As her face began to close its distance from his, her jaw began to slowly expand even further, trying to devour his consciousness along with the white glow that seemed to shield him.
Saliva drooled from the edges of her snake-like jaw, and fangs while countless sparks arose as her jaws forcefully pushed their way through the protective shield of an unknown aura.
She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brows as a clear expression of discomfort had taken over her face.
"A-ARGH!"
Hoarse and guttural screeches filled the air with a thick metallic stench that emanated from the corners of the muscles of her mouth, slowly melting away with the heat of little embers.
Although, the woman kept on pushing her jaw persistently forward. Under her persistent efforts and the overwhelming pressure of her jaws, small cracks started to spiderweb around the tips of her fangs.
The protective shield protecting Kai's consciousness had already reached its limit, as any more pressure would cause it to shatter.
"...hahahaha...ha..."
Realizing her victory was near her grasp, she couldn't help but giggle while gathering all of her strength for a single push that would let the victory fall to her feet.
The cracks deepened, forming jagged visible lines upon the glass-like surface of a glowing aura.
Soon, her persistent jaw brought good news, as her fangs had breached the aura.
Two of her large fangs had made a hole through its protective shield and trembled inside as she gave it her all to push even further.
That's when her eyes suddenly widened as she noticed a faint humming sound mixed in the air.
'Was this sound always here...?' she narrowed her eyes but soon let it go, thinking it was just a waste of time to think about anything as such.
"Soon...! You will be mine...!"
It muttered in a low voice.
In her eyes, the victory had long since crawled toward her feet.
Everything had gone according to her plan.
However, unbeknownst to her, there were some variables even she, or even the god itself would've never known about.
Because at that very moment, all while she was trying to devour Kai's soul, someone who had been sealed and lay dormant deep inside Kai's mind was getting ready to, once again, let the world know of his presence.
***
"Master..."
In a majestically giant hall—where Time had left its imprint on the luxury and serenity of its presence itself—a calm voice softly echoed.
Rugged silken fabrics that reflected the perfection of their past self, hung around the walls of the hall, spiraling down the giant pillars made of intricate designs and carvings—as if each pillar contained an untold tale of its own.
While a dusty, dull, and worn red carpet was put at the center of the hall, making its way toward an elevated platform.
"How long... Just how long am I supposed to wait, master...?"
From a giant transparent patch of roof made of extensively designed glass, Rays of bright moonlight entered the main hall, creating a hexagonal-shaped pattern on the obsidian floor and the carpet.
At the center of it was a figure draped in a black robe, kneeling towards the elevated floor—barely some steps away—with his head bowed and one of his hands on his knee.
"It's already been 13.8 billion years... Since the day you left..." The figure mumbled, his voice wavering a mix of sadness and regret.
"This Servant of yours has been protecting this realm according to your last orders..."
Fragments of memories flowed into the mysterious figure's mind as though he was remembering things from yesterday.
**
"Ian... I want you to protect this realm until I return..."
"Master... But if you go there—"
"I know... But this is a request of mine, Ian..."
"Protect my home in my absence..."
"...As you wish, my lord."
"Then, I'll be back soon."
**
"That... The way you smiled even when you knew that there was no return... I still remember it clearly as though it happened a few days ago..." His voice grew heavier, as a faint sound of sulking began to fill the hall.
"For all these years, this hall, this palace has been tarnished from its glory with by the accumulated dust, except for those two things that have been eyeing for your return like me... Like us..."
He raised his head, letting his crystal white long hair stumble forward as his bright crimson eyes —a slight undertone of dark color swirling around his pupil—looked ahead in numbness.
Up front, was a majestic throne carved out of a stone that made even the bright nightly colored obsidian stand pale in comparison.
It was a large throne with spikes going up towards the roof at the back, while a strange, soft, dark glow shrouded it in an eye-mesmerizing state.
While just a few inches away at the front, was a giant human-sized stick made out of the same material as the throne. It was easily a few inches thick and perfectly cylindrical in shape while its bottom had converged into the obsidian floor.
"Your seat and your weapon, they've not allowed even a speck of dust touch them in all these years..."
The hall fell into silence, as he clenched his jaw tightly. A tear slowly slid off of his pale skin and fell to the ground as he got up and bowed towards the throne once again.
He turned around and stepped forward, "Do not worry, Master. I will continue to protect this realm with my soul on the line." He muttered under his breath, his voice barely above that of a whisper.
***
"Do you think, you are worthy enough to devour me?"
***
*Crack!*
As he was about to disappear in the shadows of the hall, his body froze as soon as he heard a noise appear in the hall.
He quickly turned around, his eyes darted everywhere before finally landing up ahead towards the weapon.
Ian widened his eyes in shock, his jaw dropped, and his eyes began to tremble as he couldn't believe his own sight.
A small crack had appeared on the weapon, letting a small piece of the stone fall to the ground.
As soon as that small stone touched the floor, it made the whole floor crack in an instant.
But Ian ignored it all because, as of now, his eyes were stuck on that cracked weapon.
"Master's weapon has never once been moved by anyone but master himself... Even as of now, if I were to try and touch it, my soul would be eradicated in an instant..." Thoughts flowed out of his mouth in the form of words as his heart began to throb with new excitement.
"For it to react in such a way... Ha... Hahaha..."
Surprisingly enough, Ian began to laugh uncontrollably. Giggles turned into true, heartfelt laughter as he turned around once again.
His eyes shone with a newly found glimmer of hope while his body seemed to have grown a few billion years younger.
As his figure disappeared into the shadows, a few words echoed in the hall, each time getting stronger and louder as if each and everything that had been lying dormant in the hall had come back to life and repeated the words.
"Welcome back, master."