When Alex opened the Vault, he immediately felt something trying to break through the gate from the other side. Instinct worked faster than thought — in an instant, he leapt back, scooping Moxxi, Lilith, Maya, Tannis, and Angel into his arms. With a powerful push off the ground, he jumped again, widening the distance between them and the portal.

Setting the stunned women down, Alex gave them a quick glance — they were all in shock. Everything had happened too fast. Just moments ago, he had torn open the fabric of reality with his bare hands, revealing the Vault, and now they were standing far away, struggling to comprehend what had just occurred.

From the gaping portal emerged a colossal head — a being created by the Eridians themselves: the Guardian of the Vault. The ground trembled, the frozen crust over the lava cracked, and a deep rumble echoed from beneath. The creature was slowly rising from underground, as if the planet’s very heart was forcing it upward.

It was the Warrior — a creation of the ancient civilization, forged not for protection, but for domination. It existed only to destroy.

Its body, seemingly forged in a volcanic furnace, was made of black stone veined with streams of molten lava. Thick armor covered every inch, etched with old scars — remnants of countless battles. On its shoulders glowed runes written in a forgotten Eridian language, and from beneath its heavy armor oozed dense smoke that mingled with the fire bursting through its cracks.

Its head resembled the skull of an ancient dragon, with long, curved horns dripping with lava. In the depths of its skull burned two blazing orbs — eyes without pupils, but filled with primal fury. From its maw, lined with razor-sharp teeth, flowed torrents of molten rock, melting the ice Alex had created earlier. On its back unfolded two massive stone wings infused with violet energy — as if raw magic itself was keeping them aloft.

When the Warrior finally tore free, it roared so loudly that the air quaked. The ground split apart, and lava poured down the volcano’s slopes.

A little farther away, on a rocky ledge, stood Alex and the women. Tannis, with her usual mix of curiosity and madness, immediately realized that fighting something like this was not part of her plans. Studying it — yes, but only after it stopped trying to kill her. So she did the most logical thing she could: hid behind Alex, peeking cautiously from behind his back.

“M-Maybe you could do something before that thing notices us?” she stammered, giving Alex a nervous shove. “You’re the strongest, right? Go on, go on!”

Moxxi, as usual, kept her cool — though she clearly had no desire to jump into a fight like this. Beating up a few idiots in a bar was one thing; facing a lava titan was something else entirely. She crossed her arms and gave Alex a knowing look, silently telling him that the floor was all his.

The three Sirens — Lilith, Maya, and Angel — stood side by side. Their tattoos began to glow. Lilith’s blazed like fire ready to erupt. Maya’s shimmered with a cold, starlit blue. Angel’s pulsed with a soft, radiant white, like lightning flickering behind clouds.

Alex didn’t take his eyes off the Warrior. A faint glimmer flickered in his irises — he activated his magic sight. What he saw made him frown.

Inside that stone titan, more than one heart was beating. A swirling mass of souls churned within — hollow, faceless shells, artificially created and woven together into a single knot. It wasn’t alive; it was a construct — a grotesque imitation of life.

“Hmm… interesting,” Alex murmured, tilting his head slightly. “Not even a golem… more like a vessel for multiple artificial souls. Clever, but soulless.”

He stepped forward, watching as the creature straightened to its full, towering height and let out another deafening roar. The ground cracked beneath them, and shards of rock flew upward from the heat and vibration.

Of course, Alex could feel the persistent nudges against his back, but he didn’t rush. He stood still, calmly observing the gigantic Warrior that continued to roar and shake the earth. Inside his mind, two opposing thoughts battled — whether to add such a creature to his collection, or to dismantle it just to understand how it was made.

The pushes in his back grew stronger, and Tannis’s voice — more and more insistent. Alex exhaled heavily, shoved his hand into his pocket, and began feeling around for something important. After a few seconds, his fingers brushed against a smooth red-and-white sphere.

“Ah, there you are,” he said softly with a smile.

Pulling out the Poké Ball, Alex took a throwing stance, as if about to toss a grenade, and with a powerful swing, hurled the sphere straight at the Warrior.

At that moment, the monster raised its head toward the sky and let out another deafening roar. The Sirens — Lilith, Maya, and Angel — were just about to engage when a thunderous impact echoed through the air. Something moving at incredible speed slammed directly into the Warrior’s head. The blow was so powerful that the giant toppled backward, crashing into the ground and causing a small earthquake.

A moment later, the red-and-white sphere landed beside the fallen titan. It snapped open, releasing a burst of blinding white light that enveloped the creature entirely. In the next instant, the light vanished — and only the Poké Ball remained on the ground. It twitched a few times before falling still with a short, confirming ping.

Alex calmly walked over, picked it up, and turned it over in his hand with a satisfied smirk.

“Perfect. Caught myself a Pokémon. And a dragon type, no less. Might give it to someone as a gift.”

The women just stood there, dumbfounded. Lilith, Maya, and Moxxi knew Alex was powerful — unbelievably so — but they’d expected some grand, destructive battle: fire, explosions, lightning… Instead, one throw, and it was over.

Angel tilted her head, puzzled, trying to understand how such a massive creature could fit into a tiny sphere.

Tannis, on the other hand, was staring at the Poké Ball with wide, sparkling eyes — not from fear, but from sheer excitement. Ideas were already swarming in her mind: What if I had one? I could catch rare creatures… or maybe even men.

Lilith squinted — the Poké Ball looked suspiciously familiar. Then her memory clicked: that ridiculous “Pokémon Trainer Tournament” Ahnya, Jinx, Nyaruko, and Tina had organized one day. She’d brushed it off back then, assuming it was just another one of their crazy antics. But now, everything suddenly made sense.

“What’s with those faces?” Alex asked, slipping the Poké Ball back into his pocket. “You’re frozen like you’ve just seen a miracle for the first time.”

“You’re seriously asking that?” Lilith shot back with a smirk.

“What? You wanted me to deal with the Warrior — and I did,” Alex shrugged. “Or were you expecting some epic battle with lava and thunder in the background? Me standing on top of the monster, fist raised, shouting dramatically, ‘Victory is mine!’?”

Before he could finish, Tannis suddenly jumped forward, nearly shoving Lilith aside.

“Wait, wait! What even is that thing? How does it work? How did you fit that massive creature in there? Can it catch people? Or just animals? Can I have one? And, purely theoretically, if I throw it at you, would it work?”

The endless stream of questions made Alex’s eye twitch. Especially the part where Tannis asked if she could catch him with it. He nearly groaned as a headache began to build. Sure, he had created Poké Balls capable of capturing any being — even gods, or entities that could swallow galaxies whole — but the way Tannis phrased her questions was enough to throw anyone off balance.

“No,” he said firmly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I’m not giving you a Poké Ball. No, you can’t catch me. And no, you’re still not getting even one. I can already see that look on your face — you were planning to test it.”

“Tch… stingy,” Tannis huffed, kicking a nearby rock. “Hot, but stingy as hell.”

Moxxi stepped closer, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

“So, are we still standing here,” she purred, “or are we finally going inside the Vault?”

“Of course,” Alex nodded, his eyes fixed on the glowing portal. “I need to find out why the Sirens were created in the first place — and why their power alone can charge a Vault Key. Too many questions… and I’m hoping at least some of the answers are waiting for us in there.”

Lilith glanced at Alex — she hadn’t expected him to still care about that mystery. Even Maya and Angel turned to him in surprise. They, too, had once wondered about their origins… but long ago, they’d given up searching for the truth.

Lilith had long since accepted it — her power was simply a part of who she was, without explanation or reason. Maya, on the other hand, still held onto a quiet hope that one day she might learn the truth. But Angel… Angel never even had the chance to wonder about it. Most of her life had been spent locked away in a cage, where every day she asked herself only one question: Why her? Why was she the one who became a Siren? Why had fate been so cruel?

She had cursed her own power — the very thing that painted a target on her back since childhood. The power that had caused her to accidentally kill her mother… and turned her father into a monster obsessed with “creating a perfect world” through blood and destruction.

When Alex mentioned that answers about the origin of the Sirens might lie within the Vault, Tannis instantly forgot everything else she’d been pestering him about. Her eyes lit up, and with a jump of excitement, she bolted straight toward the portal.

She didn’t get far. After only a couple of steps, Alex calmly grabbed her by the collar and effortlessly hauled her back.

“Hey! What the hell?! Let me go!” Tannis protested, flailing her legs wildly.

“You’re supposed to be a smart woman,” Alex said evenly, “but sometimes you act like a child. Didn’t it occur to you that there might be more inside the Vault than just empty space? Maybe something a bit… less welcoming?”

“Oh, crap!” Tannis slapped her forehead. “Totally forgot about that! Well, fine — you go first, hero. You’re strong, you’ll be fine. I’ll just, uh, stay here and cheer you on. Go, go, moral support!”

Alex gave her a tired look, then gently set her back on the ground. The moment her feet touched it, she stepped back and gave him a thumbs-up.

He rolled his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and lit a cigarette.

“How did you even manage to bring her along?” he asked, glancing at Lilith.

“She showed up on her own,” Lilith replied with a shrug.

Sighing, Alex stepped forward. He decided to enter first — to make sure it was safe inside and that no Eridian Guardians were waiting to ambush them. Those constructs weren’t just protectors; they had once been weapons of war.

Crossing through the portal, Alex found himself on the other side — a massive chamber stretched out before him. A long stone bridge led deep into the hall, flanked by towering statues of Eridians. When he looked closer, he noticed something peculiar: their features resembled beings from other worlds. He brushed the thought aside — the multiverse was vast, and coincidences like that weren’t rare.

Once he confirmed that it was safe, Alex returned to the others.

“All clear. You can come in.”

“Say no more! I’m going first!” Tannis shouted joyfully and dashed into the portal without hesitation.

Alex, Lilith, Maya, and Moxxi exchanged knowing looks and shook their heads in unison.

Lilith and Maya followed after her. Moxxi walked up to Alex, took his hand, and gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. Her eyes shimmered with emotion — she still couldn’t believe she was actually about to step into the Vault, the stuff of countless legends.

Just a few days ago, she never could have imagined that her life would change so drastically because of one man. At first, Alex had just seemed like a charming adventurer. But the more time she spent with him, the more she sensed that there was something deeper hidden behind that calm smile. And when she finally learned who he truly was, she knew she’d made the best gamble of her life.

Now, beside her stood a man capable of giving her anything she desired — without ever taking away her freedom. That mattered to Moxxi more than anything. All he asked of her was loyalty, and that, she thought, wasn’t a difficult price to pay. Especially considering how well Alex could satisfy her — not only in bed, but in her darker, bloodier fantasies as well.

Angel stood nearby, gazing at the portal with quiet uncertainty. She had never imagined she’d ever be here. But now, thanks to Alex, she finally had the chance to see the world with her own eyes — free.

Together, Alex, Moxxi, and Angel stepped through the portal.

The moment they arrived on the other side, they were greeted by a rapid stream of words — Tannis was already there, babbling excitedly as she examined every inch of the chamber.

Crossing the stone bridge to the central platform, Alex scanned the hall. Everywhere stood Eridian chests — ancient repositories of technology that humanity could hardly comprehend.

He smirked. Classic. What kind of Vault would it be without secrets and artifacts?

Meanwhile, Tannis was struggling with one of the chests. She braced her feet against its base, grabbed the lid with her hands, and pulled with all her might.

“Come on, open already, damn it! Just a little more!” she shouted, trembling with effort.

Lilith chuckled as she watched the scene.

“Need some help, Tannis?”

“No! I’m almost there! I can feel it!” Tannis replied stubbornly, refusing to stop fighting the chest.

Everyone watched with interest as Tannis futilely tried to open the Eridian chest, which contained artifacts of the ancient race. Alex wondered again: was Tannis really that crazy, or just… a little naive? Even the most foolish person would have realized that brute force wouldn’t open such a chest.

Tannis’s face had already turned red from the effort as she planted her feet firmly and pulled the lid upward, muttering under her breath something like:”Just a little more… almost there!”

But instead of triumph, there was a dull thud — her hands slipped, and Tannis face-planted onto the chest. Everyone quickly turned away to stifle their laughter.

Lifting her head, Tannis grimaced — a thin stream of blood trickled from her nose, and a fresh bump had formed on her forehead. Tears welled up from the pain, but the next moment, a soft click echoed nearby — and the lid of another chest opened on its own. Follow current novᴇls on novel~fire~net

Everyone turned to see Angel, who had simply touched the artifact.

The pain and frustration vanished instantly from Tannis’s face. She jumped toward Angel, grabbed her by the shoulders, and babbled:

“How did you do that?! It opened because you’re a Siren? Why wasn’t I born a Siren?! God, why me! You gave me beauty and brains, but couldn’t give me a bit of power?!”

She raised her arms to the ceiling and cried out dramatically, as if addressing the heavens.

Angel stood there, stunned and slightly frightened. She hadn’t expected anyone to be so emotionally envious of her gift — especially one that had been a curse for her entire life. Alex closed his eyes wearily, trying not to laugh, while Lilith, Maya, and Moxxi barely restrained their smiles, watching Tannis’s “one-woman show.”

Sighing, Alex approached the open chest and pulled out an Eridian artifact. It looked like a small stone, etched with ancient symbols.

He traced his finger over the runes, and they glowed softly. He quickly understood how it worked — the artifact granted its owner resistance to the elements. In a world full of natural dangers, it was an incredibly useful device.

“Interesting combination,” he muttered. “Each rune alone means nothing, but together they form a pattern that generates energy. Clever.”

Maya stepped closer and quietly said,

“Looks like there’s nothing else here. Just artifacts and empty walls. I guess we won’t find out where the Sirens came from, Alex.”

“No,” he shook his head, “something’s off. Everything’s… too simple. Don’t you think?”

Lilith crossed her arms over her chest.

“Maybe the most valuable thing here is that Warrior we already defeated. I wouldn’t be upset if the answer remained a mystery.”

Alex scanned the hall.

“There’s no way an ancient civilization would store just a handful of artifacts here. The hall is huge, the ceilings high… it feels like something’s hidden.”

He closed his eyes, activating his magical sight. When he opened them again, the space before him glowed with lines, like a network of thin streams of energy running across the walls, floor, and ceiling.

“Just as I thought,” he muttered. “The Eridians hid something. All these chests and the Guardian are just a distraction. The real treasure is meant for those not afraid to look further.”

He followed the lines with his gaze — all of them converged at a single point near the ceiling. There, among the patterns, was an almost imperceptible indentation — perfectly shaped to fit a key.

“Aha. There it is.” Alex reached out to Tannis. “Hand me the Vault key.”

“Did you find something?” Lilith asked, noticing where he was looking.

“Yes. An indentation on the ceiling — exactly the size of a key. Looks like the entrance to the real Vault has been right in front of us all along,” Alex said, pointing upward.

The girls looked up at the ceiling but saw nothing unusual — just a smooth stone surface. Not a hint of the indentation Alex had described. Lilith, Maya, and Moxxi remembered that he saw the world differently. After Alex had shared part of his memories with them, they understood that if he wanted, he could peer into the very essence of the world, seeing what was hidden from ordinary eyes.

Tannis, on the other hand, was ignited with curiosity. If she couldn’t see anything, it must really be something significant. Without hesitation, she handed the Vault key to Alex.

Receiving the key, Alex easily pushed off the floor and leapt. In midair, he flipped and landed softly… on the ceiling, as if gravity didn’t exist for him. Squatting, he inserted the key into the barely noticeable indentation. One second passed. Another. Nothing.

Alex frowned — the key wasn’t fully charged. He didn’t want to use his own power to avoid triggering an unpredictable reaction, so he pulled a piece of Eridium from his inventory. Clenching it in his hand, he transformed the mineral into pure energy and directed the flow into the key.

Moments later, it blazed with a violet glow. Thin lines of the same light spread across the floor, walls, and ceiling — proof that Alex had been right.

Jumping down, he calmly waited as the process completed. The space around them began to distort, as if the Vault itself had been nothing but a mirage. The air trembled, the walls seemed to melt aside, and finally, the illusion vanished.

In its place now rose massive white slabs reaching toward the ceiling. But Alex’s expression immediately darkened.

While the girls stared in awe at the walls covered in ancient writings, Alex stood motionless, staring at the central, largest slab. He slowly exhaled cigarette smoke, irritation clear in his gaze.

At the center of the bas-relief, illuminated by soft rays, was a creature — majestic and terrifyingly beautiful.

Its body was covered in smooth, polished plates of ivory. Between them ran thin crimson lines, pulsating like living veins through which energy flowed. The head was elegant and elongated, crowned with curved horn-like protrusions that gave it the appearance of a radiant halo.

The face was featureless, yet it radiated eternal calm and ancient wisdom. Narrow slit-like eyes glowed with a soft inner light, and the forehead and cheeks were crossed with lines that resembled inscriptions.

A bright yellow orb glimmered in the creature’s chest, like a heart filled with sunlight. Its slender hands were folded before it in a gesture of prayer, and the lower part of its body resembled a flowing robe. Behind its back, two massive wings spread wide, giving the impression of a divine being descending from the heavens.

In the light behind it floated other figures — faceless, cloaked, like shadows. Alex recognized the image immediately. It belonged to only one race. And one being. Khan Maykr.

He slowly exhaled a stream of smoke and muttered with a grim smile,

“What a bitch.”

The girls were examining the images carved into the slabs — strange symbols and unusual creatures — when they suddenly heard Alex’s irritated voice. Turning around, they saw his furrowed face, unmistakably annoyed.

Now Alex understood why part of the inscription on the Vault key had seemed familiar. It was the language of the Maykr — an ancient race created by Davoth himself. But all Maykr, including their high priestess Khan Maykr, had been destroyed. He knew that Khan Maykr had fallen at the hands of Slayer, and the remnants of her people had been wiped out by Davoth after Slayer had destroyed the protective dome of Urdak — the world where the Maykr lived.

Having obtained the missing piece of the puzzle, Alex finally put the whole picture together and found answers to many questions. Now he was certain — the Eridians had been artificially created, and the Maykr, or more precisely Khan Maykr herself, had played a hand in it. But why she had done this remained unanswered. Moreover, Alex began to suspect that Khan Maykr was the one who had brought the Destroyer into this universe, since her people had the ability to travel between dimensions. Why she did it, however, remained a mystery.

Gradually, everything began to form a coherent chain: Alex now understood why he had sensed traces of divine power in Lilith, Maya, and Angel. The power of the Sirens chose its bearer if the previous one died. That small portion of divine energy he felt in them was the same source as Slayer’s power — the one who had once absorbed all of Davoth’s might after his death.

“Sweetie, did you figure something out?” Moxxi asked, noticing how grim he looked. “Your face is so frowning, you could probably scare people with it.”

“Yeah,” Alex replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I got answers to half of my questions. First, this slab confirms that the Eridians were artificially created. Second, I understand why I sensed a familiar power from Lilith, Maya, and Angel. And most importantly, I know who was behind all of this.”

“Care to share, smarty?” Lilith asked lazily, sitting on one of the Eridian chests. “Not every day you find out who created the smartest race in the universe. And while you’re at it, tell us what you were saying about our powers.”

“In short,” Alex began, lighting a cigarette, “the Eridian race was created by the Maykr. In different worlds, they were called by different names — angels, god’s messengers, divine envoys. On the central slab is depicted Khan Maykr — the leader of their people. But in reality, she was a real bitch. Good thing she’s dead, along with her entire race.”

“Dead? Wait, you said they were god’s messengers. Which god? And why did they die?” Maya asked, looking at him with interest.

“Ah, alright,” Alex sighed. “I’ll have to start from the beginning. In an empty universe, amidst eternal darkness, a being was born. A god. It didn’t know who it was or why it existed, but it began to explore the void, where there was nothing but silence. Over time, the god decided to create something new — and so its first world came into being, called Jeccad. It created beings in its own image and likeness and for the first time was no longer alone. Living among its creations, it realized they were mortal, their lives short, their bodies aging and fading. And then the god felt fear for the first time — the fear of being alone. It feared that one day all its children would die, and it would be left in the void again. And it was this fear that gave birth to a mad idea…”

“Mad?” Tannis asked, pulling out her notebook and quickly scribbling notes. “What kind of mad?”

“That it would grant its creations immortality,” Alex continued. “But no matter how much it searched, it could not find a way. So it created a new race — the Maykr, its messengers, to find the answer. Their leader was the All-Father, and Khan Maykr was something like a divine priestess, born every ten thousand years. Davoth, as the god was called, created a world for them — Urdak. He believed they would help him obtain the key to eternal life for the inhabitants of Jeccad…”

“Let me guess,” Lilith interjected, crossing her arms. “They found the key but decided not to share it?”

“Exactly,” Alex nodded. “The All-Father found a way but betrayed his creator. The Maykr imprisoned Davoth in the Jeccad dimension, taking from him the light portion of his essence and leaving only the darkness. Deprived of light, he became something else — his rage knew no bounds. A war broke out between Davoth and the Maykr, in which he was defeated. His body was destroyed, as was the All-Father’s, and their essences were sealed in a temple. But even imprisoned, Davoth continued to influence his creations, slowly corrupting Khan Maykr, twisting her soul and mind.”

“And what was the secret of immortality they discovered?” Moxxi asked, settling next to him.

“Argent energy,” Alex replied, exhaling smoke. “The source of their power. It was created from the souls of living beings. To harvest these souls, Khan Maykr commanded invasions into different worlds, collecting victims. She enslaved demons born from Davoth’s wrath, not realizing he had allowed her to do so. Millions of lives were sacrificed. The souls were placed into specialized devices — torture machines. There, through suffering and torment, Argent energy was produced from them…”

Lilith, Maya, Moxxi, Angel, and Tannis stared at Alex, trying to process what they had just heard. Lilith, Maya, and Moxxi knew only fragments of this story — the pieces of memories Alex had once shared with them.

But the girls from Alex’s family, who had been watching everything via the Navi fairy-drone broadcast, were stunned. They had never expected to hear Davoth’s name again or even a mention of the Maykr race. Davoth had been destroyed by Slayer during the universe’s survival battle — back when Alex himself fought the Minister of Monoliths.

That was why none of them had anticipated encountering traces of Davoth or his creations in other worlds. The multiverse was so vast that the chance of such an encounter was infinitesimal — it would have been easier to believe in a miracle than to find evidence of a long-dead god.

Yet everyone — both those near Alex and those observing from afar — reached the same conclusion: this was precisely why the Creator had brought his granddaughters to this universe, to the planet called Pandora. So that Alex could deal with the remnants of Davoth’s influence and his children, the Maykr.

Alex himself found logic in all of this—except for a few details concerning the Maykr race. He assumed that Khan Maykr had conducted her own experiment in creating life, much like Davoth had once created the Maykr themselves and their dimension, Urdak—and likewise, the race that inhabited the Jeccad dimension. But one question remained unanswered: why did Khan Maykr bring the Destroyer into this universe?

“Alex,” Lilith broke the silence first, “you still haven’t explained exactly how the Maykr race perished. Did their creator break free from imprisonment and destroy them? Or was it something else?”

Alex took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as if gathering his thoughts.

“As I said,” he began, “Khan Maykr sent demons to cleanse worlds and collect souls. And one day, an army of demons invaded another world. Or rather, the inhabitants of that world opened the way for them. The portal was opened on a planet called Mars.”

“When the demons stormed the Martian research complex, among the defenders was a simple soldier—a former marine. He fought like a man possessed and miraculously managed to close the portal. But the gateway to Hell had already been opened, and soon a new portal appeared on Earth. Returning home, the marine stood once more to defend humanity—and closed the gates again, but the cost was high.”

“Years passed. He started a family—a wife, a son… But human greed knows no bounds. They opened the portal again—and this time, it was far worse. The marine lost everything he loved. He lost the will to live. And so, having nothing left, he threw himself into the hellish portal and sealed it from the inside.”

“There, he fought demons in the very heart of Hell. Wounded, exhausted, but unbroken. One day, he found himself in a world called Argent D’Nur, where he was discovered. He was given a choice—fight to earn freedom, or die. He chose to fight. His rage fueled his body, refusing to let him die. He defeated everyone who stood in his way and eventually joined the order of warriors protecting Argent D’Nur.”

“But the demons did not stop. They invaded Argent D’Nur, and the marine fought tirelessly. His fury grew until it became an unquenchable flame. When the situation became hopeless, he agreed to undergo an ancient divine mechanism—a ritual that transformed him into a killing machine. From that day on, he was called Doom Slayer.”

“Demons feared nothing but the sound of his footsteps. But, as always, there were traitors among humans. When Doom Slayer led the army to strike at Hell, the gates behind him were sealed. A hundred warriors were trapped in the abyss. And in the end, he was left alone.”

“For thousands of years he fought, until the demons managed to trap him—because they could not kill him. Centuries later, his body was found by others—humans from another universe, who reopened the gates to Hell. And the story repeated itself. A cycle of violence, rage, and revenge closed upon itself. Slayer once again turned his gaze upon the demon army and their creator—Davoth.”

Alex exhaled heavily, smoke curling from his lips.

“How do you know all this?” Tannis asked in astonishment. “You won’t find this in any book. And it all happened across different worlds and universes.”

Alex smirked, though there was no joy in his eyes.

“Because Doom Slayer is my friend,” he said quietly. “I know this story firsthand. In his vengeance, he reached Urdak itself and destroyed the barrier between worlds. Davoth got revenge on his children, and Slayer on his creator. And that was the end. No happy ending. Just thousands of corpses, and a tale of revenge lasting millennia… and one broken soul that will never find peace.”

Alex fell silent. A heavy quiet hung in the room, broken only by the faint crackle of his cigarette.

To be continued…

(A bit of lore, to recap some events. And I don’t think anyone expected anything like this. Or maybe they did. Who knows. I just couldn’t decide for a long time who should create the Eridians, and then I thought, “Why not?” And so here’s the plot.)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep