SoF Ch. 51-61 (Patreon)

Ch. 51 Above My Paygrade

“Standard issue for officers.” He said matter of factly, not at all succeeding in hiding that slightly smug demeanor behind his mask of professionalism. Tilly sighed, coming all the way to his feet and wiping off the front of his primitive but already clean jacket. When juxtaposed with the disgusting layer of grime that was slathered over almost every inch of exposed skin...

“Ok, Mr. Magic cloth, I'm ready to keep moving,” Tilly said dryly as the scattered crowd started to return from their panicked press at the edge of the streets. Linus nodded and continued forward as if the attempted assassination was just another thing on the To-Do list. Tilly looked back for a moment at the bodies that they were leaving in their wake and realized that it didn't really bother him. Not the near-death thing. That sucked. It was the savagery of Nephesh that he was weirdly ok with.

So many people moved through life never breaking a bone, working at a cubicle, and playing Call of Duty. They had never seen someone burned alive, never felt the force of arterial blood as it escaped the vessel it was meant to animate.

Tilly had.

And in some fucked up way, he was thankful. There were a lot of firsts for him in this new life. But leaving dead bodies on the street wasn't one of them.

“Make way in the name of the Emperor!” Linus shouted again, drawing the attention of all the nearby eyes towards him. As he followed the yelling officer, Tilly realized that the bastard could have just pushed his way through the crowd up to this point, but he had been intentionally drawing attention to himself as an agent of the emperor, hoping to instigate any more attacks or hidden traps the enemy may have planted in the crowd.

It was a good plan... Would have been nice to have a warning.

Just then, a blaze of blue magic showed from their destination, and the people around them started to cheer and scream in desperation all at once.

“That would be the Portal going up. We need to get there, now!” Linus shouted back, doubling his pace to a slightly-hobbled jog as he pushed through an increasingly panicked crowd that was already as tightly packed as possible.

Linus had no qualms increasing in ferocity as he shouldered people aside, “Emperor’s Business. Let us through!” He barked out as the surrounding crowd worked its way into a frenzy that only the hope of salvation could have birthed.

Tilly stayed in the commander's shadow, even grabbing onto his armor at one point. The press had become so thick that as soon as Linus moved through a space, it would begin to collapse back on Tilly with the weight of thousands of bodies. The experience was claustrophobic, to say the least.

Another thirty feet ahead was a barrier of empowered rushing water that held back the panicking refugees. Beyond that, sitting like a beacon of hope, was the re-enchanted teleport platform, which supported a newly-created stable portal. At each corner of the platform was an ornately outfitted Honu moving through motions, continuing to empower the ongoing spell.

“How do you feel about getting thrown again!” The commander called over to him, the noise and press of bodies becoming too thick even for him to navigate without actually hurting people.

“Three in a day? I'm in.” Tilly shouted back.

Without any preamble, Linus turned and grabbed Tilly’s waistband and jacket, crouched down, and lobbed the full-grown man over the crowd to crash into the protective barrier guarding the Hub.

Tilly was proud to say he didn't scream as he flew through the air toward an opaque magical barrier. Guess the human mind can adjust to any kind of trauma if it happened frequently enough…

Just before he was going to hit, there was a flash, and the barrier opened before him, allowing him to crash behind the line of Honu casters maintaining the barrier. The landing didn't really bother Tilly and while it was mildly uncomfortable, he could tell he wouldn't be developing any road rash or bruising. Now if only he could figure out how to land.

His sliding roll came to a stop right at the feet of a Honu with a particularly glorious light blue scarf, “How are you friend?” He asked in a light tone.

“Fine Franklin. I'm doing just fine. ”

Linus landed with a few staccato clacks as he skipped forward a few steps to arrest his forward momentum. Franklin just looked at the both of them before nodding as if this had all been a part of the plan.

“We have the Portal online and connected to the other end. Unfortunately, we can't just open the barriers. I am afraid the resulting stampede will crush us. The elder and Lord Hiro are working on something near the platform. You better go see what they need.” He said, gesturing serenely with his clawed hand.

“Thank you, young TideCaller,” Linus said respectfully before heading off. Tilly shot off a saucy wink to Franklin before following after the commander. They soon approached the platform adjoining the Portal where both respective were orchestrating the operation.

“... a good point…. Fortunately… I have a… solution.” Tilly caught the tale end of their conversation.

Kihei turned away from Hiro and offered a kind smile to the approaching pair before lifting his staff and slamming it to the ground. The sound of crashing waves suffused the Hub and Tilly saw the magic of the barrier blocking all entrances to the Hub ripple and change. Azure energies moved from Kihei’s staff and connected to each of the barriers present. Then each wall of infused water responded to his magic by growing a path leading straight to the platform, wide enough for three to pass at a time.

Yet all were still barred from walking these newly created paths designed to stop a panicked stampede. Except for the barrier before a wider road leading perpendicular to the main promenade. It alone opened, funneling those waiting onto Kihei's impromptu magical path. Tilly noted with a mixture of dismay and satisfaction that all of the figures that rushed the gap were lapins. In fact, that particular street was entirely filled with lapins, and they moved quickly to the platform, not hesitating to walk through, obviously having been prepared for just this occurrence.

The rest of the crowd saw this and howled in frustration. Some even began attacking the barrier, which now showed no signs of weakening under the control of Elder Kihei.

“Mr. Tillman. It is very good to see you alive, here with Linus no less! You do not disappoint.” Hiro said, looking over with a warm smile.

“Hiro, I see your negotiations paid off… what about all the others?” Tillys said, not at all trying to hide his disquiet at the sight of clear favoritism.

“This world is a cruel place, and all you can do is protect what is yours. I think you will come to understand this in time. Until then, know that my people will all be through in minutes, and all the other barriers will open, allowing all those who can make it, a chance.” Hiro rumbled, showing the human a patience that he normally reserved for children.

“Did my runner make it here?” Linus interjected, not caring for moral debate.

“He arrived well before you and we sent him off to the Palace. Shuji would have sent a bird, but the ability is already active with Mochizukid. He lost track of her somewhere beyond where my people are stationed, and went to investigate.”

“I'll go, as well. Gods willing, he has something planned for the coming cataclysm. He had a plan for everything else.”

“Many of those plans have failed... You will forgive me if I don't share your trust.” Hiro replied shortly, turning to watch the remnant of his people rush down the magical corridor to the portal and move through.

A booming crack reverberated across the sky, and a reddish haze along with a network of fractures filled the area above the Cult's army. All of them at the center of the Hub looked up as the crowd's shouts became screams of panic.

An unnatural-looking bulge formed in the heavens at the epicenter of the fracturing as something pushed through from a higher reality. Then with a terrible ripping sound, the sky burst, and blood rained down from above. Even this far from the epicenter of the ritual, a spray of blood misted over the city inciting an even greater reaction of terror from the refugees.

It was one hell of an entrance.

A Serpentine head the size of a warehouse pushed through the opening in the sky, followed by a long uncoiling body the size of the empire state building. Tilly, along with everyone else looked up in frozen astonishment as the God of the enemy forces took the field.

Level ??? Deified Serpent of the Sixth Circle

Everyone stopped moving as the divine being looked around, surveying the battlefield and the city that was all but abandoned with its vulnerable neck exposed.

“Well done Broodlings, you may now feastssss.” A harsh hissing voice grated on Tilly's psyche, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. Even at this distance, Tilly could hear the roaring cheer that rose up from the enemy's lines at the approval of their God. They would be charging the city at any moment. Tilly looked around at the others to see what they were going to do. Most of the others were grimly watching the emergence of the snake god. He saw that the Lapin people were almost all through, and following on their tails was Amelia with her contingent of children. That's right, they had planned to stage with the lapins... smart. More interestingly, Tilly spotted Shuji hurrying in their wake supporting a barely conscious Mochizuki.

He turned to inform Hiro and was surprised to see Linus looking in the complete opposite direction of the snake god. What the heck was he-

“AHAHAHA” rang out harsh mocking laughter. It too boomed out with the immense weight of unbelievable power.

“It's good of you to finally show your forked tongue, Nehebkau” Tilly struggled to track the source of the voice, looking all around before remembering Linus' hope-filled face. He followed his line of sight as the others on the platform turned to do the same.

“Now I see why he so closely guarded his plan,” Hiro intoned as they all watched the silvery haze that had been coming off the structure start to thicken into tendrils of energy. The tendrils seemed to be emerging from every part of the palace, all leading to a nexus of energy at the top of the highest dome of the roof. There stood a figure that Tilly could make out in perfect clarity despite the distance. It was as if the immense weight of his power on the plane caused the nearby air to magnify his presence somehow.

Standing there was a proud ancient Satyr, wearing ornate armor. The centerpiece of the armor was a golden Cuirass with a blindfolded female satyr holding a set of scales depicted on the front. He looked sickly and the shadows coloring his face gave a severe cast to his features.

Level 98* Emperor of the Thousand Phalanx Empire

His eyes showed the black tears of a longstanding Corruption infection, but some part of Tilly recognized another who was fighting the influence with all he had. He didn’t know what the asterisk meant after the level, but he assumed it had something to do with the streams of silvery energy entering into his body from thousands of separate points.

Ch. 52 Battle Medic

“Ah, the goat livessss… No mattersss… I look forward to snapping your bones one at a time as I squeeze the life from your little city. ” the serpent exclaimed in a voice that permeated the city and all its inhabitants.

“Enough of your incessant hissing. Are you going to attack, or will you let all my people slip away?” The emperor provoked waving magnanimously in the direction of the Hub. His motions were a poetry of empowered potential and Tilly could almost feel the pressure of his movements from where he stood. Although he did wish that those movements weren't drawing attention to over one hundred thousand fleeing refugees.

“The Imperial War Array” Linus gasped, showing an uncharacteristic amount of awe. In fact, he looked around and saw hope blooming all over the platform.

The Snake God began to coil in the air around itself, rearing back its head.

“Will this ‘Array’ thing be enough to fight a Snake God?” Tilly asked

“It is not a ‘thing’. It is an epic legacy skill that is allowing the Emperor to empower himself at the cost of the lives of his willing subjects. It is rarely seen in our history and many thought it was lost.” He said, almost breathless at the sight of his emperor returned in glory.

“What are you compared to a God? Your time is finished, lay down and die, PREY!” The snake hissed before opening its mouth wide and releasing a jet of red-tinted liquid right at the palace.

The emperor raised his scepter and bellowed out in defiance. The walls of the city burst with silvery radiance and shot out a dome of silver energy that covered the whole city just in time to catch the serpent venom attack. The stream of toxic, ruby droplets dispersed violently on the barrier, dispersing the intensity of the attack over the whole skyline.

“It will take more than a little poke to reach me, Nehebkau. If you want this city you will have to come and take it.” The man said through gritted teeth. Tilly could tell he was bluffing but wondered if the Snake God would let the insult stand. He also wondered why the snake god continued to attack from a distance with what was clearly only part of his strength. Both seemed to be planning on more than just a frontal assault, the snake god seeming content to stay back and drain the emperor’s strength, while the emperor seemed to want to goad him into a charge.

“Ah, my friends! It is very good to see you!” A familiar voice shouted from the rear of the still-fleeing lapin contingent. Almost all of them had made it to the linked portal and Tilly saw several familiar figures bring up the rear of the first wave of retreating citizens. First was a hurrying group of children made up of many races that were being herded toward the portal by Amelia and her assistant Heras. Behind them was Shuji, supporting the weight of a nearly unconscious Mochizuki.

“Shuji, Report!” Hiro commanded, showing obvious concern over the semi-conscious body of Mochizuki that the Librarian was practically dragging along.

“Yes Lord-” He said huffing as he approached. Tilly jumped down and moved through the stream of fleeing lapins, to arrive at Shuji’s side and help him carry his burden the rest of the way to the platform.

“I found her making her way here with all possible speed, she is combating several high-level poisons at the moment, but I believe she will be fine with some rest,” Shujis said, gesturing towards the heavily injured Ninja. She was covered in lacerations and several of them were oozing unpleasant dark liquids. Tilly kindled his power painfully and breathed out Purifying Flame, watching as she shivered unconsciously in response.

“She discovered a Marcellus unit of private guards moving to the east entrance to meet a group of the Cult’s highest elites. The three other generals are coming this way now under the distraction of the summoning, and they plan to flank us here. She retreated towards us with all speed, but still, they managed to injure her before she fully broke away. I found her moving down this street only moments ago.”

“Tsht.” Hiro snarled in frustration, looking up at the two beings still testing each other above the city, then back down the street from which Shuji had come.

“Thus is the way of battle… Kihei, our agreement has been upheld, passage and haven will be offered to all who make it through the portal. I go to meet this new threat.” Lord Hiro decided, leaping from the platform.

“I'm with you,” Linus said, tearing away his gaze from the image of his emperor shining like a silver beacon as he held back the attack of a god.

“Heras, make sure the children get settled on the other side. I’m afraid I will be staying for a little longer as well. ” Amelia said, catching the situation as he ushered her charges up the steps. The assistant took one look at her master's face, and just nodded, seeing the grave expression she wore at the sight of all those who had yet to escape.

“Hope is not yet lost… Franklin… Go with them… We only need… a little more time. ” Kihei spoke quietly, still effortlessly empowering and augmenting the barriers but watching the conflict unfolding in the heavens with a critical eye. The layers of this battle were unfolding and Tilly could see just enough to know that as crazy powerful as some of these beings were, they still needed to carefully avoid wasting their strength without knowing what their opponent had in reserve. He couldn’t imagine how complicated battle strategy could get when you lived in a place with magical bullshit around every corner.

“I’m not in that great of shape, but I'm coming too. Whatever this poison is, I think you guys will need my help.” Tilly sighed, laying Mochizuki down on the platform nearest to the portal, and then nodding to Shuji in appreciation.

“Of that human, I have no doubt,” Hiro said, turning to address the ones who would stay.

“Shuji, assist the rest of the evacuation as best you can, but make sure you and Mochizuki are gone before I get back.”

“As you will, Lord.” He said with a deep bow.

Hiro turned and started jogging, the rest of the group following after. Franklin seemed to be uncomfortable with the speed, but kept up, while Linus caught up with Hiro and led the way. As they ran Tilly shot a glance over at Amelia who was easily keeping pace wearing a serious but distant expression on her face.

“Do you know anything about who these elites are?” Tilly called over, trying for a professional icebreaker, while he warred with himself on the inside about whether or not to bring up his own liability to the team.

“No, Mr. Tillman, I do not. I saw Shuji pass by only a little while before you did. I imagine they had planned to bring the rest of our hidden defenses to the fore with the emergence of their god. Then while we are all occupied, they would send in a flanking strike with their best fighters, snuffing out our escape.” She answered, her explanation coming fast and clipped. She kept her eyes forward, and Tilly saw her pulling things out of her pockets in preparation.

“They will be sending the other three generals while the main force takes a frontal attack,” Linus added to Amelia’s reply.

“Hiro eliminated Apepi, so that leaves Ladon, Kaliya, and Jormun. They are extremely dangerous, and there is a serious possibility that some of us will not--”

He jerked to the side, attempting to dodge something that was moving too fast for Tilly to see. Then he stumbled to the side, an arrow having sprouted from his shoulder.

“COVER!” Shouted Hiro as his sword flashed out of its sheath intercepting another of the arrows. His eyes flashed in anger at having missed the initial attack. Linus stumbled to the side of the street and crashed through a barred door, Tilly following immediately after to administer whatever aid he could.

The inside was dark with all the windows still boarded but Tilly quickly found Linus slumped against a wall breathing fast shallow breaths. His eyes were already unfocused and Tilly called to him to try and get his attention, “Linus, how you doing buddy?”

No response, just the continued black stare, and rapid breathing. Tilly moved forward and unclasped the cuirass from Linus’ shoulder before carefully ripping away the clothes underneath to get a better look at the wound. The place where the arrow had punctured was red and puffy with a black veiny spiderweb of Corruption spreading out from the wound.

“Oh no you fucking don’t,” Tilly growled, stoking the fire in his center again, and breathing out with a small cry of pain at the broken glass sensation of using his recently pieced-together mana pathways. For a moment of panic, he thought his ability wouldn’t be able to push through the damaged pathways… but it did. He was reminded of the time he worked on the scene of an apartment fire for twelve hours, his muscles obeying his commands only reluctantly,

Nonetheless his ability had an immediate effect on the wounded commander. His breaths came even faster, and the tendrils of darkness spreading from what was probably high-level Corrupted poison started to creep back slowly.

Having addressed the first problem, Tilly tipped the altered conscious Satyr forward in his sitting position and found the wickedly barbed arrow tip on the other side. He grimaced thinking about what would have happened if Linus had tried to pull this out on his own.

“Hopefully, you are too out of it to feel this one.” He said grimacing as he wrapped his hand around the tip of the arrow and thrust it away from him, pulling the arrow out of Linus’ back, through his shoulder.

“GGGAAAHH” He screamed, obviously feeling the pain, even in his muddled state. This poison was way too potent. It must be another of the cult’s trump cards. If the poison could do this to Linus and Mochizuki, who undoubtedly each had a powerful defense against such, then Tilly could only imagine what it would do to anyone else.

Seeing the wound now free-flowing with blood and dark wriggling bits, Tilly riffled around in Linus' tunic and found the magical cloth he had been showing off earlier. Tilly unceremoniously stuffed it into the exit wound and then leaned him back against the wall, allowing his own body to apply pressure to the dressing.

The spidering network of infection had stopped spreading and had even reduced a small amount, but hadn't been expelled. Linus was still altered and nonresponsive… Shit if he didn't do something else Linus would be out of the rest of this fight.

Monstrous clanging began to ring out from the street as metal impacted metal in furious combat.

“Come here, you plant Bitch!” Came a shout nearby.

Followed by, “Waxing Darkness!” from Hiro.

Tilly mentally reviewed his ability, trying to figure out why it wasn't as effective as it had been in the past. Purifying Flame greatly augmented the target's resistance, but that didn't automatically mean whatever they were trying to beat back was expelled. That had been the case for the much weaker grade infection in the city and with Mochizuki's shallow wounds, she probably had received a much smaller dose. But with this malignancy of this substance and its root in the brachial artery, Tilly realized he was going to have to be more invasive if he wanted to clear it altogether.

What else could he do? He doubted his purifying ability could stack effects. He looked again at the entry wound, which had already started to dribble blood and black-tinged puss.

The sound of a hissing scream of pain broke Tilly’s thought process for a moment, and he looked outside to see the area surrounding the door they had crashed through was choked with writhing thorny vines.

“You can't hide forever behind these little vines, no matter how they try and scratch!” The disturbing voice howled outside the door, accompanied by the thwacking sound of a blade chopping through plant matter.

Thanks, Amelia.

He looked back at his patient, noting that his recovery was still stalled.

“I’ve got one more idea man, but you are not going to like it,” Tilly muttered looking down at his right hand for a second before holding out one finger. He focused in on it intensely and channeled his blue flame strike in a much more narrow manner. His mana pathways screamed in protest but pushed through the broken glass and inflamed his index finger successfully. Intense blue flames blazed to life, dancing up and down the appendage.

“You are running out of room little Hum-AAHHHHH” The voice screamed from right outside the door, cut off violently by a meaty thunk.

“It is very hard to find a poison that works against that disturbingly polluted body of yours. So how about itching powder instead.” Amelia called from farther beyond the door, obviously having sprung some trap.

Tilly looked back down from the door and before he could think about it any further, he shoved his burning finger into the bleeding hole left by the Corrupted arrow.

Ch. 53 Tipping The Scales.

Tilly plunged his finger into the bloody hole producing a soft squelching hiss as the writhing infection started to burn. Tilly winced as the smell of charred Corrupted flesh hit his nostrils again. God, he hated that smell.

“GRRRAAAAAHHHH!” Linus shouted, grabbing Tilly’s shoulder in a flash and squeezing hard enough that TIlly felt his scapula flexing under the strain.

“AHHHH! Hey, I'm trying to help! Hold on!” Tilly yelled, then gasped out through the pain.

Like bacon on a hot pan, the tendrils of darkness wriggled one last time before sizzling into nonexistence, leaving behind a spidery network of molted burnt flesh. Tilly pulled his hand free with a wet pop and saw the wound begin to close before his eyes. He whipped his head up to check Linus’ eyes and found a grim but aware visage staring back at him.

Linus looked over at the blocked doorway and grunted. Without preamble, he stood to his feet and rolled his injured shoulder gingerly, before drawing his gladius to the sound of the thunderous clash of Titans above the city.

“Come now, Dust Eater! Is that all you got? Give this old Satyr the pleasure of hosting you in his city. It would be rude to come all this way and stay outside… Unless of course, you are scared.” The emperor called through what sounded like a clenched jaw.

“You are nothing before my wrath, Old Goat-sss.” The snake god hissed, breaking off the crackling sound of the impact of its breath attack against the magic barrier. Then there was a pregnant pause in which Linus and Tilly shared a look before a booming blast rattled the whole building and probably the city with it.

“FINAL VERDICT!” shouted the emperor, engaging some sort of ability. As a cacophony of giant metallic objects hitting each other, met the noise. Then a snarling “HSSSS!” of fury resounded as whatever had just happened came to fruition.

“Human, step back” Linus stated calmly turning back to the vine-choked doorway. He did a pretty good job taking this all in stride, but this was Tilly’s first time experiencing power on this scale and he just nodded dumbly and moved to the other side of the room. The satyr commander who had been comatose moments ago, rolled his shoulders one more time and then buckled his cuirass, wincing as his fingers brushed the clotted mess of a magic cloth Tilly had shoved in the exit wound. With a slight squint, he ripped the cloth free from the healing wound, before looking over at Tilly and tossing it over. Tilly caught it, looking at the cloth and then back at the commander in confusion.

“Keep that.” He said, his voice heavy with purpose.

“Tell the men that an Empire is more than a city, more than an emperor. It is a people and the ideals that unite them. At some point, we forgot that, but it is no less true today than it was at the founding of our nation.”

“Linus… Why do you need me to tell them?” Tilly said, goosebumps tingling up and down his arms as he began to grasp Linus’ intention. Screams of fury sounded almost right outside the door before suddenly shifting to manic laughter.

Facing the door with a face hard as flint, Linus breathed out two words, “Terminal Bastion”.

He spoke them so softly, with such heavy finality that they came out as barely more than a whisper. The whole room seemed to lean in, as if wanting to hear more before an immense pressure was unleashed rolling off Linus in golden waves of force. So much energy was coming off him, that his hair was literally standing on end and small static discharges spontaneously started popping up near his body.

He gave Tilly a final small nod and then faced the doorway barricaded with dark thick vines before disappearing. Tilly was deafened by the thunderclap, as Linus exploded forward in an incomprehensible burst of speed, obliterating the vines in his way with pressure and momentum alone.

Tilly stumbled back against the wall, recovered, and rushed to the door to the sound of the blood-curdling laughter abruptly being cut off. He emerged into the street and froze for a moment as the enormity of the conflict outside sunk in.

In the sky above the city, the serpent god had been caught fully extended in a thrusting strike of its arrow-shaped head. Chains with links the size of wagons had surged up from the edges of the city and bound the god, holding it fast in place just a few feet short of its goal. The emperor stood just yards before the snake god’s unhinged jaw, his arms outstretched with a look of profound effort on his face. Black-tinged blood was dripping from his nose and eyes as he bent his whole will toward holding the divine being in place. The snake god wriggled forward, pushing against the mana-forged chains with all it had.

The sound of a wet meaty “thrump” drew his eyes down from the sky and over to the right, where Linus stood over another headless naga corpse. This one was covered with red welts as well as the black tattoos they had used to try and wield Corruption’s power. The body had collapsed right next to the crumpled form of Amelia, who was curled up on the ground guarding a gushing wound in her abdomen.

Tilly immediately moved into a sprint towards them as Linus’ head suddenly whipped up and his short sword blurred to bat away another incoming arrow. Tilly shot a glance towards eardrum shattering clanging that had not let up since the beginning of the fight and saw Hiro engaged in a duel of blades with a giant four armed Naga wielding four scimitars in an almost continuous blur of strikes. Hiro’s smooth unruffled motions were unmistakable in their mastery of his chosen weapon and while he bore numerous shallow cuts, his enemy showed far larger wounds.

Franklin meanwhile was doing his utmost to contain a group of 20ish satyr private guards along with the fucker himself Titus Marcellus. Franklin was evoking a complex pattern of jetlike bursts of water in a constantly changing frequency to keep the group from advancing, but they had formed a wedge and were slowly advancing through the maelstrom. He had kept them to one side of the street, and out of the other fights, but his gambit wouldn't last much longer.

Beyond all of this, a burst of light announced the arrival of Linus at his target. The two distant figures clashed and then separated, covering crazy distances with each maneuver. Tilly hoped Linus would be able to lock down the archer long enough for this battle to turn their way.

Then he was at the body of the dead naga, sliding to a stop next to the headless corpse. It had collapsed over its weapon, which was a spear shaped like a serpent. Tilly drew both hatchets as the thing tried to wiggle free of its master. It had a serrated blade held in place by what looked to be the jaws of a living snake. Griping the tang of the spearhead, the snake's body shaft wriggled and writhed, trying to pull free of the weight of its master’s dead body.

Tilly’s hatchet was already swinging down on its neck as the creepy weapon registered his presence. His primitive stone blades collided with the shaft’s scales and rebounded, causing the snake head portion of the seat to whip around in a limited attempt to lash out at him. Tilly slammed his moccasin down on it, trapping the flat of the blade with the weight of his body.

Then with a grunt of pain, he enflamed his hatchet head, and slowly lowered the bladed edge onto the neck of the spear, watching for the coloration in the scales to change before pushing the blade into the skin and beginning to saw as the head and body written in pain while pinned under his foot. After a few passes, he reached the spine. The whole thing went rigid as he lifted his nonoccupied foot and stomped down on the back of his hatchet, completely severing its head from the body.

Turning away from the crazy general naga with an even crazier weapon, he knelt down next to Amelia who was curled into a fetal position in the middle of a sea of wrecked vine growth. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her face was buried in the plant grow in a heartwrenching infantile defense reflex. Blood had pooled under her, and he didn't have a clear view of what sort of wound she was guarding but he didn't want to move her if she was already gone. He laid his hand on her back, waiting as the shouts and clamor of the battlefield fell away and his whole world became his patient.

There it was.

An almost imperceptible rise of the ribs indicating a very shallow breath. He felt for a pulse with one hand, while gently rolling her onto her back with the other arm. Her eyes were closed, and her arms were wrapped around a grizzly wound in her abdomen. The jagged edge of the spearhead had left a bloody mess of cloth and flesh, that was still gurgling blood. Tilly gently lifted away the pieces of her shirt and found another network of black veiny infection reaching outwards in all directions from the wound. Most concerning was the thick nest of tendrils actively reaching for her heart.

Shit.

This was much worse than Linus’ wound, and he probably had double the Endurance Amelia had. He stoked the mana in his chest as intensely as the ability would let him and breathed out over the wound, watching in frustration as it began to bubble in response. The wound continued to dribble out blood and clotted knots of Corruption. The only sign that his ability was doing anything to the poison was that it had stopped spreading, leaving a root system that spanned all of her lower torso. It wasn’t going to be enough. She would either turn into one of those things or die.

Tilly looked up in desperation, at a loss for what to do to help. He spotted Linus still chasing the archer and Hiro almost having dismantled his naga opponent but at the cost of numerous wounds crisscrossing his body. Worse of all, the contingent of private guards had almost reached Franklin, he probably had a minute left max. Tilly looked back down at Amelia in distress, cursing his limited abilities. It's not like he had anything to actually help her; all he could do was burn as much of the Corruption as he could and hope that the additional trauma didn't push her over the edge.

He clenched his fist in frustration, letting out a shout of impotent rage. No matter what he did, he was always helpless when it really mattered. This was just one more person he couldn’t save. Could he have done something different? Would she have gotten this injury if he hadn’t dived after Linus? Would Linus have even been hit if he hadn’t been running his mouth like an idiot?

For some reason, there, with little hope, and a city collapsing around him, Tilly thought again of the little girl he had healed outside the shop. The one that was now safe on the other side of the portal.

He didn’t have any of the answers, and he would anguish over them later.

For now, he had a fucking job to do.

Heat bloomed in his chest, as he shoved the weight of his guilt and uncertainty into that flame at his center, stoking it to an inferno. He unclenched his fist and opened his hand sending the new heat at his center down his arm to materialize as an intense blue flame dancing above his palm. Then with a deep breath and something that might even have been a prayer, he laid it gently against the deep, bubbling wound on her abdomen. The flame sizzled as it touched her waxy, corrupted flesh, and even unconscious, she shivered in pain, releasing a deep groan.

The flame sunk into her navel, crackling as it consumed flesh and corruption alike. Tilly watches as Amelia's already shallow breathing quickened and her eyes fluttered. The glow from the flame continued to emanate from her even as her wound was cauterized and sealed, trapping the flame within.

“Amelia, I need you to hold on! We are getting out of here and those kids need you.” Tilly growled down to her, tears falling on the new source of pain he had just added to her fragile wounded body.

It would work.

It had to work.

He stood up, heat smoldering in his eyes as he looked to the group of Satyrs about to push through the area effect of Franklin’s spell and reach the Tidecaller.

Ch. 54 Encroaching Darkness.

Amelia Cooper

Amelia was held suspended in a sea of darkness… Not on its surface, but deep in its depths. A place she had haunted her dreams for as long as she could remember.

A place where nothing grew and no light ever showed.

Amelia! You will not speak to your betters that way!

Whispers surrounded her, buzzing like flies around a corpse.

We are sorry Mrs. Cooper, you are just not what we are looking for in a candidate.

Here, she was completely alone, abandoned. Her only company, a continuous loop of accusations, replaying her past failures. They never stopped, never quieted.

We have exhausted every option maam, you are just unable to have children.

This heaviness had pressed down on her chest many nights, waking her with its crushing presence until she could hardly breathe. But this time was different. This time she wasn’t alone with her despair and its cloud of witnesses.

Something had weaponized her darkness, giving it terrible form. Now in its newfound sentience, she felt a terrible gnawing hunger.

Thousands of appendages reached toward her suspended frozen form. She had nowhere to run. There was no hiding in her own private hell. Just endless grief and fear. This new darkness thrived in the sea of her regret, pulling in her endless despair and multiplying. What started as an intruder, grew into a multitude, surrounding her on all sides, radiating a cold hatred.

It would take her, twist her and use her to destroy all she loved.

She curled in on herself and screamed for an eternity as its grasping hooks reached her floating form and began to tear and rip, gobbling up the edges of her soul.

She felt it invading her body, screaming in her mind, offering freedom. The complete and total release of utter destruction. An end to the pain. Its hatred of her made complete sense. She hated herself... didn't she?

She looked down again at the half-empty bottle of liquor and popped open the cap on her medication.

God, it hurt so badly, even as the tendrils dug into her flesh tearing and gnawing at the exposed parts of her being, an even greater pain started to build in her navel.

A bright burning seared her center, galvanizing it… Purifying it.

From that place, flowed Fury. A wrath like she had never known.

She had been here before. She had fought this battle and lost, and in the losing, she had given up hope completely. These voices had led her down dark roads, promising the cold salvation of oblivion. Then when she reached the end of the road and saw her destination, she tried to run.

Tried to fight.

But it had not been enough and she drowned in that darkness. It had taken everything from her and now it was back. Demanding more. Eating away at who she was all over again.

Not this time.

She dived into the burning pain at her center, stoking it, feeding it her outrage, her rejection, her denial of this thing trying to claim her.

The pain was incredible, but it was honest. It demanded nothing from her, besides that she burn and to that burning, she gave her whole self. She fed it more. She fed the flame her pain, her mistakes, her fears, and her desires. She channeled all that she was into the growing inferno allowing it to consume her soul.

The tendrils increased their writhings, tearing into her at a faster rate, but it was pointless. Their hold on her was fading, burning away, leaving only a glowing corona of Blue Flame.

It blazed there, daring the tendrils to come closer and resume their feast. The tendrils curled back on themselves, fearing the destruction that always came with the flame. But the fire did not follow. Instead, it formed a protective sphere around the tiny mote of light at its center, glowing with an otherworldly iridescence that made the surrounding darkness seem but a shadow.

Congratulations. Under immense metaphysical pressure from an invader, you have successfully formed an Origin Seed.

Tilly

The heat of Tilly’s rage poured off him in cascades as he turned to the group of Marcellus guards almost on top of Franklin. These bastards had abused and attacked his allies at every turn. Now, because of them, Amelia was lying in a pool of her own corrupted blood, fighting for her life and probably her sanity.

Strangely, the pain from his overused pathways had grown distant. Even the throbbing in his side, pushing him to revel in his hatred had been dampened. There was so much he couldn’t do. So much that he couldn’t change. Yet this reality didn’t weigh on him like it had minutes ago. In this moment he finally understood his purpose.

The incessant buzzing of anxiety and the heavy chains of past regrets all fell away as his whole being focused down to the razor's edge of the present. The battles playing out before him sharpened in intensity until he entered into a moment of perfect clarity,

The crash and screech of clanging blades continued to sound up the street as Hiro finished his duel with the huge naga. At some point, Hiro had removed one of his arms, but in response, the Naga had entered into a berserk state, and his tempo of attack had doubled. Black smoke poured out of his mouth as he released a continuous screech of animalistic hatred. Hiro met the onslaught stoically, an island of calm in the raging sea of strikes, only allowing the most shallow swipes through his defense. Yet, even they were taking their toll as Hiro became covered in a rusty red network of bleeding cuts.

The flashes of light that had accompanied Linus’ strikes had ceased, and there was no sign of him or the enemy archer.

All three generals were either eliminated or removed as threats. That left Titus, Fuckin, Marcellus with his cadre of 20 guards. The mosquito that just kept biting. The embodiment of all that had eaten this empire from the inside out.

They advanced arduously against Franklin's onslaught of woven water jets. If they won out, then every remaining battle here would tip toward the enemy's hand and pressure would come to bear on the Hub and its escaping refugees.

Tilly didn't have to process this information. He took it all in along with a deep inhalation of fiery air. Indecision and doubt were gone, all that was left was purpose.

He would burn away the rot that stood before him.

His heart blazed in righteous fury, building up pressure inside him until it manifested in the form of blue fire wreathing his body. Wrath burned in his eyes as they glowed bright azure blue.

He felt light

He felt certain.

He couldn’t protect the whole city, in fact, he might not even be able to protect his allies. But whatever power he did have, he would use to its utmost to push back against those that wanted to destroy all that he had promised to protect.

Reality snapped back into movement and Tilly sprang into action.

Right before the lead guards reached Franklin, Tilly launched his hatchets, spinning with his throws to lend them even more velocity as he released. They shot off, small explosions of flame propelling them even faster as they impacted squarely in the flanks of the formation pushing towards the Tidecaller.

The fire was instantly quenched by the water ability, even as the axe heads bit deeply into the neck and side of their respective targets. As the flame and water met, an explosion of steam was produced, bypassing all armor and shields as it left blistering welts on the guards all around the two that had been hit by his initial salvo.

Tilly kept up his forward momentum, sprinting toward the unit, calling back his axes and spinning again as he whipped them in furious arks back at the unit scattering in confusion at the unexpected vector of attack. The woven jets of water emerging from Franklin didn't let up, and steam again burst in their midst as two more guards were incapacitated.

The guards ranging from levels 21-28 finally oriented on the new attacker rushing towards them like a torch being thrown at a powder keg. He was wrath itself and fire flowed off him freely as he crashed into their slow to form ranks. Franklin coordinated his attack pattern, splitting off jets to avoid hitting the newly arrived ally.

“It's just one Man! Kill him! Ignore the shellback!” A voice screamed from the back of the formation. He had obviously used the rest of his men to block the vast majority of the water attack as they had advanced.

The nasally grate of his screeching command caused Tilly to smile.

Soon.

This new ability flowed through Tilly as if he had been born to it, allowing him to constantly radiate blue flame from every part of his body in a continuous attack. They simultaneously pushed his enemies back while enflaming each strike of his weapons. His close-up technique with his hatchets was almost nonexistent, but Dexterity was his second-highest stat and even his rough motions held a certain deadly grace, allowing him to move from one enflamed strike to another.

Not that his fighting would have been called graceful. He looked nothing like Threstus moving his twin swords like a master painter attacking a canvas. When that man had fought, every moment had been purposeful and connected to the whole, creating a bloody work of beautiful devastation.

Tilly was rage incarnate, and what he lacked in training, he more than made up in savagery. A shoulder tackle flowed into a strike against unguarded goat legs, before jumping up to smash his head against the chin of a guard trying to strike down on him.

His patternless rage combined with his constant output of blue flame quickly caused the remainder of the guards to give him space. They all backed away in a loose circle as Franklin continued to punish those on the edges with jets of water. He stood there for a moment gasping for breath, covered in bruises and cuts, none of which had really managed to do critical damage.

His mana had completely run out at some point and his armor had morphed into its mana overdrive state. He could keep up the full body flame as long as he kept taking down enemies… and them giving him space was exactly what he didn't need.

“What are you waiting for you imbeciles! We have provided you with healing potions, now earn your keep!” The same voice screeched from outside the circle.

Tilly smiled and feinted away from the voice, before pivoting and sprinting right towards his favorite Quaestor and the guards who had the misfortune to be in his way.

“Stop him!!!” Squealed the young aristocrat as Tilly charged the two guards and leaped into an insane attack that completely ignored their defensive strikes. He tangled himself up with their weapons as he rode them to the ground taking more cuts on the way down.

They both screamed in outrage and then horror as blue fire cascaded over their exposed flesh. One tried to stab Tilly in the gut, but his outrageous Endurance demanded much greater strength than the guard could leverage from his compromised position. All the strike did was add to the network of shallow cuts crisscrossing Tilly’s body. The rest of the guards charged in behind him, just a few steps behind.

Tilly rolled with the tackle and pulled the guard who had stabbed him over his body as the rest of the unit attempted to rain down chops and stabs on Tilly's covered form. The now charred meat shield took most of the initial strikes before Tilly kicked him up and rolled to the side. Then with a primal roar, he burst out a reduced-cost Flame Expulsion, giving him enough space to leap to his feet.

A huge blast of water hit the rest of the guards from behind as they stumbled back from Tilly's area of effect. This knocked most of them to the ground and Tilly smiled a bloody smile at Titus as fire consumed the caked-on blood and viscera that had coated him for hours.

Ch. 55 The final Gambit

Titus screwed up his face in a sneer, holding his scepter/spear at the ready, “Come at me scu-”

Tilly didn't even let him finish the taunt as he launched an inflamed hatchet in Titus' direction, sprinting after the throw. Just a few weeks ago, Tilly would have never been about to pull together the coordination or burst of speed necessary to run in the wake of an object he just threw. But now his Dexterity was three times higher than anyone back on his plane and things that had only been possible in his imagination were finally becoming reality. Even with Tilly's comparative speed, Titus responded to his throw and follow-up attack with cold precision, showing years of experience and training. He neatly knocked aside the thrown weapon as Tilly approached his position, bringing around his other weapon for a downward chop. He telegraphed the overhand strike heavily while simultaneously bringing around his empty left hand for an underhanded strike at the satyr's unguarded right side calling his weapon back to his hand at the very last moment.

His opponent stepped into the attack just as Tilly committed, parrying the high strike and shoulder-checking the lunging human with his characteristic sneer. The aristocrat had read Tilly easily and positioned his body so that the second strike would be the completely off angle. The maneuver was completely unexpected, and more or less neutralized Tilly's surprise undercut as Titus entered into Tilly’s guard with impunity.

But the smile never left Tilly’s face as Titus chose to close the gap and grapple instead of gaining distance and time. That move probably kicked ass in the dueling ring, but Tilly was still literally on fire, and that had very real consequences for this fight. Not that he could last much longer. Tilly could feel his Mana Overdrive coughing as it ran out of experience to convert, and he knew he had seconds before all of his abilities ran dry. He needed this to be fast and dirty, and so he snarled as he took the shoulder check in the chest and snaked his arms around the satyr instead of trying for another strike. He knew he was outclassed in this match-up, and he was really tired of the "dive in and catch everything on fire" fighting style he had developed, but fuck it. Use the tools you have. The fire burning all around Tilly was still going, and even with his far superior stats, Titus gasped in pain as flame started to impinge on his clothing and exposed flesh.

The Quaestor obviously knew his way around his weapon, and even with Tilly’s unconventional fighting, he had seamlessly brought around his short spear from its parry to a thrust to Tilly's side. Tilly desperately tried to lock down the thrusting arm, but only managed to deflect it a little as it cut a deep furrow along his back.

“Get off me you cretin!” He hissed in pain, starting to try and gain enough space and leverage to push Tilly away from his body. The human desperately clung to him like a roach on the side of a swaying garbage bag, not wanting to give up on his main tactic.

With a yell and a monumental heave, the satyr shoved Tilly away, causing the joint in his right shoulder to pop out at the sudden non-standard tension being put on it. To make matters worse, his new ability finally sputtered out, no longer empowered by the experience gained from defeating surrounding enemies. He stood there gasping for breath with his left arm hanging loosely at his side, the head of his humerus painfully hanging by its tendon, out of its socket.

That was it, his best effort, and this fucker was still standing. Superficial burns covered his exposed skin and much of his clothing was charred and blackened. But the disdain he radiated was palpable and undiminished.

“Is that it, you vile hairless ape? You are nothing before me, and the main army is reaching the Hub as we speak. All of this was just to pull out your elites while the rest of the traitors are slaughtered.” He spat, his eyes bright with manic fury.

“Traitors? I knew your worldview was fucked, but that is on another level man... And I don't think things are as peachy for your side as you think. People are still getting out right now as we fight. All of the lapins made it out, which I'm sure you hate. And... all the guys you brought are dead.” Tilly said, gesturing past the satyr's shoulder towards the now silent street. There, slowly limping towards them was Hiro, half helping, half carrying Linus, who had several arrows protruding out of him. The commander seemed to have aged decades during the fight, and his body was dried and shriveled like a raisin.

Titus stepped smartly to the side of the street, taking the building wall as cover on his left before looking back behind him. The huge naga swordsman was piled in a bloody heap farther down the road, and the sharpshooter was nowhere to be seen. Impressively his face screwed up even tighter as he took in the two victorious combatants, before spitting on the ground back in Tilly's direction. Tilly heard stops behind him and jumped to the side himself, looking back and finding a disheveled but unharmed Franklin walking through a maze of drowned bodies to join him facing Titus.

"Seems you are all alone friend..." Franklin said, his easy-going manner contrasting oddly with the group of dead bodies behind him.

“No matter, I will end all of you!” Titus screamed, his voice going shrill as he looked back in forth at the two pairs of exhausted combatants. Then a great metallic snap echoed through the city, followed by another, and then another. All five survivors on the street looked up to see the divine serpent writhing furiously, straining against its bonds and breaking them one by one. The emperor still stood before him, his arms outstretched in arcane effort, but the silvery light shining from him had dimmed noticeably. Black-tinged blood was streaming from his eyes, mouth, and nose as he fought to keep the serpent detained. Every new snap of the chains caused his whole body to convulse. Tilly could only imagine the backlash a spell of that size would unleash on the body of the caster.

The dying emperor, looked down then, as if he could feel their eyes on him. But he did not look at the group on the street, instead, he looked straight at the Hub,

“This is all I have for you old friend… A minute more, no longer.” He said, all the bluster gone from his face, replaced by a deep sadness tinged with regret.

“You see!" Titus screamed with glee, "It's over! Your pathetic attempts to delay the inevitable have failed, Nehebkau was always going to triumph, and my father will rule this city, as he was meant to.” Titus screamed, turning his head back and forth, to keep both groups in his sight, his back firmly placed against the wall.

“Now, I will show you just how great the power of the coming age will be!” He cried his voice almost breaking in its shrillness as he pulled his hands free from a pouch at his belt and brought something black and wriggling to his mouth.

Time slowed as Tilly broke forward in a run, trying to stop whatever was happening from happening. To his left, he heard Franklin shout something as two high-pressured jets of water, looped around Tilly to smash Titus off balance right before Tilly got there to tackle the insane satyr, reaching to grab the hand and whatever it held. Even as Tilly brought him to the ground, the sound of insane laughter and then choking echoed out into the street.

It was too late. The Quaestor had brought his fist to his mouth before Tilly had knocked it away and crunched down on whatever nightmare item he had been holding in reserve. The moment he did, Tilly felt his own Corruption begin to wriggle excitedly in his side. In desperation, Tilly grabbed Titus’ shoulder and turned his body to face the group.

Titus continued to choke, a rictus grin stretching the muscles on his face into a grotesque caricature of a smile. Black tendrils of Corruption were already reaching out of his mouth and nose as the skin covering his face started to dance and contort wildly. Whatever he had ingested was spreading faster than any Corruption Tilly had seen yet. This wasn't going to be handled with a few chops of the trusty hatchet...

Tilly jumped to his feet, backing away just as Hiro arrived with Linus. “Mr. Tillman, can you do anything about this,” Hiro grunted as he shifted Linus' weight. Hiro was barely standing in his own right, and many of his own cuts showed signs of growing Corruption as well.

Titus’ body began to convulse on the ground, and large appendages of his new host began to burst out of his skin as it took control of its new body.

Tilly glanced at his mana bar, and then at his fatally wounded friends, “I think this one is a big Nope for me. Let's get out of here before this thing finishes doing whatever it is doing.” He yelled over the sound of consecutive snapping chains raining from the sky above them.

“Understood.” Hiro snapped grimly. Franklin rushed over to his side and took Linus’ other arm and they started moving as Tilly backed away covering them with a hatchet at the ready. Tilly backed away another five or six feet until he was hopefully out of reach of the continuously growing writhing knot of tentacles and flesh that used to be Titus Marcellus.

Then he turned and ran, catching up to the three moving at a slow jog before him, before sliding to a stop and kneeling down next to an unconscious Amelia. She was breathing more normally now, but her abdomen was still a maze of burns and Corrupted veins, pierced through the center with a bright glowing light barely covered by glowing burned skin.

Tilly winced as he pulled her up to a sitting position and then leaned his dislocated shoulder into her chest as he draped her leading arm over the opposite shoulder and stood up with some effort. He was stronger than he had ever been, but with his injury, it still wasn’t easy. Luckily this was far from Tilly’s first fireman-carry and soon he was moving fast enough to catch back up with the trio moving ahead of him down the street towards the Hub.

“EEEEEEYYYYYYY” Screeched the thing behind them, Tilly didn't even bother to look back. He had seen more than enough monstrosities for today and was happy to remain in ignorance as long as possible.

The injured group moved as quickly as possible maintaining a stumbling jog in their weakened state as they fled the thing forming behind them and the divine snake shaking free of the last few chains above them. As the Hub came into full view, they saw that the crowds were down to half what they were when they left, Elder Kihei’s barrier pathways working overtime to keep the escape orderly and efficient as each portion of the crowd pressed forward to make it to the portal before the Cults army broke through the thin line of refugee militia and remaining Bastions holding them off. The Honu casters that had been maintaining the barriers before Elder Kihei were lending magical support, bombarding the deeper ranks of the Cult's regulars with water jets and well-placed empowered barriers.

They stumbled into the square to the sound of crashing behind them and a victorious Hiss of fury from above them. Tilly never stopped moving as he swung around his shoulders, hearing the left one pop back into place as he looked behind him at their pursuer.

Rolling down the street like some sort of giant ball of eldritch fun was the creature Titus had become.

Level 54 Bursting Defiler.

Then the sound of a gunshot-like snap of jaws exploded through the sky followed by a weak gasp,

“Now…” The broken voice of the emperor whispered with a voice that could now barely permeate the Hub. Tilly rocked back his shoulders and attempted to look up at a run. Between awkward encumbered steps he was able to spot the emperor, his lower half completely gone. His body ended in a gory line at his waist, with the divine snake's head rearing back for another strike.

Tilly and his companions picked up the pace even as screams of despair echoed all around them as many saw their last chance of escape cut off. Tilly’s ribs billowed with effort as he approached a set of steps leading up the Portal platform. The three other approaches were all choked with a flowing mass of panicked bodies as thousands of people tried to push even faster toward the portal. The Portal itself remained stable even as the four ornately garbed casters at its corners withered away, using the last of their lives to maintain the magic.

Then all the barriers around the Hub collapsed and the rest of the crowds flooded the area, all control lost as the sound of crashing waves rose above the cacophony. Elder Kihei pulled his magic back in around him and started to glow a deep azure blue, floating up above the now unchecked crowds. Arcane symbols started to dance all around him, as he activated all the other platforms in the Hub at once and began calling something through.

Ch. 56 A Promise Kept

Each of the activated platforms started to emanate a feeling of immense pressure causing Tilly to stumble, jostling Amelia on his shoulders as he finally reached the portal. The crowds were now pouring in on each side of the platform, entering the tear in space from every direction.

As Tilly lowered Amelia from his shoulders he was immediately pressed by the panicking crowds, almost getting pushed into the Portal several times. A burdened Hiro arrived with Linus and Franklin a moment later and unleashed his killing intent, pushing the crowd back in all directions and forcing them to go around the group. Shuji rushed up to the injured group, making full use of his girth to push through the crowd.

“Just in time my friends! I take it you were… successful?!” He said eyeing the giant ball of horror slowly rolling this way from the street they had just vacated.

“We have done what we can, now we must take control of the situation on the other side. These people will only be escaping to more chaos if we don't establish order on the other end.” Hiro said tiredly.

Tilly said nothing in reply, gently placing Amelia in Shuji's arms and turning towards Hiro and Linus, expelling the little Mana he had just regained in a Flame’s Renewal. They both shuddered as their inherent resistance to the foreign substance trying to invade their bodies was supercharged. Tilly could already tell that all that was waiting for him on the other side of the portal was paperwork… and he hated paperwork. Leave that to the idiots in charge.

“Hiro, you and Shuji are definitely needed to handle all of this back at the village. But me? I only have a few skills, and they are probably all more useful here.” he said looking back towards the Bursting Defiler rolling inextricably down the street. Another Explosive snap sounded above them, and they all looked up as the divine snake tipped back its head and swallowed its old enemy whole. There goes the emperor.

Then Kihei’s voice echoed through the crashing waves, somehow able to be heard even above the screaming of the fleeing crowd and the battle happening at the entrance to the square. “All who are not through that Portal in the next two minutes will not survive.” He said, his voice heavy-laden as if he was lifting a huge weight over his head.

Hiro fought to suppress the shuddering that was running through his body as beads of sweat ran down his face. Linus had been rendered completely unconscious by the new power wracking his body and Shuji stood there holding Amelia, looking like a lost puppy. Franklin just nodded in agreement and moved away through the crowd to join up with the line of casters supporting the defenders of the square. The line was barely holding as it slowly backed toward the portal platform.

The Samurai Lord grunted in acknowledgment, and moved through the portal without any further fanfare, carrying Linus through. Shuji gave Tilly a hopeful smile and a wink before following afterward, an unconscious, but stable Amelia in his arms. Tilly turned and jogged off, pushing through the crowd back in the direction of the monstrosity rolling its way toward the still numerous fleeing refugees.

He didn't really know what he was going to do, maybe try and distract it with an enflamed hatchet throw? He probably would have enough mana for that in another minute… which didn't leave him much cushion to get away…

The glow from the other platforms grew more intense as Kihei’s magic suffused the whole of the Hub. The Divine Serpent, far above, slowly turned his head to the ants milling about in the city below.

“Bow before your God, slaaaaavesssss,” it hissed out.

“You will take nothing from this place,” Kihei shouted, his voice hitting several octaves as it blended with the sound of the crashing waves now filling the city. Whatever prepared magic he had laid on the Hub had linked each platform and had begun to weave a huge runic circle above the entirety of the Hub.

“What is this? A little water magic will do nothing against me!” The serpent spat, its huge eyes sharpening at the enchantment forming below it. It began to form its own technique, building up red energy in its slowly opening jaw.

The Runic circle started to spin, whirling faster and faster as water suddenly exploded forth from the activated platforms. Each river-sized torrent of water crashed into the rotating spell above and was pulled into the working.

Empowered by the water it was taking in the runic circle started to expand and stretch out into a rotating dome that covered almost all of the Hub in an azure barrier of magic-imbued water. Before Tilly really understood what was happening, the barrier had lowered down in front of him, cutting off thousands of refugees from escape. He could faintly make out the shock on the faces of the refugees just feet away as their fates were sealed and they were left at the mercy of Defiler.

Tilly looked around in desperation, wanting to find something, anything he could do to help those now trapped outside the protective barrier. The dome had dropped right in between the first and the second rank of the pressing Cult army, leaving only the first rank to keep fighting against the depleted force of refugee militia and Bastions.

The Spell had fallen over and protected almost everyone who had managed to squeeze into the Hub, but too many more had been left behind…

The Defiler arrived in the square and began to snatch refugees with abandon, its tentacles snaking out in all directions. Tilly pressed against the barrier helplessly, knowing that he was just as stuck as those on the other side, falling to their knees in despair as they tried to come to grips with the end of their lives.

“Your petty defiance ends heressss” The God snapped above them, that same corrosive glowing red energy flashing into a spell that formed the shape of a snake biting its own tale, with a blood red sun at its center.

Tilly ripped his eyes away from the imploring expressions on the other side of the barrier, begging him to do something… anything. He had seen that look so many times. They always looked at him the same way, confusion mingling with denial as they fought to hold back the yawning finality of sorrow.

Just as he had done so many times in the past, he turned away from those faces, the ones he couldn’t do anything to help, and kept moving.

Kihei floated at the center of his huge spell as the magic moved from the platforms, through him, onward to the circle at the top of the dome. His expression was now one of fierce concentration, glowing so brightly that Tilly could hardly make it out.

“When my ancestors first took sanctuary in this city and built these platforms, we were asked to promise one thing: That we would destroy it before we let it fall into enemy hands. Today I fulfill that promise and break any ties of debt my people owe this place.” He said, departing from his normal slow pace of speaking as he grit his teeth, his arms shaking to direct the power of the spell.

“You will not take what is MINESSSSS” The snake declared as it unleashed a poison/blood ability that seemed at least ten times what he had initially shot at the emperor. If that had been his opening shot, this was his finisher.

“Fathoms of the Deep!” Kihei shouted. The flow of water leaving each platform immediately multiplied by a factor of 10 shooting out an unbelievable amount of water at crazy pressures. Tilly had seen a video of them releasing some pressure off the Hover dam once. That video had nothing on what Tilly was seeing and feeling pours on just one of the fourteen platforms linked in the spell.

Fourteen engorged flows of water hit the spinning runic circle at the top of the dome and burst through it in a twisting braid of millions of gallons of water. The thought struck Tilly as he moved that he was looking at a far larger, empowered version of Franklin’s combat technique he had just seen on the street earlier.

A braid of water the size of the Colorado River and moving at probably two or three hundred PSI hit the stream of poison and overpowered it. It was simple physics, no matter how powerful, caustic, or heavy the serpent’s ability was, it wasn’t going to match the force being exerted by moving that much water that fast. It blew through the beam of blood-red poison the size of a tree trunk and hit the giant serpent in the body like a freight train, knocking it back thousands of feet.

“The city will flood and this barrier will pull back until it surrounds only me, all remaining must flee. NOW.” Kihei shouted through the crashing waves of his spell to the last thousand or so refugees and their final protectors.

Tilly took one last look at the people getting slaughtered outside the barrier. On one hand, he hated what Kihei had done… yet he doubted there had been any more time or another option, his mind flashing to how close the defenders had cut every delaying tactic they had, all to give the people the most time possible to flee.

Refugees, Honu casters, and the remaining Bastions all moved towards the platform now. Thousands had been left outside the barrier at the mercy of the Defiler and the seemingly endless ranks of Cult soldiers, but those inside did not stay to watch their fate. None were ignoring Kihei’s urgency.

The front ranks of the cult soldiers parted as some of their casters came forward and began a counter spell to the barrier. The Defiler seemed to realize it was being excluded from even more snacks and was thrusting its appendages at the barrier. Tilly doubted either would be fast enough.

Kihei continued to glow brighter and brighter, as he floated there near the top of the dome with his hands outstretched, guiding the braid of super-pressured water in a continuous attack against the divine serpent. Tilly realized that the attack was actually twofold as literal tons of liquid began to rain back down on the city, creating a deluge of rain like Tilly had never seen. The outside of the barrier was getting inches of rain a second, and the water level outside was quickly rising.

“You Will Not Take THIS FROM MESSSS” Came the voice crashing from the distance.

Fighting through the hundreds of millions of pounds of force, the snake god came, wriggling and dodging shockingly fast. Tilly could feel the force of its fury as it fought back toward the center of the city, and its palpable wrath bore down with the incredible weight on the Hub. Many of the refugees around Tilly stumbled, crying out under the newly intensified aura of divine bloodlust.

Tilly’s frown turned into a snarl of effort as he looped his weapons and knelt down next to an elderly satyr couple who had fallen to their knees in front of him. Even unable to walk, they were attempting to continue to crawl to the platform. He grabbed each of them around their waists, finding them grossly underweight, and threw both of them over his shoulders with a grunt as he stood back up.

The pressure of a god's aura tried to shove him back into the ground, but he took one teetering step and then another as he pressed forward with all his will. There was a lot he couldn’t do to change this battle. He simply did not have the power to fight back or even affect events on the scale of this conflict.

Give up.

Save yourself.

It's not worth it.

He had just left behind thousands of people…and despite the exhaustion making his legs feel like lead, the whispers emanating from the dark part of his mind or the seeming impossibility of making it the rest of the way to the platform. Tilly knew one thing for certain.

He wasn’t going to leave anyone else behind.

Ch. 57 The Great Escape

The barrier around the Hub was shrinking at the pace of a fast walk. The enemies surrounding the dome redoubled their efforts to get in as if this movement was a sign of the barrier weakening. None seemed to notice that they were now up to their chests in water, lost in an orgy of their own bloodlust.

Tilly continued to struggle forward under the weight of a god's fury which the barrier was doing nothing to stop. With each movement of his legs, he moved mountains and the shockingly light elderly couple that he had thrown on his shoulders grew heavier with every step.

Yet, his scowl of effort turned up into a snarling smile as he saw Threstus and Gorock leading the group of twenty or so Bastions just behind the exhausted Honu casters. Their path moved perpendicular to Tilly’s and as they grew closer he saw that many of them were picking up stragglers of their own.

Gorock ducked down for a few moments and emerged towering over the group with five gnomes clinging to him terrified as he continued to move forward, his huge legs pumping in exaggerated steps as if he would never tire. Those tough bastards were going to make it to the portal just before him as long as he didn't give up. If they could keep going, so could he.

He shifted the weight of the two, now unconscious, elderly satyrs and continued to march forward as the gap between him and the last of the refugees from his side of the portal grew.

“Enoughsss!” came the reverberating hiss, thumbing through Tilly's chest. The sound of water crashing against the snake’s body suddenly ceased.

Tilly struggled to look up with both bodies on his shoulders sandwiching his head, but finally, by awkwardly bending backward, he was able to glimpse the shocking sight of the divine snake free of the water braid. In a movement that was too fast for Tilly to track, the divine snake somehow turned momentarily insubstantial to the water’s attack and shot the gap between it and the top of the dome barrier, striking at it viciously with fully unsubstantiated, truck-sized fangs.

They dug into the flashing runic circle spewing red and black poison into the magic just above where Tilly stood. The snake followed up this attack by flexing its jaw closed. Kihei tried and failed to redirect the huge amount of water at point-blank range. Then with a deep groan of effort, Kihei's voice came a final time through the sound of crashing waves,

“Time… Is… Up”

The whole dome began to flex under the pressure of the serpent’s closing jaws and Tilly grasped desperately at his empty reserves. He had reached the steps, but they might as well have been twenty feet tall for all the effort it took him to raise his knee high enough to plant his foot on the first. He kept his eyes fixed on the sight of the others stumbling through the flickering portal. The Bastions followed up the last of the refugees, all of them helping or carrying one or two as they grimly continued on, not giving an inch to the overwhelming odds against them.

Tilly gritted his teeth in effort until he thought they would shatter, pushing his body above the first step with his trembling right leg. He leaned forward and immediately lifted his opposite knee to take another, capitalizing on his momentum as much as possible.

Watching the others push on with no regard for the impossibility of their task pulled on something deep within Tilly. He wasn’t the only one being asked to pay a price far beyond what should be possible. Yet without complaint, or even a flicker of doubt in their minds, each remaining Bastion moved through the portal, carrying far more than their fair share of the burden.

The fire in his chest which had dwindled down to a candle’s smoldering wick, roared back to life. This had nothing to do with his mana reserves or his abused pathways and everything to do with the broken, scarred heart that had taken far too much punishment to keep going as it was.

That wounded place in his psyche that insisted he was entitled to a better life wailed in fear as something Savage rose up from unknown depths. He suddenly felt more comfortable in the animal skins that covered his body than he ever had. The brutal, primitive bearded stone-headed hatchets that hung on his hips were suddenly right in a way he couldn't explain. At that moment, fighting to climb the steps with the weight of the world pushing him back down, something snapped.

He had whined, he had cried, he had complained. None of it had made a difference. With every step that wailing coward’s voice was crushed smaller as Tilly stomped him into the ground with the force of an angry god’s wrath.

His will hardened to flint, and his shaking legs pushed him above another step.

This world had only thrown brutality and horror at him from day one. Well, he would eat that shit and ask for seconds.

He was going to fucking make it.

There were no other options.

Finally, he reached the top of the stairs and looked up from his legs, gaining a clear view of what Kihei had become. His whole form was lost in a glare of deep dark blue pulsating mana, thrumming to the cadence of the crashing waves. Each of the streams of water feeding into the spell at the top of the dome began to shudder and lose their shape, before constricting in on themselves as all the space within the dome of the spell shuddered and then popped.

Tillys stumbled onward, hoping to collide with the flickering portal in one last push. But his entire environment had changed at the sound of the pop. The crashing waves had ceased along with the pulsating light and gravity had suddenly shifted, all the weight of the god’s aura gone.

As he pushed forward to the portal only feet ahead of him he found himself moving upward instead of forward, floating into the air as if he had fallen into the deep end and kicked up from the bottom of the pool

The constricted flows of water feeding into the spell from the other platforms continued to compress, until they formed a sort of root-like network, that now fed directly into where Kehie had once been at the center of the the circle.

Above them, the giant serpent had stopped trying to rupture the dome. It had sensed something at the sound of the pop and the metamorphosis of the spell. Now it was trying to disengage its fangs from the magic, shaking its head back and forth in an attempt to yank its fangs free. Tilly looked around in confusion, finding himself floating alone in the Hub with the portal just out of reach. He was shocked to see the enemy army gone, as only the tops of the tallest buildings now showed through the torrent of still-rising water.

Tilly tried to kick forward toward the top of the portal, but despite the water like feel of the air, it did not offer enough resistance when he kicked against to allow him to swim.

He was so close!

In a flash decision, he lifted the now almost weightless unconscious bodies from his shoulders, careful not to let them float off, and gently pushed them toward the portal. They floated the last foot of space between Tilly and the wildly flickering portal and disappeared in a final coughing flicker of power from the dying teleport spell.

Tilly watched in numb acceptance as the Portal disappeared, leaving behind a discolored haze in the air where it had blazed for over an hour.

The world around Tilly seemed to be moving incredibly slowly as he floated there. He looked up and saw the place where the serpent had inserted itself into the spell spark and flash in distress as the flow of runes started to collapse. This did not stop the spinning of the circle, or the slow shrinkage of the dome, rather, it caused the movement of the mana to become erratic.

With its army gone, some part of the summoning must have begun to fail and the serpent’s form had grown almost insubstantial. It continued to struggle weakly to free itself, but Tilly could now see the disrupted energies of the spell entering into the serpent and pulling forth even more red and black energy to power whatever the spell’s climax would be.

He twisted around and looked back to find that even the Defiler, who had successfully burrowed partially through the barrier had eventually been caught up in the flow of the now wild spell. It released an animalistic scream as it bled inky darkness into the deep blue flow of seemingly endless mana.

There wasn’t even a hint of Kihie left. The center of the circle, was nothing more than a blazing blue vortex of power as water continued to blast forth from the apex of the dome.

He floated there alone, next to the faint haze that was once a portal as the barrier closed in around him, now only 20 feet away. There had to be other options.

This wasn’t fucking done yet.

He didn’t really know anything about the magic of this world. Pretty much all he could do was catch things on fire and become a stupid ghost…

His eyes flung wide open as it hit him. Whatever had happened last time, time had stopped and he had done some sort of teleport. He flung his will into the pattern necessary to separate his spirit from his physical body.

This sort of magic had nothing to do with his Mana pathways, and as he activated the skill, he felt it pulling on an entirely different source of energy. One that both moved through time with him and connected to the vastness found outside the bounds of the time-space continuum. His “spirit” pulled away from his physical form with no effort, like shedding a winter coat.

Hostile magics assaulted his insubstantial form the moment he pulled free. The Interior of the dome was a riot of conflicting energies. Each one screaming at him… through him as he struggled to maintain the integrity of his form, reinforcing the boundaries of himself with his will. He pulled deeply on knowledge he had never learned to fortify his being against the powerful flows of mana around him. He had emerged a few feet in front of his body he was able to reach out and touch the place where the portal had held defiantly for so long. The now calcified statues of the four elder casters who had poured their entire being into the spell stood as silent monuments to the heroic defiance of the city's defenders.

Space there had been forcefully knit together over vast distances for far too long, causing the composition of reality to be more elastic than it should be. Tilly could feel the pattern of space-time slowly rebounding to its immutable form of rigid structure, but the flux of mana was slowing the process. He focused his entire will on his insubstantial hand touching the scar in space. Then moving more by instinct than any sort of logic, he reached back and thrust his other hand back into the chest of his physical form.

The hazy space he was touching felt like it was right in front of him… and yet, there was also the faintest sense that he was reaching through a hole toward something that he couldn’t see. He focused harder on his outstretched hand, and slowly felt it double, as if it was both out in front of him and incomprehensibly distant. Reality pushed against this unnatural doubling and he shoved right back.

He became dead certain that there was Still a hole in space there, and it hadn’t completely closed.

A harsh ripping sound tore the air in front of him as the recently repaired fabric of reality was forced open again and Tilly once again only felt one hand in front of him. The one reaching through to the other place. He turned his frayed will back to his body just as the barrier touched the outside shoulder of his physical form.

He desperately activated the reentry of his spirit back into his body while clinging to the space beyond the tear. The azure energy of the spell screamed into his system as his spirit became a conduit for the tear in space. The energies clashed in his body and a thunderclap sounded from the center of his being.

The out-of-control energies of the wild spell flooded into the shadow of the teleport magics still lightly etched into reality by the sacrifice of the four honu casters and then fused. Tilly’s body and spirit exploded through space-time in a confluence of probabilities that should have never been possible.

In that moment, beyond space and outside of time, Tilly touched on something greater than either, and it pulled him into itself.

CH. 58 Reckoning

“Jonathan Tillman… You have a talent for thinking outside of the box.”

Tilly came to on a rough sawn wooden floor. He sat up, immediately reaching his hands to his head, ready for the onslaught of pain that he was sure would be coming.

“No pain will reach you here. You broke yourself down on the quantum level, temporarily removing yourself completely from time and space. Your imagination has bridged a gap of probability so great that you have just performed one of the most unlikely escapes I have ever seen… And I hope you know that is saying quite a lot coming from me.”

Tilly looked up in confusion and found himself in an achingly familiar cabin.

Grandad’s place.

He had only gotten to come here as a kid a few times before his grandfather had died, but those summer trips “roughing it” had been some of his best childhood memories. The strangeness of his situation imparted a stolid pace to his thoughts as he struggled to come to terms with what he was experiencing. He turned slowly, breathing in the familiar smell of wood smoke, inspecting the shelf stuffed with tattered books in astonishment, and finally, stood facing the two chairs in front of the fireplace. It all felt so normal… That is until he saw the burst of light come into being in his grandad’s chair.

An extremely complex network of woven light settled itself in the overstuffed armchair. The pattern of moving strands was so bright and intricate that as Tilly squinted against its brilliance he had trouble finding where reality ended and its form began.

As his eyes adjusted he realized that there was no end to the network, rather it was seamlessly integrated into its surroundings. The strands of light grew less opalescent the farther from the central network they went and faded until they were completely transparent. But as Tilly looked closely he found that they were still very much present weaving everything in the room back towards the center. Tilly uncomfortably followed the few strands that he could spot reaching toward him until they ended in his chest. He looked back up, his mouth dry and face slack as comprehension slowly dawned.

Despite how otherworldly the pattern of light before him looked, he was suddenly able to make out a vaguely humanoid shape in its midst.

“You are Him aren’t you?” Tilly said, addressing the pattern of light for the first time.

“It is not incorrect to call me ‘him’ although it is a little derivative.”

Tilly could practically hear the teasing smile behind the words. In the face of that levity, his fury and sorrow from the last few hours came crashing back. His mind flooded with questions and accusations and they jostled for position on his tongue before a few jumped out, no longer able to wait,

“Where were…How could you… All those people...” The questions rose and were choked off. Each one was like a boat capsizing under the onslaught of a stormy sea, not able to fully express the aching pain and furious resentment that swamped Tilly's heart.

In response Origin’s light dimmed until a fatherly, caramel-skinned man sat before him in something resembling a mechanics outfit. His eyes crinkled in compassion,

“Why don’t you sit down? We have time but I want to spend it well.”

Confusion warred with anger on Tilly’s face, before they settled into an uneasy truce of suspicion. He slowly approached, watching the now unassuming man sit leaning forward with his hands clasped in front of him. Those hands were dirty, but in the way that a gardener's hands would be after a long day working in soil.

Tilly took his seat, struggling with what to say. Origin just sat there with a look of concern painted across his face in broad clear strokes. Something about this kindly demeanor set Tilly even further out of sorts. He seemed to invite Tilly’s questions and for some reason this caused Tilly to hesitate, looking for the right place to begin.

Through it all, Origin sat patiently, looking Tilly right in the eyes. Demands for answers lived and died on the tip of Tilly’s tongue as he tried to reconcile his expectations with the calm reality that sat before him. Finally, he settled for the one that kept coming back to the surface of his mind.

“How could you let what is happening out there happen? Can’t you do something?”

“Yes… That is always a tough one,” Origin said leaning back into his chair.

“If I wanted, I could wipe away all of Corruption. I could dispose of evil in a moment and claim the throne of the souls of men with power and glory… But I am actively choosing not to. And this is very painful. Both for me and for you.” Then he just stopped, looking at Tilly as if he was waiting for something. The silence lingered and then grew as Tilly realized that he didn't plan on continuing.

“And?” Tilly said shocked, expecting at least some sort of defense or explanation.

“And what?” Origin asked, a small smile again quirking the edges of his lips. He was infuriatingly cool in the face of the horrors Tilly had witnessed, both in this life and the last and all of Tilly’s hesitancy disappeared in a puff of smoke,

“WHY?!” Tilly shouted, snarling in rage as he gripped the armrests of the chair so hard that they creaked in protest.

Origin didn’t even flinch at the sudden outburst, he just leaned forward into Tilly’s anger and began to shine.

The mesmerizing network of complex woven light returned, illuminating a thick pattern flowing outward from his center in two opposite directions. Both continued to be revealed and illuminated until they reached out to an incomprehensible length.

Unable to help himself, he tried to follow the pattern in one direction to its end. His vision doubled and his mind flexed uncomfortably as he saw one end of the pattern both within the one-room cabin and in the infinite distance. Origin's voice echoed eerily over the boundless vista,

“I am, right now as we speak, standing at the beginning of Time, setting this work into motion. It is a very ambitious work… For I am creating something that has full freedom of choice and I have committed to guarding that freedom until the end,” he said looking in the same direction Tilly had. Tilly could see the beginning of the immeasurable strands of existence, each being pulled into a weave that started simply, yet beautifully. Origins' voice spoke again, drawing Tilly to look in the other direction,

“I am also, right now, standing at creation's final moment in Time, watching as what I hold most dear, becomes something far greater.”

Tilly turned slowly, fighting to stay conscious as something akin to mental nausea took his perception through loops. The simple motion of turning his head juxtaposed sickeningly with the terrifying amount of distance his perception covered. As he traveled towards the other end of the pattern he noticed that the weave never stopped changing, increasing in complexity and becoming more beautiful as he moved through time.

When Tilly finally found the end with his eyes, he could more than just see it, he could smell, hear, and taste just how supremely glorious it had become. All of his senses were evoked at once as he was drawn into the very definition of Goodness. It was the smell of freshly baked bread, the taste of summer’s first strawberry, and the crescendo of a symphony all at once. The sensations wrapped around, and drew him in, to an embrace that seemed to touch every part of his being.

In awe, he tried to understand what he was experiencing as he beheld the mystery of the end. Unbidden, a memory rose to the surface of his mind.

He was back in his daughter's room, having just arrived home after a long shift. She had stayed up way too late fighting sleep so she wouldn’t miss him.

And as tired as he was, he had charged into the room roaring like a lion and collapsed on his three-year-old in an impromptu tickle attack. The sound of her squeals of delight and laughter echoed through the room as the light of the pattern slowly faded.

His chest constricted and he tried to remember how to breathe, struck dumb by the beauty and the sorrow filling him. He turned back to Origin, once again in his human form, and was shocked to find him crying as he too turned away from the ending of all things.

“Jonathan, I am so sorry about your daughter.” He said as tears continued to stream freely down his face. Then, at home under the steady flow of his tears, a small joyful smile bloomed,

“I am, however, happy to tell you that her story is not over. It continues in a different form and you will see her there, at the end.”

The words and the manner in which they were given cut straight to the heart of Tilly’s bitterness. For, if Tilly was to believe them then he would have to let go of all the blame and hatred he had hoarded in his heart for so many years. These were the knives he used to punish himself when he stumbled, the broken glass he scattered around his heart to keep anyone from getting close.

Another memory rose to the surface of his mind. His mother stood over him in his tricycle, an expression of shock and then hot anger twisting her face as she looked down at the shattered porcelain lamp. Slowly she lifted her eyes, her expression too dangerous for his young mind to comprehend. “God Dammit, Jonny! Why do you always break everything? ” she hissed at him, almost spitting out the last words. The memory sat like a weight in his stomach, assuring him that no matter what happened, his life and everything he touched would end up as a ruin.

The laughter of his daughter echoed again through his mind, joined now, by the courageous smile of the little satyr girl, whose name he did not even know.

Hope beckoned to him and he looked up from his knees to find Origin still there, waiting… vulnerable.

Tilly’s choice mattered to him. And in that moment, under those eyes, Tilly realized he mattered.

That significance, something that he had chased his whole life and career in the fire department, gave him the strength he needed to lift the awful weight of guilt off his soul. The burden of decades of self-hatred fell to the floor as Tilly looked into those eyes and found a lightness he couldn’t begin to comprehend.

He would see his daughter again.

“I am very glad you chose to try, Jonathan,” Origin said, his smile less grating than it had been just minutes before.

“Now it is time for you to return, there is much yet left for you to do.” Origin clapped his hands together and stood. Tilly flinched in surprise at the movement and stuttered,

“Wh- Wait! I thought you said we had time?” Tilly stammered, scrambling up out of his chair.

“Jonathan, you have been here for five days. I do not think you would want to miss what is coming for the new nation you have helped start.” Origin’s expression became even more somber.

“Aren’t you going to help me with the corruption seed? Or at least tell me what to do to help Amelia. The purification Ability isn’t enough.” Tilly said, the urgency of his situation beginning to go off like a siren in his mind.

“You already have the answers to your questions… I will not take your freedom to choose from you,” Origin said, his face growing hard for the first time in their encounter.

“Now go!” The light and then the room itself started to fade all around Tilly. He tried not to feel panic as the impending crash back to reality loomed in his mind.

“Can’t you tell me anything else? I have no clue what I am doing!”

By this point, the figure and the cabin that it had held together in the void were almost completely gone, but Origin’s voice returned one last time,

“Nothing can take your freedom to choose. Remember that.” The voice faded into the nothingness leaving Tilly alone.

The blackness around Tilly was absolute. His sense of place and even time was completely distorted by the infinite emptiness that was both endless and all around him.

Then a pinprick of light burst in front of him. He reached out toward it, as it grew into a marble and then a fist-sized hole of brightness. Tilly watched in fascination as he realized it was actually hurtling towards him, or he toward it… He couldn’t tell and before he had time to puzzle it out, he was colliding with the now truck-sized opening of light.

Harsh brightness assaulted his eyes and a roaring filled his ears. He blinked rapidly as he covered his ears in anguish, fending off the onslaught of reality. Slowly, shapes began to resolve out of the glare in front of him and the roar reduced itself to incomprehensible shouting and then finally the sound of voices.

One figure pulled itself away from the milling patchwork of shapes and colors, its form sharpening as it approached.

A face covered in a thin layer of gray fur leaned in close to Tilly's face, its milky white eyes looking deeply into his own as if they were looking through him, back in time, to what he had just experienced.

“Welcome Home, Gaijin. You are among friends and we are glad you have returned… from wherever you have been.”

Ch. 59 A Good Night's Sleep

The scene behind Ichiro resolved into clarity before Tilly’s eyes and he found a much changed Lapin Village if you could even call it that anymore. The wooden palisade was gone and lines of buildings had been deconstructed to widen the road going towards the docks on the river and towards the valley outside the village.

Even the Valley in the distance was completely changed. All of the sparse forest leading to the base of the mountain far in the distance had been clear-cut. In its place was a huge milling camp of refugees, which was sprawled out around a square of timber-long houses as big again as the village.

“How long was I gone?” Tilly whispered with a hoarse voice, watching as the guards and other lapins attending to business in the village square began to point and exclaim excitedly with several running off as soon as they realized who had arrived. It seemed like Ichiro was the only one who had actually been expecting him.

“A little less than a week I would say, hard to keep track with all that we have going on. From all reports, your trip to the capitol was quite eventful.” He said, a playful smile emerging under milky white eyes that still managed to dance with mirth.

“Eventful… sure let's call it that. Did everyone make it through alright?” Tilly asked tiredly, trying and failing to resist the leaden feeling that had returned to his limbs and now his eyelids as the events of the past two weeks caught up to him. His notification icon was going crazy and at a mental inquiry he found that he had gained another level sometime after the fighting. Sluggishly he thought about pulling up his notification log...

Ichiro said something else, but Tilly missed it completely, feeling pulled in too many directions for his addled mind to follow, “I'm sorry, can you say that again?”

Ichiro responded by pulling him up from the ground where he had collapsed without noticing, “Come friend, I made sure your place was kept ready for you. You must rest and eat.” Ichiro said, leading Tilly by the arm as he stumbled forward, the shock of adrenaline at having arrived back within the bounds of space/time had left him feeling drained and shaky. It was like he had just emerged from a sensory deprivation chamber and was given heavy medication, everything was too loud and bright, and at the same time shrouded in the cotton fuzziness of pure exhaustion.

The walk to the little one-room spot in the lapin village that they had put him in previously was a blur. Now that the weight of hundreds of thousands of lives did not hang on his shoulders he felt utterly spent. Even the strange conversation with Origin had left him feeling wrung out like a dish rag.

Suddenly everything around him was different. His eyes kept scanning those around him in the late afternoon light, dreading the appearance of some weapon, yet too tired to do something even if attacked. Something about Ichiro's steady gait and firm guiding hand on his arm did more than just help him through the crowd of onlookers. It slowly pulled him out of his fight-or-flight state, and he began to trust that he had actually found some respite from the near-constant danger that had become his life. The walk went by in a haze, and before he knew it, he was lying on the pallet bed he remembered so fondly. Ichiro said something else, but Tilly was already asleep and didn't even hear the door close softly as he left.

He slept deeply, his soul lighter than it had been in a long time as he dreamed of a hidden valley with a flower at its center and a song so sweet that it plucked away the few worries and cares that tried to burrow into his restorative sleep.

What felt like weeks later, Tilly turned his head and nestled back into his blankets, but was started awake by an uncomfortably wet feeling against his cheek. He growled and lifted his head, squinting down at the offending patch of linen, and found it to be completely soaked in his own drool.

“Ugh…” He mumbled to himself, pushing up from the pallet and looking around. Nearby someone had set a huge container of water, and a tray of food, covered in different dishes. Tilly’s dry, cottony-feeling mouth suddenly watered and he stumbled over to the treasure trove of small ceramic bowls organized around a larger one heaped with rice. His stomach cramped as Maslow's hierarchy of needs demanded his attention one by one.

Tilly plopped down on the mat before the tray and mostly ignored the chopsticks in favor of pouring the contents of the assorted bowls down his throat and washing them down with huge swallows of water. All thoughts fled as Tilly entered into an almost meditative bliss of stuffing himself as fast as he could. Before he knew it, the tray was a mess of tipped-over dishes and spilled rice, and Tilly came to himself. He looked down at the mess he had just made slightly ashamed and thought of trying to stack the bowls. But once again, his body whose needs had been ignored over and over the last few days made its demands known as his bladder pressed down angrily on his pelvis, and a sudden urgent need hit his system.

It struck so suddenly and powerfully that for a moment Tilly had to struggle to keep everything contained. He lurched to his feet, consumed by a driving desire to find the little communal outhouse he had remembered from his last stay here.

He slid the front door open urgently and moved through, barely remembering to slide it closed behind him. Even at this hour, Tilly saw people moving with purpose up and down the street, each pursuing some task they thought vital to the village... or city Tilly mused as he picked the direction that felt right and started moving down the small street. The village was changing all around him, timber was laid in stacks in many places, and the sound of sawing and hammering was already ringing out through the morning. But it was difficult to find a rhyme or reason for how things were being built or designed. Some buildings seemed to be actually under construction, while others seemed to just be outlined with piles of resources left in the middle.

Each time he passed a Lapin, they bowed and smiled, as if they personally knew Tilly. Tilly tried to give each one a nod back, which painfully slowed his progress. It must be the title at work because he had yet to see anyone he actually remembered meeting. None of the satyrs he passed or the few other races gave him anything but the typical, 'Was that a human?' double take that Tilly had grown used to. Finally, he found the outhouse, marked by a rock-covered ditch flowing under the slightly elevated closet-sized building.

There were a few lapins in line when he got there, but they all stepped away as he arrived bowing as they did so.

“No guys, I can wait, I promise,” Tilly said, waving them back in line and dancing in place. None of them even looked up at his attempts, let alone responded. The door to the small shack opened, and another lapin emerged, hopping out of the way as he saw Tilly, before bowing. They all just stood there avoiding his eyes as they waited for him to take his turn.

“Alright, alright. I'll be quick!” He blurted in a higher than-necessary voice, extremely uncomfortable in the current situation. He nodded to each lapin on his way up to the door, feeling every bit like a fish out of water. As soon as he closed the door, however, he dropped all pretenses of control and his pants. He had to bite back a groan of relief as he sat on the wooden seat, releasing the pressure sitting on his pelvis in both directions.

Once he was fully evacuated, he sighed in contentment. The last dregs of stress collected over the hellish last week finally started to drain away as he took a moment to sit there and feel the sweet contented comfort of a full stomach and empty bowels.

Then, remembering the line of people waiting outside, he looked around the small room… and his anxiety immediately ratcheted up to eleven. The only thing he could find in the dim shack was a cup of plain sticks of various sizes, he almost picked one up to investigate when he gagged.

Never before had he felt so heavy a burden to deliver a people from such onerous bondage. He shuddered at the thought of how these sticks were used and experienced a pang of longing for his pile of Charmin leaves lying forgotten somewhere in this valley. Someone outside let out a cough, and Tilly looked around again in desperation, hoping against hope that something would just magically appear to rescue him in his moment of need-

Nope, still just him and the shit sticks.

He churned his mind, squeezing every drop of inspiration he could from it.

Magic! Of course! He rifled through his fantasy fanny pack, and found nothing, besides a hackysack-sized bundle of herbs that definitely wouldn’t work. Then he took another look at his sleeve.

His legendary, self-cleaning sleeve.

With a grimace, he reached back to do the dirty, dirty deed and then felt the armor tighten unnaturally around his arm and shoulder, constricting his movements,

“Hey! I don't like this any more than you do! One of us has to take the hit and I can’t self-clean!” He said straining against the suddenly skin-tight jacket. It refused to budge and Tilly growled in frustration.

Then it hit him, Can’t self-clean. His mind flashed through a montage of moments when he had discovered new aspects of his powers;

His first enflamed strike.

Enflaming his fist to strike at a manifestation of Corruption.

Enflaming his finger to save Linus.

Wreathing his whole body in cascading blue flames that burnt away everything but his armor and his actual flesh and hair.

Burnt away everything.

Tilly was shaken by revelation and again focused on his sphincter, but this time in a way that agitated his mana into producing an ability. An ability he had just discovered near the end of the battle. The hot, but not unpleasant feeling of his own magically produced flame followed soon after, emerging in an extremely localized position on his body. After a few moments, a very particular smell that Tilly hoped was no worse than the shack normally experienced filled the small building.

He held the flame there for five more seconds even as the normally moist orifice became painfully dry. Then he released it, having eliminated everything he could and hopefully having fully cleansed the area. He took a deep breath at having solved his conundrum, and then immediately regretted it, letting out a cough of his own. Then he pulled back on his pants, and banged open the door, hoping that nothing odd had been noticed by those outside.

The line had grown twice as long as when he had entered, each lapin present looking somewhere else besides the outhouse. Tilly cleared his throat in deep discomfort and all but ran past the line back toward his refuge. He didn't know what he would do when he got there, but he needed a place to sit and think for a few seconds. Once he was far enough down the road, he slowed his almost jog down to a normal pace. He started to scan the street, looking for his little familiar door when a booming voice hit him like a jolt of electricity,

“Jonathan Tillman! It is good to see you awake!” Shuji’s greeting resounded up and down the street, not caring a whit for disturbing anyone still sleeping at this hour. Then again, even though the sun was just breaking the horizon, the street had grown pretty crowded. Tilly looked and found Shuji emerging from his safe haven, apparently having arrived to look for him.

“Shuji, great to see you!” Tilly greeted, happy to be leaving behind his most recent ordeal. Tilly almost dived back into his room, and Shuji followed closely behind, sliding the door closed and settling to his knees easily on the mat floor. Tilly turned and faced him, moving to try and match Shuji's relaxed seated position. Shuji still wore his cheerful smile and a mischievous look in his eyes that Tilly had come to love. Whatever crazy shit was going down, one guy would always see the glass half full.

Yet sitting there, Tilly could also see the unmistakable signs of someone who had gone with too little sleep for far too many days.

Chapter 60 AMA with Shuji

Shuji leaned in excited, clearly unbothered by his tired state,

“It is a very exciting time for us even as many unexpected changes have been required for us to move forward. Over the last week, we suddenly found our numbers far greater than what we had anticipated, and that has come with numerous logistical challenges that needed to be addressed before we established ourselves as a power. The hardest part for me has been, of course, giving up my quaint shop in the village. I had become quite fond of it, but others with more appropriate classes are taking over. Now it is nothing but administration for me until we get a library established…Which I am afraid will not happen for some time. But look at me rambling on. I am here to make sure you are settled back in and advise you before the meeting this morning” Shuji said a hungry gleam shining in his eye at the prospect of discussing some of his favorite subjects.

“Well, all things considered, I think we made it out of the city, as well as was possible…" Tilly said, trying to catch up with events before being struck by a thought, "Wait! Linus and Amelia! Have they recovered?” Tilly almost shouted as the state they had both been in when they entered the portal came fresh to Tilly's mind.

Shuji's smile only twitched downward for a minute before responding with his usual optimism, “You will see Linus at the council meeting this morning. He is not what he once was, but still serves the people. Don't tell him I said this, but it is probably better that he has taken the position he has with the former empire. Amelia has woken and seems to be at no risk of turning into one of those... creatures. Despite that, nothing we do seems to be able to clear away her current level of infection. She is out on the fields and pasture land now working on a system that will hopefully be able to feed all of these new people. I am afraid in the short term that food will be one of our biggest challenges.” Then before Tilly could ask about any others, Shuji slapped his hands on the mat in front of him decisively.

“Enough about others, human! I have been sent here to advise you before the meeting, and Hiro will not be gentle with me if you continue as you have been.”

“What?” TIlly said, looking down at himself, before it dawned on him… It was finally time to get some answers! No attack, no running for his life. He could actually learn something about this world and the system that governed it.

“Oh Shit Shuji. My bad, let's get down to it, can I just ask you anything?”

At that, Shuji hesitated for a second, before answering, “I think it is best if we start with your Character Sheet. Lord Hiro is somewhat concerned that you have been… ah… haphazard in your choices so far, and he wishes you to have the best advice I can offer regarding your build going forward. I am by no means an expert, but this is within my area of interest and we believe you could use the help...” He said suddenly looking anywhere but Tilly's eyes.

Tilly’s face, however, brightened considerably at the offer, “Shuji, I don’t know if you think that is offensive. But no one knows more than me that I have been scrambling from day one. I would love your thoughts… But there is one thing I have to tell you first. It's time I was honest with you and Lord Hiro.”

The last sentence just slipped out of Tilly's mouth, not at all premeditated. But now that it was out there, he found himself torn.

“Please Giajin, you are among friends, no less than any of the people in our eyes,” Shuji said, his eyes finding Tilly's again and shining with concern.

Not suspicion.

Not disappointment.

Concern.

Tilly's voice caught in his throat for a moment, again feeling hesitant to burden the already tired lapin with his problems… As he thought about how best to put it, he felt the subtle throbbing emanating from his side, harder to notice than ever. Or did it feel weaker?

Maybe it was getting better…

Maybe he could manage it.

He looked back up into Shuji's earnest eyes, eyes that genuinely offered him help and cared about his wellbeing and they pierced through his confusion. Suddenly, just for an instant, he was sitting back in that cabin looking into another set of eyes.

“Shuji!” Tilly blurted out, suddenly not trying to shape his statement at all.

“When I went up to fight the tree, it infected me with something… Something that I think might be far stronger than any sort of Corruption we have encountered so far. No matter what I do it is growing worse. I am afraid I might be becoming something even worse than the tree we burned down in the temple.” The words tumbled out of him in a rush, seeming to rip free from the depths of his psyche. Then it was all out of him, and he felt... Incredibly light. For better or worse, others knew.

Shuji leaned back on his heels and nodded to himself in a thoughtful way. His face grew serious as he considered Tilly’s words, but his eyes… still danced as if he was enjoying a joke no one else knew. He certainly didn't seem surprised.

“Shuji… Did you already know?” Tilly asked hesitantly, trying to read through the expression on the Librarian’s face.

“Yes, of course. Even if Ichiro had not told us, it would have been plain from several points of observation. But we are glad you are willing to share. This means you are willing to accept help, which does us great honor. What that help will be, however, must still be considered. It is part of the reason I am here, to find out how we must proceed.”

Tilly let out a deep sigh, his shoulders straightening from a slump he did not even know was there.

He wasn’t alone.

“Alright, Let's get to it. I haven’t really had a chance to look recently…”

Tilly pulled up his Character sheet and started to read it out to Shuji, deciding not to hold anything back. This was his chance to finally get some questions answered and maybe even some decent advice on how to proceed.

Jonathan Luke Tillman

Level: 18 (2000/500,000 Exp until next Level)

Display Name: Tilly

Race: Human

Class: Son of Flame

Health: 100%(1.8% per min.)

Mana: 100%(1.5% per min.)

Corruptions Influence: 24%

Status Effects:

Minor Corruption [Hidden] -16% wisdom +11% strength

Titles: [Harbinger], [Resolute], [Origin’s Champion],

[Corruption’s Host],[Trusted Gaijin],[Hostile Environment],

[Scarred Heart].[Divine Wind]

Stats:

Constitution: 18

Endurance: 99 (108.9)

Dexterity: 35 (38.5)

Strength: 13(14.4)

Wisdom: 18(15.2)

Intelligence: 13

Equipment:

Origin’s primitive stone hatchets: +10% to Dexterity. (Legendary, growth type)

+Imbued Ability Recall.

Origin’s primitive leather armor: +10% to Endurance. (Legendary, growth type)

+Imbued Form Sun Salamander

+Imbued Form Nullspider/Mana Engine Enchantment.

Skills:

-Forestcraft level 12

-Identify level 17

-Cooking level 12

-Beginner Hatchett level 12

-Animal Processing level 9

-Stealth level 7

-Herb Lore Level 2

-Ax Throwing Level 15

-Dual-Wielding (Hatchets) Level 8

-Spirit Walk Level 14

Abilities:

-[Blue] Flame Strike: Channel the fire within you to strike at your opponents. Each strike leaves a smoldering ember at the point of impact and does damage over time. Ember damage is stackable. This Ability has been augmented by your mantle and does 200% more damage to Corruption.

-[Blue] Flame Expulsion+: At the cost of 25-50% of your total mana, you channel the fire within you into a wave flowing from your center, impacting everything around you in a sphere. Ability scales with mana. This Ability has been augmented by your mantle and does 200% more damage to Corruption.

-[Blue] Flame’s Renewal+: At the cost of 5-10% of your total mana, you impart the purifying nature of your indwelling flame, greatly increasing the recipient's ability to remove curses, poisons, and infections from their body. This Ability has been augmented by your mantle and does 200% more damage to Corruption.

-Mana Overdrive: You may perform abilities without paying the Mana cost in exchange for unused Experience stored in the subspace of your soul at a rate of 100:1.

-Wrath’s Shroud: At the cost of 1% mana per second, you may enflame your entire body without physical consequence. You will continually produce flame from your core while this ability is active and any attack you perform will automatically be empowered with your flame.

Titles:

[Harbinger]: One touched by Origin to bring about change, “None may interfere.” This and all other Origin-related titles, abilities, and items will be changed and seen as unremarkable by any deity or deity-aligned faction.

[Resolute]: Your endurance stat is higher than all of your other stats combined. As long as this remains true, you may completely negate one fatal blow per day.

[Origin’s Champion]: You have accepted the mantle of champion from Origin. This will augment your skills and abilities over time to reflect your new nature.

[Corruption’s Host]: You hold within your body a Seed of Corruption. This entity's progress has been slowed by divine interference, but it will take every opportunity to grow until it has subsumed your will. Seeds influence: 24%

[Trusted Gaijin]: The highest honor that can be bestowed on a nonlapin by the ruling class. It marks you as a “friend” to all Lapinkind and they will be immediately predisposed towards offering you any help they may.

[Hostile Environment]: Due to the unique nature of your physical body, foreign substances have a hard time persisting within your physical body. Poisons, Viruses, and Physical Curses will be 50% less effective against you. This Title scales with Endurance.

[Scarred Heart]: Any goal you pursue motivated by a deep heart desire will be met with an unparalleled opportunity by the System. “Guard your Heart, for out of it will flow Unimaginable Strength.”

[A Divine Wind]: When you attack an opponent more than double your level while holding their full attention, you gain a 25% bonus to your attack power.

Shuji rubbed his mustache and muttered to himself as Tilly continued to read, harumphing at certain points and nodding to himself at others. As Tilly finished his last title, he turned towards Shuji who didn't seem to notice he had stopped reading. Tilly himself noticed that despite everything he had been through, Corruption's influence had still gone up a percentage point at some point in the battle. That more or less took any of the joy he would have had at seeing the increases in his hatchet-related skills and the surprisingly useful Spirit Walk skill. The only other real change besides his level up was the new ability, Wrath's Shroud which seemed like a continuous lower-intensity version of Flame Expulsion. Whatever else it was, it would certainly be a useful addition, especially now that he had an alternative source of mana. Even if that source was robbing him of progress.

All of this and more tumbled around in Tilly's mind as he eagerly looked forward to receiving some sort of context for all the numbers and terms he had been interacting with since day one.

“Well, what do you think? Tilly finally asked, breaking the lapin's fugue.

“Ah." He said, breaking away from his musings, "You already had an interesting class when we first met, but now it has grown into something unlike anything I have ever read about in the libraries. Am I right in my understanding that you do not receive abilities as you level?”

“Yeah. Instead, they come to me at moments when I really seem to need something. But the process doesn’t seem to be predictable. It just kind of happens.”

Shuji continued to stroke his mustache in a thoughtful manner as he began to get lost again in his thoughts muttering to himself, “Perhaps from a previous epoch, his system compatibility seems both abnormally low and high for a Progenitor class...”

“What is a Progenitor class?” Tilly broke in again, beginning to feel like he was interrupting a private conversation.

“Oh! Goodness me! Mooning over new data like a fresh librarian's assistant! Very sorry, I am here to advise you after all." He sputtered, coming to himself again.

"Some of what I will share with you is theory, but much of our understanding of our world and humanity’s place in it continues to change. It is hotly debated whether we are a derivative of your world or the other way around. Most tend to see what happens on Nephesh as the leading edge of humanity and perhaps the entire cycle of existence. Our scholarship is very likely biased in this regard. Yet it is well known that in this place ideals, concepts, and even certain embodiments of culture struggle for supremacy. To be a god on this plane is to embody an ideal or concept so completely that it determines your course of action as much as you affect its meaning. What we saw over the capital was the temporary manifestation of humanity's concept of the serpent for example.”

“Yeah, actually I saw it destroyed before I entered the portal,” Tilly cut in, thinking Shuji would want to know.

“No, you saw its manifestation disrupted. The serpent will live on in some form as long as it has believers. The Cult itself exists to propagate terror of its power across the plane. It was weakened for certain, but not destroyed.”

“Excuse me for saying this, but didn't your Goddess die? That's what Hiro said.”

“Not exactly, She gave up much of sapience in order to empower the two swords that are our people’s heritage, and create a sovereign crystal that has been our people's Promise through the generations,” Shuji explained solemnly, not completely immune to the legends of his own people.

“Gah. So many questions! Every time you answer one, another comes pops up! I want to know what this Promise is, but first, I thought you said we were supposed to talk about my Character Sheet and what is up with my class. I have gathered that other people gain abilities along with their levels, but for some reason, I don’t. What does that mean?”

“Ah, yes! Progenitor classes! It is well documented by interviews with your kind that time does not flow parallel here to your world, rather our two times and perhaps others, weave in and around each other-”

At that Tilly looked up sharply, the memory of what he saw in his grandfather's cabin, burning brightly in his mind's eye. Shuji seemed not to notice,

“But both of our worlds progress together, and both have experienced Epochs of change. Not much is known about them besides that they mark a major change in the way power and influence are defined by the system governing our world. They are generally referred to as-”

“Shuji… “ Tilly interrupted,

“My class. What can you tell me about it, and what do you think about how I have distributed my stats so far? I'm sure the rest of this is important. But that is what I need to know now.”

“Ah, yes. My apologies. In these times, I get so little chance to share my passions… Well, it is my theory that your class is perhaps derived from the very first Epoch of power on Nephesh. The Epoch of The Hunter and The Prey. Any concepts that have survived so long from that time are extremely powerful and I believe your class is the current system's attempt to quantify the embodiment of an ancient power. We call classes not native to this Epoch, Progenitor classes. The system will continue to attempt to quantify your effect on the world, but the actual mechanics of your advancement will defy and at times, break the typical rules governing classes and powers on this plane.” At this he paused, taking a moment to take in Tilly again, some hint of awe shading his eyes,

“Humans are almost always agents of change, renewing conflict in our world, and making sure established power structures are always in question. But I think you represent something much greater than that. I heard from the soldiers what you did outside of the city, and all of us saw the flames. Something like that should only be possible at much higher levels… But it seems you have arrived on the eve of great conflict in our world, and in you, we find a way, perhaps, to counter the new dark power rising on the plane.”

CH. 61 A New Hope

The weight of Shuji’s prediction hung in the room like a stark light, casting everything they had spoken of in shadows of meaning and possibility. Tilly struggled for a moment under the idea that perhaps he was the only solution Origin had in place for what could be the entire apocalypse…

No. That couldn't be right.

What he had seen in that one-room cabin had changed him. He wanted it to be real... He needed it to be real.

But even if it was, some part of him understood that a good ending did not automatically mean that all the lives he just helped save would continue on unmolested. Whatever Corruption was, the priests at the Temple of Light had said it was emerging everywhere. Tilly didn't know what that meant for the people here, but the thought of what else they would face before this was all over sent shivers down his spine. That little girl was out there in that camp somewhere, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she had a chance to grow up. He jerked his attention away from his dark musing and back to the present.

“Ok well, all the world-ending stuff aside… I may have one of these Progenitor classes. But that doesn't change the fact that I have stats to allocate. Is what I have done so far idiotic? I know they are skewed, but I only did what I had to in order to survive, and then I got [Resolute] and pretty much needed it to keep surviving. In fact, what you saw outside of the city is probably possible again, as long as I keep that title.”

Shuji nodded, deep in thought at Tilly's explanation, not at all looking like he wanted to accuse Tilly of making some grave mistake. In fact, he was uncharacteristically slow to speak as he mulled over what would be best for the build in front of him. When he did speak, it was in a thoughtful and hesitant manner,

“Yes, each of us must choose our path of growth, and I must say that yours is quite unique. I have read about a few cases where Intelligence has been maxed in a similar layout. Certain classes and races will even do the same with Strength or Dexterity. Each of these cases results in racially unique titles for the build. But, I have never heard of a primary Endurance with a secondary in Dexterity. Perhaps the closest I can think of are Barbarian and Dwarvish builds which prioritize or at least balance Endurance with Strength. Yet, it can not be denied that your titles and build are beginning to show some true synergy. Which is very rare at such a low level. Then again, you have had a very eventful two weeks...” He finished, chewing on each word as if the problem before him was a tough piece of meat.

“So you think I should stay unbalanced? The reward outweighs the risk” Tilly asked, not quite able to keep the satisfaction from his voice.

“To be honest Mr. Tillman, I would never advise building to such a path of ascension. But you are already here, and the usefulness of [Resolute], especially when paired with some of these other titles and abilities makes it difficult to advise against. That being said if you face any other dangers besides the Corrupted, of which there are many, your damage output is far too low. As it stands now it is heavily dependent on your mana, not your Dexterity or Strength. So for now, as you split your stat points amongst Endurance and the rest, you must prioritize Wisdom and Intelligence. This will not balance you but allow you to continue to grow without stunting your ability to contribute to fights.” He finished, pulling his hand through his fu man chu mustache with a flourish.

Nodding in agreement, Tilly pulled back up his stats trying to route out a path forward. He was glad to have a good reason to prioritize some of his secondary stats over others. He knew every stat was important, but something about how the Corruption Seed gave him a backhanded bonus in strength made him lean more and more away from the stat. Not that he could ignore it completely. His growth everywhere besides Endurance and Dexterity, would be anemic, but he would make sure to invest 50% more points into the mana-centric stats than he did Strength.

Looking at his sheet again, he was struck by a question that had been nagging him for a while, “Oh! That reminds me! I have a decent handle on all the others, but what exactly does intelligence do? I want to say it gives me a bigger mana pool or something, but all of my system readings are in percentages, so how does that affect my abilities and usage of mana?” Even as Tilly asked, he saw Shuji’s smile tighten across his face as if he was holding back some-

Coughing, Shuji quickly stuttered out an answer, “Yes. No need to be ashamed Mr. Tillman. Intelligence is difficult for many to grasp. I think your pool metaphor will work nicely in describing it. The costs of your ability can remain the same, while the amount of mana invested in the same ability will increase with every point in intelligence. At some point, 1% of your mana will represent significantly more than it does now. For example, two mages can receive the fireball ability, but if one of them has double the Intelligence of the other, it will result in a vastly different outcome from the same ability input.”

Tilly’s mind was once again taken back to the Corrupted Hyena things that had stupidly circled the tree while he thinned their numbers. Yeah, definitely needed at least some, “Intelligence Good. Me understand.” Tilly said, hamming it up with a thick look on his face.

Shuji kept up his stretched-too-thin, patronizing smile and it was then Tilly realized that Shuji might actually think he was an idiot,

“Hey! I'm joking! I get it alright.” Tilly sputtered out in exasperation.

"You try getting sent to another world and being immediately thrown into battle again and again!"

Shuji’s smile ratcheted down a few notches and he breathed out a sigh, “Apologies Mr. Tillman. I have just heard many stories over the last few days that lead me to believe that there are good reasons to raise your two lowest stats. Thrown is far too apt a word for me to think otherwise.” He said, looking around uncomfortably.

Tilly just grumbled in response, mentally assigning two more points to Endurance and the three remaining free points to Intelligence.

Obviously not trying to change the subject, Shuji harrumphed, “Yes well, You asked about the Promise. And it is well you did. For, with the input of experience from the refugees who wanted first rights to the longhouses-”

“Wait, you made people pay experience for shelter?” Tilly interrupted, his voice hollow in disbelief. At his tone, Shuji's affable expression hardened.

“Mr. Tillman, many are going without sleep, working day and night to get structure and food in place. A queue had to be established somehow, or there would have been riots… It was actually Commander Linus’ idea, and you can trust that each representative of the council has their people’s best interest in mind.” He snapped, eyes sharp over dark baggy circles.

Tilly had enough self-awareness to look chagrined, “Sorry, still wound up from all this." Tilly said, gesturing vaguely around him. Then he took a deep breath and smiled sardonically,

"How about I suspend any opinions until I actually know what is happening?”

Shuji nodded graciously to Tilly’s concession, and continued,

“The Sovereign Crystal is one of the core elements of any power on Nephesh. With it, you can establish and rule a group, geographical area, or both. It is the chief prize to capture when conquering others and the way power is tracked on a Planar scale. It is surely this very thing that drove the Cult to move so quickly on the Capitol, fearing that it might lose out on so great a prize. In fact, when our people were conquered, our goddess paid dearly to empty and hide ours. This alone is what even allows us this option generations later.”

“So what does it do? I mean, Why do we need one? Wouldn’t it be better for us to just stay way out here and build up as best we can? I doubt anyone will find us for a while.” Even as he said it, Tilly remembered the black veiny growth of Corruption emanating from his scarred side. Somewhere out there, the Blue Flower was singing, and he didn't have a choice but to find it.

“Originally we had planned to wait some time until we activated it. We wanted to be defensible and well-stocked before declaring our nation on the Plane, but now with so many, we need the powers and benefits only the Crystal can provide. What it will do exactly is unpredictable, and a closely guarded secret for many powers. But we do know that the crystal will provide a means for nation-specific classes, and great boons to any nationality in which it is activated for the first time. We are hoping for some options that will greatly extend our logistical timeline.”

“Wait, why defensible? Didn't these woods get cleared out for miles in all directions?”

Shuji opened his mouth to answer and was interrupted by an urgent-sounding staccato drummed out on the sliding door.

“Ah! Time already?” Shuji exclaimed in too loud of a voice for the small room. He got up and moved gracefully around Tilly, despite his girth, to open the door. There, a small paper bird fluttered around excitedly,

“Alright! Alright, give me the message little one.” Shuji exclaimed exasperated, taking the time to look back at Tilly with an abashed shrug as if he wasn’t talking to his own spell. The paper bird unfolded itself and Hiro’s voice sounded out as if he was standing in the doorway,

“We have come to an agreement, and are ready to make our way to the Temple. If he is willing, I ask you to bring the Deity's Champion to meet us there.” The voice came out in oddly formal tones. Not that Hiro was ever not formal, but there was something else going on.

Shuji plucked the paper from the air and tucked it into his robe before turning back to Tilly,

“Well Mr. Tillman, how would you like to see the birth of a nation?”