***Former Council Base, Border to the Higher Planes***

***Angrod***

I kick a small stone on the ground, propelling it into a nearby hill and throwing up a cloud of dust in the process. “This is frustrating! A whole fucking planet which should be full of evidence and we can't find out where they took the Spheres! You had a whole day of picking through the rubble! Get me answers!”

The crowd of soldiers scatters quickly, newly motivated by my outburst.

We secured some of the freshly produced spheres, but by far not enough to account for all the time this factory world was left running.

“Don’t overreact, Dad,” Nix tries to calm me down. “We’ve only started. It’s impossible for a search of this scale to turn up quick results.”

I glare at her, hoping that she gets the hint. “We are going to have a word later… creating pools of blood while other people were fighting. What were you thinking?”

She pouts. “I admit that I got carried away, but they weren’t just pools of blood. I took inspiration from acrylic pour painting and used our enemy’s blood to create something truly beautiful! You have to look at it with infrared. The colours, the mixing of the-”

Celes cuffs her daughter before the succubus can slip back into an orgiastic trance of creative artistry. “Get a grip! I thought your father taught you to control the impulses of a chaotic divinity.”

I sigh, feeling the wind taken out of my sails. “Let her be. It took me several centuries to control my own divinity. It is done and it can’t be helped.”

“It’s true that we haven’t learned much.” Chiffre looks up from his tablet. “But we got valuable information about the production process of a Sphere. Give my people some time and we may come up with a solution. Right away, I can say that the dimensional bridge which enables the sphere to connect with the Calamity is a very fragile thing. We may be able to shut the whole thing down.”

He turns the tablet to show me his math. “I don’t think we can stop the spheres which are already in circulation throughout the multiverse, but we control their central piece – the black hole which acts as a prison for the Calamity. All we have to do is to block the signal and all the Spheres become useless.”

I take the tablet from him, wondering why I didn’t have the idea myself. “I will take a look at it, but your idea sounds feasible.”

Celes pats my back. “See? Even if we have to surround the black hole in a prison of Mana Crystal, we can do it.”

The Arcane Community's moon is clearly visible in the sky above us. It's surrounded by debris, creating an interesting view. It could take a few years until some of the parts will drift out of sight or fall down onto the planet.

After securing Elohim's remains, we decided to hold an emergency meeting planetside.

I turn my attention away from the tablet. “I hope you don't plan to play around with a Sphere!” I hate to play the motherly character, but those things are just flat out dangerous.

“Of course not!” Chiffre reassures me with a flat voice, then gestures at the ruined factory around us. “But just looking at the destroyed factories gives us all the information that's needed. We can study the building process firsthand and our people found the blueprints. We don't have to risk our souls by playing around with the real thing. In a way, having access to the factories is even better than playing around with any number of Spheres to learn how they work.”

He points at a pile of destroyed Spheres which our men collected after taking over the factory. For safety’s sake, we instructed everyone to damage or destroy the accursed devices on sight.

“And by analysing the data, we already found out that the Spheres are all linked together and controlled by a hierarchical command structure. There is a central controlling device somewhere. As a secondary solution, my people are currently working on a method to tap into this network in order to find the enemy’s command centre.”

“Wouldn't it be much easier to interrogate Elohim?” Carne asks an obvious question.

“He isn't in a good condition at the moment. And I doubt that we would get any useful information out of him. He is certainly mind-wiped like the others.” Chiffre makes a dismissive gesture.

It was the Arcane Community which captured Elohim after the fight. He was drifting in an orbit around their moon after the colossal ‘headbutt’.

I nod, affirming the ambassador’s notion. “I will take a look at him as soon as I get the chance, but Chiffre is likely right, Carne. I don’t hold much hope that there is anything useful inside Elohim’s brain after he practically confirmed that he is another one of the Calamity’s meat puppets.”

“That doesn't mean that he will get away lightly. To destroy my moon with a headbutt!” Chiffre complains. “Kukuku! I will take my time to dismantle him piece by piece. And after I am done with his body, I will work on what’s left of his soul. There are quite a few experiments to be done. First and foremost, it would be interesting whether our planned jamming device will be able to block a puppet's connection to the Calamity. If we get my theory to work, we might be able to imprison our enemy for good with one fell swoop.”

“Ahem... Yeah, right. Do your thing.” Carne looks a little pale after having heard Chiffre’s insane laughter.

Celes speaks up, “Chiffre, if you don’t mind, we have a few talented people who recently got finished with a large project of ours. This plan of yours sounds very promising, so I would like you to accept the help of Margerie, one of our best scientists.”

The slightly mad member of the Arcane Community nods. “You do just that. Science is there to be shared with everyone…” He purses his lips and quickly decides to correct his statement. “… aside from some minor details which could cause harm in the wrong hands.”

I clap my hands together. “So we will ready the fleet and wait for your results, Chiffre.”

Hopefully, for Carne, the truth of how Chiffre’s moon got shipwrecked in orbit will never come out.

Our merry meeting is suddenly interrupted when one of the soldiers returns, presenting himself to Carne. “We have found something, Sir!”

“Out with it,” Carne replies in a manner which implies that he wouldn't accept any bad news right now.

“Their computers are fried, Sir, but we got hold of some manifests which show the flow of resources in and out of the facility,” the soldier speaks quickly, hurrying to get to the point. “Most of the Spheres were transferred out in single units without a signed destination. But every month there was a single large shipment of several hundred units in bulk, each referring to a 'Site A'. I think this means that there must be a second facility.”

Carne looks at us and then at his man. “And this helps us how? We already knew that there must be more facilities.”

The soldier looks towards Chiffre, begging for help with his eyes. “I thought that the Arcane Community was working on a way of tracking the enemy? They have a whole warehouse down there, including something that looks like some dedicated departure area for shipping their goods, assuredly by pathway, Sir. Doesn't it help to know the exact departure point?”

Chiffre only purses his lips and hums while massaging his chin. “The man has obviously no idea what he is talking about since this is an entirely different matter.” Then he raises a finger. “But it so happens that this information might actually be valuable. My people invested intensive research into the nature of the pathways since the Chimerans revealed their ability to travel the Void Zones, and a byproduct of this research is a device that can measure the background energy of frequently used pathways. Assuming that they really did repeatedly use the same entry and exit points of the pathway network, we should be able to track them down.”

***Mobile Fortress, Nomad***

***Angrod***

Three days later, after using every lever my kingdom and the alliance has, I am left looking at the large tactical display at the Nomad's observation station, trying my best to think of a solution to our newest problem. The tracking device of the Arcane Community worked perfectly and led us towards the enemy base. I call it base but it's more like a gigantic fortress composed of multiple planets.

“That's a formidable defence they have got there.” Chiffre studies the screen with an annoyed expression. “I am afraid that our forces will receive a bloody nose from attacking this stronghold.”

I nod silently, confirming his assessment of the Calamity’s defences.

Finding this base and learning of its defensive measures warranted an emergency meeting. All the ambassadors are present, including Nicosar and Arthur, Celes, Nix, Tanja, and Sandra. Fuck, I simply called everyone with the slightest bit of battle power from Chimera, including Sven and Samuel.

There is a huge planet in the centre of the configuration. This planet is surrounded by dozens of smaller planets in a very tight and complex gravitational dance. The thing is something completely unnatural, and so I can already guess that this construct was most likely made by Amaru.

The Calamity seems to like placing at least one body with formidable power at locations of importance, though I don’t understand why it is allowing us to pick off one of its assets at a time. If I were the damned thing, I would hold at least some mobile forces in reserve to defend in case of an attack.

“As far as I see it, the biggest problem is that the planets are infested with countless fiends,” Miruliru comments. “Worse, the reports imply that some of them have the ability to use pathways or at least some form of teleportation.”

Gwalonna from the Gaian Pact nods. “We already lost one of our scout ships to those things. They kept appearing around it until the crew had to abandon the ship. Thankfully, a second ship picked them up before the fiends could get them.”

“I am still not convinced that growing ‘living’ ships from trees is the right answer to our problem,” Chiffre comments.

Gwalonna pouts. “They are capable of reseeding a whole planet. And even if one gets destroyed, we can just grow a thousand more. We never intended them as battle-craft, but as a pure means to travel Void Zones where our ability to use the pathways is impeded.”

“I say we go in there with all weapons blazing and crush everything! No need to hold back!” Celes waves her fist at the screen.

“Hold it! What if we somehow set off the Spheres by doing that!” Miruliru tries to calm down my wife, apparently not liking her idea.

“They will set them off either way if they want to,” Chiffre explains his line of thoughts to us. “I think everyone should be well aware that our enemies aren't using the Spheres as some sort of threat to blackmail us. The Calamity never showed any sign of operating like that. The thing is playing some game to which we don’t know the rules. It's rather a question of why it didn't already use the spheres. The only reason could be that it isn't ready to use them at this point in time. So, by going in earlier, we may stop the Calamity from using them on a large scale.”

I close my eyes to relax. Millions of worlds could be gone, just because some type of epic fools had to play with fusing souls. Every idiot should be able to tell that having multiple personalities inside one body is a bad idea.

“The question is how to utilize our forces and abilities!” Nicosar puts up a stance while looking at the screen, ever the man to be the first to step up if hard decisions have to be made.

“We should go in with all our forces together. Those demons could overwhelm smaller groups very easily by using their teleportation ability.” Zanders points out. “Are we sure that we can overwhelm them by force?”

“May I make a suggestion?” Warden’s voice interrupts us, which is unusual for the Crystal Intelligence. It is a very talkative personality, but over the years since we discovered Warden, we came to an accord that it doesn’t mess with political matters.

“Warden, it's unusual for you to interrupt,” I answer, looking towards the ceiling where the surveillance system is located.

“I am sorry for being rather simple-minded in following my purpose, but the current situation is directly connected to my orders. So, to get to my suggestion, I will take Asheim there, as you call the Crystal City, and destroy those planets for you,” Warden explains in its convoluted way.

Miruliru chokes. “Could you repeat that?”

“I will take Asheim through a pathway, just like the Arcane Community did with their moon. Then I will utilize my weaponry to destroy those planets,” Warden repeats, talking especially slow for us organic intelligences.

“You can destroy planets? And move yourself around like it's no big deal?” Gwalonna growls, clearly disliking the fact.

“I am Warden. I was tasked to stop the great Calamity from ever emerging again, so it would be pretty stupid to give me such a tremendous task if I didn't have the abilities to accomplish it. I was created by the Bright One after all, and he made sure that I have all the capabilities necessary to be on par with an army of ascended beings,” Warden explains calmly.

“Oooh, if it's like that! Come here and smash that planetary fortress for us!” Carne waves his hand at the screen with an expectant gesture, having no problem with accepting Warden’s claim.

“It isn't that easy,” Warden admits. “I need to get close enough to do it. Otherwise, I can't guarantee the eradication of the fiends.”

“How do you intend to get rid of the fiends?” I ask Warden with a curious voice.

“By using the same magic which you used to stop their earlier incursions,” the A.I. states a little too cheerful for my taste.

“Warden! I thought we had an agreement in terms of spying through my ships!” I shout with an angry voice, instantly aggravated with having that particular spell of mine stolen.

“I am sorry, but your anger isn't justified. I didn't break our agreement. The magic you are using has been known to me for a long time. It was developed by the Bright One to stop the Calamity and to return the eaten souls to the great cycle of Life and Death.”

I narrow my eyes. “That's hard to believe. I developed that particular spell by researching the affinities of my own soul. In a way, each time someone casts it, they access my divinity. This ‘Bright One’ must have had a soul very similar to mine in order to create that spell.”

“Then the answer is obvious,” Warden replies, sounding smug while using my own euphemism against me. “In a way, I already said far too much.”

“Hah?!” I am at a dead end, so I shake my fist at the ceiling. “Explain!” All the meetings and discussions over the course of the day made me tired, so I am not in the mood for playing mind games right now.

But Warden doesn't budge, choosing to stay silent instead.

“Explain yourself, Warden!” Chiffre and the other ambassadors join in together with my family, demanding a complete answer.

Finally, Warden sighs. “If the magic was developed twice by researching a specific soul’s affinities, then the soul in question has to be the same one. Souls are like fingerprints. Some may be similar, but every one of them is unique. So, Angrod may be a reincarnation of the Bright One.”

I smack my head hard. This whole reincarnation shit is becoming too complicated.

“But Angrod is Angrod! He doesn't remember anything of being one of your Ascended?” Celes complains.

“If you recall, I told you that all remaining Ascended returned to the great cycle of Life and Death. Rising once more and free of their eternal burden was the point. They firmly believed that it would have to happen at some point in the distant future. Most likely, many of you have the soul of an Ascended, even if you don’t remember.”

The Crystal Intelligence snorts. “It's actually funny to see that you gods seem to be caught in an endless wheel, spinning around and around in eternity as you ascend, burn brightly, and then fall into darkness just to rise once more. Even if you believe that you managed to escape your fate, you end up in your old positions again.”

“That's not funny, Warden! Fuck you! I would disassemble you if we didn't need you.” I scream out towards the ceiling. This is frustrating and not helpful!

The slightly different voice of some unknown individual returns from the speakers. “That's not funny, Warden! Fuck you! I would disassemble you if we didn't need you.”

“Funny. That's a translated recording of the Bright One. He said the exact same words a few iterations ago if you overlook the grammatical language differences. I took the freedom of a rough translation.”

“Argh!” I turn over to one of the consoles, intending to cut the upstart AI out of my systems once and for all, but moments before I can press the ‘Delete’ button, multiple ambassadors, family members, and friends jump on me like I am carrying a football and just entered the death zone, frantically stopping me from making a grave mistake.