CHAPTER 26: GRIEF IS MY ULTIMATE CREATION

"Come... Grief."

Just as Yennefer’s ethereal chains shot toward him like coiled serpents ready to pierce his heart, the world shuddered.

A pulse of raw darkness burst outward from Stephan’s body, crimson and black shadows erupting in slow motion to him, but to the rest of the world, it happened in a blink.

The ground cracked beneath him as the air around him warped and shivered like glass under pressure. Tendrils of deathly energy spiraled upward, weaving violently through the air as if something ancient and angry had been uncaged.

Then a shape emerged. First the silhouette. Humanoid, tall and feminine. Towering like a grim goddess carved from nightmares.

Then came the hair.....long, white, glowing faintly like ghost fire in the dark. Eyes next, cold, blue, and spectral, glowing with a chilling authority that didn’t belong to the living.

And then the weapon, a sleek, curved sword, its edge bleeding spectral wisps with every breath it took.

The shadows peeled away, revealing her fully....Grief, The Warden of the Outer layer , standing before Stephan like a sentinel of ruin.

With one swift, effortless motion, like wind whispering through silk, she raised her sword and slashed through the incoming chains.

Clang!

The chains snapped mid-air, redirected or shattered completely, some slamming harmlessly into the surrounding buildings with bone-rattling force, others recoiling like snakes.

Yennefer staggered back, eyes wide.

"What the f.....?" she gasped.

From the ground, Anna Mary stared in stunned silence, her battered body trembling. "Who the hell is that...?" she whispered.

Grief said nothing.

She simply stood there composed and ethereal. The embodiment of vengeance given form.

And behind her, stood Stephan... still bound but smirking. As if this was all part of the plan.

"Did I make it in time, Lord Stephan?" Grief asked, her voice calm, never looking back at him, her glowing blue eyes still locked on Yennefer like a predator who hadn’t finished her kill.

"Yes, Grief," Stephan said, eyeing her up and down with a wry grin. "You were perfect."

Then he blinked.

"You’re still naked, I see."

Grief finally looked down at herself, then back at him. She was wearing his oversized t-shirt and nothing else. The hem fell just above her knees, swaying slightly from her entrance. It made her look like some sleepy ghost who wandered out of bed and into a warzone.

"Ugh," she groaned, her cheeks slightly puffing. "I was waiting for my kimono, Your Grace. Did you get me one or not?"

Stephan scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"I told you, no kimono. But I did get you actual clothes. They’re right there." He pointed to a shopping bag that had been flung aside during the earlier chaos.

He glanced toward Yennefer and Anna Mary, both of whom were gawking, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

Yennefer, the girl who had been raining hell just seconds ago, stood frozen.

Anna Mary looked just as stunned, her thoughts a chaotic whirl of pain, disbelief... and now gossip.

Stephan’s face flushed slightly as realization sank in.

"Do they think I’m weird...?" he wondered.

Still, he cleared his throat. "Anyway... cut me loose from these binds, Grief."

Grief gave a soft sigh and bowed slightly, one hand on her spectral sword. "As you command."

She inhaled, eyes closing just a moment.

Then she vanished.

A flash of blue and black zipped through the bindings, slicing through them with blinding precision.

Shick-shick-shick.

The chains snapped like thread.

Stephan stretched his wrists with a satisfied grin. "Thanks, Grief."

Truth be told, he could’ve broken the bindings himself if he really wanted to. But he didn’t feel like it. He had told Grief to do it.

Because, well... he was lazy.

Anna Mary watched from the ground, blinking slowly. "Wait... is that her?" she thought, eyes shifting between Grief and Stephan."The girl he was shopping for? His girlfriend?...Is she a player too?"

Meanwhile, Yennefer was still struggling to process the reversal, that the F-rank brat she’d been toying with now had a literal death spirit in a t-shirt standing at his side.

Unlike Anna Mary, who merely assumed Grief was just another fighter, maybe an odd one, Yennefer could sense the truth.

Her instincts screamed it. That thing standing beside Stephan... wasn’t human.

Not anymore.The soul energy rolling off her was cold, wrong, and deadly. It didn’t just brush the senses, it devoured them. It wasn’t magic. It wasn’t skill. It was something older. It was death.

"What’s that thing, Stephan?" Yennefer asked, her voice tight.

Stephan smirked. "You mean Grief?" He gestured toward the spectral figure beside him, who stood motionless, her glowing blue eyes like quiet twin moons.

"She’s my servant."

Yennefer’s eyes narrowed. "Don’t fuck with me."

"I’m not," Stephan said casually as he stepped forward, now shoulder-to-shoulder with Grief. "Didn’t you hear her? She called me Lord Stephan."

Yennefer didn’t answer immediately. Her fingers twitched at her sides. Her thoughts raced.

"Whatever that thing is... it’s not human."

Stephan glanced at Grief, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "You’re right, Yennefer."

His voice dropped a note lower. "She was human. Like the rest of us." He looked at Yennefer again, eyes steady.

"Then she died. You see... Grief is a...."

"Soul Eater..." Yennefer whispered before he could finish, her voice dry with disbelief.

Anna Mary, still struggling to rise, turned sharply toward them. "Soul Eater? What are they saying? That’s... that’s not even possible!"

"How’s that even possible?" Yennefer asked, her voice trembling now. Her cocky veneer was cracking, her breath shallow. "We’re supposed to collect them... purify them. Not control them."

Stephan’s response was a casual raise of both hands, his grin unfading. "You’re supposed to do that, Yennefer..."

He stepped forward, shadows curling faintly at his heels."...Not me. I guess I’m built different."

Yennefer’s eyes darted to Grief, silent, calm, spectral. "But that Soul Eater?" she hissed, stumbling over her words. "It’s taken on human form! All the ones I’ve ever encountered were just... beasts. Mindless monsters, driven by hunger and rage."

Stephan nodded slowly. "You’re not wrong. That’s exactly what they are, what they used to be." He turned to Grief, pride flickering in his voice. "But Grief? Grief is every inch different from the ones you’ve known."

He glanced back at Yennefer, watching her face drain of color. "Grief is an upgrade."

A beat of silence passed. Yennefer’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Stephan stepped beside Grief, his hand resting once more on her shoulder. His voice dropped to something cold and final. "She’s an upgrade forged in my will."

Yennefer stumbled back, her body reacting before her mind could. "No way..." she whispered, disbelief clinging to every syllable. "No way that’s even..."

"Yes, Yennefer," Stephan said, his voice calm, undeniable, almost solemn. "Grief is my ultimate creation."

Anna Mary could barely think straight.

He can create Soul Eaters? Human ones?

Her eyes drifted to Grief,stoic, spectral and otherworldly. The same creature that had shattered Yennefer’s chains like twigs. A monster... answering to him. And he’s just an F-rank...

The pieces didn’t fit. Was this still Stephan? The same guy who awkwardly asked if she wanted extra sauce during lunch break?

Then Stephan stepped forward, his shadow stretching unnaturally long behind him.

"Grief is just a fraction of what I can really do," he said coldly, every word striking like a drumbeat of finality. "She’s a mere testament of greater things to come... part of a broader plan."

His voice deepened with weight, no longer casual, no longer friendly.

"And that plan starts with you dying here, Yennefer."

Yennefer’s body tensed. Her soul energy spiked in panic. She couldn’t move. She wanted to, but the fear was too much.

This wasn’t the Stephan she’d known.

Not the laid-back, second-rate Soul-Fighter who sat across from her during office breaks.

No...

This Stephan was someone else entirely.

Darker.

Sharper.

Menacing in a way that made her magic tremble.

And as the silence thickened around them like fog, Yennefer realized something terrifying:

She wasn’t the predator anymore. She was the prey. Crimson and black energy spiraled into the air, crackling with unnatural force as it coiled around Stephan’s body like a living storm. The ground beneath his feet darkened, shadows stretching as if the world itself was reacting to his fury.

His eyes, once soft, uncertain, now gleamed with a primal edge. Like a beast finally unchained.

"I’m going to win this tournament," he growled, his voice vibrating with raw power.

"I’m going to become the Death God King."

Grief moved a step forward, her long white hair rippling behind her like a pale flame. Her blue spectral eyes locked onto her master.

"Does his lordship require my services?" she asked in a voice soft but seething with promise.

Stephan’s gaze flicked to her, and a slow, wicked grin spread across his face. He raised a single finger, pointing at Yennefer, who now stood frozen, drenched in sweat.

"This girl stands in the way of my crown," he said. "Would you tolerate those who stand in your master’s path?"

Grief didn’t hesitate. Her spectral aura flared. "No, my Lord."

"Then she is your enemy... and mine."

"So, Grief... how will you serve me?"

A silence fell. Then Grief whispered:

"By cutting her down."

"Good," Stephan murmured, darkness flooding his grin. "Cut. Her. Down."

Grief bowed, her body blurring as she drew her spectral sword. Then....

The air imploded where she’d been standing. Grief vanished from view in a streak of black light and blue flame. The ground split behind her. Dust exploded outward.