The system was getting very impatient. It didn’t even wait for Rory to reappear… wherever it was that the new Sigil was supposed to take him. He was inundated with notifications. At least that assured him he was relatively safe for the time being.

New Achievement!

Truth Seeker! You have uncovered an underlying truth at great peril to your own wellbeing. Such sacrifice in the name of truth cannot be overlooked.

Rewards

Truthseeker Perk: All system-pertinent information you now discover will provide a boost to your stats

New Achievement!

Courageous Confronter! You have faced not one, but two threats that are far beyond your capabilities. The sheer audacity to take on such beings is unfathomable.

Rewards

All Sigils’ effects against significantly more powerful enemies are now tripled

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Core Destruction. The trifecta of world-ending forces is an incredible power to wield. Be wary that you not let it lead you astray.

[Teal III] allows creation, manipulation, imbuing, embodying of element in an 81-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Mythic

Tier: Teal III [0%]

Efficiency: Extreme [84%]

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of System Annulment. No power in the universe shall stand before the right of your annulment.

[Teal III] allows blocking anything for 10 minutes.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Legendary

Tier: Teal III [0%]

Efficiency: Extreme [93%]

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of System Traversal. No door in the universe shall bar you from your destination.

[Teal III] allows travel between Planes 7 times per day.

Stats

Type: Concept

Rarity: Legendary

Tier: Teal III [0%]

Efficiency: Extreme [89%]

There was a lot. Rory marvelled at it all, trying to parse the information. The achievements, the Sigils, they were all interesting, but he still needed time to actually let his brain absorb the flood of information. Time he really didn’t have.

For he had been transported to a sun.

Rory’s senses were dulled. The light should have blinded him, the heat should have vaporized him, and surely there had to be some sort of gigantic, eardrum-bursting noise on a star’s surface. He felt nothing of it, though. Even stranger, the ball of burning gases under his feet wasn’t that big in the first place. Perhaps as wide as a skyscraper was tall, which was still big, of course, but absolutely minuscule compared to a star’s true size.

He was still breathing, though what exactly he was drawing into his lungs was anyone’s guess. His heart still pumped blood and as far as Rory could tell, his bodily functions hadn’t changed at all. So strange.

“Where… am I?” he found himself asking.

[Warning! Unauthorized matter has infiltrated System Space. Investigation imminent.]

So this was the System Space, whatever that meant. Rory didn’t care. Now that his thoughts were settling down, he recalled why exactly he had tricked the Invigilator to get here in the first place.

Alex.

There was no sign of any other being in the locale. For all Rory knew, this might just be a waypoint for anyone who used the Sigil of System Traversal. After all, he hadn’t been given any choices of destinations. That was strange.

But Teal III meant he still had 6 traversals left before the cooldown activated. Maybe this time the Sigil would let him pick where he would end up, or maybe he would simply be sent back to his world. It was impossible to tell. At the same time, though, no one was here. Of that much, Rory was certain.

Just as he was about to activate the new Sigil in his staff, something moved. Rory swallowed as he stared down at the gigantic, fiery ball. Enormous patches of it turned dark as coal, its surface bulging as though something underneath it was trying to break free. Its surface roiled, the burning gases churning into a stormy inferno.

Rory’s heart hammered as a claw the size of a small ship tore free from the lower end of the star. He didn’t need his Sigil of Knowledge to inform him what was going on.

A Corebeast was birthing.

It made sense, once his panicked thoughts played back his memories. Corebeasts were aptly named because they were born in the cores of celestial bodies. If his world had one, it only made sense there was another in the centre of this star.

Curious, and rather frightening, questions pelted Rory’s brain, but he shoved them all aside and focused. He had to find Alex. Everything about using a Sigil’s power was about focus. He had to anchor his will, forge it into a command, then use it like a force to shape the power of the Sigil itself. Really, it amounted to thinking hard on a singular goal. And his goal was Alex.

This time, it worked. As the Sigil of System Traversal worked again, Rory found himself in the strangest prison possible.

In the new space Rory had travelled to, the prisoners were slung between more celestial bodies. They stretched out across the universe, marching on and on in every direction he turned his head. Strange, crystalline chains extended out of true stars in the distance, out of planets and satellite bodies closer at hand, all of them coalescing to singular points in the vacuum of space, wrapping and holding in place their various prisoners.

The sight was so awestriking, Rory needed a moment to take everything in, however briefly. Incredible monsters of various shapes and sizes were held in those chains, though most of their forms were miniscule compared to the bodies keeping them chained. Instead, Rory’s eyes were drawn to planets—some barren, some verdant and watery—to moons that were icy, fiery, and so on, to stars the burned blue and gold, to belts of asteroids that swung between bigger bodies, and even to comets that flared across the expanse of darkness. There was even what looked like a black hole far, far away.

All chained. All held together by those crystal shackles, anchored to hold down the ones who had made enemies of the Invigilators.

And if they needed celestial bodies to hold them in place, Rory for sure had no intention of seeing their capabilities when they were free.

The sheer scale of what he was seeing was starting to hurt his head, so he focused on matters closer at hand. Thanks to his focusing, the Sigil of System Traversal had brought him as close to Alex as possible. Close enough that all he had to was will himself to move forward, and he was floating the few feet that separated them. It was a relief he didn’t have to worry about limiting things like breathing.

Like the other nearby beings, Alex was also wrapped in those strange chains. Rory peered closely to see that the chains refracted the light falling on them to make a riotous miasma of colours bloom like a broken rainbow. It wasn’t far from the one he had seen the Invigilator use. Of course. They had to be related.

Heart jumping to his mouth, Rory checked for a pulse at Alex’s neck. It beat strong and steady. They were alive.

Sighing in relief, he used his Weaving on the chains before him. He got some time to observe them even more closely as the white lines sank into them. They appeared to be links of glass, each one shaped in a simple hexagon with no obvious connection between them. Clearly, there was more going on than what his eyes could see.

When the chains dissolved, Rory got a new Sigil he didn’t see the appearance of. Alex had broken off, and he grabbed them before they floated away into space.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Celestial Chains. Scale up your binds for creatures that have risen high, and you can’t go higher than the stars.

[Teal III] allows creation, manipulation, imbuing, embodying of element in an 81-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Legendary

Tier: Teal III [0%]

Efficiency: Extreme [92%]

Rory shoved the notification away. “Hey. Alex.” He shook his child a little. “Wake up. We need to move.”

Alex groaned. Slowly, they moved, then gasped. Fear, and surprise, and too much else were probably all trying to take over their mind, but Rory gripped them tightly to himself.

“I’m here,” he said. “You don’t have to worry. I’m right here.”

Alex was still for a few moments, but then they pulled themselves away. “Where…” They pressed a hand to their temple, closing his eyes. Rory didn’t like seeing just how many lines had drawn across it. So much stress. “I’m fine, dad. I just… there’s way too much to take in here.”

“I… yeah, I spent too long just… staring.”

He looked around again. It was a mistake. Strange planets and stranger monsters tugged at his eyes like a spider pulling its prey deeper into its web. He tore his gaze from them and focused on Alex. On getting out of here.

“We need to move,” Rory said. “I can get us out, I think.”

Alex stared at him. Their eyes were sunk deep, weary, wary, and everything in between. “How did you even get here?”

Despite the precarious situation, Rory grinned. “Your old man has some tricks up his sleeve. I used my Weaving to, uh, steal the Invigilator’s powers and then used them to find you.”

If anything, that made Alex stare harder. “You realize how insane that is, right?”

“More insane than joining up with rebels and fighting directly against the Invigilators?”

“Good point.”

They laughed together a little, and it helped dispel a bit of the tension, the looming darkness, and everything terrible about their circumstance. Just enough for them to appreciate that they were together again.

Alex even reached out and pulled Rory into another embrace. “It really is good to see you again, dad.”

Rory felt his eyes stinging, and he hugged Alex back. “I’m… unbelievably glad to see you alive.”

“As am I. Mom has to be so mad that you came here without her.”

Rory laughed a little again. He decided not to tell them about how angry Viv had gotten at the Invigilator’s actions. “She’ll be glad to see you when you return.”

“I—”

Light bled out above them, or a direction Rory felt was above him—it was difficult to tell in the middle of space. He did have to crane his head upwards to see the sudden bloom, though, and soon wished he hadn’t.

The burst of light grew until it was like a miniature star, sending out waves of heat and matter blistering in every direction. It was collapsing in on itself, forming into a gigantic orb that burned bright and incandescent. But as it grew, something within it started moving. Something that made whatever strange breath Rory was dragging in catch in his throat.

“What’s that?” Alex asked, staring at the fiery orb. Fear was starting to work its way into their eyes, though they didn’t recognize it as Rory did. “It doesn’t look good.”

“It’s not,” Rory said. His heart turned cold as he understood how the Corebeast was appearing here. At the very centre of the growing brightness, there was a minuscule burst of vivid, rainbowlike splash of multiple colours. “This is the Invigilator’s handiwork.”

Alex turned to him with a wide-eyed stare. “What is it, dad?”

“A Corebeast.”

They both turned to see the Invigilator floating in the middle of space several yards away to their right. Rory swallowed. He had expected Arkone to come in at some point, but not with the Corebeast in tow like this.

“You’re not trapping us here.” He turned to Alex. “Let’s go.”

The Invigilator was suddenly right before them, a mere three feet away. “Hold on just a moment.” They both started backing away while flailing in space. It didn’t really provide good purchase for backpedalling. The Invigilator simply stared them down from greater height. “Surely you do not wish for the Corebeast to return to your world, do you?”

Rory swallowed. “You can’t return it. That would disrupt the natural course of the war. It would destroy everything.”

The flash of violent colours at the centre of the growing star suddenly bloomed outwards in a terrific, silent explosion, and it overtook everything. The Corebeast trapped within its depths started disappearing. Rory’s throat turned dry as parchment. Arkone really was sending it back.

“Dad,” Alex yelled. They held out their hand. “Give me the Sigils you got off the Invigilator.”

Rory stared at them. “What are you—”

“Now, dad. There’s no time.”

They were right. The Corebeast was vanishing. Soon enough, it would be gone. They’d all end up back in Hillhard only to be annihilated by a gigantic, unkillable monster.

Rory growled and thrust the new Sigils at Alex. They didn’t waste a second to absorb them, the back of their hand flashing with each one’s image as it entered their body. The next second, the same crystal chains that had been trapping Alex when Rory had found them flashed out of their hand and wrapped around the Corebeast.

“It stopped,” Alex reported.

Rory stared. The star had finally stabilized, and the Corebeast had turned solid within the burning sphere. Alex had saved the world. But…

He looked around and found nothing. The nearest planets, stars, and any other celestial bodies had grown distant. Even as he watched, they were all travelling farther and farther away. Rory’s eyes returned to the Invigilator. Arkone hadn’t moved an inch, but Rory knew. There was no doubt this was all the Invigilator’s doing.

“How long do you have to hold that thing?” Rory asked.

Alex swallowed. Strain was evident in the furrows on their temple, on the way their shoulders shook. Sweat ran dirty rivulets down the side of their face. “I don’t know.” They sucked in a quick breath. “But I can’t let go. It…” They swallowed. “It’ll go free otherwise.”

Rory glared at the Invigilator. “What have you done?”

“What I intended to do from the very beginning,” Arkone said. “Hold the dissident in the prison. The only question remaining is what shall become of you?”

Rory’s mind worked at an incredible pace. Even after everything he had done, it hadn’t been enough. Alex was still trapped. But there had to be a way. His head was automatically turning to find answers, but the vast expanse of space held nothing.

“You may stay here too, if you wish, Rory,” the Invigilator continued. Incredibly, frighteningly, Rory was sure he detected kindness in Arkone’s voice. “However, all you have built so far over will collapse without your presence. You can imagine the fallout of current events.”

He could. It wasn’t hard to see at all that Rory was at the centre of most of all that had happened, and the fact that he wasn’t there would make everything spiral. It would nullify everything he had tried to accomplish. They all depended on him, and he wasn’t there. Instead, he was stuck here in the middle of nowhere, unable to come up with a proper solution.

“I will allow you to use the Sigil you stole one last time to return,” the Invigilator said. “After that, you will never use it again.”

“Go, dad,” Alex said, voice now as strained as the rest of them.

Rory shook his head. “I can’t. Not after I found you again.”

“I’ll be fine. Just go, dad.”

“Are you crazy? I won’t leave you alone.”

“Dad.”

Alex met his gaze, the one that reminded him that his child… wasn’t really a child anymore. Far from it, in truth. A flash distracted Rory, and he gawked when he saw another Sigil glowing on the back of Alex’s left hand. This one glowed pure black.

Rory’s troubled mind couldn’t recall what Tier that was, but it had to be incredibly high. “How did you get a Sigil that powerful?”

“There’s no time, now. I’ll tell you later, I promise.”

“But—”

“I know this isn’t what you wanted,” Alex said. “I don’t want this either. But… I’m not as helpless as I look. I don’t know everything you’ve been doing back in Hillhard. I—” They swallowed, leaning forward as the strain hardened. “I didn’t think you or mom were even alive. I should have looked, but I…” They shook their head. “I got too busy. With this.”

The black Sigil flashed. A dark aura bloomed out around Alex, a rippling physical cloud that began pushing Rory backwards. He tried to struggle against it, but it didn’t work. It was like working against a ship.

“Go, dad,” Alex yelled.

“No! I can—”

“Go. I have to let go of the Corebeast to get the Invigilator, and you can’t survive that.”

“I came here to rescue you. To free you.”

Alex looked back, a wet sheen passing over their eyes. “Don’t you see? You did.”

The black aura burst, and Rory was thumped backwards, flung across space. But much more went wrong. The Corebeast had escaped its binds. Its limbs were exploding out of the miniature star and a silent roar shook the cosmos as its heads emerged. From far out, all the planets, stars, and other heavenly bodies were rushing at Alex, Arkone, the Corebeast.

But strangest of all, the Invigilator had changed. Arkone taken on a strange stance, body contorted into a compressed shape and limbs flung outwards. Rory forgot to breathe, even as his sight dwindled.

Whatever it was that Alex was doing, it worried the Invigilator.

A thought sparked in his panicked mind, setting aflame the course of action he needed to take. Rory wouldn’t survive this. Not the impending collision of planetary bodies, not the Corebeast about to begin its rampage in the void, and certainly not whatever resulted from Alex and Arkone flinging their powers against each other. No, he needed to leave.

Dragging in a sobbing breath, trying to console himself that he truly had freed his child from certain doom to give them a fighting chance, Rory used the Sigil of System Traversal. The crack that emanated from it seemed to pierce his soul.

But a second later, darkness took him.