The mansion on Isola Krein was quiet in the way only gods could make quiet.
Not silence—
but peace holding its breath.
Rayon gently laid Lucifer and Esdeath beside their mother. Nexus was pale, exhausted, but smiling—the kind of smile that came from surviving something ancient and sacred.
Rayon leaned down and kissed her forehead, then her lips.
"Babe," he murmured softly, brushing her hair back, "I'll be back soon."
Nexus didn't ask where.
She didn't need to.
She just nodded, fingers tightening around the blankets.
Rayon straightened, eyes shifting—not outward, but elsewhere.
He smiled.
"Yo," he said casually, voice carrying into the shadows,
"Nyk. Christine."
The shadows folded.
Nyk stepped out first, cigarette already lit, hands in his pockets like he wasn't standing next to the incarnation of the Endless Abyss.
"What's good," Nyk said, smirking.
Christine appeared beside him, arms crossed, expression calm—but sharp.
Rayon tilted his head.
"Wanna go have some fun?"
Nyk grinned wider.
"I ain't got nothing better to do."
Christine shrugged lightly.
"I'm up for it."
The shadows beneath Rayon's feet opened.
Not tore.
Not ripped.
They welcomed.
And the three of them vanished.
The Gathering —
Nullivar stood at the center of the platform, Destroyers arrayed behind him.
Arcon.
Michael.
Gram.
Sylax.
Kane.
Xyla.
They had been the first to sense it.
The wrongness.
The return.
Then the Monarchs followed—each one feeling it like ice down the spine.
Something vast.
Something old.
Something that didn't belong to the Destroyers' ending.
The Endless Abyss.
The moment it drew closer, every Monarch reacted.
Spines stiffened.
Auras flared instinctively.
Kiandrae's eyes narrowed as frost crept across the platform.
And then—
A shadow rose from the stone itself.
Not cast.
Not summoned.
It stood up.
Rayon stepped out of it like a man leaving a doorway.
The temperature of existence dropped.
Kiandrae moved.
Or tried to.
"Don't," Christine's voice said calmly.
She was floating now—boots inches above nothingness—her gun already raised, barrel resting gently against Kiandrae's temple.
Kiandrae froze.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't blink.
Christine's eyes were cold, focused, absolute.
"Move," Christine said quietly,
"and I judge you."
Nyk was a few steps behind Rayon, lighting his cigarette again, the ember glowing red as ruin coiled lazily around him.
Rayon smiled.
"If it isn't the Destroyers," he said, voice echoing like it came from the bottom of the abyss itself,
"and the Monarchs."
His gaze slid to Kratos.
"It's been a while."
Kratos didn't smile.
He narrowed his eyes.
Then Rayon turned.
Looked directly at Nullivar.
"Must be weird," Rayon said lightly,
"seeing me in this timeline. In front of you."
Nullivar's jaw tightened.
"Why have you come, Darkness?" he demanded.
Rayon laughed.
Not loud.
Not cruel.
Just amused.
"That's a stupid question," he said.
"I am everywhere."
He took a step forward.
"You don't get a say in what I do. Or what I will do."
His eyes swept across the Monarchs.
"You can fight me if you want," Rayon continued calmly.
"But know this—oppose me…"
The shadows behind him opened, revealing nothing but endless night.
"…and none of you will be granted eternal rest."
His voice dropped.
"Remember where you go when you face eternal rest."
The darkness pulsed.
"My domain."
Silence.
Heavy.
Fractured.
Christine lowered her gun and floated back beside Rayon.
Nyk flicked his cigarette into the void, crushing it out with a smile.
Rayon turned slightly.
"Nyk. Christine."
"Let's roll."
Then he looked back at Nullivar—eyes like collapsing stars.
"When our paths cross again," Rayon said quietly,
"you will die by my hands."
A pause.
"Because even your absolute end is flawed in my presence."
The shadows surged.
And the three were gone.
No one spoke.
Not the Destroyers.
Not the Monarchs.
Some of the Monarchs weren't against Darkness.
Some hated the Destroyers.
Some feared both.
But all of them knew one thing now—
Without the Endless Abyss…
Without Kratos…
This war could not be won.
And even with them—
Nothing was guaranteed.
The platform trembled.
Internal conflict had begun.
And somewhere far away—
on Isola Krein—
two newborns slept peacefully,
unaware that the universe had just shifted to accommodate their father.