[King Evans, do you hear me?]

"...Athena?"

Van was slightly confused. But even with his eyes slightly squinted, he answered the familiar voice that was echoing around his head. He was sure of it– the voice could belong to none other than Athena.

"...How are you talking to me right now?" Van then said as he pushed away Bishop Bezios– almost causing him to hit his bald head on the wall he pinned him to.

[There's a transmitter in your suit that–]

"Shouldn't you still be in Hyperspeed?"

[Obviousl,y we are not anymore, King Evans. We used up the other batteries of the small ships inside Solomon to speed up our arrival.]

"...Where are you now?"

[We're idling Solomon near the habitable planet of this galaxy. We took a detour to a couple of Barriers to avoid the Systellions. What about you, where are you right now, King Evans? The Common Council representative said you tried to scout the enemy?]

"...I'm inside one of the Vessels."

[...Vessels?]

"...One of the sun-sized ships of–"

[What!?]

Van almost tumbled where he stood as a high-pitched whistle erupted in his ear; causing Bishop Bezios and his wife to flinch in fear as they had no idea of their current fate… or if they even have one after this weird experience.

[What are you even doing inside the enemy's territory!? Have I not taught you not to do that!? What if they detected you!?]

"That's just it, Athena– I don't think they did," Van then let out a small sigh; his eyes moving across the suite but still very carefully watching Bishop Bezios and his wife,

"I think with the size of the Vessel, they don't bother to check everything that touches the–"

[Your energy readings are off the charts, King Evans. They should in a way have already detected you.]

"...I've been here for hours."

[That… is weird. What's your status right now?]

"I… have new parents," Van then said as he turned to look at the slightly old couple beside him, "I think I might have found a way for us to gather as much information we need, Athena."

[...What? Get out of there as soon as you–]

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Van let out a small sigh as he shook his head, "Do you have a way to see what I am seeing right now?"

[...]Van could hear all sorts of whispers and rumbles from the other side. But after a few more moments, Athena answered with a yes.

[There should be a small red button somewhere on your right chest.]

"..." Van slightly pulled the robes he was wearing to try and see what Athena was talking about. And to his surprise, there really was a red button there– he thought that was only for design, as Vivati was quite… stylish in a way.

"Should I press it?" Van said, not even waiting for Athena's confirmation before actually pressing it.

[...You already did,] Athena's sigh was quite visible even from the comms, [Turn off your communication line, we already have audio on the video and the feeds are interfering with each other.]

"..."

[...Should be on your arm.]

"Right, right," Van then said as he pressed the blinking light on his arm, "I'll talk to you later, just watch me from there and tell me how to proceed, I'll think about listening."

And with that, Van could no longer hear Athena's voice. The only noise he could hear was the heavy breaths that Bishop Bezios and his wife were stuttering.

"Are… are you planning to kill us?" Bishop Bezios muttered, his bald head already filled with sweat even with the cold air that was flowing inside the suite, "You… are you from the other Vessels? Or could you be from the Ark?"

"...Vessels?" Van then squinted his eyes, "How many of these sun-sized ships are there?"

"Is… is that a rhetorical question?"

"Just answer me."

"F… four?"

"So there are two more inside the Portal?"

"Forty. There are forty Vessels in total."

"...What?" Van blinked a couple of times as soon as Bishop Bezios's words. And after a few seconds, Van's eyebrows began to knit; his voice, slightly turning cold,

"Just how fucking many of you are there? Should I really just kill all of you one by one so the others would be too afraid to follow?"

It almost felt like death itself was crawling through Bishop Bezios and his wife's throat, causing them to shut their mouths; their legs, frozen in place as Van's whirring and vibrating hands slowly moved towards them.

"W… wait," but before Van's hand could tear the two to shreds, the tone of Bishop Bezios's voice surprisingly became somewhat lively-- a complete contrast from hisshrivelingg breaths just moments ago.

"You… could you actually be a local from this universe?" Bishop Bezios then muttered as he looked at Van from head to toe.

"...what?"

And it wasn't only him; even his wife started looking at Van in a weird manner, "He's… a native beast?"And as soon as Van saw the change in their demeanor as they realized that Van was not actually a systellion, he was once again reminded of why he was here in the first place.

He got side-tracked when he saw the children and families earlier… but with the pair of eyes that were looking at him right now like he was just a lowly animal-- his purpose came back.

The systellions, they need to disappear from his universe… and he needed to do everything in his power to achieve that goal.

"Now the two of you get to choose," Van then muttered; his voice, not even hiding the same disgust Bishop Bezios's wife was giving him, "Let me pretend to be your son and give me everything I need, answer all the questions I have…

...or I kill both of you right here and now."

***

"Bishop Bezios!"

"Bishop, please look here!"

"Madam Maria, who is the young man behind you!?"magic

Just outside the hotel, Bishop Bezios and his wife, Maria, were walking peacefully towards their car before they were bombarded by bright flashes of light and an endless amount of questions.

If it weren't for the guards blocking the media's path, then the Bishop and his wife would have already been hammered down.

The couple refused to answer any questions. Well… any but one.

"Madam, who is the young man behind you!?"

"He…" Maria took in a small gulp as she glanced at Van, who was now wearing what he assumes to be a suit tailored for men of… high tastes,

"He is our son."

"What!?"

And with Maria's words, the bright flashes of light may have as well become an ocean of light. The already million questions doubled… but the Bishop's family no longer entertained any of them as they entered their vehicle.

"..."

"..."

"Good job, mother."

And with Van's words, Bishop Bezios and his wife filled the entire car with their sighs of relief.

"Now sit and relax," Van then ordered, causing the two to slightly flinch, "You said you were going to visit another Bishop?"

"Y… yes, but I could cancel if--"

"No, just continue whatever it is you're going to do today… and if I don't like what I am seeing-- I'll kill you and your wife in a blink of an eye."

"That's…"

"Now tell me," Van did not allow Bezios to speak, "This Bishop we will be meeting…

...is he strong?"