The downpour of rain left us with a picturesque rainbow. We watched on at the lands below us from the mountain we trained at. By some stroke of impossibility, I woke up before everyone else that morning and had a nice cup of coffee with Donna as we admired the clean feel that rainfall often gave the atmosphere. We shared a cosy blanket as the morning was quite chilly and took some time to just relax.

Well, that didn’t last long. Adrasteia was making so much noise hurrying to pack her stuff that she just ruined the moment. We decided that we should have a week’s break; the constant training without a little leisure time would probably achieve the opposite. So, at Donna’s command, we stopped. She and Fatima were both satisfied with our recent milestones, so they didn’t mind the break.

These months of Timedial and Clone abuse yielded me mastery over arcane manipulation. That damn cryptic magic type was certainly the hardest one I’ve ever delved into. I couldn’t begin to imagine the amount of time it would take if it weren’t for Clones and Timedial speeding up the process many times over. But I finally mastered the manipulation, amongst other things. I also mastered light manipulation. Unlike the gazillion number of spells which I learnt as I pursued arcane manipulation mastery, light manipulation only gave me one thing, but it was a very useful thing so I didn’t mind. It was similar to Apotheosis in that it summoned some woman. But this woman could speak, and the angelic being called herself Spectre of Eliora.

It stunned me the first time I heard that, because the golden staff that Emily told me was necessary to defeat Apollyon was named the Staff of Eliora. Apothea was ludicrously strong, but this spectre was on another level completely; she truly represented what it meant to master light manipulation.

Besides arcane and light mastery, there were two other notable things I achieved. The mastery of light and arcane boosted my mana power to 5,500%. When we started training, I was only around 2,300%. That huge jump was no doubt mostly due to arcane. The other noteworthy achievement, or spell rather, was one that made Purist obsolete. Just casting it once gave me 200% more mana power, with no mobility drawback. However, just like Purist, it could only be stacked up to 100 times. Well, I hardly considered that a con. Augment – the spell – was a win-win.

August, somehow, always managed to surprise me. His quintessential energy limit was now 1,500%. He mastered Displacement, the mana-separation thing which made others unable to use magic, and he forged a claymore from the remains of an Avatar of Chaos. With Qora’s help, he became an avatar of space. Just like I could use Voidport, he had a similar spell for space magic. He was becoming an absurdly strong existence.

I wasn’t very knowledgeable about Adrasteia’s abilities except her Dragon Armour and soul magic. Donna and Fatima helped her achieve Division. I helped her through the first mana powerup which afflicted the mind through Phantasm, and healed her body through the crystal shard mana powerup. Just those three feats alone gave her an immense power boost, and she also saw huge gains in the duration of Dragon Armour. It really was true that the draconic magic surrounding her was resistant to shadow magic. I had her make a clone to test it and used my demonic transformation to see the limits of protection it offered. It was an amazing protection buff whilst giving the user insane physical strength and speed; and the cream on top was that the user could freely manipulate draconic magic without actually mastering the manipulation. Whatever method she used to get that ghastly Dragon Armour worked wonders.

Her training was mixed between physical fighting with August and magic duels with me to push her to her limits. There were very rare instances where she would use soul magic to buff herself, especially under pressure, and it would usually have me near death. Apothea had to immediately attend to me when that happened. Because of this, she instead forced herself to use arcane instead of soul magic. The buff she got was nothing when compared to what she would get if it was soul magic, but it still gave her an edge.

Once I became an avatar of arcane, I promised myself to look into soul magic, but that would have to wait until after I roughhoused with Tacari and had a tea party with Aviana. They both grew splendidly, but Celosia took the cake; she was basically an adolescent child now. Her phoenix form was big enough for a fully grown human to ride on. My man Phoenix would be proud.

I loved those three bastards, but the one I really wanted to see was Deotis, my son. Unlike Aviana, who couldn’t give a shit about anything, he cried quite a bit. I sat in marvel at him and pondered just what he’d be like when he grew up; I’d lie if I said I didn’t fantasize about teaching him magic with Donna. But Tacari was my target first. Of course, I’d no plans to force it down their throats, but I at least wanted my people to know the basics so that their daily lives would be safer and comfortable.

For that week break, the King household and Archibald household hung out a lot more than they usually would. We really were interweaving into a big family which gave me some reassurance. They cared about each other enough without me and August being there. For some reason, the more I delved into the issue of Apollyon, the less I thought about my future beyond the demon. What would I do if I survived but the goddess decided I shouldn’t be the guardian of balance anymore? How would I live my life? All this time, I’d been putting things in place, assuming I would be the next great guardian of worlds, but what if that wasn’t the case?

The more I became entangled in this mess was the more I admired ordinary folk. The librarian, the barmaid, the farmer, the engineer, the king and queen – they were all noble jobs that built a person’s character. All those experiences, no matter how seemingly insignificant, played a role in crafting who we were, and sometimes I’d romanticise it. I sometimes wished that I was nothing more than the old Eric who learnt magic for the fun of it and who hadn’t a care in the world. Was this the attitude that someone who was a candidate for the biggest promotion in life should have?

“Cold feet?” August asked as we both watched out from the second story’s veranda.

Biter, Tacari, and Celosia were playing some game whilst other family members drank and had a good time. Aaralyn’s music gave the evening a beautiful atmosphere.

I shrugged at August, “I don’t know, but I guess that’s the best way to explain it. Sometimes I wish I was normal again, you know?”

“Hmm,” he grunted, “I’ve had those thoughts too.” He peered lovingly at his daughter, Tara, “But I wouldn’t dare change anything we’ve been through so far, even my father’s death.”

“Do you believe everything happens for a reason?” I asked.

He stopped his glass mug just as it touched his lips, “Hell nah, life is fickle as fuck. It’s just up to us to seek lessons from hardships.”

I smiled as I looked at Tara too. After playing all day, she could hardly keep herself awake.

At that point, I remembered wishing for that moment to last forever. But August was right.

Life is fickle.

I felt like I was being woven back together, and when my senses finally returned, I saw Spectre of Eliora over me. Apothea was tending to Adrasteia. August used his sword as a means to stand. When was the last time I saw August injured?

And what was this heavy, queasy, and sickening atmosphere? It felt like the very air itself trembled in fear. My body wouldn’t stop quaking. The more I breathed, the more it felt like my life was seeping away.

My eyes finally took hold of the surroundings, and nothing made sense. The house was in ruins as if it was chewed up and spat out by an earthquake from Kor’zha himself. The grass was all but dark brown, wilted, and breaking off as the wind touched it. I looked around.

A sight that would forever be burnt in my memory laid before me – the remains of our loved ones. Nothing but skeletons, both big and small, laid on the ground. Was this real? Dispel didn’t remove any Phantasms.

“What’s going–”

“Get the fuck up!” August yelled at me. His furious eyes laid on thin shoulders.

I looked where he was glaring at. What is that thing?! I asked. It gave off mortifying amounts of pressure, not so much from its power, but from the mere killing-intent it oozed even with deadpan features about its daunting face. It was suffocating, my body wouldn’t even respond to me.

August’s backhand made me crawl back to reality. I calmed myself with light magic and stood up slowly.

Two horns protruded from its forehead and at the base of those horns were blackened blood-like droplets that trickled down onto its pale face. Pale wouldn’t even do it justice, it was snow-white. The bloody shadow magic looked like they mimicked the system of arteries, veins, and nerves, almost looking like the irregular bends and turns one would see in a lightning strike. Its eyes were plain black with no noticeable pupils; it was hard to tell where it was looking. The creature’s pitch-black hair moved slowly, without rhythm; it almost seemed alive.

Its white, slender body was like a child’s, short and scrawny. The black shadow magic that pulsed down its face also did the same all over its body. It wielded a simplistic blade, as white as its skin in the right hand; floating around the left hand was a mass of shadow magic.

It raised that left hand, and a blast of shadow magic rushed to me. A figure suddenly appeared in front of me and absorbed that magic. “Let’s regroup,” Mandy said, to which August readily agreed. August grabbed Adrasteia and Mandy held me by the wrist and teleported.

We returned to the mountains where we trained. Mandy turned to August, “Make sure he gets himself together. We don’t have time to grieve.”

I sat on an old tree stump in stupor; it didn’t even feel real. Did my family just die? I asked myself. Despite knowing the dangers, despite this very thing being in my calculations, it never occurred to me that any such thing could happen so fast, so soon.

August rested his hand on my shoulder, and I keeled inwards. The tears just wouldn’t stop. How could this happen to my new-born son? I interlaced my fingers and closed my eyes. Anjali, Mom, Aviana. Their faces flashed in my mind, and at the end, many more surfaced. “Is that Apollyon, Mandy?”

“Yes,” she confirmed. “He hasn’t yet manifested all his power. The longer we take, the tougher the fight.”

I used Renew to calm myself. Removing the coalition was the right choice after all. That, that fucker… my mana flared and teeth gritted. It seemed there was residue of ire that persisted despite how many times I used light magic to get a clear mind.

Adrasteia was shaken up because of the sudden attack, but she was fine otherwise. Mandy was already rearing to go; her rationale even in this situation showed her experience. August swallowed his emotions and hardened himself as he equipped his gear. I on the other hand, had particular trouble ignoring what I’d just seen. Even Celosia’s fire on my hand extinguished. My mind was caving in on itself.

I heard someone exhale, “Mandy’s right, man. You need to get your shit together. I know it’s hard; I know. Remember, you’re responsible for the survival of the worlds.” He put his helmet on, “I don’t know anyone who is even close to the four of us when it comes to power, we are the ones who have to do something.”

“A lot more people will die, so please get up,” Mandy encouraged.

They were right. But I still didn’t wish to rush in like an unprepared idiot. I forced Donna, Dawn, and Hydra out of me. I’d rather they not witness the fight. Next, I prepared pills and potions, and had August enchant them. I activated my Avatar buffs, consumed the pills and potions, and stacked Timedial until time slowed by 50%.

After a deep breath, we returned to the yard. The housing complexes that I helped build for our servants were treated much the same way as my house, and the same could be said for the people inside it. But Apollyon hadn’t taken a step from where he once was.

The moment we entered his vision, a Lava Sphere and Shadow Sphere flew straight at us. Draconic too? I activated Reflect and sent the spells right back at him. With a tilt of his head and a shift of his body, he easily dodged both. They went on to hit August’s house, and the sheer size of the explosions entranced me. The Lava Sphere alone was enough to melt the house with ease.

Realising his mistake, Apollyon took one step forward and suddenly dashed forth. He was unsurprisingly fast, but August still intercepted his downward slash and deflected it. I used that small opening to manipulate void and smash the demon into the ground. Adrasteia made several earthen spikes rise the second Apollyon touched the ground, but he disappeared.

“He can teleport,” Mandy informed, “be careful.”

Great. Shadow, draconic, and now space magic. I began pondering what other spells I should use; there were a multitude of things I could do, but they might not exactly spell safe for my allies. Well, I’m the Voidchild, aren’t I? I stacked Augment 100x for 25,500% mana power and simply used void magic to rip Apollyon in half. Inside him was massive amounts of shadow, which simply formed again until he came back like nothing ever happened.

Physical attacks don’t work, then? Hmm… I quickly informed the others of what I surmised about his imperviousness to physical attacks. That wasn’t exactly good news for August, but he had something that was indispensable to the team, something none of us could do – Displacement. The issue with it was that it wasn’t target-oriented, it was area-oriented. And it would only be useful if Apollyon’s ability to repair himself was magic-based in the first place.

There were a lot of variables to take into account, and we’d only just scratched the surface of it. I’m sure the others’ lack of offence also showed that they thought carefully about how to approach the demon. Well, August decided to learn through experience instead. His golden luminance showed and he went in, clashing viciously with Apollyon who returned the aggression with equal or even more fervour. The clash of metal sounded through the environment, and they both poured more and more power into the fight. At times, we’d have to look out for stray spells from Apollyon, but it was mostly a physical fight.

It began resembling the catastrophic battle that August had against Ren Fahzul, the half-demon. Slowly, the landscape was changing, until suddenly August retreated. “He defends against very skilled physical attacks, that means he has something to lose while he does that regeneration.”

“Maybe he can only do it a few times?” Adrasteia questioned.

“I don’t think so,” Mandy said. “Eric, try killi–”

Before she could finish, a mass of shadow magic as big as the castle of Methelia was headed straight towards Endathal. It caught us all off-guard. A question of who was best suited to stop it circled our minds. When it came to tanking hits, August was the best by a huge margin, but the size of the shadow magic was just too big, it would envelop him and simply continue onwards.

“Keep pressuring him!” Mandy said and teleported in front of the shadow energy.

I cast Apotheosis and had Apothea assist Mandy, then turned my sights to Apollyon. He raised his hand, as if holding a big rock, then a fiery spear formed. Its speed, when released, was blinding. It struck me and immediately enflamed me. I actually felt myself burning despite the passive buff from Avatar of Fire which gave immunity to burns. I underestimated the spell’s speed and his mana power far too greatly. Convalesce quickly patched me up.

Adrasteia fired up her Dragon Armour, then she and August both constantly attacked Apollyon. I used that moment to breathe, refocus, and have Timedial slow down time to 80%. While they attacked him, shadowy tendrils raised forth from the earth and bound August and Adrasteia. He then teleported a bit away from them and conjured up a platform of earth to stand on. Apollyon was in the motion of making a strange movement with his hand when Adrasteia sent a flurry of spells toward him but he teleported yet again.

Because of that movement, his hand was already on a warpath to wherever he chose to teleport to, which was right in front of me. He teleported with the earth platform and used it as a means of stability; he gripped onto my throat and I could feel it being crushed. I conjured an Arcane Blade – a spell that did exactly what it sounded like – and cut his hand off, then blast him with a concentrated Divergence. A concentrated Divergence at more than 25,500% mana power would surely make him reach the coastline, but that damned teleport of his saved him. It seemed it was a staple of his fighting style. I Voidported to him after pinpointing his location with Hawk Eye and held him in suspension with void manipulation, then tried to use Subservience on him. It, simply did not work. That was the first time a mind spell failed for me, not to mention one of the most powerful mind spells. I’d no idea why it didn’t work, but I hadn’t the leisure of problem-solving.

Before I could try hitting him with Holy Edge – its merit being that it targeted your life essence directly – he broke out of my void hold with space magic and warped his way out, then teleported behind me. His hand laid on my back, and I felt like he was extracting something from me.

Mandy rocked him with a solid punch and he slammed into the ground at breakneck speeds. “The staff!” she exclaimed! “He wants the Staff of Eliora! Do not let him have it!”

Of course! I’d forgotten the two keys to defeating Apollyon, according to Emily. It was Apotheosis and the staff. How could I forget?