Katherine appeared moments later in a swirl of crimson mist, her bloody eyes narrowing as she looked at the two women.
"You two are moving too damn fast," she said, crossing her arms with a mix of amusement and mild exasperation. "I can barely finish things on my end."
Raven smiled at her, her white eyes calm and confident.
"You still finished though, right?"
Katherine shrugged, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"Tsk, maybe... maybe not."
In truth, she hadnât finished at all, but she was close to bringing her construct into the library.
While it could have been accessible to all of Pantheos, she wanted it to carry deeper meaning and be something that had to be earned.
As the Goddess of Kinship, her vision was for it to center on the bonds between the Pantheons themselves.
She still hadnât worked out all the intricacies, but the foundation of her idea was already taking shape.
Summer rolled her eyes and waved her hand impatiently.
"Can we get on with it already?"
At her words, their banter ceased.
Moments later, Raven picked up where she left off, channeling her power until it overshadowed the very concept of Boundless Infinity.
HUMMMMM!!!!!
The moment she did, a cocoon of shifting black and white light encased her completely.
Not only that, the entire verse of Pantheos froze in place â time, motion, even the flow of the River of Time itself halted as her evolution began.
HUMMMMM!!!!
A phenomena appeared around the cocoon â vast, ethereal shadows that stretched into infinity, eclipsing countless concepts of limitation and hierarchy.
Golden threads of narrative weight unraveled and rewove themselves around her, symbolizing her transcendence.
The air hummed with the sound of breaking chains, as if the story itself was bending to accommodate her new state.
And in that moment, faint whispers of the Fifth Wall echoed, and for a brief moment, the Sixth Wallâs silhouette appeared in the distance, almost like a door waiting to be opened.
The cocoon around Raven pulsed with increasing intensity.
HUMMMM!!!!!
The very fabric of Pantheos seemed to bend and flex, the distant universes flickering as if acknowledging the birth of something new.
In the midst of the commotion, Ash appeared out of nowhere, materializing alongside the group of women he had been withâAurelia, Khaos, Sia, Elysia, Emma, Aethea, Aurora, Ellyn, Rita, and Lithia.
Together, they turned their attention to the cocoon, their expressions a mix of awe, intrigue, and quiet curiosity.
Aurora tilted her head, her white and blue hair swaying as she asked,
"Just what sort of evolution can possibly make all of Pantheos freeze like this?"
They knew normally only Ashâs evolutions could cause something like this and the reason was simply because when Ash became more, it was literally the verse of Pantheos itself becoming more.
This case, though, was different, because Raven was becoming more than what Pantheos could contain.
Her power, in this moment, was rising beyond even Ashâs own, surging in a way that seemed to eclipse everything around her.
Ellyn, still close to Ash, smiled softly.
"It seems as if our Mothers have achieved something amazing."
Ash chuckled, his reddish-purple eyes lingering on the cocoon with evident approval.
"Right, and itâs something thatâll save me so much time," he said, his tone calm and content.
It went without saying that he knew exactly what was happening in his verse without even needing to look, much like when Nia sensed him watching herâit wasnât truly the case.
It was more like his subconscious was constantly keeping tabs on everything.
Beyond that, he could already feel Ravenâs evolution beginning to echo within himself, and he knew she was climbing the Meta Road at speeds far surpassing his own.
Granted, he had been deliberately pacing himself, but still, she had unknowingly shifted his plans for the future.
Originally, he intended to cultivate the Ten Boundless Stars before stepping into the Prime Expanse; however, now he wouldnât take as much time.
While the Boundless Stars were still essential, he could simply... bend the process a bit more in his favor.
After all, the Stars werenât merely his path to achieving Metaâthey were also the keys to unlocking the powers he envisioned.
They were, in a sense, his narrative organs.
As he watched the cocoon settle, he gave a casual wave of his hand and released Summer and Katherine from their frozen state.
"You guys have been quite busy, huh?" he said, his voice low and amused, a faint smile playing on his lips as he looked at them.
Summerâs black eyes lit up with a mix of relief and hunger the moment she could move again.
She didnât hesitate â she rushed forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and pressing her body against him.
"Right, weâve been too busy," she murmured against his chest, her voice husky. "And I Missed you."
Katherine moved just as quickly, her bloody crimson eyes dark with want as she slid in from the other side, pressing a firm kiss to his neck before resting her head on his shoulder.
"Right, weâve been working sooo hard," she added, her tone possessive. "But we made it worth it. You better appreciate what weâve been working on."
They wrapped their arms around him in a dual embrace, pressing kisses to his cheeks and neck, and simply holding him tightly as they expressed how much they had missed him
Aurora, Ellyn, and Rita watched from the side, their expressions shifting to sarcastic amusement.
Aurora crossed her arms, raising a brow.
"Wow, mothers." She said, "Youâre just going to ignore your own daughters like that?"
Ellyn shook her head with a soft laugh, though her cheeks were still flushed.
"Typical... they see Dad and suddenly we donât exist."
Rita, especially, looked a bit more pointed, her arms crossed as she stared at Summer â her biological mother.
"Yeah, Mom. Nice to see you too," she said dryly. "Glad to know I still rank below Dadâs dick."
Summer pulled back just enough to glance at her daughter, a teasing smirk on her lips.
"Donât be dramatic, Rita. You know I love you. But right now... priorities."
Katherine laughed, still pressed against Ashâs side.
"Exactly. Just be patient like good girls."
CRACKKK!!!
And while they chatted, the next instant, the cocoon around Raven shattered with a brilliant flash of black and white light.
Raven descended slowly, her form unchanged on the surface â the same long white hair, the same elegant features, the same pure white eyes.
However, the power emanating from her was even heavier than Ashâs in that moment, a vast, eclipsing presence that seemed to swallow anything.
She landed gracefully, walking up to Ash with a soft, satisfied smile.
"Do you like your gift?" she asked, her voice smooth and affectionate.
Ash smiled back, his eyes warm.
"Of course."
In that instant, Raven wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.