Then, without pause, he turned toward the old manāMaskithā
and drifted toward him in slow, deliberate silence.
Maskith saw him comingā¦
yet did not move.
Until Frey stood directly before him.
"What will you do now, Maskith?"
Frey's voice whispered beside his ear ..
sending a cold shiver through every fiber of his being.
"Aether won't work against me. Your control is far inferior."
"Aura won't save you eitherāyou're even worse at it."
Frey leaned closer, his face nearly brushing Maskith's ear.
"So what now? How will you survive? Show meā¦ I'm curious."
In that moment ...
Maskith moved.
The old man dropped to his knees, bowing his head in complete submission.
"The great heirā¦ descendant of the First Writerā¦ creator of this worldā¦
forgive my insolenceāpardon the sins committed by these hands!"
He begged for mercy ...
while Frey stared down at him with the same unfeeling coldness.
"What exactly are you doing?" Frey asked flatly.
"Do you think this pathetic apology means anything?"
Maskith raised his head slightly, still kneeling.
"I was never your enemy, my lord.
You are the heir of the one I serve and revereā¦ but forgive me ...
I had to be certain you had truly returned. That is why I attacked."
"Everything I've doneā¦ was for your returnāfor your liberation from this world."
His voice carried absolute respect.
Frey looked down at him in silenceā¦ then spoke.
"I seeā¦ so it was you.
The one who left those ancient traces for me ...
the second servant my mother sent, alongside Audrey."
"That is correct!" Maskith replied firmly, relief flickering across his face.
But that reliefā¦
Vanished instantly.
Frey removed his mask ...
leaning closer, revealing that same chilling smile.
"And? Does that change anything?"
"ā¦Excuse me?" Maskith froze, stunned.
Frey chuckled softly.
"Did you think I wouldn't kill youā¦ just because of that?"
"In the end, you serve my motherānot me.
Your loyalty belongs to her."
"So whyā¦ would I let you live?"
Maskith froze completely, unable to respondāhis voice faltering.
"My lordā¦ how could I ever harm you? You are her heirā"
"But you would," Frey cut in coldly.
"If she ordered it. Wouldn't you?"
"My lady would neverā!" Maskith beganā
"Enough."
Frey silenced him instantly.
"Spare me your meaningless words. They mean nothing to me."
His eyes glowed with a terrifying intensity as he leaned closer.
"Give me a guarantee. A real one.
Something that ensures your loyaltyā¦ to the very end."
"Or I end your life here."
"Iā¦ Iā¦" Maskith trembled violently.
"I don't knowā¦ my lordā¦ I truly don'tā"
"Oh? You don't?"
Frey's smile widened.
"Then let's do this instead."
A wet, tearing sound echoed ...
Flesh was pierced.
Blood spilled.
Frey's hand sank deep into Maskith's chest.
Thenā
From within, positive Aether surgedā
that crimson-tinged gray energy enveloping his heart.
Frey tore it outā¦
and held it before his face.
Smiling.
A cruel, bloodstained smile.
"I can preserve your heart with Aether.
Keep you aliveā¦ indefinitely."
"And just as easilyā¦ I can end you."
He held the heart closer.
"All I need to doā¦ is crush it."
"This is a proper guarantee."
Maskith stood frozen ... listening in fear.
His life was now in Frey's grasp.
All it would take ...
was a shift from positive energyā¦ to negative.
And his heart would vanish.
So would he.
"Will you betray her?" Maskith asked, voice trembling.
"Betray the Great Mother?"
"Betray my mother?" Frey frowned.
"Are you insane?"
"How could I ever turn against her?
My love for herā¦ surpasses everything."
He paused ... then smiled faintly, stepping back.
"Butā¦ a son may rebel from time to timeā¦"
"ā¦before returning home in the end."
He placed his mask back on.
Then gestured.
"Come."
"It's time to settle everythingā¦ on Earth."
Maskith hesitated only for a momentā
before risingā¦ and following.
His call was directed at Alexander and Shiva, who had witnessed everything ...
standing in stunned silence before the transformed presence of their king.
He was no longer the cold warrior they once knewā¦
he had become something far more terrifying.
A kind of terror that transcended reasonā
as though the world itself had begun to move to his rhythm alone.
And their next destinationā¦ was Earth.
With effortless ease, Frey tore open a rift in space and time,
carving a path back to the planet.
He stepped through ... followed by his subordinatesā¦ and Maskith ...
leaving Londor behind.
But just before vanishing, he turned his head slightly ...
his gaze fixed on a distant point.
"Every living being is free to choose their pathā¦
but some paths are far darker than others."
"My path is one of shadow and ruinā¦
tell meā¦ can you walk it?"
With those words, he disappearedā
his presence erased from Londor entirely.
Silence fell.
A heavy stillness reclaimed the battlefieldā
lingering for a timeā¦
Until a hand emerged from the rubble.
A trembling hand.
It belonged to a battered, broken demoness...
one who had endured horrors beyond measure.
Vayne crawled forward, her body shattered, barely holding together ...
fighting desperately to survive.
Her face twisted with fearā¦ and burning rage.
"He didn't kill meā¦ he didn'tā¦" she whispered, her voice shaking.
"He's a monsterā¦ but a fool! He left me with just enough strength to live!"
She staggered, struggling to move.
"That damned Weskerā¦ I should've killed him myself!
How dare heā¦ how dare he do this to me!!"
Her teeth clenched, fury boiling within herā
swearing to return stronger than ever.
But that resolveā¦
Was crushed instantly.
Shadows burst from beneath her ...
impaling her body like countless black stakes.
They pierced through every inch of her flesh.
Vayne gasped in agony, her bloodshot eyes darting wildly ...
searching for the source.
And then ... She saw her.
Another demoness stood before her.
Long white hair. Twin dark horns.
A flowing black dress that trailed across the ground like living shadow.
"Frey Starlightā¦" she spoke softly, her voice calm.
"You are the strangest man I've ever metā¦ I can no longer understand you at all."
She smiled.
"But you left this gift for meā¦
so despite everything you claimā¦ you do care. Don't you?"
"Y-youā¦ what are you doingā¦?" Vayne stammered, panic rising ...
her eyes locking onto Sansa's twisted smile.
Sansa said nothing.
The shadows around her trembled ...
then surged forward, tearing Vayne apart.
They twistedā¦ split openā¦ becoming ravenous mouths ...
devouring the Third-Rank demon piece by piece.
Her blood flowed ...
straight into Sansa.
Sansa lifted her gaze toward the distant horizon,
her dark eyes flickering faintly.
"If I am to walk the same path as himā¦
then I have no choice but to follow it."
"The path of devouring."
The only pathā¦
that would allow a being like her to endure such darkness.
To bear the darkness ...
one must descend into something even deeper.
And so, Sansa made her choice.
To devour her own kind ...
beginning with a Third-Rank demon.
Vayne's screams didn't last long.
She was consumed completely.
As silence returned, Sansa closed her eyes...
letting herself sink into her own shadow.
Black veins pulsed beneath her pale skin, glowing faintly.
And then She vanished.
As though she had never existed in Londor at all.