The high-tech subterranean command center hummed with the quiet, rhythmic pulse of clean-mana generators. The heavy blast doors had resealed, keeping the high-altitude void storm outside from leaking into the lower levels of the compound.
The Walker stood near the center of the shattered obsidian roundtable, casually smoothing down the lapels of his tailored coat. Despite the heavy, suffocating atmosphere of nine high-tier gods staring at him with varying levels of lethal intent, his classic composure began to resurface.
"Well now," the Walker drawled, his smooth British accent echoing off the glass walls as he gestured toward the jagged, black mark pulsing faintly on his collarbone. "If we are to talk about this unpleasant little parasite nestled in my chest, we must discuss what it actually is."
Tae leaned back against the central terminal, his golden lotus eyes locked on the Walker's every movement. "We're listening."
The Walker ran a gloved finger over the obsidian scar, letting out a soft, dramatic sigh.
"Centuries ago, when Karai and I had our little rendezvous across the outer rifts, she realized quite early on that erasing me permanently was... well, a bit of a logistical nightmare," the Walker explained, pacing slowly with his hands folded behind his back. "So, rather than wasting her breath trying to destroy a fundamental force, she did something far more insidious. She cast an ancient, multi-universal binding spell—a Null-Void Lock—and sealed away a massive portion of my raw authority right inside my own soul."
He paused, glancing over at Joseph, Diego, and Ethan.
"Now, I've spent the better part of a few hundred years trying to untangle the bloody thing," the Walker continued, a sharp, arrogant smirk playing on his lips. "Even with my vast intellect, the spell's architecture is a messy, decaying knot of primordial magic. But seeing the talent in this room... I suspect your resident time-logic genius, your soul-tracking marksman, and your atomic microscopic scholar over there might actually have the combined brainpower to pick the lock."
Joseph adjust his glasses, his Ocular Logic Grid immediately flickering as he began running a passive sub-atomic scan on the Walker's chest. Ethan crossed his arms, his obsidian void eyes narrowing as he analyzed the molecular density of the seal, while Diego twirled a translucent amber arrow, inspecting the soul-tether binding the lock to the Walker's essence.
"We could pick it," Joseph said coldly, his voice analytical and flat. "The logic nodes of the seal are complex, but they follow a clear mathematical decay pattern. Given two hours in the lab, Ethan, Diego, and I could break the lock and restore your full power baseline."
The Walker's smile broadened. He lightly tapped his chest, leaning back with that signature, infuriatingly charismatic arrogance.
"Splendid!" the Walker chimed, tilting his head with a cheeky glint in his eye. "Which brings me to a rather amusing realization, gentlemen. Do you realize what this means?"
The brothers stayed silent, watching him closely.
"It means," the Walker declared, tossing his hands out dramatically, "that every single time you lot fought me in the past... every agonizing battle, every time you managed to temporarily put me in the dirt, every grand victory you claimed over me... didn't actually count."
Kd stopped mid-drag of his cigarette. Ayden raised an eyebrow from his seat near the pillar.
"You see," the Walker purred, his accent dripping with refined, theatrical condescension, "when we waged war back then, roughly 70% of my true power was completely locked away behind this mark. You boys had to train for years. You had to unlock multiple divine transformations, achieve transcendent power-ups, and on one particularly desperate Tuesday, you literally had to jump me nine-to-one just to force a stalemate... all while I was operating at a paltry thirty percent of my actual capacity."
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the room.
Tae's golden eyes widened just a fraction. A cold, subtle chill ran down his spine. The realization was genuinely terrifying. They had poured blood, sweat, and tears into surviving the Walker during the old eras. To think that the apocalyptic menace they barely managed to overcome had been walking around severely nerfed by a multiversal seal... it was a sobering, dangerous thought.
Breaking the quiet, Marcos stepped forward, spinning his emerald kinetic soccer ball on his index finger, while Diego gave a slight nod.
"Well, since we're opening up old history books," Marcos said, a dry smirk on his face as he introduced himself properly, "I'm Marcos. The guy who's gonna volley a kinetic meteor into your teeth if you try anything funny."
"And I'm Diego," Diego added, his amber eyes glowing sharply. "The guy who doesn't miss. Nice to officially meet the 30% version of you, Walker."
The Walker chuckled smoothly. "Charming. Truly."
Tae pushed off the terminal, his posture stiffening as he walked toward the center of the room. The golden aura around his body hummed with heavy hesitation.
"Hold on," Tae said, his voice cutting off the conversation. "Joseph, Ethan, Diego... don't touch that seal yet. I still don't know if I even want to unseal his full power."
Tae stopped three feet from the Walker, glaring down at him with unyielding severity.
"Let me remind everyone in this room who we are talking to. This is the man who created the Prime Clone. The same Clone who murdered our mother figure right in front of us. The same Clone that forced us into a brutal, bloody war, and the same monster we ultimately had to seal inside our own little brother, Joseph."
The atmosphere in the room turned ice-cold. Joseph's hand tightened slightly on his katana hilt, the memory of the Prime Clone's core humming inside his own chest.
The Walker didn't laugh this time. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, letting out a slow, heavy breath before looking back up at Tae.
"I won't sit here and offer cheap apologies, Tae," the Walker admitted, his British tone dropping its theatrical flair, replaced by a raw, blunt honesty. "It certainly wasn't my finest hour. I was a villain at heart back then. I orchestrated chaos because it suited my interests, and I created the Clone to test the boundaries of existence. I know the scars I left on your family are permanent. I don't expect forgiveness... only logic."
Tae stared at him for a long, silent minute. The tension in his shoulders didn't ease, but his golden lotus eyes flickered with something else.
A sharp, dangerous spark ignited deep within Tae's irises.
"If we're going to fight Karai together," Tae said slowly, a low, terrifying hum of divine energy radiating from his posture, "and if there's even a fraction of a chance we unseal your full 100% power... I need to know what I'm dealing with right now."
Tae drew his Logos Katana by two inches, the blade ringing with lethal intent.
"Walker. You and me. In the subterranean sparring arena. Right now."
The brothers looked at Tae in surprise.
"Wait, Tae?" Rashad said, pulling up his tactical interface. "You're already running low on mana from holding the multi-universal shield earlier!"
"Tae, you sure about this?" Kd asked, his crimson monarch eyes narrowing.
The Walker, however, didn't look surprised at all. A slow, knowing, incredibly perceptive smile spread across his face as he looked at the Director.
"Ah..." the Walker purred softly, his eyes scanning the subtle shift in Tae's physical stance. "Fascinating."
The Walker stepped closer to Tae, leaning in slightly with a lowered voice.
"You know, Tae... everyone looks at you as the sacred Director. The wise Buddha Essence holder. The peaceful, stoic leader who carries the weight of infinite multiverses on his shoulders and only fights out of absolute necessity."
The Walker's eyes gleamed with absolute insight.
"But I've observed you longer than anyone else in this room has been alive. And I know a little secret about you that even your brothers might overlook... You absolutely LOVE to fight. You crave the thrill of battle just as much as Kd or Ayden do. You just hide it beneath that shiny golden crown of yours."
Tae didn't deny it. He didn't flinch. A slow, rare, dangerously hungry smirk broke across Tae's face, his golden pupils spinning into intricate, divine lotus grids.
"Talk all you want, Walker," Tae whispered back, his aura flaring into a blinding pillar of light. "Let's see if that 30% of yours can survive three rounds with me."