“Tien, we need to talk,” Nesangebla’s gravelly voice resounds across the throne room of her palace. A growing uneasiness in the air has prompted him to arrive here. Beneath her humanoid form, he can see her true smoky form pulse quickly.

“We don’t,” she replies.

“Quit acting petulant. What. Did. You. Do?”

“You really want to know, hmm? I did something I shouldn’t.”

Nesangebla sighs and turns away from her. He notices traces of her energy going from the Infinite Continuum and back. Tien is created from its power, so he can’t stop her if she calls it her birthright. However, it’d be trouble if she tried to do something reckless, especially with all that magical energy.

“It pertains to the young demigod anomaly, is that correct?”

Her silence corroborates his hunch.

“I’ll figure it out sooner or later, but if you did ‘something you shouldn’t,’ concerning him, it must’ve been very inconvenient, reckless, or both. You really should’ve known better unless … you did it on purpose.”

The god pauses for dramatic effect.

“But that would be speculation on my part.”

“If we’re supposed to talk, how come it feels unilateral?”

“You left me little choice with your lack of cooperation. Anyone would think you’d help the one with Fiwri’s resemblance, not take such a counterintuitive approach,” Nesangebla replies.

“That child is not her. Just someone who chanced on a fraction of her power. And the will of a justly punished demigod.”

“Well, the child may not be a literal descendant, but … you did a disservice to her memory.”

“You withered, conniving creature.”

Despite her composed tone, angry wisps of smoke threaten to break her current form. Fiwri the phoenix goddess treated her as if she was her daughter when no one else would. Unlike some deities made with an explicit purpose, she was born out of spontaneity.

Although her plan was partly a hollow revenge, however misplaced, there is another motive as well.

She relaxes, keeping that in mind.

“Not that you did much better for her, your daughter.”

Nesangebla glances in her direction before letting out a guttural sound between a sigh and a grunt.

“I don't concern myself with the past. The important thing is to commit to your own standards. But arguing anymore is pointless,” he says with a dismissive wave of a hand, rustling his moss cloak, “I’ll find out your little scheme, convolutions and all.”

Shuffling slowly, he heads to the stone bridge exiting the main mountain. A deliberate move considering he could have used his surprising agility.

After ensuring he's out of her territory, Tien reaches the gate to the Infinite Continuum, and it vanishes, leaving the transition there seamless.

The demon smiles horridly when he notices her arriving. He wears Sylvester’s eyeball in one of his eye sockets.

“The eye?”

The demon reluctantly takes it out and hands it to her.

“And my freedom in return?” he asks.

“Not if you wholeheartedly agree to lend half your power to me. Besides, you’ve caused enough mischief in the middle realm, even considering the limits of the human host you’ve used. It’s a miracle the body’s still enduring you.”

“Is that even possible?”

Now it is her turn to smile.

“Being created from this place has its benefits. Anyway, I won’t follow through with the deal if you don’t agree. I’ve stated so before.”

“Fine. I consent.”

Tien holds up two fingers and arches them down in a slicing motion. The demon’s purple skin tears itself in a nearly perfect half. The plants and centipedes bursting from the tear muffle out his pained cry.

Some of them tightly bundle up into a floating sphere, which Tien takes to her side. The rest crawl back inside his body, now intact again.

“You never warned me about this!” he yells, sweat seeping from him. Light brown, shoulder-length hair replaces the pronged roots on his head. Surprisingly, he now has amber eyes although their vision is poor.

“That’s too bad. My wisp will guide you to the plane bridge to the middle realm. The sooner you get out of my sight, the better,” Tien says as she summons a wisp and a walkway before the demon.

He squints at the wisp, already drifting further from his field of vision. He mutters a few angry words along the way, ignoring the precarious string under his feet holding him up. He almost falls off two or three times but steadies himself soon.

The change from the Infinite Continuum to the middle realm is barely anything. However, the other side has noticeable effects on his body. For one, the air feels heavier than before. Two, light is more pervasive here. And it aches.

He covers his eyes with his hands and doubles over. A sense of irritation mixes in as he quietly withstands it. The time he took over that human, mania ignored the limits on his body, and he couldn’t help thrashing around. With half of his power gone now, he’s forced to realize this host’s vulnerability. Had he known the ramifications, he would’ve been content to stay in the underworld. He might’ve been a no-name, but at least, he could overpower lesser demons.

After some minutes, he uncovers one eye. The pain is at least more bearable this way. Then, the other. When his eyes no longer hurt, he makes his way down the alley.