Arsere stared at the dark orb floating above Nightvail's barren ground — appearing, vanishing, reappearing, and then disappearing again like a glitch in reality.
She rubbed her forehead.
"What… is hell actually happening here?"
The orb blinked out again.
Reappeared.
Vanished.
Arsere's eyelid twitched.
This wasn't normal. Not even for Nightvail.
Xian and Virex, who stood behind her, exchanged glances after hearing her mutter a curse under her breath.
'Where did your proud‑goddess attitude go?' they both thought silently.
Arsere ignored them and focused. She forced herself to calm down and let her mind analyze every detail, every law, every trace of energy around the orb.
Minutes turned into hours.
Finally, her eyes widened.
"I got it."
Virex leaned forward. "Yo— you figured it out?"
Xian folded his arms. "Took you long enough."
Arsere didn't even react to their comments. She pointed at the orb.
"This thing works like a reverse‑black‑hole. One side connects to random void pockets in other worlds. Instead of crushing everything, it drags something in… then spits it out here."
Virex blinked. "How do you know that?"
"Yeah," Xian added. "You became a god like… a day ago."
Arsere crossed her arms.
"Because I'm developing life on another plate in this world. The moment balance and chaos interacted with what I created, they noticed this unstable orb and… stabilized it. They're working together to keep it from exploding and ruining my world."
Xian and Virex froze.
Realization hit them at the same time.
"W‑wait— YOU created this world!?"
Arsere tilted her head. "Obviously."
They dropped to their knees so fast the Nightvail dust puffed up around them.
"Can we live here? PLEASE?" they said in sync.
Arsere blinked.
"…Why would I let you two disasters stay in my world?"
Virex pointed at himself desperately.
"We can teach you how to… um… do god stuff!"
Xian scoffed. "We became gods 48 hours ago, Virex. Don't embarrass yourself."
"Shut up."
Xian gulped. "Okay—look. If we stay with you, we at least won't die alone in the void."
Arsere stared at the two of them.
She wanted to say "no"…
but loneliness echoed inside her chest.
Even a god could feel it.
"Fine. You can stay."
The boys let out breaths of relief.
Arsere didn't admit it, but deep down, she felt lighter. Humans — even ascended ones — were social creatures. Becoming a god didn't erase that.
Without another word, Arsere grabbed the two by their collars and teleported them straight to her divine domain.
---
Back in Arsere's Domain
The system clock read:
[1 Day 18:00:00]
She glanced at Eternal Sea Plate.
The algae had evolved — now jellyfish‑like beings drifted through the waters.
Life was slowly growing.
Virex and Xian wandered into the guest rooms, claiming them without hesitation.
Arsere blinked.
"…Wait."
When she first arrived, the domain already had three rooms.
As if it expected three gods.
She shivered slightly.
"That's… suspicious."
Her gaze drifted back toward Nightvail in her world‑view.
The stabilized orb still floated there.
And the question in her heart whispered louder:
"Was it really just the laws that stabilized that orb?
Can balance and chaos alone challenge one of the primordial forces… the Void itself?"
A chill ran down her spine.
Whatever was happening…
Crevalis had only taken its first steps.
And something — or someone — had already noticed.
---