Kharzoth finished that sentence in a lower, heavier tone, as if each word needed to be carefully chosen so as not to reveal more than it should, but also without being able to completely hide the unease that was now settling in his perception.

"You're not an ordinary demon either."

The silence that followed was not merely an absence of sound, but an interval charged with growing tension, as if the world itself were awaiting the inevitable collision between two forces that clearly should not coexist in that same space.

Strax didn't respond immediately.

He simply stood there, observing Kharzoth with that same calm, almost disinterested gaze, which contrasted absurdly with the overwhelming pressure his presence now exerted on everything around him.

And then…

He laughed.

It wasn't a loud or exaggerated laugh, but a low, short laugh, laden with a kind of amusement that had absolutely nothing to do with light or relaxed humor, but rather with the recognition of something… too predictable.

"Common demon…" he repeated, slowly running his hand over his neck, as if he still vaguely remembered the previous impact, though clearly he hadn't been significantly affected.

"You really like to categorize things, don't you?"

Kharzoth narrowed his eyes immediately upon hearing that, not out of simple irritation, but because there was something in that response that didn't fit the behavior of someone who was at a disadvantage or under direct threat.

Strax showed no hurry.

He showed no urgency.

And, above all…

He showed no fear.

That, in itself, was already wrong.

"You're too calm for someone who should be worried," Kharzoth said, his voice now firmer, trying to regain narrative control of the situation that was beginning to slip from his initial expectations.

Strax tilted his head slightly, as if he were actually considering that observation for a brief moment, before responding with an almost offensive simplicity.

"Worried about what?"

The question was genuine.

And that made everything worse.

For a moment, no one said anything.

Not Albedo.

Not Shura.

Because now even they were beginning to realize that this wasn't just a difference in power.

It was a difference in… nature.

Kharzoth took another deep breath, but this time it wasn't a gesture of patience.

It was a decision.

Without any further warning, his demonic energy exploded around his body in a dense, aggressive wave, distorting the air around him as dark flames began to form along his arms, snaking like living entities ready to consume everything they touched.

The creature in his hand remained motionless.

But its eyes…

Fixed even more intently on Strax.

And the connection between them pulsed again.

Stronger.

More intense.

Like a silent warning.

But it was too late.

Kharzoth moved.

This time it wasn't a simple displacement.

It was a direct attack.

His body surged forward with absurd speed, crossing the short distance that separated them in less than a blink of an eye, while his free hand clenched into a fist enveloped in condensed demonic energy, ready to completely crush Strax's torso in a single devastating blow.

The impact came.

Or rather…

It should have come.

But it didn't happen as expected.

Strax didn't dodge.

He didn't block.

He didn't retreat.

He simply… stood still.

And at the exact instant Kharzoth's fist should have struck his body—

He laughed again.

The sound echoed the moment the blow made contact.

But there was no destruction.

There was no explosion.

There was no real impact.

Kharzoth's hand stopped.

Not because he wanted to.

But why… couldn't he advance any further?

It was as if he had struck something invisible.

Something solid.

Something absolutely impenetrable.

The demonic energy enveloping his fist began to slowly disperse, like smoke being sucked into a silent vacuum, while an opposing pressure, much denser, much older, pushed against him.

Kharzoth's eyes widened.

Not dramatically.

But enough.

"…what…?"

Strax looked directly at the fist pressed against his body, as if analyzing something curious, and then slowly raised his gaze back to Kharzoth's face.

Still smiling.

"Was that it?" he asked, with a calmness bordering on the absurd.

Kharzoth tried to push.

Force.

Increase the pressure.

His demonic energy intensified, black flames rising up his arm like a controlled eruption, trying to break through that invisible barrier that simply… wouldn't yield.

But no matter how much he increased it.

No matter how much he forced it.

Nothing happened.

It was like trying to cross a mountain with his bare hands.

Strax sighed slightly, like someone beginning to lose interest in a situation that isn't meeting expectations.

"I really expected more," he said, almost disappointed, before taking a slight step forward.

And that was enough.

The force that held Kharzoth's movement reversed instantly.

Without warning.

Without preparation.

His body was violently thrown backward, as if struck by an overwhelming force from all directions at once, tearing the ground beneath his feet as he was pushed several meters until he collided with a rock formation, which shattered on impact.

The small creature was still in his hand.

But the grip had weakened.

And that was all it needed.

In a swift, almost imperceptible movement, it let go.

Its small body disappeared for an instant.

And reappeared—

Beside Strax.

As if that were the only place it truly belonged.

Kharzoth slowly rose from the wreckage, his breathing now heavier, not from physical exhaustion, but from the mental reorganization he clearly needed to undertake in light of what had just happened.

His eyes immediately fixed on the creature.

Then on Strax.

Then… on the connection between the two.

Now impossible to ignore.

"…this isn't protection," he murmured, his voice lower, more careful, as if he were talking to himself while trying to understand something that completely escaped his known references.

"…this is… resonance."

Strax didn't answer.

But this time…

He didn't smile.

His eyes were darker.

Deeper.

And the energy around him wasn't just leaking out anymore.

It was… awakening.

The small creature remained beside him.

Momentary.

But completely aligned.

As if, somehow, what was happening to Strax…

Was also happening to her.

And this—

Was far more dangerous than either of them had considered until now.

Kharzoth remained motionless for a few moments after uttering that word, as if the very act of naming it—even incompletely—carried enough weight to demand redoubled caution in his next movements, and the silence that followed was not one of simple hesitation, but of calculation.

His yellow eyes slowly alternated between Strax and the small silver creature, now positioned beside him as if that were, in an absolutely natural way, its place of origin, as if it should never have been anywhere else but there.

Kharzoth's perception deepened.

He was no longer just looking.

He was feeling.

Analyzing.

Trying to understand the nature of that bond that pulsed between them as something alive, organic, but at the same time too artificial to be natural and too precise to be accidental.

"Resonance…" he repeated, this time lower, almost a whisper laden with tension, as his mind raced through fragments of ancient knowledge, forbidden records, and experiments that shouldn't even have been conducted in the underworld.

Albedo took a subtle step to the side, positioning herself strategically, still observing, still calculating, but now with far more intense attention than before, because even she—with all her experience—had never witnessed anything like this.

"Have you ever heard of this?" she murmured, without looking away.

Kharzoth didn't answer immediately.

And that, in itself, was an answer.

Shura, on the other hand, wasn't interested in theories at that moment. Her body was low, muscles tense, eyes fixed on Kharzoth, but there was something new in her posture.

She wasn't just ready to attack.

She was… waiting.

Waiting for Strax.

Because, instinctively, she had already understood something essential:

This was no longer an ordinary fight.

Kharzoth finally took another deep breath, but this time the gesture wasn't to calm down.

It was to decide.

"This changes things," he said, his voice now more controlled, colder, but also more dangerous, like someone who had completely abandoned any previous underestimation.

He slowly raised his hand, and the demonic energy began to gather around his body again, but now differently, less explosive, more concentrated, as if he were preparing something much more precise than a simple brute attack.

"If this is what I'm thinking…" he continued, looking directly at Strax, "…then I can't simply eliminate you."

Strax tilted his head slightly, observing this with renewed interest, as if he were finally beginning to consider that perhaps this interaction would be a little more useful than he had initially imagined.

"And why?" "…he asked calmly.

Kharzoth took a small step forward, his eyes still fixed, now no longer arrogant, but more calculated.

"Because if this creature has truly bonded with you in this way…" he paused briefly, as if carefully choosing his next words, "…then destroying you might unleash something that even I cannot control."

The air seemed heavy again.

Not by force.

But by meaning.

Albedo frowned slightly.

"So you know what she is."

Kharzoth finally looked at her.

And smiled.

But it wasn't a smile of superiority.

It was an uncomfortable smile.

"No," he replied. "And that's precisely the problem."

Silence returned for a moment, but this time it was broken by something different.

The small creature moved.

It wasn't a sudden movement.

Nor a defensive one.

She simply took a step forward.

Leaving Strax's side.

And going… towards Kharzoth.

Shura reacted immediately, taking a half-step forward, but Strax raised his hand slightly.

"Leave it."

The tigress hesitated.

But stopped.

The creature continued walking.

Small steps.

Calm.

Fearless.

Her eyes were fixed on Kharzoth now, not with hostility, but with something that seemed… incomplete recognition.

As if she were looking at something she should remember.

But didn't remember completely.

Kharzoth didn't move.

But his posture changed slightly.

Not of attack.

But of total attention.

"You…" he murmured, as he watched her approach, "…what exactly did they do to you…?"

The creature stopped a few meters from him.

And then…

She raised her paw.

But this time, she didn't draw in the air.

She touched her own chest.

And then—

She pointed at Kharzoth.

The gesture was simple.

But the meaning…

Heavy.

Albedo narrowed his eyes immediately.

"…She recognizes you."

Kharzoth didn't answer.

But his gaze hardened.

The creature then did something even stranger.

She turned her head slightly.

As if she were listening to something distant.

Something that no one else could perceive.

And then…

The connection.

She pulsed again.

But this time it wasn't just between her and Strax.

For a brief instant—

Kharzoth felt it too.

It was subtle.

Almost imperceptible.

But enough.

His whole body stiffened.

"…that…" he murmured, taking a half-step back for the first time since he arrived, not out of weakness, but pure instinct.

"…that shouldn't reach me."

Strax watched everything silently now, but his eyes were more attentive, more focused, as if every little detail of that interaction was being stored, analyzed, and rearranged in his mind.

"Interesting," he finally said, in a low tone.

Albedo turned his face slightly toward him.

"Did you understand anything?"

Strax didn't answer immediately.

He just looked at the creature.

Then at Kharzoth.

Then… at the space between them.

"Not completely," he said. "But I know enough now."

Kharzoth fixed his gaze on him again.

"Then say it."

Strax took a small step forward.

The energy around him didn't explode.

But it became denser.

More… present. "She is not merely a creation," he said calmly. "And she is not merely a mistake either."

The creature looked at him.

Attentive.

As if listening to something important.

Strax continued:

"She is an interface."

The silence that followed was immediate.

Heavy.

Confused.

Albedo frowned.

"…interface?"

Shura tilted his head slightly.

Kharzoth said nothing.

But his eyes…

Narrowed dangerously.

Strax then pointed at the creature.

"She was not made to exist alone."

Then he pointed to himself.

"And she was not made to connect to anyone either."

He tilted his head slightly.

"…she was made to connect."

The air seemed to sink around them. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

As if that conclusion had its own weight.

The small creature blinked.

Once.

Twice.

And then…

It took a small step back.

Returning.

To Strax.

As if confirming it without needing words.

Kharzoth remained silent for a few seconds.

Long seconds.

Until he finally spoke, in a lower, more serious tone than any he had used until now.

"…if that's true…"

He slowly raised his gaze.

"…then you have no idea what you've just become."

Strax smiled.

But this time…

There was no amusement in that smile.

"I guess you don't either."