Even with the comforting shield around him, Ed felt the pressure weighing down on him. He felt like he was going to sink into the floor and be buried in the deepest depths of Hell. How does he know?

His chest felt stiff and heavy. Even breathing was difficult. He had dropped into the coldest pit of despair known to man, with seemingly no way to get out. Even though Lord Superbia had a big smile on his face and was overwhelmingly friendly to them, Ed couldn’t escape the feeling that it was all just a pretence.

Something was wrong with the futures he had seen. None of them were like this. Lord Superbia had barely even nodded at the two of them in all of the iterations Ed had seen. But now he was having a conversation with them, and had even given him a hug. Even a fool could tell that someone had messed with his ability to see the future. They had tried to lower his guard and catch him by surprise.

His heart grew cold. The feelings he had before he entered the room turned out to be correct. He knew he was about to die, and there was nothing he could do about it. This was an impossibly tall mountain to climb. There was just too big of a difference between the two of them.

But then something in his mind clicked. He should know Buddie, right? Or at least know about the company. He began to calm down upon thinking this. He continued to follow this train of thought, hoping to calm his nerves. He had really been on a roller coaster of emotions today, and didn’t think that he would be able to handle much more.

It’s the company’s job to test sinners and give them a chance at redemption. As bad as the company’s methods are, it at least seems to actually have a say in where the person goes after they die.

The company is also spread across multiple universes, and is clearly very powerful. They are essentially a middleman between the realms of the living and the dead. Even though the company had only just entered this universe, Hell has to have some dealings with them.

There’s no way Lord Superbia doesn’t know. Thinking to this point, Ed actually managed to calm himself down. He was still very wary, as after all he was still face to face with a god. If he did something wrong he would still die. But everything had at least seemed to calm down now.

I really tend to overthink things, don’t I? I almost scared myself to death! His mind had definitely flown too far off the handle this time. He knew he had the tendency to overthink things sometimes, but this entire situation had shown that he was way too paranoid and anxious.

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Ed’s senses swept around, searching for the healers, and when he found them, he was relieved. He had come here through fully legal means and had Buddie to support him. He was going to be fine.

The conversation lasted for a lot longer than Ed had expected. With Lord Superbia basically wanting to learn everything about the two of them. It was relaxed and easy.

They chatted for what felt like hours, as the others watched on in confusion. Not at how Superbia was acting, as they were used to that, but at some of the things he had said. They knew that there was something special about Ed and Zara from the way Superbia was acting, but they couldn’t figure out what it was.

“It was a pleasure to meet you two and I hope we can chat again next time. But I’m sure you’re very busy and want to go ahead with your plans. There’s no need to waste your time with me,” Superbia said.

“I’ll definitely come back to chat! I had a lot of fun today. Your place is amazing!” Zara said.

The two walked to the door and watched as it opened on its own. They were prepared to continue to the teleportation hub to the casino, but were stopped when Lord Superbia called out to them.

“Oh wait! I almost forgot something. Ira wanted me to talk to you about something, do you mind if we have a quick chat in private?” He asked, directing his attention to Ed.

Ed felt the pressure pressing down on him, but thinking back to how Ira treated him, and thinking of the current situation, he saw no reason to decline. “Sure. That would be my honour sir.”

“Great!” Lord Superbia had a wide smile that stretched from ear to ear. His wings glowed a bright gold as he snapped his fingers.

And with that snap, Ed’s senses were rocked. A siren was roaring in his mind as he stared at an inconspicuous corner of the room. The entire world shook, but seemingly no one else was affected except for him. Everyone else was frozen in place as the golden glow grew grander.

All of his senses were honed in on that corner, where he felt the air rippling. And where there were once two people standing there, now there were none. The two healers were erased from existence.

Superbia walked towards Ed and Zara, who were both frozen in place. He seemed to be walking at a casual pace, but even a single step managed to cross that distance until he was face to face with them. His actions seemed to be neither too fast nor too slow, but he had moved with a terrifying speed.

The entire world seemed to stop moving when he did. Ed even felt that the world was struggling to exist in Superbia’s presence. The comforting shield that wrapped around him was gone, and he now felt the full force of Superbia’s might bearing down on him.

No one seemed to be able to see what was going on except for Ed.