The Oni phalanx closed around us like an iron jaw. Their steps carried the weight of inevitability, each one loud enough to rattle the palace stone, each one telling us we had no choice but to march. My crew fanned in tight, tense but disciplined—Oath near my shoulder, Rox glaring holes in the guards, Skadi ready to spring, Zest prepared to unleash a current of voltage.

  The corridors leading to the Sovereign's chamber were carved into the bones of the colosseum itself. High ceilings, banners soaked in Oni heraldry, and walls that seemed to hum faintly with power. It wasn't ceremony—it was intimidation sculpted into architecture.

  At the end of the passage, a pair of gilded doors parted without a hand laid upon them. Oni sorcery. Beyond was a hall steeped in purple firelight, perfumed smoke curling from braziers. The space was vast but oppressive, lined with Oni lords who stood silent and still as statues, their horned visages cast in shifting shadow.

  And there she sat.

  The Shuten Doji.

  ???

  [Status] Shuten Doji Crueltal

  Creature: [??? (Ω)]

  Courtesy Name: Crueltal ???

  Primordial Name: Shuten Doji Crueltal

  Titles:

  - "Sovereign IX"

  - "Omega Zeldritch"

  Alt Species Name: "Omega Oni Zeldrimon"

  APeX: [??? Units]

  Attributes: [???], [???], [???]

  Evolution Stage: [Omega Ω]

  Current Variant Grade: [Supreme]

  ???

  She sat on a throne carved of black stone, draped in silks. Her figure reclined with casual regality, porcelain skin veiled in light, orange hair cascading in perfect, courtly waves. At first glance she was almost a vision of aristocratic allure—princess-like, poised, radiant. A Sovereign cloaked in the elegance of a goddess.

  But in her arms—

  Denji.

  ???

  [Status] Denji Jalkra-Mirage

  Creature: [Oni (G)]

  Courtesy Name: Denji Jalkra-Mirage

  Titles:

  - "Chaos Scion"

  - "Jalkra's Son"

  - "Diantha's Son"

  - "Mina's Nephew"

  Alt Species Name: "Oni Child Zeldrimon"

  APeX: [??? Units]

  Attributes: [Brawl], [Chaos]

  Evolution Stage: [Genesis]

  Current Variant Grade: [Elite]

  ???

  Mina released a harsh whisper, "She has my nephew…!"

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  The infant was swaddled in pale cloth, tucked against her chest like a cherished treasure. His tiny breaths stirred against her collarbone, oblivious to the gravity of where he rested. My heart lurched at the sight; for one instant I forgot breath, forgot composure. My ribbons twitched, poised to strike—but I forced them still. The Oni guards stiffened, waiting for me to move wrong.

  Shuten Doji's eyes met mine at last. And in them, I found none of the grace her visage promised. Her pupils glinted with cruel mirth, her smile sharp and mocking.

  "Well, well," her voice carried the melody of a courtesan but the weight of a butcher's cleaver. "The Chimera flame herself. And so very protective of her… toys." She tilted Denji slightly, like showing off a bauble.

  My throat tightened. I managed, somehow, to stay steady, "Return him to me."

  Her laughter burst like a hammer through glass. Not refined—boorish, loud, almost crude. The hall of watching Oni echoed with it.

  "Return him? Hah! And ruin the fun already? Do you think me your wet nurse, little fae? I do not hold babes for kindness. I hold them to watch the fire in their guardians tremble!"

  Denji stirred faintly at her laugh but didn't cry. Some part of me whispered that her aura alone must have cowed him into quiet.

  I straightened my spine, keeping my voice even. "If you mean to punish me, do it directly. Don't use him."

  "Punish you?" Her grin widened, while her curled horns flashed on lips painted like wine. "Oh, KiAera… you flatter yourself. You think me some dreary magistrate tallying sins and doling lashes? No."

  She leaned down, pressing her cheek to Denji's head with mock affection. "You strike devils in the plaza, you freeze serpents mid-lunge, you throw my city into hysteria. And do you know what I say to that?"

  Her voice dropped to a crude and raw tone beneath the silk lilt: "I say good."

  My stomach tightened. That wasn't what I expected.

  "Spectacle is the marrow of this tournament. You made the crowd scream louder than the Venolisks. You made them hungry." She tossed her hair with aristocratic ease. Snort—then immediately snorted like a tavern drunk. "You've entertained me. And I love to be entertained."

  The Oni lords shifted, their faces betraying nothing, though I caught Oriona's jaw twitch with the faintest distaste.

  My gaze locked on Denji. His chest rose and fell. Calm and unaware of the situation. The dissonance of seeing him in the Sovereign's arms while she mocked me clawed at my control.

  "He's not entertainment. He's a child."

  Her eyes narrowed, the false charm peeling further. "A child? A brat fresh from the womb? Hah. Everything in this city is entertainment, flame. From the crowds who cheer to the fools who die in the sand. That's the truth you choke on, isn't it? You fight for honor, for mercy, for crew—but the Core?"

  "The Core feeds on blood and laughter. And I…" She tapped her temple with one lacquered nail, and her grin sharpened. "I am the one who fattens them both."

  I moved forward, ribbons rising despite myself. The Oni guards shifted spears toward me. My crew bristled.

  But Shuten Doji only laughed again, raw and unladylike, shaking Denji slightly as though to mock me. "Yes, yes, that glare. That fire. That's what I want to see, KiAera. Don't pout like a maiden robbed of her wedding night. Burn for me instead. Burn, and make them scream until their throats bleed!"

  She cradled Denji closer, then—to my shock—kissed his forehead lightly, mockingly. "He'll be fine. For now. You want him back? Make me laugh louder than the rest. Survive, triumph, and maybe I'll return him without a scratch. Fail…"

  Her grin curved wider, eyes gleaming with unholy delight. "And I'll raise him myself. What better entertainment than a child torn between monsters?"

  The hall fell silent. My crew stiffened behind me. My breath burned in my throat, every instinct screaming to rip him from her arms.

  But I knew one thing now.

  The Shuten Doji wasn't here to punish me.

  She was here to play.

  Then I heard a new voice. "Enough with the taunts, Crueltal Exxela—though you prefer Shuten Doji nowadays… Toying with my legatee is uncalled for." Everyone in the room snapped their attention in the direction of the voice, including me. We all saw nothing—no one stood there, despite how clearly the speaker's voice rang. Everyone was at a loss for words.

  Subsequently, Crueltal responded as though she were speaking to someone nearby. My ears perked up the moment I caught the name she hissed. "Szylla. If this is interference meant to soothe the vexation of your little Rite survivor…" she paused, allowing the threatening weight of her tone to linger, then finally said, "I approve."

  I turned to see the figure of the Sovereign Szylla standing beside the Shuten Doji's throne. She remained the same prim and fanciful figure as I last remembered. Though her Victorian-style dress didn't contrast too much with the foreboding scenery, the sight of her felt as though I was daydreaming—a haze I fought against because she was the last person I expected to see here.

  "You hold a child hostage."

  "I prefer 'pawn.' But it's not a bother, yes, if I'm his primordial ancestor."

  "Many lines of lineage at best, perhaps. Though you may be an indirect elder of his bloodline."

  "What is this insistence, you mollusk sorceress? Shouldn't you be attending to your libraries and superstitious research?"

  "Not when you fake class and polish. I'm certain you're itching to tear through a battlefield."

  Crueltal's eyes lidded, irritation flaring just beneath her composed facade. "And why should the likes of you concern yourself with my affairs, Szylla? I have no interest in your petty squabbles."

  Szylla stepped forward, her presence shifting the air slightly, as if she carried a weight far greater than her bookish frame suggested. "Because this isn't a matter of entertainments or amusements. This is about the future of our domains, and you know as well as I do that this child—Denji—holds ties to our favored constituents."