The wind blew fiercely across the wildlands. The few sprouts who had managed to extend their roots from the Gamma had been mercilessly swept away, dooming the plan to repopulate the land with green before it could even begin.

The density of mana in the atmosphere had been on the rise for several weeks. At the start it was barely noticeable, but it ramped up quickly until it became impossible to ignore it. Caravans had begun to break down and the transport of goods had become more difficult. More and more inhabitants were increasingly uneasy and fatigued when exposed to the outside. Reports signalled the voices of the obsidian pillars were growing silent and cracks were forming on their surfaces.

Although things were still stable, the way the events were unfolding, it wouldn’t take too long before a complete collapse of the infrastructures would occur. Faye calculated it would take less than a month for absolute chaos to ensue.

Nevertheless preparations were underway. The genais rescued from the Epsilon, a few tens of individuals, after being reforged in my ichor, had been put under Faye’s command and employed to adapt the undergrounds to accommodate surface dwellers and shield them from the increasing concentration of ambient mana. The broken pillar pieces were being refurbished and recycled, although less efficient than at the beginning.

Two months had elapsed since my spar with Tobias. The Alpha Perimeter was still undergoing turmoil, as their invincible Patriarch had been maimed for life. The damage I had inflicted on him was not one he could recover from, his regenerations completely impeded by the authority fueled in my attack.

I hadn’t met any members of the “main cast” in the meantime. I had entertained some indirect but cordial contact with Jonah, to ensure cooperation and clarify hierarchy. Isaac had taken on himself to resolve the remaining affairs of the Epsilon, which was disposing of the bodies and relocating the common humans to other Perimeters. Lily had buried herself in the Alpha, refusing to interact with anyone after what I had done to her father. Faye had tried to mediate, but that had simply strained their relationship even further. She couldn’t accept I had maimed her hero and put an end to her lineage, making it impossible for her to channel the power of The Blue. Chloe was left under Hector’s jurisdiction, who managed her as one of his soldiers. Faye forbade me to meet her again.

On the other hand, I had been biding my time waiting for this exact moment to arrive. I knew that the battle between Isaac and me wouldn’t go unnoticed, as he had so clearly revealed the power of The Candor. The genai king’s preventive measures had been activated, even faster than I had expected.

As things stood, the holder of the Focus would be forced to face the genai king, if he wished to save his people, even if they weren’t ready yet. This way, the genai king would be able to dispose of him before he grew too powerful and restart the cycle anew.

Obviously, the events would unfold differently. Isaac wasn’t certainly ready to face the genai king, considering a significant fraction of The Candor’s power had been lost with Caleb’s demise, but that couldn’t be considered a problem. In the first place, he wouldn’t be the one to face the genai king, but I would.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I stood up and stretched my back. Before departing for the hiding place of the genai king, I had to put in place my own countermeasures. I was on the edge of the portal-riddled valley, in front of the fractal space that parted the two sides of my world. I reached out my hand and my fingers sunk in the broken space. A ripple crossed the atmosphere, disappearing into the distance.

“It was always a wondrous sight,” Tobias spoke to my side.

He also immersed his hand into the fractal space, but differently from mine, it got severely distorted. He pulled it back and it returned normal, without any side effects. It hadn’t been long since he had lost his limb, but he moved as he had never had it in the first place. As a matter of fact, it had taken him a few minutes to adapt to his new condition.

“Know this place?” I questioned him.

“In the old days, the wall wasn’t wide. A descendant of The Blue wouldn’t find it difficult to traverse it,” he nodded.

“That’s good, because you’ll have to help the people from there to adapt to this side,” I showed him a wide smile.

“How bothersome…”

“What did you say?”

“I said it will be bothersome”

“It will indeed. Thanks for helping out!” I giggled while ripping the sky apart.

Reality split and broke into many pieces. The fractal space collapsed and the severed flow of time desperately tried to mend itself. The incalculable distances hidden inside the gap between the two sides disappeared and the land became one once again. For an instant, two skies, one light and the other dark, and two suns, one shining and the other pale, were placed side by side, before the ones on this side took over.

The world had changed. It was like a scar had been imprinted on this land, with the rocky ground suddenly giving way to the quartz expanses of the darkened region. The distant frozen sea entered my field of view and the eternal ice began to thaw.

On the opposite side, standing on a familiar cliff, there were two familiar individuals.

“F*****g finally!” my foul-mouthed friend welcomed my appearance.

“Ah! What a pleasure it is to see you again!” the good-natured old man mouthed to me.

They stood up from their sitting place and glided across the distance, reaching us in a matter of seconds. The youngest had her usual annoyed expression plastered on her face, while the oldest showed a kind smile.

“It’s been a while, young Tobias. I see you are doing well,” the old man addressed Tobias, his eyes fixed on his absent limb.

“Just a few millennia, elder. I also find you well,” Tobias responded with courtesy, showing respect even if he was the stronger of the two.

“Are you really that little pipsqueak, small Tobias?! F**k! You really grew up well! You f*****s of The Blue are truly something else! Where the f**k is your arm?” the youngster intervened.

“Focus please,” I clapped my hands, causing the ground under us to crack.

Everyone remained unperturbed and turned their attention to me.

“I’ll make it brief. This world is on the brink of mayhem, the army of the genai king is on its way to slaughter most of the children, and you adults should help out. If everything goes well, it won’t take long before everything is resolved. Ah, I almost forgot, I would really appreciate it if you helped my dear Faye out. Tobias will introduce you all, she’s really sweet, I’m sure you’ll like her. And if you don’t… make it so you do. That’s all. Tell this to everyone on your side, okay?” I explained the current circumstances.

“... You are asking us to obey to a child?!” my foul-mouthed friend roared.

“Yes,” I smiled widely.

“And to convince everyone to do the same?!” she roared even louder.

“Correct,” I kept my professional smile.

“Because you told us to?!” the ground fractured.

“Yet again, yes,” my stance persisted.

“Okay,” my foul-mouthed but agreeable friend nodded calmly and shook my hand.