Zeke just stared at the odd-looking gnome, processing what he’d just heard. Then, he burst out into laughter.

In his mind, Eveline said, “Ezekiel…”

“This is a serious matter!” seethed the gnome.

After a moment, Zeke cut his laughter off. Then, he asked, “I’m sorry. I just thought you were joking.”

“Do you think we gather the entire Circle of Mages on a whim, boy? Of course we aren’t joking!” growled the gnome.

“I guess in retrospect, that should have been obvious,” he acknowledged. “It’s just that what you said was so ridiculous that I couldn’t really take it seriously.”

“Ridiculous? You think the deaths of tens of thousands is a laughing matter?”

Zeke shrugged, staring straight into the gnome’s eyes with such intensity that the figure looked away. “Normally, no,” Zeke acknowledged. “I’ve killed plenty of people, and even more have died at my order. But I’m not a callous murderer. I don’t regret what I’ve done, but I don’t take it lightly, either.”

“You admit your crimes, then?”

“I admit that I’ve killed most of the people you think I’ve killed,” he countered. “Assuming you’re still talking about Adontis and the Imperium. Though you should probably know about the dwarves beneath Min Ferilik, too. I’m pretty sure none of them survived. What I don’t admit is that they were crimes at all.”

“What you believe is criminal is irrelevant. There are standards by which those who live in the civilized world must live,” the gnome stated. “You have flouted those standards, and whole cities have fallen as a result. Innocent people –”

Zeke laughed again.

“You mock us?!”

“Sorry. I’m really trying to take this seriously, but you just keep saying ridiculous things,” Zeke said. “To call the people of the Imperium – or worse, Adontis – innocent really stretches the meaning of that word to the point where it loses any significance at all. Those people weren’t innocent. Every single one of them was complicit in so many crimes that, by all rights, you should be on your knees in gratitude. But I’m not unreasonable. A simple thank you will suffice.”

“They were lawfully established states, and their practices were codified in the rule of law!”

“So your logic is that because they made evil laws, they were morally justified?”

“The law is sacred.”

“I disagree,” Zeke stated. “If you think I’m going to obey laws that actively hurt or enslave people, then you may want to adjust your expectations.”

“You do not unilaterally decide those things,” said the gnome.

“It kind of seems like I do,” Zeke said. “The fall of Adontis says so. The Imperium is going down as well. It’s just a matter of time. Don’t worry, though – when we’re done, I’ll have my people make some new laws.

“But understand this,” he continued, stepping forward. He could feel mana swirl around him. “I will not stand idly by while people like the ones in charge of Adontis and the Imperium oppress and enslave anyone who doesn’t look like them. If you expect to punish me for acting, then you’d better be ready to back this up with action. I’ll warn you right now, though – if you do, I will destroy everything you’ve built here. When I’m done, there won’t be anything left of all of this.”

“You threaten us?” the gnome demanded.

“I do,” Zeke said. “I came in peace. That can change very quickly.”

At that, a din of conversation spread through the circular room. A few of the gnomes were apoplectic with rage, while many had gone pale as they whispered questions to their colleagues. But they were all afraid, and rightly so. Zeke wasn’t in the habit of making idle threats. What’s more, he knew how they’d expected things to go.

The gnomes had probably anticipated one of two outcomes. Either he capitulated to whatever demands they made, and they would gain an ally. Or they were forced to subdue him. The first ship had already sailed, but the second seemed more likely by the second. However, his distinct lack of fear had thrown them off.

He didn’t believe they had any authority over him, and he certainly didn’t think they had the power to force him to do anything. Doubtless, they could see that written in his every movement, and they had no idea how to deal with such a situation.

The leader banged the butt of his crystal staff against the floor, sending a series of echoing thuds throughout the chamber. “Silence!” he bellowed in his high-pitched voice. He repeated the word a few more times before the rest of the Circle of Mages finally complied. Then, he stared at Zeke. “We will not be threatened, Ezekiel Blackwood. It is time you learned your place.”

At that, the mana in the atmosphere surge. Suddenly, a force clamped down on his ankles and wrists. An immense weight appeared on his shoulders, shoving him to his knees. It happened in the space of an instant, and when he raised his head, he saw the gnome looking down on him with a haughty expression. Zeke glanced back and forth across the room, seeing similar looks on a number of other faces. However, there were plenty of other expressions as well.

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Fear. Sadness. Anger. Those were all present, but above all was the evidence of strain.

Zeke closed his eyes, focusing his Will in such a way that he could perceive the interconnected runes that governed the effect. It was the most complex enchantment he’d ever seen, composed of billions of glyphs and symbols. However, unlike some of the others he’d seen, these were in motion. It was a delicate machine of runes, and a work of art.

There was no way Zeke could understand even a tiny fraction of such a piece of work. Yet, destruction usually didn’t require understanding. At times, it could help, but one didn’t need to comprehend how something worked to recognize points of weakness. And with something as complex as the enchantment surrounding him, Zeke saw plenty of ways to break it.

He opened his eyes to see a half-dozen gnomish guards approaching him. Each one carried a hoop that Zeke recognized as shackles meant to contain his power. Even from a distance, he could recognize that they were more advanced than the ones he’d worn back in the mines.

But he’d grown much more powerful since then. With his Path of Arcane Destruction being so advanced, there wasn’t a set of shackles in the Eternal Realm that could truly restrain him.

The smart thing was probably to let them take him, then break the shackles when he wasn’t surrounded by a hundred peak powers. At the moment, though, Zeke wasn’t interested in doing the smart thing.

His anger refused to allow that.

Was Westport so corrupt that they would support a clearly evil empire from the consequences of their own actions? Did they truly believe Zeke was in the wrong? Or were they only trying to protect the status quo? It didn’t matter.

Zeke shoved himself to his feet, and the building rumbled with power as the enchantment attempted to keep him contained. Potent flows of power – like condensed rivers of mana – infused the enchantment, but no matter how much power it contained, it could not suppress Zeke’s strength.

He stood there for a long moment, his body quivering with the strain of remaining upright. It was a statement. Even with their fancy enchantments that they expected to give them an upper hand, they had no answer to the tyranny of superior power.

But even Zeke had limits.

He could feel the escalating nature of the enchantment as it shifted all around him. Did it have limits? Certainly. But Zeke had no intention of finding them.

Before he truly acted, he had something to say, though, “If you don’t agree with what’s been done here, you’d better leave. If you remain in this chamber in five seconds, I will assume you’re my enemy. And I don’t let my enemies live.”

Even as the building shook, the gnomish leader barked a harsh laugh as he shouted, “Defiant ‘til the very end! I will enjoy breaking you down and delivering you to my allies in the Imperium!”

“Your side is chosen,” Zeke said.

Then, he waited for five long seconds. In that time, the pressure escalated explosively. The rise wasn’t quite exponential, but it wasn’t far off, either. However, he knew it could only maintain that strain for a little while longer, which was why the gnomish guards – who’d stopped their approach when he stood – advanced with grim determination.

He didn’t allow them to reach him.

Instead, Zeke reached out with his Will and shoved a proverbial wrench into the mechanism of the enchantment. He only shattered a few glyphs, but that was enough to foul the delicate runic machinery. As it went off the rails, a dozen of the straining gnomes collapsed.

However, to Zeke’s surprise, the enchantment quickly firmed, getting back on track after only an instant. The pressure had ceased its escalation, but it maintained the power of suppression.

“Impressive,” he grunted.

Then, he lashed out with the full weight of his Will, destroying thousands of symbols in the space of an instant. Before, he’d attacked with a scalpel. Now, he assaulted the runic structure with a sledgehammer. It took more strength to wield the larger weapon, but as always, Zeke had strength to spare. He battered the enchantment mercilessly, and the delicate mechanisms fell before him.

“No!” screamed a gnome that must’ve been the masterpiece’s architect. Zeke felt a little guilty about destroying what had to be the gnome’s life’s work, but given what the Circle of Mages obviously had in store for him, that guilt faded after only a few moments. It only took a couple of seconds before the runes were broken beyond repair.

The pressure disappeared, and, finally free of the attempted suppression, Zeke rolled his shoulders. Glancing back at Adara, he asked, “Are you okay?”

She was still on the ground, but she’d recovered her strength enough to lift her head. “I’ll be fine.”

Zeke ground his teeth in frustration. He could abide their attacks on him. He could take whatever they chose to dish out. But Adara was different. He knew he didn’t need to protect her like she was some defenseless damsel in distress, but he did feel responsible for her safety.

How could he not?

He clenched his fists, then finally embraced [Titan]. He grew to colossal proportions, and his flesh became metallic. Mercury-like blood flowed through his veins, and new strength infused his muscles. He summoned Voromir to hand, then focused on the Circle’s leader.

The little gnome was obviously furious. His face was red, and his expression was frozen in a rictus of rage. He pointed his staff at Zeke, screaming, “Attack!”

A few other mages complied, sending various spells to slam into Zeke’s titanic body. He took the attacks head-on, partially because he didn’t think they could truly hurt him. Mostly, though, he didn’t bother to evade them because he wanted to see just what a peak mage could do.

And the barrage was impressive.

Chunks of metallic flesh flew from Zeke’s body, sliced free by blades of wind. Pillars of flame threatened to melt him into a silvery puddle, while a swirl of cold froze him in place. Forks of lightning lanced out, and unseen pressure weighed down on him like his mass had suddenly increased a thousand-fold. He recognized the latter as the effect of gravity manipulation – after all, he had plenty of experience with that.

A dozen other more esoteric attacks slammed into him. He saw visions, pieces of his body suddenly disappeared, and blood burst from every pore.

By all rights, he should have succumbed then and there.

But [Hand of Divinity] had brought him back from much worse. His entire body had been destroyed and rebuilt, and he’d stood on the brink of crossing over into the afterlife. Yet, he had recovered each time, so even as those spells ripped him to pieces, he channeled mana into his skill, stoking the divine flames within him until he was regenerating faster than they could destroy him.

After that, it became a battle of endurance, and one that Zeke would never lose. He stood there, taking everything they could throw at him, and the only thing on his mind was ensuring that Adara lived through it. To that end, he channeled [Hand of Divinity] into her as well, and it was enough to counteract the effect of the spells splashing off of him. If she’d taken a direct hit from any of them, she would have died immediately. Yet, she was strong enough to endure the secondary effects.

And Zeke was powerful enough to ensure her survival.

For long minutes, the barrage continued until they began to peter out, one after another. Because even though mages could bring quite a lot of firepower to any fight, they were not known for their endurance. That showed itself when, as the dust settled and their powers were spent, Zeke stood exactly where he’d begun.

The guards who’d thought to shackle him were dead, but he and Adara were still alive.

“You really shouldn’t have done that,” Zeke said, stepping forward.