All the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Everything around him was wrapped in absolute silence. The horse beneath him exploded into meat paste, vanishing in a wet shock that his mind refused to process.

"Hello. We met at the Rift…" a beautiful female voice sounded directly inside his mind. Unlike the mental voices he could hear from his wives, this one carried weight and depth.

It did not ask for permission. It had the terrifying ability to hear his thoughts as clearly as he heard her. Judas was sure of that.

His senses snapped back all at once. A rough wind tore in front of him as his body was dragged through the sky at a speed that barely allowed his vision to register anything. His stomach lurched violently.

He looked down.

Beneath him stretched endless obsidian scales, each one larger than a carriage, layered perfectly like the forged plates of armor.

Ancient runes glimmered faintly between the seams, pulsing with a sharp rhythm. Heat radiated from the surface—not burning, but crushing, like standing too close to a living sun.

He was above the Dragon. He was riding a dragon! Damn it.

"Why aren't you speaking?" the voice sounded confused, almost curious.

Judas sucked in a sharp breath, his chest burning as terror finally caught up to him.

"My name is Nyx."

The name pressed into Judas's thoughts with unnatural clarity. It did not echo or fade. It stayed, anchored, as if carved directly into his mind.

Every instinct told him to panic. His body wanted to thrash, scream, beg, or shut down completely.

None of those options led to survival. He forced his breathing to slow, drawing air through clenched teeth until his heartbeat stopped trying to escape his chest.

It had not eaten him. That fact mattered.

"Where are we going?" Judas asked.

The question was deliberate. He shaped it to sound cooperative. Framing mattered when dealing with beings that could erase cities.

"There is a woman of great strength," Nyx replied, her voice calm and distant, "and several irritating people who seek to bind me. Distance is preferable."

Judas nodded slightly, though he doubted she needed the gesture.

"Why take me with you?" he asked.

"Because you possess a concealment method beyond conventional space," Nyx answered.

His fingers twitched.

"What makes you sure?" Judas asked.

"I observed you remove multiple humans from existence," Nyx said. "Their presence vanished completely. No residue remained."

"Oh."

The sound slipped out before he could stop it.

So the System had not lied. She sensed the disturbance but could not penetrate the Couple Space.

That knowledge should have comforted him.

Instead, regret settled heavily.

Dragging his wives into the space while she watched had exposed his greatest card.

He should have run with them. He should have gambled everything on speed instead of secrecy.

"If not for that display," Nyx continued, "your death would have occurred several times already."

Judas swallowed hard.

Logic raced through his thoughts.

If the Couple Space had not intrigued her, he would already be dead.

"But an inconsistency exists," Nyx said. "Your soul should have simply revealed every piece of information I wanted. But resistance occurred."

Her tone held interest rather than threat.

"How does an undeveloped soul reject a Master-ranked consciousness?"

Judas felt a chill crawl along his spine.

"What do you mean by reject?" he asked.

"My initial contact should've killed you, and your residues should have revealed your secrets," Nyx said plainly. "But, rather than you being destroyed, we formed a mind connection instead. That is strange."

Her words landed heavily on his eardrums.

'System, please tell me this isn't what I think it is…'

[Congratulations—]

'Holy cow. What kind of absurd luck is this?'

If this dragon wasn't worthy of being his wife—cough…

He would've died already. Judas released a slow breath.

This dragon was dangerous. Curious. Intelligent.

A terrifying combination.

An absurd thought crossed his mind.

She would make a terrifying wife.

He dismissed it instantly. Fantasies had no place here.

No affection value hovered near her. No System indicator existed. To Nyx, he wasn't even a person; he wasn't even acknowledged as a living being.

That notion kinda annoyed him. He tried to suppress the annoyance, as the dragon knowing about it might kill him.

Only a small interest from her side was keeping him alive.

"Your soul is shielded," Nyx continued. "By an external authority."

Judas said nothing.

"A System?"

His breath caught in his throat. Nyx paused.

"Or a parasite from another world?"

"It's a System..."

"No wonder..." Nyx nodded. "It must be powerful for it to stop my soul attack and link our souls together. Its function might even be something like 'increasing power by confusing souls'?"

Judas clenched his fists.

"But I don't sense any illusions trying to corrupt my mind. So, the 'confusing of souls' might be true, but not through manipulation. Good system." She stopped.

It would be a lie to say Judas wasn't terrified now. In a sense, this dragon had almost analyzed his System.

What a terrifying entity!

"A system which considers consent. But why is it helping you? Every system's will has hidden ambitions regarding their hosts…" Nyx murmured.

[The System has no hidden ambitions.]

'I don't trust you,' Judas joked, trying to dispel the chill creeping into him.

She didn't speak further.

The wind pressure shifted as Nyx adjusted her wings.

The world below shrank rapidly as altitude increased. Clouds thickened. Air thinned.

"Where are we heading exactly?" Judas asked.

"A place without observers," Nyx replied.

"That description lacks detail," he said.

"There are scars in this world," she explained. "Regions where mana collapsed and rules fractured. Saints avoid such zones."

Judas frowned.

"That sounds unsafe," he said.

"Which ensures isolation," Nyx replied.

He could not argue with that.

"Why avoid killing those chasing you?" Judas asked.

"Elimination creates consequences," Nyx answered. "Attention follows destruction."

"You care about attention?" he asked.

"I dislike inconvenience," she said.

That explained everything.

"And that woman has the same strength as me…"

"Who?"

"Violet…"

"Oh."

"Do you know her?"

"No."

"Oh…"

Flight continued. Time blurred. His body adapted to speed and pressure through sheer necessity.

Something else became clear.

Nyx was holding him in place.

Mana wrapped around his form with flawless control. Release would mean death.

"You are pretty calm…" Nyx observed.

"Might be my characteristics," Judas shrugged.

"You are also pretending. I can feel your fear."

"What do you feel about Violet?" Judas asked instead.

Nyx went silent. His lips curled into a grin until a sharp wind grazed past his arm, slicing a deep wound there.

Blood streamed down into the wind, which he stabilized using Reconstruction.

He should control his mouth. This dragon wasn't like his wives. It could kill him simply by removing the mana protecting him.

Annoying.

Clouds parted.

Below them stretched a massive chasm. The land looked torn apart. Edges warped unnaturally.

Nyx slowed.

"This location will suffice," she said.

Judas stared downward.

"And me?" he asked.

"You will demonstrate concealment," Nyx stated.

His throat tightened.

"There are conditions for entering the space."

"Expected," she nodded.

In the next moment, he landed on the ground below. The huge dragon shattered into dark particles, materializing into the shape of a woman.

She wore nothing.

Judas gulped.

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