Clara did not speak of her regression.
She never had.
Not to Ming. Not to Xuan. Not even to those who had fought beside her long enough to entrust their lives to her judgment. The knowledge of futures unwritten—of catastrophes already witnessed and disasters quietly avoided—remained a secret carried by only two people in the world.
Clara herself—
And Isey.
They had agreed on that long ago.
Not out of mistrust—
But necessity.
Knowledge of the future was a double-edged blade. The moment too many minds attempted to correct destiny, those corrections would begin interfering with one another. Decisions made to prevent one disaster could unknowingly create another. Even well-meaning people could distort events until the world followed a path no one could predict.
So the future remained sealed between them.
Locked.
Guarded.
Untouched.
And now, in the underground chamber beneath the abandoned train station, the pieces they had spent years assembling were finally gathered in one place.
For the first time—
Xuan was among them.
Her presence subtly changed the atmosphere of the room.
The chamber itself was unchanged—steel walls, defensive sigils humming quietly beneath layers of alloy and rune-inscribed plating. The obsidian meeting table remained the same silent centerpiece, reflecting the white light above it like dark glass.
But with Xuan there, the air felt sharper.
Not heavier.
Never oppressive.
Instead, it felt as though time itself had straightened its spine—
And begun paying attention.
She sat at the head of the table by unspoken consensus.
Acting Leader of Ultimatum.
Under one—
But above all.
A strategist.
The woman whose manipulation of time had once held back entire armies long enough for humanity to survive.
Beside her sat Ling, calm and observant, fingers lightly resting against the table. As the de facto head of Jury—Ultimatum's hidden intelligence arm—Ling specialized in truths uncovered and lies dismantled long before they could threaten the organization. She had been vouched for by Sky Fist himself.
No one questioned that decision.
Ming leaned back in his chair nearby, arms folded behind his head. Lightning occasionally crackled across his knuckles when impatience crept into his thoughts. Publicly, he was the hammer of Ultimatum—the Vice Leader of the First Raid Team. Quietly, he was the one who kept its warriors grounded when power threatened to cloud judgment.
Clara sat opposite him.
The Spear Master.
Leader of Ultimatum's First Raid Team—the elite strike unit that officially existed only in name. Missions assigned to them were the ones that left no evidence behind.
Geetha and the others filled the outer seats, their presence steady and unyielding. They were members of Jury—personally selected by either Sky Fist or Clara for their reliability, their discipline, and their ability to operate without hesitation.
And Isey—
Isey sat where he always did.
Slightly apart.
Watching.
He rarely claimed the center of any room. Even now, the man who had killed a Demon King simply rested his elbows on the table and observed the others like someone listening to the tide roll in and out.
Every person present had been pulled into this circle by one of two forces.
Clara.
Or Isey.
Sometimes knowingly.
Sometimes not.
Even Xuan had once been nothing more than an S-ranked unknown—until she had been scouted by Sky Fist under Clara's guidance. Thanks to knowledge gathered across previous lives, Clara knew exactly who could be trusted… and who needed to be eliminated before they became threats.
Xuan was the first to break the silence.
"The death of a Demon King," she said evenly, "will not go unanswered."
Her voice carried no drama.
Only certainty.
No one disagreed.
"Acedia was the weakest of the Seven," Clara said grimly. "Sloth made him slow. Careless."
"And arrogant," Ling added. "Which is why he died."
Clara's fingers tightened briefly around the haft of the spear leaning beside her chair.
"The others will not make that mistake," she said.
In her mind, she saw it again—
A battlefield drowned in red beneath a sky that burned like an open wound.
Cities collapsing under the weight of demonic armies.
The roar of a single Demon King tearing through the last defenders of humanity.
She forced the memory down.
Buried it.
Xuan nodded slowly.
"That is precisely why we must decide who comes next."
Silence settled across the chamber.
Everyone understood the implication.
One Demon King had already fallen.
The remaining six—
Would not wait.
Then Clara spoke the name.
"Luxuria."
The air shifted.
Even Ming stopped fidgeting.
"Bearer of Lust," Xuan continued. "Succubus Queen. The only one of the Seven who rules as a true monarch rather than a tyrant."
With Heavenly Eyes, information was never scarce—only restricted. And Ultimatum had long since moved beyond such limitations.
Clara's expression hardened.
She remembered Luxuria well.
Too well.
Unlike the others, Luxuria did not conquer through destruction.
She conquered through control.
Through desire.
Through influence.
Through manipulation so subtle entire nations could collapse without realizing they had already lost.
"She will come," Clara said quietly.
Xuan turned toward her.
"You're certain."
"Yes."
No further explanation followed.
None was needed.
Only Isey noticed the slight shift in her breathing.
A tell so small no one else could have caught it.
"Luxuria does not rely on brute force," Clara continued. "Nor overwhelming numbers. Her strength lies in control."
Ming scoffed lightly.
"We've fought mind manipulators before."
Clara met his gaze.
"This is different."
The room stilled again.
Then she turned toward Isey.
"And Sky Fist must not face her."
Xuan frowned slightly.
"That is not a decision we can make lightly."
"It's the only correct one," Clara said firmly.
She paused—choosing her words carefully.
"Luxuria possesses a trump card," Clara continued. "One she uses only once. At the cost of her own heart."
Ming leaned forward.
"What kind of attack burns a Demon King's own heart?"
Clara's voice remained steady.
"A complete seduction."
"Not illusion."
"Not hypnosis."
"Domination," Ling finished softly.
Clara nodded.
"If Sky Fist is caught by it—even briefly—the war ends."
The statement lingered.
Heavy.
Unchallenged.
Xuan exhaled slowly.
"So we remove him from the battlefield."
"Yes."
Ming ran a hand through his hair.
"You're telling me we face a Demon King without our strongest weapon?"
"With our safest one," Clara corrected.
Xuan's gaze sharpened.
"You're proposing an all-female engagement."
"Yes."
Silence.
Clara did not soften it.
"This will not be a spectacular victory," she said. "It will be slow. Methodical."
"But it avoids the worst possible outcome."
"And casualties?" Geetha asked quietly.
"Reduced," Clara answered. "Not eliminated."
Xuan leaned back slightly, steepling her fingers. Subtle distortions of time flickered faintly around her wrists, like ripples across still water.
She thought carefully.
"It may not win us the war," she said slowly.
"But it prevents us from losing it in a single moment."
Her eyes lifted.
"I agree."
Ming cursed under his breath.
"…Damn it."
He sighed.
"I hate that it makes sense."
Then—
Isey spoke.
"Luxuria isn't the endgame."
Every head turned toward him.
"She's a test," he continued calmly.
"The Demon Kings are probing."
"Seeing how we react."
"Who we protect."
"Who we expose."
Clara met his gaze.
"And who we sacrifice."
Isey nodded.
"We don't give them that satisfaction."
For a moment—
No one spoke.
The weight of that statement settled into the room.
Then the discussion resumed.
Quietly.
Efficiently.
Battle formations were outlined.
Countermeasures against charm-based domination were layered.
Extraction contingencies were drafted.
Temporal failsafes were designed under Xuan's direction.
Each detail was examined.
Refined.
Secured.
There were no grand speeches.
No declarations of victory.
Only preparation.
The kind built by people who understood exactly what failure looked like.
Clara said nothing of the futures she remembered.
Isey said nothing of the strength he kept hidden.
And Xuan—
Now fully aware that the board she had stepped onto was far larger than she had ever imagined—
Finally understood something fundamental.
Humanity's greatest weapon was not Sky Fist.
Sky Fist was a deterrent.
A final answer.
A last resort.
A blade drawn only when everything else had failed.
The true weapon—
Was preparation.
Coordination.
Understanding.
Control.
And the war—
Had only just begun.
Far above them, the abandoned train station remained silent.
Forgotten.
Unseen.
But deep below—
Humanity's future was being rewritten.
One decision at a time.