Time had passed since Cardomos’ death, enough for the edges between the Death Realm, where they were now, and the Material Realm to begin growing signs of conflict.


    Without its Realm Ruler, the Death Realm contained inside the pocket dimension would try to merge back with the one outside, leaking through the gaps that would appear. Like black sludge, the ghosts, lost souls and other inhabitants of the realm would merge with the ground into dark puddles, before seeping away.


    That wasn’t what was happening.


    No, what was happening was that, between the gaps and the sludge, a path made of internal organs; guts, stomachs and the like, ran through the conflicting edges between Realms, devouring the weak souls that couldn’t escape the pull.


    And boy was Dianthus drilling his gaze on her back because of that. Really, it wasn’t totally her fault! She didn’t (exactly) control Frenese’s actions.


    Also, the Gluttony Devil doing that did prevent a future problem, so it wasn’t completely bad! Just… moderately so.


    It wasn’t as bad as the pocket dimension starting to break down with them inside, after all. Even if Dianthus did disagree. Which he did. All the way from the start.


    “Not everyone can afford the choice to brute force every single issue that crosses their path.” Velvet said, jumping around the meshes of black sludge, organs and other things, followed by Dianthus.


    “Yes, but I’m here, and I can.”


    She didn’t turn around to look at him, at a certain hole in his face, but clicked her tongue. “Every time you try to fix something you break two more. Just ignore Frenese for a while. Focus on the issue at hand. Or at face.”


    “Ha-ha.”


    Black droplets floated in the air, and she touched one, spreading it over her thumb and index, the sludge spreading across her glove like ink.


    The majority of the ghosts here are extremely weak, and they can’t resist the pull from the Death Realm outside, nor escape Frenese’s Hell.


    They were walking towards the center of the pocket dimension’s formation, following the strings of sigils, symbols and smaller formations that had become visible when used by both Frenese and the diverging Realms, simplifying the path to follow.


    After a while of silence, Dianthus spoke again. “There’s no way this ends well for anyone, including you. Even Igern keeps his shenanigans behind locked doors. What if the other side of the pocket dimension had been inhabited by humans?”


    “That would’ve been difficult, since someone broke it down to ashes and dust.”


    “After checking that no one else was there. Can that Devil, who already did eat a pocket dimension full of mages, mind you, do the same?”


    Ahh… She sighed internally. Dianthus didn’t want to let the issue go, didn’t he?


    At least now, with Frenese on the loose and his Hell all over the place, she had a way to push back against his whims, and neutralize him if Dianthus got too annoying. After all, she wasn’t able to defeat him in combat, but the Gluttony Devil, on the other hand…


    A Gluttony Devil who was no longer starved for hundreds of years.


    “Knowledge mages die alone for this same reason. Usually from a stab in the back.”


    Why did he use such a weird voice? “Are you picking up ventriloquism behind me?”


    “I wasn’t the one talking.” She heard Dianthus say, now with his normal voice, which made her stop and turn around.


    From the side of the face with the gaping hole, two rows of white, clean, sharp teeth had grown, forming a mouth.


    “Oh, interesting…” Hyde said, crawling onto her shoulder.


    “Didn''t you just say that it wouldn’t go further? … Do you think it has a throat?” She pulled out a small, metallic rod, intending to poke Dianthus’ face with it, but he slapped it away, squinting at her.


    “It hasn’t. I don’t feel any difference from before.” As to prove a point, he reached at his face, fingers clawing at the teeth, digging into his flesh, burning them away with light magic.


    So it’s something it could’ve done from the start, but waited to do so. The teeth had been the same as the ones in her dream, so, if there was any doubt about the perpetrator previously, now it was gone.


    Dianthus finished removing the mouth from his face, pulling away his blood soaked fingers and staring at them, the bright red clashing against the pure white.


    Then he flicked some of that blood at Velvet’s face.


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    Boom!


    A paper figurine exploded behind his neck, the impact controlled, yet focused on breaking his cervical spine. Dianthus fell down on his knees, remaining still for several seconds before rubbing his neck, the broken bones quickly rearranging themselves.


    “Oh.” Velvet said, without a hint of apology in her voice, cleaning the blood droplets on her face with her sleeve. “Thought you were attacking me.”


    Too bad I wasted that one. Until she got cleaned from the accumulated Miasma, she didn’t possess that much spare magic to create more paper figurines, and even less to teleport and explode them.


    And she wanted to save what little she had in case Dianthus or the Deriliam tried something other than pranks.


    Speaking of the prankster, he recovered insanely fast, getting up in less than ten seconds, wasting two of those to clean and fix his clothes.


    In the end, it really is more resourceful to throw ink at his clothes if I want to stall him. Pressing her lips in a thin line, Velvet turned around and continued walking.


    “Don’t get mad… I thought you would summon Frenese.”


    …


    Dianthus looked at Velvet’s back, holding back a sigh.


    He had lost the Devil’s signal a while ago, before the Deriliam appeared, not finding him anywhere. And, since his way to detect him was by reading the Devil’s mind, he couldn’t exactly tell Velvet that he wanted to find her dog.


    Since he wanted to find it to have a nice, polite conversation.


    “It’s truly laughable.” A not new, but neither known or wanted voice said in his mind. “You expect your words to make her do your bidding, but she’s just thinking about how to get rid of you if you act out of line with the least amount of resources.”


    “I know that, shut up. I’m simply used to Igern blowing up with the bare minimum effort. Not my fault she’s stingy.”


    “Right, you do, don’t you? Since you’re a mind reader. Something unusual for your kind.”


    Raising his hand again, Dianthus planned on simply tearing half his head off, not stopping until the Deriliam got the memo to leave.


    His mind reading’s abilities were his most deeply hidden secret, the kind that could ruin his whole life and relationships if it were to get out. That’s where he drew the line. If he had to rip half his face off over and over and over, until they reached the pocket dimension’s formation, he would do so.


    “Calm down, it was merely an observation. I have no interest in inviting an undying to the Hunt.”


    “You know, at least Lothrigern didn’t bother talking with me when messing with my brain. You things are insufferable, and I’m the one saying that.”


    “I’m simply commenting on how curious your behavior is, as the closest being to an undying there is.”


    Did the Deriliam compare them? It wasn’t that strange, since his companion, the Corruption of Fate, as Velvet now referred to it, had mentioned that Chosen One’s skills were above the ones offered by gods, since gods could be killed.


    Verdict that had no effect on his ego. None at all.


    Since he didn’t answer, the Deriliam kept on talking. “Did you choose to follow the saying of keeping friends close, and enemies closer?”


    He was almost understanding Igern right now.


    “Or is it a more noble belief? To try to fix them before it’s too late?”


    Almost. “Well, what if I told you I’m into that? What then?”


    “...”


    Oh, so that did shut up the Deriliam.


    “If I wanted to chase down the idiots who mellow down once you slap them once, I would do that. But I don’t want those, they are boring and the moment you take your eyes off them, they just fucking die. I want the ones that can claw, burn and break down anything they need to reach something they want. I want them to fight and kill me as many times as it takes and get away with it.”


    “Now, I won’t let them kill innocents, don’t misunderstand me. The one I’m letting them play with is my life.”


    “I don’t know what your whole deal is, but someone called you a dumb, one-eyed mutt, and I agree, so, like any good dog, keep hunting down rabbits, since that’s all what you’re good for.”


    At the next instant, the pocket dimension got covered in shadows, rumbling as if an earthquake was hitting it. Meters in front of him, Velvet wobbled slightly, before holding herself up against a tree for the seconds it lasted.


    No more than three before it stopped, the faint, greyish hue of the Death Realm coming back.


    “Oh, my apologies, I got too excited at the word hunt.” The rows of teeth had grown instantly on Dianthus face, no longer speaking to him, but to Velvet, the tone more apologetic than the one she had used after breaking his neck not long ago, followed by a short laugh, a laugh he would call nervous, if it didn’t come from a Deriliam. “Yes, I want to hunt you now. Velvet, you’re tired, but it’s fine, I have hopes on your brain.”


    “Here, I found the perfect enemy for you two.”


    Once the Deriliam finished the sentence, the mouth and hollow eye disappeared, Dianthus’ face going back to normal, the sensation of having blood syphoned gone too, replaced by a really bad omen.


    “What did you do?” Something caught on and shared by Velvet, who directed an accusatory glare at him.


    “I… I bragged about you and Igern to him, as my personal, potential rivals?” She raised an eyebrow at him, tilting her head to the side. “And called him a good for nothing dog, only useful for hunting rabbits.”


    “Making us the potential rabbits in the scenario.” Velvet rubbed her temples, raising a finger when Dianthus opened his mouth. “If your next words are about how we can’t lose with you here, don’t.”


    “But-”


    “Don’t.”