I FIND KALMAT AS HE PREPARES TO LEAVE FOR THE WALLS OF THORNTHISTLE.

I walk with Nindran. We stand close with each other, holding hands as we face the man. The leader of the Keepers of the Groves stands in an armory, fastening a vest as he turns to us. He glances between the azure-haired woman and I.

“Did something happen?” he asks, raising a brow.

I tilt my head at him. “Nothing too out of the ordinary.” I look over at Nindran.

“Nothin’ that’s different from before.” She nods back at me with a smile.

Kalmat shrugs and draws his blade as he steps forward. His Aura glows around him— a part of his Aspect. “Are we ready then, Tian?”

I break away from Nindran and close my eyes, feeling my core. Both Aura and Qi fills my soul. I breathe in, using Soul Cycle to convert some of my Aura into Qi. Then I raise my hand as Lifeblood gathers around me.

“Lifeblood’s Call.”

Once again, the sky is dyed a dark crimson. I see the redness through the window. I hear a surge in the fighting at the walls. A rally. The thundering claps of explosions echo as the ground shakes. Rolling tremors knock blades and armor off their racks as footfalls echo down the corridor.

Seiled arrives, panting as he looks at me with round eyes. “You’re awake!” he exclaims.

“I am,” I say as I draw for my Aspect next.

Ethereal white wings— feathery wings that belong to a swan or a dove— spread out behind my back as I cast my gaze to the three members of the Keepers of the Grove. They eye me as I push open the window at the end of the room.

“Tian—” Nindran starts, but I raise a hand.

“Worry not, I will be able to deal with these Zombies around the city on my own.” I look at them as Qi courses through my body, filling my meridians with strength. “Focus on protecting Thornthistle itself. I shall exterminate these pests.”

Kalmat blinks, opening his mouth. But before he can speak, I take off into the sky. I dive straight into the sea of Lifeblood above, before looking down around the walls of the city. My eyes flash, powered by the School of Divination. I see everything. From the Elementalists fighting on in the walls, tired and afraid, to the people of the city cowering in their homes as they fear their world will end.

Then I see the source of the terror. I see the twisted creatures running through the Flourishing Flatlands. There are hundreds of them just around the walls of Thornthistle alone, and thousands more rushing through the forests of kwyer trees, attracted by the clamor of battle.

They snarl and hiss and destroy everything in their path. They kill animals, although they do not spread their numbers to the beasts of this world fortunately enough. Still, they are ruthless. They hunt down the Ren and any moving creature they can find. A plague. An infection.

I move to stop it. The air flickers, glinting as tiny little objects twinkle into existence. Like torchlight filling the city streets at night. Except, it is not fire that I move to conjure. That is too destructive. Instead, these tiny little metallic objects fill the sky, so thin and small that they are nearly invisible.

Needles. Thousands of them. I raise my hand, and they pour down. Like rain. All at once, they target the Zombies, moving with extreme precision. Elementalists blink as the twisted creatures scaling the wall are suddenly struck down by fast-moving, nearly-invisible objects. The swarm of needles pour past the people of Thornthistle, avoiding them entirely.

They gasp and stare on as my assault moves past the city’s walls. The needles reach the Zombies sprinting across the open fields, tearing them apart by the hundreds. I hear their terrible screams— their death throes as they are dealt with by an enemy they cannot fend off.

Some of these Zombies are fast, managing to avoid the hail of needles, only to be blasted into pieces by Nelrel who has taken over guarding the walls from Keshiy. Even from up here, I work with the Elementalists of Thornthistle. They catch the stray Zombies as I repel the main bulk of their numbers.

Already, over ten thousand of the Zombies are dead. And yet, their numbers barely dwindle. I do not know how many pods carrying dozens or hundreds of these Zombies fell into Utana, but I know that they are a finite number. So I do not slow my attack.

This goes on for a while. No matter how many of these Zombies I finish off, more just take their place. And my needles— they begin to falter. The metal breaks, and the number of needles rapidly dwindle. My eyes narrow. But I do not move to replace their numbers. After all, I have not been mindlessly culling the Zombies.

I have been guiding them away from Thornthistle. Towards a specific part of the forest, far from the city. I ensure that the bulk of their numbers come from towards the mountain over the horizon. A grin appears on my face as I spread my arms wide. I reach down deep within me, yelling.

“Hear me, people of Thornthistle! Ren of Utana! Survivors of Galgom’s tyranny!”

Heads rise. Faces turn towards me as I float in the sky. The Lifeblood I have called still smears the sky, but it is no longer one mass that covers me. So I fly in the middle of these pools of Lifeblood, continuing my speech as my voice is enhanced through the School of Enchantment for all to see.

“Your world is once again threatened by a megalomaniac. By a metal man named Idu.”

I can hear the susurrations. I know what the people of the city are whispering. I can even hear Seiled blinking, murmuring quietly to himself.

“What is Tian doing?”

“Wait— listen,” Nindran says, shushing him.

“Just like Galgom, he believes he can bring this world to its knees. He believes he can take your world. But just like Galgom, he is wrong!”

My body begins to glow. A power overcomes me. An iridescent light wisps off my body as my wings beat faster and faster. My words boom, empowered by the School of Phantasm, causing the world itself to tremble, cracking even the sky.

“We will not let him have the Pishtim! We will not let another tyrant have our world! As long as I live—”

And the power holding me launches me forward. Like a comet, I trail through the sky. I come crashing down, heading straight for the horde of Zombies I gathered en masse with my needles.

“I will not let Idu have this world!”

The clouds all around the Flourishing Flatlands part as I shoot forward. The Lifeblood— the normally unmovable magic— trembles. I reach the Zombies in an instant, thrusting my palm down as I scream.

“Liufan Sacred Technique: Skysplitter!”

Even though I impact the ground with the force of a falling star, the earth does not split open. Yet, the gathered Zombies go flying, their bodies torn to shreds. All of them, knocked back by an intense force that kills them in an instant.

The city of Thornthistle watches as I wipe out this threat plaguing them. I pant, using a large chunk of my power with that single attack. I spin around, facing the walls of the city. And they cheer, erupting into a victorious roar.