The door clicked shut behind me with a soft metallic thud, muffled by the thick walls of my private quarters. The dim lights buzzed faintly above, washing the room in warm crimson glow. Downstairs, I could still hear the echoes of tired footsteps my inner circle returning to their own rooms after the chaos we had unleashed in the outskirts.
We had gone there for one reason.
To see what the Fourth Ring could truly do.
I had pushed, they had followed, and together we had torn through a warband that ruled half that district. Not because we wanted territory because I needed data. Proof. Feedback. Truth.
Now the adrenaline had faded, leaving only the quiet hum of power beneath my skin.
And the familiar voice stirring in my mind.
Alastor.
His presence slid through my thoughts like a blade made of silk and static.
"A productive excursion," he said, amused. "Your team fought well… though you overshadowed them entirely."
I exhaled slowly and sat on the edge of the bed. My body still vibrated with residual resonance. gentle, steady, almost… obedient. That was new.
"Start the analysis," I murmured.
Alastor chuckled.
"Straight to business. Very well."
His tone sharpened, shifting from playful to technical.
"First observation: your control has improved dramatically."
I could feel it even now. Echo responding instantly to thought, no delay, no strain. Earlier, during the fight, every technique had obeyed me like a perfectly trained hound.
"Your offense no longer leaks energy. Every strike tonight landed with deliberate precision."
I remembered the moment I cut through the armored brute leading the warband how the Echo-Blade had sliced through him like a clean note through silence.
"Your defense also changed," Alastor continued. "Your shields formed smoother, faster, even mid-motion."
He wasn't wrong.
At one point, three enemies fired at me at once. I had raised a resonance barrier without even breaking stride. The bullets hit and fell apart like sand.
"Most importantly," he said, "your instinctive phasing stabilized."
My fingers twitched at the memory of slipping into sound during the battle dodging a blade by dissolving into a tremor of air and reappearing
"You can transition into partial sound-state at will now. That is exceptionally rare."
I leaned back, letting the weight of that sink in.
So the Fourth Ring… really changed my foundation.
"More than that," Alastor said.
"It refined it."
Silence hung between us for a moment.
Then he continued the full breakdown.
"Physically, you're roughly ten times stronger than before. But raw power isn't the true leap."
I closed my eyes.
"Control."
"Exactly."
Control that made every motion effortless.
Control that tightened my resonance output.
Control that made every technique behave like an extension of my will.
And during the fight… I had felt it.
A perfect, smooth synchronization between mind, body and Echo.
Alastor continued:
"Your reactions have improved to the point where you can match lower Overlords briefly."
I opened one eye.
"Briefly?"
"Don't overestimate yourself," he said, amused. "You are still far from sustaining combat against an experienced Overlord. But your killing potential is real. That warband leader tonight… you ended him with one attack."
I remembered the sound clean, sharp, final.
Then Alastor's tone shifted, becoming analytical.
"Your sensory range also expanded. During the fight, you detected enemies approaching before any of your team did."
That had been subtle an intuitive ripple of Echo against foreign resonance. But it was unmistakable.
"So." I folded my hands.
"Where does that put me?"
Alastor didn't hesitate.
"Above every sinner."
"Above most elite demons."
"Below Overlords…"
A pause.
"…but close enough to threaten one under the right conditions."
I hummed quietly.
"Threat isn't victory."
"No," Alastor agreed. "But it is a statement."
A long breath left my chest.
"And the next step?"
"The Fifth Ring."
I felt a cold weight settle in my stomach.
"What will it take?"
Alastor's answer was soft, sharp, and honest.
"Pain."
"Memory."
"Confrontation with the echoes you've avoided."
I didn't respond immediately.
Then:
"And the Sixth?"
Another hesitation rare, and meaningful.
"…To surpass the chains of Hell itself."
I smiled faintly.
"Good."
Alastor laughed, low and sharp.
"Ambitious as always, dear boy."
My pulse synced with the slow rotation of the Four Rings inside me.
I summoned my inner vision for a momentand there they were:
Four rotating spheres of resonance drifting in my soul-space.
Balanced.
Aligned.
Perfectly stable.
Awaiting the next evolution.
Alastor's final words came like a quiet verdict.
"With discipline, at this pace… you could surpass me within seventeen years."
I grinned slowly.
Then let's make it happen.