Curling into myself, deep into self-decimation, I began exploring the ascended floors of somnolence. It was so mystifying, yet so soothing. It posed a chilling aura, yet a captivating smile drew me closer, this strange state of mind. It reminded me of the duality that the void touted.

A ticklish feeling encased my ear and a piece of my neck. I was aware of it, but apparently too far into my dreamland to let it bother me. Before my eyes, a being appeared, its skin as pale as Gale and as white as snow, but tainted by lines of blood running along its face and torso. Its eyes opened suddenly, and I flinched, jerking awake. What the fuck was that?! I asked myself, wiping away the sweat on my face and placing a hand on my chest in attempts to calm my frantic heart. The gentle winds however, did a much better job.

I decided to return home, and the minute I did, memories flooded into me from my clones. They were the usual updates concerning the coalition, but one of them floated at the top.

Hmm, intriguing… I hurried to the Order of Magic to answer the summons and found an army of mages and battlemages, warlocks, Ingen orcs, dragonkin, and even elves, surrounding two people. My position above them caused most people to take quite a while to realise I was even there. Slowly, I descended towards the two people, one of them being my best friend, August.

I landed gently, and the person stood up to greet me, so I shook hands with her, “Eric Archibald. This is a pleasant surprise, er…”

“Mandy Sikorski. The pleasure is all mine,” she smiled. She looked around thirty-five years of age, with striking blue eyes. “I apologise for the short notice, and thank you for meeting it.”

A chair, just like the one August was sitting on, appeared behind me. I raised a brow mentally. Was that transmutation? I pondered, wondering about the magic used.

She pointed with her palm upward, “Please, have a seat. I’ll get straight to the point, Sir Archibald.”

“Please, just Eric is fine.”

“Eric. Then, allow me to extend the same to you. Now then,” she looked me in the eye, “I come to you as the successor of Emily Crescent, to impart upon you the knowledge that the first premonition of the second’s coming has occurred today.”

I closed my eyes, then opened them, reeling back a little, “I, have so many questions, Mandy.”

“As do I, Eric. Shall we converse here, or move to somewhere more remote?”

~

“So,” August gave us both a look of confusion, “why am I here?”

“Does it bother you?” Mandy inquired of him.

He shrugged, “I ain’t got anything to do with the witch unlike you two.”

“Yet you’re co-leading a realm-wide force that’s purposed to kill the witch’s subordinate.”

Time stopped.

August and I looked at each other, then we looked at her. What did she just say?

“The witch’s what?” August asked.

“Her subordinate,” Mandy clarified.

“Are you talking about Apollyon?” August leaned in, ready to hang onto her every word.

“Why, yes.” Mandy just slightly twitched her brow, “Did you not know Emily Crescent was Apollyon’s master?”

Some seconds of silence passed between us. August covered his face with both palms and just breathed slowly.

“What the flyin’ fuck am I hearin’ here right now?!” This fuckin’ witch. What the fuck?! What does this shit mean for us? If Apollyon’s her minion, were we underestimating her? Are we underestimating Apollyon? If her dragons were capable of destroying worlds, I rued to imagine the monstrosity that was Apollyon.

This started putting things in perspective for me. If the fight against Apollyon would be at such a high level, then having an army was nothing but a hindrance; this entire coalition would be a mistake and put a lot more people in danger than necessary. If I could at least contain him in whichever world he spawns in, and beat him there, then only that world would be at risk. The rest of worlds in this realm would be safe. It’s messed up to think so nonchalantly about sacrificing an entire world, but it’s better that one world be compromised instead of multiple.

“So, who are you to Emily Crescent?” August asked the woman. My ears perked up and my mind followed suit.

She smiled gently, giving a really pleasant aura and touching a little pendant, “I am Emily’s first love, and her, mine. We came from another realm entirely.”

“Realm? What is this realm talk? How do you travel between realms?” I asked.

She sighed, “You don’t. Unless your realm has its gate opened to trade, one cannot travel between realms. If that gate is closed, then inter-realm travel is something only the deities can do for you. Not even Emily could do it. But enough about that,” she looked at me, “You are Emily’s chosen successor, and I am here to help you. Should you fail, I will assume the position in your stead. Apollyon is a very powerful being, yes, but the creature that first created him is another thing completely. The longer Apollyon exists in this realm, the more power his creator, Eblis, collects. Apollyon is but a precursor to the end of this realm, which is Eblis. They are both beings which cannot be destroyed or killed, only controlled or sealed.”

“Whoa, whoa! Information overload…” I complained.

She stopped, then stood up, “Ah, I see now why she chose you. I suppose I’ve nothing to fret about.” With a wave of her hand, she disappeared.

What, the f­­­­–

“Would you stop being so shocked by everything?” Donna rolled her eyes mentally.

“But what does she mean by that?” I pointed with open palms to the empty chair, “She’s just like Emily, so damn confusing!”

August leaned over and put his elbow on his legs, twiddling his thumbs. He had a bit of a distant look about him, his eyes almost wanted to pierce through the earth’s core by his gaze’s intensity. Something was very clearly on his mind, and for a second, I forgot the super important information Mandy just gave to me. “What are you wondering?”

He looked up at me, stood up, and leisurely walked over. He dropped a gentle hand on my shoulder gave a little smile, “I remember hearing about Ashfur a few years ago. It was amazing! Buddy, do you know what I’ve been told?”

I perked up, showing intent to listen. His sudden change of topic perplexed me. “What?” I asked him.

“Emily scolded you for putting people’s lives in danger, when you knew damn well you were capable of taking on Ashfur alone.”

I raised a brow, not quite catching on to what that had to do with anything.

But he continued, “And that amazed me. A beast, feared by all, avoided by even the best mages in the then Order of Mages, was beaten easily by a teenage boy.”

My stare turned serious, “What are you talking about, Aug?”

He exhaled, “I don’t think the coalition is required. In fact, I get the feeling it’s a pretty bad idea.”

“You think Apollyon is something I could defeat alone? Why?”

“Well, think about it, numbskull,” he poked me on my forehead. “Who do you know, in all these worlds you’ve been to, that’s stronger than either of us right now?” I shrugged, which reaffirmed his suspicion. “Exactly! All the stuff you’ve got your clones doing, if you instead make them focus on your own development, instead of entire worlds’ development, think about how far you’d reach. It’s the same for me. I have quintessential energy, yes. I have space manipulation mastery, yes. But I feel like I’m achieving something else, something big! Look,” his voice changed up from the salesman throwing a pitch, to just August, “I’m becoming more and more certain as the days go by, that you and I alone can handle Apollyon.”

Hmm, I see. But before I could make a big decision like disbanding the coalition, I’d have to give good enough reason. I think it’s better if they use each other’s resources to grow, but it’ll have to be even growth. However, something like this isn’t like the Ashfur quest, where I can just deal with everything on my own with world armies behind me. I’d have to face them and call it off. To do that, I first have to be at least halfway sure about this. Apollyon should come in approximately three years, which means August and I will have about two and a half years, where-as this army’s going to be limited to just two years, and the remainder of time would have to be spent on actual teamwork. It’s, tedious.

My mind was rambling on, weighing the pros and cons of each decision. The thought of doing it on our own certainly crossed my mind before, but never had I thought someone else would suggest it. “Alright, so, before all this happens, I’d like to have a huddle with the spirit lords, all of them.”

~

“I see. Well, yes, you do that,” Hethekk the Scryer said, before I even told him why I was inviting him to the meeting. A master of mind magic will always be just that, I guess. He stayed in the spirit void, in his meditative pose, and continued on. He’d be the only one absent, but he already knew what I was going to say.

On the day of the meeting, in a smaller room of the building I’d erected for the coalition meeting, we gathered. It was a lot more intimate, as we already knew each other. Hydra stuck to me like glue, as did Celosia. Qora did the same for August, so it didn’t feel like a meeting deciding the fate of the world at all.

“We’re thinking of disbanding the coalition,” August said, earning a collective gasp from a few of them.

Arcana didn’t look surprised about it at all. The rest of them wore a face of puzzlement.

“But why?” Tarit questioned.

We went on to explain that we thought we could do it on our own. But to do that, I felt like I needed to at least master manipulation of all magic types, and perhaps become an avatar where I could; not exactly an impossible task at the rate I’ve been going when it came to learning magic.

Perhaps, the biggest hindrance to pulling the plug on the coalition was the fact that I was going back on my word. This meant that I couldn’t completely sever ties, because I was the one who made these connections in the first place.

“So, you wish to play hero, hmm?” Arcana lightly tapped the side of her face, giving me an empty stare. “I know not the extent of Apollyon’s power, but you still have much to learn, Eric. I suggest you get to it. And August,” she turned to the blacksmith, “I’ve heard bits and pieces of it from Hethekk, but those who have undergone the One ritual may know of a way for you to ascend to even greater heights. Seek the hivemind.”

It would be quite some time to gather everyone who was first present for the summit, so instead, I relayed the information to our clones and had them tell all concerning parties about my plan to remove all coalition members from the actual fight against Apollyon. Soon, another summit would be held, to confirm this, and to discuss what manner of contact amongst the worlds would still be allowed after.

However, for now, August sought out Leo and Madam Jelly for the knowledge he wanted. Not only did this man have the highest magic resistance known, but he could also stop you from using mana. He was blindingly fast and his titanic strength already made him a force to be reckoned with. Yet, Arcana mentioned an ascended state for him; I couldn’t possibly fathom the creature of nightmares he would become.

I, on the other hand, already knew my next immediate goal – mastering manipulation of nature magic. It was of paramount importance to adjust my mana pathways for all types of magic, and to become more used to handling full on transformations. Losing my mind to the thrill of murder as a demon was not something I wanted to occur again, but it was extremely helpful.

“So, shadow magic, huh?” the queen mused.

Yup, I replied to Donna. The witch didn’t want me to be able to wield both light and shadow magic, and I still didn’t comprehend why, but it was something I’d figure out in time.

For now, our goals would both be pursued in the same world, Hyzek. We ventured into Umbral, where August would seek out Madam Jelly. My business, however, lied with the shadow beasts.

Leo and August sat and conversed, whilst I sought out the shadow beasts of Umbral. Seeing as none of them were particularly anthropomorphic, I wasn’t sure if they would be of any use, but I did receive full transformation ability for quadruped creatures as well, like the dragons. I didn’t expect to gain much from the shadow beasts because I only viewed them as a way to broaden and advance nature magic, which I would’ve needed to either master manipulation in, or become an avatar of, if I wanted to surpass the magical limitations that the human body imposed.

With my overpowered mind abilities, I managed to catch myself a blackshell, a colossal beetle-like shadow beast. With the help of Clone and Timedial, I added the durable beast to my list of copied cells, but I wasn’t able to do a full transformation. In fact, there were no changes visually, but my back became harder to pierce, so that was helpful.

Blackshells would often carry stalkers, the predator hounds of the shadow beasts. It was strange after I assimilated the stalker’s cells. The obvious benefit was becoming a bit more agile, which made sense, but the biggest benefit was balance. And there I was, thinking I’d grow claws or something.

My next target roamed the skies, and quite unlike normal bats – which they resembled to a tee – deadwings could see and use echolocation, not to mention they were indifferent to the time of day. I applied Gravity Field to one, and safely led him down with void manipulation, then I proceeded to use light magic to calm it, then Enthral to make it feel safe.

After I copied its cells, I had a partial transformation. Just like I could sprout Madam Jelly’s tentacles, I could sprout the wings from the deadwing. Of course, this would be a totally wasted ability, and much less convenient, much harder to navigate with, and basically an archaic form of flight compared to flying with void magic or wind magic. However, that didn’t say it was a bad form of flight; it was extremely easy to manoeuvre with.

So then, if void and wind magic were better, why use a partial nature transformation? It, didn’t take mana. None of the transformations, be it full or partial, took any mana. If, for some reason, I couldn’t cast spells or use manipulation, I would still be able to fly.

I felt that sensation before, but being as busy as I was, never truly gave it the time of day. Besides casting spells and using manipulation, certain magical abilities could also be toggled on or off, like the transformations. But why? I didn’t think I’d ever know that answer without the wisdom of the deities. So, I moved on to the next shadow beast, the marshfloor diver.

It was a crocodile, a damn big one, with fins to the side, as well as its stompy little legs. It was big enough to swallow two regular-sized adult humans. Marshfloor divers gave me greater breath control, and I knew not why.

Not very long after, my quest to assimilate the shadow beasts’ cells were complete. The gains from using nature magic so much seemed random and disconnected from each other. It confused me a little when I thought of how nature magic’s integration system worked.

If I was a bird, would I have still gotten wings as a partial transformation from the deadwings? Is there a way nature magic modifies what I get? I didn’t think the things I gained were completely useless, but I also thought they weren’t exactly the most refined and personalised traits either. For example, gaining echolocation would be a million times more useful compared to getting wings.

Ugh… I grunted. It felt like there was no way to really tell if I was getting the best out of nature magic. Instead, I chose to focus on something that intrigued me as much as it bothered me – the demonic transformation.

My body began shifting, taking the form of the tall, horned, and winged demon that I took back in T’Ghuuz. My mind was still very clear after transforming, and I paid particular attention to whether or not it would start to become muddy for me in terms of thinking.

With a clone at my side as a contingency plan, I faced my palm upward and focused on summoning shadow magic. The dark amethystine magics warped around my hand, but it was quite unstable and would fall apart easily. Frankly, no matter how hard I concentrated, it felt like the magic was not responding.

Hmm… I used light manipulation, and seriously wondered how in Hydra’s ass that was possible. I was a demon after all, my mana pathways should be specifically suited to shadow magic, a direct opposite to light. So why was it that I had no issues using light? Did I still have the same mana pathways I did as a human, even when I used a full transformation? I thought back on when I healed myself in T’Ghuuz and realised light probably only affects demons when applied directly to them.

I couldn’t be sure, but what I did realise, was that shadow magic seemed to fizzle out the more I thought about the correct technique needed to summon the ghastly magic type. Instead, the more I filled my mind with dread, hopelessness, power, and death, the easier shadow magic became to manipulate. It was a fascinating dynamic; no other magic type that I practised so far worked like that.

“That must have something to do with why Emily didn’t want you to learn shadow magic,” Donna surmised. “Remember when you used Light Resurrection on me?”

My mind paced back to that, and the witch indeed was a bit relieved that I chose light magic. However, when it came to her, trying to understand her perspective on something was probably pure stupidity. Even now, at my level of knowledge, power, and wisdom, I found it hard to truly understand her reasoning behind a lot of her words and decisions. How can I claim to care about the balance and be ignorant of an entire magic type? Nah, man, I gotta know.

Once I was done with assimilating shadow beasts’ cells, I met with August again. We both knew what we had to do now.

It was time hang out with the top guild in Yunaris, First Flight.