I felt the remnants of my spirit shatter in twain as I gave in to the will of the Dracolich, feeling a heavy and eternal weight press down upon me. His power surged through me, an invisible current binding me to Him. I was now His slave, forever at His mercy - tasked with collecting souls to fuel His arcane body.

The maid sitting next to me fretted. What was her name? ...Voltara?

Yes.

I squinted my eyes shut and desperately fought to restructure the floating, discombobulated debris of my torn-up soul. Slowly, one by one, I recollected shards of myself together as one.

I felt... wrong. Empty. Hollow.

Why?

There was but one explanation for it - the mighty magic of my Master had not only taken my will, it had also burned through my very being, leaving me feeling empty and barely recognizable.

"Status," I croaked, almost afraid to peer at the damage.

The menu that came up revealed a grisly fate, did not bode well for me at all.

Name: Age [in years]: Connection: Species & Subtype: Location: Grogtilda Lic Misem 13 full Organic human body Installation Rozaline

"Grogtilda," I thought to myself. "I am Grogtilda and I belong to my Master."

I was certain that I had other names... but I could not recall them and the System wasn't helping me one bit.

"My lady?" The maid at my side pestered me again.

"Everything is fine," I replied to her. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Voltara commented. "Your face is twitching and you look exceptionally pale."

"I am fine, I assure you," I lied.

Voltara did not look like she believe me. It didn't matter. This maid would be of use to my Master. She was my tool, mine to command. I rescued her soul from... Baroness Amadea. Right. She owed me her freedom.

"You said something about... Rozaline?" Voltara asked, curious brown eyes examining me.

"Rozaline?" I blinked, trying to think. "Instructor Rozaline... uhm... does not wish your presence here. It matters not. She is not my Master."

"Oh?" Voltara tilted her head at me.

"Instructor Rozaline is unimportant. I am busy... contemplating things. Do not bother me," I whispered, waving my hand at the bothersome maid.

I ignored her concerned gaze, looking around the lecture hall.

There was a big array of tasty souls here that I could feed to my Master, but if any of them suddenly went missing it could be a problem. Besides, the ward of Nemendias... most likely protected these tasty snacks from consumption. No, I needed to get spirituous food from elsewhere...

I pondered as to where I could acquire tasty souls. A memory swam from the depths of my mind. Level twenty. Folding Seeds? Yes. High level Folding Seeds possessed much tastier souls than these pathetic human spawns.

The Historymancer's droning voice was of no interest to my plans as she paced around her desk and narrated tales of ancient Illatius to the novitiates. They didn't matter.

The world would be remade in His image. All these fools would perish and then I will stand before Him in all His glory and I would be rewarded for my service.

I leaned back on the hard wooden seat and looked up at the high-vaulted ceiling while the Historymancer droned on about ancient Illatius. The Instructor described the first great Chasm citadel that was home to the Lord Archmage Jaxim, who had united the tribes of ancient Illatius under one banner long ago.

I ignored Instructor Rozaline and thought of my perfect Master.

My Master was very clever. He pretended to be asleep for eons, so that one day he could awaken and take control of a powerful student with enough darkness in their soul... well, an undead shadow, a ghost, a ghoul masquerading as a student to be precise. Me.

I would grant my Master souls and then He would burn and consume this Arcanarium and the city around it.

I daydreamed of this lovely, perfect future as the bland and unimportant history lecture concluded.

Having grabbed physical sustenance in the form of a sandwich from one of the cafes downstairs, Voltara and I headed to the office of the Keeper.

From there, we took a step through a magisteel gateway to Undertown.

"Sempiternity! I demand a gate to the Twisted Forest!" I spoke into the air.

The avatar of the Shogun Gate did not appear to me.

"Goddess of the Void! Come out, I beseech thee!" I growled. "I require a gate!"

Nothing happened.

I hissed angrily and repeated the order. Nothing. The gate refused to respond to me. Did my Master's spell damage my soul... disrupt my affinity with Infinity?

It was possible.

I grabbed the all-killing knife from its sheath. The knife felt... wrong, ill-fitting, empty like a dull chunk of steel. I tried to think of its name... it eluded me.

"Damnation," I hissed and re-sheathed the useless knife.

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"What's wrong?" Voltara butted in again.

"The Goddess of the End is ignoring my prayers," I said. "It matters not. I have... other plans."

"What sort of plans?" The maid squinted at me.

"We're going to hunt humans," I said. "Are you in?"

"Huh? Humans?" My companion blinked.

"Slavers," I said in an attempt to pacify her apprehensiveness. "We're going to capture a few... very bad humans and drain their souls. I think the Fighters Guild should have the souls I require. Will you aid me in my mission?"

"...yes," Voltara nodded. "Umm. Do you not have other classes to attend?"

"They are unimportant," I shook my head. "I have a mission that I must do."

"Right," the maid nodded.

"Follow me," I ordered.

I spun the list of contacts on my voicecast, trying to recall who my allies were.

A name spoke to me... yes. Perhaps this one could be of use to me in my mission.

. . .

As I poured power into my eyes I stared at my grandfather's cottage in the astral ocean.

I saw... nothing. There was no astral ocean here, no magic.

I readjusted my cendai-gaze, trying to focus, manipulated my soul-threads focusing deeper in.

After a few minutes I saw... minuscule patterns of energy, of life pulsating all around like shimmering sparks.

The astral existed here, but it was insanely weak in comparison to Andross!

The brightest pattern of all, I saw within Pavel, a fractal-like shimmering, pale snowflake, his soul.

I stared down at myself. I was about a thousand times brighter than Pavel, filled with magic to the brim.

"Your eyes are glowing orange," Pavel commented. "Is this normal?"

"Yeppers," I nodded. "I can see your... soul.

"What?! So you..."

"I can see through walls too," I said as I peered through a wall at the trees outside. "Neat."

"What do your magic x-ray eyes tell you? Is my soul full of vigor and might? Do I have what it takes to save the universe?" Pavel rubbed his orange beard, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Sure," I smirked.

"Nice," he barked a deep laugh.

I admired the interiors of the cottage for a while and then looked again at the forest outside.

There was energy here within all life, but the magical resonance was so weak it might have been completely non-existent.

"Thank God," I exhaled.

"Hrmm?" Pavel looked at me quizzically.

"I think that there's no magic on our Earth," I said. "No ghostly abominations. The astral currents are pretty much nearly non existent. Phantoms would starve to death here."

"And that's... good?" Pavel asked.

"If I'm the only wizard on Earth, it's VERY good, yes," I nodded.

I stepped towards the window, looking over the small village where I was born. Distant lights twinkled in Donetsk. There was nothing magical anywhere as far as I could see.

"I'm quite possible the only wizard on our planet," I spoke. "But, that doesn't mean that I'll be the only wizard forever. Our planet is unsubscribed and is falling towards the Dead Zone boundary. Sooner or later terrible things will find us, gate in and begin to tear our reality asunder."

Pavel looked at me with concern.

"Our planet isn't ready for what's coming," I exhaled with a shudder. "People here don't have magic, don't posses dark matter engines. We don't have AGIs. We don't even have very good railguns... this is very bad!"

"What's coming exactly?" My friend frowned.

"It could be a slow tide of monstrosities gating in like the things that slowly overrun Werth or it could be something that turns every city on the planet into rubble in seconds like the things that landed on Leon's world..."

I began to pace back and forth, my naked feet creaking on the thick, wooden slats of the floor.

"Installation Rozaline derailed my plans in Nemendias with a freaking dracolich," I pursed my lips. "She has full control of the gate and likely a vast supply of other monsters ready to throw at me. If there is no magic here, then I can't kill things and get stronger... Argh!"

"I don't understand half the things you're ranting about," Pavel commented. "Slow down and explain everything from the beginning. It's been a month since you told me about Andross. What happened to Juni? How the hell do you have magic now?"

"I'll explain in a bit," I said. "If a yellow comet comes here we'll all be dead anyway, I suppose."

I grabbed a dry piece of garlic bread that was sitting on the bedside table and examined it from every angle, defined it as a single concept.

I struck it with an array of infinite blades extending from my soul and the bread in my hand shimmered and detonated, poured from my fingers as clear silica.

"Damn," Pavel commented, his eyes wide. "Did you just destroy that bread?!"

"No experience, alas. I can undo concepts and I have magic," I said. "So I have that going for me... but what use is that against a giant monster?"

I began to pace again, muttering to myself.

"Stop pacing like an angry millipede! Sit down and tell me everything," Pavel ordered, grabbing my hand. "Focus!"

I stopped pacing and sat down onto my grandfather's rocking chair with a sigh. I steadied myself, tried not to freak out about the future and glanced at Dr. Kerenski's portrait on the wall.

My grandfather's determined gaze bore into mine as it always did. I suddenly remembered his voice.

"Study, analyze, systematize, find a loop, break the system," I imagined his portrait talking to me as his thick glasses glinted. "Never give up. You're a bright girl, Yulia. You're my little nuclear reactor butterfly. If you're out of ideas and lacking focus, rely on your network of friends for help."

"I'll try, grandad," I muttered to the portrait. "Thanks for being here for me."

I turned back to Pavel and began to narrate my life on Andross to him, hoping that he would have an idea of what to do next.

After a few hours, just as the sun began to rise over the village, I was done.

"Your best weapon by far are your Infinite blades," Pavel said. "I think you should try to use them... like a gun."

"Like a gun?" I blinked.

"Yes," Pavel nodded. "Why is Endy a knife and not a gun?"

"Because I need to touch things with it to break down their conceptual state," I said.

"How far do the infinite blades extend?" Pavel asked. "Are they not... infinite? Why are they limited by length?"

"I... I guess they're not," I muttered in reply, feeling extremely stupid.

"There you go," Pavel nodded.

"I still need to define something to destroy it," I sighed. "How can I define something extremely far away?"

"Hrmm, true," Pavel mulled. "Try combining an Identification spell with a delayed infinite blade that fires at the target as soon as information gets back to you. Identify the conceptual, astral name of something and then attempt to erase it!"

"Right," I nodded and set to design the spell with the entire multiplicity of my soul.

After a few hours I was done. I stood up.

"It's ready... I think," I said.

"Great! Practice," Pavel ordered as he grabbed my shoulders firmly and rotated me towards the window. "Divide stuff far away out of existence by zero! Wipe it out of reality with your power! Show me what you got, wizard!"

I pointed my fingers like a gun at a tree outside.

"Divide by zero," I spoke, my voice trembling.

The old pine shimmered and detonated into a cloud of white dust.

Pavel turned white as a sheet as he watched the massive tree outside vanish from existence.

"Holy shit," he uttered. "Damn, girl, you really mean business!"

"Yeah, okay I'm pretty dangerous," I grinned and poked him in the shoulder.

"Please don't accidentally make me unexist," he commented. "Do watch where you point those stabby, all-killing fingers."

"Don't worry," I giggled. "I'll kill you last because you're so cute! Mwa ha ha ha."

"Hooray for being cute," Pavel replied.

He lit a cigarette and opened a window as he watched me practicing more magic.

I pointed my fingers at another tree.

"Divide by zero," I spoke.

Nothing happened.

"Argh," I complained. "I really suck at identifying things properly."

"Practice," Pavel said. "You'll need to crank up that identification spell as much as you can. That's how spells work, right? Want to go out for a ride and kill some more things?"

"Lets go for a bike ride. But first, breakfast!" I nodded giddily as I went to the kitchen to make both of us coffee and crepes.

After a filling breakfast, we walked into my garage and I boarded my trusty Dnepr. Pavel sat in the sidecar.

He wore a helmet. I did not. I wanted to try something to see if it would work.

I repositioned my second Limitless Michel Shield right over my face as my motorcycle purred to life, taking us out into the countryside.

It worked great!

I was highly amused how bugs pinged off my magic shield as I made Dnepr roar under me, enjoying the sight of the Ukrainian farmlands.

Wheat fields flew by us, lakes twinkled in the distance. A distant summer storm rumbled in the sky far behind us, rays of light breaking through the curtain of rain.

The rainstorm caught up to us and water drops started to patter all over the road. I pulled the motorbike the side of the road, vanished my face shield and let the raindrops fall on my face and laughed.

Home... I really was home!