Each step fell like a whisper, swallowed by the endless void below. The faint echo of their steps fell too quickly, as if the air itself refused to carry any sound. The staircase curves down and down, each tread slick with the chill of unseen ages, with their shadows merging with the walls.
Epsilon had to feel the nearby surface with his free hand to, prevent himself from falling forward, all while guiding Ki Song slowly.
The light, whatever little there was, shrank behind them, dimming into a pale memory. Below, there was nothing but blackness, dense and endless, as though the world had forgotten how to exist beyond this descent. Still, they kept walking, one step and then another, guided by the belief that there was an end, that there had to be.
'What the hell am I even doing all this for!??'
"Bob. That treasure that you promised me, do you even remember what it does yet?"
Raising his only eyebrow, he replied,
"The Jin Of Covet? No not really."
Not even a moment later, Bob could feel a wave of discontent exuding from him. He never made the move to senselessly abuse him, but he felt that if he didn't say something that would please him quickly, he'd get beaten up anyway.
'Just wait till I get my body back you bastard, I'll make you pay a hundred fold!'
Faking a panicked voice, he said,
"Wa-wait! Trust me when I say that it's really good! Think about it, I was able to become a supreme because of it! I would've been able to reach even higher if it wasn't for..."
Halfway through his sentence, something shifted. His singular eye flicked to the side, unfocused as the air suddenly grew thin.
Epsilon noticed this change, and calming down he asked,
"Bob? You good?"
The spirit remained silent for moment, trying to realign its thoughts. Quickly enough, he answered,
"Yeah, I think... I think I..."
"..."
"No it's nothing."
His voice sounded clear and free of confusion, but even then, Epsilon thought otherwise. Bob kept a lot of secrets, but unless he was directly asked, Epsilon figured that he wouldn't bother speaking about them.
'That is kind of my fault.. I did tell him to do that.'
"If something is bothering you, I'm willing to listen."
But even that only made him feel worse. He's had to bite down at the mercy of a dormant human already, but now he was being pitied by him too.
Either way, he commended him.
"Thank you."
**
The journey down the stair case was slightly less tormenting.
But soon enough, Epsilon could feel the cold air grow slightly warmer, until eventually, one of his senses that had been dormant for a very long time, finally reawakened.
It was a refreshing feeling, one that he welcomed with open arms.
'Light???'
Excited, Epsilon began to rush down the stairs with faint excitement, being careful to not let Ki Song trip on the way, as they eventually broke out into an open area.
The grand hallway stretched out before them, vast and echoing, built for voices that no longer spoke. Pillars of pale marble rose on either side like sentinels, their surfaces veined with age and light, with torches of glowing white flames burning softly.
The ceiling soared high above, lost in a haze of shadow, where faint paintings and murals clung to the stone, gods and kings, their colours dimmed but not forgotten.
Although the more artistic treasures were here, a certain type of something else was completely missing.
Bob's distressed voice cried out,
"NOOOOOOOOOO! MY GOLD!!! MY JEWELS!!! ALL MY WEAPONS!!!! NO!!!!"
The moment his eyes laid upon the other end of the room though, his attitude took a 180. He almost completely forgot about whatever despair he felt earlier, as he flew to the other end in glee.
At the far end stood an altar, simple yet commanding, carved from a single block of obsidian that caught the faintest glimmer of light and turned it to smoke. Upon it though... that was what peaked his interest.
Resting there, was a single golden oil lamp, small enough to fit between two hands, yet it filled the room with its quiet radiance. Its glow was not bright but deep, an amber warmth that breathed across the cold floor, brushing the faces of the pillars and scattering across the polished stone like the remnants of sunset.
The dark spirit flew towards it immediately.
'Is that it? The Jin Of Covet?'
While walking towards it at his own pace, he felt slightly disappointed. The way Bob had been hyping it up made him think that maybe it was a legendary sword of great power.. or just something cool.
A lamp was one of the last things he expected. And in a place where light was deadly, it was even worse than it could be.
'Well appearances can be deceiving.. and we may need lighting when we leave. I don't want to fight in the dark again.'
As he drew closer towards the lamp though, for the first time in a long while, Ki Song spoke,
"It looks like the genie in the lamp."
The fact she could speak again didn't bother him though, instead, he was just confused.
"The what?"
"Ya know, from the fairy-tale. You rub a golden lamp, and a genie pops out that lets you make three wishes."
He laughed, a quick, nervous sound that died halfway out of his throat. The idea seemed quite stupid.
"Three wishes? What do I even do with that?"
She shot him a weird look.
"They're wishes... you can wish for anything and it happens, I guess? Oh, there are rules though. You can't kill someone, you can't force someone to fall in love, and you can't bring back the dead."
It took him a while to understand. It sounded far too good to be true, especially for someone like him that lived in trenches. But soon enough, he realized how incredible it was.
"WHAT?!"
His voice echoed across the vast hallway, rebounding against the walls as they reverberated in his ears. Coincidentally, it was followed by the ground shaking once again, a result of the Chimera queens attempts to break through to the surface.
He didn't care too much about that though. He was far too concerned with the lamp.
The implications. There were so so many implications.
'One wish for me, one for Ki Song, and the last for Bob.. All three of us can wish for anything??'
For example, he could wish to send him and everyone else to the nearest citadel. All this suffering could end today!
'Scratch that! I need to think even bigger! Could I just wish for a legacy clan, and one would be waiting for me once I get out of here?'
His breathing froze.
'Could I just wish to increase the rank of my Soul?'
There were so so many implications. The power to wish for anything.. if that small lamp truly did hold such power, then today could very well be the greatest turning point in his life.
Maybe that was even undermining it. What happened today could ripple throughout history.
Puffing from his nose, he started to sprint all the way to the end of the hallway, with Ki Song stumbling behind him.
It was only then that she realized, that Epsilon was holding her by the wrist.
Of course, he'd gone out of his way to hold her like that, rather than by her hand so she wouldn't get the wrong idea, but it was still just a little bit... embarrassing?
Another dark thought then occurred to her,
'He's been holding me like.. this the whole time..?'
Completely helpless, a flustered pink colour began to rise from her neck to the tips of her ears in a sudden rush. A strangled, high-pitched sound escaped her, half squeal, half groan, as she turned herself away.
Reflexively, she tugged harshly on her arm, causing Epsilon who was still holding onto it to be yanked back too.
**
A while later, Epsilon was rubbing the back of his head in pain.
'The heck is her problem?'
Ki Song stood an awkward distance away from him now, but close enough to still observe the mysterious lamp, as well as what would happen next.
Shaking his head, he completely forgot about the matter though. Right now there was bigger fish to fry.
Shinning with gold elegance, was the lamp that he had come here for. After this, his contract with Bob would be complete, and the two would part ways.
"So how do I use this thing?"
Bob conveyed, struggling to hide his excitement,
"Just rub it!"
Picking up the lamp carefully, he held it as though afraid it might crumble under his touch. Its metal was warm from his hands, the gold catching faint glints of light like embers beneath ash. He brushed his thumb along the engraved patterns, tracing the curves and symbols that seemed to shift under his skin.
There was a single phrase written on the lamp in runic, which the spell kindly translated for him.
[The everlasting, never ending absolute.]
Epsilon didn't think about it too much, it just seemed like a load of crap.
When he began to rub it, it wasn't with greed or haste, but something closer to reverence. Each motion was slow, deliberate — the way one might handle a sacred relic or the memory of something once loved. A delicate touch.
At first, nothing happened.
But soon enough, it reacted.
The lamp began to vibrate and tremble.