Alexandria kept her gaze locked onto Tharion's motionless body. He still stood in the center of the medical chamber, one hand pressed firmly against Barbatos' chest, his posture rigid as stone. The room itself had fallen deathly silent. Only Barbatos' ragged breathing disturbed the stillness now, each uneven breath sounding harsher than the last.
Alexandria's eyes narrowed slightly.
"...Hey," she muttered cautiously.
Rose opened her eyes from where she stood nearby and glanced toward her. "Is something wrong?"
Alexandria did not answer immediately. Her attention remained fixed entirely on Tharion.
"His eyes…" she said slowly.
Rose followed her gaze.
The moment she saw them, her expression tightened.
Tharion's pupils were gone.
His eyes had turned into smooth reflective white surfaces, like polished mirrors embedded into his skull. There was no humanity left within them, not focus nor movement, just endless reflection.
"Something is wrong," Alexandria said quietly, instinctively lowering her stance.
Rose stared harder.
Then,
CRACK.
A thin fracture suddenly spread across the surface of Tharion's left eye.
Both women froze.
The sound had not been physical alone. It echoed unnaturally through the room, sharp enough to make the air itself feel brittle.
Rose's eyes widened instantly.
"Get your defenses up. NOW!"
Alexandria reacted immediately. Spatial energy erupted around her arms as translucent geometric barriers formed around her body in layered succession. Rose moved at the same time, though her own ability manifested differently. No visible shield appeared around her at all, yet the pressure in the room shifted violently as invisible force gathered around her position.
Then the second crack formed.
And another.
And another.
Within seconds, fractures spread across Tharion's entire body like shattered glass. Thin glowing lines raced over his skin, down his neck, across his arms and chest, until his entire form resembled a mirror moments away from collapse.
Alexandria's heart skipped.
Then Tharion exploded.
His body burst apart into millions of razor-sharp reflective shards that erupted through the room like a storm of blades. Walls were pierced instantly. The ceiling split open. Medical tables shattered apart as fragments embedded themselves into steel and stone alike.
Thousands of mirrored pieces hovered in the air, each reflecting distorted images of the room from impossible angles.
And yet,
Neither Rose, Alexandria, nor Barbatos were harmed.
Alexandria slowly lowered her spatial barrier as the floating shards finally lost momentum and clattered onto the floor like broken crystal.
Silence returned.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"He… he'll be fine, right?"
Rose remained completely still for several seconds. One hand rested against her chest as she steadied her breathing. Even she looked shaken now, a rarity severe enough to unsettle Alexandria further.
Finally, Rose swallowed.
"Yes," she answered quietly. "Just… give him a moment."
The scattered shards suddenly trembled.
Then every fragment in the room began moving at once.
Like reality reversing itself, the shards flew back toward a single point in the center of the chamber. Legs reformed first. Then a torso. Arms. Flesh. Clothing. Finally his head reconstructed itself entirely, the mirrored fragments sealing seamlessly together until Tharion stood whole once more.
As though nothing had happened.
His eyes remained closed.
Alexandria let out a deep breath she had not realized she was holding.
"Damn it, man," she muttered shakily while walking closer. "You scared the hell out of me. I thought you died."
She placed a hand on his shoulder.
Tharion's eyes snapped open.
Horror filled them instantly.
Then his legs gave out beneath him.
He collapsed violently to the floor, breathing heavily, panic written across every inch of his face.
"No…" he whispered hoarsely. "That should be impossible… he should be dead…"
Alexandria immediately crouched beside him. "Hey! What happened? What did you see in there?"
Tharion slowly looked up at her, his breathing uneven.
"The Creator," he muttered.
The room froze.
"He's still alive."
Even Rose's expression shifted slightly at those words.
"You saw the Creator?" she asked carefully.
Tharion swallowed hard and nodded once.
Rose's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she glanced toward Barbatos' unconscious body.
"So it truly was as I suspected…"
Alexandria turned sharply toward her.
"You suspected this?!" she snapped. "You knew his Enigma was the Creator?"
Rose calmly shook her head.
"No," she answered. "But I suspected Barbatos was connected to something far beyond a normal Enigma."
She folded her arms slowly.
"His power was always absurd. Too stable for its vastness. No ordinary Plane Lord should have been capable of sustaining someone like him."
Alexandria gritted her teeth.
"We already knew that, Rose," she shot back angrily. "I'm asking if you knew the Creator survived!"
Rose met her glare evenly.
"As I said…" she replied calmly, "I had suspicions. Nothing more."
Her eyes drifted back toward Barbatos.
"But now," she murmured quietly, "those suspicions have been confirmed."
Alexandria stared at her for several long moments before turning back toward Tharion.
"What else happened?"
Tharion forced himself upright with visible effort and leaned against a nearby counter now riddled with cuts from the earlier explosion.
"He's undergoing his Fourth Trial right now."
Alexandria's eyes shook immediately.
"He's WHAT?!"
She shot to her feet in disbelief.
"Is he insane?!" she yelled. "Attempting ascension while already in the process of corruption is practically suicide! Failing a Trial in that condition would accelerate the corruption instantly!"
Tharion weakly raised a hand.
"I know," he muttered tiredly. "He knew too."
His expression darkened.
"I don't know what the Creator told him… but whatever it was, Barbatos decided the risk was worth taking."
Alexandria cursed under her breath and turned away furiously.
"Unbelievable…"
"Can you lower your volume a little?"
The new voice startled everyone.
"I'd rather not go deaf today."
All eyes shifted toward the shattered window just as Fe casually stepped through it.
A young girl rested unconscious in his arms.
Rose's eyes grew wider.
That alone was unusual enough.
The child appeared no older than seven. Jet-black hair framed her sleeping face, and she wore what looked disturbingly similar to a school uniform. She seemed entirely peaceful despite the dried blood staining portions of her sleeves.
Rose pointed at the girl immediately.
"Where," she asked slowly, "did she come from?"
Alexandria walked closer until she stood only centimeters away from the unconscious child.
"Actually, yes," she added suspiciously. "How exactly do you fight a Titan and somehow return carrying a little girl?"
Fe sighed loudly.
"I honestly don't know where to begin with that one."
Then suddenly he stopped.
Even blindfolded, his head turned perfectly toward Tharion.
"…What happened to you?"
Tharion rubbed his forehead weakly.
"It's a long story."
Fe snorted softly.
"Funny. Mine too."
Tharion glanced toward the girl again.
"Who is she?"
Fe hesitated.
His usual grin faded completely.
"I'm not sure," he admitted quietly.
The room fell silent again.
Then Fe spoke once more.
"But I do know one thing now."
Everyone's attention fixed onto him immediately.
Fe's expression darkened beneath the blindfold.
"The Titan spoke to me."
Shock spread across the room.
Titans did not speak.
Cataclysms possessed instinct, strategy, even traces of adaptive intelligence, but true speech? Human thought? That was considered impossible.
Fe tightened his grip slightly around the sleeping child.
Then he spoke the words slowly.
"He told me…" Fe muttered quietly, "to never trust the angels."