Satoshi exhaled.
Then he turned to the others.
"Well?"
Athena looked worried.
Liam's golden eyes were sharp.
Amelia was grinning.
Camila—was unreadable.
But none of them told him to stop.
None of them told him to turn back.
Because they already knew—
Satoshi was not the type to leave a puzzle unsolved.
And so, with reckless amusement, he turned back to the veiled figure.
"Alright, Moon Clan."
His Eyes of Wrath burned.
"What's our next move?"
The veiled figure hesitated.
And then—they answered.
"We find the ones who erased him."
And just like that—
They stepped into a war that no one else could see.
A war that had already erased its first King.
A war that heaven refused to acknowledge.
A war that should not exist.
But now—
Satoshi was in it.
And whatever was watching?
It had finally turned its gaze toward him.
The Path to Greed
The silver moonlight rippled.
The Moon Clan had spoken.
The Sin of Greed—the next piece of this grand, impossible puzzle—was waiting in another world.
A world where gates to the Demon Realm never stopped appearing.
A world where power dictated survival.
A world where those with strength became hunters.
A world that stood at the edge of constant war.
The World of Hunters.
Satoshi exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
"Huh. Sounds fun."
The veiled figure of the Moon Clan tilted its head. "Fun is a dangerous word in that world."
Satoshi just grinned.
"Sounds even better, then."
Camila crossed her arms. "What do we know about this Sin of Greed?"
The Moon Clan was silent for a moment.
Then—
"His name is Lucius."
The air shifted.
Not from power.
But from something else.
As if the very act of speaking his name had made reality itself take notice.
The veiled figure's voice was slow, deliberate.
"He is not like the others."
"Unlike you, unlike Liam, unlike Amelia—he was not chosen by fate."
A pause.
"He took the Eyes of Greed for himself."
Athena's breath caught. "He… stole them?"
The veiled figure nodded.
"Yes."
"And he has not stopped talking since."
The Sin of Greed was unlike the others.
He did not wait for fate.
He did not rely on destiny.
He did not accept the will of the universe.
He took.
And he never stopped.
"Lucius is the strongest hunter in that world," the Moon Clan continued.
"He does not just hunt demons."
"He hunts skills."
"He hunts relics."
"He hunts everything."
And then—the final truth.
"He does not just seek power."
"He seeks dominion."
Liam frowned. "Dominion?"
The veiled figure's silver eyes gleamed.
"He wants to own everything."
The path was set.
The World of Hunters awaited.
The Sin of Greed was within reach.
And yet—Liam and Athena did not move.
Satoshi turned to them, raising an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"
Liam's golden Eyes of Pride burned.
"…Before we go," he said, "I need to meet the rest of my clan."
Athena nodded, gripping Satoshi's sleeve. "I want to see them too."
Satoshi blinked.
And then—he grinned.
"Alright," he said. "Let's go meet the Sun Clan."
The clan of radiant gods.
The embodiment of celestial authority.
The strongest of the Four Great Clans.
The next move had been made.
And now—the Sun Clan would learn that the world had changed.
The Sun Clan.
The strongest of the Four Great Clans of the Higher Realms.
The rulers of divine might.
The beings who had walked beside the gods themselves.
Satoshi, Amelia, Camila, Liam, and Athena stood before their gates.
And for the first time since arriving in this realm—they felt resistance.
Not fear.
No hesitation.
Not weakness.
But an unyielding force.
A presence that did not ask—
Did not negotiate—
Did not recognize—
It simply was.
The Sun Clan's domain was not a city.
It was a throne carved into the world itself.
A kingdom that did not bow to reality—but enforced it.
Where the heavens above did not shine upon them—but obeyed them.
Their gates were vast, forged from pure celestial gold, inscribed with laws of dominion.
These were not barriers.
These were judgments.
And before those gates—stood the guards.
Not warriors.
Not soldiers.
Not gods.
But something worse.
The Sun Wardens.
Living laws of existence itself, forged from the very essence of divine authority.
They did not see Satoshi and the others as enemies.
They did not see them as threats.
They saw them as intruders.
As those who had not been granted permission to stand here.
And so—the judgment was given.
"Leave."
Liam exhaled.
His golden Eyes of Pride pulsed.
The Sun Wardens had spoken.
The gates had been sealed.
The law had been enforced.
But Liam?
Liam was also a Sun.
And a Sun did not ask.
A Sun did not beg.
A Sun did not yield.
"Step aside," Liam commanded.
His voice was not loud.
But it was law.
The air shuddered.
The Sun Wardens did not move.
Satoshi grinned. "Oh? They're ignoring you?"
Liam's golden aura burned brighter.
"I am Liam of the Sun Clan."
A step forward.
"Sin of Pride."
The golden gates trembled.
"And I will not be told where I may or may not walk."
A second step.
And the gates cracked.
The Sun Wardens hesitated.
Because Liam was of the Sun.
Because Liam was their kin.
And yet—
They did not recognize him.
The Sun Clan had long since moved past him.
I had long since considered him irrelevant.
Because he had left.
Because he had disappeared.
Because he had not been here when they called.
And so, to them—
He was a stranger.
And strangers did not enter the Sun Clan's domain.
Not without permission.
Not without force.
Athena trembled.
She had spent her whole life hidden away.
She had spent her whole life being told that she must be protected.
That she could not leave.
That she could not be seen.
And yet—
Here she was.
Standing before the home she had never been allowed to truly belong to.
And they did not recognize her.
Her hands clenched into fists.
And then—
She spoke.
"I am Athena."
Her voice was soft.
But it carried through the air.
And the Sun Wardens froze.
Because that name—
That was a name they knew.
That was a name they had sworn to protect.
But she was not supposed to be here.
She was not supposed to have left.
She was supposed to be hidden away, a treasure kept from the world.
And yet—here she stood.
Unbound.
Unafraid.
And that—
That was something the Sun Clan did not allow.
The golden gates shattered.
Not from a fight.
Not from a battle.
But from the truth.
Liam and Athena stepped forward.
And the gates couldn't ignore them.
A voice—deep and booming—came down from above.
"You weren't invited."
No anger there.
No wrath.
Just a fact.
The Sun Clan didn't summon those they had tossed aside.
To them, Liam and Athena were already forgotten.
But Liam just smirked.
He looked up at the golden throne, hidden somewhere in the huge palace.
"Then think of this as a reminder."
And just like that—
They walked right in.
The Throne That Cracked
The golden halls shook.
The Sun Clan's rules—normally unchangeable and eternal—started to falter.
Not because of an attack.
Not because of a war.
But because a truth was spoken that they couldn't ignore.
A truth they never thought could be possible.
Satoshi had decided the outcome.
And that—changed everything.
The Lords of the Sun had been in charge for ages.
They had watched gods come and go.
They had shaped reality itself.
No one had ever questioned them.
And yet—
As they looked at Satoshi, standing there with his burning Eyes of Wrath, they felt something new and unsettling.
It wasn't fear.
It wasn't doubt.
It was something worse:
Irrelevance.
For the first time, their judgment didn't matter.
And that—that scared them.
"You talk like you've already won."
One of the Lords finally said, his voice echoing through the golden halls.
Satoshi grinned.
"That's because I have."
The golden aura of the Sun Clan flared, pressing down on them.
A force that had crushed empires.
A force that had reduced gods to ashes.
A force that had never been challenged.
But Satoshi?
He just kept walking forward.
And with each step—
The weight of the Sun shattered around him.
The air twisted.
Even the idea of divine authority warped.
Because something far worse than power had entered these halls.
Freedom.
And the Sun Clan had no clue how to handle it.
Athena watched it unfold.
Saw the golden light of her family—
The family that had kept her locked away her whole life—
The family that insisted she should be hidden, preserved, and protected—
Watch as it all failed.
Because Satoshi walked right through it.
Like it was nothing.
Like it had never mattered.
Like it wasn't real.
And then she realized—it had never been real.
Not for Satoshi.
Not for Liam.
Not for any of them.
And if it wasn't real—
She didn't have to follow it.
The golden chains in her mind shattered.
In that moment—she made her choice.
She stepped forward.
Away from the Sun Clan.
Away from the throne.
Away from the cage.
Towards Satoshi.
Towards freedom.
Towards her true path.
And the Sun Lords witnessed it.
And they loathed it.
The golden throne shook.
"You would turn your back on your lineage?"
"You would throw away your place?"
"You would reject the Sun?"
Athena responded quietly.
"You never gave me a place to start with."
The halls erupted.
The laws of the Sun burst forth.
"THEN YOU ARE NO LONGER OF THE SUN."
Those words burned into existence—
A divine decree.
An absolute law.
An exile from eternity itself.
Athena shivered.
And then—
Satoshi laughed.
A golden flame surged towards Athena, a force meant to erase her very name from the Sun Clan.
To strip her of her divine birthright.
To throw her into nothingness.
And then—Satoshi raised his hand.
And he just took it.
Not blocked.
Not countered.
Not destroyed.
He simply took it.
And that golden law—vanished.
The Sun Lords froze.
Because that should have been impossible.
That shouldn't have happened.
But Satoshi tilted his head, inspecting the energy like it was just a toy.
Then he said,
"You think you can just decide that?"
The golden halls cracked.
His Eyes of Wrath lit up brighter.
"You still don't get it, do you?"
He spread his arms.
"You don't get to make the rules anymore."
The Sun Lords readied to strike.
A final judgment.
The last attempt to erase this mistake.
But before they could do anything—
The golden throne behind them gave way.
Not from an attack.
Not from any external force.
It just couldn't hold on anymore.
The moment Satoshi spoke—
The world had already made its choice.
And the Sun Clan was done for.
For the first time in forever—
The Sun had set.
And the Lords could only watch helplessly.
Satoshi turned away, leading Athena and the others toward the exit.
"Well," he grinned. "That was fun."
And with that—
They left.
Not as outcasts.
Not as villains.
But as those who chose their own journey.
And the Sun Clan?
They just watched as they walked away—
Knowing their reign had ended.
And something much worse was on the rise.
---
A Thread Across Worlds
The night before they dove in, the air changed.
Not with tension.
Not with fear.
Not with doubts.
But with fate itself reshaping.
They had crossed dimensions.
They had broken rules.
They had defied deities.
But this time—
They were going to be split up.
Not by foes.
Not by distance.
But by reality itself.
---
Camila's Warning
Camila shut her book.
Her golden Eyes of Time flickered, her voice calm.
"This world is different."
Satoshi leaned back in his chair. "Different how?"
Camila took a breath.
"We won't show up as ourselves."
Liam frowned. "Then who will we be?"
Camila traced her finger through the air, weaving threads of destiny.
"Our souls will switch over."
She paused.
"And they'll inhabit versions of us that are already there."
---
Shadows of Themselves
Athena's fingers tightened. "Versions of us?"
Camila nodded.
"This isn't possession. This isn't reincarnation."
She tapped her book.
"This is a world where everything is run by the Hunt."
"There are already versions of us there—living different lives, following different paths."
She met their gazes.
"Our power is tied to our souls."
And with that—the weight of reality shifted.
"So once we get into those bodies, our power will come back."
---
The Bond That Cannot Be Broken
Athena exhaled.
"Then I'll make a skill."
Her golden aura pulsed.
"A skill to help us find each other. No matter what."
Camila nodded. "Good idea."
Liam crossed his arms. "Will it work?"
Athena's Eyes of Creation flared.
"It has to."
---
A Power That Defies Separation
Athena closed her eyes.
She'd never made an ability before.
But she grew up hearing she had absolute power over creation.
That she could make anything.
Now—
Now, there was no one around to stop her.
Her hands shook as she wove her power into existence.
A concept that had never existed before.
A power that shouldn't even be possible.
And then—
She spoke it into being.
"Oathbound Souls."
---
Oathbound Souls—The Unbreakable Bond
The room shook.
Reality trembled.
Golden light surged from Athena's hands, wrapping around Satoshi, Camila, Liam, and Amelia.
And then—
The power bound them.
Not with chains.
Not with force.
But with an unshakeable connection.
The skill etched itself into their very essence:
No matter where they ended up.
No matter what identities they took.
Even if they forgot everything—
They would still be pulled toward each other.
Even if they didn't remember their names.
Even if they didn't recall their pasts.
Even if the world tried to keep them apart.
Their souls would call out.
And one by one—
They would find their way back to each other.
---
The Final Step
Athena collapsed to her knees.
She was shaking.
Satoshi caught her before she fell.
She looked up at him, tears in her golden eyes.
"It worked," she whispered.
Satoshi smirked. "Of course it did."
Camila's golden eyes scanned the lingering power. "This… should be impossible."
Amelia chuckled. "Well, so are we."
Liam exhaled. "Then let's not waste it."
They stepped forward.
And with that—
They entered the next world.
---
The Boy Who Was Never Meant to Survive
Darkness.
Not just the kind that cloaks the sky.
Not just the kind that creeps into empty spaces.
But the kind that wraps around a soul and never lets go.
Satoshi gasped as his new body stirred awake.
But this wasn't rebirth.
This wasn't about coming back to life. It was all about inheriting pain. As the memories crashed over him—making him feel every scar, every wound, every ounce of suffering—he finally got it. This kid—this other Satoshi—never had a shot at living. And the world just laughed while it broke him down.
The first memory hit him with a pain that felt never-ending. His thirteenth birthday. The day every kid was supposed to discover their superpower.
It was meant to be a big deal—a moment when a kid got to show off their strength and find their spot in the world.
So, he waited. He stood there with his classmates, heart racing, watching as his friends lit up one by one.
Some could control fire, others could bend steel with their bare hands, and a few could even heal injuries with just a thought. Then it was finally his turn.
He closed his eyes, held his breath, and waited. But nothing happened. A second went by. Then two. Then five. Then ten. Still—nothing. Laughter shattered the quiet. Someone whispered, "He's broken." Another voice chimed in, "No, he's worse. He's worthless." In that moment, his fate was set. Because in the World of Hunters, if you didn't have power, you were treated like you didn't even matter.
The first time they hit him, he tried to fight back. The second time, he bolted. The third time, he pleaded. By the hundredth time, he discovered that not reacting at all was the best way to cope. The more he showed any response, the worse the pain became. It wasn't just about the beatings. It was all the humiliation.
They filmed him and posted the videos online with captions like: "The Weakest Being Alive," "Watch the Trash Try to Fight Back," and "A World Without Power Needs Entertainment." They laughed, and everyone else did too. His teachers turned a blind eye.
His classmates ignored it. And the principal? Completely silent. Why would they care? He wasn't a person to them; he was just a source of entertainment—and entertainment wasn't meant to fight back.
Then he met Olivia. She was just like him. Without power. Which meant no one wanted to hang out with her either. But to him, she was the first real friend he'd ever had. She didn't laugh at his pain, didn't just stand back and watch, and definitely didn't act like he didn't exist. Suddenly, he found something worth living for.