Prison Dimension...

TINNG—!

The sound rolled across existence like a struck law.

A majestic golden bell, vast enough to dwarf mountains, hovered in the dark void above, its surface carved with ancient runes, each vibration sending ripples through the darkened sky. The toll did not echo. It pressed, as if reality itself was forced to acknowledge it.

Below the bell stretched a colossal arena.

Flat... Endless.

So vast it swallowed perspective.

The land extended horizontally, curving only slightly at the edges, like a slice cut clean from a moon and laid bare. And then... some movement...

A portion of Egypt was torn free.

SHUAA!

Sand, stone, and space folded inward as a green teleportation array flared violently. Entire dunes lifted, pyramids dragged screaming through space, the massive serpent coiled around them momentarily thrashing as the world lurched.

Wind howled.

Sand exploded outward.

Then... silence!

The green rays snapped shut, the array collapsing in on itself like a sealed wound.

The pyramids stood again.

But not where they belonged.

The sky above them was wrong, too deep, too dark, threaded with faint constellations that didn't exist over Earth.

Figures dropped from the air one after another.

Women landed lightly, boots sinking into unfamiliar sand, brows raised, instincts sharp.

Confusion spread instantly.

"…Where are we?" someone muttered.

Ning Xue straightened, eyes scanning the horizon, flat, endless, oppressive. "This isn't earth," she said sharply. "The air pressure's wrong."

The only familiar silhouettes in this alien expanse were ahead of them.

Wang Xiao.

Athlaea.

Yue'er (Yin Yue).

"What's going on?" Ning Xue asked, turning toward Wang Xiao.

Before he could answer... The sky burned like molten gold.

High above, the colossal golden eye, Yuriko's divine weapon, opened fully.

Light poured out.

Not illumination... judgment!

Apophis screamed.

The serpent's massive form convulsed as the golden gaze locked onto it. Its body flickered violently, scales phasing in and out as its existence across multiple timelines was forcibly dragged into alignment.

"Hiss—!" the serpent roared, its voice fracturing into overlapping echoes.

Under the "Authority of Observation", the wavering stopped.

Past, present, and branching futures collapsed into one!

The serpent was forced to exist in one time.

Behind the golden eye, the other three divine weapons snapped into formation.

The sword.

The scale.

The scepter.

They formed a tri-directional divine sight, overlapping layers of fate, law and judgment converging behind Yuriko as she descended.

She landed barefoot on the sand, jade-smooth feet sinking lightly into the cold grainy sand grains. The golden radiance from her weapons stretched long shadows across the arena, painting every face in sharp brilliance and deeper darkness.

Her flawless expression was grim.

"I can't hold it for long," Yuriko said, steady but strained.

The ground beneath her trembled, timelines grinding like cosmic gears that hated their job.

Athlaea clicked her tongue. "This feels like a containment arena," she muttered. "Some asshole decided to imprison us."

Wang Xiao looked around, sky, sand, bell, air pressure, all the details others missed.

"…They carved out part of the battlefield and dropped us here," he said, almost amused. "So it was a trap, indeed..."

Yue'er clutched his sleeve tighter, silver hair brushing his arm, "Ge…It feels like something huge is watching us."

[A/N: Ge = Older brother]

And then... Ning Xue.

She stepped closer, lips pressed together, the faintest tremble under her calm.

She clearly wanted to snap, but her voice simply wasn't built for screaming.

"…A trap?" she asked, soft but strained. "You… knew?"

Instead of anger, her tone sounded like a gentle scolding from someone who had never sworn in her life.

Even her glare looked like she was politely asking the universe to explain itself.

Wang Xiao nodded.

Ning Xue chest rose, fell… she tried again:

"You knew… and you still walked us in?" She blinked once. "Into… this giant… deatharena… thing?"

Her voice cracked a little at the end, more flustered than furious.

She lowered her eyes, cheeks puffing slightly in frustration.

"…I… I see," she murmured, almost under her breath. "Next time, maybe tell me before we walk into hell? I'm not-" She stopped herself. "…forget it."

Her gaze slid to Yuriko instead. Scolding this man felt like yelling at a wall that didn't even register sound.

"Master Yuriko," Ning Xue said softly, trying again, "at least you should have told me before… randomly throwing me into the battlefield to help you…"

Yue'er blinked, genuinely puzzled. "Did I not…?"

Ning Xue froze. Then waved both hands quickly. "I, I don't remember…"

"…."

Watching her get effortlessly gaslit by Yuriko and Wang Xiao, Athlaea felt a twinge of pity. The girl's round face, earnest, flustered, was almost criminally adorable.

She stepped in and stretched Ning Xue's cheeks with both hands.

"!!!"

Ning Xue jumped back instantly. "S-Stop! Why do you all keep assaulting my face?!"

Athlaea clicked her tongue. "Your mother wouldn't let us do it to hers. Tch, can't help it." She leaned in again. "Just one more time."

Ning Xue retreated, wide-eyed, then looked at Yuriko with a helpless question mark. She honestly had no idea who this new woman was, where they were, or why everything kept trying to kill them. She had simply… followed along.

Yuriko stepped closer, expression pained. "There are people inside. Go, rescue them."

She glanced at Wang Xiao, a question she didn't voice tightening her chest. Why bring her here?

The situation was far above Ning Xue's paygrade.

She gently shooed her away.

Ning Xue nodded, grateful, and hurried off.

The moment she was gone, the space changed.

They all looked up.

Four pairs of ominous red eyes vast as nations, opened in the sky, one in each cardinal direction. A red hue bled through the dark sky, predatory, patient, like hunters finally spotting prey at night.

"…Umm," Athlaea swallowed. "I'll go… accompany Little Ningning."

She turned and bolted.

No hesitation, no pride.

The pressure alone was already crushing on her legs, bones screaming. As a gravity user, she knew force, and this exceeded what she could endure for more than five seconds.

It felt like a collapsing universe staring straight through her.

"Whoever's inside," Wang Xiao said calmly, eyes still on the sky, "don't let them leave. Take her with you."

He patted Yuriko's back, signaling her to move. Even she looked pale under the pressure.

He tossed Yue'er toward her. If it were Yin, she might've helped, but not now. He didn't want her exposed yet.

Not when the overlords themselves had come to greet him.

The bell above gave a satisfied hum.

The arena echoed, not with sound but with laughter, a dry, mocking chuckle rippled across the sky, bending space as if the void itself was amused.

[Keke… Lord Dark Star?]

One of the colossal eyes shifted, its pupil rolling mockingly toward another.

[Such a grand name for this puny ant. What happened? You cold fart couldn't even handle him?]

The second eye flared crimson.

The sky vibrated as its voice boomed straight out of space, heavy enough to crush continents.

[LORD DARK STAR!]

[You have been summoned today to answer for your crimes!]

Wang Xiao frowned.

"…Dark Star?" He clicked his tongue. "That's the best you idiots could come up with?"

So it really was them.

The four Great Lords of the Netherworld.

He hadn't expected all four to crawl out of their holes and set a trap just for him, but apparently, trauma made people stupid.

Wang Xiao laughed.

Not loud.

Not arrogant.

Just… tired.

"You old foggy fucks really don't learn, do you?" he said, voice calm, almost conversational. "Last time you summoned me, it turned into a bloodbath. You lost territory, armies, and half your population."

He tilted his head slightly.

"How exactly do you think this ends differently?"

The eye belonging to the Yin Faction Great Lord trembled.

That voice, the same one whose domain Wang Xiao had reduced by thirty percent, whose plagues had run wild afterward, devouring worlds like rotting meat-

snapped.

[INSOLENT BASTARD!]

Pressure descended.

Not force... authority!

Enough to flatten a minor universe in an instant slammed down toward Wang Xiao like a divine palm meant to erase him.

Once... long ago... Wang Xiao might have panicked.

But now?

He didn't even move.

Because it wasn't him trapped in the arena.

It was them.

Before the pressure could finish forming-

[WAIT!]

A third voice butted in sharply, laced with urgency.

[Don't kill him!]

[He still has my Royal Princess!]

The pressure froze mid-descent.

[HUMPH.]

The Yin Faction Great-Lord snorted coldly, withdrawing the crushing authority, the sky falling into a suffocating silence.

None of them noticed the slight twitch at the corner of Wang Xiao's mouth.

They didn't know.

Didn't know that the so-called Royal Princess, the pride of the Yang Faction Great Lord had already been chopped into neat pieces.

Seasoned.

Cooked.

And eaten by Wang Xiao for lunch.

He swallowed once, almost thoughtfully.

"…Ah," he said lightly. "About that..."