CHAPTER 64 — The Throne of Ash
The Djinn city had no sky.
Above the towers of black stone, a ceiling of rock and red light stretched endlessly, like an iron lid heated white-hot. The streets were empty — not deserted, but silent, as if every inhabitant held their breath, waiting for a sign. At the city's center, a palace of basalt and obsidian rose, threaded with veins of lava that pulsed slowly, like a sleeping heart.
In the throne room, Merela sat.
She wore no crown. She didn't need one. Her mere presence, calm and icy, crushed the space around her. Her white hair fell over her shoulders like a veil of frost. Her eyes, a blue so dark they were almost black, fixed on the entrance, without impatience, without anger.
The doors opened.
Naraku entered first. He limped slightly — an invisible wound, but persistent. Behind him, Kage walked with his head low, fists clenched. Hollow floated in silence, his Black Anchor body still unstable, as if he struggled to maintain his form.
They stopped before the throne. They knelt.
One knee. Not two. Djinn honor did not demand complete humiliation.
Naraku spoke first.
"My Queen. The mission… encountered obstacles."
Merela didn't move. Her fingers tapped slowly on the armrest of her throne.
"Obstacles."
"Paladins. Young. But unpredictable. One of them transformed into a beast that devours shadows."
"Blackhowler," Merela murmured, as if savoring the name. "I know that Primal."
Naraku raised his head.
"We lost Yuki. She was… annihilated. By a light beam."
"Azel," said Merela, without emotion. "An old adversary. He's still alive?"
"He is alive."
She nodded slowly.
"But you have the key."
Naraku extended his hand. A golden glow floated above his palm — the key to the UGC prison, intact, pulsing.
"Yes, my Queen."
Merela was silent for a long moment. Her eyes swept over the three kneeling Djinns. She looked at them as one looks at tools that have served well but have shown their limits.
"You were overwhelmed by children. Apprentices. Beings who don't even know what they are yet."
Silence.
"But you brought back what I wanted."
She stood. Her footsteps echoed on the stone.
"Naraku. You failed, but you succeeded. That's a nuance I understand. You stay."
She turned to Kage and Hollow.
"You… you didn't shine."
Kage opened his mouth to justify himself, but Merela raised a hand. A simple gesture, almost weary.
"Useless."
She snapped her fingers.
The roaches came first as a shadow, then as a tidal wave. Dozens, hundreds — red, gleaming, their carapaces breaking the light like ruby shards. They burst from the cracks in the floor, the walls, the shadows, and threw themselves at Kage and Hollow.
Kage screamed. A brief cry, cut short by the sound of mandibles.
Hollow tried to dissipate, to reform, but the roaches were too many, too fast. They tore at the Black Anchor as if devouring it for pleasure. In seconds, nothing remained. Just a red stain on the stone, slowly evaporating.
Merela watched them disappear without flinching.
"I don't like failure."
Naraku didn't move. He knew he had escaped a far worse fate.
A laugh echoed in the hall. Not a joyful laugh. A child's laugh, playing with dead insects.
Error sat on a broken pillar, legs swinging. His eyes gleamed yellow, and his fingers moved as if counting invisible points.
"They're gone!" he said, his voice singsong. "Like crumbs!"
Ryusei stood behind him, leaning against a wall. His face was frozen in a permanent smile — a smile that wasn't a smile, a grimace of pain and pleasure intertwined. He stared at the red stain with an expression of disgust… but his lips never stopped smiling.
"They ended up as dust," he murmured, as if to himself. "Like everyone else."
Merela ignored them. She addressed Naraku.
"Stand."
He obeyed.
"The portal. Prepare it."
"Yes, my Queen."
"In space. Above Earth's orbit. It will lead to the lost island — the UGC prison. Untraceable on Earth. But not for us."
Naraku bowed his head.
"And the fleet?"
"Orion will go with you. And a fleet of Archdemon-grade Djinns."
The doors opened again.
Orion entered.
He didn't kneel. He simply bowed his head, a gesture of respect, not submission.
"My Queen."
"Orion. You heard."
"I heard."
"Leave as soon as the portal is stable."
Orion looked at Naraku. No hostility. No complicity. Just an observation.
"It won't take long."
Naraku replied:
"Then let's leave soon."
Merela looked at them one last time, then turned to the luminous map floating above the hall.
She placed a finger on the image of Earth.
"The Paladins don't know they're already surrounded."
The map went dark.
The hall fell into silence.
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