I Guard The Book That Slays Gods

"She goes by many names… Man God. Joker. And the one that chills me most, Laughing Princess."

Their time on the island had been cut short. After Leo and Soul's departure, Raiden couldn't afford to linger—staying longer risked drawing the Huntress to them. Now they traveled within the gut of the Eastern Leviathan, bound for their next absolute domain: the Gambit.

"Let's just hope luck is on our side this time," Chrono said, shrugging. "It's our final destination. Only the gods know how many pages we lost at Dark Dream and Hour Island."

He sighed and made his way to the leviathan's throat, joining his comrades.

Chrono was right. They had no way of knowing exactly how many pages had been recovered from Lost Child and the Reader. Much as Raiden despised accepting it, Chrono's knowledge extended to only three absolute domains when four Elusive existed. This was their final opportunity to claim a page, and that reality gnawed at him.

His hand found the skeletal mask hanging around his neck as he studied his companions' distant expressions.

Too much blood had been spilled to come away empty-handed.

If they found nothing here, Freya, Speed, and Ash would still demand justice—even if that meant hunting down FIRMO and seizing every page they'd collected in the fallen's memory.

His fist clenched as he braced against the mere thought of FIRMO. The personal vendetta against Ling the Deathsight remained fresh, and discovering that the dragon he'd been allied with was Ash's sworn enemy had crystallized his determination to end him.

Still, he drew a steadying breath and reined in his anger. The priority now was praying the Gambit remained stable as an absolute domain, and if it had already fallen, determining how they'd escape before the realm devoured them whole.

More than three hours had passed since they'd entered the Leviathan's Path. Without Chrono's sporadic laughter and the banter he shared with his two comrades, absolute silence would have consumed them entirely.

Perched quietly on the Leviathan's pliant tongue, Noelle sat with arms folded, completely withdrawn into herself. Raiden couldn't recall hearing so much as a whisper from her since he'd struck down Speed.

She'd retreated into that same aloof, hostile shell he'd encountered when they first met.

Her guardian MK stood nearby, equally silent, steadily feeding his mana into the creature's flesh to power their journey forward.

A short distance away, Levi and Aeris stood propped against the creature's razor-sharp teeth, the blue luminescence of mucus casting an eerie light around them.

Raiden took his place at the furthest point of the tongue, studying each face in turn. The tight-knit team they'd once been felt like a distant memory; now they were simply people caught in the same web of fate, pursuing the same elusive goal.

But as he brooded, the leviathan's insides gave a sudden, jarring shake, almost throwing Raiden off balance and into the creature's gullet.

In that instant, Raiden's pulse spiked. The tremors could only mean one thing: they'd reached the Gambit, and whatever awaited them would likely be their greatest challenge yet.

He swallowed, cold sweat breaking across his palms as unease settled over him. Then the leviathan's voice resonated through their consciousness: "We've arrived."

A shiver ran through Raiden's entire frame, his thoughts scattering in all directions as he clung to fragile hope. The creature's enormous mouth yawned open, the tongue beneath them gliding steadily toward the gleaming barrier of fangs.

Shafts of radiant light burst from the island ahead, filtering through the gaps between those massive fangs.

The intensity made Raiden's eyes water as he instinctively narrowed them against the harsh illumination.

A great mountain dominated the horizon before them. This domain offered no welcoming stretch of sand like the others; instead, the restless sea battered itself against a treacherous rocky shore that extended along the mountain's base.

Perplexity washed over Raiden as he watched the massive tongue lower them onto the rocky shore. He scanned their surroundings frantically, but aside from the steep mountain looming ahead, no route presented itself. Maybe there simply wasn't one.

He gulped down his confusion and leaped onto the tongue, dropping onto the rocks below. He had witnessed better scenes before, but this one came with dry, rotting air, and though the descent had once promised a clearer atmosphere, it now brought brain-racking loops and a drenching darkness.

But now… now the sun hung decently above them, and the air—not as pure as that of Solace, but an air that could lull Ash into sleep and draw anyone into dreamful rest.

In no time, he found himself engrossed in his surroundings, staring at the cascading mountain before him and its pointy edges crowned with trees. Everyone else had exited the leviathan, and now it departed, leaving them to face their predicament alone. Still, Raiden couldn't register a moment of it.

His head remained tilted upward, his expression oddly serene, as though he had already forgotten his previous encounters. As though he'd forgotten that not all that glitters is gold.

Indeed, those weren't things he could easily erase from memory, and his fear still lurked within. For all he knew, the mountain could start walking and attack them next. He was certain of that. But still, something was different.

For the first time in a while, he glanced away, his hands reaching for his face.

Something stirred within him, strange yet hauntingly familiar. The instant he stepped onto the island, he could feel it radiating tranquility.

At first, he could only sense danger, but now it was as though his evolution had transformed him to the point where he could perceive beyond mere threat. He could sense peace itself.

A soft smile crossed his face as understanding finally came. He should be weeping, or at least grieving, knowing that Ash had sensed the danger from the very moment they entered that absolute domain, before her death.

Instead, he felt something like relief. At least she had found peace from all those fractured memories.

Raiden let out a sigh. If this was truly a safe haven, if FIRMO hadn't already been here, then that could only be confirmed after they climbed the mountain. But he was going to let his guard down anyway.

"We need to climb this mountain," he said, his head tilting back as he traced the mountain's edges with his eyes, determining if the path would be safe for their ascent.

Then a sharp sound struck his mind. Terror raced through his bones as he jerked backward on pure instinct, his movement signaling the others to be cautious.

Cold sweat erupted on his skin, his breath hitching as he began to doubt everything about the tranquility he'd felt just moments earlier.

Something threatening loomed from the mountaintop.