After their exchange, Sakolomé sat cross-legged in the infinite void. He closed his eyes, his hands resting on his knees, trying to calm the inner turmoil. Around him, there was nothing: no sky, no ground, just this absolute nothingness that seemed to absorb even the slightest breath of energy. Rivhiamë floated nearby, her arms crossed, her glowing red gaze fixed on him.
Seconds turned into minutes. In his mind, Sakolomé tried to call Saiko again and again. "Saiko… if you hear me, manifest yourself. I need you."
But nothing. Only silence, cold and oppressive.
After a while, he sighed in frustration, reopening his eyes.
— I… I don't know… how I'm supposed to do this?
Rivhiamë looked at him, her neutral expression tinged with irritation.
— You don't know how to do it? Sakolomé, you're going about it the wrong way.
She slowly advanced toward him, her bare feet gliding over invisible ground.
— You call him like you would call a friend outside… but Saiko is not outside. He is you, he is inside you. You want to talk to him? Then stop shouting into the void… and dive within yourself.
Sakolomé frowned, intrigued.
— Dive… within myself?
Rivhiamë nodded slowly.
— Yes. Don't look for a voice. Look for a vibration. Close your eyes, slow down every thought until only one remains: who am I? Keep going until all you believe yourself to be collapses. There, in that silence… you will find him. Because he is what remains when there is nothing else.
She placed her icy hand on his forehead.
— Focus on your essence, Sakolomé. You are a pseudo-Deviant… your heart already resonates with his. If you reach him… he will come.
He breathed deeply, closing his eyes again. This time, he cut himself off from the external void. He let go of his breath, his body, his thoughts… until he felt only the inner emptiness.
His memories began to dissolve: his fight against the F-Kgod, Orlongue's voice, even the image of Salomé vanished… A vast silence settled. And within this silence… a whisper. Barely perceptible.
— Finally… you've come this far.
Sakolomé's eyes opened wide, but there was nothing around him, only this whisper vibrating within his being.
In the absolute darkness of his subconscious, a silhouette slowly formed. Saiko appeared, like a sovereign specter, his eternal smirk illuminating his refined features. He radiated that aura of icy irony and absolute confidence.
Sakolomé swallowed, his heart resonating with a strange vibration.
— Saiko…
The entity stepped forward, his eyes shining with an abyssal light piercing Sakolomé's own.
— Finally… you come of your own will. Not because you were forced, not because you hovered on the brink of death. No… by choice. I saw you speak with that demon, Rivhiamë. I know why you're here. You want to improve. You want my help.
He glanced away slightly, crossing his arms with calculated nonchalance.
— But… I don't want to.
Sakolomé froze, his face contorting.
— What? You… you're serious?
A smirk stretched across Saiko's lips.
— Of course. Give me one good reason to help you. One.
Sakolomé clenched his fists, searching for his words.
— You live inside me. For… I don't know how long. Maybe since my birth. And for free!
Saiko raised an amused eyebrow.
— That's all you have? You think I owe you something? Wrong answer. Find something better.
A heavy silence settled. Sakolomé relaxed his shoulders and sighed. Then, unexpectedly, he gave a slight smile.
— Maybe you're right, Saiko…
He raised his eyes to him, his gaze taking on a different, sincere light.
— You know what? I won't try to force you. Nor chain you with empty words. But I'll be honest: knowing that a being like you lives in me… it reassures me. Not because I can use you. But because, in a way, it makes me stronger. I don't want a slave. I want an ally. Not out of debt. By choice.
Saiko remained silent for a moment, staring without blinking. Then he slowly shook his head, his smile widening.
— … That's not what I want to hear.
Sakolomé frowned but stayed calm.
— Maybe. But it's the truth.
He turned his back, taking a few steps into the void.
— So… too bad. If you don't want to, I won't force you.
This time, it was Saiko who froze. He turned abruptly, his smile disappearing.
— Wait… You want to leave just like that? Not even try to beg me?
Sakolomé slightly turned his head, his gaze hard.
— Beg you? Why? To force you to do something you don't want? No. If I did that, it wouldn't be sincere. And you… you're the son of a goddess, aren't you? So you know exactly what you're doing.
He resumed walking into the shadows, his deep voice echoing in the void.
— I can't hate you. I can't chase you away either. Because… I owe you my life. You saved me. Against Grafay. And when the Mana of the Story almost broke me, it was you who kept me going.
An icy silence fell. Saiko remained motionless, his eyes blazing with a strange light. Then, slowly… a different smile formed on his face. No longer mocking. But… dangerous.
— Interesting… Very interesting.
Sakolomé paused a long moment, lowering his head slightly. His voice grew deeper, calmer.
— Anyway… all this to say that if you refuse, you're within your rights. Even if you live in my body… you're a deity. I'm still nothing compared to you.
A silence settled, almost suffocating. Then Saiko sighed, his expression hardening.
— It's… annoying.
Sakolomé raised his head, surprised by the tone.
— Huh?
Saiko slightly frowned, his incandescent gaze settling on him.
— Annoying to hear you say all that with such pure sincerity.
In an instant, his body dissipated like black smoke… before reappearing just in front of Sakolomé. A gigantic shadow crushed him with its presence. Saiko stood there, immense, dominating the space of the void. His perfect features, sculpted by a forgotten divinity, seemed almost unreal.
— Saiko! — exclaimed Sakolomé, a chilling shiver running through him.
The entity raised an eyebrow, his predatory smile reappearing.
— Stop being stupidly terrified, Sakolomé.
He straightened even more, as if to remind him of the abyssal difference between them. His colossal silhouette surpassed 2.8 meters, reducing Sakolomé's 1.8 meters to childlike size. His voice resonated, deep, vibrating like a cosmic bell:
— Listen well. I am Saiko. With my brothers, we have surpassed the level of our father… Wamy, the Black Angel.
These words struck Sakolomé hard.
— Huh? And… what exactly does that mean?
Saiko let out a cold smile.
— It means we are not ordinary entities. We are no longer mere secondary gods. Me, Validus, Carnaticum, Mortuus… and my sister. We are the children of Mü Thanatos, and we have reached a stage… that most gods can't even conceive.
Sakolomé frowned, intrigued.
— … You mean you're… above the classic secondary gods?
Saiko nodded slowly.
— Exactly. We have reached the same level of transcendence as the most powerful of the secondary gods: Issisis I.
Sakolomé was speechless, his lips almost whispering without will:
— Issisis… 1?
— Yes. — replied Saiko with chilling calm. — Our transcendence plunges into the very layers of Madhurya itself.
At these words, Sakolomé's eyes widened.
— The… famous primordial void?
Saiko chuckled softly, his irises shining with a supernatural glow.
— Yes… but not exactly. The Madhurya is not a simple void. It is an abyss with an infinite number of transcending and infinite layers, born from the war of the gods against the demons of the Underworld. An ocean of nothingness of inconceivable scale. But… there is something even older. More abyssal than all other voids.
He tilted his head, lips stretching into a dreadful smile.
— The Primordial Void. The one that existed long before the secondary, tertiary, and quaternary gods, long before worlds. The original nothingness… waiting only to be shaped.
Sakolomé felt a shiver run up his spine. This name resonated like a forbidden truth.
Saiko suddenly clenched his fists, his voice vibrating with an indescribable power.
— And I… will offer you a door to this transcendence.
Sakolomé raised his head, his eyes shining with new determination.
— … You mean…
— Yes. — cut Saiko, his gaze blazing. — I will help you shape your own meta-conceptual attributes through my transcendence. You will not be content to imitate. You will not be a pale copy. You will create your own concept, your own meta-conceptual magic.
These words resonated like a promise engraved in the marble of the void. Sakolomé clenched his fists, his breath growing heavy with emotion.
— I am ready.
A slow smile formed on Saiko's face, a smile that heralded both the grandeur and the horror of what was to come.
— So… prepare yourself. Because what I'm going to teach you… is nothing human.
Silence fell again, but it was no longer empty. It vibrated with cosmic power ready to explode.