Within the Timemould Mirror Box…

'Just how much stronger can they get?' thought Gerriey, dumbfounded by what she saw. In her excitement, she squeezed the leather bag in her hands. 'The gap keeps widening… just when I thought I could possibly join them.'

Pherdanta had decided to stow away her sword in the bag and had given it to Gerriey for safekeeping as she conducted an evaluation of the new forces her master had brought from the Labyrinth of the Yoke. At first, Gerriey had been unable to handle the bag. The lethal intent creeping from Dance of the Necrotic Butcher, sheathed as it was, had deterred her. But since this was a task given by someone she looked up to, Gerriey ended up steeling herself and committing to it. She still intended to grow stronger and considered the task of taking care of Pherdanta's sword a trial.

For a while after that, Gerriey had been convinced nothing – except for Skullius' presence – could dwarf the dangerous aura of Pherdanta's sword, but something else did. It was Pherdanta herself.

By now, they were on the third bout. The mighty Incandescent, Transcendent, and Beyond the Veil Stagers Skullius had brought in were all lying flat on the floor, bleeding, broken, and near death. Very few of them twitched, signaling consciousness.

Pherdanta stood among them, barely scratched.

'She remained just as dangerous when the masked man stripped us of our Stages, Mana, and Skills earlier,' Gerriey thought. 'But now, she seems even stronger… and she isn't even using any abilities!'

To make the contest fair, Pherdanta had even removed her Granted Star Armament, save for the skirt that was attached to it. She had even abandoned her boots and was adorning only a simple, sleeveless shirt on her torso. Streaks of blood lined her arms and hands – the blood of her opponents. It made no difference how many of them attacked her at once. She brutalized them all with her bare hands and feet.

Even when they expelled their Territories or reinforced their bodies with them, it seemed to make no difference, however little sense it made to Gerriey. The output and abilities the Stark Troop had seen from the Territories of some of these experts were stronger than what she'd seen from Nigerra, but Pherdanta dismissed it all. With a cloak of refined, unshakeable Nitros, she decimated Territories and crushed their users, killing their will and hubris. Barely any of them had so much as touched her since the first bout.

"Get up, or you'll die in earnest," said Pherdanta to the experts, massaging her wrist.

Some gurgled blood, some groaned, some muttered incomprehensibly as they struggled to find their way back to reality.

Gerriey's eyes widened. 'These two are different, though.'

It was the third time now. The same two individuals had been the first to rise to their feet when Pherdanta demanded it following a bout: Aeggr and Muezzi.

They were strong. They were beaten just as badly as the others, but Gerriey noticed how they never broke. They healed themselves and got right back to fighting Pherdanta, trying different tactics and remaining level-headed despite how ferocious the Commander became.

Pherdanta herself was also quite surprised by their tenacity, but she didn't show it. She readied herself for battle, her body outlined in a stroke of Nitros once more.

"Come," she said.

"As you say," said Aeggr, and he readied himself too.

Muezzi did so as well, but without a word.

Gerriey's eyes fixed on her. That silent but stubborn brazenness…

Did it really have anything to do with that… fiend she called the Deputy?

***

In Metgard…

The consoles all had specific functions. Kintar's hands hovered over the speed controls, and she began to pull back. Amanas only had three speed modes for travel: Nordi, Gullin, and Sliepr – default, fast, and flash, respectively.

So far, Kintar hadn't seen the need to go past Gullin, the mode she'd been using since they left Aigas. Now, she switched to Nordi, and the vessel flew at only a third of its previous speed.

"Isn't Skullius on a dangerous timer?" Uyuniya asked Kintar, looking at the console skeptically.

"Meh. He'll be fine. The fact that he never bothers to tell us specific details about it means he's got it under control. He would have specified it if he needed us to be blazing through the void," said Kintar. "And isn't the whole point of this to adventure around Reality seeking inspiration?"

Uyuniya couldn't argue with that. Skullius himself had told her and Elita not to worry about the Doom Factors. However…

"I'd still like to get to Zelozeld as quickly as possible."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" said Kintar, rolling her eyes. "If I understand how time between worlds works correctly, by the time we land on Zelozeld, not that much time should have passed from when you left, right?"

Uyuniya frowned. That was true.

"Lighten up." Kintar slapped her chest. "Even besides, you said the formation of Prime worlds that helps you navigate home still isn't visible from here, which means we're still far off, right? Relax. We'll get you home in… Oh, look at that!"

An interesting sight caught Kintar's attention, and she immediately stopped Amanas. The great vessel was so sturdy and well-designed that inertia didn't bother it, even when it abruptly stopped.

A world could be seen just a few thousand kilometers away – a great disk of light. It was smaller than Aigas, however, and somehow, dimmer. The light from it pulsated weakly, gracelessly. It was a strange thing to behold.

But even stranger than that…

"Is this a common thing in the great void?" asked Kintar, narrowing her eyes and lurching forward.

"For small worlds? Yes. Unfortunately so," said Uyuniya.

The reason behind the world's weakening grace was evident. Four creatures, each about a third the size of this world, were clawing at its extremities for grip, their maws sinking into its depth and feeding on everything within it.

"Fiends are the most common ways for small worlds to get eradicated. These ones, especially," Uyuniya said.