"If I kill her, the pact dies. The connection is severed. You will not have to share your soul with a weak rat anymore. You will belong only to me again."

"Val, no!" Maya screamed in pure terror. She tried to crawl backward on the glass-covered floor, but her back hit the wall. She was trapped.

Valeria crouched, her golden aura flaring like a dying sun. She lunged forward, pulling her metal fist back to completely crush the little healer into dust.

She moved so fast that Maya could not even blink.

But suddenly, someone stepped directly into her path.

Zen.

He did not summon his dark sword, or put up a magic shield. He simply stepped right in front of Maya, using his own body as a physical wall between the healer and the Goddess of War.

Valeria saw him at the very last second.

Her eyes widened in a heart-stopping terror. She was moving too fast. She was using too much power. If her fist hit him, it would blow his head completely off his shoulders.

"No!" Valeria screamed in pure panic.

She forced her body to stop, digging her heavy metal boots deep into the concrete floor and tearing massive trenches in the ground. She violently pulled her arm back to reverse the kinetic energy, but the sudden, violent stop tore the muscles in her own shoulder.

The wind pressure from her halted punch blasted forward, hitting Zen like a hurricane. It blew his dark hair wildly and shattered every single remaining piece of glass in the room.

But Zen did not move. He stood tall, his dark eyes locked onto hers.

Valeria’s glowing golden fist was shaking violently. It had stopped exactly one inch away from Zen’s face.

The room went dead silent. The only sound was the crackling fire and Valeria’s heavy, ragged breathing.

She looked at her own fist. She looked at how close she had just come to killing the only man she had ever loved. The man she had spent five hundred years waiting for. The man she had just cried about failing to protect.

The feral madness in her mind instantly shattered into a million pieces.

"I..." Valeria gasped. Her voice was small and broken. "I almost... I almost hurt you."

Zen did not yell. He did not step away. He took a calm, slow step forward, stepping right into her personal space.

He raised his hand, and gently grabbed her shaking, metal-covered fist. He pulled it away from his face and lowered it down to her side. Then, he reached up and placed his warm, bare hand flat against her pale cheek.

He pushed his newly evolved High C-Rank mana out. It wrapped around her like a heavy, warm blanket. It was the pure, ancient feeling of his soul.

"Look at me," Zen ordered softly.

Valeria looked up. Tears were already spilling out of her golden eyes.

"I am the Emperor," Zen said. His voice was smooth, but it carried absolute, unbreakable dominance. "I decide who lives. I decide who dies. I decide who shares my power. You do not question my choices, Valeria. You do not attack my people. You obey me."

Valeria let out a loud, painful sob.

"Drop the armor," Zen commanded.

Valeria did not hesitate. The terrifying golden Aegis armor instantly dissolved into pure light. It vanished completely, leaving her standing there in her casual denim shorts and oversized academy sweater. She looked small, fragile, and completely broken.

"I’m sorry," Valeria cried loudly. Her knees buckled.

She fell to the floor right in front of him. She wrapped her arms tightly around Zen’s legs and pressed her tear-stained face against his knees, crying like a lost child who had finally found her way home.

"I am so sorry, Zen," she sobbed, her whole body shaking. "Please don’t hate me. Please don’t send me away. I just want to keep you safe. I just want to be yours."

Zen looked down at the crying Goddess of War holding onto his legs. He slowly reached down and placed a hand on the back of her head, gently stroking her hair.

"I know," Zen said softly, his Emperor persona firmly in control. "I know you do."

Behind him, Maya slowly peeked out from behind the couch. The little healer was trembling. She stared in shock at the sight of the most terrifying woman in the world crying on the floor.

Across the ruined room, Nyx slowly pushed herself up from the floor. She wiped a trail of blood from her lip. The Spymaster looked at Zen, then down at Valeria kneeling at his feet. Nyx did not look angry anymore. Her purple eyes glowed with deep, obsessive respect.

Zen had not thrown a single punch, but he had completely conquered the Goddess of War.

After a while, he slowly stepped back. Valeria stayed on her knees, wiping her tear-stained face. She looked up at him with wide, obedient eyes, completely pacified.

Zen looked around the burning, destroyed penthouse. Almost everything in here were smashed. Broken glass covered every inch of the floor, and the carpet was still on fire.

"Dry your tears, Valeria," Zen commanded calmly. "Then, you are going to help Nyx clean up this mess. You destroyed half my room."

Valeria sniffled. She glared over her shoulder at the Spymaster. "But... Emperor, she just stabbed me in the back with lightning. I will not work with..."

Zen sisn’t say a word; he simply looked down at her. His dark eyes turned perfectly cold, carrying the heavy, unspoken weight of his authority.

Valeria swallowed her words instantly. She shrank under his commanding gaze, terrified of making him angry again.

"Yes, Emperor," Valeria whispered quickly. She nodded her head, eager to please him. She was just happy he was not sending her away.

Across the room, Nyx pushed herself off the floor. She wiped a trail of blood from her lip and smirked at the tamed Goddess of War.

Zen turned his back on both of them. He walked slowly toward the overturned couch near the broken window.

Maya was curled up in a tight ball on the floor, trembling violently. She peeked over her knees as Zen approached.

This was the first time Maya was seeing him this way since he left the academy. Her eyes widened in shock. This was not the weak, broken boy with the shattered core she had saved in the dungeon. This was not the quiet, polite student from the Scrap Dorms she had a crush on.

His posture was perfectly straight. His dark eyes held unquestionable authority. And the heavy, terrifying High C-Rank magic rolling off his body felt ancient and overwhelmingly powerful. He did not look like a normal student. He looked like a king who had just commanded a monster to heel.

Zen stopped in front of her. He let out a soft breath, dropping the heavy Emperor pressure so he wouldn’t scare her further. He offered his bare hand down to her.

"It is okay, Maya," Zen said gently, his voice returning to normal. "You are safe now. Let’s get you up."

But Maya did not take his hand.

She flinched violently, pressing her back hard against the broken wall. Her wide, terrified eyes stared at his outstretched hand, and then up at his calm face.

She looked past him at the golden S-Rank monster kneeling obediently on the floor. She looked at the Spymaster watching him with respect.

Maya swallowed hard. Her voice shook with a mix of fear and complete disbelief.

"Who..." she whispered, pulling her knees closer to her chest. "Who are you?"