CHAPTER 362: I LOOKED HOT

[Billion’s PoV]

The battle was over.

I raised my hand and opened the portal back to the realm. One by one, our people moved through. The scent of blood clung to us even as we stepped into calm.

When I stepped through, the portal dropped me back inside the central chamber of the realm. The place was quiet.

The large teleportation rings Dante had made still pulsed gently in the center. The others came through behind me, one after another. Some limped, some carried others. Blood stained armor and robes. A few dropped to the floor the moment they stepped in, too tired to stand.

I walked a few steps to the edge of the room and sat down in the corner. I didn’t close my eyes. I just let my body relax. The fatigue was more mentally than physically.

A few seconds later, Arkas approached and stopped. "Open me a portal to the capital. I want to see it myself."

I nodded without a word and raised my hand. A narrow slit of violet shimmered to life beside us. Arkas stepped through immediately. The portal closed behind him.

Some murmurs rose in the silence.

"That hammer... how did he even make that?" Gary muttered.

"I don’t think I blinked for five whole minutes," Steve said.

Even Edgar gave a soft laugh. "He’s gotten strong. Way too fast for a normal pace."

I just sat still, thinking about what came next.

I felt someone approaching. North sat down beside me. Her shoulder brushed mine gently. She didn’t say anything for a moment. Just leaned her head back against the wall like I did.

"You okay?" she asked softly.

I turned to look at her. Her face had a fresh cut across one cheek, dried blood streaked down her jaw, and her ponytail was messier than usual.

"You look worse than me," I said.

She smirked. "I like it that way. Make me more human. You were playing thunder god."

I chuckled under my breath.

She nudged me lightly with her elbow. "That thing you did with the hammer? I think half the city must have heard that."

"They were in the way," I said simply.

She nodded. "Still... it was kind of hot."

I raised an eyebrow. "The hammer?"

"No. You."

I blinked, caught off guard. But she just smiled and turned her face away like she hadn’t said anything at all.

Across the chamber, Edgar squinted. He nudged Steve with his elbow and whispered, "When did that happen?"

Steve blinked, then leaned in. "Wait... what?"

"Don’t play dumb. Look." Edgar tilted his head toward us.

Steve stared, eyes widening slightly. "Oh. Huh. I actually don’t know."

Edgar hummed. "Should’ve placed bets. I wonder if Arkas knows."

"Yeah. He’s gonna flip."

They both fell quiet again, pretending to look casual, but I could still feel their eyes.

North didn’t care. She leaned her head gently on my shoulder. "We deserve ten minutes. Just ten. Then you can go be all scary again."

"Fine," I said.

She smiled again.

After a few minutes, Edgar walked over and crouched near me. He looked at North, smiled once, then turned back to me.

"You do realize what kind of defense we’re about to hit next, right?" he asked.

I gave a slow nod.

"The capital," I said. "The core."

He leaned on one knee. "That place isn’t just walls and numbers. It’s where the real Holt strength lives. And they’ve got three Grandmasters there who have talents."

I stayed quiet, but my thoughts stirred.

I hadn’t met many people with talents, true talents, the kind that bent the world around them. Lyrate had one, in her own way. But they were rare. And now I was being told that the Holt family had three? All waiting in one place? That meant something.

Edgar continued, "First one’s fast. Really fast. Speed-enhancement talent, top tier. His whole fighting style is built on it. Hit-and-run, cut-and-retreat, that kind of stuff."

North, still sitting next to me, narrowed her eyes. "Fast means hard to target. He’ll be a problem unless someone pins him down."

"Second one’s a brute," Edgar said. "Crystallization talent. His body’s nearly indestructible in short bursts. Not much technique, but makes up for it with pure toughness."

"And the third?" I asked.

Edgar frowned. "Illusionist. Dangerous one. Can create full-blown false realities if you get caught inside. The kind that messes with your senses, not just sight. Sound, pain, even time."

North commented.

"So that’s speed, strength, and deception. Great. Everything you don’t want to face all at once."

"They’ll all be there?" I asked.

"Most likely," Edgar said. "They’re not the types to run. Especially not with the head of the Holt family still present."

I looked up at the ceiling of the chamber, as if I could see through it. Capital base. The last wall between us and their fall.

Just then, a thin ripple cut through the space beside us, and a portal cracked open again. Arkas stepped out.

He didn’t speak right away.

I blinked. That portal hadn’t come from me. I was the only one who could open stable exits in and out of the realm or at least, that was supposed to be true.

I looked at Arkas, then at the fading ripple in the air.

’Of course. Dante must have set up a secondary key or a tracking connection through my Essence signature.’

Arkas had probably asked him earlier. It made sense, they couldn’t always rely on me to open things mid-battle. Still, it was strange seeing someone else step through space I thought I controlled. Strange... but useful.

We stood up. North moved beside me. Steve walked over too. Even Edgar straightened up.

"The attack has already started," Arkas said. His voice was calm, but the air around him buzzed with tension.

"The capital?" Edgar asked.

"Yes. Empire teams already engaged. But it’s a stalemate. They’ve cordoned off the city center. Spatial barriers are holding strong. Contractors are there too."

My eyes narrowed. "They survived?"

"They ran fast after the second base fell. They regrouped with the Holt remnants in the capital," Arkas confirmed. "And they’ve fortified everything. Anti-teleport wards. Multi-layer formations. But the fighting has begun."

"Casualties?" Steve asked.

"Even so far. But that won’t last. They’ve got numbers. And Contractors mean trouble."

I looked down at my hands. My Essence still hummed beneath the surface. My body didn’t feel tired anymore—just quiet.

"We go all out from the start," Arkas said. "No holding back. The Empire wants this over in one blow."

I nodded.

"We’ve cleared everything else," I said. "Time to bring it all down."

Arkas looked me dead in the eye. "I want you to hit them like thunder."

"I will," I said.

He turned to the rest of the room. "Everyone rest. We move soon."

Then he walked off again, already preparing.

And I walked away to find a quiet corner of my own. I needed to think, to plan something new.