's fist drove into his gut.
Kagekami crumpled to the ground. Before he could process what had happened the kicks came — methodical and relentless. He curled inward, hands over his face. A heel came down on his head and the world tilted sideways.
When it stopped Arcturus stood over him, breathing steady, expression cold.
"You are a mistake. You should never have been born. The mere thought of me being your father fills me with utter disgust. Killing myself wouldn't change the fact that you are absolute filth. Your birth was a sin, and I am the punishment." He looked down at him one final time. "I will make sure you live in hell."
He walked away.
Arcturus glanced back once at the boy lying in the dirt and thought to himself — Useless. His body is that of a regular person. I am a God and I can feel nothing in him — no power, nothing extraordinary. Perhaps the next one will not disappoint me this way.
Kagekami lay in the field for a long time. The tears came without permission and he let them fall, then wiped them away, then dragged himself upright and began the long walk home.
Annie was at the door when he arrived, arms folded, worry carved into her face.
The door creaked open. She saw him — bruised, battered, moving carefully — and crossed the room before he could speak.
"What happened to you?"
Kagekami lowered himself to the floor. "It's nothing, Mum."
She didn't argue. She got the first aid kit and knelt beside him, working quietly and carefully. When most of the damage was covered she tilted his chin up gently and looked at him.
"You're going to be a big brother."
Something shifted behind his eyes. The pain moved aside and made room for something else entirely — something fierce and protective that hadn't been there before. A smile broke across his face, slow and genuine.
Annie smiled back.
If my little sister is born he will hurt her, Kagekami thought. No. I won't allow it. Anyone who dares touch her will pay.
The door opened. Arcturus walked in, his gaze passing over Kagekami like he wasn't there.
Annie stood. "Honey — someone hurt Kagekami—"
"He's a man," Arcturus said without breaking stride. "Let him handle it himself."
Kagekami grit his teeth. He got up, walked to his room and lay down on his bed staring at the ceiling.
Mum, he thought. You're so happy with him. If I told you the truth about who he really is it would destroy you. I won't do that to you.
Months passed. Arcturus's abuse of Kagekami continued — quiet, deliberate, always out of Annie's sight.
Then Annie gave birth to a baby girl. They named her Sora.
Months after Sora's birth Arcturus sat in the living room cradling her, one finger stroking her forehead gently. Sora looked up at him with wide curious eyes. Then her tiny hand closed around his finger.
And snapped it.
Arcturus went completely still. Then slowly a smile spread across his face — the truest smile he had worn in ten years.
She inherited the Absolute.
Eight years passed. Sora grew up wrapped in Annie's warmth and Arcturus's carefully disguised interest, never knowing what either of them truly meant to the man who called himself her father.
One afternoon Kagekami took her out for ice cream. He let go of her hand for a moment and looked up at a large digital billboard overhead as it broadcast:
Following in her father's footsteps, Ms. Kasami has become the youngest S-Rank Protector in recorded history…
Kagekami thought to himself,"Ms Kasami….."
As Kagekami looked to his side Sora was gone as he called out for her his heart pounded in fear as he began to look for her
Sora had followed a cat as it run into an alley the cat hide it self as Sora looked for it.
She then said,"Kagekami the cat's gone"
As she turned around and so no one she called out to Kagekami as she crouched and began crying.
A hand tapped on Sora's nose as she opened her eyes a say a girl looking at her with a gentle smile as she said,"Hello. My name's Saito what's your name?"
Sora wiped off her tears as she replied,"S-Sora"
Saito asked her,"are you alone?"
Sora moved closer to Saito as she said,"I lost my brother he was buying me ice-cream"
Saito held Sora's hand as she said,"Do you know the way home?"
Sora nodded as Saito began walking Sora home.
Meanwhile Kagekami had looked for Sora everywhere as he decided to go back home and tell his mother about what happened.
As he reached the door, it suddenly opened as Kagekami and Saito's eyes met Kagekami looked at her as a thought flickered in his head, she's cute.
Kagekami then paused as he said,"Wait a minute who are you?"
Sora run towards Kagekami as she hugged him tightly.
Annie walked out of the house as she said,"She brought Sora after you lost her"
Kagekami looked at her as Saito said to Annie,"I should be on my way home "
Annie looked at Kagekami as she said,"Kagekami. Kindly escort her. You can come by whenever you want Saito."
Saito smiled as she began walking home with Kagekami.
Saito kept quiet the whole time as Kagekami thought of what he would say,"You live close by" Kagekami asked as Saito hesitated and replied,"yes"
As Kagekami was about to speak Saito stopped walking as she said,"Thank you for escorting me"
Kagekami replied,"Oh. No problem…I'll see you soon"
Months passed as Saito became part of the family. Kagekami was sleeping in his bedroom. Annie called out to Kagekami as he went to the seating room noticing Arcturus walking out of the house.
Annie said to Kagekami,"I'm going out with your father and will be back tomorrow." holding Kagekami's shoulder,"Protect Sora for me and make sure she eats and baths"
Kagekami nodded in agreement as she continued on saying,"The number of patients at the hospital who were attacked by Rippers is increasing."
Kagekami clenched his fist as he said,"I'd do anything to protect Sora"
Annie smiled as she walked out of the house towards the car saying,"Love you and don't forget to tell Sora i love her"
As Annie entered the car Arcturus glanced at Kagekami as he entered the car and drove off
Kagekami walked into the house.
Night time had come as Arcturus took Annie to a five star restaurant.
Annie eat the food as she looked at Arcturus thinking to herself,"Arcturus hasn't even touched his food."
Arcturus whispered to himself,"Sora…"
Shooting out of his seat,"As soon as she grows up at the right state, I will take what's rightfully mine!" Annie looked at Arcturus in shock as he grinned saying,"I will have it all"
A man seated across from from Arcturus stood up as he held his shoulder squeezing him as he said to Arcturus,"You better sit down. Or else"
Arcturus glanced at him as the man got cut into pieces everyone in the restaurant froze in fear as the rushed to the exit Arcturus spoke his words like stakes through the heart,"Who ever opens that door will be a distant memory"
Annie looked up at Arcturus from her seat as she said,"Who-what are you?"