Far from the demon Mansion, far from Sin's apartment, far from the cave where the Hollow dwelt, far from the field—a grand mansion stood. Unlike the demon family's concealed estate, this structure stood fully exposed to the world. This was a pillar's domain, and it made no apologies for its presence.
In the center of the mansion, a young man stood motionless. Ray possessed striking black hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to look through rather than at things. He wore layers of dark clothing that absorbed the light around him. Two figures flanked him: a very young girl whose innocent face contrasted sharply with the tension in the room, and an older man whose weathered features spoke of years of service.
Ray's brow furrowed as he concentrated on something invisible to the others. His breathing had become shallow, deliberate.
"You good, Ray?" the older man asked, concern creeping into his voice.
"I feel something," Ray said, his voice distant. His mind was elsewhere, reaching out across vast distances.
"Where?" the older man pressed.
Ray's jaw tightened. "People feel things all the time, right?" the older man added sarcastically, though his eyes betrayed genuine worry.
Ray clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. The sensation gnawed at him, refusing to be ignored. "I feel an energy signature. It's wrong—very wrong." He paused, his eyes still closed as he delved deeper into his perception. "No, not just one energy signature. If I search deeper..." His voice trailed off as realization dawned. "Four. Four energy signatures."
"Four?" the other man echoed, confusion evident in his tone.
"You mean four energy signatures surrounding one central point?" the older man ventured.
Ray shook his head slowly, his concentration absolute. "Wrong. It seems like four energy points exist within this one large energy signature." He remained still, eyes closed, his breathing measured and controlled.
The silence stretched between them, heavy with anticipation.
"It gets stranger, Ron," Ray mumbled, his voice barely audible. The words seemed to cost him effort, as though speaking might break his connection to whatever he sensed. "It seems like multiple beings exist within one entity—like a hive mind, a large collective consciousness."
"A hive mind?" Ron said, skepticism coloring his words. "Where would you get that idea from?"
Ray's voice rose slightly, frustration bleeding through his usual composure. "Like I told you—a hive mind has multiple things inside of it while simultaneously being one unified entity. This energy signature fits that description perfectly. It has four distinct signatures within itself, yet it also possesses its own overarching presence."
Ron crossed his arms, his expression doubtful. "But hive minds don't exist."
"I know," Ray said, opening his eyes at last. The blue depths held a troubled light. "That's exactly what concerns me."
Ron studied Ray's face, reading the worry there. "So why would you think it's a hive mind if those don't exist?"
Ray turned to face him fully, and Ron felt the weight of his gaze. "If it's the other thing I'm thinking, this could be catastrophic for all of us."
"What other thing?" Ron asked, though part of him dreaded the answer.
Ray's expression darkened with memory. "I've told you before that I've encountered beings with multiple consciousnesses within their heads. All of those people were dangerous, powerful monsters in their own right." He let that sink in before continuing. "So if this is one of those people—someone with multiple personalities, multiple consciousnesses warring inside their mind—I don't think you and the others can handle it."
Ron straightened, ready to protest, but Ray raised a hand.
"But Ray, you can't go either," Ron said, his voice taking on a pleading quality. "Your power is diminished, remember? You're operating at half strength—basically half as strong as you are at your peak. You can't risk it."
Ray's silence confirmed the truth of Ron's words, and it clearly galled him.
"My suggestion," Ron continued, seizing the opportunity, "is that you bring the kid." He glanced toward the young girl beside them.
Ray followed his gaze, his expression hardening.
Ron elaborated quickly, sensing Ray's resistance. "She has tremendous potential, vast reserves of power within her. If you bring her, maybe together you'll destroy that thing, whatever it is. Use her."
Ray's eyes snapped back to Ron, and though his voice remained calm and collected, ice ran through every word. "You want me to bring a child? How heartless are you?" The question hung in the air like an accusation. "Why would I bring a child who has nothing to do with this to fight something probably far stronger than her? I'm not going to kill her by doing that. That's not only foolish—it's immoral."
Ray fixed Ron with a glare that made the older man shiver involuntarily.
"Unless," Ray continued, his tone sharpening, "you want me to bring you instead? Have you fight that thing alone?" He let the suggestion linger before delivering his verdict. "If not, stop suggesting stupid and immoral ideas. I'll bring the child only if it becomes absolutely necessary, and the only way I'm bringing her is if I'm with her the entire time."
Ray took a step closer to Ron, and the older man resisted the urge to step back.
"For one thing, I don't trust you to be with her," Ray said, each word deliberate. "The way you've been acting recently, it seems like you'd abandon her in a heartbeat and let her face whatever comes alone."
Ron gulped, his throat suddenly dry. Ray was telling the truth, and they both knew it. But Ron desperately wanted to remain on Ray's team, to stay part of the Black Star faction. After all, membership came with substantial benefits—protection, resources, status. Ray was the leader, and if Ray expelled him, Ron might as well be cast onto the streets: homeless, without food, water, shelter, or hope. His luxurious life inside the Black Star mansion would vanish like morning mist.
So Ron simply nodded, swallowing his pride. "All right."
"Now, if I need backup from any of you, I'll call," Ray said, his tone brooking no argument. "All right?"
Ron nodded again, more vigorously this time.
"Were any of the other members informed about this?" Ray asked, his gaze still fixed on Ron.
"Was anyone informed?" Ray repeated, making sure Ron understood the question's importance.
"No one besides the ten core Black Star members," Ron replied. "Everyone else wasn't informed about this." He paused, confusion crossing his features. "Wait, but how did you tell them if you just recently discovered the signature? I didn't see you move."
"Telepathy," Ray said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I told them." His tone suggested Ron should have easily figured that out on his own. "You forget I can telepathically contact my members at any time. Any one of them. I can relay information, share my plans—and I did exactly that while remaining quiet here with you. I informed them the moment I told you about the signature."
Ray's expression grew more resolute. "But either way, whether it's a hive mind or a single person with multiple consciousnesses inside them, I'm still going to confront it."
Ron looked at Ray, genuine concern softening his features. "Please be safe, Ray. I don't want you to get hurt."
Ray's expression softened fractionally, the closest thing to warmth Ron had seen from him today. "Don't worry, Ron. I'll be fine. Keep Lilly safe while I'm gone, all right?"
Ron straightened, accepting the responsibility. "Got it, boss."
Ray sank down into the ground as shadows rose to meet him, swallowing him whole. The shadowy pool rippled once, then disappeared, leaving no trace that Ray had ever been there.
---
Inside Sin's room, the boy lay unconscious on the floor, his red eyes reflecting the dim light. Without warning, shadows pooled up beside him, dark tendrils reaching across the floorboards. A man with black hair emerged from the shadowy portal, climbing out with fluid grace. Ray stood there, his blue eyes scanning the room with practiced efficiency. He wore nearly all black clothing that seemed to drink in the surrounding light.
Ray looked down at the unconscious boy. "Who is this kid?" he murmured to himself. "And if I'm right, this is where the signature originated."
He glanced around the sparse room, reaching out with his senses. "Is anyone else here?" he called out, assuming that this nearly sixteen-year-old boy couldn't possibly be what he suspected.
Silence answered him.
"Nothing's answering my call," Ray said quietly, his mind working through the implications. "So does that mean this boy is the signature?" He knelt beside Sin, studying the unconscious face with growing curiosity. "Wait a minute. Let me see if I'm right."
Ray placed his hand gently on Sin's forehead, his fingers cool against the boy's skin. He activated his ability—Mind View—and his consciousness plunged into Sin's mental landscape.
What he found stole his breath.
A black void stretched before him, seemingly infinite in size, an abyss that had no beginning or end. Within this darkness, Ray saw a version of Sin clad in shadowy armor, wearing an uncanny smile. The figure's eyes bled shadows, and the armor seemed alive, writhing with dark energy.
Then Ray saw another figure: a man wearing crimson armor, possessing red eyes and a pale face that seemed to radiate raw power. The aura emanating from this being was palpable even in this mental space.
But there were two other figures as well.
One was a man who looked immensely strong, with dead eyes and an emotionless face that sent chills down Ray's spine. This was Knox—the father of the demon family, now somehow transformed into Sin's spawned entity.
Ray's mind reeled. How did he know about the demon family? How did he know about Knox? Wasn't Knox supposed to be in the demon family Mansion? Why was he imprisoned in this kid's mind, wearing that emotionless mask, those void-like eyes that seemed to look at nothing and everything simultaneously?
Then Ray's gaze fell upon the fourth figure, and recognition struck him like a physical blow. Dice. He knew about Dice as well—Knox had told Ray much about him in the past.
"You too?" Ray whispered into the void. "How did this kid even manage to get these two here? Are they under his control?"
Ray circled the mental space one last time, cataloging every detail, every nuance of power. "There are only four figures within it," he observed. "So that's why I sensed one giant energy source with four others nested inside it. Looks like I was right after all. This is someone with multiple consciousnesses inside him."
Ray made his decision in that instant. "I'm going to take this kid back. After all, I'd rather have him as a friend than as an enemy."
He picked up Sin's unconscious body with surprising gentleness and deactivated his Mind View skill. As he cradled the boy in his arms, Ray paused, a strange sensation washing over him.
"Wait a minute. Before I left the kid's mind..." Ray's brow furrowed as he recalled something troubling.
A pool of shadows erupted from beneath Ray's feet, dark tendrils wrapping around both him and Sin. They sank into the darkness together, and the shadows receded from Sin's room floor, leaving no evidence of the intrusion.
---
The pool of shadows opened inside the Black Star mansion, and Ray emerged, still holding Sin's broken body. He climbed out of the pool of darkness with practiced ease.
Ron looked up sharply at Ray's return, his eyes widening at the burden in Ray's arms. The young girl who had been beside Ron earlier gasped softly. Several other members of the Black Star faction had gathered, drawn by some instinct that their leader had returned with something significant.
"What's going on?" one of them asked, staring at the unconscious boy.
"Who are you holding?" another member said, stepping closer for a better look.
"You remember how I told you about an energy signature I felt—one that had multiple energy signatures within it?" Ray said, his voice carrying to all assembled. "This is it."
"A kid?" a member said incredulously. "You're joking, right? I thought it was some type of hive mind or whatever."
"Same thing I thought," Ray admitted, shifting Sin's weight slightly. "But then I considered the possibility that this kid has multiple consciousnesses within himself. At first, I thought it was just a theory, but when I traveled to the energy signature's location and used Mind View, I was proven right."
Ray didn't tell them the full details of what he'd witnessed. He certainly didn't reveal that Knox and Dice existed within Sin's mind as the boy's puppets, his loyal servants. That information was too dangerous, too valuable to share freely.
As Ray had looked at Dice in the mindscape, he'd noticed something that disturbed him deeply: a sliver of humanity remained in those eyes. It had seemed as though Dice actually saw Ray, truly perceived him. But how was that possible? Ray had only been viewing the inside of the boy's mind—his physical body hadn't entered that mental space. He could only observe what existed there, a passive witness to Sin's inner world.
So how had Dice seen him?
Ray would have to answer that question on his own, in time.
It seemed Sin harbored many mysteries, countless secrets that Ray would need to unravel. And he would figure them out, piece by piece, layer by layer. When he was done uncovering all those mysteries, when he understood the full scope of this boy's power and potential, he would make Sin a part of the Black Star faction.
Whether Sin wanted it or not.