Vivi was still struggling to breathe, the hot air scraping her throat. Her tears dried quickly, but the despair remained. When she saw Riser, her body moved on its own.
"Please… save my father."
Her voice broke before the sentence ended.
Riser stopped before her, his gaze calm and cold. The flame beneath his skin flickered softly, reflecting her fear.
"Your father is dying."
"Then save him! I'm begging you!"
Vivi fell to her knees, her hands trembling, her face streaked with soot and dust. "I'll do anything… anything."
Riser leaned forward, observing her for a moment. "Anything?"
"Yes!" Her scream echoed among the shattered columns. "Whatever you want, just don't let him die!"
He kept his eyes on her, weighing every word.
"Then make a deal with me."
Vivi blinked, confused. "A deal?"
Riser stepped closer. His shadow covered her face.
"A contract with the Devil."
She swallowed hard but didn't move back. "I accept."
"Without knowing the price?"
"I don't care about the price."
Riser raised his hand. The flame beneath his skin grew and took form. Red symbols spun in the air, carving perfect circles across the ground.
A low hum filled the air.
ZUUUUM
The air twisted between them, and energy responded.
"You've just given me your soul, princess."
Light engulfed them both. The rune glowed, and an invisible thread connected Vivi's chest to Riser's, as if the air itself had stitched their fates together.
Vivi didn't understand. She only felt the heat pass through her skin and the weight of power anchor itself inside her.
"Now, we are one."
Riser's gaze stayed impassive. The flame beneath his skin dimmed, but the bond between them pulsed like a living mark.
She trembled, trying to speak, but her voice wouldn't come out. "Will he… live?"
Riser knelt slowly, his hand moving through the air in a calm motion. "He still breathes. For now."
The words sounded almost gentle, but there was something cold hidden in them.
"And me?"
"You belong to me now."
Vivi swallowed her fear, her heart racing. "If this saves the kingdom… I don't care."
Riser didn't reply. He simply closed his eyes, and red light flared within them.
WHRRR
The Mangekyō spun, reflecting the heat of the circle still burning on the ground. The air between them distorted.
ZUUUUM
Vivi's body dissolved into ethereal fragments. The crimson glow of the magic circle reflected below, and gravity inverted, pulling her into the black vortex that opened behind Riser.
"Kamui."
The word was low, almost a whisper. The air folded into absolute silence, and her body vanished into darkness.
For a moment, only the sound of scorched wind filled the hall. Then the circle disappeared.
Vivi reappeared in another space, surrounded by translucent darkness. The floor beneath her feet was solid, but there was no shadow, no ceiling. Stillness surrounded her completely.
She looked around, chest heaving, hands trembling. "What… is this place?"
Her voice echoed without return. Each word seemed to dissolve into the air itself. A chill ran through her skin when she realized she was alone.
'Where is my father?'
The newly forged bond pulsed in her chest, like an invisible thread. The warmth she still felt from Riser's touch now burned as a living mark, throbbing with a strange rhythm.
Ruins of Alabasta Palace
Riser opened his eyes slowly. The silence around him seemed suspended in time, broken only by the muffled sound of distant fire.
"Now to find the king."
His voice was low and steady, as if he were speaking to the void itself rather than the world.
He activated Observation Haki. The air expanded in invisible echoes, every living breath of the city vibrating in his mind. The heartbeats of soldiers, the muffled sobs of civilians, the roars of the extrinsic creatures—all blended into a symphony of chaos.
The walls were collapsing, the gates giving way. Riser saw it all without moving. Whole scenes projected in his perception—men burning in the sands, children crying under rubble, warriors fighting the impossible.
Among a thousand pulses of fear and despair, one sound stood out. A slower heartbeat, faint but still fighting to continue.
'Found you.'
Kamui began to swirl around him, warping the air into concentric rings. Shadows moved against the light, as if space itself resisted.
ZUUUUM
Reality folded.
Riser vanished the next instant, swallowed by the shifting darkness that carried him between dimensions.
The echo of the sound reverberated through the ruins, leaving only the wind and the smell of ashes, as if the world itself held its breath before the next act.
The air rippled like molten glass as space broke apart.
ZUUUUM
Riser appeared among the palace ruins. The cracked ground still smoked, and the distant cries mixed with the roars of the creatures.
Two abominations advanced at once. Long tentacles, scattered eyes, mouths where none should exist.
Riser moved only his hand. The flame beneath his skin ignited in response.
FWOOSH
Fire arced outward. The creatures were engulfed in living flame, dissolving before they even hit the ground.
The silence that followed lasted only seconds, broken by the staggering steps of King Cobra. The monarch tried to stand, leaning against a shattered column.
"It can't be…" His voice was faint. "You… returned."
Riser said nothing. His gaze spoke enough.
The soldiers surrounded him with trembling swords. "Your Majesty, stay back!"
One shouted, "He's the demon who brought those rifts! Get away from him!"
Cobra raised a weak hand. "No. He saved us before."
The sound of metal clattering multiplied. Fear was stronger than reason.
Riser took a single step. The soldiers instinctively drew back. The heat from his body seemed to breathe with the fire.
One man shouted, pointing his blade. "Where's the princess?! What have you done to her?!"
Riser looked at him without emotion. "She's safe."
The cold tone froze the blood in their veins.
Cobra staggered forward. "My daughter… she lives?"
Riser merely tilted his head, and the air between them warped.
ZUUUUM
Kamui opened—a vortex of darkness forming behind the king. The wind pulled in dust and embers, and the surrounding light bent.
Cobra clutched his chest, his heart pounding. "What is this—"
There was no time for more questions. His body was pulled into the rift, vanishing in an instant.
WHRRR
The vortex closed without a sound.
The soldiers froze for a heartbeat, unable to comprehend. Then panic spread.
"He killed the king!"
"Demon!"
Swords rose. The sound of metal filled the hall, sharp and chaotic.
Riser sighed quietly.
"You should've stayed silent."
The flame around him vanished, and the silence was replaced by something unseen.
VUUUUM
Conqueror's Haki burst outward like a wave. The air vibrated, heavy, and the floor cracked. The soldiers staggered, eyes rolling back. One by one, they collapsed.
The civilians watching from the stairs retreated, unable to breathe.
In seconds, the entire palace fell silent.
The air itself seemed to freeze in the next moment.
Riser looked over the unconscious bodies strewn across the floor. The power of his Haki still vibrated through the cracked walls, echoing like restrained thunder.
"Now to absorb the dimensional energy from the portal and finish the rest of the creatures."
His voice was low, but the echo drifted through the empty palace like a sentence.
He extended his hand, and the crimson sigil glowed beneath his feet.
ZUUUUM
Flames spread into wings—not just of fire, but of living power. A single motion launched him upward.
In the skies above Alabasta, the wind carried the metallic scent of blood and the heat of scorched sand. The city was a mosaic of ruins; broken pillars rose like bones, and bodies covered the streets.
Riser hovered above it all, his wings beating steadily. The crimson portal pulsed at the city's center, an abyss of distorted light tearing the horizon. Energy flowed from it like a living river, dragging what remained of homes and people.
Extrinsic creatures multiplied along the rift's edge. Some crawled, others floated, eyes scattered, mouths unclosing. Riser raised his hand, the heat around him expanding in a vast circle.
FWOOM
Fire magic spread like a living storm. Colossal flames fell upon the desert, consuming every monster in burning will. The abominations screamed without sound, their bodies twisting until nothing but ash remained.
SHHHH
The fire swept in a wide arc, covering rooftops and shattered walls. Every creature that touched the ground melted within seconds. The air grew heavy, saturated with the stench of burnt flesh and vaporized blood.
The screams faded until only the crackle of flame remained. Riser landed on a broken tower, looking down at the ground below.
"Only corpses remain."
The tone was neutral, but the weight of his words rippled through the wind. No human movement remained. What once was Alabasta's capital was now ash and silence.
The portal still pulsed—a red heart beating in the middle of the ruins. Each vibration made the earth tremble.
Riser approached slowly, his wings retracting into sparks. The heat around him was controlled, dense like compressed air. He stopped a few meters from the edge, where the ground cracked and floated in fragments.
"System, absorb."
[Confirmation received. Beginning dimensional extraction.]
The voice echoed within his mind. The wind stilled. The portal's light intensified, forming columns of energy rising to the sky.
ZUUUUM
The city quaked. Stone, glass, and dust were pulled toward the vortex's center. Riser stood unmoving, the fire reflected in his eyes.
The rift's edges began to contract. Energy spiraled inward, flowing toward his body like a river of liquid flame.
[Extraction 40% complete. Core unstable.]
The creatures' sounds vanished. Only the portal's deep rumble remained, like the last breath of something alive. Pressure grew, compressing the air around him.
VUUUUM
The melted sand formed a glass ring beneath Riser's feet. Currents of energy ran across it in geometric patterns before fading into sparks.
[Extraction 90%… complete. Dimensional energy stabilized.]
The vortex collapsed inward. A silent explosion swallowed the space, sucking in dust, bodies, and flame.
FWOOSH
When the light cleared, the sky brightened. Where the portal had once pulsed, now there was only a scorched black circle—the point where reality had been stitched closed again.
[Process complete. Dimensional Travel: 3 of 7 absorptions.]
Riser closed his eyes for a moment, the wind sweeping the fragments of ash.
"Three of seven."
The words faded into the dead desert. He looked around, his expression unchanged.
Support here: patreon.com/22Mirko22
Thank you so much for reading - see you in the next chapter!