Three Divine Wishes: Yes, I'm OP!

After a brief pause to watch the Child of Consumption, Akasha loosened her hold on the orb, allowing it to float gently away, disappearing into the deeper reaches of the Golden Apple Treehouse.

In short, there really wasn’t much else to say about the strange collection of beings who had somehow managed to dodge death.

What he saw from the Child of Consumption was uncannily similar to what Lane was doing at this very moment—gathering forces, gearing up for a journey to Kalpa set for six months from now.

As for Akasha, he couldn’t begin to fathom what had gotten into these beings—or rather, these factions—that made them suddenly eager to rush their plans.

He didn’t care; all he saw were far too many people treating his home like a playground.

"Since these bastards are moving ahead of schedule, so will I," he muttered, deciding that from this moment on, he was done taking things slow.

No, he wanted his home—his entire Star System—cleansed of anyone who wasn’t destined to be part of his soon-to-be pantheon.

And he intended to make that happen immediately.

He stood from the couch in one fluid motion, purple-and-white hair falling neatly down his back.

With a relaxed wave of his hand, he summoned his affinity.

[Ineffable Affinity]

In that instant, the essence of the dream seemed to ripple outward.

Moments later, above the balcony, a vast three-dimensional map of the Orin Star System materialized, each of its six worlds—Kalpa, Noxara, Vexon, Oryssal, Cylas, and Loreua—drifting slowly in their orbits.

Hanging over the entire projection was a sharp, unwavering countdown, its numbers bold and exact, marking the time left until the deadline with an almost unsettling certainty.

Seventy-eight years.

Akasha looked at the map for a long moment, nine swirling stars reflecting the light of the six worlds.

Then the corner of his mouth curved.

"It’s time," he said, voice calm and certain, "to cause some damn chaos."

As those words left him, soft wind continued to move through the upper branches of the Golden Apple Tree, carrying the scent of the apples and cool mist across the open space.

For the last few hours of the seemingly random occurrences of Akasha, Calista remained quiet for the entirety of it, only taking it all in.

She perched on the opposite couch, fingers laced tightly in her lap, wide black eyes fixed on the scene before her.

She tried to stifle her curiosity, but it swelled with every moment—the map spread out between them, the talk of deaths, the effortless way Akasha and the two women beside him spoke of entire fleets shifting across oceans as if they were merely commenting on a change in the wind.

The longer she listened, the more impossible it became to keep her questions bottled up.

At last, the pressure spilled over.

"Lord Dream... what exactly are you planning?" she asked, her voice coming out softer than she’d meant.

Hearing her words, Akasha turned his head in her direction.

The instant their eyes met, something changed—a crisp status appeared before his eyes without warning.

[Calista’s Favorability: 75/100]

’Shit...’ he thought as his expression froze for half a breath.

The nine swirling purple stars in his eyes narrowed slightly as the realization hit him. He hadn’t bothered to restrain his beauty since returning to Dreamer’s Peak.

Caught up in so many other distractions, it was only now that he noticed how deeply the unfiltered force of his imperfect beauty had been affecting Calista.

It had been there, plain as day, the whole time, and the sudden rise in her favorability was the inevitable consequence.

’Fuck it... what’s done is done.’

He decided in that instant that from now on, he wouldn’t bother fully hiding his beauty.

With a small, intentional tweak, he toned it down just enough so the conversation could go on without distraction.

’If I can forget so easily to put the restrictions back... then maybe I shouldn’t bother at all,’ he mused, finding the whole thing a bit over the top.

Besides, if some obsessed idiot became a problem, he could always retreat into his domain and let the barrier take care of it.

He glanced at Calista once more, his voice steady and unshaken.

"Hmm... before I answer that," he said, a casual smile curling at his lips.

"Tell me, have you made your decision? If not, there’s still enough time for you to save your life at least."

Calista froze, her body rigid as her fingers intertwined, squeezing so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"...My life?"

Akasha nodded, as though the statement were the most commonplace thing imaginable.

"You see... I’m a reasonable person," he said casually. "I wouldn’t particularly mind if you chose not to become my disciple. But there are two problems with that decision."

He shook his head, clicking his tongue in mild disapproval before continuing.

"First, I can read your thoughts no matter how much fluff you try to hide them beneath. And second... I never had any intention of letting you leave alive after stepping into my domain and seeing all of this."

As he spoke, Calista’s gaze shifted between him, Luna, and Yume.

’Has... has he been testing me this whole time?’ she wondered, certain she’d always been good at hiding her thoughts by keeping them filled with nonsense or nothing at all.

Yet it was clear to her now—the man she sometimes thought lacked ambition and other times seemed too mysterious—was someone she had barely begun to understand.

She hadn’t even come close to knowing a fraction of who he truly was.

’Has anything over the past few weeks been real?’ she thought. ’Has he done nothing on purpose just because I’ve been here?’

As her thoughts kept stacking up, her eyes remained on the three of them.

And... all of them were smiling—easy, almost gentle smiles that somehow made the warning land even heavier.

To her, they looked less like people and more like grinning demons, and the fact that she was a Shadow Demon herself only made the image more disturbing.

In this moment, she forced the rising unease down, released a long breath, and gave a single nod.

"Alright... I accept. It would be foolish to let this opportunity pass."

Clap!

Akasha’s smile broadened, and he clasped his hands together with an air of near glee.

"Perfect... Haha, I knew you’d make the smart choice."

With a casual flick of his fingers, the system responded without hesitation.

[New Member: Calista Shade]

HUMMMMM!!!!!

In that instant, an immense wave of divinity swept across the balcony, crashing into Calista with a sudden, all-encompassing force.

It poured into her, filling every corner of her being, and in a single breathtaking surge her internal limit grew by fifty thousand.

The domain’s power wrapped around her like a second skin, bringing with it warmth and restoration, the steady pulse of growth, and an unshakable sense of connection to something vast and greater than herself.

Her mouth had just begun to open, but before she could form a single word, Akasha’s voice cut in once more.

"As my disciple, you’ll be granted far greater privileges than just that. So, keep your gratitude for another time."

With that, he shifted his gaze toward the pure white silhouette, still suspended in the air, legs folded in perfect stillness.

"And you... tell me everything you know about Pantheons—what makes them unique, how they come into being, everything you can share."

"As you wish... Son of the Stars..." Kalpa said, its words trailing off at the title as it realized Akasha no longer seemed to carry the aura of a child of the Star.

Choosing not to dwell on the matter, the white silhouette drifted closer, its voice calm and steady as it continued.

"My knowledge of Pantheons extends only to the level of a Star System.... To form one, a being must first forge a true connection with a world’s consciousness.

Once that bond is established, the leader completes the process by speaking directly with the Akashic Records."

At the mention of the "Akashic Records," Akasha’s hands stopped.

The six worlds remained suspended in the air exactly where he’d left them.

For a moment, he just studied the projection, watching as nine swirling purple stars tightened their spiral ever so slightly.

Then, with a small turn of his head, he glanced toward Luna.

She met his eyes without the slightest hesitation and, in a flash of mischief, stuck her tongue out at him—a quick, brazen, and utterly unapologetic act.

’The Akashic Records, huh?’ He thought to himself as a quiet breath left him.