As Ethan left, Tara looked after him.

  “Y’know somethin’,” she burped. “For once, I’d like us to just hang out like we used to. Without him gettin’ all, y’know, philosophical.”

  Klax slumped down beside her on her log.

  “He carries a lot with him now,” he said. “The weight of his burden hasn’t gotten any easier, no matter how much power he has.”

  “And what about your burden?”

  Klax smiled into his glass.

  “As much as Ethan still worries about the future, I have to admit that for the first time in a long while, I am excited."

  “Pfft. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  She nudged him with her shoulder and they both watched Fauna as she snoozed on her own log next to the fire.

  That girl’s in a real deep sleep, Tara thought. The notion was unusual – even with the amount of alcohol they’d consumed, Fauna rarely passed out cold like that.

  If such observations were made by a more sober mind, she could have understood that there was more at play here.

  Instead, she just put it down to the booze.

  “She should be the one who goes and gets him,” Tara muttered to the winds. “But these days? I don’t even know if she can work her magic on him, anymore.”

  She then felt Klax clink his drink against hers. She turned and saw his face, solemn as ice, staring at her unblinkingly.

  “To you, Tara,” he said. “And to the future.”

  She gulped a little and then chased down her drink. She dared not refuse such a toast.

  “You’re really a hopeless romantic Klaxy, ain’t you?”

  She said this as she watched him lean forward, his eyes closing suddenly, and her heart gave a little yelp.

  “K-Kla-“

  Before their lips could meet he fell, headfirst, onto the ground. He let out a gruff little growl of satisfaction before turning his head to the side, tucking his tail between his legs, and drifting off into a quick slumber.

  Tara just looked at him dumbfounded, her heart taking some time to recover from the shock.

  “…Dogbrain,” she whispered.

  And once again, she had the fleeting thought that such abrupt sleep rarely occurred for Lycae no matter their constitution. And, once again, the thought passed over her just like the night sky, and she began to lose consciousness herself.

  …

  Ethan sat on the edge of the ruin, watching the pale lights of Eastmarch’s villages flicker beneath him.

  He knew that applying upgrades while he was…inebriated…probably wasn’t for the best. But he wasn’t going to leave his Skills unattended. He’d finish this fight full decked out. Just in case…in case of whatever plan Keadmon might still have up his sleeve.

  [Petrification Coating] Spirit Cores Required to Upgrade to (Grade S) = 6000

  [Poison Coating] Spirit Cores Required to Upgrade to (Grade S) = 6000

  In his drunken state he could barely even see what the upgrades would do. He only dimly read a few of the numbers…

  [PETRI] Chance: 75%

  [POIS] duration: +50 secs

  …and made the upgrade, feeling 12,000 Cores spill out of him like they were nothing at all.

  Upgrades…Complete!

  Ethan Hawke Current Spirit Cores: 85,000

  Even if they try and run from me now…he thought in his sluggish mind. I’ll…catch them.

  His eyes flew to then to his other Skills, even though he knew he shouldn’t be spending too much more.

  Skein of Typhos (Grade A)

  You shed your skin and instantly grow a new layer of muscle, tendon, and cartilage, mimicking the rejuvenating capabilities of Argwyll’s oldest beings.

  Effect: 50 pts HP {Regeneration}

  Spirit Core Cost to Upgrade: 8,000

  Upgrade…Complete!

  HP Regeneration (per sec) increased to 100 pts.

  Cry of Baphomet (Grade A)

  Your bellow becomes a force of nature, striking down your foes with arcs of lightning

  Effect: 185 pts Lightning DMG for 5 secs

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Spirit Core Cost to Upgrade: 8,000

  Upgrade…Complete!

  DMG Increased to 245 pts. Duration: 10 secs.

  That one’s for you, Revok…he whispered to himself, feeling the soul of the great Chimera deep within him – the one thing Dr Haylock ever made that had any meaning at all.

  Ethan Hawke Current Spirit Cores: 69,000.

  …nice.

  In the valleys below, life was changing. He’d already seen it on his way here. He’d felt it in the memories of Remiel and the other members of the Conclave whose minds were now his.

  Down there he could sense he aura of restlessness that was covering all of this region. He already missed Westerweald. At least there, things were approaching stability. At least there, the fight was partially over.

  It never does end, does it?

  Ethan leaned back to gaze up at the stars as Sys spoke.

  We can fight this pain, that pain, this hatred and that hatred, this evil and that evil and all the different evils in the world – but not evil. Pain exists. Hate is a fact of life. And there are always people we can’t save.

  Ethan blinked. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

  Your predecessors tried just as hard as you did. Though none of them got as far as you have. I dunno if its cause I’m still a little drunk but – this is fucking it, Ethan. This is your moment. You can make this world exactly what you want it to be. You can give everyone the freedom you’ve always wanted. But you gotta stop trying to save them all. You can give them the tools to make their own decisions, sure. But you can’t protect them from themselves.

  Ethan felt his hands clench some mossy patches instinctively.

  Guess that’s the price of true freedom, eh?

  Sys, Ethan replied after chewing on his words for a few minutes. You know something? You’re right.

  He gave a hoarse chuckle, shaking his head as he watched the static constellations looming above.

  You’re right. And yet, I can’t just believe that. If that was true, then this was all pointless – my coming here to Argwyll. The adventure we’ve had. All the death, all the destruction…I’m no Nihilist, Sys. Not yet.

  Good, Sys replied with a chuckle of his own. One of us in this head has to be an optimist, at least.

  Ethan got the strange sense that Sys was, in this moment, truly looking through his eyes at the world that stretched on below them. It was like it was waiting for them. Both of them.

  Ethan, Sys said. I don’t want to die.

  The way he said this was far dryer than any sentence he’d ever given voice to. And it meant more than he thought it did.

  There was a time – way back in the City of Illusions – when I was ready to go, still. I had been ready ever since you woke up. There was a little part of me that thought ‘this is it. This is the last one. Go through the motions with him and then it’ll all be over'. All the suffering. All the pain, and the terror, just – poof! Gone in a flash. One moment of pain, perhaps, and then sleep. Forever. And ever. And ever.

  Ethan listened intently. And he had that strange feeling again – the feeling that Sys was right there, just behind his eyelids, looking out at the world through him.

  It’s funny, right? he continued – voice still as dry as sunbaked desert. I’d just gotten so damn sick of failing. I could’ve never envisioned a future like this one. Not in a millennium. And now with the world that you’re building – a good world that deserves to exist – I’m, I dunno, excited! Genuinely excited!

  It could be the drink, but Ethan had never heard Sys this giddy. Sys’ sudden elation was like a schoolchild’s who’d played a prank on his headmaster and was giggling away with his friends in a dark crevice of his dorm.

  But just as soon as it came on, so too did it start to fade.

  I know what you’re thinking, he said. I know you think that there might just be one way this ends if you can't enlist the help of this 'Architect' character. One way that you can make sure the vision you’ve seen in your dreams doesn’t come to pass.

  Ethan felt his throat tighten, though he said nothing.

  And I’m asking you, Ethan: don’t do it. Don’t throw what we have away.

  What he was saying was genuine. Ethan knew this as only he could. After all, besides him, Sys really had no other connections to anyone else in this entire world.

  Can you feel lonely too, Sys? Ethan decided to ask on a whim. Have you felt isolated all this time?

  Ethan didn’t get a response. Instead, there was that strange feeling yet again – stronger this time – that Sys was staring up at the stars with even more intensity than he was.

  He’d never really thought about it. But if there was anyone in this world who had been through worse than all of them, arguably, it was Sys.

  Then, that settles it.

  Sys was snapped back to Ethan’s words as he said this and rose, flexing his wings.

  Huh?

  Sys, he began. Maybe we can’t stop all evils. Maybe we can’t put a halt to suffering wholesale. But if you’re with me, I’m willing to dedicate the rest of my life to ensuring every creature born on Argwyll lives a free life – a life they choose for themselves. Screw what that old bastard hidden underneath this earth says. We’ll show him just how worthy we are to wear the crown of Archon.

  Ethan could feel the confusion bubbling beneath his mind. And, equally, he could feel the relief.

  Well? Ethan finally asked. Are you with me?

  I’m with you, Ethan Hawke.

  Ethan’s smile was instinctive.

  To the end?

  …to the end.

  SWISH.

  A minute movement of rustled leaves signaled the approach of an arrow flying through the air.

  To anyone else, they wouldn’t have heard a thing.

  But Ethan’s mind was working before the attacker’s bow had even been drawn.

  Shield of Aegis (Grade S)

  Divine skill representing the pinnacle of defensive miracles.

  For 5 secs, all incoming damage launched within 20ft of the caster is NULLIFIED

  [REPULSION] 50pts on any damage-dealer within this range.

  The arrow split apart as it came within three inches of his forehead and rebounded, flying right back into the brush from which it was launched. Ethan saw the projectile explode with flaming life as it impacted a tree at the bottom of the mountain ruin, instantly igniting a large patch of forest below.

  He raised his eyebrows. That was no ordinary arrow.

  He activated [Eyes of Raziel] next, scanning the treeline for movement. But the flickering flames were obscuring even his angel sight, and in the next moment he saw a whole volley of arrows fly right for him – a river of black that threaded through the trees towards his head.

  [Repulsor Shield] activated and broke apart the first projectiles. But Ethan noted that they were managing to break through the chromatic hexagons that formed all around him. The arrow-river halted when they saw he had a stalwart frontal defense and surged for his back, like a coiling anaconda probing him for weak-spots.

  And of course, they found none.

  He watched as at least two-hundred arrow shafts crumpled before him. His Appraisal told him just how deadly even a single prick from one of them would be:

  Item (Projectile)

  Krean Bane (Onixian)

  1250 DMG to all [DIVINE] Entities

  He shifted his focus to the burning valley below where his attacker must have been lying in wait.

  A sniper? Sys mused. You’d think the Greys would have learned by now. You’ve dealt with snipers before.

  This time I’m not playing games, Ethan replied as he gently raised both his flaming blades and activated [Angel-Arm].

  The blasts that he directed into the forest melted branch and tree and ground alike – razing the forest, turning its dark grasses to glass where no one could hide.

  It took only a few seconds for his divine death-beams to work their magic. Then he looked upon nothing but a smoking plane.

  He narrowed his eyes. Still, the attacker didn’t present himself. He was either able to befuddle even the Skill of a former Lightborn, or he was hiding in plain sight.

  Ethan summoned up five [Shadow Wraiths] with a click of his fingers and directed them towards the smoking remains of the forest. He bestowed a [Hide] status on each of them in turn – something that would be bolstered by the blanket of midnight.

  “Find the one who attacked us,” he commanded. He wasn’t about to take a risk against someone packing such singularly offensive power. Even with all the might in the world, and all the Skills he needed to take down a God, he was still a creature with HP just like anyone else.

  But as his Wraiths floated down to obey their master, it turned out their services were not even necessary.

  From the smoke-filled wasteland, a single figure drenched in black emerged.

  And upon his face was a twisted, jubilant smile.