Chapter 180: The Chains Beneath the Reciprocal

Akuma stood alone in the ruins of an abandoned temple, staring at the blackened altar before him.

Yet, despite the silence, he could feel something watching him.

"You’re late," Akuma muttered, his crimson eyes narrowing as the shadows beneath the altar began to twist.

A thin crack appeared in the air, spreading like a fracture in glass before a dark presence seeped through it. It possessed no definite shape, only an unsettling distortion that seemed to consume the light around it, and Akuma found himself instinctively tightening his fists as the familiar pressure settled over the temple.

"Impatient, aren’t we?" Reciprocal replied, its voice emerging from everywhere at once. "I thought a god who had survived as long as you would have learned to wait."

"I agreed to cooperate with you, not become your servant."

"Of course." The distortion pulsed faintly. "You are free to do as you please, Akuma. You may even betray me if you believe that doing so will benefit you."

The answer irritated him more than a threat would have. Reciprocal never demanded obedience, never offered a straightforward command, and never attempted to force him into submission, yet every conversation left Akuma feeling as though he had stepped deeper into a trap whose boundaries he could not see.

That was what made this entity dangerous.

Akuma remembered their agreement clearly. He would remain hidden, observe the Entity, and wait for the right moment to betray the being who had shaped his world’s fate.

In exchange, Reciprocal would provide him with opportunities to acquire the strength he had always desired, allowing him to rise beyond the limitations that had defined his existence.

"What do you want this time?" Akuma asked.

"Nothing that you haven’t already desired."

A faint ripple passed through the darkness, and an image materialized above the altar.

It showed a vast expanse of land beneath a blood-red sky, where enormous structures rose above the clouds and rivers of energy flowed through the earth like veins. Akuma recognized the place immediately, though he had never visited it himself.

It was one of the regions touched by the Entity’s influence.

"Your future enemy continues to expand its reach," Reciprocal said. "Worlds are being connected, civilizations are developing, and the influence of the Entity spreads farther with every passing moment. Even now, it is preparing for conflicts that have yet to begin."

Akuma studied the image without responding.

He had already witnessed enough of the Entity’s power to understand the difference between himself and the being he intended to betray.

The Entity possessed authority over a world that continued to grow, while Akuma had spent ages surviving among forces that could erase him if he made a single mistake.

Still, he refused to accept that the difference between them was permanent.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Everything, if you are willing to look beyond your immediate circumstances."

The image changed. Countless points of light appeared across the landscape, each representing a source of energy, and several began moving toward a central point before vanishing into it. Reciprocal allowed the image to linger for a moment before the entire projection collapsed into a single dark sphere.

"Power is rarely obtained through strength alone," it continued. "Sometimes, the most valuable thing you can acquire is the knowledge of where your opponent will place their trust."

Akuma’s expression remained unchanged, but his attention sharpened.

"You want me to gather information."

"I want you to understand your position. Information is merely the beginning."

The words settled into his mind with uncomfortable ease. Akuma had always believed that strength determined the outcome of most conflicts, yet his own experiences had taught him that the strongest beings were not necessarily the ones who survived.

Some possessed knowledge, others possessed authority, and a fortunate few had learned how to manipulate the ambitions of those around them.

Reciprocal seemed to understand all three.

"And what exactly are you offering me now?" Akuma asked.

The darkness withdrew slightly, revealing a faint glimmer beneath the altar. A small fragment of energy emerged from the stone, suspended in the air like a drop of liquid night, and Akuma immediately sensed that it was unlike anything he had encountered before.

Its presence was subtle, but the power concealed within it was unmistakable.

"A fragment of potential," Reciprocal explained. "It will not transform you into something greater overnight, nor will it erase the limitations you have accumulated throughout your existence. However, it may help you recognize opportunities that would otherwise remain invisible."

Akuma reached toward the fragment, then stopped just before touching it.

"And the price?"

"Must everything have a price?"

"Coming from you, yes."

Reciprocal remained silent long enough for Akuma to hear the faint creaking of the ruined temple around him. The darkness continued to ripple, seemingly amused by his suspicion, before the fragment drifted closer to his outstretched hand.

"Consider it an investment," Reciprocal finally answered. "You have already agreed to betray the Entity. I merely wish to ensure that, when the moment arrives, you possess the means to make that betrayal worthwhile."

Akuma hesitated.

He knew better than to trust the being completely, but refusing the fragment would accomplish little.

Their agreement had already placed him on a dangerous path, and the power offered before him might prove useful when he finally had to choose between remaining a subordinate force and becoming something capable of challenging the Entity.

He closed his fingers around the fragment. For an instant, nothing happened.

Then a sharp sensation pierced his palm, and a stream of unfamiliar energy rushed through his body. Akuma’s shoulders stiffened as the power spread through his divine essence, brushing against memories he had buried long ago and exposing desires he had spent centuries pretending no longer mattered.

He saw himself standing above countless fallen enemies, his name spoken with fear rather than indifference.

He imagined a world in which no superior being could dictate his fate, where even the Entity would have to acknowledge his existence as something more than a disposable piece in a greater game.

The vision disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Akuma lowered his hand, discovering that the fragment had vanished without leaving a mark. "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing that wasn’t already there."

"Don’t play games with me."

"Then stop pretending that your ambitions belong to someone else."

The response struck closer than Akuma wanted to admit. He had justified their agreement by telling himself that he was merely using Reciprocal, that he would accept whatever advantages came his way and discard the alliance once it ceased to benefit him.

But the fragment had not created his ambition. It had merely forced him to confront how much he wanted the power to stand above those who had once looked down on him.

And that realization disturbed him more than the strange energy itself.

"Will this influence my decisions?" Akuma asked.

"Every experience influences your decisions. Every conversation, every victory, every humiliation. Why should this be different?"

"Because you gave it to me."

"Then remember that you chose to accept it."

The darkness began to recede, its edges dissolving into the cracks between the stones. Akuma stepped forward, but before he could ask another question, Reciprocal’s voice returned one final time.

"Continue watching the Entity. Do not rush your betrayal, and do not mistake an opportunity for an obligation. When the time comes, you will know what must be done."

The presence vanished.

Akuma remained beside the altar, his fingers slowly curling into a fist as he examined the lingering sensation within his divine essence. Nothing appeared to have changed on the surface, and he could still recognize every thought as his own, every desire as something that had existed long before Reciprocal entered his life.

Yet the silence no longer felt entirely empty.

Somewhere deep within him, a new awareness had begun to take shape, quietly drawing his attention toward possibilities he had previously dismissed. He could not determine whether it was a genuine gift or the beginning of something far more insidious, and the inability to distinguish between the two gnawed at him.

Eventually, Akuma turned away from the altar and walked toward the temple’s shattered entrance.

He had a role to play, an agreement to honor until the right moment arrived, and a betrayal to prepare for. The Entity would continue expanding its influence, unaware that one of the beings within its reach had already begun considering how to bring it down.

For now, that was enough.

But as Akuma disappeared into the darkness beyond the ruins, the fragment’s lingering influence stirred once more, directing his thoughts toward the one thing Reciprocal had not needed to say aloud.

The Entity could create worlds, nurture civilizations, and grant power to those who followed its path.

Akuma wanted to know what would happen if he took something the Entity had never intended to surrender.