“What?” Asura asked in a confused voice inside his head. “You sense that your wives are in danger?”

“Yes!” Lakshman said, feverishly walking back and forth in front of his bed with a worried look on his face.

“Aren't you just imagining things?” Asura asked in a reasonable voice. “You’re probably overeating because of the worry you had for them till now?”

Lakshman vehemently shook his head and said, “No! I'm not imagining this… this feeling! I know my wives are in serious danger! I think it's my Divine Protection of Love that's causing me to feel this, but...why? Why isn't it taking me to them like they came for me?!”

As he said that, he kicked at the bed and caused it to momentarily rise into the air before falling down with a bang. He was very angry at the situation that he was in and felt even more frustrated at the fact that he could do nothing for them.

Asura stated this fact clearly by saying inside his mind, “Okay. Say you're right, but what can you do? You're stuck in this world while being unable to go to their side. You even lack the exact location to open the World Transfer to, and you don't have a gate to conveniently lock onto back there.”

Lakshman remained silent as he knew that exact problem was hampering him in opening a portal in addition to the lack of Elemental Spirits around in that world. As he continued to think, he suddenly remembered something that he only had seen twice in his lifetime.

“The Dragon Gate!” He said in a sharp voice, hope rising to the surface. “I can lock onto the Dragon Gate and open a portal from this end, succeeding in making the World Transfer work!”

“The problem with that is that the Dragon Gate is destroyed,” reminded Asura in a cold voice, dashing away all the hope that Lakshman built up. “The Dragon Emperor destroyed it in hopes that it'd keep the Dragon Titan out, but it failed since it's Lagron we're talking about her after all.”

“He managed to open it, so can I!” Lakshman said firmly, jumping to his feet and preparing his spell for activation.

“Are you forgetting that Dimension Roar can only be used by members of the Dragon Clan?” Asked Asura curtly, causing Lakshman to falter again while looking uncertain. “Last time I checked, you don't have Dragon Blood in you.”

Becoming frustrated with rage, Lakshman s reamed, “AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!” and sat down on the bed again while clutching his head. His hands shook with worry about the fate of his wives. He felt his hands tied up, his legs chained, and felt useless in a situation where he felt his wives needed him.

Finally, a desperate thought came to him, and he said, “If I can't go over, then at least I'll transfer my soul over.”

“What?!” Asura exclaimed sharply. “Your soul? What're you talking about, Lakshman?! Are you even thinking properly?”

“I am!” His present-self replied in a firm voice. “Better than sit here and let anything bad happen to them, I'll transfer my soul over and do what I can from there. At the very least, I can give them a boost before I run out of spiritual energy and come back.”

“Are you insane?!” Asura asked sharply. “ If you run out of spiritual energy, you disappeared! Forever! Like, no return whatsoever! So, don't assume that you'll automatically return to your body once you run on out of spiritual energy because there is no turning back!”

“Sorry, Asura, but this is a risk I have to take!” Lakshman said as he rose to his feet once more ready to activate the spell. “My wives’ lives are at stake here, Asura. Any responsible husband could do the same thing as me.”

“And get killed in the process?!” Asura demanded angrily.

“Asura!” Lakshman asked in a sharp voice while looking very serious. “In the past, when Chandra attempted to murder your wives, if you were there a little sooner, what would you have done?”

Asura hesitated for a moment before saying, “I'd… I'd have gotten in the way of that attack and–!”

“–and do your best to stop it even if it costs you your life, right?” Lakshman finished the sentence with a question, causing Asura to go silent. “See, Asura. For any responsible husband, the health and safety of their family is more important than their own lives! That's why we're the man of the family. We lead the way and protect them while they come from behind and help guide the family.”

“Fine,” said Asura finally, realising he would not be able to convince his present-self at all, “but I'm pulling you back as soon as I sense that you're reaching your limit! Got it?”

“That's okay with me,” replied Lakshman in understanding. He rose to his feet and aimed his hand in front of him before saying, “World Transfer!”

In an instant, wind started blowing in the room and it gradually increased in speed and intensity as he exerted more and more of his power. Soon, a black hole appeared in the middle of the room and slowly expanded till it was the size of a ball.

Once the small hole stabilized, Lakshman shifted his hand to his chest and said, “Outer Spirit.”

In an instant, his spiritual form separated from his body and floated in midair while Asura took control of his body. As soon as he did, the first Phoenix Titan gritted his teeth at the immense pressure he was under to keep the portal open.

“Quickly get back because I seriously don't know how long I can hold this!” Asura told him through gritted teeth, using his other arm to support the arm that he was using to maintain the stability of the portal. Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Oh, and make sure to save them!”

“I will!” Lakshman said, and he nodded at him before he transformed into particles of like that soared through the air and entered through the portal.

As soon as he left, Asura walked backwards and sat down on the bed while looking for tired. It was already exhausting him to maintain even this small hole connecting to his world because of the immense pressure it out on him.

“Quickly, Lakshman. I don't know… how long I can hold this,” he said, the struggle showing on his face as his hands shook.

***

Lagron and Amaranda were out late at night visiting the capital and doing some shopping with the money they had received for their services from the Floria Kingdom. At first, Lagron felt it was an affront for him to be receiving money for his deeds like he was some kind of beggar but Amaranda convinced him otherwise. Now, they stroll through the streets, looking around with their sights set on trying out the food, and buying clothes for Amaranda.

“It still feels somewhat strange to be able to see like this,” said Amaranda quietly inside his mind using Telepathy while having her eyes closed shut.

Lagron, who was using his magic spell to share his eyesight with her, snorted and said, “It's no big deal! In fact, I'd cure you of your blindness right now if you–!”

“There is a time and place for it!” Se replied quickly while blushing crimson. Then, as if to divert the topic, she pointed at something that Lagron was looking towards and said telepathically, “How about this dress?”

“This one?” Lagron asked, watching her walk forward and pick up a top before showing it to him. He inspected it for a moment in silence before shaking his head and saying, “Nope. It's bland.”

“Bland?!” She asked indignantly. “I quite like it!”

He sighed and said, “Geez, Ama! You need to upgrade your fashion sense!” He searched through the clothes before finding something he liked and picked it up to see while saying, “Take a look at this.”

She faced in its direction and observed it through his eyes while having her own eyes closed. It was a fancy dress with a lot of ornaments stitched onto the fabric to make it look flashy.

“I think it looks good,” she said, liking his selection of the dress choice. “What's the cost?”

Lagron looked at tbr women sitting opposite the counter and asked, “How much is this?”

“500G,” she replied simply, shortening the words 'gold coins’ to a single letter.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise, and Amaranda became shocked by the high cost.

“This is really expensive!” She commented in alarm.

“Ah!” He said casually while waving his hand. “It looks good, so let's ignore the cost and buy it.”

“Lagron…?” Amaranda asked quietly as she stood to the side while he purchased the dress.

“Okay. Let's move on,” he said with a satisfied look on his face.

Amaranda watched from the side and said telepathically, “It's strange.”

“What is it?” He asked while glancing around at the shops.

“This,” she said and indicated at the dress stored inside the Item Box in his pocket with a smile. “It's strange for you to take me out like this for shopping and buying clothes and accessories for me.”

He shifted to look at her for a moment before saying, “Well, we haven't gone out since the war ended so I thought I ought to take you out and do some shopping on things you like.”

“Oh? I thought it was to show off to Lakshman’s wives about what you bought me,” she said in a quiet voice telepathically.

“What?!” He said sharply, reacting strongly to her words. “No way! I'm not that cheap!”

He resolutely denied it, but she sensed that it was the truth. The problem here was that he was stubborn to accept it and was doing it in his own way to make a point about himself in comparison to his rival. It made Amaranda chuckle and caused him to scowl at her.

“If you're going to be that way, I won't buy you anything!” He said with a look of annoyance on his face.

She smiled and said telepathically, “Okay. Let's keep going.”

“That’s more like it!” He said with a smug smile on his face that caused her to smile sweetly at him from behind.

As they continued strolling through the street, they often stopped at shops and checked out the clothes that looked good. Although they were being sold at an expensive cost but Lagron ignored the cost and bought them anyway as it made him feel good. His lover did not say anything to him as she knew he would not listen and meekly went along with him, feeling satisfied that he was at least taking her opinion in buying things.

While visiting another shop, they suddenly heard a commotion coming from somewhere nearby. Amaranda looked in the direction of the commotion was coming from in confusion.

“What’s that about?” One of the shop clerks asked anxiously.

“Oi! Focus on selling these to me!” Lagron said in a sharp voice, causing the store clerk to look back at him while throwing covert looks on the direction the commotion came from.

The commotion slowly grew louder as well as the sound of large footsteps sounding on the pavement. As the sound grew louder, everyone turned in that direction as a large beast bounded through the street at high speed. Lagron and Amaranda turns just in time to catch sight of the monster sprinting by.

“What in the–?!” He began sharply.

He suddenly paused in his speech, his eyes widening slightly at the recognition of two of the people seated on the large animal. Amaranda also spotted the two girls and instantly recognised who they were.

“Indira and Priya!” She said telepathically to him in a sharp voice. “And that beast must be Cantia! What're they doing here?”

Lagron did not say anything as he watched in the direction the beast ran towards and asked, “Isn't that the way to Dom's house? Why are they headed there at this time of the day?”

“I don't know but I think there's trouble!” Amaranda said, to which he nodded in agreement. “Something must be wrong. We'd better go and check.”

“Why?” He asked, to which Amaranda turns to him with a look of disbelief on her face. “Why should we bother? It's none of our business.”

“It may not concern us but they're still our allies and we are the Nine Pillars Of Power!” She replied telepathically in a firm voice. “It could be that they're in trouble and need our urgent help! You know they don't ask help from others unless absolutely necessary?”

“Whatever's the case, I don't feel like getting involved.”

“Okay, but I'm going,” she said telepathically and began heading towards them.

Lagron was a little taken aback by her declaration and sprinted after her while crying, “Ama! Wait!”

Thus, the two of them ended up going towards Dominic's house in order to discover the crazy events that had unfolded during their absence at the Chand household.

***

“Death?” Ash asked the Death Titan in surprise. “Whose death?”

Sevedant turned to look at her and gave a reply of, “Uncertain.”

“Uncertain?” The Demon Titan asked, raising an eyebrow in puzzlement. “You said you sensed death, but you don't know whose death?”

Sevedant shrugged his shoulders and said, “Uncertain. Does not mean unclear.” As Ash looked at him in confusion, he elaborated by saying, “Close to death. Very near death. Crossover. Survival. Uncertain.”

“Oh…!” Said Ash, nodding her head in understanding as she finally realised what he was saying. “Their life will be hanging in the balance. Is that it?”

“Correct,” he replied in a voice void of emotion.

Ash smiles in satisfaction of understanding him, but she immediately became worried and asked, “In that case, you know who will die right? Who is it?”

For a moment, Sevedant remained silent, and as he turned away to look up at the sky again, he surprisingly sighed and said, “I don't know.”

There was a moment of silence when he said before she asked, “Wait? What? You don't know? I mean you, the Messenger of Death, don't know who it is?”

Sevedant shook his head and said, “Uncertain.”

He turned to her and stretched out a skeleton hand out of his sleeves and placed it on her shoulder. She looked up at him in surprise as he addressed her.

“I must leave. Be back shortly. Stay safe. Stay secured.”

“Uh. Okay,” she replied meekly, unsure what else to say.

He nodded in satisfaction and began walking away towards the capital for something. She watched him go in silence and wondered to herself about what just happened.

“He knows… but doesn't want to say it,” she said and sighed. “I suppose he fears that saying their name will declare their death sentence. It's understandable but… for him to suddenly decide to leave… it must be that the person's life that was hanging in the balance is someone that's close to us.”

She remembered the smiling faces of all the good people she met, including Lakshman's family and Dominic's family. For a moment, she considered the possibility that it could be one of them but she eventually gave up as she did not possess the kind of powers that Sevedant has that allows him to detect an approaching death.

“Well… whoever they are, I… I hope nothing bad happens to them,” she muttered in a low voice, for the first time in a long time praying for the safety of someone she had come to respect and view as friends.