Pheldir, the Arbiter who had separated from Arthur and Cattleya several hours earlier, was currently more than halfway across the galaxy, within a fractured expanse of space that trembled due to the presence of a single colossal entity.
He was part of a formation of multiple Arbiters, all of them facing off against a giant creature with a body larger than star systems, tentacles extending from its mass in all directions, each one coiling around stars as though they were nothing more than loose debris.
Parts of its body were semi-transparent, revealing internal layers where powerful death energy and divinity churned.
Whenever the Arbiters wounded it, nothing resembling blood spilt out. Instead, bubbles erupted from the damaged areas, white, black, and every colour in between, drifting outward into space before splitting apart and dispersing across the vacuum.
Within those bubbles were souls, thousands upon thousands of them, each one sealed within the creature’s body.
Several Arbiters shot through the battlefield in formation, sweeping through the drifting clusters of bubbles. They activated Authorities of Death and Space, containing the released souls before they could further scatter into open space, sealing away the poor existences that had been forcibly absorbed into the creature.
This creature was no natural being, but a Soul Devil constructed from billions of souls, an artificial abomination forged through forced convergence of life and death on a near galactic scale.
Pheldir moved within the formation, but unlike most of the others, his hood was pulled low over his face, and a mask covered what remained exposed.
The others could not see his face or expression, only his uniform that identified him as an Arbiter, and his compliance within the formation.
He didn’t take an active, front-line role, but stayed closer to the rear of the engagement. When the front-line Arbiters fired another wave of attacks and dealt major damage to the creature, he dove below it, slipping through a gap in its tentacles’ movements and heading towards a tear where a cluster of souls had just spilt free.
But just as he prepared to retrieve them, a cosmic gate suddenly opened directly behind him without warning.
Before any Arbiter nearby could register the anomaly, Arthur’s hand shot out from the gate and clamped onto Pheldir, pulling him backwards into the opening.
The gate snapped shut immediately after, leaving the floating souls drifting in silence, unnoticed in the chaos of the ongoing battle. None of the Arbiters realised that one of their own had vanished.
The next instant, the shocked and confused Pheldir’s body was thrown across a desert under a completely different sky.
He crashed through the sand and tumbled across the barren ground as grains scattered into the air, but he quickly regained his bearings and flipped back onto his feet.
His head snapped upward, and his eyes locked onto Arthur, who calmly waved at him.
"Hello, Pheldir. Short time no see."
"Your Highness?" Pheldir asked in confusion, his brow furrowing beneath the mask. "What’s the meaning of this?"
He stepped back instinctively, alarm bells ringing in his head as Arthur began walking forward with unhurried steps.
"Oh, nothing too serious," Arthur replied. "I just came to pick something up."
Arthur summoned Hades’ Authority crystal into his palm from his subspace, and like before, he injected divinity into it, and the Underworld Token in Pheldir’s possession reacted instantly. It burst from within his coat and shot toward the crystal as though magnetised by it.
Arthur caught the token before it made impact, dusted it lightly, then returned the Authority crystal to his subspace.
"I just came to pick this up," he said, waving the Underworld Token lightly in the air. "Company property is usually returned when someone resigns or retires, you know."
Pheldir could not understand what was happening. He took several more steps back, his mind ringing with alarm, but Arthur continued forward without change in pace, sand shifting underfoot as he closed the distance.
"You don’t need to think too much about it, Pheldir," Arthur said. "All you need to know is that you’ve played your part. Your job is done. Good work."
The moment those words left Arthur’s mouth, Pheldir instantly unleashed his divinity and activated multiple Authorities simultaneously.
But the instant he did, he suddenly choked.
He coughed hard as golden blood spilt from the corners of his lips and the edges of his eyes.
His chest felt hollow, and when he tried to clutch it with his hands, his fingers passed through empty space.
"!"
Pheldir’s eyes widened as the realisation that there was now a hole in his chest dawned on him.
A moment later, Arthur’s hand landed on his shoulder from behind, holding up a faintly pulsing bloodied piece of flesh for him to see.
THUMP!
The sound echoed through Pheldir’s ears, the beating of his heart not within his chest, but directly before his eyes.
"W-why?" he choked out, collapsing to his knees.
Arthur tilted his head slightly at the sight, looking lightly impressed.
"As expected of someone with High-Rank Authorities over life and death," Arthur said. "You’ll last longer than the others."
He tossed Pheldir’s heart aside after extracting his divine spark, then continued,
"Didn’t I say it earlier? You’ve done your job. It’s time for you to exit the stage. The real Arbiter is on his way, after all."
At those words, Pheldir’s eyes widened further as he coughed up blood.
"You knew...!"
That was all he managed to say before his body collapsed completely, lifeless against the desert floor.
Arthur crouched beside him, waiting for the soul to emerge, and the moment it did, he grabbed it and crushed it within his hand, destructive cosmic energy erasing it from existence.
"Didn’t I tell you, Mum?" Arthur muttered. "I was going to make sure he never got the chance to tell anyone."
He rose to his feet and flicked the blood from his hand before absorbing Pheldir’s divine spark. When he turned around, the desert wind swept across the open land, and Pheldir’s body, now dust, was blown away along with the sand.
The actions Arthur had just taken left his Ego Weapons in stunned silence.
[Master. What the hell?] Lostvayne asked, unable to hide her shock.
Arthur exhaled lightly as he tapped the Cosmic Teleporter.
"Come on, Lostvayne. Didn’t you just hear me tell him? The real Arbiter is on his way. He should’ve arrived in Hell a couple of days ago, and Larry is currently bringing him here."
[The...real Arbiter?] Lostvayne asked in confusion.
"Yeah," Arthur replied with a devious smile. "The real Arbiter."
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