Laia stared at the tiny purple creature perched on her palm, its crystal head tilting back and forth as it chirped softly at her. She'd just watched it split a cube of air into searing flame and freezing frost without a single spark of wasted energy, and yet… she still couldn't see what all the breathless shock was about. Sure, it was a neat trick, but it was just a fancy elemental familiar, wasn't it? At most, it'd make prepping sandwich ingredients a whole lot faster.
The silence around her stretched on, heavy with awe. Her twelve overlords stood frozen, their eyes locked on the little demon like it was the very heart of the universe itself. Borin, the dwarven king who'd forged artifacts that could level mountains, had dropped his hammer, the clang of it hitting the stone echoing through the silent valley. Kane, the human king who'd once outwitted a pantheon of war gods, was pale as a sheet, his hands trembling like he'd just seen the face of creation.
It was Borin who finally snapped out of it first. He practically bounded forward, his calloused hands rubbing together, his beard bristling with poorly contained excitement. "Lass, this little fella's a miracle! If you'll let me borrow him, I can run the forges at perfect, consistent temperature 24/7—no more burnt ore, no more wasted divine metal. Hell, I could build you a cheese aging cellar that stays at exactly the right humidity and temperature, no magic needed, no energy drain, forever. The perfect cheddar, every single time."
Laia's ears perked up immediately. Perfect, consistent cheese aging? That was a game-changer for her sandwich shop. She was about to agree on the spot when Kane let out a sharp, disbelieving laugh, cutting through the dwarven king's rambling. He fixed Borin with a flat, incredulous stare, like the man had just suggested using a starship to haul a cart of turnips.
"Use a creature that can reverse entropy to run your forges and a cheese cellar? That's the most absurd waste of cosmic power I've ever heard in my life." Kane stepped forward, his eyes never leaving the tiny demon, bright with a feverish, reverent excitement Laia had never seen on his face before. "Boss, do you have any idea what this little creature can do? This isn't just making fire and ice. This is rewriting the fundamental rules of the universe."
Laia frowned, tilting her head. "Wait, what are you talking about? It's just a little elemental pet. How's it gonna rewrite the universe?"
"Reverse entropy isn't a party trick, Laia." Kane's voice was soft, reverent, like he was explaining the very nature of divinity to a child. "It's turning chaos into order. It's taking scattered, useless energy that no god in history has ever been able to harness, and turning it into pure, controllable power. It can take the void's corrosive, destructive energy—the same energy that eats through realms and kills gods—and strip it down into something we can use to power the entire realm. Forever. Infinite energy, infinite resources, no more mining, no more scrounging for divine crystals, no more risk of void erosion ever again."
Laia blinked. She still didn't fully grasp the cosmic implications of what he was saying, but if it meant her realm would run smoother, her followers would stop pestering her about resource shortages, and she'd have more time to focus on her sandwich shop plans, she wasn't going to complain. She held out her palm, letting the little demon hop into her hand, and scratched him gently under his crystal chin.
"Alright, fine. I'll leave him with you two to figure out the boring technical stuff." She smiled down at the tiny creature, who chirped happily and nuzzled her finger. "Your name's Max now, okay? Be good, don't let these two brats work you too hard, and for the love of cheddar, don't pick up any of their bad habits."
Max chirped again, then looked over at Kane. The human king was still staring at him like he'd just found the holy grail, a wide, slightly unhinged grin spreading across his face. Max's tiny body trembled. He wanted to scramble back into Laia's pocket, to hide away from the man who clearly had a million wild, world-altering plans for him. *Help, master! This man is terrifying! Take me with you!*
But Laia was already turning away, her mind already on the Imperial Realm Tournament the next day. She waved a hand over her shoulder, calling back as she walked toward the divine realm's exit, "I'm heading back to the academy to get ready for the tournament! Don't burn the realm down while I'm gone! And make sure the fresh cheese shipment comes in on time! I need it for pre-tournament snacks!"
She vanished in a flash of golden light, leaving Max alone with Kane and Borin, who were both still staring at him like he was the most precious treasure in the entire universe.
Kane knelt down, his voice soft and calm, like he was trying not to scare the skittish little creature. "Max, right? Your ability is reverse entropy. You can turn disorder into order, turn unusable void energy into something we can harness. Can you do that with anything? Even the most corrupted, chaotic void creatures?"
Max hesitated for a second, then nodded his tiny head.
Kane's grin widened. If his calculations were right, this little creature could build a machine that would change the entire divine realm. A machine that could turn the void's endless, destructive energy into an infinite supply of power for their Overgod's realm. For Laia. He'd spent eons fighting the void, watching it eat away at worlds and civilizations—and now, his Overgod had gifted them a creature that could turn the void's greatest weapon into their greatest strength.
"Perfect." Kane stood up, gesturing for Max to follow him to his sealed workshop, where he'd spent centuries drafting designs for machines that no god had ever been able to power. "First, I need you to help me with something. I want to see if you can reverse the entropy of void-corrupted beasts, extract that chaotic energy, and turn it into pure, stable divine power. Think you can do that?"
Back in the mortal academy, Laia stepped out of her divine realm and into her tiny dorm room, stretching her arms over her head with a happy sigh.
Everything was finally falling into place. She'd hit Rank 3 Peak, lit her divine fire, had a loyal (if chaotic) group of followers, and the tournament was tomorrow. If she won, she'd have a million gold, a full set of realm expansion tokens, and enough money to build the biggest, best cheese sandwich shop the divine realm had ever seen. No more scraping by for divine crystals, no more worrying about dorm rent, no more listening to the noble brats laugh at her "pathetic little realm".
She practically skipped out of her dorm and across the academy's sunlit grounds, her bag slung over her shoulder, a spring in her step. She even spotted Rex, the academy's scruffy stray void hound, napping on the lawn, and waved at him cheerfully. "Hey,