Quora floated through the skies, with the Bloodstar Staff in one hand and Cyrus's Journal in the other. She telepathically flipped through the journal's pages, carefully studying the Visions of Fafnir all laid out in ink. Cyrus's speculations on the verses were, at best, amusing to Quora. She noticed a few more verses than she was led to believe - and they each mentioned unnatural events that would take an extreme amount of mana to cause.

"A stone from beyond the sky," read Quora, "falls to the water, poisoning it to boiling salt."

"Only the hardiest of aquatic concepts will survive," said Arlys, her voice projecting from the Bloodstar.

Quora glowered at the Bloodstar, "I could have killed Dremfrrdon. Instead, you had me wipe his memory of the events within your little domain. Why?"

There was a moment of pause before Arlys replied, "...He must be present at the end. His strength will provide a buffer for when the concept called Myratel attempts to claim his kingdom. It will be a bloody affair, and hope must be preserved. It will be his duty until the end."

"Hope?" asked Quora, "You promised me the might to raze this world to the ground. We do not need hope," her grip on the Bloodstar Staff tightened, " And we certainly do not need two humans surviving!"

"You have failed to understand our purpose then, Qorrametz," said Cybele, "This world will die with or without our intervention. With our plan, a rebirth will be possible."

"Why humans?" Quora snapped, "They will just ruin the world again."

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Attis replied, "We are creators. We have seen countless worlds filled with life. In all of them, a dominant concept emerges. Without it, the world flourishes, but without meaning. This is a special case where we have been unable to recreate the dominant concept. We must ensure two of them survive, or the rebirth will fail."

Quora became bitter at first, but she had an idea where she could turn this to her advantage. A smile crawled across her face. All she needed was to play along.

"...I understand," she said, "I have to wonder, why do you call them 'concepts?'"

"As Attis said, we are creators," Arlys replied, "We do not perceive life in the same way you do. For a creature to evolve and exist, it must have a purpose beneficial to its environment. Think of them as pieces to a grand puzzle."

Quora nodded, "Is that so? Describe dragons as a concept."

The Bloodstar went silent until Cybele responded, "Individually strong, highly intelligent, and few in number, dragons evolved as a natural predator to humans. On Aveldan, their hubris saw them adapt human culture into their lives, where they would become icons of humanity. The ease of living provided by being at the pinnacle of human society eroded their predatory instinct. While a few outliers exist, dragons are a failed concept on Aveldan."

Except for me.

"I see..." Quora muttered.

"Dragons can work as a concept," Cybele reassured, "We've seen it before. We'll make sure dragons have their place, consider it our reward for your help."

This was comforting to Quora - she could preserve dragonkind, even if she may not have a direct hand in its propagation. It was well enough for her.

"Then let's not waste any more time," said Quora, "What do we need to do?"

Arlys replied, "We need power, the Manafont you carry will not be enough. We need to find a leyline nexus, a meeting of the veins of mana in this world. The concept Myratel has damaged the one in its region beyond use, so we must use the one in the place you call the Blacklands."

Where Muunfareng went to die...

The grave of Quora's sister, the grave of her race, would be the catalyst for the world's end.