*Content Warning: This chapter contains mature themes, violence, blood, and morally dark actions. Reader discretion advised.*
**Author's Message:**
Readers, a word from the author. This is my first novel. I've never read one before—writing is simply what calls to me. Be patient; I swear to improve with every chapter until this story earns your full enjoyment. Thank you for staying.
***
In the endless black, Leon and the Mind Demon moved as one.
Leon steered with grim determination; the demon pushed with savage instinct. Their shared will clawed at the void's edges, forcing cracks wider, until the suffocating pressure finally shattered.
Light—harsh, unfamiliar—flooded in.
They tumbled out.
Leon crashed onto jagged stone, body slamming against unyielding earth. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose as he rolled to a stop, vision swimming in red haze. Every bone ached; every muscle screamed. His flesh wept crimson from wounds that refused to close.
He lay there, chest heaving, staring at a sky that was wrong—too many stars, too sharp, constellations he did not recognize.
This world… feels alien, he thought, forcing his blurred gaze upward. For a moment, his head tilted strangely, as though something unseen watched him from those foreign stars.
Silence answered.
The Mind Demon offered no mocking laughter, no barbed advice. Only quiet, as if even it reeled from the escape.
Leon coughed, tasting copper.
"This… is getting quite troublesome," he rasped, a weak laugh bubbling through the blood. "Hah… what a damn psycho I am."
His thoughts sharpened despite the pain.
"First, I need to know where I am. That aura… it's heavy, oppressive. Not like a swordmaster's. Something worse."
Danger prickled his skin.
"I must find a safe place to rest. Immediately."
He dragged himself behind a cluster of blackened boulders, collapsing into shadow. Only then did exhaustion claim him, vision fading to black.
***
Meanwhile, in a world of shattered skies and endless wastes, Void sat motionless on a weathered stone.
No houses dotted the horizon. No mountains broke the flat expanse. Nothing moved under the crimson dusk.
He stared into emptiness, expression blank.
"Well," he murmured, "I've wasted enough time here. I didn't even count the days since leaving that inn."
A faint grimace crossed his face.
"Those god-followers have infiltrated this world too, haven't they? Persistent vermin."
He straightened suddenly, gaze drifting upward as if addressing something no one else could perceive.
"Now then," he continued softly, "time to visit the Heavenly Demon Cult."
A translucent screen flickered into existence before him.
[System Notification: Host, your disciple Leon has grown remarkably stronger. He clashed directly with the God of Lightning.]
Void's expression did not change.
"Hm. I don't particularly care," he said flatly. "Did he win?"
[System: Negative. Leon sustained severe injuries and developed a Mind Demon.]
Void's pale eyes narrowed, disappointment etching faint lines on his face.
"Mind Demon. So he lost, then. Pathetic. Still a loser, after all."
He waved a hand dismissively.
"I already knew that. No need to inform me."
[System: ...Host, you already knew? How?]
Void's gaze turned distant, as though peering through layers of reality itself.
"I don't like explaining myself," he said. "But simply put—when I left that world while offending the gods, I knew someone would come hunting eventually."
He leaned back against the stone.
"The gods won't send apostles. They know those pawns can't touch me. So I calculated Leon would face a god sooner or later. He would lose, copy most of its techniques, then flee to another world."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Isn't that exactly what you were about to report, dear System?"
The screen hovered silently for a long moment.
[System: Brilliant, Host. You are something else entirely. Then you must have a plan. You didn't truly waste these days, did you?]
Void's smile widened—kind, serene, and utterly devoid of warmth.
"To be honest, I was thinking of how I—"
He fell silent abruptly, eyes sharpening.
The System waited.
[System: It seems Host still doesn't trust me fully. Very well. May I have the honor of asking one question?]
Void said nothing, but his gaze flickered—as though weighing a voice from beyond the screen.
***
**Author's Note:**
Leon's fragile alliance with his Mind Demon bought survival, but at what cost? Void watches from afar, already three steps ahead. If you're hooked on **Throne Beyond the Veil** and this "disciple vs master across worlds" tension, drop "Who breaks first?" in the comments—or predict where Leon landed and what hunts him next. Your theories shape the shadows ahead.