Trouble was growing in the Grentian Kingdom. It wasn’t an overt disturbance that could be pinpointed but rather a shift in the political undercurrents.

The Kingdom always had at least three factions. There were those, loyal to the throne, who couldn’t be persuaded to defect; others, looking to the future, vowed allegiance with the prince they thought might succeed the throne. Anyone, who didn’t fit in those two groups, was neutral and, with enough effort, could be swayed to either side. With that being so, a large portion of neutral families had suddenly begun to support First Prince Hayden. With their support came a type of secretiveness that wasn’t normal.

Usually, nobles would try to bring others into the fold and rumors would leak. It was strange that the neutral factions who joined Prince Hayden showed no sign of recruiting or convincing others. Prince Hayden clearly held full control over the group of nobles under him and the other princes grew suspicious. It was common knowledge that most nobles who supported the princes were fickle and could shift their support at any time. After all, if the princes they picked failed to ascend the nobles under them would suffer the most.

Of course, the most important player in the games of the nobles was Randolph. Ira had left the Grentian Kingdom and the Valkyries went with him which left a huge power vacuum. With the Kingdom’s temple putting their support behind Randolph, it was apparent that he was the closest thing the nobles would get to Ira.

Inside of a training room, Randolph stood in front of Cyprian Aurell, a well-known swordsman from Parv.

“I’ve taught you as much as was required in our agreement. You’ve learned well, in fact, you’re one of the most talented people I have ever met. If you continue to grow at the same rate you’ll catch up if not surpass me entirely.” Cyprian rested his hand on his sword pommel and gave a sincere smile as he spoke.

“...But I won’t be able to match Ira.” Randolph's thoughts leaked out.

Cyprian laughed before shaking his head, “I doubt there is anyone who can match him. Take care of yourself, Randolph. I hope to see you achieve something great.”

“Thank you for all you’ve taught me.” Randolph bowed. Although he seemed grateful, the times he learned under Cyprian’s tutelage felt more like he was being possessed by something.

The two would train for hours and by the end of it Randolph would feel like he had awoken from a dream state. It was an unfamiliar feeling for him but he chalked it up to a state of extreme concentration. Except, that wasn’t what it was and deep down Randolph felt that it wasn’t either. It felt less like his own efforts and more like something invading his body but he chose to ignore it.

After Cyprian’s departure, Randolph made his way to his new home. A newly built manor that was gifted to him by King Windsor. Once he arrived he heard a low and solemn sobbing.

“Clark?” Randolph called out.

The sound of someone moving around in a hurried manner and then finally, Clark responded. “Y-Yeah?”

Randolph entered a large room and found Clark holding a letter. His eyes and expression told of his emotional state.

“Did something happen?” Randolph asked.

“Uh…” Clark formed a pained smile. “Amy is getting married, or, she probably already is. It took a while for this letter to reach me so...”

“What? To who?” Randolph seemed in disbelief since it was clear Amy and Clark had some type of connection.

“Aldis…” It would be a great understatement to say Clark was shocked.

They had all entered the Kingdom’s Academy together, and at that time, Aldis was far more closed off. Even when they ran into each other, during the cavern expedition, they didn’t seem romantically involved. It wasn’t until he received a letter from Amy that he understood that he didn’t expect them to become involved romantically. Especially after he had gained an ability.

“Maybe there’s time to convince her. After all, you didn’t tell her how you feel right?”

“D-Do you think so?”

“Didn’t you both grow up together? Anyways, I have to go report to Minister Rubin, but I’ll be back soon. I also have to go to a dinner at the Fairfax Manor later, but you can come with me, if you want.”

“Ok.” Clark wiped his face with his sleeve and nodded.

The mood between the two friends was restored and Randolph was able to carry on.

…

Meanwhile, in the Underground City, Ira was attempting to create a sword, a process which took him a few days. Without knowing any proper smithing techniques or even wanting to take the time to learn, he chose to request a casting mold. It made it so that all he had to do was pour molten Godsteel into the general shape of a sword and armor before using his matter alteration to change it.

“Here are the items you asked for, Keeper.” A cart full of blocks was pushed toward Ira. “Once you break them open you’ll have the basic shapes you asked for.

“Got it.” Ira waved his hand and all the blocks disappeared from sight. “Thanks.”

Ira vanished from sight and reappeared inside of the Valkyrie Fortress. He sniffed the air and made sure to avoid Avery and Raveria.

“Ira!” Harper turned a corner and shouted loudly.

“Shush!” Ira placed a hand over Harper’s mouth while looking around. “I’m busy, Harper.”

“With what?” Harper asked with interest.

“I’m trying to make a gift for Avery.”

“A gift?”

“Yeah and it’s a surprise so keep quiet about it,” Ira explained and waited for Harper to move aside but she stared at him blankly.

“I like surprises,” Harper said.

“Good to know,” Ira replied.

“I like surprising people too and making gifts.” Harper made her intentions clear and raised her eyebrows for extra effect.

“Uh...good to know, I guess?” Ira made a confused expression.

“I really like helping too, Ira.” Harper emphasized “helping” and raised her eyebrows as high as they could go.

“What the fuck are you doing with your eyebrows?” Ira made a concerned expression. “Are you...alright? I don’t know why you like gifts so much but if it makes your eyebrows twitch like that maybe you should see a healer or something. That’s really not normal, Harper.”

“I want to help, Ira!” Harper shouted in frustration.

Ira covered her mouth with both hands while listening for any footsteps. “Fine, just keep quiet.”

“I got it,” Harper whispered excitedly.

Suddenly, Ira’s ears twitched and he picked Harper up and ran toward an empty room.

A few minutes later, a Valkyrie arrived at where Ira was standing previously and looked around.

“...I thought I heard someone say 'Ira',” She spoke to herself before shaking her head. A closer look revealed that her hair was very short. She was a victim of Raveria's infantile tantrums and had lost most of her hair. The reason she was so eager to find Ira was to have it restored.

Inside the room, Ira let out a sigh of relief and tossed Harper to the side. She easily recovered in mid-air and landed on her feet while laughing. Ira ignored her giddy mood and continued. Harper's cheerfulness made it seem as if she was the recipient of the gift and not someone helping to create one.

Ira waved his hand and several blocks fell with a heavy thump which made him visibly flinch. After hearing no one move toward the room he calmed down.

“Help me open these.” Ira grabbed the biggest block and peeled it open carefully while Harper followed suit.

After a few minutes, the pieces of Godsteel were lined up with the sword being the closest thing to him.

“Alright, here’s the tricky part.” Ira cracked his knuckles before picking up the basic blade. Black mist emerged from the tips of his fingers and slowly went into the blade.

Ira focused his concentration and funneled as much black mist as he could into the Godsteel in an attempt to alter its properties. Slowly, the divine metal began to change and at the same time, Ira found that it was harder to manipulate than he thought. There was an incredibly powerful force resisting the change but in the end Ira won against it.

It was only when an hour had passed that he finally finished making the sword. The blade became pitch black but still had a reflective metal property while the edge of the blade kept a steel color. He placed the sword in his hands and tried to get a feel for it. A hilt needed to be added but all in all it seemed to be a good weapon.

“Ira!” Harper shouted but not out of excitement but rather fear. She was sinking into the ground for some odd reason.

“How are you doing that, Harper?” Ira asked with curiousity.

“I-I’m not! Please help me!” Harper flailed her arms helplessly while sinking further into the ground. It was strange because the floor was solid but it seemed to act as quicksand.

Ira looked at the sword and then to Harper before waving his hand and producing a leather scabbard. He sheathed the sword and then the phenomenon stopped and the ground under Harper instantly returned to normal.

“Woah…” Ira looked at the sword once again and laughed.

As Harper calmed down, she seemed to realize something. “The sword did it?!”

“It did.” Ira unsheathed it once again and Harper fell into a panic soon after.

“Ira.” Harper found herself unable to move a single muscle.

“Sorry,” Ira put the sword away while contemplating. “We need a name for it.”

Harper shook her body after she regained control of it. “A name?”

“Yeah, you know? Something cool.”

“What about...the Random Sword?” Harper smiled as she seemed to believe her name was perfect for it.

“No...Harper that’s a bad name...a really bad name.”

“Then you can come up with one,” Harper’s cheeks puffed up angrily.

“No, keep going. You wanted to help right?” Ira gestured toward her.

“Right,” Harper grumbled. “Then what about The Floor Sword?”

“Next.”

“The Weird Sword.”

“Nope.”

“The Swordy Sword.”

“Be a little more serious.”

“The Crazy Sword.”

“Harper.”

“The Paradox Sword.”

“If you don’t–Wait, that just might work.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Ira nodded. “We’ll go with that.”

The Sword had taken on some of the reality-bending and illogical properties of the Black Forest so it was only right to give it an appropriate name. The weapon itself was an incredibly powerful object that Kingdoms would fight for it they had the chance. Ira seemed vaguely aware but he didn’t really care, after all, it was a gift for Avery so he had to go all out. Plus, it was meant to be nothing more than a decoration piece so he assumed it would be hung up on a display somewhere.

“Alright, Harper. Now we get to the armor.” Ira picked up a chest piece and smiled.

Ira continued his task of creating the most powerful weapon and armor set in the history of mankind while being unaware of the repercussions of his actions.

…

In the Divine Realm, a lone figure observed ten glass columns that reached high into the air. The humanoid figure had dark reddish skin and golden gears sticking out of his torso. His eyes were empty and filled with a murky grey fluid that moved around like ink. He was Ionus, the God of Time, who watched nearly all significant events in the Divine Realm and recorded them.

Four out of five pillars already glowing and suddenly another lit up and a pulse was sent throughout the Divine Realm.

“...Five,” Ionus said solemnly.

Once five pillars were activated, meaning five taboos were broken in the Mortal Realm, the Gods could start to interfere. The last time such an event happened, the Gods raised a barrier and caused nations to collapse and many to die. It was all in order to prevent King Dietrich’s dream for all people to become immortal and ascend which would definitely threaten the natural order. Previously, Ira had only activated three but after forcefully avoiding ascension and, more recently, creating a weapon with the potential to harm a God, he had unknowingly activated two more columns.

A few hours later, which was basically seconds to the Gods in the Divine Realm. An old man with a muscular body hidden under his white robes approached Ionus and landed next to him. It was the same God who attempted, and failed, to dissuade Kara Thynne from asking about the Avarus. Ionus had told her the truth though Xandes was none the wiser.

“Xandes,” Ionus greeted indifferently. “Where is Kara?”

“She’s somewhere being angry. You would know if you appeared at the gathering.” Xandes sighed.

“Have you decided to interfere in the Mortal Realm again?” Ionus asked.

“You say that as if I alone decided. The majority voted to interfere…” Xandes trailed off.

“Is that all?” Ionus’ eyes flickered as he asked.

“Can anything escape your notice?” Xandes smiled wryly. “Although they plan to interfere it won’t be until more taboos are broken.”

“You all wish to personally descend upon the Mortal Realm?!” Ionus showed a surprised reaction but his face regained its calm immediately after.

“No one has said anything about descending personally. There are talks of sending an army of angels to lead a crusade against the Avarus in the Mortal Realm. I've also been told that a mortal has been selected to become the soldier for a Primary God who's almost as old as me. There isn't any fear for the Avarus in the Mortal Realm since the Black Pillar is far more dangerous to us. If that Wolf, who disappeared into the Origin Realm, appears again, we need a device to stop it; thus, many of the Gods decided to combine their efforts and create a weapon to stop him.”

“What creation can possibly go against the Black Pillar?” Ionus asked.

“From what I’ve been told, the best way to counteract it is to create multiple self-contained planes of reality. They’ll be simple spaces that contain little to nothing but there will be millions of them functioning at once. The Black Pillar erodes away at reality but it can only do so at a set rate. As long as new realities are created faster than they are destroyed it would hold that Wolf for a nearly infinite amount of time,” Xandes explained. “They’ve decided to call it the Tartarus.”

Ionus spent some time thinking of his next reply and then a question came to his mind. “Were you one of those who voted to interfere?”

Xandes look surprised at the question but chuckled a few times in response. “It does not matter what I’ve decided on. It would have progressed with or without me.”

Although he didn't say what side he voted on, it was crystal clear to Ionus.

“It is unlike you to become so active.” There were hints of criticism in Ionus’ voice.

“I could say the same to you. As you’ve said before, you’re a chronicler of events. You’ve become far more invested in these particular happenings than any other event that took place over the last few centuries.” Xandes replied before he turned away and left.

Ionus was left to try and predict what would occur but even he felt that it was impossible to do. For some reason, the future which he could usually see easily had become hazier than ever.