I zipped mid-air, suspended in the shimmering ether of Red Cap's fractured Little World, my form aglow with celestial flame. I radiated golden qi, like a sun wrapped in human shape. Before me stood the last spiritual anchor—a massive origami pylon of intent, veined with chaotic light, pulsing to Red Cap's egoic rhythm.
Each was shaped like a distorted skate ramp, half pipe, or jagged rail—twisted echoes of his domain's core. I raised both hands, a thousand spirit palm glyphs shimmered across my forearms.
"You built your world on style, Red Cap," I muttered. "But you forgot soul." I struck—a rapid-fire barrage of massive golden palms exploded like divine cannon fire.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The massive origami pylon of intent shattered under the golden barrage, blasting into stardust and collapsing inward like black holes gasping their final breath. The air buckled. The music stopped. Spectral crowds flickered, then burst into fluttering paper ghosts. The glamoured stage fell apart like a bad dream. The half-pipes cracked, their glow fading to dull obsidian. A concussive wave ripped through the battlefield as the domain collapsed.
Red Cap shrieked—his spiritual aura tore inwards. The sovereign aura swirling around him crumbled and broke. His cultivation level had been reduced to that to of a half step king! He fell to one knee, clutching his head, his armor steaming and cracking.
"NO! NO, NO, NOOO—MY DOMAIN! MY RAMPAGE ZONE! YOU—" he wheezed, vomiting blood.
"You... you little sun born... you broke my roller world!" His horns dimmed, then vanished. Steam hissed from his skin as a great pool of water, rushed out of his shrinking form. The wheeled sabatons buckled with a whimper of chi. Red Cap was no longer a Sovereign.
Only a half step king remained—snarling, wild-eyed, weakened. Snake Man hissed. "Did… did his cultivation level just drop!?"
Hammerhead grinned. "Looks like the kid pulled the plug on his whole damn concert." Faeluxe's eyes glowed. "Ash just turned the tide." Felicity raised her blade and surged to my side. "He's not a Sovereign anymore, Ash. He's just meat now." I settled back into my sitting body, still safe guarded by Felicity. I stepped forward, eyes cold and unyielding, the weight of victory settling on my shoulders. The shattered remnants of Red Cap's domain flickered weakly around them like dying embers.
"Now that you're no longer a Sovereign," I said, voice low but cutting, "and stripped of your little world's protection, you're vulnerable."
My gaze flicked to Marla, who hovered nearby, her golden slit pupils gleaming with deadly intent. The black blade armor on her skin shimmered ominously, and her serpentine hair twitched in anticipation. "You're exposed to her stone gaze," I continued, voice firm and unrelenting.
I leaned in slightly, my voice laced with foe empathy: "Tell me—why shouldn't I have her turn you to stone right now?"
Red Cap, bloodied and panting, spat a gutteral laugh, but his eyes betrayed a flicker of dread. The domain was gone. His power reduced. And now, faced with the relentless judgment in my voice—and Marla's lethal presence—he was cornered like a beast with no escape. I raised a steady hand, my voice calm but ironclad.
"Tell you what, I'm a fair guy. I'll let you choose, Red Cap." Marla stood to my right, her serpentine viper-hair twitching with venomous anticipation, eyes gleaming like emerald daggers. Felicity was at my left—her new silver blooded frame glimmering faintly, aura shimmering with latent Phageal power.
My gaze locked on Red Cap as I motioned deliberately to Marla. "A—You can choose to become stone forever."
The vipers hissed in unison, writhing and coiling like living blades.
My hand shifted smoothly, gesturing toward Felicity.
"Or B—You can be seeded, become my new servant. Accept her… and live, but as part of something greater than yourself."
Finally, My eyes burned hotter as I finished.
"Or C—Death. No mercy, no second chances."
Red Cap's breath came ragged. His eyes flickered wildly between the two lethal women and Ash's unflinching stare. The mosh pit and echoes of his broken domain faded behind them, leaving only the crushing weight of choice. Red Cap's lips curled into a jagged snarl, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"You think I'm just gonna roll over?" he spat, voice rough like gravel. His eyes darted between Marla's glinting vipers and Felicity's cold silver gaze, then back to Ash. "Stone? Ha! I'm no statue waiting to rot away in some cursed prison." He spat to the ground; each word laced with venomous pride.
"Serve you? Never. I'd rather die a hundred deaths before bowing to your kind." His breath hitched, and for a moment, the mask of bravado cracked. "But death…" he hissed, eyes narrowing fiercely, "Death is the only truth I know." He flexed his cracked fingers, voice dropping to a low growl.
"Come then. End me. If you can."
Red Cap's defiant roar still echoed when Marla's serpentine eyes narrowed. Without a word, her viper-hair whipped forward like living whips, each tipped with glimmering venom. Her voice was cold steel. "Pride before the fall." She locked her gaze on Red Cap, and her golden pupils blazed brighter—an unholy light. The vipers coiled tighter, their hiss rising into a terrifying chorus. Red Cap's eyes widened in sudden realization—too late. Marla's gaze pierced him like a spear forged from cursed stone. A pulse of freezing animus radiated from her eyes, rippling through the air like a shockwave.
The world seemed to shatter as Red Cap's flesh and armor began crystallizing. His roar twisted into a scream—an agonizing sound trapped between fury and terror. Stone spread fast—black veins crystallizing into onyx, muscles freezing in twisted agony. Marla's voice lingered, cold and merciless.
"Rest now, Sovereign no more."
Within moments, Red Cap stood utterly still—a statue of dark obsidian, locked forever in a final, shattered scream. The mosh pit faded. The spectral crowd vanished.
Silence reigned.
My gaze met Marla's—grim satisfaction passing between us. The battle was won. The shattered remnants of Red Cap's obsidian domain lay silent beneath the cavern's dim glow. Our party moved cautiously, eyes scanning the twisted ramps and shattered rails for anything left behind. Marla's serpentine gaze caught a faint shimmer embedded in the far wall—a massive, circular mirror framed in ornate lunar silver, etched with glyphs pulsing faintly with cold light.
"The Moon Mirror," Felicity whispered, stepping closer. "A relic of lunar power... but dormant, until now." As we gathered around, the surface rippled like liquid glass. Without warning, the mirror's core ignited. The polished glass shimmered into a swirling portal—revealing the pale, cratered surface of the Moon itself. Far beyond the familiar grey dust and jagged peaks, a radiant kingdom emerged—spires and towers carved from pure gold and shimmering crystals, glowing softly beneath an eternal lunar night.
We watched, breath caught, as a sudden flash tore across the horizon. From that flash, a majestic figure materialized. Wings of silver light unfurled, feathers glinting like starlight.
The Moon Seraph.
Her eyes held the wisdom of millennia, and a calm power that made the very air hum. She hovered, regal and serene, gazing directly at us—as if aware of our intrusion. The mirror pulsed, casting pale moonlight across the cavern. A chill ran through the crew. Faeluxe whispered, "This is more than just a relic... it's a beacon." Snake Man's eyes narrowed. "Whatever comes next… it's not just Red Cap we have to worry about." The Moon Seraph's radiant wings shimmered as she glided closer to the mirror's surface, her silver feathers scattering lunar light like shards of glass.
Her gaze sharpened as she focused—eyes narrowing at the dark, obsidian figure trapped within the mirror's depths. Her voice, cold as a starless night, echoed softly through the chamber. "So this is the servant I sent to guard the threshold..." She paused, amusement curling her lips as she examined Red Cap's stone form. "Turned to stone already? Pathetic." The spectral crowd behind her faded into mist, leaving only her serene yet chilling presence.
Her eyes then swept over the assembled Terrans. "Unclaimed mongrels… You trespass in realms far beyond your reckoning." A slow, mocking smile curved her lips. "You should consider yourselves fortunate." She folded her arms, voice dripping with disdain. "I have far better matters to attend to than waste my time chasing after unworthy trespassers… especially ones without an inheritance to their name."
Her wings fluttered once, stirring the air like a silent storm.
"But heed this—"
Her gaze sharpened to piercing silver. "The moment I cross this mirror's threshold, your brief reprieve ends." With that, the Moon Seraph vanished into a flash of pale light, leaving behind an eerie silence that settled like frost over the party. The mirror's surface dimmed as the Moon Seraph's radiant form faded—her words hanging heavy in the air like a gathering storm. For a long moment, silence reigned.
Felicity was the first to break it, voice low but fierce. "So… she sees us as nothing. No inheritance. No legacy." Marla's golden eyes flashed, serpents twitching with barely restrained fury. "Unworthy? We'll see how long that lasts." Hammerhead cracked his knuckles, letting out a low growl. "Let her come. We'll be ready." Snake Man's gaze narrowed, voice sharp as a serpent's fang. "We're trespassing in her world now." Faeluxe stepped forward, eyes fixed on the mirror. "Her time may be occupied… for now. But this is only a pause, not a pardon."
I clenched my fists, spirit man still humming faintly in my chest. "Then we make sure when she does cross over, we're not the same mongrels she mocks."
We all exchanged determined looks, resolve hardening like forged steel. I walked over to Red Cap's stony form, hand waving out my spiritual ring. The cool metal hummed faintly on my finger as I prepared to seal him away—lock him inside the ring's endless void, a prison beyond time. But as I tried to draw him in, the ring rejected the request.
A sharp pulse of resistance flared, like a warning flare in the dark. I frowned, narrowing my eyes. "The ring… it won't take him." Marla stepped closer, her serpentine hair flicking in a restless rhythm. "He's not truly dead," she said, voice low and grave. "Stone doesn't mean gone. It's a prison—an eternal pause, but not oblivion." Her eyes glimmered green with knowledge. "This stasis can last seven thousand years or longer. But it's tied to his cultivation level."
I looked at the frozen form, realizing the implications. "He's trapped…but alive." Marla nodded, her tone sharp. "The moment his cultivation shifts—grows weaker or stronger—that stone can shatter."
"And then…"
"Then you'll have a very angry sovereign on your hands again."
The weight of that truth pressed on me.
Red Cap's defeat wasn't permanent.
One day he would become someone else's fight.