Harper flinched. She looked at Scale deeply, her irises shrinking to dots. “W-what do you mean?”

  Instead of answering the question, Scale asked one of her own. “Harper, what do you think a Consteltion is?” Scale stepped forward, putting herself directly between Harper and the seven opponents.

  “They’re gods.”

  “They’re not gods.”

  “Th-they aren’t?”

  “No.” Scale’s voice stretched down an octave. Her skin rippled and her body bubbled. “Consteltions, at their core, are just powerful souls who’ve escaped the natural cycle of their world.” Wings sprouted from Scale’s back. A tail appeared at some point. Shimmering golden magic swirled through the air to contrast the growing wall of bck that opposed it. She became a point of light shining in the darkness.

  [Necrosis Chains says, “I have come to negotiate with you. Not fight.]

  “Then why are you still shoving mana into him?” Scale pointed at Jeremy. Her reproachful voice made the seventh man flinch. Her stern expression contrasted harshly with her earlier smile. The ground trembled. The air started to swirl; fallen leaves danced off the forest floor. Colorless lightning split the canopy as the subspace struggled to contain the burgeoning powers of multiple intruding Entities.

  Another stream of mana descended through the shattering spatial wall overhead. A mana that Scale recognized. That stream connected to a second one of the human men. Another mana stream appeared after that one and connected to a third of the human men. One by one, mana streams from beyond the veil flowed into the subspace until all six of the humans were connected to Entities beyond.

  Scale waved her hand. A new golden barrier appeared around Harper, this one several folds more powerful than the st, and it isoted the young girl from the storm of flowing mana.

  The six men were no longer men. Their bodies began to distort and they screamed. Their forms twisted. One’s body inverted itself. Another began to elongate into a four-legged ungute. A third compressed into a floating orb of flesh. Each took on physical forms more demented than the st. Scale didn’t feel pity. They signed the contracts on their own. Ignorance was no excuse.

  “W-what’s happening to them?” Harper fell to the ground in shock.

  “They accepted too much mana,” said Scale. “Consteltions call it Seed Mana because it’s like pnting a part of their power in the soul of another, hoping to help them bloom. Think of a soul like a precious flower and mana as the water you sprinkle on it to let it thrive. Pnts need water to survive, yes…” Scale paused. She closed her eyes briefly.

  “But if you give them too much then they’ll die.”

  “But—” Harper tried to rebuke. The creatures in front of her weren’t dying. They were even growing stronger by the second. Their presences were so powerful now that she felt like a small boat at sea in the middle of a hurricane.

  “Their souls are dead,” said Scale. “The bodies are just vessels. Now those vessels are filled with something else. They’ve become nothing but Avatars. Puppets.”

  Harper turned her head to look at Scale with watering eyes. The question burning in her heart was apparent, but she didn’t ask. She didn’t dare to ask.

  “Ah.” Scale looked at Harper’s expression and sighed. She put on the gentlest expression she could. “I’m not an Avatar.”

  “Th-then how?”

  “It’s common sense, right? That Consteltions cannot come to the world directly.” Scale winked. “I’m a bit special. My soul is from this world—and—I am not bound by their [Contract].”

  It wasn’t the whole truth. Harper didn’t know enough to see the faults in Scale’s expnation. Watergss, in the same situation, could have asked a poignant question to tear Scale’s words apart: ‘Then why had no other Consteltions born on earth descended in their true bodies?’

  [We meet again.]

  The Avatar in the shape of a horse with human skin spoke with twisted glee. Its vibrant heartbeat filled the forest with the sound of distant thunder.

  “You lot continue to speak without speaking.” Scale stepped forward.

  [We speak in the proper way. Not like lowly mortals.]

  “You’ve abandoned your roots, your skills are cking, and the seven of you combined can’t hope to win this fight. So why pick it?”

  [We are here to negotiate. Not fight.]

  “Negotiations require both parties to be on even footing.”

  [Do you think us so lowly as to approach without leverage?]

  “Yes.”

  [We cannot kill you. But you have a weakness: things you wish to protect.]

  Scale’s eyes narrowed. Her body started to grow. The sclera of her eyes turned red and her irises stretched vertically into slits.

  “Do you think you’re safe?” Her voice rumbled like an avanche. “Do you think hiding outside the veil, using avatars to fight a proxy war, can keep me from touching you?”

  [You only entered the veil through the path of another. We can make avatars endlessly, target your family and friends. We can grind you down day by day, year by year. You cannot harm us in a way that matters.]

  Scale paused for a moment with a bnk face at first. Her chest started shaking. Her tail spped the ground and the resulting shockwave bowled part of the forest down. The shaking of her chest exploded into ughter, uninhibited. Her eyes twisted into crescent moons.

  “This is a teachable moment. Not for you lot, of course, but for the other spectators at least.” Scale paused as her magic started to grow. The spiraling wind buzzed like sawbdes. Rotating mana pierced the sky like a drill breaking the heavens.

  In a voice cold like ice, Scale asked, “Do you think only mortals can become Avatars?”

  Several Consteltions were watching the show. Different groups, different alliances, they all came together to see what the result would be. Princess Scale had pierced the Veil and wasn’t rejected by the world. It was a conundrum. None could solve it. Several tried to imitate but all attempts failed.

  The only option left was negotiation, but negotiations involved risk. A consteltion more powerful than several alliances by itself wasn’t something to underestimate. So most decided to let others test the waters. Different groups, different alliances, they all came together to see what the result would be.

  Among those groups of stars, the strongest alliances that watched over the Earth held their breath. The Guild of Abraham. The Pantheon. Valhal. The major lights that watched over the world one by one were soon presented with an option that, frankly, they didn’t even know was possible.

  [The Judge offers a contract.]

  What kind of Consteltion had ever considered sponsoring other Consteltions? All had falsely believed that mana flowed one way. Laughter filled the cosmos at the most brazen move ever seen. Yet none dismissed it. The bance had been disrupted before without them knowing. The Judge possessed the power to weigh others on the scales, the power of bance. None could dismiss. None could miss. None could—

  [The Lion accepts the contract.]

  [The Raven accepts the contract.]

  [The Rain Giver accepts the contract.]

  [The Judge has designated ‘The Nihilist Star Alliance’ as the enemy.]

  Astronomers on the dark side of the world, away from the sun, watched in horror as the stars rearranged themselves. Shooting stars filled the void of the cosmos. Trailing lights streaked across the night sky.

  Harper couldn’t see anything. The barrier in front of her thickened to the point it looked no different from solid gold metal. She banged her fists against it, terrified of what was happening beyond her sight. She trusted Scale’s strength, and even had some understanding of it, but faced with seven others of equal standing—

  And then the barrier fell. Standing alone outside the barrier, Scale’s forced smile brought Harper back from the brink of despair.

  “Silly girl,” said Scale. “I told you not to worry.” Scale’s face, despite the overwhelming victory, didn’t look at ease. She was preparing for what would inevitably come next: rejection. After all, (except for Watergss who was family) no one had ever gotten a glimpse of Scale’s true power and didn’t reje—

  Scale’s thoughts were stopped like a broken clock. A pair of thin yet firm arms wrapped around her.

  “Of—course—I’m—going—to worry!” Harper spoke between sobs. Her tears stained Scale’s uniform.

  Frozen, Scale moved her hand robotically up to pat Harper on the back. Imperceptibly, the corners of her lips quivered, forming a genuine smile.