The moment things settled and the initial chaos of five Veneris existing at once stopped frying my brain, my instincts as an Omniscient kicked in.
If I was going to survive this situation—emotionally and strategically—I needed data.
I lifted my hand and activated my System. Streams of sapphire text and structural diagrams unfolded in layered holograms with each pane locking onto one of the Pentarchs as my System analyzed their energy signatures, Tethers and soul composition.
"Alright, let's see what kind of monsters you've turned into…"
The sapphire-eyed one—the Protection Pentarch—was the first to be fully scanned. His profile expanded into a neat panel.
[Protection Pentarch]
[Pinnacle Tether: Sapphire Materialization]
[Base Tethers: Circlecraft, Rune Drawing, Soul and Body Reconstruction, Limitless, Soul Vision, Sapphire Bond, Inventory (Sapphire eyes and energy colour)]
"So you kept all the magecraft."
He gave a smug little shrug. "Perks of being the shield, apparently."
I shifted my gaze to the cerulean-eyed one, the Water Pentarch. The moment my System turned onto him, the data density spiked dramatically.
[Water Pentarch]
[Pinnacle Tether: Omniphage]
[Base Tethers: Mystic Eyes of Awareness, Soul and Body Reconstruction, Limitless, Soul Vision, Sapphire Bond, Inventory (Cerulean eyes and energy)]
"Oh. So you're basically the main character now."
"Wasn't I always?"
That explained the overwhelming presence he was radiating compared to the others. Omniphage alone was a conceptual nightmare and he still had reconstruction, awareness and Limitless scaling stacked on top of that. I think this was how the Original Vastarael was supposed to be.
Next was the green-eyed one.
[Time Pentarch]
[Base Tethers: Mystic Eyes of Time, Soul and Body Reconstruction, Limitless, Soul Vision, Sapphire Bond, Inventory (Green eyes and energy)]
He blinked at his panel, then at me. "That's it?"
"You're still terrifying conceptually. Time manipulation doesn't need a long skill list to be broken."
"I miss having more toys."
Then I moved to the gold-eyed one—the Justice Pentarch.
[Justice Pentarch]
[Base Tethers: Memory Implantation and Extraction, Soul and Body Reconstruction, Limitless, Soul Vision, Sapphire Bond, Inventory (Gold eyes and energy)]
He stared at the panel for a few seconds, then looked down at his hands. "I am objectively the weakest, aren't I?"
"In direct combat? Yes. Emotionally and psychologically? You're probably the scariest."
He crossed his arms, looking mildly offended but unable to argue. Finally, my System focused on the pink-eyed one sitting closest to me.
[Love Pentarch]
[Base Tethers: Peony Creation, Sapphire Bond, Soul and Body Reconstruction, Limitless, Soul Vision, Inventory (Soft Pink eyes and energy)]
The panel shimmered faintly but unlike the others, my System kept flagging subtle anomalies in his emotional output. The Love Divinity wasn't just a conceptual authority. It was actively interacting with my own emotional channels.
All five of them were still adjusting to their new limitations. Since he's still an Aeterium, all his Pentarchs still had his three Aeterium capabilities. It's a wonder why Sapphire Bond is included though...
The Love Pentarch lifted a hand and tried to summon a Mystic Circle the way Veneri normally did. Nothing happened. He blinked, then tried again, focusing harder. Still nothing.
"I can't do it," he said, sounding genuinely disappointed.
The Water Pentarch snorted. "Let me try something you actually own."
Water Veneri attempted to summon peonies. A faint glow appeared and it abruptly collapsed into a splash of water that drenched his sleeve.
"You just summoned your element," the Love Pentarch laughed.
"Shut up."
Despite the awkwardness, the reality was obvious. Even split, they were still terrifying.
All of them retained their combat experience. Their muscle memory, tactical instincts and Soul Energy control were intact. And when one of them casually extended his hand and Calimostria shimmered into existence—followed by four more identical glaives materializing in the others' grasps—I realized the weapon had split itself along with him.
Each Pentarch also still had twelve pseudo-cores inside their bodies. Those hadn't been divided, meaning every single one of them had absurd energy reserves on top of their Divinities. In short, instead of one overpowered man, I was now dealing with five slightly specialized, still-overpowered men.
I was so absorbed in the data that I didn't immediately register my own physical position. It was only when I shifted slightly and felt a solid chest behind my back that I froze.
"Wait."
I looked down. I was sitting on someone's lap.
The Love Pentarch's arms were loosely wrapped around my waist with his chin resting near my shoulder like this had been the most natural thing in the world. Apparently, while I had been busy analyzing holograms, he simply pulled me onto him and I hadn't even noticed because my mind was focused on the System.
"Can you let go of me?"
He tightened his hold slightly instead.
"I'm comfortable."
"That's not the point!"
I tried to push myself up but the moment I did, a strange warmth spread through my chest. It wasn't physical strength stopping me. It was a subtle pressure on my emotions, like my own desire to move was being gently toned down and replaced with a quiet, dangerous sense of contentment.
I slumped back against him before I could stop myself. He chuckled softly against my ear.
"See? You don't actually want to leave."
His Boon was amplifying his Love Divinity, clouding my thoughts. My logical mind was screaming at me to get up but my body felt weak as I leaned against him instead.
"I'm not satisfied yet, you know."
It took every ounce of willpower I had to even keep my thoughts coherent.
"You're… cheating."
The other Pentarchs started to come closer.
"Wow," the Water Pentarch said, smirking. "She's actually blushing."
"She's always been easy to fluster," the Protection one added casually.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!"
They began teasing me, pointing out how cute I looked when I was flustered, how my ears twitched when I got embarrassed, how I kept pretending to resist even though my body kept leaning back into the Love Pentarch's warmth. One of them brushed a strand of hair from my face. Another tapped my cheek lightly.
"Please, stop touching me!"
The worst part was that a traitorous part of me actually… liked it. I hated that they noticed this.
"You're saying no but your emotional response is clearly positive."
"Shut up, Justice freak!"
Eventually, they pulled back, stepping away with exaggerated sighs.
"You're boring," the Time Pentarch said lazily. "You like it but keep pretending you don't."
I tried to stand up quickly, only to be pulled back down as the Love Pentarch wrapped his arms around me again.
"I'm not pretending..."
He tilted my chin up gently. His pink eyes were soft but undeniably mischievous. Then he kissed me.
My brain went completely blank.
It wasn't aggressive or forceful and with the Love Divinity amplifying every emotion, every sensation felt magnified. My resistance crumbled before I could even organize a proper protest. When he finally pulled back, I was left staring at him, completely dazed.
That was when the realization hit me with terrifying clarity. Out of all five Pentarchs, he was the most dangerous to me.
I slowly pried his arms off me and stood up, taking several steps back, putting physical distance between us.
"I am not keeping that one around unsupervised."
He pouted dramatically. "That's cruel."
"It's self-preservation. If I stay near you too long, I'll forget I'm supposed to be the rational one in this relationship. Now let's call Ely here. We need to discuss how to handle this."