Gupta's domain came apart with each footstep King took, meeting its penultimate end as he reached the tide. It wasn't that he was hesitating, there was something in his way. A book lay upon the shore, glowing ever so slightly, just managing to catch his eyes. He picked it up, thumbing through a few pages. Immediately, it felt heavy in his hand. He now held a book of New Dawn knowledge. Page after page was one development or another, sandwiched between essays about their discoveries. It was comprehensive, compiled by every mind Gupta had at his disposal. For a moment, King stood on the sand, considering what this book meant. Everything they learned wasn't lost with the Doctor. They wouldn't have to start over from scratch. He held the book tightly as he stepped into the water. The journey back would take longer than their conversation? King hoped Dr. Gupta was right.

He drifted for a long time before he broke the surface, coming out in the corpse garden where the others still waited. The quiet almost gave him reason to think things were all right until he saw Assassin and his flame of hope died. He ran over to them, falling to his knees. Fang refused to look at their dead friend, and even look at him as if she didn't know what to say. It kept King's eyes on Assassin's body. It barely looked like him anymore, transformed as it was, but King felt the loss of Assassin like the loss of chance in this room. It was just the three of them now, and they still had to make it back alive. He sat there, stone still with a face completely blank. Something inside him was screaming. He wondered why it took him this long to be scared.

“Tell me you got something good.” Fang brought him back, and he blinked several times. He looked at her as if she asked for the world, and in the process, almost dropped the book. Right… He did have something good. They didn’t have Assassin, but they still had a chance.

"I have two things." He said confidently, striving to be the person both Knight and Assassin saw. "I have New Dawn's research. This might even be all of it." Fang and Ace perked up. "I also have this," He held out the God's Coffin. The box moved in his hand, twirling and breathing. He thought it would surprise them, but instead, they looked at the sword in Ace's hand—blade doing the same. "You have another God's Coffin!" His eyes went wide.

Ace looked at it, "Is that what we're calling it…" When it began moving like this, he realized he couldn't wield it like a weapon. "Assassin made it. It was the last thing he did when he struck Butcher down."

“Was he still Butcher in the end?”

Fang shook her head. “When it looked like Assassin won, it did something. It was sort of muffled so we didn’t get it all. Assassin trapped them in a dome, I think it was to keep us safe while they fought.”

"If I repeated it, do you think you can make it out?" He poured hope into his eyes. Fang seemed uncertain but nodded nevertheless. "Luminance Revive." Her eyes widened. The muffled sound suddenly made sense.

“Do you know what he did?”

“Yes. Dr. Gupta said he had to. It would allow them to complete phase two.”

Ace glared. “Does that mean you know what that thing became?”

“A Fragment of the God Eternal.”

The two swallowed hard.

“What was the fight like?”

Fang said, “Like nothing we’ve ever seen. The God Eternal didn’t just fight with weapons, it fought with its entire Luminance.”

Ace added, “It was like fighting living light. It could shape them into anything and throw them from afar. I think it was slowly getting stronger too, learning how to use its body.”

King patted the book. “They talk about that in here. A Fragment of the God Eternal is unable to recognize itself as being any different than the true mass. It will slowly grow until it rivals that potential, using combat to better learn its powers.”

“You mean that thing could have gotten a lot stronger?”

“New Dawn thought it was inevitable. Orange Luster was considered a highly volatile source of power. It was the easiest to pool, but one of the most dangerous to control.”

Fang looked down at the book, “What does that mean?”

“The short version is that New Dawn thought the Orange Luster would be a key to their plan. The Advent Ascension happened because the Spear of Hell is pulling the God Eternal apart. It made luster seeds they call Shining Hearts, and when they drew in Luminance for their Harbingers, they drew in these seeds as well.”

Shining Heart...How couldn't Ace think of the red one in the penthouse suite? It seemed like the start of all their misfortune, and now it sounded like the hearts came in different colors. How much misfortune would that be? How was the Enclave ever going to face it? Again, he thought about this mission and wondered how someone like him was picked for it. He thought of Assassin, and what he believed. If Assassin saw how good he could be, maybe someone else saw it too.

“You said it will slowly grow...does that mean there are more fragments like that out there?”

“Yeah. New Dawn thinks they’ll grow a lot faster when the Spear of Hell falls. The overcast is the only thing holding them back.”

That didn’t sound good for the future, especially not after what the red bastard showed them. Still, Ace kept his head high. “You said an Orange Luster is key to their plan, what does that mean?”

“It has something to do with us Dark Disciples actually, and that command Butcher used. Dark. Orange. Revive. We are Dark, and that means our presence naturally erodes the Light—things like Luster and Luminance. We erode our own, and we erode others too. Hence, Orange—the Luster of the God Eternal. In a normal persons case, this Luster would be too dangerous to wield, it'd turn them into a Fragment. For normal Harbingers, there's this thing called Drifting they have to worry about. It's like their consciousness drifting away from their humanity and into Godhood. They essentially forget who they are, and only live for their purpose. Orange Luster is worse though. It immediately consumes the light of other beings, so they never have the chance to adapt."

“I think I get where this is going,” Ace could almost see the picture. “If you give the Orange Luster to a normal person, they get conquered, especially since the Luster grows. If you give it to a Dark Disciple though, we constantly stop it from growing. Our Umbra restrains it, right?”

“Right.” King nodded. It hadn’t struck Ace yet, but repeating the plan lightened a weight on his shoulders. Now wasn’t the time to give up.

“What’s Revive then?”

“This command sends a signal to your Luminance, telling it to revive. In a Harbinger, it would make them a Lightbearer. A normal human can’t have more than one Luminance, after all.”

“So they would become something that’s not quite human.” Ace nodded. King did too.

“Of course, if they bear a Shining Heart, they’d revive as that God instead.”

Ace’s eyes widened. “Wait… Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

King smiled. The room didn't call for it, but he couldn't keep the expression off his face. He came to this thought in the domain, finding the map to it inside the Book of New Dawn. Things were damnable, in and outside this room, but this was bigger than both spaces. "That's right, New Dawn's final plan was to make a God to fight the God Eternal. New Dawn wanted to make a Dark God. They just needed three keys.”

“Dark. Orange. Revive.” Ace finally understood, and he couldn’t help smiling either. He turned to Fang, expecting to see the same, but her eyes were closed. Had she even heard a word? “Fang, are you all right?”

“I am, I was just in thought.”

“What do you think of their plan?” King asked.

"It's a good one, and I can see why we needed two God Coffins. I suspect one of them isn't enough to reach the Dark God state. If we erode them, we probably need multiple pieces."

“Unfortunately, the book doesn’t say how many we need. They hadn’t met a Dark Disciple by that point. They were hoping they could survive long enough, but…”

“Four.” She said.

“Four?” King couldn’t see what he was missing.

“When Assassin was fighting, I think he made four God Coffins. He didn’t think anything of them at first, but he realized the four he made would make him strong enough.”

“It’s possible,” King stroked his chin. “But I wonder if things were different after his Dark Burial.”

“You know about that too?” Fang looked up.

“It has something to do with that symbol on your left hand,” He pointed at the pyramid of hexagons. “A few religions call it the mark of the beast. They say the left arm is the arm of the devil, and that those dominant in it are sinners. New Dawn doesn't know when this was established, but the arm of the devil part isn't too far off." They both looked at Assassin. "How exactly did it happen?"

“He took Shadow as his name and a Dark Heart appeared, he told it to beat and something strange encased him."

“New Dawn theorizes that the Dark Burial kills you and uses the Dark Heart to revive you. It’s what gave them the idea for the Revive command.”

“So we should do it then.” Ace looked at his sword. “If Fang is right, I only need two more pieces.”

“Maybe three, actually.” King looked at the God Coffin. “This one doesn’t have as much power in it. To keep the power from growing, New Dawn gave part of it to Butcher and the other part to Dr. Gupta. Even with the Fragment revived, it only utilized half its power.”

“Let’s say one then. Does New Dawn have a plan to get more.”

"After they connected with Dark Disciples, the next step was going to the Spear of Hell. There is apparently something there that only a disciple will understand." The boys looked to Fang.

“Yes. We should go there. There’s no point going back to the Enclave if they’ll just send us back out either way.”

“Then that just leaves us with the Revive part of this. King, are you fine with me becoming the Dark God?” Ace turned back.

“Yes. I still have things to figure out. With New Dawn’s notes, that shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Then what should I do?”

"The first step is terminating your Luminance, but we've already been there. An incompatible Luminance would just get in the way. Step two is to absorb the power, if you will it, your Umbra will do it for you." King handed the coffin over, and Ace closed his eyes.

He could feel his Umbra like many reaching hands. He turned them on the power inside the Coffins, greedily pulling every atom of it out. It flowed up his veins like magma, burning bright against his skin. The lines went up his arms, disappearing under his armor. He felt like he was ablaze, desperate for the next step as King confirmed things with his eyes.

"You already know what to say." King gave the go-ahead, and Ace stood tall.

“Luminance Revive!” He barked. The world flashed orange.

One moment, the light was blinding, and the next he found himself standing in front of a tomb. He had never seen one before, but the air of the place spoke its name, inviting him into its yawning door. He stepped inside, finding a familiar shape bound by chains in a coffin. It glared down with gaseous eyes, condemnation falling before it spoke.

"This crime is unforgivable. Turn back to the light. Thou shalt not stray."

"Don't worry. I'll never turn away. I'll go after it, until none is left!" He raised his hand and a pit opened.

“Thou shalt know eternal damnation.”

“Then you better hope the next version of you remembers that.” He waved it down, lowering the coffin beneath the floor. As it closed, he closed his eyes. When they opened, his body was changed.

Arms cast light up the side of his body, glowing orange with black plating covering their outer side. They shined until they reached his shoulders—brightness consumed by the pauldrons atop. He still felt their power moving through his veins, up his neck, and through his eyes. He could feel those too, orange now, with dark webs keeping power inside. There was a strange feeling where they met on his forehead, a solid thing he could feel, raised above the skin. He brought his finger to it, tracing the outline of a diamond. It resonated with his touch, orange rolling over the things around him. For a moment, the floor went liquid and undulated. He lowered his hand, meeting King's eyes.

“What does it feel like?” His ally asked.

Ace thought of the feeling beneath his skin. At a time he was flesh and bone, but something else was there now. Something with warmth burning inside. He felt like he contained this, and knew he had room for more. "It's like my body isn't real...maybe?"

“Sounds like what Assassin felt with the sword.” King nodded. “It makes sense, considering our nature. Before, your body was just a construct housing your soul. Now it houses your soul and the luster.”

Ace willed his blades to grow out. It was the same black material as before, now glowing with veins. He swung, and a trail of light followed his curve. He thought of the thing the Fragment did and tried shaping the trail into a star. It didn't even pull together. King shook his head as if he knew what went through Ace's mind.

“You probably don’t have enough power yet.”

“I think you’re right.” He looked at his arms. “This is as far as it can go for now.”

“But it’s still good!” King said excitedly. “You’re a Dark God now, Ace. You can finally match this world. Try sensing things with your Luster. Stretch it out. Tell us what you feel.”

Ace touched the diamond again, pushing his senses further this time. He felt the black glass liquefy as he reached it. He felt the winding labyrinth and the lobby of New Dawn. He stretched it faster as he reached the exit, and felt it ripple on for miles. Grays felt it and were already in motion his way. He ignored them, however, finding something else pushing against him. It felt like a power similar to his. It felt like eyes opening, and something malicious going feral.

“I think I felt another Luster...or maybe it’s just Luminance. I felt it push back when I touched it. I think it even knew what I was doing.”

“Where is it?”

“About seven miles east of here."

King’s stare hardened as he turned to Fang. “I would like to go there!”

She looked up suddenly as if she still wasn't here. Nodding, she tried to keep her attention on him. "I'm not opposed, but I don't know what to expect. I'll lead if the situation calls for it, but…" She trailed off, mind stolen again.

“Are you okay? I figured you’d be listening intently. What I’ve read alone has given me ideas. Seeing Ace as he is now makes me wish I could think like you do.”

“I’m sorry, I’m fine. I keep falling into a trance. The question has been repeating since Assassin died. I feel like it’s pulling me in.”

“Would you like to know what it’s saying?”

“No. I think I need to hear it myself.” She shook her head again. “Let’s go to that destination, I have a job here and despite the trance, I have to complete it.”

The boys nodded, and Ace faced King. “What exactly do you expect to find?”

“The place the Blues came from…”