The knives in the air froze mid-spin. The fires flickered, the screaming faces in the flames holding their breath, as if even the abyss itself wanted to hear what came next.

Leonard wiped his blade clean against his sleeve, shaking crimson droplets onto the cracked floor. The last monster was already prepped and plated, and for the first time since entering this cursed kitchen, he felt… nothing. No thrill. No relief. Just emptiness.

And that’s when she spoke—soft, almost absent-minded, like a woman talking to herself after too much wine.

“This place,” she murmured, her fingers tracing the edges of the counter, “This is the shallow end. The baby pool.”

Leonard’s knife stilled. “What?”

Her smile was thin, almost bitter. “This kitchen, this realm, this slice of the abyss you’ve been bleeding through? It’s the weakest part. The outermost layer. A dumping ground where failures like me get sealed away.”

Leonard turned fully, brow furrowed. “Failures like you?”

She shrugged, but there was no humor in it this time. Her form flickered, shadows peeling back just enough for Leonard to glimpse something beneath the surface—scars carved too deep even for a goddess to hide.

“My family,” she said, voice dry as dead leaves, “the real ones—the Elders—they saw me as defective. Too soft. Too hesitant. Too… curious about things that shouldn’t matter.”

Leonard’s lip curled. “So they locked you in here?”

“Sealed me like rotting meat in a forgotten pantry.” Her smile sharpened again. “That’s why I played with you. You were the first fresh ingredient I’ve had in… well, time’s meaningless here, but let’s just say it’s been a long, lonely banquet.”

Leonard leaned against the bloodstained counter. “So why didn’t you fight back?”

Her eyes narrowed, shadows coiling tighter around her like a dress made of smoke and thorns. “Because unlike you, I gave up. I let them write my story for me. I told myself power didn’t matter if I could still amuse myself with scraps.”

Leonard said nothing.

Because he understood that more than he wanted to admit.

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She floated closer, her smile venomous. “And then you—**a sack of meat, a mortal nothing with more scars than sense—**you walk in and spit in the face of every rule this place obeys.”

Her fingers jabbed into his chest, right where the book was fused into his skin. “You dared to rewrite the page. You dared to cook in my kitchen like you owned the fire.”

Leonard’s grin was faint, tired, but genuine. “And you hate that, don’t you?”

Her smile cracked wider, exposing teeth too sharp for comfort. “Oh, my beautiful butcher… I don’t just hate it.”

She leaned so close her forehead almost touched his. “I envy it.”

Leonard pushed her back with the flat of his blade, but not hard enough to hurt. “So what now? You gonna kill me out of spite?”

Her laughter was soft, bitter, self-loathing wrapped in silk. “Kill you? No. I’m going to surpass you.”

Leonard arched a brow. “You’ve had eons to surpass yourself and did nothing. What changed?”

She pointed at him.

“You.”

She paced the kitchen, shadows rolling behind her like a storm cloud leashed to her heels. “I can’t stand the thought of some mortal insect having more willpower than a goddess of the abyss.” Her fingers dug into her own arm, shadow bleeding between her nails. “That spark you refuse to let go of? I want it. I want it so badly I can taste it.”

Leonard shook his head, laughing darkly. “This is the dumbest rivalry I’ve ever been dragged into.”

“Oh no, my dear butcher.” Her smile gleamed in the dim light. “This isn’t a rivalry.”

Her shadows twined around his ankles, her voice lowering to a whisper. “This is a duel. One that doesn’t end until one of us devours the other.”

Leonard’s grip on his knife tightened—but deep down, he wasn’t angry.

He was excited.

Because for the first time, he wasn’t just fighting to survive.

He was fighting someone who was finally worth it.

She flicked a finger toward the nearest wall, and it peeled away, revealing another door. Not deeper into the abyss, but upward, toward the next layer—the ones her family ruled.

“You and I,” she whispered, “We’re going to climb this cursed place together. And when we reach the top?”

Leonard gave her a lopsided grin. “We cook the gods.”

For the first time, her smile was genuine.

“Let’s see if you’re ready to survive my family’s table.”

They walked through the door.

And the next course began.