Location: Astral Legion Headquarters – Lower Division Research WingTime: Three days after the Blood Moon War
The air was cold—not by temperature, but by design. The lower floors of the Astral Legion were wrapped in silence and dread. Fluorescent lights flickered as if in mourning, humming weakly above iron corridors that hadn't seen sunlight in years. No footsteps echoed. These halls weren't built for comfort. They were built for containment.
And Ingress walked them like a king returning to a forgotten throne.
He had arrived unannounced. No flashy entrance. Just a whisper of wind, a flash of red in his coat, and suddenly, the head of security was escorting him down to the Black Room—the Legion's confidential intelligence and weaponry vault.
Behind him, two Legion officials carried a weathered metal case. Inside it: a cracked holotape labeled only with the word Nethersea.
The Black Room opened like a mechanical beast, hissing steam as doors parted.
Inside, the High Council of the Astral Legion awaited.
Ten chairs surrounded a data table, but only four were occupied—men and women who governed the world's last defense against extinction-level threats. They looked up from their reports with a mix of confusion and curiosity.
Ingress stood in the center, removing his coat with a flourish before pressing a button on the table. The lights dimmed, and the holotape played.
What they saw made the room grow colder.
A video—grainy, yet undeniably real.
Jessie, On the floor.Neve, On her knees.And there, in the middle of a decaying battlefield...Kazimir, transformed—eyes glowing with cosmic lightning, his voice echoing across realms.
Kazimir (in Maw form):"I am the Eye. And you are no longer needed."
As the video ended, silence reigned.
High Commander Orwyn:"…That form. I've read about it in the Eclipse Files. It matches the creature from the forbidden era... But that was a myth."
Scientist Verrick:"He's not just a warrior. He's a nullity-class entity masquerading as a man. That power—it doesn't belong on this planet. It's beyond the dynasties, beyond the gods we worshipped."
Ingress (smiling calmly):"Exactly. And the girl beside him? Riah—the flame of Solaris. A supposed savior. Yet she's willingly walking hand-in-hand with our world's extinction."
High Commander Orwyn:"...They saved cities. Protected the people."
Ingress:"Temporarily. But at what cost? You saw it. That power is not sustainable. Kazimir has never been human. He was created by a god of destruction, and now he walks around carrying the capacity to erase dimensions. What happens when he loses control again?"
He clicked again. Another screen appeared—schematics of the Infinite Dimension Simulator, a project the Astral Legion had been quietly developing beneath the surface. A pocket reality—endless, shifting, and built to contain anomalies... or study them.
Ingress:"What if I told you we had a way to trap him? Not kill—yet. But study. Learn. Use his energy as a limitless battery, one that powers all of Capriha. One that turns our species into gods."
Verrick:"We'd need bait. And an environment capable of adapting to nullity waves."
Ingress:"You have both. The simulator… and her."
He tossed a folder across the table. It slid open to reveal pictures of Riah.
Ingress:"She's tied to Solaris's last breath—one half of the divine equation. Their bond is our key. If we scan there data through energy waves and use it to create artifacts to rebel against them.
Orwyn:"...You're asking us to turn our heroes into lab rats."
Ingress (grinning):"I'm asking you to save humanity from itself. If they find out what Kazimir truly is, panic will erupt. But if we act now? We take control of history. Of destiny."
The council went quiet again.
Then Verrick spoke softly:
Verrick:"What about Jessie? His sister. She won't let this happen."
Ingress:"Then she dies in the simulation."
Location: Elsewhere in the Astral Legion – Restricted Dorm Wing
In a chamber of reinforced glass, a woman dressed in black stood alone.
Her veil flowed like shadow dipped in silk, eyes as bottomless as the void.
She watched a spinning hourglass—grains suspended mid-fall.
Cytherea.
She did not speak.
But her presence was already influencing the timeline. The moment Ingress entered the council chambers… she smiled faintly behind the veil.
Because this?
This was the correct thread.
And soon, Kazimir would be standing exactly where she wanted him.