Ava paced back and forth, a crystal clenched tightly in his hand. Panic was written across his face, his movements uneven as he favored his injured leg. He squeezed the crystal harder.
"Answer," he muttered. "Come on. Please answer."
General Caecus's words echoed in his mind.
Disobey orders, and your planet will be doomed.
The crystal flickered.
A woman's voice came through, warm and familiar.
"Oh my God, honey. It's been a while since you called. How's Dark Lords Academy? You still getting into fights like you told me last time?"
Ava spoke too fast, barely breathing between words.
"Mom. You need to go into hiding. Okay? You and Dad. Now."
She laughed, light and confused.
"Hiding? Honey, what are you talking about? Besides, that'd be pretty hard for us."
Her tone stayed playful as she continued.
"That golden card you gave us? Your father decided to buy a basketball team. We're kind of… well-known now."
Ava's heart sank.
"Didn't I tell you to lay low?" Panic crept into his voice. "Only use the money if you had to. He bought an entire team. I need you both to disappear. Just in case something happens."
She laughed softly. "Why are you so desperate for us to go into hiding?" A small giggle followed. "Besides, the whole planet already knows who you are, Ava."
His breath caught.
"Just recently, it was on the news," she continued. "They said all the superheroes on Earth died after going to Dark Lords Academy. All of them… except you." Her voice warmed with pride. "You're starting to become a hero, sweetheart. I wanted to tell you when you finally came home to visit."
Ava's chest dropped.
"I'm not a hero," he said quietly. "And that only makes things worse." His grip tightened around the crystal. "Please, Mom. Just in case. Go into hiding. You and Dad. Please."
The crystal crackled.
"I can barely hear you," she said. "This thing's terrible. I don't even know how to use it properly." Her tone softened. "But why would anything happen to us? Is something wrong at the academy?"
Ava swallowed hard.
"It's just… I have a decision to make. And I don't know if it's the right one." His voice faltered. "No matter what I choose, someone I care about is going to get hurt."
Static flooded the connection. Her voice faded in and out.
"Honey… I know you'll make the right decision. You always do."
The crystal went dark.
"Mom?" Ava said sharply. "Mom!"
He lowered his head, clutching the crystal as his shoulders trembled.
A warm hand rested gently on his shoulder.
Star stood beside him.
"Is everything okay?" she asked softly.
Ava let out a strained breath.
"No. It's not okay. You heard what the general said. We can't go searching for our friends. And if we do, we're disobeying orders."
He clenched his fist.
"I'm the only one representing my planet. If I go against them, I risk my world. I risk my parents."
His voice dropped, raw and uncertain.
"I don't know what to do."
Star didn't let go.
"We'll get through this together," she said. "And we will find Dallas and Demeter. No matter what."
Ava's gaze drifted downward to Star's injuries. Bruises lined her arms and side, faint but unmistakable. Demon technology and advanced magic were connected to her body through glowing IV lines, quietly repairing damaged tissue and stabilizing her energy. Similar systems were linked to him as well, pulsing softly as they worked.
He swallowed and spoke quietly.
"I'm sorry… for what I did earlier."
Star blinked.
"For what? Having Lilith in your room?"
Ava looked away, clearly uncomfortable.
"No. That wasn't what it looked like. She snuck into my room and pretended to be you. Then she changed her clothes when you showed up."
Star stiffened.
"She did what?"
Her expression darkened.
"I knew she couldn't be trusted. I'm sorry. I should have listened to you. I should have heard your side."
Ava shook his head.
"Don't be mad at her. She's actually a good person. She knows about my plan to defeat the Dark Lord, and she's willing to help."
Star stared at him in disbelief.
"What? How could you tell her that? She can't be trusted. Look at everything she's done."
"For now," Ava said carefully, "the more people we have, the better. And she's loyal. She really is."
Star, "Fine."
Ava exhaled slowly.
"But… I also want to apologize. For earlier. For my demon form."
he voice wavered.
"I lost control. Everything went black. The next thing I knew, I heard your voice. And realizing I almost killed you… I never want to turn into that again."
Star met hes eyes.
"It's okay. I'm just glad you're safe. And that you're back to normal."
She leaned forward, and they embraced, holding each other a moment longer than necessary, grounding themselves in the fact that they were both still alive.
Then a booming voice shattered the moment.
"GET IN HERE. NOW."
General Caecus.
"Did I not tell you not to leave the hospital unit?"
Ava and Star separated and moved quickly, entering the main medical ward.
The sight inside was overwhelming.
Students. Soldiers. Teachers. Even generals. All injured to varying degrees. Healing circles glowed across the floor while advanced machinery hummed above beds and stretchers. As they walked through the rows, they passed Team Game Over, each member restrained or stabilized, receiving intensive care.
They exchanged brief looks, heavy with shared memory.
Finally, they reached their section.
Lilith and Vesperos lay side by side, restrained and connected to IVs, unconscious but alive.
General Caecus turned to face them.
"Good. Now you're all here."
His tone was cold, controlled.
"I've already spoken with Nullius, Khepri, and Gula. They will make a full recovery."
He paused.
"But when I asked them where Rakshasas was, they claimed they didn't know."
His gaze sharpened.
"I don't believe them."
He looked directly at the group.
"So I'll ask you. Do any of you know where Rakshasas is? Was he captured?"
For a brief, terrible moment, everyone's eyes flicked toward Ava.
They remembered.
The Chaos Mouth.
The life strings.
Rakshasas being consumed.
One by one, they shook their heads.
"No, sir."
General Caecus exhaled sharply.
"Perfect. Another missing student. Another missing soldier. And this happened in the mortal realm."
He turned away, hands clasped behind his back.
"Either there are gods interfering where they shouldn't be, or mortals far more dangerous than anticipated."
He faced them again.
"Regardless. You will all be punished for the destruction you caused. You failed to use Gentle Fist. You failed to control your output."
His voice hardened.
"Team Game Over, along with Ava and the rest of y'all, will each serve six thousand meta-hours cleaning academy bathrooms."
A collective flinch rippled through the group.
"And none of you are allowed to leave tonight. No student is. The academy is on full lockdown until tomorrow, when preparations for the next conquering phase begin."
His eyes narrowed.
"Do not search for your friends. If I find out you disobeyed my orders, I will add more hours. Or worse."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," everyone replied.
General Caecus turned and walked out, his footsteps echoing through the ward.
The room fell silent again.
And the weight of everything unsaid settled heavily in the air.
As soon as the general walked away, Ava was the first to speak.
"I'm sorry for putting all of you in danger back there," he said quietly. "That form… it's something my human body still can't fully control. I promise it won't happen again. I will control the chaos."
Vesperos and Lilith reacted very differently.
Vesperos exhaled slowly. "It was terrifying, to be honest. If you had lost control completely, we all could have died."
Lilith smiled, unapologetic. "I loved it. It was about time you finally let loose."
Ava looked at all of them. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm leaving tonight. I'm going to find my friends. I'm not waiting until tomorrow. By then, it could be too late."
Star stepped forward immediately. "I'm coming with you."
Vesperos and Lilith spoke at the same time. "We're coming."
Lilith crossed her arms. "I don't care about most people in this school. But my teammates matter."
Vesperos clenched his fist. "I promised my little brother I would protect him. For him to get captured… I can't stay here. I have to go."
Ava nodded. "Alright. We all go to our rooms. We meet up one hour later at the edge of the school."
As they started to disperse, Star hesitated. "What about classes? The general and the teachers will know we're gone. And Ava… you're the only one representing your world. Going against direct orders could be really bad."
Ava shook his head. "I don't want y'all getting in trouble either. I've already thought of a way to deal with that."
They continued talking in low voices until, one by one, they returned to their dorms.
In his room, Ava stood in front of the mirror. The Chaos Mouth still lingered on his stomach, faintly pulsing. He looked down at his armor, completely destroyed from the battle.
He summoned a higher-dimensional card and sealed the shattered remnants of his armor within it, sending the broken Black Lotus plates away to another universe nested deep inside his card domain. The card dissolved into light as it vanished, its task complete. From his deck, he drew another.
Identical armor emerged, pristine and untouched, its dark surface reflecting faint gold as it materialized in the air before him. Black Lotus Armor perfect, whole. He had never relied on a single set. There were many, each forged and preserved within his Inner Multiverse, now largely empty, its vast spaces silent where countless cards once resided, waiting for moments like this.
With a snap of his fingers, the armor flowed onto his body, locking into place as though it had always belonged there.
That was when he felt it.
A subtle shift at first, then something heavier. A growing presence within his deck, like gravity quietly increasing. The energy he had released earlier when he transformed into his Shinma of Chaos form had not faded into nothing. It had reached deep into his card universe, loosening seals that had long remained untouched. Old cards resurfaced. Warriors. Traps. Constructs thought dormant stirred once more. His original set, long buried and forgotten, was awakening called back by the sheer scale of what he had unleashed.
Ava exhaled slowly, steadying himself.
Without another sound, he slipped out of his room, leaving nothing behind but the echo of what was coming.
An hour later, the group reunited at the edge of the academy grounds. Beyond them stretched open space, the school itself floating silently in the void.
And without another word, they prepared to leave.
Lilith was the first to break the silence.
"So what's the plan, big guy?" she asked, glancing at Ava.
Ava summoned his Grynmar and began flipping through its pages. As symbols and glyphs shifted, he spoke under his breath. "There's a spell in here. One for creating clones."
His fingers stopped.
"There. Found it."
He pulled out one of his higher-dimensional cards and pressed the spell into it, sealing both the spell itself and its concept inside. The card reacted immediately, its surface changing, displaying the spell's abilities as if they had always belonged to it. Within his card universe, the concept manifested fully, taking root.
Ava tossed the card forward. It expanded in midair, growing larger and heavier with presence.
"The spell requires a piece of your essence," he said. "DNA, energy, identity. Just a trace."
Each of them placed a hand near the card, pouring a fragment of their energy into it. The card pulsed, then split its light into multiple forms.
Clones stepped out one by one. Perfect replicas. They already understood their purpose.
Without a word, the clones turned and headed back toward the academy, dispersing toward their respective rooms.
Meanwhile, Ava, Star, Vesperos, and Lilith shot away from the school grounds. Despite their injuries, they moved at immeasurable speeds, flying through open space, then through universes upon universes, each infinite in scale.
Far behind them, three figures watched from the academy's shadow.
Nullius spoke first. "Told you they were going to leave."
Khepri shook his head. "I still can't believe he ate Rakshasas."
Gula pointed toward the sky, her hands moving in sharp, deliberate signs.
Nullius's jaw tightened. "We'll get revenge for Rakshasas. He thinks he's untouchable. He thinks he can disrespect me, kill my teammate."
He clenched his fist. "No one has ever beaten me in my own Dimension Ascension board. I won't give him a chance to transform into that thing again. I'll erase him immediately."
He placed a hand on a nearby tree. The moment he touched it, the tree vanished completely.
"Come on," he said, lifting into the air.
The rest of his team followed.
Back with Ava's group, they continued flying through the void, reality blurring around them as they crossed universes.
Suddenly, Lilith raised her hand. "Wait."
They stopped instantly.
"I feel it," she said, eyes narrowing. "An energy source. It's coming toward us."
The air shifted.
Without hesitation, all four moved into their fighting stances, bodies tensing as the unseen presence drew closer.
The first figure emerged from the void.
Azalea, leader of Team Valor.
She was bruised, bloodied, barely upright as she clung to her broomstick, its magic flickering unevenly beneath her. Her breathing was shallow, but her eyes were still sharp.
A second presence flared behind her.
Ryujin of Team Vortex appeared, his massive dragon wings beating slowly to keep him aloft. Scorch marks covered his armor, one wing torn and struggling to hold shape.
Lilith moved instantly, rushing to Ryujin's side and catching him before he could fall. "What happened?" she demanded, gripping his arm.
Star and Ava moved toward Azalea at the same time, but she raised a hand to stop them.
"I'm already under a regeneration spell," Azalea said, her voice steady despite the pain. "It's slow, but it'll work. Save your strength."
Vesperos stepped forward, panic breaking through his composure. "Where is everyone else? Where are the rest of our teammates? Where is my brother?"
Ryujin swallowed hard before answering. "We tried to save them. All of us regrouped. Dallas found the super-planet."
Everyone froze.
"The one the Outer Gods use when they manifest in a mortal realm," Ryujin continued. "We thought we could strike while their authority was limited. That was the plan."
His fists tightened.
"They were waiting for us."
Silence followed.
"We were ambushed," Ryujin said quietly. "Azalea and I were the only ones who escaped. The rest of them… they're still there."
Azalea straightened, forcing herself fully upright. "Come on. I remember the location."
She glanced over the group, taking in their injuries. "Don't worry. I can heal us on the way. It's a long distance anyway."
Without hesitation, they turned together and launched forward, accelerating toward the super-planet.
As space folded around them, Ava moved closer to Azalea. "Tell me everything," he said. "Every detail. I want to be prepared before we arrive."
Azalea nodded and began to speak, recounting the battle from the moment they arrived to the instant the ambush was sprung.
As she spoke, Ava's eyes shifted.
Golden light bloomed within them.
He activated Tenshi no Me.
Invisible threads spread outward, latching onto Azalea's life strings. Ava poured focus into them, mapping existence and nonexistence alike. Past, present, and future layered themselves over one another.
His human body remained in motion, flying alongside the others.
But spiritually and dimensionally, he stepped backward.
As Azalea continued speaking, Ava watched the events unfold in real time within the past. He saw the super-planet. He saw the Outer Gods descend. He saw the moment everything went wrong.
Two states at once.
Present and past.