Nova leaned back in his seat, feeling disconcerted by the strange behavior. Everyone on the table stared at him with wide eyes now, even Annelie and Millie.

"Will you let Him in?"

Their chanting was strange and out of tune, but it was timed perfectly—like an amalgamation of all the young voices at once.

'What is happening here? Mass possession? Even Annelie has been caught… Is this the being Shivere has contacted? Asking to see me?'

"...Why does he need me to open the door?" Nova asked.

"He just wants to talk," they replied, and now the entire room was included in the chant. Every table, every priest and bishop, even the cooks. All standing in place, staring at Nova. "Won't you let Him in?"

"That doesn't answer my question…" Nova hesitated. Seeing Millie and Annelie like this was disturbing enough, but the entire dining hall was beyond anything he had imagined possible. Even the Void Lord would lack the power for this.

'...I'm not on the church's side. But I did help them close the rift, which might have angered this being. But if He wanted revenge, it would be easy to get rid of me. Although, that would harm Shivere. So maybe He just wants to talk?"

Nova got up from his seat, feeling all the eyes staring at him as he walked over to the dining hall entrance. He grabbed the handles and took a deep breath before opening the two doors.

The corridor was completely empty, and seeped in darkness. The windows that should be letting in sunlight were black as night, like the void had swallowed the entire building. But the dining hall was still the same.

"...Hello?"

The chanting behind him resumed. "Will you let Him in?"

Nova hesitated, wondering if he was making a mistake. But curiosity and a hint of fear pushed him through. "Yeah, come on in."

A terrible cold attacked Nova's body as he stood in the entrance, making him move out of the way. There were no footsteps, no indication that anyone had entered the room, but Nova knew. He closed the doors again, taking another breath.

"He has arrived," the chanting declared. "He thanks you, Nova."

"For letting you in? Was it a mistake?" Nova's eyes swept across the room, taking in the sea of blank faces all turned toward him. The earlier warmth and cheer had vanished completely, replaced by an unsettling uniformity.

"He shakes his head." The words emerged from hundreds of throats at once, creating an echo that could be felt on his skin. The temperature in the room continued to drop.

"...And you want to talk? This doesn't seem like a conversation to me." Nova's fingers twitched at his sides, fighting the urge to reach for a weapon that wasn't there.

"He shields your mind from His greatness. You would not survive it. Won't you be thankful?"

"Sure, thanks…" His eyes kept drifting to Millie and Annelie, seeing their familiar faces filled with emptiness. "Everyone here will be fine after you leave, right?"

"We are merely conveyors of his will. We will be fine."

"Good. Good..." Nova shifted his weight, trying to appear casual despite his racing thoughts. "Then what is it you want to discuss?"

"Your knowledge of the void. He wonders if you will use it again." The words seemed to drop the temperature further. Frost began forming on the metal platters that still held their half-eaten meals.

"...If I can save innocent lives, most likely. That is why I closed this one." Nova stood his ground, though every instinct screamed at him to run from this presence that commanded such power.

"Your knowledge of the world is lacking. He scoffs at your naive vision." The unified voices carried genuine derision now, making the candles flicker wildly.

"My knowledge of this world is indeed lacking. But my knowledge of how worlds tend to work is likely greater than yours. And the void is shared through all worlds, is it not?"

"If the void is shared through all worlds, what makes you think you've seen more worlds than He?" The voices grew sharper, carrying an edge of challenge.

"...Good point. But still, I will stand by the innocent. It's not a choice, but who I am."

"And what of the church? Can they shield themselves behind their innocent? Their meek lambs, torn from their parents?" The synchronized voices took on a mocking tone that echoed off the vaulted ceiling.

"Is that who Shivere once was?" Nova asked, watching the frozen faces for any reaction.

A series of cold chuckles filled the hall, rising from hundreds of throats at once. "You see far, child of many lives. Shivere is indeed His ally."

"And her goal is to destroy the church? As revenge?" Nova's voice sounded amplified in the unnaturally still room. Not a sound could be heard from the possessed when they did not convey a message.

"You can ask her yourself," the voices replied, followed by everyone in the room pointing to the entrance. "Won't you let her in?"

Nova grumbled silently as he walked to the doors. "Why do I have to open the damn doors every time? Can't people open them on their own? Great cosmic powers and can't open a damn door?"

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He opened the doors as he was asked, and this time someone really stood outside in the dark corridor. Shivere stood there like a statue carved from emerald and ice, her arms folded across her chest as she looked down at Nova. The darkness seemed to cling to her robes, moving slightly against the fabric.

"I figured you knew..." Her voice held no warmth. "Thanks for helping me gather all their souls."

"...Would you like to come in before you start explaining yourself?" Nova strode aside, gesturing for Shivere to enter the room. The movement felt almost theatrical in its formality.

"Sure." She walked past him with swift steps, finding a spot near a pillar which she chose to lean up against. Her eyes were focused on the middle of the room. "Why are we here?" she asked, clearly directed toward the unseen presence.

"He is interested in the child," the choir answered. "Much knowledge, and interesting motives."

"Yeah, I admit..." Shivere's attention returned to Nova. The candlelight caught her face strangely, casting shadows that shouldn't be possible. "What did you want to ask, Nova?"

"Well, first of all, why you're doing all this." Nova kept his distance, watching her with careful eyes. "I understand wanting to eradicate the church, or the system itself specifically, but this is the wrong way to do it."

Shivere's eyes gleamed red as she stared at him with furrowed brows. "I tried the right way. Tried all my life to do it 'the right way.'" Bitterness dripped from each word like poison. "And how do you think that went?"

"I think the position of Signus was given to someone else because of your ideas, and you turned desperate for help in achieving your goals. And that's when He replied to your prayers." Nova's voice carried through the unnaturally silent hall, echoing off the high ceiling. "After that, I assume you planned this entire rift appearing. You somehow made sure the Signus was trapped in his dimension while you planned to take out the other Cardinals one by one. And you planned to do it all while the rift slowly killed the entire city."

The room erupted in mechanical applause as everyone but Nova and Shivere stood from their seats. "The child is clever indeed!"

Shivere kept staring at Nova as he spoke, biting her lip. "And then you appeared, as a perfect foil to my plan." The red in her eyes seemed to pulse with each word. "But even with your spatial formation and your plan to kill the rift being, I still managed to reach my goal."

"We both did." Nova's shoulders relaxed slightly, adopting a more casual stance. "I saved innocents, and you got all the great souls. So if you could just hand me my sixty thousand Soul Power, I see no reason for us to be enemies."

Shivere's lips curved into a cold smile. "Why would I fear you?"

"Are you saying you won't hand me my sixty thousand Soul Power?" Nova's voice remained carefully neutral despite the threat underlying his words.

She leaned her head back, as if trying to look down on him even more. "You really should have included that in the contract, don't you think? I was surprised you didn't."

Nova sighed. Then, with deliberate slowness, he held his arm out to the side. His flesh shimmered and sharpened, transforming into a dagger-like fist. The Silver Skewer Fist he once used to kill Nolan Corwick, Nihil's underling.

'This better work.'

Shivere looked at him in confusion as his fist stabbed toward his heart, piercing his ribcage with ease and sinking into the beating muscle. Nova buckled over in pain, pulling the bloody hand out of his body as he spewed blood from his mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?!" After a moment of shock, Shivere stormed toward him faster than he had ever seen someone move before. Her hands pressed against the gaping wound in his chest, trying to stem the flow of blood that poured between her fingers.

But she already knew. They both felt the pull the moment his heart was pierced.

She had failed to protect him while he was in Damascus, and broke the contract.

Nova struggled to speak through the blood in his mouth, but he had a wide grin on his face. "Contracts… can be used… in many ways."

"Don't you dare kill me!" Shivere's voice cracked. "Not when I finally managed—"

Nova held his hand up, coughing a bit more blood. "I'm fine already. Regeneration."

"What?" She removed her hand, seeing the bloodied but flawless skin underneath where the gaping hole had been seconds before.

Nova wiped the blood from his chin. "But damn, you broke the contract, huh? Giving me the ability to kill you at any time? That must suck."

Her expression slowly turned from shock to suppressed anger. "You really… Fuck!"

"Yeah, it wasn't pleasant." Nova straightened his blood-soaked robe as he got up from the floor. "And just so you remember, a broken contract is triggered if the opposing party dies."

The room erupted in strange laughter—too synchronized, too perfect in its timing. "He is amused! He is very amused!" Then the voices died down abruptly, as if the being was holding its breath in anticipation. The sudden silence felt heavier than the laughter had been.

"...You'll have your sixty thousand souls… If you undo the contract." Each word seemed to cost her, pride warring with desperation.

"That's all your life is worth to you?" Despite the advantage he had gained, Nova didn't dare underestimate her. There were limits he shouldn't try crossing.

Shivere's internal battle played across her face. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides as she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to center herself. "...How do we leave this place with both parties satisfied?"

The room spoke again before Nova could respond. The unified voices carried an edge of dark mirth that made the air itself feel thicker. "He would not recommend killing the girl. He knows of a weakness as well."

Annelie suddenly stood from her spot and walked over to the middle of the room. With deliberate showmanship, she wrapped her small hands around her own throat in a playful pantomime of choking. The message couldn't have been clearer.

'Of course He would know that… He probably followed us through the void. Damn.'

The being's presence seemed to press closer, savoring Nova's moment of realization. The air grew thick with anticipation as both sides recognized the stalemate they'd reached.

Nova let out a defeated sigh. "...Fine, I accept sixty thousand. And I'll even undo the contract, as long as you agree to enter another one with me."

"...This feels unfair." Shivere's words carried a bitter edge. "I have one life to lose, while you have three."

"I'm not the one going back on a previous deal, am I?"

Shivere's shoulders slumped slightly, another crack in her proud bearing. "...What does the contract entail, then?"

Nova chose his next words carefully, aware of the being's attention pressing down on them all. "Well, much the same as before. You don't do anything to endanger me, Millie, or Animo for the next twenty years. But that alone would be too simple. And I'm cautious about your friend here."

"I can't control Him, if that's what you're asking." For the first time, real regret seemed to color Shivere's tone. Her eyes darted to the darkness gathering at the edges of the room. "But as long as you don't let Him in at any point in the future, you have little to fear."

'...Does she regret contacting Him? I'm sensing a bit of fear. Maybe she didn't mean for it all to go this far?'

Nova studied her face intently, searching for any hint of deception. "...Did you not plan for it all to end this way? Is He...?"

"I would have done many things differently, if that's what you're asking." The words seemed to physically pain her.

Around them, the possessed audience watched in perfect stillness, waiting to see how their deadly dance would conclude. They all smiled, as if reveling in the tense situation.

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