Kai frowned, then he blurred forward. In less than a breath, he was standing at the very edge of the boundary, close enough that the air shimmered where his boundary law refused the woman entry. The woman in white stood rigid on the other side, her radiance dimmed and her composure cracking.
"Please?" Kai echoed softly, head tilting. His lips curved with equal parts amusement and disdain.
"What exactly are you begging for?"
He looked her over like a curiosity that had disappointed him.
"You're a goddess," he continued lightly. "An entity so powerful you don't even value the lives of your own worshippers. Mortals pray, die, bleed in your name and you barely blink."
Her jaw tightened but kept looking at Kai.
"And yet," Kai went on, voice sharpening, "you watched your son defile and rape countless women and possibly even teenagers who knows. Kill them. Tear through lives unchecked." He laughed quietly. "And don't insult me by pretending you couldn't have stopped him. You simply didn't bother."
She opened her mouth.
"No," Kai cut in, eyes gleaming. "You don't get to speak yet while I'm still talking."
He stepped closer to the boundary, shadows curling lazily around his boots.
"You hijacked innocent women, stole their bodies, their voices just to stop me from going after a murderer remember and you made me slaughter those innocent women and for what?." His said with a small smile that thinned by the second. "That makes you no better than him."
Her eyes flashed at the accusation.
"You're a coward," Kai said plainly. "And I see exactly where he gets it from."
"A child will do anything for their parent's approval," Kai continued. "Anything to be seen." His gaze never left her face. "Even breaking their toys just to get attention."
Her breath hitched at where this is going.
"That's Raynard," Kai said. "You knew what he was becoming. You watched it happen. And instead of stopping him… you abandoned him."
He leaned in slightly, voice dropping slowly.
"And now he's our problem to deal with you wretched bitch."
The woman shook her head but when she tried to talk, Kai cuts in and delivered another bitter truth to the goddess.
"You neglected your child," he said calmly. "And when that child became a monster, you didn't want other gods to notice. So now you're here, trying to clean up his mess out of shame."
His eyes narrowed.
"Isn't that right?" The accusation landed.
Then Kady stepped forward, voice shaking with fury. "She's a coward," she spat. "Anya died for nothing. We trusted you. We thought you'd help us. And now my friends are dead and the last one is being worn around like a meat suit by your son all because of what, your pride?"
The goddess flinched and Kai turned his head slightly toward Kady, "I promised to deliver your revenge," he said quietly.
"Didn't I?"
Kady's hand trembled.
"Do it," Kai said gently. "Open the lid."
"No, STOP!" Persephone shouted.
Her eyes locked onto the lamp, recognition crashing into her expression as she saw the runes carved deep into its surface. She'd seen it the moment Kady revealed herself while holding it and she felt the level of threat that it is. Purpose-built.
She knew what it was, being a god came with comprehension far beyond anything and it allowed her to immediately deduce the purpose of it.
"That thing—" she breathed. "Do you have any idea what you're holding?"
She rushed forward, desperation breaking through her divinity. But stopped just outside the invisible boundary wall.
"I can grant you power," she said quickly. "Beyond your wildest imaginations. Power that would make you gods."
Kai blinked.
Then he laughed a short, incredulous sound.
"Oh wow," he said. "Is that the offer? Gods? Really?"
He glanced at the others. "She thinks we're shopping."
Her face twisted when that didn't work.
"It wouldn't even function," Persephone snapped. "To use that lamp you'd need the power of a god. Without it, it's useless."
Kai smiled wider.
"Demigod would do actually."
She froze.
"…What?"
"Oh yeah," Kai said casually. "About that. Turns out we don't need a full god to use it. Just a demigod."
Her gaze snapped across the group, panic creeping in.
"I don't sense anyone here with that level of power," she said. "Except you and even then, it wouldn't work."
Kai's smirk sharpened into something dangerous.
"Oh, I'm aware," he said.
"The raw magic needed has to carry a relative signature."
Her eyes widened.
"Relative…?" she whispered and stepped back with caution.
Kai leaned forward, voice soft as a knife sliding home.
"Relative to Raynard."
And for the first time since this confrontation began, Persephone looked afraid.
Raynard's eyes widened.
For the first time since he'd arrived, true alarm flickered across his face as something finally clicked in his mind.
Persephone, standing outside the boundary them calmed herself down, frowned in confusion, she was outside the boundary and the boy must've know she wouldn't do anything to her own son so… her gaze moving between the circle, the sigils, and Kai himself.
Kai tilted his head slightly, almost amused.
"Oh," he said casually, "your grandson says hi, by the way."
That did it.
Persephone stiffened. "What did you say?"
Kai continued, unbothered. "He was generous enough to let me slap a little bracelet onto him. Nothing permanent. Just enough to reduce his godly output." His smile sharpened. "And not just that, it links me directly to his well of power. The one he doesn't know how to deal with yet."
Raynard snapped and struggled to speak, "That's impossible—"
Persephone shook her head sharply. "It wouldn't work. Even if you had such a device, your nature is chaotic. Power like that can't be contained within a creature like you boy. It would destroy you before it obeyed."
Kai smiled.
"Wrong, you see I am a unique existence so it will work perfectly" he said lightly. "But let's pretend you're right for a second."
He gestured lazily toward himself.
"And that's exactly why the magic isn't in me right now."
Persephone's eyes widened.
Slowly, deliberately, her gaze shifted.
Penny followed it.
So did Raynard.
Kady stood a few steps away, both hands gripping the lamp.
Penny looked at her, then back at Kai, realization hitting him like a punch. He had seen Kai poking her in the forehead before he came to him.
"…you clever fucking bastard."
Kai didn't answer him.
He didn't need to.
Kady understood already, she had felt the rush of extraordinary magic pour into her before when he touched her and transferred the lamp to her. She didn't hesitate. Not for a second.
She twisted the lid open.
Golden light exploded outward and pointing towards Raynard. Kady's body lifted slightly off the ground as her skin glowed, veins threading with molten brilliance. Her eyes burned pure gold for a heartbeat as divine energy poured out of her body and into the lamp.
Then, Raynard screamed In panic.
He tried to summon his power, tried to tear free, but the pact ignited and the pentagram beneath him flared violently, its lines blazing as they locked him in place.
"No, NO!" Raynard roared, struggling against forces that didn't really give a damn about his cruelty. "You can't—!"
Persephone screamed, her voice raw.
"STOP—STOP THIS!"
Raynard turned toward her, terror breaking through at last.
"MOTHEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!"
The light intensified and the pull became absolute.
Raynard was ripped forward, his form unraveling into blazing strands as he was dragged screaming into the lamp, his protests collapsing into a final echo.
And then silence.
Kady slammed the lid shut and the glow vanished instantly.
The circle dimmed as its intended occupant had vanished but still stayed active.
Persephone stood frozen, staring at the lamp in Kady's hands, her expression shattered between disbelief and fury.
Kai exhaled softly, satisfied.
"…and that," he said calmly, "is why preparation matters."