Four Seasons Hotel, Presidential Suite.
Sunlight streamed in through the windowsill, casting a glow on Bardi's broad back and shoulders. He stood shirtless—tall and lean
Faint knife scars marked his skin, adding a silent, chilling edge to the flawless lines of his body.
A cold wind blew into the room, rustling the curtains layer by layer, filling the space with a silent, lonely beauty.
Bardi's shadow loomed over Raven, vast and unmoving, like a mountain towering above her small frame.
She pulled her cloak tighter around herself.
Her mind was unfocused.
But she had done everything that needed to be done.
Over the past week, Bardi had brought her all the finest foods the Earth had to offer. It had been the happiest time she had ever known.
Every day, after indulging in expensive and exquisitely crafted meals, she would return to her work—establishing communication with Azarath.
It felt almost like the routine of a nine-to-five office worker: finishing the day's tasks, then sitting down in a restaurant to chat with Bardi over a good meal.
Sometimes, she wished these days could last forever.
That she wouldn't have to face Trigon.
But in the end, the connection was made.
It hadn't been difficult. She had only been away from Azarath for about three weeks. She could still trace the coordinates clearly and return there.
What had taken effort was suppressing the Earth's energy signature, concealing it to delay Trigon's arrival.
Now, with only two hours remaining, there was no longer a need to keep the seal in place.
And as the seal lifted, so did the flood of emotions trapped within it.
The memory of her mother. Her teachers. The destruction of Azarath. The overwhelming waves of regret, despair, and sorrow crashed into her, nearly crushing her beneath their weight.
She was only seventeen.
A seventeen-year-old girl.
Forced to watch as her own father slaughtered an entire planet.
Her mother, her teachers, the people who had cared for her the most ripped apart before her eyes, their blood staining the ground.
A nightmare, burned into her soul.
Like a corridor of hell, forever etched in her heart.
Like a lost lamb, she had wandered to Earth, confused and alone.
If Bardi had not appeared, she would have still been running, still fleeing from her father's relentless pursuit, hiding from planet to planet, forever chased by the shadow of fear.
Her body trembled. She shrank further into her cloak, eyes unfocused, gaze lowered and vacant.
Bardi's shadow completely engulfed her, making her seem even smaller, like a fragile bird shivering in the cold rain of winter.
A long chocolate bar appeared in front of her.
Wrapped in gold foil, its packaging bore a small raven logo—its wings spread, beak open in laughter, eyes squinted in an exaggeratedly goofy expression.
Raven's unfocused gaze slowly shifted, fixing on the chocolate. Bit by bit, her eyes regained clarity.
Bardi watched her silently.
People who had suffered, who had endured unbearable pain, could recognize and understand each other.
Because they knew what it was like to be consumed by despair, like a swarm of ants gnawing at the heart, suffocating, trembling, afraid, spiraling deeper into the darkness.
To step into that darkness was to risk madness, to lose oneself completely.
There was a fine line between hope and despair.
If you could just reach for it, just grasp it, there was still a chance to pull yourself back.
Bardi had learned to see that line. To recognize the moment when someone needed to be pulled back from the edge.
Right now, that moment lay in something as simple as a bar of chocolate.
Raven suddenly burst into tears.
Her body shook as sobs wracked her frame. Tears streamed down her face, hitting the floor with a soft hiss. The plush carpet beneath her corroded on contact, dissolving into a pit as acrid, black smoke curled into the air.
Then, her forehead split open.
A second pair of eyes appeared.
Four eyes, all brimming with tears, overflowing with acidic sorrow that burned holes into the floor, releasing thick, toxic fumes.
"I started a chocolate company for you," Bardi said lightly. "Raven Chocolate Company. When you come back, there'll be as much chocolate as you want."
He still held the chocolate out to her.
He had noticed that Raven seemed to like chocolate. He wasn't sure if it was because it had been the first food she'd tasted on Earth, or because it was bittersweet, like her own life.
Bitterness, representing pain.
But in the end, it always longed for sweetness.
Raven took the chocolate. Tears continued to fall as she stared at the logo—the silly-looking raven, squinting as it laughed at the sky.
She choked on a sob, her voice hoarse and unsteady.
"This… this raven is so ugly…!"
"Really? I like it," Bardi said with a small breath of relief. "It looks funny."
To be able to say such words meant that Raven had recovered.
Three days ago, Bardi had sensed the gradual loosening of her seal. With it came a surge of emotions, and at such a critical moment, he couldn't afford anything to go wrong.
He knew that her last encounter with Trigon had left an indelible scar on her mind.
A seventeen-year-old girl, forced to face her own father as he slaughtered her mother, her teachers, and countless others in Azarath.
The pain and despair of that moment had even been transmitted into his own mind.
To say it had no effect on him would be a lie. All of it had been sealed away by Raven herself, and now, with the seal lifted, it was collapsing all at once.
Of course, this was inevitable.
She had been raised in a world of order and kindness, taught to value compassion.
Had she grown up in a demonic environment, she might not have thought twice about the destruction of entire planets. She could have been just another demon like Trigon.
Bardi was fortunate that she had broken down in front of him, allowing him who had prepared for this to handle it.
He had accounted for everything, including Raven's fragile mental state. It had unfolded exactly as he expected.
Such a delicate girl.
There was no trace of demonic cruelty in her.
And perhaps it was precisely because of this that Bardi was willing to cooperate with her, to place even a small amount of trust in her.
Raven wiped her tears and swallowed the chocolate Bardi had handed her. A bittersweet taste lingered in her mouth.
She choked for a moment before finally calming down. The soft carpet beneath her had already been burned through with holes, thick black smoke rising from the acidic tears.
Her four eyes met Bardi's, and for a moment, the overlapping pairs created a dizzying illusion.
She hesitated, her lips parting as if to say something—
"Let's start," Bardi said suddenly, cutting off whatever she was about to say.
Raven's expression froze. She wiped the remaining tears from her face, her pale complexion hardening into determination.
"Turn around," she said.
Bardi frowned slightly.
Logically, there was no need for him to turn his back for her to inscribe the magic circle.
Her request felt… strange.
For a brief moment, suspicion flickered through his mind.
She simply didn't want him to see her demonic form.
Just like a girl embarrassed about her appearance.
And in truth, that was exactly it, she thought her demonic side was too hideous and didn't want Bardi to witness it.
The moment Bardi turned around, a suffocating sense of death engulfed him.
His body tensed instinctively, goosebumps rising across his skin. A cold shiver crawled up his spine, as if his brain itself were being suffocated.
This was Raven's full magical power—and it was lethal.
Her face contorted, veins bulging beneath her skin. Her teeth, now sharp and needle-like, bared in a monstrous snarl. Her four eyes burned with an eerie glow, her entire presence twisted into something terrifying.
Her cloak surged violently despite the still air, revealing her thin, delicate body beneath.
Dark energy poured from her like a black hole, flooding the room with an overwhelming evil aura. A howling wind rushed through the space, thick with the scent of something unholy.
The atmosphere was thick with rage, sorrow, frustration, turmoil, despair, arrogance, hatred, jealousy, inferiority, emptiness, greed, anxiety, and pain—all the evils of the world, swirling together.
A normal person would have gone insane instantly.
Her body pulsed with dark energy, her power seeping into every corner of the room.
Above her head, a faint translucent raven emerged, gradually growing clearer.
Her entire form was now shrouded in shadows. Her ten fingers, nails blood-red, dripped with dark ichor.
Bardi felt the sharp sting of needles piercing into his back. Every cell in his body screamed to flee.
The overwhelming negative emotions surging through the room clawed at his mind, stirring a violent, bloodthirsty urge within him, an instinct to kill, destroy, and indulge in carnage.
But his will was unshakable. Like an immovable stone, he crushed the rising desires beneath his own iron resolve.
"My blood will enter your body. It will be painful—endure it."
"I will inscribe the magic circle on you with my demon blood."
"You will take on my presence—my essence. Trigon will seek to claim me… to control me."
"I will be inside you, fighting alongside you."
Above Manhattan, beneath the bright winter sun, a massive storm of dark clouds suddenly churned into existence.
Thick and oppressive, the darkness rolled across the sky, unsettling those below. A maddening energy twisted through the air, its mere presence pushing emotions toward the brink of hysteria.
The clouds swirled, slowly forming a vortex.
Something evil was descending.
Something that would corrupt the world itself.
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