He was looking at the screen with the image of the kissing couple.

«We might have. Anyway, we did our best to help our student. If everything goes according to plan, we haven't lived in vain.»

Hubert shook his head. – «I've always loved "The Matrix," the cult cla.s.sic, but I just can't stand the idea that you and I, we all are nothing but a projection of the second-to-G.o.d degree of Synergy. It makes me infinitely sad to realize that we will all soon disappear forever...»

«Chin up, buddy. We will always be with our student!» – Western cheered him up with a smile.

~pew~

A plasma bolt thundered on the big screen, followed by a desperate girl's scream.

«To our incredible student, buddy!» – Hubert solemnly raised his gla.s.s.

«To our student!» – Western picked up his gla.s.s.

~clink~

The blue light veiled the world radiance, losing its clarity.

The clear ringing sound of two gla.s.ses clinked together marked the moment when the world glowed up blue, blurred and finally disappeared.

…

The masters knew everything the very day the 10th level anomaly appeared. On a faraway planet, right on the playground, they detected a girl in the immediate vicinity of the gifted boy who was destined to become the greatest representative of humanity. The girl could talk to him despite the language barrier... Their memories stayed intact, their brain had abnormal structure, and there was an inextricable bond between them.

This couple was the center of their universe.

The masters concluded that their "real" student's Synergy had already reached the legendary 6th degree and had created this world. They decided not to rush things and give Lovr time to grow to the closest version of Kyon that the girl knew.

Twelve years of experimenting on the girl had opened the veil of secrets. They found out the laws that ruled her world, which would be impossible if they didn't have access to her soul that led them to another reality.

Juno's story helped them recreate the approximate sequence of events their "real" student had experienced:

Kyon had captured Juno's soul (it confirms the same frequency of her soul with Lovr's Synergy). After that, Lovr lost the frequency of his soul, and as a result, he faced a life or death situation. That's how he came up with an extraordinary decision. He "lost" to Juno so that she captured his soul, which reset his original frequency of vibrations and saved his life.

This decision was worthy of the first choice for the role of a G.o.d. The question of how to save Lovr had become urgent and pressing. The best minds of the universe worked on this task, although they knew how it would all end for them. What is the world worth compared to G.o.d's life?

Western and Hubert were responsible for the development of the plan. They took advantage of Lovr's weakness for the fair s.e.x, allowed him to meet with Juno, gave him an absurd task to find out how the size of her soul, and set the rule that turned her into "forbidden fruit," delicious and inaccessible.

Then nature took its course. The two lovebirds fell for each other. This outcome also meant there was a breach, a weak point in Kyon's nature. If Juno hit his soft spot, she would capture his soul according to the laws that described her world. However, she had to kill him on her own, of her own free will.

And how to convince her to commit this act, so treacherous, so contrary to the nature of any living being? The brilliant minds of humankind had found a perfect solution.

Lovr was riven by internal conflict and torn apart by personal doubts as Juno was growing colder and colder towards him. He thought it was all about the rules that restricted their relations.h.i.+p. That's why he made a predictable decision to kidnap her. He was willing to risk everything for her, but if he made a mistake, their relations.h.i.+p would end.

During their first and last kiss, Lovr's vulnerability reached an extreme level. It was then that Juno had to strike - to kill him - otherwise, Kyon would never get back the original frequency of his soul.

It all came down to a single point that went beyond the boundaries of reality and could do the impossible. The plan of the masters was successful, their world was destroyed, and Kyon's soul returned to its frequency. He would live.

Apart from accomplis.h.i.+ng the primary task of saving the student, the masters also granted Juno eight battle fists. It was just unbelievable for someone who didn't have Synergy! Only one in a hundred thousand had enough talent to master six battle fists, and only with the help of the best masters. And she had eight!

Alas, the masters had failed to affect her mental age or psychological components. Her soul obeyed only Lovr. Only he could change her essence. He had already got rid of her contempt for the lower cla.s.ses of society, but there was still sadism, as well as her phobia for furry animals, and many other nuances of her mental health.

Masters had only given her extensive knowledge about the world and people in it. Above all, they revealed to her the secret of becoming a true G.o.d. If her love for Lovr was strong enough, if she could see him in Kyon and forgive him, she would definitely share the arcane knowledge that took the glorious luminaries of science ten years to achieve...

…

The blue flash blinded the three guards.

It all happened in a moment for Lovr. He realized that his wild goose chase was a success as soon as he felt a connection with his soul. His body hurt and creaked as if he was an old man on his deathbed, but he could use elemental energy!

Juno's fist hit him hard on the cheek. Before Kyon landed on the floor, he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her down. At the same time, he pulled out while pulling the Scourge from the ring... Everything happened in a second.

Before anyone knew it, lady Stone had become a hostage!

«One more step, and your lady will die and you after her.» – Kyon croaked calmly, holding the blade at Juno's throat. He hadn't fully recovered yet.

The guards were scared to death. The chief guard's voice trembled as he tried to gain time: – «Don't do anything you will regret later, boy! Let go of your sister!»

«Shut up and listen to me. Do not go inside without permission. Call Bai. If I hear a knock on the door or a single word, I will cut off her finger. Now go to h.e.l.l.» – Kyon hissed, barely audibly and headed for Juno's room step by step. Then he slammed the door right in front of the dumbfounded guards.

«Lovr…» – Juno began in a thin voice, her heart fluttered excitedly.

«Shut up.» – Kyon interrupted her and checked the formation on her forehead. As expected, the subjugating mark was partially damaged and no longer worked. He had to apply a new one but was out of the question at the moment when he had neither time nor enough Synergy.

Meanwhile, Juno was shaking from the recent experience. She remembered too well that she had killed him with her own hands, the boy who made her heart sing and her soul flutter. The masters told her that their world had only a few days left. If she did not kill Lovr, she would die with him. And if she was brave enough to shoot him, then both of them would return to their world, their memories preserved. Those words had finally convinced Juno to do the thing that she was terrified to even think about.

Juno turned around and looked at the hateful boy with undisguised hope in her eyes. – «Lovr… Is it you? Do you remember what happened between us?»

Kyon squirmed. – «These feelings… Did you fall in love with me? How nice…»

Kyon was a little surprised at her overreaction, but he didn't think it was a big deal. In fact, he was about to give her sleeping pills. So, her fainting played right into his hands. He was more concerned about finding a way out of there.

Kyon called XiaoBai and heard his sleepy voice:

«Kyon! What keeps you up so late?»

«I'm in big trouble, brother... In short, your grandfather is going to kill me. Help me get out of Juno's room and from the family territory unnoticed…»

The fat guy down the line perked up. – «Uh huh! Of course, I will help my brother! Sure thing! Listen to me carefully... First, find the secret pa.s.sage in the wall near the shelf…» – He started instructing Kyon.

Every self-respecting family or large organization always had an escape route in case of danger. XiaoBai was talking about one of these.

Listening to his half brother, Kyon couldn't help wondering why XiaoBai didn't ask him "what are you doing in Juno's room?" Kyon had only two options: either he would leave with a hostage, and the little thief would help him out at the end of the journey (which was somewhat risky), or he would use XiaoBai's secret escape route (well, how else?).

The thing is, Kyon wasn't one hundred percent sure in his inside man. However, Dinah's "death" convinced him that this profiteer and he were two of a kind.

Kyon entered the secret pa.s.sage. He wanted to take Juno with him, but she had a tracking formation on her wrist, so they will immediately find them together, which would lead to the first option. He had to run alone and leave the girl who knew his secret with no restrictions at all. For some reason, he didn't even consider killing her. She had saved him, after all... For the second time. Now he couldn't use revenge as an excuse to finish her off.

Kyon went down the secret pa.s.sage to the bas.e.m.e.nt and then followed XiaoBai's hints. If the sense of direction did not fail him, he had already left the central part…

«Great! Now get upstairs and go to the seventh checkpoint. I have my people working there. They will let you to the outside part of the territory…»

«You're a gem, XiaoBai. You know that?» – Kyon sneered.

«I will stand up for you, no matter what. You know.… He-he.»

Two fat men at the checkpoint didn't ask any questions the boy in the hood. A couple of nods and he was out...

Kyon caught himself thinking that XiaoBai had surrounded himself with fat and ugly people. He had seen lots of evidence for this. For example, XiaoBai's best friends were all fat, even his people were obese.

Soon, Kyon left the Stone territory without any problems.

«You owe me, my skinny brother.»

«I always pay back my debts.»

«Speaking of debts, have you heard the latest news? The prince has appointed a half-million award to anyone who provides reliable information about the location of that icy cold girl! If you are lucky enough to meet her again, I will gladly take only 50% in exchange for the information! Consider it as paying off your debt!»

«You're very generous, XiaoBai. I will let you know if I am lucky.»

«Great! Good luck, then. See you at the auction before the tournament.»

«Alright. Thank you.»

Meanwhile, real chaos reigned in the family. Far away, a drunken roar of the furious old man thundered in the patriarch's office. No one had ever heard anything like that.