Standing just outside the city, the bald man smiled, then turned his head toward the front where the seashore stretched beneath the open sky. Without urgency, he began walking through the outskirts in a slow, steady manner, his steps calm and deliberate.

Yet with every step, space bent subtly around him. Distance lost meaning as a single stride carried him far beyond what should have been possible, the world folding obediently beneath his feet.

Before long, he stood upon the seashore.

A massive sand worm lay coiled nearby, half its colossal body submerged beneath the shifting sand. Its presence alone warped the air with an invisible pressure, ancient and watchful.

"Hmm, congratulations, Black Ink God."

As the words formed, a mental message surged into the bald man's mind, smooth and invasive. A smile was forced onto his face, one that carried respect rather than resistance.

Yes. The Grand Regent Inkous had found a star seed of divine grade on Galafray. He had dared to nurture it, to reach beyond his limits, and he had succeeded.

He was now a divine being.

"Thank you, Mind Worm God," Grand Regent Inkous replied, his gaze flicking briefly toward the figures of his approaching underlings.

"Haha. Past glories are not worth reliving," the giant sand worm responded, its voice calm, laced with faint self-mockery that carried the weight of centuries.

He had once been a god too, unfortunately corruption had won over his body and only his mind remained.

"It doesn't have to remain a past glory, my friend. After all, I have become a god. What is a divine level body that I cannot make for you?" Grand Regent Inkous said, a calm smile resting on his face as his hands spread outward, as though the act itself were trivial.

This was the privilege of a creation god.

As long as materials existed and energy could be supplied, they could shape nearly anything. Weapons, bodies, vessels of power, all forged to the same level as their creator if the price was met.

The sand worm stiffened slightly, its massive coils shifting beneath the sand.

Creating a divine level body alone was meaningless. Such a vessel required a constant flow of divine energy, something born only from a living core. A thing that could not be crafted, copied, or replicated no matter how great the creator.

For Inkous to fulfill that promise, he would need to sustain the worm personally for eternity, or take the core of another divine being and allow the worm to generate power on its own.

"That's a big ask," the sand worm said slowly, its voice carrying a rare edge of caution. "I cannot place you, dear friend, in such a position."

Its head lowered slightly, an old god's restraint surfacing. A demigod level body would be enough. More than enough.

"Hehe, it's really not…" Inkous replied softly.

They both understood what lay beneath that statement.

Inkous was newly ascended. A god without lineage, without allies, and without protection. Yet he held dominion over Galafray, a world already whispered to be the beauty standard of the federation. A jewel that would draw envy, ambition, and eventually blood.

He would not die from weakness.

He would die from being too successful.

"Tell you what," Inkous continued, his tone measured, though something sharp glimmered behind his smile. "I'll give you a demigod level body to inhabit. You can move freely on Galafray, do as you wish. But if I manage to create a god body for you, one complete with a core, then you and I cooperate in a few matters."

He paused, watching the sand shift around the worm.

"What do you think?"

He needed the Mind Worm on his side. Not merely for strength, but for what it represented. Two divine beings standing together sent a message that could not be ignored.

"Ahhh…"

The sound dragged on, deep and thoughtful.

Inkous felt a flicker of unease. Had he been too direct? Too forceful? Or was the worm considering something far deeper?

Only then did it occur to him how lightly he had spoken of divine cores. Of godly death. As though killing a god were an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe.

Had the age changed that much?

"I accept," the Mind Worm God said at last, nodding without hesitation.

Inkous blinked.

The worm's massive body shifted, sand cascading from its scales. "Worst case, I return to what I was before," it added calmly, as though discussing a minor setback rather than the loss of divinity.

"On one condition," the Mind Worm continued. "You come with me to my home world for a time. Only then will I accept the body."

Inkous studied the ancient creature for a moment, then nodded once.

"That's fine by me."

The two reached a tacit agreement, words settling like dust after a quiet storm. Inkous did not delay. Before the Mind Worm could reconsider, he manifested a body formed entirely from condensed black ink, dense and smooth, pulsing faintly with creation energy.

The substance shifted like living tar as it took shape.

Without hesitation, the Mind Worm invaded it. Consciousness poured into the vessel, sinking deep as the ink hardened and stabilized, accepting its new master. For the first time in countless years, the ancient god possessed form again.

.....

Somewhere within Rune City.

"One request each? Why?"

Seated atop a cold medical bed, Enzo raised an eyebrow as he stared at the five tyrant beasts of Rune City. Their massive forms filled the chamber, shadows stretching along the walls, yet none of them moved to threaten him.

With the shield lifted, Enzo had assumed they would flee the moment freedom presented itself. That they would tear their way out and vanish into the world beyond.

Instead, they stood before him, waiting.

Asking.

Only now did the truth sink in. These beasts had been trapped here longer than anyone else. Longer than the city's wars, longer than its rulers. They had never left because they could not.

This prison was not the city itself.

Something else bound them.

"As the heir to Rune City's formation, you are our lord," the bull-like creature said, its deep voice steady despite the strain beneath it. "But you are also our jailer. Only you can set our souls free from this place."

The words settled heavily in the air.

They had never been loyal to Lady Victoria. Far from it. They were criminals, wandering beasts who had slaughtered without restraint, leaving ruin in their wake. When the lady departed, she did not kill them.

She did something worse.

She bound their souls to the city's formation and sealed their bodies in an endless sleep beneath its foundations. Their flesh should have rotted away long ago. Their names should have faded into dust.

Yet here they stood.

Alive.

Awake.

Still bound.

An eternity of suffering carved into their very existence, waiting for a lord who could either damn them further or finally let them free.

"So the request is a sort of exchange?" Enzo nodded slowly as realization settled in. The pieces finally aligned. Even with the chains broken, he could not command them or bend their wills. Whatever bound them here did not make them servants.

It made them prisoners.

Yet they were willing to trade. A single request from him in exchange for freedom. Nothing more, nothing less.

"I don't really need anything from any of you right now," Enzo said with a shrug, uncertainty clear in his voice. "Give me some time. Maybe something will come up."

The words came easily, but the weight behind them did not.

He had barely returned from his second voyage. He had not even had time to understand his newfound strength before being attacked by Victoria's petty father. And now he was expected to decide the fate of beings that should have died ages ago.

It was too much, all at once.

"That's fine," the bull creature replied, a hint of disappointment slipping through as it lowered its head. Its gaze lifted toward the sky, tension coiling beneath its calm. "You have visitors anyway."

Enzo felt it a heartbeat later.

Two presences descended from above the building, vast and unmistakable. Pure divine energy rolled outward, pressing down like a silent tide that made the air itself feel heavier.

Grand Regent Inkous had arrived.

Beside him stood another figure, ancient and familiar to the city itself.

The original guardian of Rune City.

Their 'elder brother'.

Not wanting to meet either party, the tyrant beasts turned and began to leave. There was no hesitation in their movements, only a quiet urgency that spoke of long experience with divine interference.

Just because Enzo had no requests for them did not mean Inkous would share that restraint.

They wanted freedom, not obligation. And the moment a newly born god became involved, freedom could easily twist into conscription. Into being used.

Inkous did not arrive without purpose.

If he so much as glanced their way, a single word could bind them into a large scale war they had no interest in fighting. Not after everything they had endured. Not after an eternity spent trapped, waiting, suffering.

They had survived long enough to understand one truth.

When gods made deals, someone always paid the price.

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