“Ride the Wave!” Eli shot forward like a spear hurled by a rising tide, spray in his wake.

Zero slipped aside, smooth as a fish cutting through reeds. He snapped a kick that sent Eli skidding like driftwood.

He laughed, bright and cruel. “Hahahahaha. That? You call that riding the wave?”

Eli whipped around, heat in his chest, and flung a fistful of sand. “Laugh at your own damn joke.”

Zero hopped back a few steps, then shrugged, lazy as a cat in sun. “At your speed, you couldn’t catch a dump while it’s still steaming. And you wanted to ambush me?”

Eli rammed his sword into the ground and hauled himself upright, breath ragged, pride prickling.

“Up yours! If you’ve got guts, stand still and fight!” He jabbed a middle finger, fury like a struck match.

He charged again, sword lifted, lungs burning. “Ride the—”

Zero blinked like a spark, and suddenly stood at Eli’s side. He took in Eli’s stunned face, the way a prankster admires his own trap. He smiled, eyes half-mooned. “Boo. I’m here.”

Thud.

The sword tip halted one finger-width from Zero’s chest, as if the air itself had turned to stone.

Metal shrieked. Eli’s blade snapped, like ice hitting rock.

Zero’s grin tilted, wicked and light. “Aiya. No bite. I told you—until you pierce this shield, you haven’t truly learned the move.”

Eli dropped to one knee, lungs bellowsing, sweat cold as rain.

A month of brutal drills had carved his will thin. He couldn’t track Zero’s ghostly footwork, couldn’t stomach his twisted teaching.

Zero eyed Eli’s sorry state and shook his head, like a teacher staring at a spilled inkpot. “Good thing no one saw. Even a soaked stray looks classier than you right now.”

Eli ground his teeth. He was starting to think Zero had a personal grudge. That mouth was poison tipped.

He lifted his sword just enough to shoo Zero away. Even that small motion scraped the bottom of the well.

Zero was happily sprinting along the rock walls, feet tapping stone like raindrops. He saw Eli sag and sighed. “Welp, time.”

He blinked back to Eli, patted his shoulder. “Kid, ease up on the self-love. Look at you—flat on the floor already. So young and you’re running on fumes. Tragic.”

Eli shot him a venomous look, then shut his eyes and worked his breath, drawing calm like water into a cracked cup.

Zero chuckled. He pulled a pure white stone from his pocket realm and set it on Eli’s chest.

He watched, satisfied, as each of Eli’s breaths drew pale mist from the stone, like dawn fog sinking into thirsty soil.

“Birand, oh Birand. You made me bleed. I won’t let you sleep easy.” Zero cocked his head, smile warm, eyes winter-cold.

He patted Eli’s shoulder, helpless shrug. “Not much time left for you to level up. Stopping Birand’s revival? Basically impossible. Guess the ‘other storyline’ won’t give us a perfect ending.”

“Damn it. If only the Celestial God had said a few more words,” Zero muttered, irritation crackling like static.

He paused, an idea catching like a kite in wind. “At this point, if the Celestial God wakes, she’ll just get in the way. A clueless brat. Better let her sleep. Next step is sending Edlyn into the Abyss to wake that guy.”

“What future will we get? I can’t wait to see.” He looked down at Eli’s sleeping face, smiled, and shook his head, like a brother tucking away a secret.

—

“How… how is this possible!” Wever stared at that face, every limb shaking like reeds in a gale.

“You—you were killed by Lord Yuris. The Celestial God helped. How can you still be alive!”

His fear crawled like frost across glass, catching the others—holders of Divinity with chains at their throats.

They all turned to Wever, voices rough. “Wever! Who is this man?”

Some yanked at the iron collars at their necks, metal biting, breath hard as steam.

Zero shrugged, casual as wind over grass. “If that’s your story, write it. If you think they killed me, then remember this.”

He yanked Wever forward until they shared breath. With a rogue’s smile, he fisted Wever’s collar, drank in that terrified face, and laughed, wild as thunder over a black sea. “Me? I crawled back from the Inferno to settle accounts with you. Hahahahaha!”

“Aaah! No—Hero, don’t kill me! I didn’t—I didn’t betray you!” The killing intent hit him like winter surf, and his bravado cracked.

He had lived back then by being scared enough to run. He’d lost only a little power and kept his neck.

Zero watched him and chuckled. “You’re hilarious.”

The room of Divinity holders stared at Zero in the center, then shot unsure looks at Wever. “Wever, are you sure this lord… is the Hero?”

Zero tossed Wever aside and rolled a shoulder. “Nope. You fools. I just borrowed a face. Don’t get so wound up.”

He slipped on a mask. “Mask on means no true name. You were curious, so I mimicked Birand’s way of talking. What? Doesn’t fit your palate?”

Wever trembled. He didn’t know how much of Zero’s words were truth, but a breath ago he’d felt the Hero’s scent, sharp as iron.

Even if this man wasn’t Birand, he had to be someone close to him. And that strength—like a mountain under storm—stole the air from Wever’s lungs.

Of course he prayed Zero wasn’t Birand. In the end, they’d all had a hand in Birand’s death.

If it was him, with that man’s temper, mercy was a fairy tale.

He clutched at a thread of comfort. Back then, Birand was butchered by Lord Yuris and the Celestial God together. No way he lived. With the Celestial God there, he couldn’t even have entered the Inferno. He should’ve been erased, body and soul.

Wever remembered the face that saw everyone as food. His gut turned to ice.

Zero said, “Don’t fret. Birand and I are enemies. I won’t make things too hard on you.”

The one who’d spoken first stepped up, voice measured, eyes cautious as a hunter’s. “Then, my lord, you wear a human aura, yet wield this power. The Demon Race is reviving. Why not join us to strike them? Why chain us here? What do you want?”

Zero’s voice was lazy, like smoke. “I told you. I’m here to negotiate. Refusal has consequences. You get that.”

“So—coercion?” the man said, brow knotting.

Zero yanked his chain, dragged him close, and drove a kick into his face. The man flew, hit stone, and rolled like a broken wheel.

He lay there, teeth scattered like rice, mouth a garden of blood, glaring up through red haze.

Zero let the smile fall away. “Now tell me. Coercion, or a talk?”

The man tried to speak. His jaw hung wrong. Only his eyes moved, stunned, glassy.

Zero nodded and put the smile back on. “Right. From those honest eyes, I get you. Okay then, lambs—ah, no, holders of Divinity. I want you to take every last soul in the Miter Empire and leave this land within one month.”

“What!”

—

Eli opened his eyes. His whole body felt light, like stepping onto the Sacred Rank’s terrace, energy pouring through him like sunlight.

Zero came out of meditation, a tired line at the corner of his mouth. He smiled. “Ah. Awake, Hero?”

Eli frowned at him. He knew this new surge was Zero’s doing.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re too slow. Keep this pace and by the time you walk out, the whole mess will be over.”

“Over what?” Eli asked, brow tight.

Zero leaned close, grin sly as a fox. “Like a little lass named Edlyn getting married?”

Eli froze. Panic flickered. “What happened?”

Zero flapped his hands. “Hey, hey, calm down. I’m teasing you. Seriously?”

Eli fell silent, knuckles white, breath cooling like quenched steel.

“Ah, adolescence. Such a headache,” Zero said, laughing with his shoulders.

“Mm. Since you’re centered again, how about another try?” He flicked the sword up with his toe.

Eli caught it, stirred his Battle Aura, and set his stance, spine like a drawn bow.

“Ride the Wave!” He thrust, a rainbow spearing the sun, speed eerie, momentum roaring like surf.

Zero didn’t move. He watched the blade come in, calm as a pier in a storm.

His energy barrier held for one heartbeat—then shattered like glass in hail.

Zero slid back fast, then sent out two palms, smooth as wind over fields, bleeding off Eli’s force and stopping the surge.

He nodded. “Mm. Not bad. Next round of training starts now.”

“What? Are you kidding me—there’s more?!”

“Duh. You learned a sliver of sword and think you’re done? Keep dreaming.” Zero looked down at the suddenly deflated Eli with pure disdain, like a cat staring at soggy fish.