Nova, Nix, Mina, and Iris exited the town with little to no trouble, only stopping here and there to pawn off some of the Bluestone treasures.
They kept off the main road, cutting through worn paths and overgrown trails.
The Pearl Eye Forest loomed ahead like a curtain of shadows. Ancient trees twisted high above, their branches clawing at the sky. The sun was already setting behind them, casting a deep amber glow over the landscape.
Distant howls echoed through the woods. Growls followed—low, guttural, monstrous. Something slammed its claws against a nearby tree. Another beat a stone with a crude club.
Nix flinched, clutching her satchel tight. "H-Hey Nova... where exactly are we going?"
Nova didn't even slow down. "We'll figure it out once we find a cave to use as a landmark."
"W-Wait. A cave?" Nix asked, her voice rising an octave. "Anywhere else. Please?"
Nova chuckled. Her fear was… oddly refreshing. She'd been numb for so long, hardened by abuse and trauma. But this? This was real. Human. Vulnerable.
"Don't worry. We're not staying in the cave," Nova said. "It's just a marker."
Mina chimed in. "Okay, but then where are we staying?"
"You'll see," Nova replied with a smirk.
They moved deeper into the forest, passing beneath arching roots and moss-covered rocks. Before long, they found it: a cave opening, jagged and dark, tucked into a hillside and half-hidden behind thick vines.
Nova stepped forward and raised his hands. A soft hum of arcana surrounded him as he moved them apart like opening invisible curtains.
A swirling black-and-silver portal shimmered into existence, pulsing with eerie light.
Mina blinked. "Wait… we can go in there? I thought only you and items could enter the pocket dimension ."
Nova turned to them, smirking.
He motioned them inside.
Without hesitation, Nova stepped through.
One by one, the others followed—Mina with cautious curiosity, Nix gripping his arm, and Iris trailing silently behind, her eyes blank and obedient under the Domination effect.
As they passed through the portal, the forest vanished behind them.
And before them… stood an entire world.
Stars fired danced across the sky, tracing constellations no scholar had ever mapped. Three moons hung like glowing pearls above, casting their silver light over the land in gentle, shifting waves.
Below them stretched a vast open field—lush, endless, and glowing faintly under the celestial light. Towering mountains circled the edges of the world like silent guardians. One mountain in particular held a gaping cave mouth, half-shrouded in mist and mystery. It led deeper—down into the Moonvale Dungeon, the very place where Nova had first met Kan Sha.
Mina ran into the field like a child let loose in a candy store.
"Wait—no way this whole place is ours!" she shouted, spinning with arms wide. "This is beautiful!"
Laughing, she dropped onto her back, the grass cool against her skin. The scent of wildflowers filled the air. The stars above felt close enough to touch.
For the first time in forever, she felt truly free.
No nobles barking orders.
No monsters lurking in the shadows.
No fear.
Just sky, grass, and the quiet presence of her friends.
Nix, however, was slower to follow.
Her gaze had locked onto the cave in the mountains. Her body tensed, memories clawing at her mind. Cages. Chains. Screams in the dark. That kind of cave—dark, deep, unknown—had never meant safety to her.
Nova saw it in her eyes immediately. The way her fingers twitched. The way she kept her body slightly turned, like she was ready to run.
He walked over slowly, voice gentle but firm.
"Hey. Don't worry," he said. "There are no monsters on the surface."
He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"And the ones in the cave? They're all under my control now. Nothing in there will touch you unless I say so."
Nix looked up at him—still scared, still uncertain.
But it was Nova.
The boy who once held her hand when she cried. The brother who came back for her when no one else did.
She nodded.
Then took a slow, steadying breath.
She stepped forward—and ran toward Mina.
Within moments, both girls were laughing, twirling, and frolicking across the open field. They dipped their fingers in glowing starlit flowers and chased firefly-like arcana sprites that fluttered through the air.
Eventually, they reached the edge of a river that cut through the field like a flowing ribbon of crystal. The water shimmered with soft blues and purples, reflecting the moons above like a mirror to another realm.
They knelt by the riverbank, splashing water at each other, giggling uncontrollably.
Nova stood back, watching them.
A soft smile tugged at his lips.
He'd done it.
He'd brought them somewhere safe.
Somewhere the world couldn't touch them.
Kan Sha appeared beside him in his usual ghostly form, arms crossed as he floated lazily.
"This is rare," he said with a smirk. "You smiling."
Nova glanced at him. "You think this'll last?"
Kan Sha shrugged. "Not forever. Trouble always finds guys like you."
"But maybe," he added, "you bought them enough time to breathe. That's worth something."
Nova looked back at the river, where Nix and Mina were now skipping stones and laughing like they hadn't in years.
Yeah.
That was worth something.
And for now, just for tonight—peace would do.
Nova turned to Iris—her face as blank as her mind.
"Yo, Kan Sha... you think I can use Illusive Eyes to edit her memories?"
Kan Sha floated lazily beside him, brow raised with curiosity. "Yeah, but you'd need to give her amnesia first. Plant it inside one of the illusions—then you can edit away however you want."
Nova exhaled, staring at Iris like a puzzle he didn't want to solve.
I can't stand her or her family. But... if she had a different upbringing, maybe things would've been different. Maybe she'd have been better...
Sigh.
"No. Forget it," he muttered. "That'll just cause too many problems down the line."
He raised a hand.
"System. Give her back her emotions—but keep her from hurting any of my friends."
> SYSTEM RESPONSE: RELEASING EMOTIONAL BLOCK.
SUBJECT WILL PERCEIVE YOU AS AN AUTHORITARIAN FIGURE AND OBEY YOU,
BUT RETAIN PREVIOUS MEMORIES AND EMOTIONS.
Iris blinked. Color returned to her face. Her lips trembled, and tears welled up almost instantly. She looked around in a daze, then locked eyes with Nova—and shrank back as if struck.
"I... wh-where am I?" she whimpered. "Did you bring me with you? I... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what I did to you... and for what my family did too..."
Her voice cracked. Her body curled into itself like a frightened animal.
Nova stood over her, silent.
Sympathy wasn't easy for him—not anymore. But even he had to admit: she was broken.
And worse, he was the one who broke her.
Still... compared to the others, she had always been the lesser evil. She never beat him. Never locked him away. She just... laughed at him. Used his body as a joke. Joined in the humiliation when it suited her. A passive accomplice.
Nova sighed, rubbing his temple.
"At least it wasn't the knife," he mumbled to himself. "She could've done worse."
He glanced at her, trembling at his feet.
But he was too tired to play the tyrant now.
"Iris. Go wash up by the river. When you're done, get dressed. We'll talk after."
She nodded quickly—too quickly—then scrambled to her feet and darted toward the river, nearly tripping on the grass.
Nova let himself fall backward, arms spread across the field.
The sky above shimmered with stars, moons watching like distant ghost. Fireflies of arcana drifted lazily through the air.
He closed his eyes and muttered to himself.
"What the hell did I get myself into?"
Three people.
Three survivors.
Three lives tangled with his.
Nix, who still flinches at the dark.
Mina, who hides her pain behind laughter.
And now Iris...
"I've got three people to take care of now…" he muttered again. "I gotta lock in."
The wind rolled over him, soft and cool.
There was no going back now.
He wasn't just fighting for revenge anymore.
He was building something.
A place.
A home.
And for them—maybe even for himself—that meant he had to survive.
No matter what.
Kan Sha chimed in, his usual smirk faltering ever so slightly. There was a worried edge in his voice, one he tried to hide—but Nova knew him too well.
They had shared three years together.
A mind.
A heart.
"We're gonna have to protect them," Kan Sha said quietly. "It's not gonna be easy."
Nova didn't deny it. He stared up at the stars, their light soft and distant.
"I know," he said.
Then, a grin tugged at his lips.
"But before the convo gets too sad… I got a surprise for you."
He sat up, raising one hand toward the sky.
"System," he said. "Use Pack Call. Create a clone."
A copy of Nova flickered into existence, standing tall and motionless beside him.
"Transform it into hybrid mode," Nova ordered.
The clone shifted—bones twisting, muscle bulking, eyes glowing red with arcana fire. The hybrid form of a beast and a man, raw power contained in flesh and will.
"Now," Nova added, smirking, "transfer Kan Sha's consciousness into it."
> SYSTEM PROCESSING...
COMPATIBLE HOST LOCATED.
TRANSFERRING CONSCIOUSNESS...
"Wait—what?" Kan Sha blinked, genuinely confused.
But it was already happening.
The ghostly form shimmered, warping like smoke caught in wind—and then, with a flash of silver light, vanished.
The hybrid body twitched.
Then breathed.
Kan Sha—truly Kan Sha—opened his eyes. Flesh and blood. Body and soul. Free for the first time in three years.
He stumbled forward a step, flexing his fingers, his claws, feeling his heartbeat hammer in his chest.
"This… This is real…" he whispered.
He turned to Nova, stunned. His voice cracked.
"You… You gave me a body?"
Nova nodded, leaning back with a smug expression.
"Told you I had a surprise."
Kan Sha stared down at his hands. Then looked up. His throat tightened.
"…Thank you. Thanks, kid."
A single tear rolled down his cheek.
Not out of sadness.
But from something deeper.
Gratitude.
Freedom.
Family.
And under the light of three moons—on a field untouched by war, watched over by stars no map had ever drawn—they stood not as weapon and wielder, not as monster and master, but as brothers.
For now, they had peace.
But the world wouldn't stay quiet for long.
Nova knew it.
Kan Sha knew it.
But together?
They'd face it head-on.