Greshina lifted her hand again, materializing a single spike condensed out of the same dense, lethal poison she had just used to erase part of the city but this one was different. It began to rotate slowly in her hand like a drill. Even from inside the cocoon, the sheer density of that attack was obvious. It was meant to punch straight through whatever defense stood in its path and erase everything behind it.
Phaenora's grip tightened on her glaive. Elyonari drew her bow again, already preparing to reinforce the cocoon or counterattack the moment that thing was thrown.
Greshina tilted her head slightly, lining up the shot—
"Stop!"
Greshina's eyes widened. The spinning spike slowed down and stopped completely. When she turned her head, she found Veneri, who was completely unharmed. His expression wasn't panicked or angry.
Without hesitation, the spike vanished. She disappeared from her position and appeared right next to him. The Mystic Circle faded entirely as if it had never existed in the first place.
"Alright."
Veneri stared at her.
"That's it?"
"We're fighting because of you, aren't we? So technically, if you tell me to stop, I stop."
Behind them, the cocoon cracked. Phaenora and Elyonari stepped out, landing beside him with far less grace than usual, mostly because they were staring at Greshina like she had just pulled the most ridiculous move imaginable.
Phaenora blinked once, then looked at Veneri and asked incredulously.
"Did you just… end the fight?"
"I don't want to fight anymore. He told me to stop."
Phaenora stared at her, then at Veneri and back at her.
"We literally just destroyed part of a city."
Veneri rubbed the back of his neck and replied;
"Not just part. You killed thousands of people and wiped out a district and that was just a warm-up."
Greshina lifted a finger slightly.
"Five percent, actually."
Veneri stared at her.
"That is not helping your case, you know."
Greshina ignored that completely and turned her head slightly. Her gaze turned toward the distant horizon where more sirens were already rising.
"We should leave. Reinforcements are coming and stronger ones this time. The Yrugua of Economia Capital will probably show up next."
That made Veneri pause.
"Yeah, let's go."
Phaenora sighed, "Of course there's someone stronger coming."
Elyonari didn't argue either, though her grip on her bow didn't loosen.
"And where exactly are we going? Not back to the hotel, that's for sure."
Greshina followed his gaze briefly, then nodded.
"Right. That's gone. Oh, you can stay at my place."
All three of them turned to her. She lifted her fan slightly and released a thick wave of purple fog that engulfed all four of them instantly. The world blurred and for a moment. When the fog cleared, they were somewhere else.
In front of them stood a mansion but calling it that was an understatement.
Veneri just stared.
"You live here?"
"Yeah."
The doors opened and that's when it got weirder. The servants that stepped forward weren't human.
They were skeletons dressed in proper uniforms. They somehow managed to look professional despite the fact that they had no skin, no expressions, and were literally just bones. Even one of them bowed at them.
Phaenora leaned slightly toward Ely and whispered.
"I don't know how to feel about this."
Elyonari whispered back, "I think it's efficient."
Veneri just rubbed his face.
"Of course you have skeleton servants."
Greshina smiled slightly as she turned and walked inside, her voice carrying back toward them.
"Come in. I have a lot to tell you."
She didn't wait. She just kept walking, leaving the three of them standing there. Ely asked Veneri with a surprised tone.
"Are we seriously just letting this go? She just tried to kill us multiple times."
Veneri exhaled slowly, glancing toward the mansion before answering.
"Greshina might look like a villain but she's not. She's ruthless and cold when she needs to be. But she doesn't hurt the people she actually cares about."
"And us?"
Veneri gave Phae a small, tired smile.
"She knows hurting you would hurt me."
Phaenora clicked her tongue. "That's annoyingly logical."
Elyonari nodded once. "I don't like it."
"Besides, that wasn't even five percent of her power."
That made both of them pause.
"You're joking."
"I'm not."
°°°°°°°
The transition from a fight to a mansion felt unreal in the most jarring way possible. Dust still clung to their clothes, fine particles of concrete and ash settled into their hair, and even though none of them were physically harmed, they looked like they had just walked out of a war zone which, technically, they had.
Greshina took one look at them and immediately frowned.
"You're all filthy. Go shower."
"We're Divines. We can literally clean ourselves with energy."
Greshina didn't even entertain Phae's argument.
"And yet you still look like you crawled out of a collapsed building. Go. Shower."
Ely glanced down at her sleeve, brushing off a layer of dust that immediately replaced itself from her hair.
"She has a point. I'm not arguing this one."
That was how they found themselves standing in front of something that completely threw Ely and Phae off. They both stood there, staring at the shower like it was some kind of advanced artifact.
"So… water just falls from above?"
Elyonari crossed her arms, studying it with genuine curiosity.
"And you stand under it?"
Veneri pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Please don't tell me you've never seen a shower before."
"In the hotel, there was a bathtub," Phaenora replied. "This is different."
Elyonari stepped closer, inspecting the controls.
"This looks unnecessarily complicated."
Greshina, who had been leaning against the doorway, let out a quiet laugh.
"It's not complicated. You turn it on, water comes out, you stand under it and you don't smell like dust anymore."
"We're using the bathtub."
Elyonari agreed immediately. "Yes."
Veneri just shook his head and walked past them.
"Unbelievable."
Despite everything, the process of actually cleaning up felt oddly grounding. None of them needed it. They could have purified themselves instantly with their own energy and erased every trace of dust and grime in a single thought but doing it the normal way felt different. There was a kind of satisfaction in it that abilities couldn't replicate.
It was the same reason they still ate. Divines didn't need food, sleep or even most of the things that defined ordinary life. But they still did those things anyway because without them, everything started to feel hollow.
Afterwards, they changed.
Greshina had an absurd amount of clothes, which didn't surprise anyone at this point. Phaenora and Elyonari didn't even bother asking permission. They just went through her wardrobe like it was theirs. Ely settled on a simple turtleneck paired with a skirt that matched her serene demeanor, while Phaenora grabbed a baggy T-shirt and shorts, clearly prioritizing comfort over anything else.
Veneri didn't get that luxury. Greshina had already ordered clothes for him. He stared at the neatly placed outfit for a second before he scoffed.
"You didn't have to do that."
Greshina adjusted her glasses slightly and replied,
"Hey, it's not as if I have clothes of men laying around in my mansion so take them."
He just sighed and put them on.
By the time they regrouped in the living room, the entire atmosphere had shifted again. The chaos from earlier felt distant now. A drone zipped in through an open window, carrying boxes of pizza, and landed neatly on the table before opening on its own.
Elyonari picked up a slice, examining it briefly before taking a bite. Her expression didn't change much, but there was a slight pause afterward that said enough.
"This is good."
Phaenora was already halfway through her second slice.
"Okay, yeah, this is actually amazing."
Veneri leaned back slightly on the couch, watching the news that was currently broadcasting the destruction they had caused. The screen showed aerial footage of the ruined district, emergency responders flooding the area and analysts trying to explain something that clearly couldn't be explained.
"You three really did that."
"No," Greshina corrected from across the table, taking a small, composed bite of her pizza. "You did that."
"That is not how that works."
She didn't argue. Instead, she adjusted her glasses slightly, and that was when it became more noticeable. This version of Greshina was different.
She wore glasses now, something Edarea never did. Her posture, her mannerisms, even the way she dressed all carried a sense of refinement that Edarea lacked. Where Edarea felt intense and volatile, this Greshina felt mature and elegant in a way that made her stand out even more.
Veneri watched her for a moment, then asked.
"So… how have you been?"
Greshina leaned back slightly, crossing one leg over the other.
"I'm fine. Being a Deity is… entertaining."
"That's one way to put it."
Greshina ignored Phae.
"Time moves differently for me, so things don't feel as long as they should. And most people can't argue with me, which makes life significantly less annoying."
Elyonari took another bite of her pizza, then said.
"That sounds lonely."
Greshina paused for a fraction of a second.
"It has its moments."
"And Edarea?"
"She knows I exist but she doesn't know who I really am."
"So she has no idea that you're the reason she exists in the first place?"
"Correct."
There was a brief silence. Elyonari set her pizza down and looked directly at Greshina.
"You're a Grandmaster."
"In weapon mastery? Yes."
"That's equivalent to a Primordial Deity in that field."
"I know. Same to you, Miss Ely. I didn't expect you to be Grandmaster at such a young age. It took me a few thousand years to get to where I am."
Phaenora leaned back, crossing her arms.
"Flattery isn't going to save you from explaining everything, you know."
Greshina let out a quiet breath, clearly amused by her remark.
"I wasn't trying to flatter her to avoid this."
"Then explain because it's obvious you're not Edarea. That much is clear. You're a Deity and she's a Sixth Enlightenment Divine. The gap alone is ridiculous, but beyond that, your presence is completely different."
Elyonari added, "Your existence doesn't align with standard transmigration patterns. So the real question is, how did you transmigrate to Spheraphase?"
The room fell quiet. Greshina looked at them both and then at Veneri.
"The answer is simple. A Primordial brought me here."