"Here we are, buddy," Leo said to the bundle of shadows on his back as Eden's border appeared in his sight. "Hopefully, soon, you won't be my problem anymore."

The guards in the distance instantly noticed his approach, and while no one raised their weapons, one of them sprinted toward the warehouse. He was quite glad for that as he couldn't really pass through the barrier with his new prisoner. The whitelist upgrade would never allow that. He needed Holden to deal with this.

"Sir, the chief should be here soon," one of the guards said the moment he stopped at the border. "Do you need anything from us?"

Leo waved them off. This was far from the first time they went through this. "Nah. Go back to whatever you were doing. I will wait for Tony here; I can't exactly come in right now."

The guard who had spoken before frowned but didn't dare to question him. The man just nodded and walked away with his partner.

Thank the Void... Holden will probably understand why I brought an Emissary here, but those people? They still have no idea what is waiting out there. He sighed and sat down, dropping the sack of shadows beside him. Here he comes.

"Leo! You're back early," Holden greeted, stopping right at the edge of the barrier. "I thought you would return after your sister or maybe even come with them." The man frowned. "Something happened?"

Straight to the point, like always. Leo smiled. "You could say that. Where's Frank?"

"Out with his squad to meet up with Lily," Tony answered quickly before his eyes narrowed. "What's going on? Why didn't you come inside?"

"No reason to panic. I just received some new info and had to act on it," he explained. "As for why I'm sitting here? Well, that's the result of my actions. See for yourself."

With that, he manipulated the shadow cocoon and uncovered the Emissary's head. As he did that, a curse left Holden's mouth, and his eyes went wide.

"Is that?"

Leo nodded. "One of the two Blessed Emissaries sent here to spy on us. The other one is dead, but I thought maybe you would like to try to get some more information out of this one. Either way, he is yours. I have enough of those fuckers for today."

"Mine?" Holden furrowed his brow, his eyes still open wide in disbelief. "What the fuck am I supposed to do with a brainwashed drone? Torture him? He probably won't talk anyway."

Leo held back a grimace and shrugged instead. "Do whatever you want. I don't care. I did my part."

"Bloody hell," the chief muttered. "Give me a moment."

Right away, Holden whistled, catching the attention of the two lookouts nearby. He shouted a few orders to prepare an isolated room, sending them back toward the warehouse.

"That should do it," the man sighed, turning back to look at the prisoner. "How long will he be out?"

Leo hummed. "No idea. He lost consciousness after I broke both of his arms. He could awake at any time, for all I know. You should probably have someone with medical experience check up on him. My method of transportation wasn't exactly gentle."

"I will remember that," Holden said dryly. "How did you even find them? You have already scouted the area two nights ago. Did you miss them?"

"Apparently," he admitted. "I captured another one in London and managed to convince the guy to reveal some stuff. No idea how much of what he said is true, but he definitely didn't lie about Payne sending scouts here."

Of course, Tony had to focus on the part Leo didn't want him to. "Convinced?"

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This time, he grimaced. "Yes, convinced, with a fate worse than death if you can believe that. It wasn't pretty at all. Trust me on that, and don't ask me to do it again. I won't until I know what the fuck happened myself."

Holden's frown deepened, but he nodded after a moment. "I see. I won't mention this again for the time being. However, I would really like to know how you made someone brainwashed speak. I highly doubt anything Frank and I come up with will work."

Leo let out a long sigh. "Just give me a day or two, and I will explain everything. I need to run some tests first. Besides, don't sell yourself short. I'm pretty much brute-forcing my way through everything. Maybe you guys can figure out a way to get past the brainwashing in a different way."

"Maybe..." Tony shook his head. "Anyway, let me key this poor sod into the barrier. My boys should have the room ready soon."

----------------------------------------

'There you are,' Nyx said as she sat down next to him.

Leo hummed but didn't say anything. His gaze remained on the faraway setting sun. Even though the entire universe had changed, this was still one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.

'Lily was disappointed you weren't at Eden to welcome them. Then she became angry when Holden told her what you told him. She asked me to find you.'

He shrugged, still not looking at her. "You didn't need to come here. We have our bond."

The feline sighed. 'What's going on, Leo? Are you like this because of what you have done today? Do I really need to repeat myself? You did what was necessary. Even the human you tortu—"

"It's not that," he cut her off. "I might sound like some sociopath, but I barely feel guilty about what I've done anymore. This is war. Small it might be, but we have to do anything to make sure our side wins."

'Then what is it?' Nyx prodded.

"Payne," Leo stated as if it wasn't obvious. "I can't get the words of that Emissary out of my head. He must be planning something if he sent scouts to spy on Eden. And then there is the Supercluster."

'You really think he is doing something there other than killing Voidlings?'

"I have no idea, and that’s the problem" he chuckled bitterly. "But with Geron on his side, everything is possible. Things just don't add up. For a group so focused on eliminating everything from the Void, they sure didn't care much for the Supercluster until now, did they? You would think they would try to contain it, but no... they just let it be."

'You don't really know that, but I see your point. With so many people and a natural advantage over Voidlings, setting up a containment barrier shouldn't be that hard.'

Leo nodded, finally turning to face the feline. "My thoughts exactly. There's something fishy going on there. Payne needs to die soon, or we might have a bigger problem than him on our hands."

'We can start the hunt tomorrow.' Nyx grinned ferally. 'Once I evolve and you deal with the Void Gate, we're free to do whatever we want for the time being.'

"That's the plan. The gate, Payne, and then the Supercluster."

'And after?'

"Not sure," he admitted, leaning back and lying on the ground. "I definitely need to go to Poland and find out what happened to my foster parents. I have to close that chapter of my life once and forever. Then there is Adam..."

'He is still sleeping?'

"Like a baby." He frowned. "I'm scared he won't wake up. My takeover might have broken something in him."

'It will be fine. And if all fails, you can always ask Naz'Tor for help. The Void is vast. It will be a while before we run out of options."

"True that." He smiled wryly and raised an eyebrow at her. "When are you planning to evolve?"

'I could do it now,' Nyx offered, standing up and stretching. 'It will only take an hour.'

"Here?"

The feline tilted her head. 'Why not? I can't go into the safe zone anyway, and I have you to protect me if anything goes wrong.'

"Fair," he said and also jumped to his feet. "Go on then. I'm kinda curious about how the process looks from an outsider's perspective."

Nyx rolled her eyes. 'Of course you are... I'm beginning. See you in an hour. Hopefully, I will be able to talk like a normal person once I get out.'

Leo smiled. "That would be nice."

The feline didn't say anything else as the usual black, tar-like substance started leaking out of her body. Slowly, it encompassed her entire form and continued to grow for a few more seconds before finally settling.

Leo watched transfixed as thousands of tiny veins lit up all along the cocoon. Some were red, others violet, and a few even came in blue. What was their purpose? He had no idea, but he didn't really care.

It was still a sight to behold when the veins lit up and showed Nyx's changing silhouette for a moment. He wondered if this also happened during his evolution and promised to ask the feline afterward.

It's like some kind of a light show. He chuckled, his eyes never leaving the cocoon. Hopefully, your evolution is going smoothly, Nyx. Unlike mine...