Chapter 340: Ch 340 : Sharing Secrets

The two newly reconstructed bodies of Kairos and Mongo lay sprawled across the star-flecked floor of the throne room, twitching like newborn fawns.

Their skin was pale, devoid of the pigment and hair that Sunny had intentionally withheld, leaving them looking like unfinished porcelain dolls.

As the fog of resurrection cleared from their minds, the first thing they heard was Sunny’s voice. It wasn’t a roar; it was a low, melodic thrum that vibrated through their new eardrums.

“The time for rest has expired. The time for the truth has begun.”

It wasn’t a formal command. It was a cold, empirical threat. The subtext was written in the very air of the hall: Speak, or turn to ashes once again.

Kairos shivered. The sensation of his soul being knitted back together atom by atom was still fresh, a traumatic, celestial surgery.

’Dying is better than this,’ he thought, his mind racing with a terror that felt like ice in his veins. ’If we refuse, he won’t just let us stay dead. He’ll revive us, kill us, and revive us again in an infinite loop until our minds shatter, leaving nothing but mindless shells to do his bidding.’

He tried to turn his head toward Mongo, hoping to catch his partner’s eye and signal for absolute compliance. He needed to tell him: Don’t do anything stupid. If he asks for the sun, we give him the galaxy.

But as Kairos turned his head, a strangled gasp escaped his throat. He nearly screamed at the top of his lungs.

In the reflection of the polished floor, he saw a monster. His head was a smooth, hairless dome; his eyebrows were gone, and his skin was a sickly, translucent white. He looked like a nightmare birthed in a laboratory.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Sunny said, his voice carrying a hint of dark amusement. “Consider it a light punishment for your crimes against the civilians in the realm of advancement, and for invading my territory. There will be many more creative ’adjustments’ in the future if you don’t repent through total honesty.”

Kairos frantically touched his own face, his fingers searching for the familiar stubble or the arch of a brow, finding only smooth, cold skin. He slumped back, realizing the futility of his vanity. He looked up at the masked Emperor and sighed.

“You got us, Cosmos,” Kairos whispered, his voice sounding thin in the vast hall. “But I think we were doomed the moment Lord Ichor caught us and branded us as his slaves. We’ve been living on borrowed time since a long time.”

Kairos’s mind drifted back to the blue skies of Endor. He remembered his family, faces that were now blurred by years of blood and shadow.

He thought of his mortal life, a time when his biggest worry was a promotion or a quarterly report. Now, he was a God, and his only concern was whether his soul would even exsist by the noon.

’I’m going to die anyway,’ Kairos thought, a wave of nihilism washing over him. ’But he’s not going to make it quick. It’ll be a slow dissection.’

“Interesting,” Sunny said, his voice cutting through Kairos’s internal monologue like a hot knife through wax. “Reading your thoughts is much more efficient than waiting for you to find the courage to speak.”

Sunny let out a dry chuckle. “But for the sake of ’humanity,’ I will let you use your vocal cords. It adds a certain… theatricality to the confession.”

Kairos felt the blood drain from his already pale face. ’He can read my mind?’ The implications were staggering.

Many in the Demon Realm suspected Cosmos’s talent was related to growth or creation, but mental intrusion of this level suggested an authority that spanned across the spiritual plane.

“Yes, Kairos. Every frantic, desperate thought,” Sunny said, leaning forward.

Even through the mask, Kairos could feel the Emperor’s predatory grin. It was as if the eye-sockets of the mask were widening to swallow his secrets whole.

“As for your tragic backstory…. the kidnapping, the branding, the life of a slave…. I already know about it. I don’t care about your pity party,” Sunny said, dismissing Kairos’s life story with a wave of his hand. “What I wish to know is the identity of that shadow I just spoke with. Tell me about the puppeteer.”

Kairos didn’t even think of lying. With Sunny inside his head, a lie would be like a flare in a dark room.

“He… he is a madman,” Kairos whispered, his eyes unfocused. “He is far more dangerous than any of the Demon Lords you’ve or will face. They are blunt instruments… hammers and sickles. But he? He is a surgeon. He uses you until the very moment his goal is achieved, then discards you like a broken tool to maximize his profit.”

“Name, Kairos. I want name and his motives,” Sunny demanded.

“His name is Lom,” Kairos said, the word feeling like ash in his mouth. “He is a Demon God from an ancient, influential family in the Capital. One day, he simply appeared in my God Space.”

“He didn’t attack. He didn’t threaten. He smiled… Now that i think about it, it was the most terrifying smile I’ve ever seen, and called me the ’Chosen One.’ He promised he would do anything to help me reach my potential.”

’Chosen one…’ Sunny thought, an amused ripple in his mind. ’The man loves a good cliché. He must say that to all the men out there.’

“I was greedy,” Kairos continued, his voice shaking. “I asked for an artifact that could hide me from the System…. from Thea’s particles. He gave me the Pearl of Calamity, claiming it would let us hide in the deepest folds of space. We thought we were using him. We thought we could invade your territory, steal a few secrets, and slip away.”

“But the Pearl was a trap, wasn’t it?” Sunny asked, as he had already seen the memory in Vorr’s mind.

“Yes,” Kairos groaned. “The moment we realized the scale of the City of Gods, the millions of Gods, the sheer power, we tried to retreat. We were terrified.”

“But Lom locked the Pearl from the outside. He threatened to eject us into the open space without protection if we didn’t serve as his eyes and ears. He forced me to kill my own subordinate for a minor mistake… and then Vorr was killed by you.”

Sunny raised a hand, stopping the flow of words. “Let’s correct the record, Kairos. I didn’t kill Vorr. He died because of a self-destruct seal placed on his soul by your ’benefactor’ Lom. The moment he became a liability, Lom detonated him.”

Sunny paused, his voice turning uncharacteristically soft. “I would have revived him, but Lom made sure his soul was pulverized into nothingness. Back then, I hadn’t yet mastered the art of soul-reconstruction. He was truly erased.”

Kairos looked at Sunny, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes. ’Is he… merciful? Does he still care for the people of Endor? if yes.. then maybe i can survive this…. with just this light punishment’

“Don’t get it twisted,” Sunny said, instantly crushing the hope with a dark chuckle. “I wanted to revive him so I could interrogate and torture him properly. I have no problem killing anyone who threatens my empire, but I hate wasting good resources.”

The cold water of reality hit Kairos harder than a physical blow. ’He really can read every single thought. There is no hiding. No sanctuary.’

“Haha, don’t look so miserable,” Sunny laughed, a hearty, booming sound. “Continue. What else does Lom want?”

“He follows no one,” Kairos said, trying to steady his breathing. “That’s the most important thing. He told me never to report the true status of the City to Lord Ichor. He gave me a script of half-truths to feed the Demon Lords, if they ask me…. He’s playing them against you, maybe waiting for both sides to bleed out so he can pick up the pieces.”

Sunny leaned back, the starlight of his robe shimmering as he absorbed the information. This was the key. Lom wasn’t a loyal soldier; he was a third party…. a scavenger waiting for the feast of the apocalypse.

“A master of his own, playing both sides from the shadows,” Sunny whispered.

He stood up, his towering figure casting a long, dark shadow over the two hairless spies.

“Mysterious? Perhaps to the Demon Lords,” Sunny said, a sharp, evil grin finally visible through the shifting cosmic energy of his mask. “But not for long. If he thinks he’s the only one who can play with puppets, he’s in for a very long, very painful surprise.”

Sunny looked down at Kairos. “You’ve been very helpful, ’Chosen One.’ Now, let’s see how much Lom values his secrets… He think he is the only one with upper hand in this game…. But maybe it’s time to show him how to turn the entire board.”

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