The streets of Norn City were quiet now, the chaos from Cyrus's aftermath already being cleaned up. Broken glass glittered in the sunlight like scattered stars, smoke lingering faintly over the ruined marketplace.
Drax's white eyes scanned the horizon, the faint hum of the Abyssal World pulsing in his mind. Every corner, every alley, every rooftop was under his subtle surveillance. He could sense Eryndor Vale following him, but it was more curiosity than pursuit.
Drax spoke softly, almost casually, as if talking to a passing shadow.
"Stop following me for today."
The aura of the rogue hunter wavered, confused. Then, like a shadow evaporating in sunlight, Drax vanished.
A single blink later, he was in his small apartment. The Abyssal World hummed in resonance with his pulse, a faint black mist curling around the edges of reality, unseen by the human eye. The black tree loomed inside him, branches brushing the infinite horizon of his subconscious, whispering, observing, calculating.
Drax dropped into a chair, arms resting casually on the armrest. His gaze wandered to the faint shimmering traces of Abyssal essence lingering on the walls — a reminder of his recent power.
Then, a familiar ringtone broke the silence.
"Drax? Are you… okay?"
It was Isis.
"Yeah." Drax's voice was calm, low, measured.
"Don't tell me you're hiding again," Isis said, concern bleeding through the usual arrogance in his tone.
Drax tilted his head, smirking faintly. "I'm… observing."
Isis exhaled sharply. "You should sit down for this. Kane's brother… he put a bounty on your head."
Drax's eyes narrowed slightly. "How much?"
"Three hundred million." Isis's voice wavered just a little, the words tasting heavy even over the phone. "He's… doing it because of his brother's death. He's… he's making it personal. Drax… what are you going to do?"
The faint hum of the Abyssal World inside Drax's mind seemed to grow louder, whispering possibilities, outcomes, and strategies. He allowed a small smile to curl on his lips, cold and precise, as if he were observing a child play in the dirt.
Three hundred million, he thought. They think money makes men act. They think it motivates fear. Pathetic.
He leaned back, eyes closing briefly as his mind brushed the edge of the Abyss. The black sea within his inner world shimmered, the purplish-black floor reflecting stars that were not really stars, and the giant red moon with the unblinking eye glared down like a silent judge. The black tree stretched its branches across the horizon of infinite void, silent, eternal, omnipotent.
When he opened his eyes, his voice was low, deliberate, and calm.
"Let him breathe a little longer… because soon, he'll be drowned in the Abyss."
The bounty is out, the world now fully aware of Drax's existence in a dangerous new light.
Kane's brother waits, calculating.
And Drax, unshaken, sits atop the growing shadow of his Abyssal dominion, ready for the storm to come.