"Now that is a genuine hazard," Thresh muttered, his eyes narrowing.

"The Abyssal Springhead... heh... it's just a shell. A decoy created by sacrificing an entire Divine Kingdom."

The Commander's voice began to resonate with authority. In the metaphysical realm his gaze occupied, he had found something hiding in the dark.

"Deep in the core of this thing, there's a complete Divine Spark."

Thresh smirked, a dangerous glint in his eye. "If that Spark merged with the Abyss's origin source... well, that would have been entertaining. Did he think he could hijack the entire Abyssal plane? That is some serious ambition."

The Commander sounded almost amused, his tone shifting from regal to mocking. He was looking at a scheme so audacious he couldn't help but respect the hustle.

Thresh was right. Alveron, the Virtue Knight, hadn't reached the Fifth Stage by being stupid. He had gamed out every scenario, including his own defeat. If his primary plan failed and the Springhead was consumed by the Abyss, his hidden Divine Spark would activate. It would attempt to override the Abyssal Origin, effectively hacking the server.

If it worked, Alveron wouldn't just survive; he would respawn as a God parasite within the Abyss itself.

It was a long shot, a hail mary. Alveron didn't know if it would work, but he had prepared the fail-safe anyway.

Inside the Abyssal Springhead. The Core.

Here, in the center of the void, stood a statue of black gold.

It was covered in dense, thorny spikes, with long, curved demon horns spiraling from its head. A massive serpentine dragon, Drakthul, coiled around its arm, winding down to its feet.

Suddenly, the statue's eyes snapped open.

Divine Wrath exploded outward.

For a solitary Divine Spark, this entity was God. And something had just dared to shine a light on it.

A beam of brilliance had pierced the impenetrable seal, illuminating the dark void.

"What are you?"

The voice was Alveron's. But it was stripped of humanity, echoing with the cold logic of a construct. Sealed in here, the Divine Spark was blind to the outside world. If the seal was broken, it assumed the Abyssal takeover had begun.

But looking out, it didn't see the Abyss.

It saw Light. It saw Blade Flashes.

The light coalesced, forming the silhouette of Commander Thresh.

"Well, well," Thresh's voice boomed through the pocket dimension, grand and imperious. "If it isn't the Lord of the Sixth Layer. The Calamity Demon, Alveron."

It sounded like a judgment from the heavens.

"Who are you?" The Divine Spark vibrated with hostility. "How do you know my name?"

Alveron realized immediately that his script had been flipped. This wasn't the Abyss. This was an ambush.

"Me?" Thresh chuckled, the divine aura dropping instantly. He sounded like an old war buddy reminiscing at a bar. "You've met me. But I doubt you remember."

"Eons ago. You conscripted me to fight the Ominous Sin-Spirits. I held the line against the Grey World for you."

Thresh sighed, the memory washing over him. "Time flies. The new generation really is terrifying, isn't it?"

Alveron didn't recognize him. In his time as the Ruler of the Sixth Layer, he had drafted countless Demigods as cannon fodder. Thresh was just another face in the crowd back then.

"I don't care who you are," Alveron roared. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Thresh laughed, clapping his hands slowly. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to wipe you out. For a friend."

He looked around the space, genuinely impressed. "A Fifth Stage Divine Spark. It's damaged, sure, but still... even I didn't have toys like this back at your level."

"Orion really has a bright future."

Thresh was talking to himself now. Alveron had heard enough.

The statue moved. The Divine Spark unleashed a tsunami of Divine Power, crashing toward Thresh. Inside this space, Alveron was the admin. The entire dimension bent to his will, rejecting the intruder.

Space compressed. Reality fractured. The world collapsed inward to crush the man standing in the light.

"Nice form," Thresh commented dryly. "Worth drawing my blade for."

His human form dissolved.

He became the Light. He became the Blade.

A single, high-pitched hum resonated—like the chirping of a cicada in summer—and then, the light consumed everything.

***

Thunderhold. The Laboratory.

Fifteen minutes had passed since the light shot from the Commander's eyes.

Orion waited in silence, sweat beading on his forehead. Finally, the light retracted, streaming back into the Abyssal Springhead and then vanishing into Thresh's eyes.

"Good work," Thresh said, breaking the silence. He tossed the sphere back to Orion. "I'm actually looking forward to seeing that kid of yours now."

Orion caught the object, stunned. Before he could process what had happened, Thresh was already turning to leave.

"Commander!" Edward called out, stepping forward.

Thresh paused. "It was a Fifth Stage Divine Spark. I scrubbed its will. It's clean."

"You can use the Springhead safely now."

It was a casual statement, like he had just formatted a hard drive. With that, Thresh vanished, leaving the two men staring at each other in the empty plaza.

"Next step," the Deputy Commander said after a long, heavy silence.

Orion nodded, but internally, he was reeling.

Thank the gods I was paranoid, he thought, his heart hammering against his ribs.

If he had been impatient—if he had fed the Springhead to the Miracle Divine Tree without checking—Violet and Caelus would have been erased. Their souls wouldn't have stood a chance against a Fifth Stage Divine Spark.

The tree would have birthed a monster. Not his wife and child, but Alveron reborn—a fully restored, Fifth Stage Demigod, right in the heart of their base.

Even the Commander might not have been able to spawn-kill him fast enough.

Orion gripped the cold sphere in his hand. He had dodged a bullet the size of a planet.

The mere possibility of failure made Orion sick to his stomach.

It wasn't just a feeling; it was physical.

***

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