The ground trembled before the skies even split.
A ripple in the Hivemind warned me first.Peke's sudden silence confirmed it.And then the heavens opened.
Columns of light stabbed down from orbit.Devilukean warships—sleek, massive, humming with enough power to turn Sainan into glass.
At the center, descending with a roar that silenced even the birds, stood the King.
Gid Lucione Deviluke.The strongest being in the known galaxy.And Lala's father.
He didn't need an introduction. His aura burned. Every living thing within a kilometer froze under the pressure.
Behind him, soldiers poured out—an army clad in Deviluke armor, weapons gleaming. The air shimmered with teleport gates, locking down every exit.
Haruna trembled.Yami stiffened, hair rising like blades.Lala's eyes widened, her voice a breathless whisper:"Papa…?"
His gaze swept across the schoolyard—cold, sharp, predatory.Not at his daughter.At me.
"I came because of the reports. A parasite. A voice in my daughter's ear. A thing trying to crawl into my bloodline."
Every soldier raised their weapons.Cannons hummed.The ground beneath us cracked with the weight of their charge.
I pulsed inside Lala, calm, collected.
"So. The King himself notices me already."
"You're not worthy of notice," he growled, his voice shaking the sky. "You're worthy of eradication."
His aura struck like a hammer, pressing down on every cell of my form.Lala stumbled to her knees, gasping. Haruna cried out, clutching her chest. Even Yami wavered.
Only I held steady.Because unlike them, I was born for this.
I manifested—liquid shadow pulling free of Lala, coiling upward, forming limbs, a chest, a face.Not monstrous. Human-shaped. Tall. Calm. A presence that refused to bow.
The soldiers recoiled.The King's eyes narrowed.
"So you can walk."
I inclined my head, not in submission, but acknowledgment."And you can threaten. Shall we see which of us lasts longer?"
His fist clenched. Power bled into the earth.
Lala cried out, stepping between us. "Papa, stop! He's not—he's not hurting me!"
Gid didn't even glance at her. His eyes burned only into me."I'll burn him out of you. Even if it breaks you in the process."
For the first time since I emerged, I felt something close to… challenge.
This was no teacher. No headmaster. No curious scientist.This was a god-king. A predator at the top of all chains.
And he had come for me.
I smiled, even as the soldiers locked their aim on my chest."Then let's see, Your Majesty—"
The ground split beneath my feet, shadow writhing outward like veins.
"—which of us is parasite…"
My eyes burned, voice rising with hunger.
"…and which of us is prey."