(Gavin)

It's been a week since we arrived in this City, and the closer we get to Bryce's arrival, the more nervous I become about it. Bryce is Zack's brother, and everything that's been said so far makes me think he's remarkably like Zack in personality. Goofy in his own way, mischievous, and just downright dangerous.

Which scares me. If someone like him shows up, it's going to be chaotic, and that's before considering that apparently, Zack's mischief was a lot worse when Bryce was around. A lot worse. Supposedly, they once smeared slime all over the exterior of the temple. The one for healers, not the Dark Temple. Without getting noticed.

So right now, I'm trying to mentally prepare myself, which is rather difficult due to Max and his brothers somehow finding me everywhere I go to meditate and then wrestling around nearby. I get it, Max, you can put both of your brothers in a headlock at once. That's very impressive. However, it's hard to focus on meditating with you doing that two feet away from me.

Especially with their feet and tails sometimes smacking me. And Nit's elbow, once.

I had hoped the temple would be a safe place, but no, they decided to come horse around here as well. Even asking them to stop following me doesn't seem to be working, so I give up for today and return home, where Luca is… eating.

Ignoring his choice of meal, I sit across from him and pull out a chess board, then set it up. Luca will play with me and not cause a headache. We're both just as terrible at this as the other, though it still usually ends up with Luca winning for some reason.

"You know they did it on purpose, right?" He asks.

"I figured that."

"It's because you seem sulky," Luca says. "Max is hoping you'd join them in horsing around. He thinks it might lift your spirits. I told him to not be silly, and even whacked him on the head, but he didn't believe me."

"I seem sulky?" I ask, and he nods. "I'm more apprehensive than anything. I'm nervous of Bryce's arrival and what it will mean."

"Oh, that!" Luca's face lights up. "Lord Zack says he should be here in no more than three days! I can't wait to meet his brother! It's going to be so much fun! I bet I'll get twice as many sweets!"

Right, Luca worships Zack, so him being excited about Bryce makes sense, since they're brothers and quite similar in personality, at least according to everyone I've spoken with so far.

"Yeah," I say. "Your move, Luca."

As we play the game, I find myself calming somewhat. I think about Bryce, though. Will he get up to his mischief while he's here? Everyone's expecting him to go through several Ascensions and Power Jumps once he arrives. It would make sense, considering Zack's gut feeling about something here resulting in the end of the war.

But something tells me it might not be so simple. That it's not something so obvious. Why?

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(Braden)

Good job, Max. He got Gavin to go do something other than try to meditate, since the meditation wouldn't have worked, anyway. The three of us agreed that Gavin needed to actually do something, rather than try to take his mind off Zack's brother coming.

While they were doing that, I've been doing my own thing. Zack was showing me some cool knife tricks a little bit ago, but then Nik wanted to show him something, so we split off. I'm not interested in learning how to kill goblins in new ways, so I bid them farewell. Now, I'm just wandering around the City.

Lost. Completely and entirely lost. I'm not even sure how that happened, since I have a good sense for direction. Oh, there's Kit.

"Hey, Kit."

Kit dips his head to me, then scampers off, and I get the feeling he was embarrassed to be seen here. I don't blame him, he's still adjusting to his freedom. Freedom we'll all be feeling soon, once Bryce arrives and the end comes.

But something in my gut says that we're all wrong about something. That the end comes about for other reasons. It makes me worried a little. Does Zack betray us, like Lord Dark of Water says Big S is scared will happen, now that the end is so close?

For some reason, Big S believes Zack will side with the Shadow of Life, despite everything. It seems like it's a belief made out of fear of evil winning to me, though. Now that I think about this and realize that Big S is probably just worried about it because of his fears of evil winning, I realize that it was my own patron who had me worried.

Just realizing that one thing made the feeling go away. So it seems everything works out. That's good.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Now… how to get to where we're staying? I'm hungry, and I don't have any food in my Inventory?

Well, Kit was here. I can follow the trail of his scent to navigate back.

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(Zack)

Nik and I stop sparring, then drink some water. He was showing me some cool techniques for killing goblins that don't really matter anymore, just because we got bored. Gold is sitting off to the side, and holds up the chalkboard he was marking on, showing a score between Nik and me. Nik has fifteen, and I have twenty. Woo-hoo!

I don't know what that means, though, and neither does Nik. We don't ask, either.

"Thanks, Nik," I say. "I'm going to go scrub the sweat off, then I'll meet you for lunch."

Nik nods, and I head to the bathing rooms and scrub off the sweat, rinse of, dry off, then dress in fresh clothes before I head to the dining hall, where Nik and Gold are eating lunch, Kulkul serving our food. It's been awhile since I last saw the demonic bear. He's as adorable and cuddly as always.

As we eat, I think over a gut feeling I have. Today. Today's the day that it all ends. Yet Bryce isn't here yet. Does he decide to pick up speed and arrive? Even as I use my sight, I'm unable to actually see what's going on, unable to see what's going to result in the end of the war.

Once it's over, I'm going to ask Big S what it is he knows about my betrayal to the Crystals. The betrayal that never has and never will come.

I guess Bryce gets tired of just walking, since that's the only explanation I can think of. While his Ascension Trials would ordinarily take around a day each, I know that that's just something Big S does. It isn't actually necessary for them to take that long here in the Boundary, so Big S could very well make them take much less time. He'd be able to do four Ascension Trials for Bryce, too, since he has four storage crystals.

Due to this being the end, he wouldn't worry about hindering the System itself.

Those thoughts drift away as I finish eating.

"Thanks for the meal, cuddly bear," I tell Kulkul, who gives me a glare. "Later, Nik, Gold."

They nod, and I leave the Dark Temple, going for a walk. Alexander's been pushing even harder since we arrived at getting me to join him. It's a clear sign he's realized that he really will die soon. That's he's about to lose – forever.

Because of his crimes, he's guaranteed to go to hell, and to the portion of it reserved for the worst beings out there. An individual's power means nothing in the afterlife, and he'll be eternally doomed the moment he dies. In hell, he'll never escape, he'll never become a ruler, nothing like that.

Only Children of Existence receive true luxuries in keeping their powers, and that's because it's not just a part of our bodies, but our souls.

As I walk, I notice Braden wandering around, looking a little lost, so I give him directions back to the house before continuing on my way. I don't blame him for getting lost, even with his ability to remember paths and locations. This place is massive and empty, and there are far fewer scents than he's used to.

"Zack," a familiar voice says, and I sigh.

"I figured you were going to approach me," I don't even bother looking at the avatar as I continue walking. "What do you want this time?"

"What reason do you truly have for not helping me?" He asks.

"You're evil."

"Once this ends," he says, and I can hear him gesturing. "All of this will be gone, and you will move on to the afterlife. What then? You reincarnate? You'll have to wait until your father has another child, as only those of his blood can hold the powers of Existence. That could be millions of years – billions, even. You would be the first of his children to truly die and find themselves in the afterlife. It would be a lonely existence, Zack."

"I can pop into his own realm anytime I want," I shake my head. "And I'd have Bryce with me."

"Are you sure that would satisfy you?" He asks, and I sit on the edge of the bridge over a stream we were passing, facing him rather than the water. He looks worried when I use my sight to briefly check his expression. "I know you, Zack. You have too much mischief in you, but also too much desire to have friends and allies. To go on adventures, have your own pets, and more. You can't do that, not truly, in the afterlife. Sure, it would be there, but it wouldn't be satisfying. If you join me, Zack, you can live for as long as you want, just like your other brothers and your sisters."

"And be a tyrant?" I laugh. "You're delusional, Alexander. Why do you keep trying?"

"Because I know the darkness in you," he steps closer. "Zack, you crave power. You crave control over others. Isn't that why you treated your team the way you did when they first arrived? Isn't that why you drove Luca's own twin to doing something which killed him? If only you hadn't done that, he'd have not died, you know. Or did you intend on that happened?"

"Alexander, buddy," I roll my eyes. "You can try this guilt-trip thing all you want. I'm long-past blaming myself for what happened. I hadn't intended on Braden dying, I intended on making him powerful, on helping him achieve his true potential. His death was an accident, a miscalculation on my part. I hadn't realized that being so strict would cause that. For that, I'm sorry to him, and I hope that I'm able to approach him in the afterlife before he and Luca reincarnate, so that I can apologize. Even if he doesn't know the full reason for it, I'll still apologize. He'll accept it from the stuff which happened in life."

"Are you sure?" He asks. "Braden never liked you, the two of you always butted heads, Zack."

"That doesn't mean he won't know I'm serious."

"Zack," he says. "Why do you wait for Bryce? You could grow more powerful than you are now, try to challenge me. Visions can be diverted, you know. I know you want to be the one to kill me, the one to claim my life. Why-"

"Are you serious?" I laugh. "What is even the point of this line of reasoning, Alexander? Do you want me to try, only for me to fail and die? Are you trying to destabilize Bryce? Because such an event would only bolster his hatred towards you, would only empower him further. Sure, I'd love to be the one to kill you, but really? Bryce or me, it doesn't matter. You'll be killed by a Child of Existence, as the vision showed."

"Only one was destined to kill me," he says.

"Yes," I draw my sword. "By running you through with his sword, just like this."

He takes a step back, but I thrust my sword through his chest in exactly the manner I saw Bryce do in the vision.

"Just. Like. This!"

I pull my sword out, then sheathe it and watch as he fades away. And as he does, I realize that my father was right.

I've known all along how to defeat the Shadow of Life with ease.

I've realized what needs to be done to ensure his end.