"Then let me work while we move. And now that I know there are distractions about-," Li snapped his fingers and motioned for everyone to clear the middle of the path.

The Vukanovi skittered through the gap and bent down its legs of vine, lowering itself. 

"Hop on. Walking will take us a full day to cross this bridge. All of you should savor this view, this entrance into the West-," Li swept his arm to the side of the bridge, to the yawning chasm shrouded in misty fog spat up from rolling ocean waters. At the vast expanse of sky above and the vast stretches of mountainside that formed a colossal canyon at an awing scale. 

He shot a knowing glance to Mason and Mercer, both of whom could barely handle keeping on their own feet inside the Vukanovi when it moved full throttle. "I will cast spells on both of you two to ensure that you can stay atop the mount. Get used to the feeling of having more strength and speed than your body allows for, as you two will need the buffs to keep up."

The two brothers nodded. 

"Good, then let us move," said Li. 

===

As the Vukanovi moved through the Midpath at over a hundred miles per hour, Li sat cross legged and close eyed in meditation atop the Vukanovi's head. He sensed almost nothing form the outside world. A dim whine that must have been the whistling of wind rushing by. A tick and tock that must have been the Vukanovi's legs cracking across the Midpath. 

Warmth in his lap – Tia. 

His attention, his will, melded with his inner world that comprised two separate yet same selves. 

Funny, it was to think about, eldritch nature and its contradictions. Separate yet same. Chaos and Order. 

In the darkness, he willed his consciousness out, a wisp of green, and it met with his other, a tendril of grey, and then, for a brief moment, they became one. His other had read his intent, and Li could feel just enough eldritch power, that odd cold yet comforting feeling rushing into him, but it was faint.

Just enough power for his needs.

Li had immensely powerful buffs, but he did not have any that were significantly longterm other than the one he had created to halt the eldritch infused demonrot. Buffs themselves were short term by nature, and even the one he fashioned to be more permanent required his totem as a channeler for it, not to mention its immense cost. 

In the case that members of this party strayed from him, they needed a more cost efficient and permanent solution: weapons.

But Li did not have the capacity to create weapons. But he could always just create a spell for it, and so long it meshed with his current abilities, the cost would not be prohibitively high.

First, he used his divine authority over life to form the base of the spell. He could create weapons and constructs from wood and plants and flowers infused with his divine strength. Then actually making the weapon powerful, granting it notable special effects and actives capable of causing destruction was the domain of his eldritch power. 

Fuse the two, forge the spell – 

Li saw for a flash in this realm of inner darkness a burst of colors. Sigils and letters of arcane origin that swirled around him in lines and lines of multi-colored light. A kaleidoscope of rotating lines of mystic lettering that formed the 'code' of magic in this world.

Then, it was gone.

Spell forged: 

[Hollow Branch Arms]

[Rank: B]

[To any unit designated as a 'follower', create an item designated as a 'hollow branch'. This item starts off at a base rank of C with no special properties. However, this item will grow with the wielder, molding to their souls and needs and developing passives and actives dependent on their growth. Growth includes the increase of levels as well as differences in the soul itself. 

In addition, hollow branches may be upgraded if superior items or item materials are found. These items or materials may be integrated into the hollow branch to transfer its properties and effects.]

Li opened his eyes, looking back to the material world. He saw the glowing white Midpath rush past him as the Vukanovi charged forwards, though it did not move at full speed. At maximal speed, the Vukanovi would withdraw its legs of vine and simply start rolling, but this would obviously make it extremely difficult to sit on top of it. 

He glanced down at his hands, looking at twin wreathes of black and green crackling from his fingertips. The eldritch power he used had a cost, and though it was not much to create this level of spell, it made his mind wander back to Noctus.

If Li was going to fight Noctus, he could not fight the eldritch entity with just half of his strength. Li needed to use everything at full throttle. And the only method he knew how to do that without severely sacrificing the resource he used to fuel his eldritch power – his humanity – was through Zahaka's ritual that 'reset' him.

At the same time, he was not sure it was necessary. Helius had assured Li he had spent centuries devising a way to isolate and destroy Noctus. But was it truly enough to trust Helius, a broken shell of a god?

But Zahaka and the other gods, did Li truly want them here? He would like their help against Noctus, to be sure, but the harsh reality of it all was that at the end of the day, they were competitors.

Li was a god. They were gods. 

He wanted to make his mark on this world, to put it under the shade of his Order. They aside from Helius had already made their mark on this world and no doubt would want to keep their authority.

There would be shared common interest in defeating Noctus, but then, after that?

Uncertainty. Especially on Zahaka and Khonsu's part. Chi-You, Li could tell was simpler minded, purer in heart. The other two were mysteries, especially in light of Helius revealing that Zahaka herself did not fully trust Li.

Thoughts to consider. At the very least, Li understood with the confirmation of the Chthonia that he could not adhere as strongly to his old principles. 

Especially in regard to summoning new life. He had always intended to break that rule once he went west as a show of grand power to the western peoples, giving them protection and hope and a spectacle to bring them to his side.

This, Li had strategized for he knew that the Hinterlanders in the west, though part of the duchy, were the most isolated from it, and their peoples already discriminated against. It would not be difficult to sway them in contrast to the nigh brainwashed masses of Soleil itself.

The backdrop of the Darkening and its massive threat would prevent the duchess from ever lifting a finger against Li. She only had everything to lose. Without Li's assistance, her war effort became significanly compromised.

And if she moved against Li when he was bringing good everywhere he went, it would only damage the reputation she had spent decades building up.

In many ways, this was simply a scaled-up version of what Li was already doing. She could not harm him or do anything to him because he was not only too powerful, but also because his herbalism and Farmer's Guild had only ever done good for Riviera, increasing its grain output and making healing more accessible. 

Was Helius even truly right, though? The sun god had said the Chthonia was coming, that Zahaka had prepared for it for centuries, but was that a certainty? 

Would it not be prevented if Li and Helius killed Noctus in the proper way, using the Sunspear to seal the abyssal god such that it could not call for its brethren? 

"Papa, what you thinking about?" said Tia as she tugged on Li's hands. The arcs of black and green energy faded as her hands touched his. 

"What kind of weapon I should give you," said Li.

Tia smiled. "Oh! Gift from papa. Will it make me strong?" 

"Hm. For you, not as much. But it will grow with you, so you must take good care of it," said Li. 

"I take care of anything papa gives me," nodded Tia. 

"I know you will, Tia." Li turned around to see Old Thane, Sheela, and Vilga sitting on the Vukanovi, watching the scenery of the Shibboleth blur by. 

Mason and Mercer were wide-eyed, not even blinking as they pointed at this thing and that while occasionally staring at their hands and moving them around. They were unused to the buffs boosting their strength to keep and also unused to the sheer scale and magnificence of the world around them.

"All of you, sorry to disturb, but I am ready with your weapons," said Li.

"About time!" said Old Thane. "So, what will it be, lad? These old hands know how to use a club or spear, but truly, the fists speak my fighting spirit the best."

Vilga nodded to Old Thane in understanding as a fellow martial artist, though their styles could not have been more different.

"Don't worry about that. I'll shape the items to suit your needs. Now, let me tell you what these items will give you-,"

"I am sorry to interrupt, great seer," said Asala. She pointed forwards with her stylus with raised eye. "But thou shouldst see this."