Part One Hundred Nine — Do Not Touch What’s Mine

"Is that not the boy with the unknown mana signature?"

　Aeliana asked quietly, careful as always in the way she chose her words before offering an opinion.

"Correct."

　Nyxara's answer came without hesitation.

　Mirella tilted her head.

　Her smile never wavered, but there was genuine curiosity beneath it.

"Why don't you want anybody going near him?"

"Is there a specific reason for the warning?"

"Because he is mine."

　Nyxara said it simply.

　Final.

　As though the answer required no further justification at all.

That was the whole of it, apparently.

Delivered with the same casual certainty someone might use to claim a favorite chair.

――

　Belial, precise as ever, offered the first substantive addition to the conversation.

"According to what I've gathered, his mana allows him to bypass the world's original laws of evolution entirely."

"Are you certain that's true?"

　Orinthia's question carried clear skepticism.

"I believe it is."

　For the first time, Vaelith broke his silence.

"If I recall correctly, the two True Dragons wanted him dead when he was still a child."

　His voice remained calm.

"That's not a reaction beings of their stature waste on something ordinary."

"Then why is the boy still alive?"

　Orinthia pressed.

"I don't know."

　Vaelith's answer was flat.

　And he offered nothing further.

――

"They always brag about their strength."

　Mirella's voice remained soft, but there was something dry and pointed beneath it.

"And yet couldn't manage to kill a little insect."

"Is there a reason they haven't finished the job since?"

　Orinthia asked.

"It would be easy for them, presumably, if they actually wanted it done."

　The chamber went very still.

　Then—

　Nyxara's demonic aura began pouring outward.

　Unhurried.

　Absolute.

　It filled the space between every throne at the table without a single visible gesture required to summon it.

"Even if it's the two True Dragons..."

　Her voice still carried that same casual warmth.

　Entirely unbothered by the weight of what she was actually threatening.

"Anybody who lays a hand on my new toy—"

　The pressure in the chamber deepened.

"I will personally kill that person."

――

　Nobody at the table argued the point further.

　Whatever disagreements simmered beneath the surface, none of the remaining five seemed inclined to test that particular claim.

　Not from someone whose age and standing among them left little room for doubt about her ability to make good on it.

　The meeting wound down over the following minutes.

　Practical matters.

　Minor territorial disputes among lesser demons.

　Nothing requiring the same gravity as the warning that had actually justified calling everyone together in the first place.

"We're agreed, then."

　Nyxara spoke once the last minor business had finally been settled.

"Nobody interferes with him."

"Nobody touches what's mine."

　A round of quiet, reluctant agreement passed around the table.

　Orinthia's was the most grudging.

　Aeliana's came the most immediately.

　Vaelith offered only a simple nod.

　No words were necessary.

――

　Nyxara rose first.

　Her sin-emarked maid immediately fell into step behind her without needing to be summoned.

　The others followed in their own time.

　Slowly, the Hollow Table emptied back into whatever void had brought them all there in the first place.

None of us—

Kai.

Anyone at Horizoncrest.

Not a single soul in the mortal realm.

None of us had any idea this conversation had happened at all.

That a primordial demon considerably older than most of this world's history had just claimed him, personally, as something worth killing anyone else who reached for.

He'd find out eventually.

Just not yet.

――

　Nyxara lingered a moment longer than the others.

　Alone now in the emptying chamber, she stood beside the Hollow Table, something considering and unhurried in her expression.

"He's an interesting little thing."

　She spoke mostly to herself.

　There was genuine, curious warmth threaded through the words.

"Null mana."

"A name nobody's ever heard before, calling itself Kobayashi."

"Breaking rules that have held for longer than most of this world's memory."

　A small smile appeared on her lips.

　Genuinely pleased.

　It was the same expression she'd worn while watching Kai destroy Cassmoor without hesitation.

"I think..."

　Nyxara's smile widened slightly.

"...it's time I actually went to see him properly."

"Playing at a distance has gotten rather boring."

　The chamber emptied entirely a moment later.

　Nothing remained.

　Only obsidian.

　Six discarded thrones.

　And the quiet, patient certainty that something considerably larger than a war with Ashford was about to walk directly into Horizoncrest's front door.