Laia stared out at the approaching void mist, and sighed.
She'd just wanted to buy cheese. She'd just wanted to win a little prize money for a sandwich shop. And now, she had a War God out for her blood, a noble family trying to buy her power, and a void monster creeping up on the academy.
She grabbed the amulet from her neck, and the portable core from her pocket, and squared her shoulders.
Fine. If they wanted a fight, she'd give them one. She just hoped it didn't make her late for her next match.
The mist hit the dorm building first. It oozed through the brick walls like smoke, snuffing out the magical lanterns in the hallway, leaving only cold, oppressive darkness in its wake. The growl grew louder, closer, and Laia could feel the familiar, sickening pull of void corrosion seeping into the room, trying to drain her divine power.
Max chirped, darting in front of her, and waved a tiny paw. The corrosion froze mid-air, then reversed, shrinking back into the mist like a frightened snake. The room warmed again, the faint glow of her divine fire returning to the air.
Laia blinked. "Nice work, little guy. Remind me to give you the entire cheese rind later."
Max puffed out his chest, proud, but his crystal head still blazed red. The threat wasn't gone. It was just getting started.
A deafening crash shook the entire dorm building. The wall across from Laia's room exploded inward, showering the room with brick and splintered wood. The mist poured in, thick and black, and from within it stepped the void stalker.
It was massive, easily twice the size of Torin's dragon form, its body made of writhing, shadowy tentacles, each lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. A single, glowing red eye sat in the center of its mass, fixed directly on Laia, burning with hunger. It had tracked her paradox power across the void, followed her all the way back to the academy, drawn to the reverse entropy she'd unleashed in the arena. This was no mindless beast—it was a hunter, and she was its prey.
The entire academy was waking up now. Screams echoed across the grounds, magical alarms blared, and the academy's protective barriers flared to life, golden and bright, trying to push the mist back. But it was too late. The stalker was already inside, and the barriers did nothing to stop it.
Laia didn't panic. She just grabbed the wax-wrapped block of cheddar from her nightstand, stuffed it into her bag, and zipped it shut tight. The last thing she needed was for the void mist to ruin her cheese. That was a tragedy she couldn't come back from.
"Hey, ugly!" Laia called out, stepping forward, the portable core in her hand glowing warm. "You messed up the wrong dorm room. I've got a tournament to get to, and you're making me lose sleep. Get out of here, before I make you regret it."
The stalker let out a roar that shook the building, and lunged. Its tentacles snapped forward, dripping with void corrosion, aimed straight for Laia's chest. It was fast, faster than any beast she'd ever seen, fast enough that a normal Rank 3 god wouldn't have had time to blink.
But Laia wasn't a normal Rank 3 god.
Max chirped, and waved both paws. The tentacles froze mid-lunge, every single one of them locked in place. Then, they began to dissolve. The void corrosion that made up their form unraveled, turning from shadowy black to golden light, the chaos of the void reversed into pure, clean divine energy that flowed straight into the portable core in Laia's hand.
The stalker let out a shriek of agony, yanking back what was left of its tentacles, its single red eye wide with shock. It couldn't understand what had just happened. It had fed on hundreds of gods, drained countless realms dry, and never once had its power been turned against it like that.
Laia stared down at the core in her hand, which was now glowing bright enough to light up the entire room, thrumming with the stolen divine energy. "Huh. So that's what that does. Nice work, Kane."
Before the stalker could recover, the core flared again. A massive portal ripped open in the middle of the room, golden and bright, and from it stepped Torin, his dragon form fully unleashed, his scales glowing with purified void ore armor, his jaws wreathed in golden fire. Behind him, Kane stood with his sword drawn, his armor gleaming, Borin hefted his war hammer, and the rest of the twelve overlords filed out, their power surging, ready to fight.
They'd felt the stalker's presence the second it had drawn near their Overgod. They'd been waiting, ready to leap through the core the second she needed them. No one threatened their Overgod and lived.
"Overgod!" Torin roared, his voice shaking the room, his eyes locked on the void stalker. "We heard the call. This abomination dares to raise a hand to you? We will tear it to shreds!"
The stalker froze. It could feel the power radiating off the twelve overlords—ancient, primal, stronger than any force it had ever faced in the void. It had come for a lone, weak Rank 3 god, and instead found itself face to face with the twelve most feared beings in the ancient world. It knew, in that instant, that it had made a terrible mistake.
It turned to run, to flee back into the void, but it was too late. Elara the elven queen raised her bow, and a dozen arrows of golden light shot through the air, pinning the stalker's tentacles to the wall, stopping it in its tracks. Borin charged forward, his war hammer swinging, and slammed it into the stalker's central eye, a deafening crack echoing through the room. The stalker shrieked, its body convulsing, the void mist around it beginning to unravel.
Kane stepped forward, his sword glowing with the power of the realm, and drove it straight into the stalker's core. "For the Overgod!"
The stalker let out one final, ear-splitting shriek, and dissolved. The black mist vanished, the void corrosion faded, and the room was flooded with moonlight again. The only thing left of the beast was a small, glowing void crystal, sitting on the floor where it had stood.
Laia stared, her mouth hanging open. She'd known her overlords were strong, but she'd never seen them fight like that. They'd torn a void stalker apart in seconds, like it was nothing more than a bug.
Torin shifted back into his human form, bowing low, the rest of the overlords following suit. "Are you unharmed, Overgod? Did this abomination touch you?"
"I'm fine. I'm totally fine." Laia shook her head, still staring. "You guys… you came through the core? I thought it was just a defense thing."
Kane smiled, sheathing his sword. "We built it to let us come to your aid, no matter where you are. We knew the noble houses would come for you, that the void would smell your power. We weren't going to let you fight alone."
Laia stared at them, her chest tight. She'd summoned these twelve brats when she had nothing, when she was just a broke academy student with an empty realm. And now, they'd torn through a void stalker without a second thought, just to keep her safe. She didn't know what to say.
Before she could, the door to her dorm room burst open. Elara Voss stood in the doorway, her sword drawn, her face pale with panic, Caspian right behind her, his eyes wide with shock. They'd heard the crash, the screams, the roars, and had run straight to the dorm.
When they saw the destroyed wall, the twelve overlords bowing to Laia, and the faint glow of void energy in the air, they froze.
Elara's sword clattered to the ground. "Laia! Are you okay? We heard the monster, we thought—"
"I'm fine." Laia waved a hand, grinning. "My guys showed up. Took care of it before it could do anything. Well, besides ruin my dorm wall. And my sleep schedule."
Caspian stepped forward, his eyes locked on the twelve overlords. He recognized them. Every single one of them. The dragon lord of the ancient shadow scales, the human king who'd outwitted the war gods, the elven queen of the lost star wood. Races that hadn't been seen in the divine realm for ten thousand years. Races that were supposed to be extinct.
And they were all bowing to Laia. Calling her Overgod.
He'd thought she was a hidden noble, a lost heir from a forgotten house. He'd been wrong. She was something far, far more powerful.
The academy's headmaster arrived next, flanked by a dozen imperial guards, his face tight with worry. When he saw the scene, he stopped short, his eyes locking on Laia. "Miss Hayes. What in the name of the empire happened here?"
"Void stalker." Laia shrugged, kicking the glowing void crystal across the floor to him. "Came for me, I guess. My followers took care of it. No big deal. Though I would appreciate it if you guys fixed my wall before tomorrow. I need to sleep before my match."
The headmaster stared at the void crystal, then at the destroyed wall, then at the twelve overlords, who were still bowing to Laia like she was the God-Emperor herself. He'd been the headmaster of the academy for fifty years. He'd seen prodigies, monsters, hidden gods. He'd never seen anything like this.
"Of course, Miss Hayes." He said quickly, nodding to the guards. "We'll have the wall fixed within the hour. And we'll double the academy's defenses. No void beast will get through again."
He bowed his head slightly, a gesture of respect he'd never given a student before. The guards scrambled to start cleaning up the mess, the headmaster right behind them, already sending messages to the imperial capital about what he'd just seen.
Elara Voss stared at Laia, her mouth hanging open. She'd known Laia was hiding something. She'd known she was powerful. But she'd never imagined this. Twelve ancient, extinct races, bowing to her like she was their creator. A void stalker torn apart in seconds. The headmaster bowing to her.
Caspian's mind was racing. The offer he'd made earlier—unlimited crystals, a noble title, a chain of sandwich shops—it was nothing. It was an insult. Laia wasn't just a hidden god. She was a Primordial. The kind of being that built the divine realm from the void itself. And he'd just tried to buy her off with a sandwich shop chain.
He stepped forward, bowing low, deeper than he'd ever bowed to anyone but the God-Emperor. "Miss Hayes. My earlier offer… it was insufficient. The Voss family will give you anything you ask for. Anything at all. We swear fealty to you, if you'll have us."
Laia blinked. "Wait, what? Fealty? I just wanted a sandwich shop. I don't need a whole noble house swearing to me."
She turned to her overlords, who were now glaring at Caspian, clearly ready to throw him out the window for daring to speak to their Overgod like that. "Guys, stand down. He's not a threat. He's just weird about the void."
Torin huffed, but straightened up, his eyes still locked on Caspian. He didn't trust this noble. No one got close to their Overgod without earning it.
By now, the sun was starting to rise over the academy's spires. The first light of dawn painted the sky pink and gold, and the tournament grounds were already starting to fill with spectators, eager for the second round of matches.
Laia groaned, flopping back onto her bed. "Great. It's morning already. I didn't get any sleep. And my next match is against the War God's top student. This is going to be a nightmare."
She looked over at Max, who was curled up on her pillow, fast asleep after using his power, and at her twelve overlords, who were already standing guard around her room, ready to fend off any other threats.
"Thanks, guys." She said softly, smiling. "For coming. For keeping me safe."
Kane bowed his head, his voice warm. "It is our honor, Overgod. We will always come when you call."
Caspian and Elara stood in the doorway, watching. Elara smiled, relieved that Laia was safe. Caspian stood frozen, his mind reeling, already rethinking everything he knew about the divine realm.
And far across the academy, in the Rourke family's private box, Lex Thorne stood at the window, staring at Laia's dorm building. He'd watched the void stalker attack, watched the twelve ancient lords tear it apart, watched the headmaster bow to a Rank 3 academy student.
He gripped his sword tight, his jaw set. The War God had told him to push her, to break her, to force her to show her true power.
Lex smiled, cold and sharp. He was going to do more than that. He was going to kill her. Or die trying.
Back in her dorm, Laia pulled a fresh loaf of bread and her block of cheddar out of her bag, and started making a sandwich. She had a match to win, a War God's disciple to beat, and a whole empire suddenly watching her every move.
But first, breakfast. Because no matter how many void monsters attacked, no matter how many noble houses swore fealty to her, no matter how many war gods wanted her dead, a girl had to eat.
And after that? She was going to win that tournament. And build her sandwich shop. No matter what.