Jack only suffered a few points of damage to his Ethos due to the drop from the second story hitting the pavement with both feet under him. He looked up and spotted the oblong head of the specter poking through the wall near the window. It passed through the wall toward him followed by a second silent wraith. He bolted down the side alley toward the main street. It was there that he realized the situation was worse than expected.

Frost crept along the ground from the edges of nearby buildings including the one from which he had jumped. The chilled air bit into his skin while his breath fogged as soon as it left his body. It hadn’t been there when he had looked out the hole in the wall earlier. Black spots emerged from the surrounding buildings blooming into more specters. Jack’s pulse quickened and he took off down the street, unsure of his destination.

Dammit, I need to find the Remnant Gate and get the hell out of he— His thoughts ground to a halt as a familiar sensation emanated from his World Core.

His blood ran cold and his breath came in quick gasps. No, dammit, not! This cannot be happening?!

The feeling was something he had come to associate with loss and hatred— a Celestial. One more powerful than any Jack had ever felt. His only solace was how far away the Celestial’s signature seemed. He had never sensed a Celestial from such a distance but the sheer intensity of the presence snuffed any questions he might’ve had on the matter. For a moment, he froze, paralyzed by the superb potency of it. Then, he did what years of fear and oppression had taught him; he ran.

The silent specters swept down from above, swiping at him with their unnaturally long arms. He ducked his head dodging their attacks and dashing down the street opposite of the direction that he sensed the Celestial. As he got to the end of the block to an intersection, a dozen of the eerie wraiths trailed behind him and he saw more emerge from the buildings ahead and to the sides. Even worse, he could feel the Celestial approaching his position.

Fuck! Why does my luck suck so much? He scanned the three avenues before him and darted to the right since there were fewer specters in that direction. He ran at a full sprint and the specters were lagging behind but he still wasn’t moving fast enough. The Celestial was gaining on him. Briefly, he considered using Awaken for the boost in his Agility although he dismissed the idea because he feared its effects on his mind. He was already staving off the insidious fetters of panic. He did, however, assign Awaken to his remaining free Wildcard Slot, just in case. Instead of Awaken, he activated Magician’s Manipulation then seized control of the air in his surroundings. I hope I made the right choice…

Driven by his desperate intent and the enhanced capability of Elemental Specialization, the air swirled into a spiral burst underneath his feet as Jack jumped. The burst rapidly propelled his leap into a long arc which covered several dozen feet in a fraction of the time it would have taken by foot. He landed clumsily, nearly falling flat on his face; nonetheless, a rush of excitement comingled with the fear of the coming Celestial. Inspired by the acrobatics of the Spireman that he helped Raina fight, he had hoped he could use air in a similar way to boost his maneuverability. His ideas didn’t end there though: better movement, hampering his foes, potentially even a limited form of flight. If he made it out of this situation alive, he would have a lot of testing to do.

Once he recovered from the stumble, he blitzed through the several city blocks. As he moved, he got a better feel for manipulating air in the best way to boost his jump distance and speed while using the skill in bursts to conserve mana. It came to him like a baby bird learning to fly, clumsy at first but he could feel his mind and body slowly adapting to the magic. Despite a few mishaps involving his body and the concrete, he quickly left the specters behind.

He couldn’t relax, however. The Blue Heart pulsed quietly in his chest like a second heartbeat. Its reaction to the Celestial was far more subdued than Jack expected. Although the World Core allowed him to sense the presence of the Celestial approaching, the strange consciousness within the Blue Heart seemed calm. Gone were the feelings of warning and fear that he had grown to expect from it. Honestly, he didn’t know whether it was a good or a bad thing.

When he was certain the specters wouldn’t catch up to him, Jack stopped to formulate a plan. The Celestial was gaining on him and would reach his position in minutes at the current rate. He reached for the Blue Heart feeding it enough Eidos to generate a few thousand Logos.

[50000 Eidos has been successfully converted into 5000 Logos and absorbed into the Blue Heart.]

The Blue Heart accepted the Logos readily swelling with latent power. He dove into the connection he shared with it urging the World Core to replicate its ability to locate rifts that it had demonstrated in the dying worlds. He needed to find the Remnant Gate before the Celestial found him. Fortunately, the Blue Heart responded giving him an innate sense of two rifts nearby. One was east, back the way he had come, and the other lay in the north. Even better, it didn’t drain its Logos as it had before which Jack suspected was because the connection to the Logos had been reestablished. Unfortunately, his choices were limited to going straight toward the Celestial or taking a path that ran the risk of being cut off by the immortal.

Guess it’s time to gamble. He took a few seconds to summon his Status and switch out Awaken for Soul Cradle. After Mantling the soul of the lightweaver whose soul rested inside his body, he veered down an alleyway. If the Skill could hide his presence from Bohum, then perhaps it could fool the Celestial as well?

Don’t let me down, Mantle! He pleaded internally before he switched back to Awaken. When he tripped over the debris littering the alley while frantically navigating through the menus, he realized swapping Skills under duress would be tricky given the concentration it required.

The alleyway led into the next street which he raced through taking any back alley or short cut he could find. Meanwhile, the Celestial’s signature stopped getting closer. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief but a minute later, the Celestial moved once more. This time, the signal toward his position at frightening speeds.

Of course, it didn’t fucking work. Gods dammit! Jack refused to give up though. He activated Awaken despite the risks. He needed every possible boost he could muster. His hunch about the Skill proved correct and he almost regretted the decision, almost.

[Awaken activated. Duration (00:59)]

Vigor: 1060/1180

To say that his emotions were amplified by the Skill would have been like saying torture was unpleasant; correct, but lacking in the depth of true description. For years, Jack had barely kept his emotional state stable enough to continue facing the future. Had anyone asked Jack how he maintained his will to go on in the face of inevitable defeat, he would have said that he was tougher than most and owed it to Alindal and his lost companions to trudge onward. Unfortunately, he would be lying. Years ago, Jack learned that the best way to keep his wits about him amidst tragedy and loss was to partially bury his feelings. He would deal with the immediate ramifications of any emotionally charged situation then he would seal those emotions away. It worked wonderfully for a couple of years; however, the mental blockade had been falling apart for months before he had taken the current job. Drugs, alcohol, and work: those were the mortar that kept the barrier strong in the past but nothing lasts forever.

The mental blockade shattered and his thoughts went from a frantic dance balancing his anxiety and desperation to a maelstrom of pure id and unrestrained emotion.

He screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran with all the speed his body could muster. Awaken not only pushed his physical attributes higher, but it also released the natural limiters most humanoids had within their biology. He could feel the muscles throughout his body being pushed further than they ever been. Were it not for his high Stamina, he might have injured himself by straining his body to such a degree.

In his manic state, he almost changed course to face the Celestial head-on fueled by emotions intertwined with each other. His frustration and anguish wanted an end to his suffering while his pride demanded that he go down swinging. His joy and hope flickered candles in the wind amidst the storm but they found an unexpected ally. It was anger. His anger shielded those weaker emotions but its protection did not come without cost. Joy paid happily and hope put its faith in wrath. Empowered by these smaller yet potent emotions, his anger began its conquest. It snuffed anguish beneath its heel and banished fear. It leashed pride and redirected frustration. It tempered hope and hid joy. When it ceased its violent campaign, the maelstrom had become something different; ordered chaos bent toward a single goal. He would survive. he would grow strong, and he would take control. The Logos help those who crossed him once he grasped hold of the strings of fate.

Jack’s mind once again became capable of rational thought but it wasn’t the same as it had been before. It was like he had viewed the world through painted lenses until activating Awaken. After what felt like several minutes but was only twenty-six seconds, he reached the area where the Blue Heart denoted the presence of a rift.

The area in question was covered in frost and rime. The cold was so extreme that Jack started to lose Ethos as it prevented the chill from damaging his body. Thin patches of ice covered the ground but the force of his steps broken them into pieces. Although he suffered no damage, his throat burned from the frigid air and tiny needles danced along his skin. The crunch of ice augmented the sound of his heart and breathing adding to the ambiance of the silent dead city.

He glared at his destination ahead of him, a large parking lot which acted as a silent graveyard for dozens of blocky vehicles. Surrounding it was a metal fence. It was reminiscent of a chain-link fence but thicker and constructed with a material that looked more like copper than steel. Like the ceilings and doorways in this world, the fence was several feet taller than what Jack thought was normal. A part of his mind detached from the mania wondered if the strange architecture related to the specters because of their abnormally long arms and oblong features.

Normally, he might have hesitated at the sight of the fence but his anger amplified by Awaken silenced all inhibitions. With Magician’s Manipulation active, he leapt over thirty feet into the air, propelled by a sudden burst of wind and his enhanced Might. For a brief moment, He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of weightlessness as he flew through the air. Then, he came back to reality and hit the ground running. He took a few points of damage to his Ethos but ignore it in lieu of making a beeline to the center of the lot where the air swirling with dark smoke.

At this point, the Celestial’s signature was practically hovering over his shoulder. He would only have a few seconds to reach the rift before the Celestial arrived. He rocketed through the air with another powerful jump, intent on tearing open the rift mid-air and going through in one motion. It nearly worked too.

[Warning: You have encountered a Harbinger of the Dark Maker. Retreat is advised.]

Attempting to contact the nearest administrator…

Contact successful…

[Administrator will arrive in 00:02.]

The notification flashed through his mind toward the end of his jump as his focus was on opening the rift. He wasn’t fast enough to switch his concentration to Magician’s Manipulation in order to avert his momentum. So, he watched, simultaneously distracted and captivated, as a twelve-foot-tall humanoid with pearlescent skin stepped out of the rift and swung a large black staff with a crimson circle at its head toward him with extreme speed.

Far too late, Jack tried to raise his guard but the attack was too fast and his momentum too great. The head of the staff made contact with the upper portion of his torso. Head included, with the deafening clang of metal against metal. The blow stunned him sending his body, head over feet, through the air like a ragdoll. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there. He impacted with the ground creating a small crater before bouncing a few times and coming to a stop near the metal fence.

[Warning: You have taken critical damage. Ethos is at 50% capacity.]

Jack groaned in pain and shock. His mind reeled after the blow, thrown into chaos once more. While his mind reordered itself, the Harbinger lifted its arms into the air and spoke. He couldn’t begin to understand the words but he witnessed the ground fracture like glass and the vehicles around the Harbinger twisted unnaturally. Heavy gray clouds manifested above their position and the creature looked at Jack with eyes of black mist. It looked like it might speak again but it was interrupted.

The Celestial arrived. Jack hardly noticed the timer for the administrator’s arrival coinciding with the Celestial’s appearance. It confirmed his suspicions that the two were one and the same but he had other things on his mind at the moment.

A white staff impacted the ground between Jack and the Harbinger causing the Harbinger to pause. As he shakily got to his feet, a raven-haired woman touched down next to the staff. The Blue Heart reacted with the familiar sensation that he had come to dread.

She glanced at the Harbinger then turned to face Jack giving him a good look at her. She wore a black robe underneath a breastplate that looked to be some form of advanced sigiltech made of a flowing dark blue material. A thin black visor rested over her eyes and a line of glowing blue light emitted from it every time she stopped to focus on anything. On her wrists, she wore vambraces made with the same material as her breastplate and black gloves glowing with lines of blue light that ran over her fingers.

He took a step back, nearly slipping as he did so. Then, he noticed that the Harbinger hadn’t paused at all. It was frozen in place. He looked up and his eyes widened. Everything had stopped. The clouds manifesting above were unmoving. The cars had stopped twisting and the ground had still. He even noticed pieces of debris, sent flying by the staff’s impact, frozen in mid-air.

Did she stop time? Despite Awaken’s influence on his emotions, he stood in shock at the implications of such an ability and the power rolling off the Celestial, power the Blue Heart recognized as far beyond that of Ciel or Azatiel.

He didn’t have any time to think or formulate a plan before she moved. In an instant, she was in front of him. His heart despaired as he looked into the glowing blue light of the visor. Was there ever really a point to his struggle? After everything he’d been through, he stood at the mercy of a Celestial once again.

She spoke, her voice smooth and bright. It cleared away the murk clouding his mind like a radiant wind. “Scion, I, Helbiel, stand witness to your crime of violating Articles Three, Twelve, and Thirteen of the W.R.L.D protocol. Explain yourself or be judge accordingly.”