On the screen, Jin Yu kept tapping the red dome with a single finger: tap, tap, tap. Each poke more insulting than the last.

  “Come out, and you’re a bastard. Stay in there, and you’re a spineless worm. Either way, you’ve pissed away any shred of dignity you had left.”

  He leaned in slightly, grinning as though speaking to a rotting carcass.

  “Rot in that flashy hiding hole of yours. Stay wrapped up in your glowing coward-ball while the corpses of your hired dogs stain the ground.”

  He straightened and swept his arm dramatically toward the fallen bodies.

  “You promised them a token to the Overlord’s inheritance, what a joke. You dangled power like a fat piece of meat, then sent them to die in your place. Some ‘great figure.’ Can’t lift a blade, can’t face a fight. All you’ve got is a mouth, and even that leaks bullshit.”

  His grin twisted into something darker.

  “You sent them to kill me, hoping one of them would earn your shiny little token. Look at them now, limp, headless, broken. And you?”

  He tapped the dome again. “Still hiding. Still pretending you matter.”

  Jin Yu’s voice dropped an octave, laced with pure venom.

  “I’ve seen beggars with more pride. At least they ask for scraps, they don’t throw others into slaughter and pretend it’s strategy.”

  He laughed, cold and scornful.

  “I almost feel sorry for you. Almost. But not quite.”

  He gave the dome a final flick with his finger.

  “If this cowardice is what guards the Overlord’s inheritance, maybe I’ll burn the whole damn legacy and leave nothing behind but ash and echoes.”

  If only the man had a body, his eyes would have turned Red with Fury.

  His body trembled, aura flaring out in unstable bursts.

  He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, but the rage didn’t fade.

  His figure kept dimming, flickering like a dying flame.

  Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to calm down.

  After a while, his anger quietened, he then stared intently at the screen, at Jin Yu's face, a hint of schadenfreude glinting his eyes.

  He made a subtle hand gesture.

  And instantly, on the platform, the red dome hummed softly, a hole wide enough to pass through appeared at a side.

  The man smirked, a faint smile dancing on his lips, as if the one furious just now wasn't him.

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  On the stage, Jin Yu was taken aback by the hole that suddenly appeared at his right hand side, on the dome.

  His eyes narrowed with suspicious as he turned to looked around the dome, but there was only a single passage and it only led to one bridge.

  He turned and walked towards it, caution lacing his steps.

  Is this old shit trying to bait me?

  He thought and stared at the distant door at the other end of the bridge, it wasn't small like the tiny doors nor was it as large as the towering ones.

  It was modest and wasn't anything loud, but he was feeling wary.

  Afterall, the man probably wants nothing but death for him.

  He looked back, to the place he was facing moments ago, and spoke.

  "Old thing, I know you're trying to kill me, but first, answer my question," he paused and stared at the red film, half expecting the old man to appear again.

  "Where is my companion?"

  He asked.

  Silence stretched as he continued looking at the film.

  In the red blee room, the man stared back at Jin Yu, his eyes indifferent, as if looking at a dead person.

  He raised his chin arrogantly and continued staring, not bothering to answer the question.

  On the platform, fury surged in Jin Yu’s chest. His voice cut through the air like a whip.

  “You walking corpse, did you really open that damn portal thinking I’d crawl in like some brain-dead mutt? Is your ‘divinity’ hanging loose or is your rotting skull finally leaking?”

  He jabbed a finger at the dome's direction, voice rising with venom.

  “You think I’ll march in there without an answer? Keep dreaming, you decrepit waste of spirit energy!”

  “I’ll piss on your pride, grind your patience to dust, and if I can’t kill you, I’ll mock you until the shame strangles you from the inside!”

  The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he smiled cruelly as he looked back at the screen.

  He finally replied, but not with words, rather, he flicked a finger and a white screen appeared on the platform.

  -----

  In a dark room glowing with long lava threads that seemed to be breathing within the rock, A man in white had his back to the screen, his pale silver hair draped behind him carelessly.

  His posture carefree, almost bored.

  A white bubble floated silently in front of him. A black amulet lay inside, glowing faintly as if resisting an unseen force.

  Jin Yu stared at the white screen without much reaction, but that faint, almost imperceptible emotion of relief in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

  As if sensing a prying eyes, Seer turned his head, just slightly, but it was enough to show his pure milky-white eyes that seemed to be eons away, sifting through the unthinkable.

  The screen disappeared as silently as it appeared.

  Jin Yu lowered his gaze, thoughtful.

  The girl’s eyes flicked between him and the glowing hole behind him.

  Jin Yu raised his head, expression unreadable.

  “Want to try?” he asked flatly.

  She shot him a glare, lips sealed tight.

  “Ah,” Jin Yu tilted his head slightly. “My bad. Almost forgot.” A lazy smile tugged at his lips. “Only one person can use it.”

  The girl stared, unimpressed, but Jin Yu wasn’t finished.

  “Yunno,” he said, voice light, almost conversational. “That only makes it more fun… Ask me how.”

  That crooked smile returned, only this time, it hinted at something darker.

  She took a step back, unease crawling up her spine.

  Jin Yu stepped forward, gaze fixed on hers like a predator enjoying the fear.

  “I'll tell you...”

  Her breath grew ragged. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but she still held his gaze, jaw clenched.

  “You’ll test it for me. See if the bridge opens. If not…” he shrugged. “You go ahead.”

  He leaned in slightly, whispering like it was some sacred secret.

  “Now the real question is… will that old shite open another path for me?”

  A pitying smile played on his lips. “Do you know?”

  “It’s useless either way,” the girl muttered as her back hit the dome. “Your foul mouth will get you killed someday.”

  Jin Yu chuckled, this time, the amusement reached his eyes.

  “Wrong.” His voice dropped, tone grave and certain. “My foul mouth will make me immortal. It sharpens me. Every time I spit venom, the world learns to flinch. And in time—” he raised a finger, “I won’t just speak death. I’ll be it.”

  The girl scoffed, though her voice trembled. “You won’t go far.”

  Jin Yu’s brow twitched.

  “Are you cursing me?”

  “No,” she said bitterly. “You’re unbridled. Wild. You don’t know when to kneel, when to hold back.”

  He stared at her like she’d just announced she was made of sand.

  Then he laughed, not the cold one, but the kind that rings with disbelief.

  “That,” he said, stepping within three meters of her, “is why your kind never makes it. You wear chains and call it virtue. You wrap yourselves in rules and think it’s righteousness.”

  He took another step, his voice low, burning.

  “How do you want to fly when you're scared to open your wings? How do you plan to Defy The Heavens when you bow to insects walking beneath it? HOW?"

  He questioned, staring deep into her, eyes fierce with something that should not exist in a mortal soul.

  Her heart pounded as her breath caught. Those eyes, no, that presence: it wasn’t human.

  Not anymore.

  This wasn’t a man.

  It was the beginning of something else.

  A force.

  A blasphemy.

  A declaration that if heaven wouldn’t make room for him, then he would carve his own throne, out of screams and ash.

  That look… didn’t belong to this world.

  Ding!

  Dominion Initiated....