Evening draped the Tian Clan courtyard in silence.
Rien sat calmly on a wooden chair, eyes closed, as if the world itself could wait for him.
"Rien—listen to me!"
Lin Xia's breathless voice shattered the calm.
Rien opened his eyes slowly, his gaze steady and unreadable.
"What happened?" he asked, his tone as calm as ever.
Lin Xia pointed behind her, chest rising and falling rapidly.
"K-Kuto… he took a book from the Tian Clan library. The moment he opened it, a huge portal appeared. It swallowed Yin Xia and Kuto Haraki whole!"
Worry flickered clearly in her eyes.
Rien rolled his eyes and stood up.
"I seriously don't understand where that boy keeps finding these books," he muttered, following Lin Xia toward the room.
Inside, chaos reigned.
Furniture was overturned, the walls cracked, and at the center of the room hovered a massive swirling portal, pulling everything toward it like a black star.
"What are we going to do?!" Lin Xia asked desperately, gripping Rien's hand tightly as she struggled against the portal's force.
Rien walked forward as if gravity itself feared him.
"We go inside."
The violent pull of the portal stopped completely the moment Rien stepped closer.
"That's… amazing," Lin Xia whispered, stunned, before following him in.
The world on the other side was nothing but destruction.
Cracked land stretched endlessly, massive caves yawned open like wounds, and jagged rocks pierced the sky.
"This is a realm," Rien said calmly, walking forward.
Lan Xia followed closely, fear evident in her eyes.
"What… what is a realm?"
"A territory ruled by a monarch," Rien replied.
"This one is the Asura Domain—ruled by the Asura God."
Lan Xia swallowed.
"Is the Asura God dangerous?"
Rien stopped, turned to her, and smiled faintly.
"There is no one more dangerous than me in all of existence."
Lan Xia stared at him for a second, then rolled her eyes.
"You're just a cute teddy bear."
She walked ahead.
Rien sighed heavily and followed.
After a moment, Lan Xia spoke again, her voice uneasy.
"What do you think happened to them? Where are Yin Xia and Kuto?"
"They aren't together," Rien said with a small smile.
Lan Xia turned back sharply.
"What do you mean? They were absorbed together."
"If that were the case," Rien explained calmly, "Yin Xia is smart enough to stay at the entry point. The fact that we didn't see them means we were all scattered to different locations."
Lan Xia raised an eyebrow.
"You really are a great thinker."
She walked ahead again.
Rien looked around, bored.
"Hm… I'm getting tired of walking."
He snapped his fingers.
Space twisted.
They appeared instantly in front of Yin Xia.
"Lan Xia!" Yin Xia cried happily, rushing forward and hugging her tightly.
Rien smiled faintly, scanning the surroundings—a dark cave with jagged walls.
"This place is terrifying," he remarked casually.
Lan Xia pulled back and glared at him.
"If you could teleport, why didn't you do it earlier?!"
Rien sat on a nearby rock, relaxed.
"I needed to locate their cosmic signatures first. Their energy was extremely low, so I had to divide my own cosmic energy down to quark-level precision."
Yin Xia grabbed his ear hard.
"What do you mean low?!"
Rien winced.
"I'm sorry…"
She let go with a huff.
"Then teleport us to Kuto," Lan Xia said.
Rien snapped his fingers again.
They appeared before a colossal black dragon, its body coiled like a mountain, breathing slowly in sleep.
Lan Xia opened her mouth to scream—
A hand covered her face.
"Shh," Kuto whispered from behind.
"If you scream, it'll wake up."
Yin Xia stepped back behind Rien instinctively.
"So," Rien asked calmly, "what were you doing with this long snake?"
Kuto rolled his eyes.
"I was trying to kill it."
Lan Xia slapped the back of his head.
"Are you insane?! You can't even kill a mosquito, and you're hunting a dragon?!"
Kuto rubbed his head.
"There's a core inside it. That crystal can boost my power massively."
He pointed at the dragon's forehead, where a dark crystal mark pulsed faintly.
Rien stretched and yawned.
"I can take it out for you."
Kuto's eyes lit up.
"Really?! That's amazing!"
Yin Xia grabbed Rien's arm tightly.
"No! What if it attacks you?"
Rien smiled calmly.
"Don't worry. I can handle it."
He gently pulled his hand free and walked toward the dragon.
"Wake up," he said softly.
"Snake."
His palm touched the dragon's head.
BOOM.
A terrifying shockwave erupted, obliterating miles of land.
"That's horrifying…" Yin Xia whispered, stepping back.
Lan Xia dragged Kuto away.
"Move, idiot!"
The dragon roared awake, wings tearing through the sky.
"Calm down, little snake," Rien said, floating into the air.
The dragon lashed its tail at him—
Rien snapped his fingers.
The dragon was hurled across the land like a toy, crashing violently.
"You will die, intruder!" the dragon roared, forming countless swords in the sky and raining them down.
Rien dodged effortlessly, vanished, and reappeared behind it.
CRASH.
A single kick smashed the dragon into the ground.
Blood spilled.
The core in its forehead was exposed, glowing darkly.
Rien reached out, extracting it effortlessly with cosmic energy.
"Who's absorbing it?" he asked.
Kuto teleported instantly, snatching it.
"Obviously me."
He sat down and began absorbing the core.
Suddenly, the sky tore open.
A massive portal formed.
A man with long white hair and golden armor stepped through, his presence crushing the realm.
"You killed my dragon," he said coldly.
Rien stepped in front of Kuto protectively.
"That was me."
The man appeared instantly before Rien, his cosmic pressure engulfing the Asura Realm.
"Then you will pay for killing the Asura God's dragon."
He stepped closer—slow, deliberate, lethal.
Suddenly, a massive surge of cosmic energy erupted from the Asura God, shaking the entire ground.
"Calm down, Asura," Rien said calmly, releasing a portion of his quarks to nullify the Asura God's cosmic energy.
The Asura God stared at him dangerously.
"I will kill you in pieces…" he said, bursting into hearty laughter.