"They weren't meteorites. They were visitors. Void Predators."

"Their arrival brought disaster, but it also brought… change. Plagues, viruses, a rapacious evil… our world was plunged into chaos. And the final stage of that change was annihilation. In the ensuing slaughter, the very essence of our world was drained, our species were wiped out, and the land itself was scoured and broken."

The story wasn't poetic, but Orion could easily imagine the sheer, world-ending horror of it.

"The root of that catastrophe, the architect of our world's ruin, is the being I have sealed beneath this volcano: Orric, the First Ancestor of the Cretaceous beasts."

At the mention of the name, a tremor of pure hatred rippled from the egg, and the voice's killing intent became a palpable force in the cavern.

"Outsider, understand this: I can release him whenever I choose. Sealed within him is the plague that unmade our world. It is a contagion woven from a demigod's Rule—nothing in this world short of another demigod could survive it."

A cold knot of apprehension tightened in Orion's gut.

"Furthermore," the voice continued, "he holds the key to summoning the Void Predators. If I release him, everything that now lives in the Cretaceous World—save for you and I—will be utterly annihilated. Your people included."

The voice from the egg was colder now, its resolve bordering on the fanatical.

Just then, the magma at the bottom of the volcano began to churn violently. Gouts of fire erupted, struggling against some unseen pressure.

"Friend! Don't listen to a word that bitch says!" a new, desperate voice roared from the flames. "Help me! Free me from this prison, and I swear on my soul, everything in the Cretaceous World is yours! This place is a ruin; I have no desire to stay! I'll leave, I promise! PLEASE…"

Before the creature in the fire could say more, the egg pulsed with an incandescent rainbow light, and the flames were violently suppressed.

"Help me, friend… I'll give you anything…" the voice pleaded, growing fainter until it was silenced completely.

A heavy quiet fell over the cavern. The only sound was the pathetic whimpering of the little phoenix, which was trembling in terror.

"He is the source of all this ruin," the egg's voice stated, breaking the silence after a long moment. "A devil who makes promises to strangers as easily as he breathes. Are you truly going to trust him?"

The voice paused. "My name is Nyxira, outsider. What may I call you?"

"Orion."

He answered, not because he was siding with her, but because he needed to know more. This Godforsaken Land was about to become his territory, and he had no intention of inheriting a ticking time bomb. The deal she had hinted at now held his full attention.

But it had to be on his terms.

"Then let us return to the matter of our transaction, Orion."

Orion just shrugged, his expression giving her leave to continue.

"Help me obliterate the demon, Orric," Nyxira proposed. "In return, I will give you a clean, stable Cretaceous World. What say you?"

A glint appeared in Orion's eye. If she had led with that, they could have skipped the posturing and gone straight to hashing out the details.

"Lady Nyxira," Orion said, his tone direct. "Let's not waste each other's time. State your terms." He had no patience for playing games of subtlety with a demigod who had seen the end of her world. It was beneath him, and it would only make him look like a fool.

"First: you will help me destroy Orric. I will use his demigod essence to rejuvenate the Cretaceous World."

"Second: you will sign a pact of equals with Fenyra. You will grant her freedom, ensure she is never enslaved, and you will protect her as she grows."

"Agree to these two conditions, and everything in this world is yours."

Before Orion could even react, the little phoenix on the eggshell squawked in protest. "Mother, no! I won't sign a pact with him! He's a bad guy! He wanted to kill me! He hurt me!"

"Mother, if we work together, we can drive this devil out of our world!"

Orion's gaze remained fixed on the egg, a certain possibility clicking into place in his mind.

"Fenyra, be silent," Nyxira commanded.

"But Mom, he's—!"

"Fenyra. That was an order."

"Mother, I…" Fenyra fell silent, overruled.

"Well, Orion?" Nyxira pressed.

He came back from his thoughts. "It's a nice idea," Orion replied calmly. "But it's not good enough."

His rejection hung in the air. A vast, terrible power began to gather within the egg, and the temperature in the cavern plummeted. Orion felt the cold, unbending will of a being preparing to take everyone with her into oblivion.

"I will agree to your first condition," Orion said, cutting through the tension. "We will destroy Orric, and we will use his essence to heal this land." Restoring the world was, after all, restoring his own future territory.

The power inside the egg hesitated, then slowly receded.

"And the second condition?" Nyxira's voice was wary. She heard the denial in his tone, but she also heard the possibility of a different path.

"I will sign a pact with Fenyra," Orion stated. "But it will not be a pact of equals, nor a simple soul oath. It will be a slave contract."

The words hit the cavern like a physical blow. The demigod's aura flared, incandescent with rage. A spiderweb of cracks began to spread across the surface of the giant egg.

"Lady Nyxira," Orion said, his voice cutting through her fury. "Perhaps you should let me finish."

The cracking sound stopped.

"A slave contract does not mean an absence of freedom," he explained, his tone shifting from confrontational to instructional. "Nor does it mean she will be a slave. The words are a contradiction, I know. But think about it."

"Since my rise to power, I have made two such pacts with beasts under my command. To this day, neither has fallen in battle. One, who was close to me, I personally guided from the Hero level all the way to the Legendary tier she enjoys today. The other, who had less potential, I granted a vast territory of his own to rule as he sees fit. He is a flying beast, and he soars freely over my lands to this day."

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