Dirga stepped out of the realm and back into his apartment.
But everything felt different.
The moment he reentered the world, he felt it — the weight of his own aura, folding the space slightly around him. His presence was heavier now. Sharper. Like the gravity of a storm about to break.
He blinked, then looked at his phone.
Hundreds of messages.
"Hello? It’s been a week."
"You bastard. I KNOW you’re alive. Answer me."
"You better be dead or I’ll kill you myself."
Dirga sighed and rubbed his temple. His head felt like it would crack open under the pressure of facing her wrath.
Before he could respond, he heard chewing.
Lilith sat at the counter, eating noodles with chopsticks like she lived there.
"Boss?" she asked casually, blinking up at him. Her eyes narrowed, curious.
"You... look different."
Before Dirga could speak, another voice piped in.
Sasa burst out of the hallway like a child returning from camp.
Lilith leapt from her chair and hugged him like a niece seeing her favorite uncle. She even twirled once.
Dirga stared, frozen.
What the actual hell?
Sasa looked over sheepishly, holding up his hands.
"Before you get angry... let me explain."
"I couldn’t copy your aura exactly for the illusion while you were gone. I needed a reference. A living accomplice. And Lilith—" he gestured proudly "—is surprisingly adaptable."
Lilith smiled sweetly. "Uncle Sasa helped us cover for you. It was fun."
Dirga looked between the two. Then sighed.
But Lilith straightened, eyes serious again.
Dirga’s attention snapped back.
"Lucian Marruk. He’s getting bolder. He’s shaking down club owners, refusing to deposit, and he’s threatening a few of our managers. Even the bodyguards don’t want to touch him."
Dirga’s eyes narrowed.
Lucian. The ghost of the underground. The beast Mr. Vantasio once trusted.
"Perfect," Sasa clapped.
"That brings us to the second lesson: combat."
"Lesson One was about bending yourself. Lesson Two is about breaking someone else."
Dirga cracked his knuckles.
"Tonight. I’ll go alone."
He could feel it — the new force pulsing in his limbs. The Black Hole Concept coiled in his soul like a sleeping dragon.
He didn’t just feel confident.
Lilith nodded, still cautious. "I’ll have someone on standby just in case."
"Don’t." Dirga cut her off. "If I can’t deal with Lucian now, I’m not ready for what’s coming."
She hesitated... then bowed slightly. "Yes, Boss."
Until Sasa leaned in, smirking.
"You’re getting cocky."
Dirga tilted his head. "Am I wrong?"
Sasa waved it off, but his tone shifted.
"Even now, you’re not immortal. You can still die. So before you fight..."
He snapped his fingers.
He no longer had the Devil’s card.
But he reached inward, and like a system forming from will and concept, the screen appeared in his mind.
Soul Concept: Black Hole – Stage 1
Gravity (Lv. 1)Telekinesis (Lv. 1)
"Two skills?" Dirga blinked.
"Vantasio’s soul," Sasa replied. "It was high-grade. If you absorb strong souls, they leave more than karma — they leave pieces of their skills behind."
Dirga closed the window.
"Let’s start the lesson then."
Sasa grinned like a demon with front-row tickets to chaos.
With a snap, the room shifted.
They now stood in a space like the Endless — but smaller. A circular arena of black stone floating in a void. No horizon. No sky. Only gravity and silence.
"This isn’t The Endless," Dirga noted.
"A simpler mirror realm. A forge," Sasa replied. He cracked his neck.
"Lesson Two is easy."
Dirga smiled faintly.
"If you can land a clean strike on me — even once — you’re ready to kill Lucian Marruk."
Dirga stepped forward, rolling his shoulders.
Years of street fighting, MMA training, and hard-earned instincts kicked in.
His body moved like a storm.
But now, he had gravity on his side.
The silence snapped like a wire.
Dirga stepped forward — fast.
He dropped into a southpaw stance, legs braced, arms raised like a seasoned fighter. The pressure in his muscles coiled like springs.
With one pulse of his legs, he launched forward, a blur of shadow and muscle.
He threw a left jab — sharp, clean.
He felt it — the air distortion. His fist passed within a single millimeter of Sasa’s face.
Close enough to feel the devil’s smirk.
Sasa moved like water through silk — each dodge not flashy, but perfectly efficient, as if the air had warned him before Dirga even swung.
Dirga didn’t hesitate.
His form was solid. Brutal. Years of street fighting fused with MMA precision. And now, boosted by strength that warped the world around him...
Still, Sasa was untouchable.
He weaved and flowed, laughing softly — not mocking, but delighted.
Every attack missed by the same razor margin — a breath, a blink, a whisper of space.
"This is all you’ve got?" Sasa asked mid-duck, tilting his head as Dirga’s heel passed over him.
"You’ve touched the void, Dirga."
"You’re not just human anymore."
Dirga’s breath came heavy, but not from exhaustion — from realization.
Why was he still fighting like a man...
...when he had become something else?