Azure-gold spiritual pressure continued to rise.
Sombravida's left palm glowed intensely, the condensed Cero compressing to a lethal density at point-blank range.
Harribel's face was firmly restrained in his grip.
She forced her reiryoku outward, drawing moisture from the air and condensing it around her head in an attempt to cool the accumulating heat.
It was meaningless.
The vapor turned instantly into steam and dispersed.
The Cero's proximity alone was already scorching her mask.
If Sombravida released it—
Even a Vasto Lorde would not escape unscathed.
She understood.
He was still giving her a choice.
Otherwise, he would have already fired.
She had lost.
Among Vasto Lorde, a single miscalculation determined everything. Close-range dominance meant absolute control. She had no opening to counter, no room to maneuver.
It was join.
Or die.
"My lady!" Apache and Mila Rose rushed forward instinctively—
—but were intercepted by Nel and Shak.
The difference between peak Adjuchas and mid-tier Adjuchas was decisive.
They could not pass.
"I… join."
The words left Harribel's mouth steadily.
Not submission of heart.
But acceptance of reality.
Sombravida did not lower the Cero immediately.
"I see no submission in your eyes."
Harribel's spiritual pressure slowly dimmed.
"I am the weaker one," she said evenly. "I do not possess the right to refuse. I, Tia Harribel, acknowledge you as my superior."
Only then did Sombravida extinguish the Cero.
He released her.
Nel withdrew, allowing the others forward.
"My lady!"
Apache knelt beside her, fury in her eyes.
"You bastard—"
Smack.
Sombravida's backhand sent Apache flying across the sand.
She crashed violently, blood spilling from her mouth.
"Strength without restraint is arrogance," Sombravida said coldly. "You are weak. Yet you bark."
His Vasto-level pressure pressed down, pinning Apache flat.
Harribel flinched.
She knew.
He had held back.
That blow could have killed her subordinate.
"Sombravida… my lord," Harribel said, lowering herself to one knee. "Apache spoke out of turn. I ask that you spare her."
Sombravida's gaze remained hard for several seconds.
Then—
He tore open a spatial seam beside him.
A serpentine body fell out.
Sun-Sun landed harshly in the sand, hissing in shock.
"I was falling for—what is that ability?!" she gasped. "There was no ground… no direction… I could not stabilize my reiryoku…"
"Sun-Sun!" Mila Rose rushed to her.
All three were alive.
Harribel's eyes shifted toward Sombravida.
He had not killed them.
He had demonstrated absolute superiority—
—but avoided execution.
"Spatial displacement," Harribel murmured internally. "And suppression of consciousness…"
This was not mere speed.
Not brute force.
It was control.
"Step forward," Sombravida ordered.
Harribel obeyed.
"Do not resist."
He placed two fingers lightly against her chest.
Spatial reiryoku compressed inward.
Harribel felt a subtle disturbance beneath her sternum — not invasive pain, but a foreign presence integrating into her spiritual network.
Her reiryoku fluctuated briefly.
Then stabilized.
Sombravida withdrew his hand.
"A faction seal," he said.
Harribel sensed it.
A compact reiryoku signature, interwoven but not disruptive.
"Channel a small amount of spiritual pressure into it."
She did.
The seal warmed.
A faint sword-shaped sigil surfaced upon her skin, visible through reiryoku manifestation.
"It identifies you as mine," Sombravida stated calmly. "And allows emergency contact."
Harribel's mind moved quickly.
Locator.
Signal.
Possibly restraint.
But not destructive.
She sensed no lethal trigger.
"You can transmit for thirty seconds," Sombravida continued. "If you encounter an opponent beyond your capacity, hold for one minute. I will arrive."
Apache glared weakly from the ground.
"You mark her like property—"
The pressure intensified.
"Enough," Harribel said firmly.
She understood now.
This was not slavery.
It was alignment.
Sombravida's gaze shifted to the other three.
"They are not marked."
Harribel remained silent.
"They are your responsibility," Sombravida said. "Temper them. If they demonstrate discipline, I may reconsider."
Apache bit back her words.
Sun-Sun lowered her gaze.
Mila Rose's fists tightened, but she did not speak.
Harribel exhaled slowly.
"I accept."
Sombravida observed her carefully.
She had not broken.
She had recalibrated.
"Prepare your subordinates," he said. "One day. Then you return with me."
Without warning—
He grasped her shoulder.
Space folded.
They vanished.
The three Adjuchas panicked momentarily—
—but Nel remained calm.
"Lord Sombravida has taken her to our base," she said evenly.
"A base? In the far west? That's impossible—"
Nel's spiritual pressure rose sharply.
Respect returned instantly.
"Show restraint," she said quietly. "Lord Sombravida built our domain from nothing. He has never oppressed me for being female. In our territory, strength protects — it does not prey."
Her reiryoku flared skyward.
"If you betray that trust, we will hunt you."
Apache swallowed.
Sun-Sun inclined her head.
Mila Rose forced composure.
Moments later—
Sombravida returned with Harribel.
His inherent spatial anchors remained limited:
his throne, the Human World mark, and Nel herself.
Thus he reappeared beside Nel.
"You have one day," he said.
"Yes, my lord," Harribel replied steadily.
"Nel. Prepare the spatial matrix."
"Shak, report to Barragan."
Orders were issued.
Sombravida and Nel vanished again.
Shak departed in silence.
Harribel remained.
The desert wind moved softly.
"My lady…" Apache asked quietly. "Why?"
Harribel's eyes softened slightly.
"I expected tyranny."
She looked at the mark faintly glowing beneath her armor.
"I saw restraint instead."
She turned toward the cavern.
"We will go with them."
Apache blinked.
"My lady?"
Harribel's voice was calm now.
"That Sombravida does not seem as terrible as we believed."
"…Eh?"
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