IV-27 Rhetorical (II)

It is a mistake to think that social skills belong to an entirely separate category as their martial counterparts. Everything is interconnected. All skills build on each other. All skills influence how you use other skills, though they are as if silos within our soul. The experiences you have and the triumphs you will reap are enabled just as much by the breadth of your capabilities as it is the depth. And more importantly, as you use skills in tandem, they merge. So eventually, the barriers between the social and the martial will collapse altogether.

But even before that, words of violence. We know this. People like to deny this because they do not wish to face the weakness in their own hearts. How many times have you flinched at an insult someone has offered you? How many times has that insult echoed a certain voice in your mind?

Words are more than weapons. Words are poison. Poison that afflicts your thoughts. Poison that can reshape the world.

Words are viruses. We deny this, but our kingdom is shaped by words, by text, by understanding. The wrong understanding, a toxic understanding, is a venom that becomes a cancer, and a cancer that will bring down a culture.

And this is why Rhetoric and Psychology are non-negotiable skills. You have to understand them. You have to be able to wield them because you are not apart from your culture. We ascend alone, but we live among others, and among others is where we will experience transformations. Not all skills are equal, and not all outcomes are pure. Recognize a skill for what it is: a means of influence, as is violence, as is force, as is magic, to change something, no matter what the method.

Words are violence, words are violence, words are violence. 

Say it to yourself until it becomes as true as stone.

-Words as Weapons: Where the Social Intersects with the Martial

IV-27

Rhetorical (II)

Veronica's verbal command slammed into Shiv's chest and broke a few ribs before his Shapeless Tides pushed back. Adam wasn't so fortunate. With a short cry, he was driven to his knees and he gave a keening wail as his spirit broke before the Legend-Avatar's command.

"I surrender. I surrender!" Adam howled those words through unwilling teeth. "Ah, you godsdamn—-release me!"

Shiv didn't have a chance to help his friend, however. Instead, he found himself overwhelmed by Veronica. She spat order after order at him, her words exploding against his body like a chain of mana bombs. The physical aspect of her words were converted into Overflow Tides, but the spiritual wound Anthony inflicted on him earlier came into effect once more. His Shapeless Tides collapsed, and Veronica's words invaded his being. Gone and Kura struck. A blurring shape tore at Veronica’s face, while dozens golden shadows stabbed at the Legend from all angles.

Veronica scoffed quietly. “Miss.”

And the attacks did. Every single one.

“Cut yourselves.”

Gone managed to stop herself from tearing through her throat, but the Magical Resistance lining her body came afire with strain. Kura’s mana defenses shattered as a blast of Animancy cracked through to her soul. She gave a keening wail as a time clone burstt into being beside her and lopped off her left hand as well.

Shiv tried to get up but a beam of light tunneled a searing wound through his abdomen. At once, every moment of shame and failure he experienced rushed through him, and by the time the brightness scythed away from his body to torment Candles and the others, he found himself gasping and shivering on his knees.

Once more, that feeling of absolute hopelessness overtook the Deathless. He tried clenching his fist, but a greater power than his own overcame him. “Lay down, boy.” Veronica muttered. His hands went slack, his muscles went limp, and he nearly crashed down on the ground.

Then something impacted Veronica at blistering speeds again. Gone bounced off the legend councilwoman's chest like a cannonball sliding off a ship's hull, and her golden quills were pulsating with such power that Shiv felt his Chronomancy field come apart from the sheer temporal friction she emitted. Veronica flinched back, her Reflexes outmatched for once. But her flesh flashed red, gold, and silver—then she properly teleported right behind Shiv. 

Shiv’s Shapeless Tides returned. The mana roiled inside his soul was driven out by a circulation of new tides. He exploded back to his feet and drove his elbow backward and discharged his inertial sheath. Veronica teleported through the blast, and tried to whisper something to Shiv. Her words never made it out. Bonk swung something against her Dimensional veil. Rather than trying to strike her directly, he phased into her, and the Legend-Avatar snarled in annoyance as she teleported once more.

Gone blinked beside Shiv, she immediately snatched him back. The next thing he knew, their group had retreated from the opening he was making, falling back along the curving walkway that surrounded the chamber. They were halfway across when Veronica offered them a brief nod. “Alright. I’ll let you have this moment. Go down swinging if you want. We can talk afterward.”

Shiv looked around and reached out to touch Adam. He sent his vectors slicing across the Gate Lord’s body and grunted with strain as he tried to pry Veronica’s influence free. Just as her Rhetoical Commands were shattered with Adam, she waved her hand once more. A portion of the wall behind her vanished into spreading patches of static blackness. If the situation didn't seem hopeless enough, they had just crossed a point of absolute despair. A small army of wardens emerged, each of them heavily armed and well-prepared to assist the avatars.

Shiv counted twenty at first, then fifty, and three times that. They flooded out from the static in ordered squads. Vanguards at the front, and behind them were wedges of Poly-Magi, shaping an interwoven mix of spells. They pressed Shiv and the others further back along the walkway, but the Deathless and Adam battered them with mana-hydras and arrows respectively.

Shields were lifted. Then the wardens took on defensive postures as Kura’s golden shadows burst into being around them as well.

“I can’t do this much more,” Kura groaned. Her head sagged forward. Blood gushed from her eyes, ears, and mouth. It took a lot to strain a Legend. Holding an Ascendant of Midnight and also a small army of wardens back at the same time was more than a lot.

The other avatars entered the fray just then as well. The old man that stabbed Shiv earlier—Anthony, Avatar to Harlock the Midnight—manifested just beside Veronica. He tipped his hat at Shiv as if saluting him after a proud bout of sparring. Then came a young man clad in brilliant plate that was near blinding to behold. He had been the one to fire that beam of light into Shiv that forced him to relieve all his worse moments. A new Waif peeked out from behind him, the girl's features a snarl of fear and disgust. She had that dagger, always drawn in battle, but the Daughter herself was nowhere to be seen. Yet there was still a fear chain connecting her to Shiv, a fear chain that promptly winked out as Shiv's Shape of Monstrosity Skill collapsed.

Emerging behind Veronica was a large automaton with a reflective body. Within the reflection was the faintness of a woman, and even though she was wreathed in shadow and steam, Shiv knew she was glaring at him. “Daughter. Is that the one that scarred you.” A whimper sounded through the world just then. Such was all the confirmation the woman needed.

Curse Gained: Hands of the Bloodied - Anything you craft and create will be stained with blood and degrade at an increased pace.

Shiv grunted as he felt something get branded upon his soul. “Fuck’s sake.”

Warning: You have earned the everlasting enmity of Maiden the Genius.

Great. Like it didn’t have enough bullshit to worry about.

Next to Maiden’s avatar was a man who wore nothing but dirty rags. He waved a hand and some of wounds inflicted upon the wardens dissolved into dust. Finally, another automaton Pathbearer came as well, its head glistening with shivering lights resembling something of a complex lantern of some kind. And if that wasn't bad enough, another familiar figure made herself known. Jessica Hawgrave, the Titansbane, strolled into view just over Veronica's shoulder, and she looked down at Shiv with a hint of near pity.

The wardens made their move and pushed forward again. The Vanguard at their front prepared parried and struck at a few golden shadows, dispelling them. Kura reorganized her own clones, and made a new defensive line in response. It wouldn't last for long, however. Shiv could see how faint her Chronomancy was; Kura was on the verge of collapse. 

Most of the curving walls separating the reactor core chamber from the opening Shiv made to crawlspace beyond the cube had outright vanished. More Dimensionality crept along the edges, and soon, Shiv and the others would be utterly surrounded. With every passing second, more wardens were pouring into the fray. Blades, hammers, magic, and more crashed down against Kura's expanding line of golden shadows, and Veronica just looked on with a casual anticipation in her gaze.

Shiv wouldn't let her have that satisfaction. He got up and pulled Adam back to his feet. The gate lord tried to throw himself down once more, but Shiv just kept him standing. He growled, trying to keep his thoughts together, fighting through the dense burst of pain and confusion clouding his mind. “Adam. What… what do you think might happen if I slam into that rod real hard?”

The Gate Lord stared at the spinning nuclear reactor. “I have no idea. Cripple? Cripple?” Silence.

“It’s not going to be able to reply right now,” Veronica answered on Cripple’s behalf. “A few of my fellow avatars and their Ascendants are currently having a conversation with the Strongest. It gets confused sometimes. But this time, I can’t really blame it. Stormhalt really made a mess of things. My grandmother, too. Politics and interests get messy kids. That’s rule one of becoming a Legend.”

“Grandmother?” Shiv muttered.

“Kathereine the Songbringer,” Veronica said. She rolled her eyes and shook her head as if she was dealing with the antics of a teenage child rather than some kind of god. “It’s absurd. I know. All this madness for a silly feud. It’s part of the reason we need you back. I’m going to bring the Starhawk back to the fold. He’s still important to the Republic, and he needs to understand that his personal discomfort is not more important than the safety of our nation.”

“I know about the ritual,” Adam snarled. His voice was near feral, and his bruised and burned features made him resemble a beast more than a man. “I know what you intend.”

“You have no idea,” Veronica sighed. “No idea. It’s much worse than you can possibly imagine. And much better as well. You can’t imagine the cost nor the prosperity this will bring.” Adam’s answer came in the from a large arrow that burst into existence an inch away from her eye. It broke against her without inflicting a mark. “But I will show you. And you will come to understand that in this world, we have bad choices and nightmarish choices.”

“Yeah, I’ll show you a nightmarish choice.” Shiv tried to fling himself at the reactor, but found his Shapeless Tides inactive again. He let out a frustrated shout and swung a mana-hydra at Anthony. His mana was parried as Veronica commanded it to miss. “I’m gonna rip your asshole out of your ass, you old piece of shit.”

Anthony looked at Veronica and narrowed his eyes. “Reminds me of another angry child I once knew.”

The Councilwoman ignored him. What she didn’t ignore was Adam firing an arrow at the nuclear reactor. A Veilpiercer impacted the spinning rod—

And did nothing but leaves a deep gash in the material. A loud ringing noise filled the room as Veronica sighed. “Do you have any idea how valuable that thing is? Magic doesn’t work well with it. And it doesn’t go off that way.”

“How about Pyromancy,” Shiv said, trying to whisper to Adam.

“I have no idea, Shiv,” Adam said, trying not to collapse from his many wounds. "I'm not even sure how the damned thing works. Where’s that bloody wolf-man?”

Shiv looked at Gone, but the goblin was missing again. “System knows. The reactor-thing… it irradiates people, right?" Shiv asked. "Well, maybe if we could destabilize it, more radiation will come out. Maybe if we hit it with enough fire, it’ll go up in a big blast or something.”

"That’s practically suicide," Adam retorted, "but it won’t do anything. Hitting you with Necromancy didn’t do anything, Shiv. It’s just suicide.”

"It'll be our suicide," Shiv finished. He tried to keep his tone light, but his insides were filled with bitterness. 

The Gate Lord stopped struggling for a moment, and his gaze dropped. He nodded his head to his friend. "I suppose you're right about that. Our suicide. Gods, how did we get here?"

"You said it, Adam: gods," Shiv answered.

The Gate Lord laughed. “I hate you. And I hate that I’m going to miss you if I die.”

“Yeah? Me too, ‘cause you’re not going alone. I’m not letting these felling shits have me. Not to experiment on. Not to keep as a pet. Not to gain ten Legendary Skills from.”

They shared a look, and nothing more needed to be said.

Dying was an ugly thing, but doing it next to a friend made it easier than doing it alone.

Just then, however, a heavy weight settled on him. It crashed down like a building avalanche, and the Deathless was forced down to his knees. For a beat, he thought that Veronica had unleashed another attack on him, but he realized she was barely standing as well, as were most of the wardens. Everyone had been affected. 

An anomalous pressure clung to the atmosphere, and with every passing second, the weight crushing Shiv only grew. He followed the sensation back and realized it had originated from the nuclear reactor. It was spinning faster than ever now, turning at such a velocity he could barely count its revolutions.

Then, from above, he heard a loud laugh. Five called out to everyone below. "I got it! I got it! I set the core to maximum capacity!"

"I..." and the wolf-man suddenly realized how dire the circumstances were. He made eye contact with Shiv, and after a beat, slinked back over the edge and began to flee along the upper walkway. Usually, Shiv would be quite annoyed with people abandoning him in dire circumstances. Right now, he couldn't blame Five at all.

It looked like everyone except Five was bound. One after another, Kura's golden shadows vanished, parted by the magic-suppressing presence of the fully-activated nuclear core. Yet, the ascendants didn't rush forward, didn't sweep through all the prisoners trying to hold on for a last stand. 

The wardens didn't sprint into battle, either. Instead, everyone struggled. Everyone tried to recover. It felt like the very mana within them had been unbalanced, sapped. Shiv guessed it was because of a readjustment in the ambient available mana in the world. It felt like there was less of everything: less of himself, less of reality, less of the system. A notification flickered before his eyes, but it blinked out before he could read what it had to say.

Kathereine’s faint form revealed itself once more, but she struggled to maintain herself as the mana suppressing effect of the reactor fully triggered. The other Ascendants reacted poorly to the sudden suppression as well. Daughter burst apart in with an echoing cry. A large lighthouse of an Ascendant faded into glowing smoke and embers. The darkness trying to push through from the outside and the doorway leading into the nuclear reactor chamber all but vanished as well.

Cripple hadn't been lying, but he had understated the effects. He said that this would become a veil against the Ascendants, that it would be a functional barrier to them being able to easily tracked where Shiv and the others fled. What it actually felt like was a bottleneck, something that choked the flow of magic to a halt entirely, and something that thickened inside Shiv’s veins like plaque.

Even so, Shiv could deal with discomfort, and he still had a bit of mana inside him. With a snarl of frustration and effort, he forced himself back to his feet. Faint vectors glided across his body, and even though he couldn't use his Legendary skill to the fullest, it was still enough to grant him might and leverage. 

He used it to launch himself through the stunned wardens, at the woman who caused him so much pain. Shiv’s fist collided with Veronica’s jaw in a loud pop. In that moment, they were both less than who they were. He crashed down the moment he struck her. Her head snapped back, and she let out a pitched cry of pain as she nearly collapsed.

Anthony caught her. He thrust down with his dagger—and stabbed nothing as an arrow impacted the edge of his blade. Adam burst through and dragged Shiv back across in an instant.

But their escape was a short one. As soon as Adam emerged with Shiv from his collapsing tunnel, a cry sounded through the air. "Stop and fall!"

Shiv resisted Veronica’s command the merest of moments, and then his skill failed again. He slammed down on the ground and both of his legs broke beneath him. Adam folded over right beside him, and Kura screamed with him as well as they both went down. A ragged cry of exhaustion came from Shiv’s, but by now he was beyond the point of caring. He began crawling toward the Legend Avatar, but he didn't manage to get close to her at all before he was pinned in place by the Vanguards. Though weary and deprived of mana themselves, they didn't hesitate to throw their bodies on top of his to lock him down. Something pulled at one of his broken legs, and Shiv clenched his teeth, trying not to scream.

Veronica looked down and was about to say something when she suddenly twisted right. An arrow tore past her and slammed into Hawgrave chest with a resounding squeal of inertia. Adam was still fighting as well, still firing even as he was compelled to lay upon the ground. As the Hawgrave staggered forward with every step, struggling against the mana suppressing field emitted by the reactor, another two arrows hit her in the chest. 

Something tugged hard on Shiv once more. In an instant, he slid out from underneath all the Vanguards, and they were too sapped to respond in time.

"Come on, Insul, come on," Bonk gasped, groping blindly across Shiv's stomach. The Deathless let out a hiss as the orc picked him up. A Vanguard tried to stab Bonk, but a fast-moving ball of green death tore into his throat, giving the orc time to retreat with Shiv. “We’re not done here yet. Don’t—”

Veronica pointed at Bonk. "Split."

Her voice hit him, yet its magic was ultimately reduced.

That didn’t make a difference.

A diminished Legend was still far more than a Hero. 

Bonk was shredded down the middle in an eruption of blood and shattering mana. The orc didn’t get a chance to do anything as the left and right sides of his body fell in opposite directions. Shiv toppled between them, splashing upon a carpet of the orc’s gore. As wetness soaked his face and chest, Shiv felt something inside him explode. “BONK!”

“BREAK!” Veronica cried again.

Gone screamed this time, something inside her shattering in tandem with her Magical Resistance.

“Paralyze!”

Shiv turned, roaring with incoherent rage—only for his spine to shatter into fragments. Darkness burst behind his eyes and he crashed face-first back down upon Bonk’s ropey insides. “F-fuck.”

Before Veronica could say anything else, Adam's Righteous Dawn blazed to life once more. It grew ever brighter, and its flames of burning radiance were used offensively against the approaching wardens and avatars. Already drained by the nuclear reactor, Adam's azure dawn sapped their souls further, and the first row of wardens promptly toppled over, absolutely spent of energy. Hundreds crashed down upon the ground, and a small hill was made. The avatars held up better, and Hawgrave merely doubled over before continuing on. Yet they were affected as well.

Adam's sun growed brighter with every passing second.

Shiv had no idea how the Gate Lord was pushing through the effects of the nuclear reactor, but he was glad that Adam could. As Adam’s righteous dawn flared, it began to fissure and crack. Shiv's eyes widened as he wondered if Adam was pushing himself too far, but then a rush of strength hit him, and suddenly Shiv didn't feel so weak anymore either. He consumed his wounds using his Biomancy field, and in the next moment he was back on his feet as his Shapeless Tides returned.

“VERONICA! I’M GOING TO FUCK YOUR CORPSE WITH MY KNIFE!”

He wasn't the only one. More golden shadows reappeared, forming a stampeding herd. They stomped down with bladed legs, shredding through the gaps between the downed wardens' armor. Blood spurted as they lifted their feet, and they cut down any in their path, any who failed to resist, who were far too weak to survive. Then the golden shadows crashed against the avatars proper. The battle resumed.

Veronica teleported away, and in her place something flashed. It was a dense construct, infused with Dynamancy, and it blasted outward in a massive wave. It crashed forward, preparing to swallow everyone within the chamber, but Shiv slammed shoulder-first against it. He didn't know how long his Legendary Skill would stay functional, so he used every bit of strength he had to throw the blast off at an angle.

Leviathan of the Shapeless Tides > [Error]

Inertial Overdrive > [Error]

Strider of the Unbending Path > [Error]

It was difficult, far more difficult than anything he'd done with the skill before, yet he managed. His Frictionless Vector worked, and the Dynamancy blast cleaved out at a 45-degree angle to his left. It tore a chunk of the other walkways away and ripped one of the walls open as if it was a piece of paper.

Before the avatars could respond, Shiv swung his mana hydra into them again, and the detonation of bright red mana swallowed the edge of the room. Arrows flew from Adam, crashing in against the avatars. From one arrow came two, and from two became four. The wardens and avatars tried to mount an offense, but Gone tore through their frontline, and several Pathbearers disintegrated into puffs of bloody mist outright.

"Shiv!" Cripple's voice filled the room. The automaton ascendant sounded strained and distracted. "If you can hear me, run now. Do whatever you can. Run now! Flee!”

But there was nowhere to go by this point. All around Shiv was a crawling sprawl of black static. Veronica’s power was spreading faster than he could perceive. Soon, even with the reactor’s effects, she would have this entire room under her control.

Before Shiv could fully despair, another divine being spoke within him. Her voice was faint, but it was clear and true.

"Shiv," the Composer whispered, "I need you to reach Adam for me. I need you to make contact with his being. Please. It may be your only chance.”

"Composer," Shiv said, stunned. He questioned the Composer's request no more and made to reach his friend. Before Adam could ask him what he was doing, Shiv laid a hand on his shoulder, and a rush of divinity surged out from Shiv's soul into Adam. Shiv felt his Blessing come afire, felt a new song erupt from his insides. But it wasn’t just his Blessing. Something new was happening inside Adam as well, and the musical notes that spilled out from Shiv were outlined with the same color as the Gate Lord’s Unique Skill.

His Song of the Vigilant spread out around him, and resonating waves became webs that coated everyone. And then the webs became as if strings, dancing strings, vibrating strings, strings on a lyre that shivered to the flicking fingers of someone divine.

"Ascendants," the Composer cried out, her voice high with scorn and offense. "You've gone too far. Your debt remains unpaid. For all that you've done, for what you have stolen and what you continue trying to keep, you will face judgment."

Her voice sang free from Adam's mouth. In that moment, the wounds lining his body molted away, and a massive figure emerged free from his shadow. The Composer made herself known, hatching out from Adam's azure sun. Her body loomed high, and her legs were pressed against every corner of the room. Her contours were painted by that radiant blue, and her inner core resonated, oscillated with the colors of sunrise and sunset. She wasn't truly here, but there was an extension of her presence, an extension of her mana, that reached across from Weave, up from the Abyss, and into this prison at the heart of the Republic.

With her intrusion, the battle suddenly stopped. Her song continued on, growing louder and louder, and it was only then that Shiv realized her resonating webs were coiled around the avatars and their wardens, around the Dimensionality that Veronica projected. The black static strained, but before the Composer’s magic—further bolstered by Adam’s Unique Skill—it was like an animal trapped in a net.

"Break! Scatter apart!" Veronica shouted at the webs, but they didn't obey her so easily. A few shuddering strands frayed along the edges, but the others endured, even growing thicker with every passing second the song continued.

"Composer!" Veronica cried aloud. "You have no right to be here. Think about what you are doing.”

Her words were echoed by her grandmother, and Katherine’s form appeared once more. Yet she was barely there, nothing more than a ghost, quivering like a dying candle before the Composer's golden, glowing glory.

"Think carefully, Lady Arachnae," Kathereine began. "Think about what you are doing. This breaks the treaty between the Abyssal Faiths and the surface nations. And for what? You intrude on a private affair, a domestic affair. These are children of the Republic. They belong to us.”

"A Republic that attacks its own children," the Composer shot back. The song suddenly stopped as she ceased her strumming in pure outrage. "A Republic that betrays its own towns, its own people." Shiv could never recall seeing the Composer so hateful, so aggrieved. "I know what you have done. I know what your inquisition has done. And I have more than a guess with regards to what you plan to do with my parent, the Great One. You have always been deceivers, betrayers, vultures. You feed off the glory of something that doesn't belong to you. You exploit others to bring your Paths to greater heights. And now you continue your mistakes!”

"Our mistakes?" Kathereine shot back. "You don't know anything you're talking about, oh Queen of the weak. It is because of us that there is stability at all. It is because of us that the surface, at least the near surface, remains in homeostasis. In perpetual stability. Because we hold the true threats at bay. We have established a Republic that maintains your security. And we continue holding to our truths, unlike you."

"You intend to hold the truth so long as you can continue exploiting my progenitor's power," the demigoddess of Weave pulled at the strings on her lyre again, and all around them the webs began to shiver once more. Just then, a counter-chorus came from Kathereine as a battle of hymns began. "And so long as you can build towards feeling the weak one's legacy once and for all. You speak encrusted truths and deeper falsehoods. Your tongue flicks in two ways, forked like a serpent's. Everything you have done has been for yourself. All of you. All of you have been doing this for yourself. No matter what lies you tell, no matter what excuses you bring forth, you must know that this power does not belong to you. That you cannot use it properly. That this so-called homeostasis you fight to preserve is fragile and will collapse."

"What a display of desperation from the half-daughter of a corpse," Kathereine began to sing, and the webs surrounding the avatars and the wardens were drawn taut. "Oh feeble little spider, helpless little spider, helpless as the one she swears to protect. So many years after her father and mother fall, and even so, what is her prize? A spot in the dark and an endless sea of regrets."

"My struggle goes on for those scorned, for those wounded by undeserving hands," the Composer's voice drilled off with its own snarl, "while you feed and feed like the gluttons you are."

"We feed and give," Kathereine sang, her voice rising high as tides of divinity clashed between them. The webs began to buckle and strain. "And where your so-called natural divinity has granted you less than a city-state, we have claimed the most of a continent. We have built a power capable of standing against all corners of this world. We have protected and preserved those we call our people, while you fight and barely survive against the parasites and fools you find yourself surrounded by."

For the briefest moment, Shiv saw the Composer flinch, and a pang of sympathy went through him. He'd noticed things about Weave during his time there as well. It was a good city, perhaps the safest and kindest city he'd ever been in. But there were flaws under the surface, and there were slips in the Composer's facade. Her sorrow at sacrificing so many of her people on a raid against the First Blood, her admission of weakness when the Dragon Knights made flight for Gate Theborn, her inability to offer more than a few sisters and Weaveresses when the gate was captured, and the rampant inequalities at the base of her home as well. 

Weavers suffering; Weaveresses favored more than others, while plagues chewed through the fabric of her precious society…

Shiv barely managed to shake off the building loathing he felt for the Composer. Kathereine’s music was insidious as all hell.

"It was folly for you to come here," Kathereine continued. "You might be a goddess by natural birthright, but you are underdeveloped. Furthermore, you are a coward with lacking ambition. You should be a full goddess by now. You should have taken more power, taken more experience, taken from your parent. They was right there, and you let them rest."

"I let them rest because they have passed, because they wish to slumber, because they don't wish to wake," the Composer shot back. "I'm no vulture!”

“No, but you are just a victim-to-be," Kathereine said, "and this world has no respect for victims. If you wish to be more, then you should have been strong. At present, the only reason why you can stand before us is your demigodhood. You are no true divine, you are merely a thing in between, and a thing trapped between you shall remain. A bug in a web instead of the spider she presents herself as. Because you do not have the mettle nor the will to take what is rightfully yours, what could be rightfully yours. 

“And so, what purpose is the nobility of your heart? What meaning lurks behind the point of your actions? Your songs are farces, noise and nothing more, for there is no weight behind those vibrating strings. The lyrics you spit will turn to silence when your people die, and you will be consigned as a footnote and then nothing more while we endure. We endure eternal."

The Composer's webs were screaming at the breaking point, more than a few snapped, and just as Shiv thought the goddess was about to collapse before the song-bringer's proclamation, she brought her hand down upon her lyre.

Just then, Shiv caught sight of a larger shadow looming behind her—the visage of another god. Where the Composer might not have been able to break Kathereine’s power alone, another force intervened.

The Challenger grinned at the Ascendants from behind the spider goddess. “Fakers fall. Vultures are feed for hawks. Rip their throats out, little spider. Keep my Insul standing…”

An explosive reverberation swept out from her core, gliding along every web. They struck the song-bringer like lashing whips, and Kathereine cried out, releasing a note of genuine pain. The melody she was humming broke, and suddenly the Composer was the dominant force once more.

"You are right about my lacking ambition. You are right about my cowardice. You are right that I am but a demigoddess. You are right that the system does not favor me. But you are blind, and you are deceived. You think power will keep you alive? My progenitor was powerful, but where did I come from? Where was I born? My womb was a sleeping corpse, and the one that stood as my parent was struck down despite their overwhelming power. You say my songs are fated to go silent? Perhaps, but no more than yours. For what future lays in wait for a culture that seeks to shackle its own children, that seeks to betray its protectors, that seeks to sacrifice its people in a blood-stained ritual just to feed themselves?"

"A ritual that will guarantee our power, our station against any adversary!" Kathereine struck back. Dulcet tones rose as she shrugged, but the balance had been tipped. The webs around her and the other Ascendants were tightening.

"There is no guarantee!" the Composer cried out, near hysterical with offense. A disbelieving chorus of laughter escaped from her, and her stringing notes grew somber. "There is no guarantee. This is what you refuse to accept. This is what you refuse to admit. Power is not enough. It will never be enough, for there is always another threshold. There is always another realm, another world beyond yours, thicker, denser in mana, populated by more powerful path-bearers with greater skills."

"And that will be no matter when we—" Kathereine was cut off by the Composer.

"It will always be a matter, because you refuse to see what the system wants. It doesn't favor you. It favors the struggle you offer. It favors the chaos and change you will bring, and eventually it will bring you down. There is no true immortality if existence is war, and the system demands it to be war, eternal war everlasting. Anything that seeks peace without its consent will be cut down. And I think you know this. I think you all flee from this."

"Enough!" Kathereine cried aloud, and this time her voice was joined by Veronica's. "Begone, Lady Arachne. We will not say this again. If you endure here, we will descend to the Abyss and we will seek an audience with the other faiths to discuss your breach of the treaty."

And at that, the Composer stopped playing, as if obeying their orders. She detached from Adam's spirit as well. The Gate Lord staggered, and Shiv caught him before he could fall. He shook his head as if just awakening from a deep sleep. As he looked up, he blinked. "Composer, you came."

"You called," she said, her voice suddenly gentle and sorrowful. "I'm sorry, I could not offer more."

"No," Adam shook his head, and something almost akin to a song escaped him. "No, it's more than I expected. You... you still came. You still came, when no one else did. I prayed. The Starhawk was silent. But you weren’t. It was… the music was beautiful.”

"And it will not be enough," Kathereine and Veronica spoke in unison. A glowing incandescence was spreading out from them now, out from the other avatars as well. They had recovered, and they were pushing back against the mana-stilling field emitted by the nuclear reactor. 

Shiv felt his insides plummet once more. Oh, come the fuck on.

"You might have delayed us for a moment," Veronica said, "but there is nowhere to go. Not for them, and not for you, eventually. We will claim what is ours. We will claim the Great One. Ours is ambition. And ours is strength. And ours is the ability to protect these two from the world.”

"But you don't have the time," the Composer said coldly. "You think I was trying to entrap you? You think I was that much of a fool? No. I simply needed to delay you."

"Delay us?" Kathereine said, sounding confused. "Delay us for whom?"

"For me," a deep and sonorous voice interrupted Kathereine.

The Songbringer gave a choked gasp. “Oh, no… Not you.”

Shiv and the other Ascendants turned with surprise, but before they could react, a spear of Animancy blasted through the chest of the young man clad in white plate. And once more, Shiv heard an Ascendant scream in pain. The lighthouse he saw earlier returned, and it was burning with the colors of faintest blue, bleeding into the system itself. The colors of Animancy blended until everything in front of Shiv was consumed. The Composer vanished, Adam collapsed, and the Dimensional sprawl Veronica unleashed came ablaze as well.

The wardens too close to the static were consumed by the Animancy, and many of the Poly-Magi died as they were stitched into the narrative of existence, damned to a place within the twisted embrace of soul-burned Integration.

Shiv lost sight of the avatars then, and never got to see who was attacking them. But the wardens were still present, and they were recovering as well, partially bathed in incandescent mana. 

Yet before they could do anything, a blast struck them, a blast that sailed over Shiv's head. More whistling sounds came, and arcing projectiles slammed into the gathered guards. Explosions swept out, flinging the wardens aside. But these wardens were hardier than the others, higher in tier, and better equipped as well. 

Even when Gone responded, slicing through them, many still endured. Their wounds closed or were reduced to scratches instead of fatal strokes. They struck back using their mana. Magic flowed from their hands like curling tongues. 

But with every second they lingered within the chamber, their spellcraft weakened. The nuclear reactor was still churning, and its weight continued to be crushing for Shiv, especially with his destabilized soul.

Just then a cry came from behind the rank of Wardens. "Vanguards! Up at the front! Shields rise! Shields!"

And then another shrill cry came through the air, and something ripped through the air just over Shiv's head. Faint trails punched into the Vanguards' skulls. Blood puffed out from mortal wounds, and their front row collapsed entirely. More of those whistling projectiles slipped past the Vanguards then, and when this series of detonations went off, limbs filled the air alongside shrapnel.

And then massive shapes were rushing past Shiv, gray-skinned shapes. One bore twin daggers in both hands. They glistened like starlight, and as he slashed and swiped, the daggers became as if wands directing the flow of an orchestra. Other shards of starlight ripped free from his dimensional robes, and the wardens were shredded by the sudden ambushing orc. Then there were bolts of Dynamancy flying. They struck the unprepared wardens like hammers falling upon tin cups. Resounding clangs filled the air, but the wardens were knocked down instead of utterly crushed. Even so, that proved to be a fatal outcome as a heavy blast descended upon them.

Shiv was flung back by the explosion, but before he could crash down, something caught him. He looked up and found himself staring at a mechanical half-skull. Its green eyes were glistening. Its metallic chassis was rusted in certain places and cracked in others, but it felt harder than ever before. More importantly, it was larger than before as well. Its skeletal frame had filled out. Instead of being thin and on the verge of breaking, it was well over four meters tall now. Its ribs were fully enclosed, sealing away its vulnerable insides behind layers of slatted plating. It had additional arms as well, but few of them sported hands. Instead, there were long rods that stuck out from him, long rods that constantly spat with resonating staccatos of discharge. From the tips of those long rods flew pieces of metal moving so fast, Shiv could barely keep track of them. And then he stopped being able to keep track of them altogether as his Inertial Overdrive failed.

"Get up, path-bearer," Can Hu’s voice was stronger than ever before. It crackled, less with interference and more with the weight of falling thunder. And despite the wounds that mangled his body, Shiv was driven to his feet by sheer will alone.

"Can Hu!" he called out, surprised at the restored state of his friend, surprised that he was here, surprised but pleased to see someone else he could count on.

And it wasn't just Can Hu. Over the Penitent's shoulder was the large form of an orc Biomancer. Twisting strands of blood-red mana danced between his hands. But he let out a curse as the mana briefly vanished. "God, I hate this place. What is even happening right now?"

Despite Helix's many complaints, he managed to discharge a spell, and it struck the Wardens in a pulse of mist-like red. They began screaming a moment thereafter, and Shiv watched as their flesh began to bubble. Their flesh bubbled and melted out from between the cracks of their armor. More Wardens fell, and more orcs joined the havoc.

“RIDE THEM DOWN!” Mortar roared as more grayskins slammed down from the air, smashing through the wardens.

A faint clench of teleportation caught Shiv's notice, and he moved on reflex. His right hand shot out, and he caught the head of a Vanguard attempting to put his halberd through Can Hu’s chest. Shiv's Shapeless Tides didn't fail him then. He pointed his vectors inward, and the man's head crumpled, crushed by his collapsing helmet. 

Shiv flung the body at a squad of magi. They were trying to create a pyromancy spell, but they couldn't quite get it to catch due to the suppressive effect emitted by the nuclear reactor. The body of the Vanguard hit them like an artillery shell. Several of the mages broke and folded along the middle, their heavy armor doing little to protect the flesh within. As they died, their Pyromancy spell finally went off, and it went off wrong. A burst of spreading flames spilled out in the shape of a horizontal envelope. It ignited several groups of wardens nearby, and the battle grew ever more chaotic.

A cold metal hand pulled Shiv by the bicep, and he staggered along, letting Can Hu guide him. And just then, Five landed beside him and picked Adam up. The Deathless's eyes widened, and he found himself briefly speechless as the Wolfman threw the Gate Lord over his shoulders.

"Meltdown!" he called aloud. “We need to get out of here before the meltdown really gets going!”

Shiv didn't understand what would happen when a nuclear reactor went into meltdown, but it didn't sound good, so he hurried along, and the other survivors hurried along with him. He cast a final look at Bonk's dismembered body, and a clench of rage gripped his pulsating heart. 

The rage faded a moment later as he realized Bonk was probably just going to reincarnate, but it wouldn't be the same. He didn't know if orcs' souls were recycled as much as their memories were, but he pushed it out of his thoughts for now. Fuck… Bonk, I’m sorry…

As they made their escape, Shiv watched as a small army of orcs pushed in through a gap in the upper section of the reactor chamber. Shiv had no idea when the gap was made or who had made it, but it was a clean cut, delivered with scalpel-like precision and finished with no noise at all. Not even the ascendants had noticed. Past the cut, Shiv saw the faint glow of seeping mana, and he saw the static of Dimensionality as well. It wasn't just a cut. It was a portal to somewhere else.

And just then, a crackle was followed by a sudden surge of acceleration as the Deathless found himself drawn upward. He looked down and saw two thrusters blasting free from Can Hu’s legs. The penitent's lower body had changed as well. It resembled multi-jointed slats that wouldn't look out of place on an insect. And from beneath its heels came steady streams of fire that emitted a comforting hue of soft blue.

"Can Hu, how the hell are you fixed?" Shiv breathed. "Is this because I mended your skills?"

"Partially," the Penitent said, and from the rift they were fast approaching came another horde of orcs. They cried out joyously as they descended into the fray, and at the same time the entrance leading into the nuclear reactor exploded as a tide of darkness swept through. Harlock was coming once more, but then Harlock was held in place as a gathering horde of orc Dynamancers formed a protective dome. Then came pyromancy. Spells shaped from heat and light exploded in the air, and they were channeled as if rays of starlight down upon the darkness sealed behind the kinetic shields. 

Harlock was held back briefly, and that was the last Shiv saw of the Ascendant then as he found himself dragged into the dimensional gap. Gone, Adam, Kura, Five, Candles passed through right beside him—then Whisper and a few other orcs followed as well.

For a moment, the Deathless tried to process everything he just experienced. This felt impossible. Saved by the Composer, and then by his comrades. How they managed to get into the prison so fast, and what repaired Can Hu remained unknown to him. But something still felt wrong. He was missing critical details, and if they were back, maybe Uva and the others were as well. Could it be him? Could it be the Starhawk intervening with his divine power? Shiv thought that was the most likely case, but then the Penitent spoke once more.

"Your mending of my skills helped, but you were not the one who completed the reconstruction of my soul?”

Shiv stared at Can Hu. "So who did it? The Starhawk managed to make it back? Do you know what happened to Blackedge? Did it come back from the Outside?"

The Penitent didn't respond immediately. "I did not have a better choice. I wish you to know this. But he was the only option to get here, to see myself repaired. He was the only option for all of us.”

And suddenly, Shiv had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what Can Hu had to say.

A notification appeared in Shiv's eye. 

The Challenger looks forward to you meeting your Maker. 

***

“No… no no no,” Kathereine breathed. “You… you can’t be here.”

Veronica stared, in mute horror, as she gazed upon someone who shouldn't be able to return to this world anymore. Someone who was banished, and someone who was here nonetheless. 

"Help! Help me! Don't! Don't let him!" A Waif screamed. She had been taken by their ambusher at the same moment he put a hole through Harlem’s vessel. The poor boy had been consumed by Animancy in an instant. He didn’t even get a chance to fight back. Screams still echoed from patches of blueness beside Veronica. She focused her mind and ignored the wails.

The Waif kicked and struggled as her head was seized by a set of wicked, curved claws that glistened with strange mana. Magic Veronica had never seen before. Daughter tried to intervene, but a flash of Animancy made her flinch away. “Veronica—” The Waif shrieked, sounding like a terrified child.

Those proved to be the final words of a waif as the exiled Abyssal Lord closed his hand. The sound of pulping skull-matter and squelching flesh filled the air, and it was accompanied by a disappointed sigh. “Hello, Veronica. Kathereine. I understand you have something of mine. I’m come to take it back.”

“Udraal,” Veronica breathed as she prepared to drew on every bit of her grandmother’s power to survive what was to come. “He’s not yours.”

“Hm. I would say he is. Not because I made him. But because you cannot stop me from taking him back.”