“Fuck!”

There was a loud thud followed by a few consecutive smaller ones. Felix glanced at his sister holding her feet in pain and hopping on one foot. The force field surrounding them stood unflinching despite Marcia’s frustrated kick.

“Careful now, don’t break your toes,” he reminded her absent-mindedly. Marcia plopped herself down in response.

Felix looked outside the prison cell again. Was Titus right about him? Was his path to save all the worlds misguided all along?

His hand moved towards the forcefield, touching it gingerly this time. It was sturdy, no doubt about that. But if he willed it so, he could easily break through the shield and leave whenever he wanted. There was a single human guard outside, but he doubted that man would be a match for him once he had broken out anyway.

And then what?

He glanced at Orpheus, who was staring into the distance with a distracted look in his eyes.

“Hey, Orpheus…” Felix began hesitantly. “What Titus said about me… Is it true?”

“Yes,” Orpheus answered without hesitation. “You’re a murderous bastard who would’ve been buried alive by your own sins if you hadn’t already drowned in everyone else’s blood first. You’re a threat, and you always will be. Every world is better off without you.”

Felix flinched slightly.

“And… I loved you.”

“You do?” Felix’s voice sounded more hopeful than he intended.

“I did,” Orpheus corrected him sharply. “But some things… Some things are just unforgivable.”

“But that’s not me!” Felix protested. “I’m a different person!”

“You’re not so different from this universe’s version of yourself.” Orpheus’ voice went cold immediately. “Have you forgotten your trip to Purgatory? You’re not sinless.”

Felix clenched his jaw. “I know I’m not. That’s why I’m trying to correct my mistakes. I can save everyone. The right way. It won’t be like Purgatory, I promise! I just… I just want peace.”

An unusual amount of anger flashed in Orpheus’ eyes, but he calmed back down almost immediately.

“No, you seek what is already lost. You never knew when to let go. Is there no peace in knowing that, even though you have lost much, there are worlds where you haven’t? Is that not enough for you? Will you throw lives away just to fail at fixing what’s permanently broken?”

“I—” Felix’s eyes flared in anger before he closed them painfully. “So you’re not willing to help us?”

“I wouldn’t even have looked for you if I wasn’t,” Orpheus said. “I’m only guiding you to find The Winter Solstice. What you seek to do after that is none of my business.”

Felix looked away, only to meet the eyes of the guard standing outside the prison. The guard turned his head quickly, as though it could hide the fact that he was listening in on them.

But Felix had already recognised him.

“Hey, Caesar.” Marcia sat down beside her brother. “Are there any… bad consequences? Us being here, I mean.”

Orpheus shook his head, chuckling slightly. “That depends entirely on what you do in this world. But naturally, no. The multiverse doesn’t care about its occupant’s movements. Only its people do. And those who know what they are capable of.”

Felix pursed his lips again. It was clear that his reputation in this world was widespread, and not in a good way. Titus was a lost cause, so Felix could forget about asking around about where he was keeping The Summer Solstice. What to do—

A muted explosion sent crushed gravel dripping onto their prison.

“What the hell was that?” Marcia said, standing up immediately.

Another explosion shook the ground this time, and Felix looked around him. The guard outside was speaking into his earpiece frantically.

“Hey, what’s happening?” The psychic stood up and tapped the forcefield. The guard ignored him, but Felix wasn’t giving up yet.

“Palladius Severan!” Felix yelled, finally catching the guard’s attention.

“How do you know who I am?” Severan swung around, eyes wide with both confusion and panic.

“You were a soldier by my side in my world,” Felix answered hurriedly. “But that’s not important right now. What’s going on? That tremor did not feel light!”

“W— Why should I tell you that?” Severan stepped back from the forcefield nervously. “Stay put!”

His earpiece lit up again, and Felix took the chance to telepathically listen in.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“—Don’t know where these things come from! They just won’t stay dead! Palladius, we need your help!”

Won’t stay dead? It couldn’t be…

“Felix!”

Felix turned to his sister, whose eyes were glowing pink as well.

“Just outside this cave… There’s a strange portal!” she exclaimed. “Ugh… those poor animals. Black creatures are coming out and… they’re killing a lot of people— They’re killing everything! They… By the gods, they look like Gaius Matthiou! Oh no, not again…”

Felix’s head spun like a kaleidoscope, and the revelation was flashing through his mind like its epileptic patterns too. How the hell did the Unending find their way here too? Did they find a new world to devour? Or were they following him for some reason?

“Severan!” he yelled, throwing his fists against the forcefield this time. “You have to let me help! These creatures are going to slaughter every single one of you!”

The psychic roared in frustration before Severan could respond, slamming hard on the forcefield. The shockwave rippled his clothes as a large crack appeared on the magic shield.

“W— What are you doing?!” Severan pulled out a pulsating rifle and pointed it at him. “Stop, or I’ll shoot!”

Felix huffed in desperation, images of Severan’s death flashing through his mind again. And then Gaius’ death. And Vulcan’s death. Kleopatra’s death. Oh gods, so many people dead… He couldn’t save any of them…

“I’ve faced these things before, Palladius!” he continued to yell. “Let me help!”

“I can’t! I don’t have the authority to unlock the cell!” Severan’s body was trembling, but he had already half-lowered his weapon.

“Then get out of the way.”

Severan shifted slightly, and Felix took the cue. Psychic power lit up his eyes as he raised an open palm. He clenched it into a fist.

The forcefield shattered like a piece of glass as the telekinetic force crushed it easily. Severan flailed his arms, falling over his feet as the remnant forces rippled outwards from the cell. Felix stepped out and helped the man to his feet.

“Tell your comrades to make sure they destroy every single atom of those monster’s bodies to stop them from resurrecting,” he instructed. “If possible, avoid the golden beams from their eyes. That’s how they devour your souls.”

Severan gulped at the last sentence.

“I looked up to you once, but you betrayed all of us.” His eyes were still wild with fear, but Felix could tell that he was already looking for a reason to trust him. “How do I know I can trust you?”

Felix waved a hand and materialised a psionic platform below Marcia and Orpheus’ feet.

“Easy. We’ve never met before.”

The psychic burst off the ground, carrying his companions along with him.

~ ~ ~

Technomagick blasts tore through the air, scarring the rocky walls that did little to keep out the enemy’s intrusion. After all, these monsters had arrived on the battlefield via a portal spawned behind the cave’s natural defences. Screams of pain followed swiftly like thunder after lightning as more mutilated bodies dropped beside the fallen comrades.

“Argh, no! Die, you monsters! Die!” A man released a war cry, unleashing a torrent of plasma bolts onto the black, scaly monsters before him. He stopped the onslaught temporarily, narrowly dodging a beam of golden light.

“Hah! Missed me, you ugly bastard!” he laughed gleefully and raised his rifle again. “Palladius already warned us about this! You won’t get me so easily—”

Blood sprayed on the floor.

The man screamed in pain as he collapsed to the ground, clutching a stump where his leg used to be. He dropped his weapon, turning around to see another monster behind him retract its bloodstained arm.

“Oh gods… Help…” he panted in fear, desperately trying to pull himself away from the incoming monsters closing in on him. “Help me… Someone help me!”

But no one did.

A long, excruciating scream burst from his mouth as multiple golden light beams pierced his body. It slowly turned into a gurgle as the man choked on blood leaking from his melting heart. And after the longest minute of his life, his lifeless hand finally plopped onto the floor.

“Ah… Aah… AAAH! NOOO! DON’T KILL ME!”

Another man howled in fear and threw down his weapon, running away blindly from the living nightmares. He did not make it far before he literally ran headfirst into another monster and fell to the ground. It drove a sharpened hand into his face immediately, not even granting him the mercy screaming in pain.

The Unending opened up its face and began pulling a glowing orb from the bloodied body.

Wood crashed from halfway into consuming the man’s soul. It paused for a comically long moment, before turning around languidly. An old woman was standing behind its towering body, her face contorted into primal anger reserved only for the most wounded of animals.

“My boy! Give me back my boy!” Tears were streaming down her wrinkled cheeks as she continued to slam the broken chair feebly into its hardened scales. “Monster! MONSTER! GO BACK TO HELL!”

Her body slammed hard into a wall as the Unending slapped her away with a single backhand. But the old woman wasn’t about to give up yet. She pushed herself painfully back to her feet, brandishing a small piece of splintered wood as though she was some sort of suicidal gladiator. The Unending stared at her coldly as its eyes began glowing golden again—

A trio of elephants slammed into it from the side, sending the monster flying back several metres. Another twenty bears and ten lions pounced on it without a pause, mauling and tearing its body apart savagely.

“Are you okay?” Marcia Pagonis rushed to the old woman’s side, her eyes still flashing pink.

“Thank you so much, girl.” Tears brimmed over the woman’s eyes as her body trembled uncontrollably. “My boy… They… They killed my son…”

“Stay behind where it’s safe,” Marcia said. “Don’t worry, we’ll avenge him.”

A pink blast sent another large group of Unending flying but clumped them together before they flew too far away. There was a low groaning as the pink force burned fiercely, vaporising the ball of black scales.

Felix Pagonis landed shortly after, nodding at Marcia.