Now standing in the middle of the summon room, Saint-Germain clasped his hands behind his back. With a deep, resonant voice, he lifted his chin and said,
"Greetings, elders. I come today to discuss a matter concerning the plan. To my knowledge, Sirius and Perciosa were headed here. Their part is of utmost importance and detrimental to our operation. I request that you let me handle them. It is crucial we send them back—they still have a role to play."
The figure seated upon the highest throne stirred, its body a cathedral of light."So the plan proceeds as intended?"
"Indeed," Saint-Germain replied, bowing his head slightly. "We are almost finished with the first phase. It won't be long before the climax."
"Very well," the figure answered. "We leave the matter of Sirius and Perciosa to you. We will expect an update when it is over."
"And you shall receive one," Saint-Germain said, bowing fully this time.
The twelve luminous elders dissolved into beams of cascading radiance, vanishing as though swallowed by the chamber itself. Saint-Germain's footsteps echoed sharply as he strode through the empty hall, each step ringing like a distant bell as he approached the Gates of Sacria.
At the far end of the corridor, the colossal gate blazed with blinding brilliance. Its latticework refracted light into dancing halos across the polished marble floor. As the gates slowly parted, they revealed an endless sky of molten silver stretching into eternity.
Saint-Germain stood at the threshold, golden hair swaying in the celestial breeze. Then—
A ripple tore through the air, followed by a deep tremor that shook the entire pathway. Two monstrous figures emerged from the distortion—Perciosa and Sirius, their towering forms warping the very air around them.
Perciosa scoffed first."This place never changes."
"How could it," Sirius muttered, "when it shouldn't even exist?"
Saint-Germain clapped slowly, an amused smile tugging at his lips."Such harsh words, Sirius. But this is not where you're meant to be. The place you're wanted is far, far away."
He raised a hand lightly."And I'm here to escort you back."
Sirius lifted his palm. The air around him shuddered violently as boulders, slabs of stone, and fragments of radiant architecture wrenched themselves free and floated upward. A moment later, they launched at Saint-Germain like a meteor storm.
The barrage detonated against the gate, swallowing the entire entrance in a massive cloud of dust and light.
Perciosa glanced sideways."You think the pest is dead?"
A thunderous gust blasted outward.
The dust cleared instantly, revealing Saint-Germain—untouched. He brushed a speck of debris from his sleeve.
"Do we truly have to resort to this?" he sighed. "All I want is for you to return to where you came from. Is that too much to ask?"
Perciosa snarled."Who do you think you are—telling us what to do?"
She ascended into the air, wings stretching wide. Her claws lifted, and between them a sphere of condensed white-hot light spun into existence, crackling with impossible energy.
"Handle this!"
She hurled it.
Saint-Germain rose calmly, raising one hand. The sphere struck his palm—yet instead of exploding, it bent, twisted, and collapsed into him, absorbed like water into sand.
Sirius's eyes narrowed."He must be a high-ranking one… they still see us as a threat."
Golden light erupted around Saint-Germain as he shot forward. Two blazing spheres materialized around his hands, their aura bending gravity. He launched both upward, then crashed into the two monsters with blinding speed.
"You have two minutes left, right?" he said softly.His eyes glinted."Show me what you can do."
Sirius grinned savagely."Cocky Sacrosian."
Two massive spectral hands materialized behind him and slammed together, crushing Saint-Germain between their palms. As they tightened, Sirius unleashed a blinding blue plasma beam point-blank into the center.
The shockwave ripped the sky apart.
A colossal cloud of black smoke spiraled upward.
Perciosa cackled."He's vaporized."
But as the smoke thinned…
Saint-Germain floated unharmed, though his clothes were scorched in several places. As the two monsters stared, motes of golden light swarmed across his body, weaving his garments back together thread by thread.
His smile never faltered.
"Is this all you can do?"
Infuriated, Perciosa unleashed a torrential ultrasonic beam that warped the air itself. Sirius followed immediately—purple spheres of distorted mass appeared around Saint-Germain, collapsing space and dragging light into slow motion.
"That's what you call slowing down light," Sirius said smugly. "And Sacria has plenty of it."
Perciosa shot higher, hovering directly above Saint-Germain. A massive green magic circle formed beneath her feet, humming with annihilating power.
"Perish, Sacrosian!"
The sky erupted in emerald flame as the circle discharged, combining with Sirius's attack. The explosion expanded outward, a giant green halo swallowing the entire gate in catastrophic brilliance.
Sirius exhaled."Let's go. We don't have much time. Let's tear this place down."
They lunged toward the gates—
But the ground cracked.
THOOM.
Gigantic swords of golden light fell from the heavens, pinning both monsters to the pathway like insects. Their bodies convulsed as luminous chains slithered around them, constricting tighter and tighter.
Particles of light gathered ahead.
Saint-Germain stepped forth from the radiance.
Perciosa snarled in disbelief."How—how are you still alive? You should have disintegrated! What are you!?"
Saint-Germain laughed softly, brushing his golden hair aside."We Sacrosians abandoned our material bodies long ago. What you see before you… is among the highest forms an organism can reach."
He leaned closer, voice a whisper of divine contempt.
"It is called divinity."
A golden flare engulfed the entire gate.
Perciosa and Sirius screamed as their bodies dissolved into swirling light, leaving behind only the orbitons they had once enveloped. The wind carried away the last of their forms.
Saint-Germain sighed."What a shame. Once rulers of realms… now merely playthings."
Two armored knights approached and bowed deeply.
Saint-Germain gestured toward the orbitons."Send them back. Make sure they return exactly where they came from."
He turned and walked back through the radiant halls of Sacria, the gates closing behind him with a thunderous echo.