The black sky above, writhing with threads of pale lightning. In the void, Rosario kept moving, faster than thought, his dagger Omen glinting with cruel light. Every step bent the rules of this place, every dash came from nowhere and ended in everywhere.
Vera's shoulders tightened. Around him, hundreds of droplets hovered, suspended like stars.
Each drop carried weight not of just water, but the idea of water, every ocean he had ever imagined compressed into liquid specks. They orbited him in strange geometries, flickering in and out like planets breaking rules of gravity.
He was steady and looking gorgeous, chanting,
"Fall."
The droplets shot out, each one sharp as crystal darts. They pierced Rosario's thigh, shoulder, ribs and blood sprayed, red fluid staining the gray ground. The assassin's smile faltered. His acrobatics slowed, his body stiffened.
"You...." he hissed, teeth clenched. "You've slowed my recovery, clever fisherman."
Vera did not answer. He simply raised his trident and flicked two fingers. The water darts twisted, reshaping into chains that lashed Rosario, trying to lock his movements.
Rosario's laugh had returned, jagged and mad. "Good. Tie me down, cage me.... but can you hold the weight of this dimension?"
The chains split. Space bent like broken glass, and Rosario folded through it, slipping out from their grip as if reality itself was his partner. He reappeared upside-down above Grace, dagger aimed for her throat.
Her fox deity leapt forward, mist catching the blade. Sparks hissed as green and black collided. But the pressure cracked her knees, she stumbled, unable to keep up the pace.
Rosario's eyes narrowed on her. "You're the weak link as always."
The words spoken hit her more than the reality would. She was losing confidence in her.
Why was she even here?
The thought burned deeper than any wound. She had always followed, always stood behind the stronger. Elior, Tom, Vera and she? Just some mist. A fox spirit that made time stutter for a second. Nothing lasting. Nothing absolute.
Her breath came off short.
Why does this exist? Why me? Why give me powers if they mean nothing? Why this world even exists?
Why?
Her fox deity turned, its lantern eyes staring into hers. For the first time, it spoke,
"Because you haven't opened your eyes."
The world shifted around her like entering in another domain.
A blossom hill spread wide, petals flowing down like waterfalls. Shades of pink and white rolled across the grass. She stood barefoot, trembling, under the shade of an old tree.
Beside her, the vixen stood. Its kimono rustled like silk, its many tails brushing the air. Its eyes glowed calm.
Grace whispered, half-scared: "Are.… are you a boy or a girl?"
The fox tilted its head, amused. "Neither. I am simply your Face."
Her lips trembled. "Then why you are wearing a kimono?"
The fox blinked. "Because it looks good. Nothing more than that."
For a second, Grace almost laughed through her tears. Her fear was loosened.
"Listen," the fox said. "Your gift was never for show. You think you slow time? When you stop doubting, when you accept what you are, you can bend more than seconds."
Grace touched its paw. Warm. "Then…. fight with me."
The fox grinned, sharp teeth flashing. "Later, we'll talk about fashion. Now, tear him apart."
The blossom hill faded. The gray void rushed back.
Grace opened her eyes returning not as the old Grace she used to be.
Her body moved faster, sharper. The deity no longer floated beside her. It merged, wrapped around her muscles, inside her bones. Her speed tore lines of green fire across the ground. She vanished, reappeared behind Rosario, and with one slash, ripped his head clean off.
Blood sprayed. His body staggered and then collapsed.
Grace panted, chest heaving. "It's over…."
But the dimension reacted. His head rolled, then reattached. Bone snapped, skin fused. His grin came back, wider.
"If weren't in my pocket dimensio...." Rosario spat blood, "....you would have ended me. But here.... here I am God!"
Grace's eyes narrowed. No fear, only fire.
Rosario warped the dimension itself. Space folded like origami, hills turning inside-out. He stepped into one fold, emerged from another, his dagger slicing in impossible angles.
Vera blocked three, took one cut on the arm, water spinning into a shield to deflect the rest.
Grace dashed again, her speed carving shockwaves. Her blade grazed Rosario's shoulder, but he warped sideways, retaliating from behind.
It became chaos.
Vera planted his trident into the ground. The floating water droplets multiplied into thousands. They aligned in spirals, then collapsed inward, compressing. A galaxy of liquid spun above him. Then he snapped the trident upward.
The galaxy collapsed into a beam, a torrent so dense it bent the horizon. It slammed into Rosario, dragging him across space like a comet. The void shook.
Rosario twisted midair, slamming his dagger into the collapsing beam. Omen drank its fortune, bending probability itself. Somehow, impossibly, he slipped free, battered but alive.
His laughter echoed. "Good! Good! You're worth killing slow."
Rosario staggered, clutching a torn chest. He spat blood but grinned. "Speed is just delay before death!"
Grace didn't answer. She whispered instead, "Break."
The dimension was covered by an aura forcing it stop flowing.
The gray ground split open, showing not rock but endless skies folded inside each other. A vast rift tore open behind her, five meters wide, radiating impossible colors.
The Time River shattered-open like cardboard box.
The reality slowed down in 5 meter radius in a multiversal scope. Slowing down time for 4 seconds to a crawl of 0.01% of its pace. Vera felt his heart struggle to beat, his trident trembling in slow motion. Even Rosario, master of this dimension, froze mid-step, his grin faltering.
Grace walked through the rift like stepping through blossoms. Her fox deity's tails split and stretched, weaving threads of space-time like a loom. Every second around her died, every possible move of Rosario was locked, his infinite acrobatics severed.
Vera thought, his voice stuck in his throat, Multiversal.… she's bending layers of reality.
Rosario's mind screamed. He couldn't move. His eyes darted, panic flooding. This isn't hers.... This isn't possible.... She's forcing this place itself to obey her.
Grace raised her blade. To him, she was everywhere, in every timeline, in every possible dimension, every possible reality.... She forced the reality to create a multiversal paradox through the Time River, making one timeline collide with other!
Her sword descended and his chest exploded. Blood poured in slow arcs, red droplets floating like planets caught in orbit.
The rift howled, collapsing, releasing time again. Reality snapped back where it ended. Rosario screamed in real speed, clutching the wound, stumbling.
He gasped, choking, but forced a grin. "If this wasn't my realm…. if this wasn't mine.… you'd have killed me. You nearly did...."
His hands shook. In his life, it was the second time he was afraid of someone.
Grace stood, breathing heavy, green mist fading but her eyes sharp. "You're wrong," she said. "You're already dead. This place is the only thing holding you."
Rosario lay on the cracked gray floor of the pocket dimension, dagger Omen clattering from his hand. His breaths were shallow, but his eyes still gleamed with mischief.
"You can't leave," he rasped, his grin stretching thin. "This place is mine. No matter what, you can't kill me here! You'll stay here…. with me. I'll make sure you rot, little fox and you grumpy little fish. I'll let you torture me forever if that gives you pleasure. Isn't that what you want?"
Vera stepped forward, eyes cold. Without hesitation, he raised his hand— Smack!
The sound resounded through the dimension. Rosario's head snapped sideways.
"Shut up," Vera said flatly. "You sound so pathetic."
Rosario blinked, stunned. He tried to grin again, but it wavered. Grace's shadow fell over him.
She knelt, her fox deity flickering faintly behind her. Her voice was firmer than before, no longer trembling. "Elior already knew."
Rosario's smile faded. "What? That Captain America type guy?"
Grace's lips curled into a half-smirk. "He told me in secret. He doubted you were with Apollo's Twilight Sect…. and he was right."
Rosario didn't have a clever comeback. He stared up at her. Vera crouched, pressing his trident against Rosario's stomach.
"Enough games," Vera said. "You're a parasite's toy." His trident shimmered, then he slashed quick and clean cutting across Rosario's stomach.
Rosario screamed, clutching his gut. Blood poured, but Grace's eyes flared green. Time slowed around her, everyone else moving like statues.
She leaned in, calm, and carefully slipped her hand into Rosario's open wound. The parasite wriggled, a black little horror clawing at her wrist. Grace yanked it out, green mist burning its shell, then flicked it aside.
"Not so immortal now," she whispered. With precise motions, she stitched Rosario's stomach back, each knot glowing faintly from her fox's mist. Then, she let time flow again.
Rosario jerked, eyes widening. He gasped, then shrieked. "—AAAAH! What did you do!?"
Grace tilted her head innocently. "I stitched you back together."
Rosario looked down, trembling. "It feels like like you sewed me with cactus needles!"
Grace's expression was dead serious. "I had to use thread from your dirty socks. Only thing lying around."
Vera snorted, covering his mouth. Rosario's face turned pale. "You—you monster! If you asked me I could have brought wools here!"
Grace leaned closer, smiling just enough to mock him. "You should be thanking me. I made sure the knot stay permanent. Try bending too much, and it might pop open again."
Rosario froze, then slowly curled into a ball, groaning. Vera stood, shaking his head. "Serves you right."
A shimmer ran through the air. The pocket dimension collapsing like glass. The three were thrown back into Rosario's room. Papers scattered across the floor, the scent of blood faint in the air.
Rosario clutched his belly, whining like a kicked dog. Grace stood tall, dusting off her hands. Vera glanced at her with a nod.
Yes, a silent approval.
Rosario whimpered, "I hate you both."
Grace leaned on the doorframe, smug. "Don't worry. Hate makes the stitches tighter."