"Well if it isn't my favourite human."
Ali looked up into the swirling blackness above him, where a single monstrous eye blinked open in the void — Bahamut's eye, a slitted reptilian pupil so deep it looked like a chasm carved through the cosmos. The slit was pure black, but around its edges swirled faint rivers of purple, like galaxies orbiting the abyss.
"Do you sense what I'm touching right now?" Ali asked, his voice flat, the weight of the Spirit Realm pressing around them both. The shadow cloud dipped closer, that endless eye boring down on him with lazy curiosity.
"Oooh, what is this…" Bahamut's voice rumbled like an earthquake through the void. A low, hungry growl slipped between syllables as the ancient dragon peered through Ali's connection. "Pathetic — but should be good enough indeed…" The monster almost sounded amused as he tasted the faint pulse of power through Ali's hand.
"It started beating after a portal to the Demon World opened. I need to get rid of it before it draws worse trouble." Ali's eyes didn't waver. He'd learned early on: never blink first with Bahamut.
Bahamut's dark laughter coiled around him like smoke. "What you have here is one of multiple hearts belonging to a dragon. A weak dragon… Well — strong compared to you but then again everything is strong compared to you…" The last words dripped with that same mocking bite Bahamut always carried — a god's disdain wrapped in a serpent's grin.
Ali's jaw flexed. "And?" He cut through the posturing with a single word. He had no time for Bahamut's games tonight.
The colossal eye narrowed slightly, as if amused at being pressed. "And? What are you waiting for? Have my creation eat it. He's on the verge of an evolution anyway."
Ali's brow twitched. "Evolution? Will he get a power-up then?"
Bahamut's answer came like thunder in his mind — an ancient hunger creeping through every syllable. "Yes. I built him on my hunger for power — hunger to eat and grow. He's ready to evolve — so he can devour more. Feed him." That monstrous voice rumbled with a note of pride, of savage delight.
Ali's eyes darkened. A flicker of cold amusement crossed his face. "Of course. You needed him to get a taste of Origin after all…"
The swirling void above him stilled. Bahamut's single eye widened — the purple galaxies inside it flaring brighter, pupils tightening as it focused down on Ali like a falling blade.
"You thought I wouldn't know?" Ali's voice was a razor now, cutting through Bahamut's grand games. "Bahamut — from now on, just tell me. I have options. Get that through your ancient skull — you try this sneaky shit again and maybe I decide to never call your name again or your creation. Maybe I lean more into your leader's gifts instead."
The great eye pulsed once — furious, amused, maybe even impressed — before Ali's fingers snapped. Bahamut's gaze flared one last time before the dragon's presence was wrenched backward, sucked screaming through the Gate like storm clouds torn apart by the sun.
Ali's eyes snapped open — back in the cold stone chamber deep under Fort Stork. The monstrous Heart still pulsed under his palm, its slow thrum blind to the threat bearing down on it.
"Shadow. Eat it."
The words weren't shouted — they didn't need to be. At the far end of the chamber, the roiling veil of black that still clung to every surface split apart. Something impossibly massive slithered through the black — a snout like a mountain edge, scales that drank the faint torchlight until they looked like polished void. Shadow's head emerged, teeth like swords glinting in the low light.
Chains rattled. Metal shrieked. Shadow's jaws yawned wide, wide enough to swallow the moon. With a single snap, the monstrous Dragon bit down. Metal split like dry twigs. The Heart vanished between Shadow's teeth in one gory swallow. The beast retreated back into the shifting darkness, the air humming with the deep sound of digestion as power fed something ancient and new growing in its belly.
Ali looked at the shattered chains, the empty stain on the floor where a demonic relic had just been devoured like a discarded scrap. He exhaled, voice echoing low through the abandoned stone vault. "Well. More space for Miles now…"
He snapped his fingers. The shadows that coated every corner of the chamber peeled back like a receding tide, shrinking until they vanished beneath his boots once more. The air felt lighter — but only for now.
Ali turned, boots crunching against the stone as he climbed the stairwell. He stepped back into the warmer glow of Miles's hidden base just in time to see the boy bent forward, a huge steel cable held steady by his watchful robot. The cable's tip gleamed wickedly in the sterile light — then, with practiced precision, the machine guided it into the back of Miles's neck. The boy's body jerked once, then slumped forward as the cold fluid hissed through the line, locking him into icy sleep.
Ali watched, silent. Even after everything he'd seen, it never stopped looking brutal — a boy sleeping with metal teeth buried in his spine.
Before Miles's eyes flickered closed, he spoke in that same drifting tone. "Ali — I didn't mention it before, but when you deal with the Demi-Humans, make them stop whatever they're doing with the beast population. It's a disaster waiting to happen around us. Too many alpha beasts crammed into one territory. It must be their defence plan, but this forest won't hold them — if it breaks, it'll explode in our face."
Ali met his dull eyes and nodded once, no argument. He watched as the robot sealed the ice bed's cover shut, Miles's mind drifting deep into the frost and darkness.
When the robot turned and glided toward the exit, Ali matched its stride. They moved together through the hidden passages — cold light flickering across Ali's clothes until they reached the far end where iron bars glowed faintly under a single blue light in the ceiling.
Inside the cell sat a giant — chained neck to ankle, head bowed under the weight of iron. Ali stopped at the bars, the cold edge of his eyes catching the flicker of the light.
The giant stirred on the cold stone floor, chains clinking and rattling around his thick wrists and ankles. For weeks — or was it months? — the only things he'd seen were flickering cables, steel plating, and the cold glint of walking metal that never slept. Now a new shadow fell across his tiny cell, blocking out the single guttering torch. He lifted his head.
His eyes widened when he saw who stood just beyond the iron bars. Not a machine — but a man, flesh and blood, black-eyed and colder than the chains around his neck.
"YOU—!" The giant's voice cracked the air like a battering ram. He lurched forward, massive arms straining, shoulders bulging under iron bands as a deep blue aura flared to life around him. Sparks crawled along his skin — but the moment the glow ignited, the chains snapped awake.
ZAPPPPP.
A surge of blinding electric blue danced across the iron links, racing through muscle and bone. The giant's roar turned into a strangled gasp as his body seized up, slammed back onto the floor, limbs twitching from the jolt.
Ali didn't flinch. He stepped forward until he was inches from the bars, his eyes so black they looked like polished stone under the torchlight. Slowly, he pulled a ration bar from his inventory and tore the wrapper open with a quiet crack. He bit into the stale, dense block, chewing steadily while the giant wheezed for breath at his feet.
"You took your sweet time sleeping." Ali's tone was calm — the words dropped like stones in a pond. Another bite. Another chew. The giant's face went red as fury burned through the pain.
"Where is Lord Edwin? Let me out of here!" the giant snarled through gritted teeth, chains rattling as he jerked against them. But Ali just stood there, tearing open another bar, devouring it with the same steady rhythm.
"HEY! STOP FUCKING EATING! The giant bellowed, voice booming through the stone corridor. His aura flared again, blue arcs of power crawling over his shackles—
UGH—!
ZAPPPPP!
The chains glowed bright as lightning struck his nerves all over again. His forehead slammed against the floor, sweat dripping down as the scent of burning flesh drifted in the stale air.
Ali popped the last bite into his mouth, chewing slowly, letting the silence stretch until it felt like a noose tightening. Then he exhaled, breath calm as a winter night.
"Listen here, Fainter…"
The giant twitched — the name hit him like another shock, though this one carved deeper than the electric shocks.
Ali's eyes bored through him, flat and cold as he kept speaking. "Edwin died under Thomas's sword yesterday. After that, I killed Thomas."
The giant's blood froze. He stared at the cracked stone floor, eyes wide but empty, the thunder in his veins turning to static.
"No…" The word fell out of his mouth, more breath than voice. His broad shoulders sagged under the weight of a truth too brutal to carry.
Ali didn't stop. His voice cut deeper than any blade. "I took over House Nolan and House Cinder. They don't exist anymore. They're all under me now."
Ali let the silence hang for half a breath, then flicked his fingers. Behind him, the heavy thud of metal landing on stone echoed through the chamber. The black armour — the giant's old second skin — lay at Ali's feet, its dark plating gleaming dully in the torchlight. Beside it, the knight's sword rested in Ali's grip — a blade that had once cleaved men like him free from chains.
Ali held the sword casually at his side, voice a quiet growl now. "Two options. Pick one fast — I don't have time to waste."
He raised one finger. "One — I leave you here. They'll cut you open piece by piece. Day by day, you'll wake up missing more until you're nothing but a husk scraped off the floor."
Fainter shivered. Somewhere deep in his bones, old memories stirred — the crack of a whip, the rattle of chains, the cold voice of a master who saw him as nothing more than meat that moved when commanded.
Ali raised a second finger. "Two — you bend the knee, swear loyalty, wear your armour, pick up your sword, and live a new life under me. Choose."
The knight's breath came rough and uneven. For a moment he stared at the bars — at freedom so close yet so far. He was young, though he didn't look it — no more than twenty-five, face roughened by battle and branded by slavery long before he earned a name. Freedom — Edwin had given him a taste. Ali now dangled it like bait over an abyss.
The knight had only lived a few months in freedom under Edwin, most of his life as a slave and right now he wanted something more than revenge or anger, he wanted life, true life, to fully experience what was taken from him.
Slowly, the giant raised his head. He met Ali's black eyes. Behind that iron stare, he saw the abyss — but he also saw a door. A door out.
His cracked lips parted, voice raw. "I want to be strong. Stronger than I am now. Strong enough so I never find myself like this again."
Chains groaned as he rose — towering, monstrous — metal links snapping free at his ankles with brute force alone. The corners of the cell hissed open, hidden turrets sliding from the walls and whirring to life, their sights locked on the centre of his chest. The giant ignored them. His eyes stayed locked on Ali's — the devil who'd offered him a choice.
'That's interesting, I guess…' Ali watched the giant force himself upright, the heavy chains creaking and sparking as they strained against raw muscle and stubborn will. The air smelled faintly of scorched iron. 'I really didn't care if he joined or not. But now…'
For a moment, a memory cut through the cold stone and flickering light — a memory of another beast, far away in a galaxy drenched in stars and war. Drogath. That stubborn, battle-scarred Rhino of a warrior who could bend steel with his bare hands and toss half a platoon aside when the Force burned through his veins. 'That big bastard was so fucking strong…'
Ali's lips curled into a rare, wolfish smirk as he dropped his gaze to the cracked floor, shaking his head once as the ghost of that lost world drifted through him. 'I wouldn't have to worry about anything if I had that kind of power over the Force right now…'
He lifted his eyes again — the knight stared back, confused but unwavering, chains hanging from his wrists like dead vines.
"Miles. Let him out." Ali tapped the bars once with his knuckles. A hidden click echoed through the cell as thick pistons groaned. The iron bars shuddered and then rose up into the ceiling with a slow grind of gears. At the same time, the magnetic locks buried in the chains flickered blue, then disengaged with a heavy clunk. One by one, the iron bands slid off the giant's arms and ankles, hitting the floor like dropped anvils.
Ali tilted his head, dark eyes narrowing slightly. "Well?"
The knight hesitated only a breath. Then he stepped forward from the cold shadows of the cell and dropped down onto one knee. The stone floor cracked slightly under his weight. He bowed his marked head before Ali
"I—" he began, his voice rough and unsteady. But Ali cut him off with a half-smirk that made the knight's throat tighten all over again.
"Fainter." Ali said the name like a brand. He was enjoying this — the weight of it, the way the big man's jaw flexed when he heard it again.
The knight clenched his fists, steadying his breath, then spoke the vow from somewhere deeper than muscle and bone — words that didn't sound like they belonged to a man who'd once been chained like a beast.
"I, Fainter, do solemnly swear before your noble company, to be your loyal vassal and servant. I vow to uphold your honour, defend your lands, and protect your people from all enemies. I will be brave in battle, proud in war, and true to my word. I will serve with determination and respect, and I will never betray your trust. I pledge my life and my sword to your service, now and forever."
Ali raised an eyebrow. 'Where the hell did a slave learn these fancy words?' Miles had dug up the knight's entire past — from slave pits to Edwin's guard — and nothing in that story explained courtly oaths fit for some ancient kingdom.
Ali's smirk deepened. He lifted a hand and snapped his fingers once. A familiar hum cut through the cold air as his lightsaber blinked into existence — its blade igniting with a sharp hiss, pale light washing across the dark stone and throwing the knight's shadow against the far wall.
Ali lowered the blade, letting the searing plasma hover just above Fainter's broad shoulders. The heat beat back the lingering chill of the cell, the red light flickering across the giant's scarred skin. He traced the edge from shoulder to shoulder, then paused with the blade hovering above the bowed head.
"I accept you as my first Knight."
He deactivated the saber in a single smooth motion — the glow vanished into silence, the hilt flicking back into his inventory.
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