Night Cherry Tangle, Dawn, and Mirror left the Command Center.
The clamor of Magic City seemed to fall away behind an invisible barrier.
They stood in the square, looking down at the small, ancient Chalice Marks on the backs of their hands.
The marks looked less like tattoos than miniature Divine Artifacts embedded beneath their skin, each giving off a faint pull.
"This feels... strange." Mirror reached out and gently touched the mark on the back of Dawn's hand. "It's as if it wants something."
"Souls," Night Cherry Tangle said softly, yet with startling clarity.
He raised his head, looking past the bustling city toward the distant horizon.
There, on a plane mortals could not perceive, the whole world was stained by the laws of other realms that had invaded it.
The stains varied in size, but all gave off an aura he instinctively loathed.
"Where do we find our first unlucky victim?" Dawn flexed his wrist. The sharp aura of the Formless Blade flashed and vanished, and he sounded eager to get started.
Night Cherry Tangle did not answer at once.
He closed his eyes, and the Divine Authority of the End Court slowly stirred within his Divine Soul.
He no longer looked with his eyes. He sensed through the concept of judgment.
In his perception, Blue Star became a vast map covered in Sinful Brands.
Most of the brands were dim, marking ordinary monsters or low-level invaders.
But a few points shone with a harsh light, like festering sores.
They were evidence of gods forcibly twisting the laws of reality.
He quickly fixed on one point that was nearby and unusually blatant.
"The peninsula," Night Cherry Tangle said, opening his eyes.
"A god of greed has taken up residence there. He's turned an entire city into his treasury."