A place found on no map.

  The War Demon stood leaning against the void, twirling a spectral knife in her hands. Her form flickered constantly, flowing from the shape of a young girl into the silhouette of an armored knight.

  "Is it done, War?" came the dry, dispassionate voice of the Time Demon. He stood opposite her, his green eye pulsing, counting down the rhythm of reality itself.

  "Yes, yes, yes..." she waved the knife lazily. "Everything went according to plan. All three received their 'nightmares.' But you know, Time, you’ve become damn near human. You’ve forgotten your true essence—to inspire fear, not to play the political strategist."

  "You are no better," the Time Demon didn't even turn around. "You’ve begun to forget that we are merely tools of this world. You don’t like that Mira uses us as cannon fodder that simply respawns after death, do you?"

  War suddenly burst into laughter—loud, strained, and harsh.

  "Hahaha! Of course I don’t like it! Even though I did the exact same thing to my own 'hounds' for centuries. What irony..."

  "Who are you lying to?" Time finally looked her straight in the eyes. "I can see it. You’ve grown attached to them. To these short human lives. You loved someone among them once, War. Just as I did."

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  The War Demon fell silent instantly. Her form became sharp and human for a split second. A shadow of a memory, over a thousand years old, flashed in her eyes.

  "If the version of me back then saw me as I am now... I wouldn't believe it was me."

  "The Third Generation demons won’t give an answer," Time changed the subject, staring into the abyss beneath his feet. "They won't budge until Aurora gives her point of view. They are waiting for her word."

  "Mmhmm... The Queen," War grimaced as if from a toothache. "If she acted like a Queen, I wouldn't hate her so much. But her? She went and got attached to him. Completely. Though, Zenhald is something else too..."

  She sighed. "Why is it that we demons think about the fate of this world more than the humans themselves? The only thing keeping them from cutting each other's throats is the Kaiju."

  War suddenly looked to the side.

  "Yanu, you’ve hidden all our traces in the 'Zero' system, haven't you?"

  "Affirmative," came the cold, yet strangely lifelike voice of the AI, emanating from the very space around them. "To Mira and her Assistant, this conversation is nothing more than background server noise."

  "You really are a good girl, Demon-Machine," War smirked.

  "Do not call me that," sharp notes cut through Yanu’s voice. "I am Yanu. And I owe Zenhald everything. If he wants peace, I will give him that peace."

  "Alright, alright, don't boil over, Yanu," War turned back to Time. "What’s the plan next?"

  "We need to speak with the Primordials," the Time Demon clenched his fists. "Mira intends to pay them a visit herself. If they refuse her, she will order Aurora and us to destroy them. And we will do it, because we will have no choice. But if we can convince them first..."

  "Do you think they’ll agree?" War shook her head doubtfully. "You know them. Pain, Hunger, Chaos... they aren't even particularly sentient. They are simply forces of nature. You can’t 'talk' to them."

  "When I contacted the Chaos Demon and spoke Zenhald's name into his void..." the Time Demon paused, his voice trembling slightly. "For a couple of minutes, he froze. His entire eternal storm stilled. And then he simply closed the connection. There is a chance. Even they remember Zenhald."

  "Then we're playing for high stakes," War lifted her head, her eyes filling with a crimson light. "Let’s see which way the scales tip."