Annara Vermont.
A na entwined with his fate more than any of his companions from Earth.
But she was changed.
Her once fiery crimson hair—vibrant like a burning dawn—had turned into strands of pitch-black silk that cascaded over her pale, porcelain skin. Her eyes, once mischievous and bright, now glimred with sothing colder. With one glance, Ery could sense the power flowing beneath her beauty—dense, restrained. Yet she had not ascended into the Cosmic Realm.
She caught his gaze and chuckled softly.
"Ah... even if you like my new look,"she teased, her voice carrying a trace of that old playful tone, "you don’t have to stare so hard."
When she reached him, the teasing vanished from her eyes. She stopped an arm’s length away, her gaze softening. "When the Khaos connection was cut off," she whispered, "I really thought you were dead. It’s... good to see you again"
For a heartbeat, her composure cracked. He felt it—the wave of emotion she tried to hide behind that calm mask. But before he could respond, Annara turned away, forcing a grin as she walked toward the restrained masked Grand Magus still bound by the Chronicle Ring’s ethereal chains.
"Geez, you’ve gotten strong," she said over her shoulder, half-impressed, half-teasing. "To take him down that easily... this one is Kadeth, Violet Miasma—a fad assassin of the Midnight Brotherhood."
The masked grand magus lifted his head weakly, his voice a growl through clenched teeth. "You... look far too calm. But you can’t fool . Release , or the toxin in your veins will—"
The rest of his words were lost in the sharp crack of Annara’s palm across his face. His mask shattered, and a tooth flew into the snow, revealing a grotesquely twisted visage beneath.
"You scared all right... with that ugly face of yours," she sneered. "As for your poison—" she smirked, "—not anymore."
She glanced at Ery, forcing a grin through the tension. "This man you’re looking at can cure . He’s not just a genius apothecarist... he’s the main character of this story."
Kadeth let out a hoarse, blood-tinged laugh. "Hahaha... fool. No one escapes the Violet Death. Not after ten days of incubation."
Annara’s smirk faded. She raised her hand to strike again—but suddenly froze. A strangled cough escaped her throat, followed by a gush of blood.
"Annara!" Ery darted forward, catching her before she fell. Her skin burned hot beneath his touch, her mana pulsing in erratic surges. His eyes widened when his spiritual sense reached into her body.
There, coiled around her heart—a nest of writhing black centipedes that pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat.
Ery’s expression hardened. He summoned a pulse of purifying energy, but the mont his power touched the creatures, they writhed violently, burrowing deeper and sending waves of agony through her.
Annara clenched her teeth, forcing a smile through the pain. "I hate... for you to see like this," she murmured. "But if you’ve got anything that might help—now would be a good ti."
Ery clenched his jaw, suppressing the instinct to purge the parasites by force. He could sense how tightly they were bound to her — any sudden disruption could tear her heart apart. He called inward, his voice low and steady.
"Chututlu," he said, summoning the Khaos guardian within."tell —have you learned anything about these creatures?"
The ancient entity’s deep voice echoed in his mind.
Relief flickered across Ery’s face. He loosened his grip and began channeling gentle restorative energy through Annara’s veins, easing her breathing. "You’ll be fine," he said quietly. "I’ll find a way. Worst case... we’ll kill this thing."
The captured assassin’s let out a rasping laugh. "Even if you kill that one, my brother holds the second host. They’re linked by soul. If one dies..." He grinned under the cracked mask. "...the other will take over"
Ery’s eyes narrowed. He could sense the truth in those words. But instead of despair, cold resolve filled his voice.
"Then I’ll find your brother—and kill him as well."
"You could never beat him," the assassin spat. "He’s—"
A flick of Ery’s hand silenced him. The Chronicle Ring constricted, its runes flaring to life as they wrapped around the man like chains of molten light. With a faint hum, his form was drawn inward—sealed into a private cell within Ery’s domain.
The captured centipede stirred violently, its chitinous body writhing with defiance. Ery’s spirit energy flared in response, suppressing it with a precise burst of will. Once subdued, he sent the creature to his dark counterpart for study under Chututlu’s watchful guidance.
When Ery turned back, Annara was staring at him, worry clouding her eyes. "You can’t just kill it," she said weakly. "Those centipedes... they’re sacred beings of the Insectoid Race. Those brothers stole them a hundred years ago." Her expression hardened, a shadow passing over her face. "And there’s more." Her gaze darkened. "They’re holding Nyx. We need to save her."
Ery was startled, though he kept his composure. "Tell everything. What happened?"
As they flew back toward Centauri City, Annara began her tale. Her voice wavered between exhaustion and anger as she recalled the events that had led her here.
She and Nyx had been investigating a series of disturbing activities across the sector—patterns of disappearance, sudden uprisings, and the collapse of once-stable factions. Their investigation eventually led them to the Midnight Brotherhood. For the past several years, the Brotherhood had orchestrated the downfall of multiple factions from the shadows.
"All of them were Grade One and Grade Two factions," Annara explained bitterly. "They struck when their targets were weakest—when their forces were deployed to the frontlines. Assassinations, ransom, threats—whatever it took to bring them down."
She went on to describe how she and Nyx uncovered proof linking the Brotherhood to several elite factions within the sector—a dangerous alliance ford to seize power amid the chaos of war. Even the half-blood factions, already oppressed minorities, had suffered from their manipulations.
"We were getting close," Annara continued, her tone softening. "Too close. Then Nyx disappeared—taken.... I tracked her whereabouts, but that’s when they caught ."
Ery’s brows furrowed, his voice low and steady. "So... you know where their base is?"
Annara nodded grimly. "If we want to save her, we’ll need preparation. Their stronghold is a fortress, dozens of magus ...and the Brotherhood is led by ten Grand Magus. The one you defeated was number seven. The top three..." Her voice trailed into a whisper. "They’ve all reached the Second Cosmos Realm. You can’t face them all head-on."
Ery didn’t respond imdiately. The idea of confronting multiple Cosmic Realm Grand Magus wasn’t new to him—but this was different. This wasn’t a battlefield or a duel. It was a rescue mission—for Nyx, whose fate might be tied to sothing far greater than any of them yet understood.
His thoughts churned, strategies forming and dissolving in his mind.
By the ti the two reached Centauri, the sky had deepened into a violet dusk. The city’s lights shimred like fallen stars as they made their way toward Utopia City,. Ery intended to rally a few Grand Magus allies to help.
But as he stepped into the grand hall, his heart stopped.
Standing there, among gathered figures, was a face he had longed to see for years
"Father!"
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