"How're you here?" Thanos asked after turning and seeing the faded outline of Turok hovering nearby.

The sudden appearance nearly caused his attention to falter, but he recovered quickly.

The man didn't seem to be doing well at a glance, as his form constantly flickered in and out of existence. The elder looked like an actual ghost now. Even those vibrant eyes were nothing but a dim hue of washed-out colours.

"I used my remaining energy to project me here on feeling you were in trouble," Turok replied weakly.

The elder no longer looked like an older man in good health, resembling an aged elder close to his end. His faded figure shimmered as if it was about to disappear at any moment.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned for the older man, making him forget his dire circumstances momentarily.

"I'll be fine. It's you who needs my help." Turok feebly replied with a short smile.

"You have a way to help?" He asked, keeping his will firmly in place surrounding the rotating hourglass that looked gigantic to his current perception.

"Your plan should be enough to extricate yourself from the current predicament with a few adjustments. The main problem is you will die long before your core ignites. You're going to have to force it."

"Will there be any issues doing it that way?" He asked. Not that it mattered in the face of his impending demise, but it was best to know either way.

"To your essence channels, but nothing permanent," Turok replied. His words came slower, and his voice sounded distant now as if carried by a faint wind.

He didn't take long to decide. It was better to live to see tomorrow and deal with those problems then. As long as he was alive, there were always possibilities.

"What do I need to do?"

* * *

Valeria stared with open-mouthed horror as she watched the small bundled form of her son get launched through the air, directly towards the most dangerous part of the battlefield.

She still wasn't entirely sure what had happened as her mind tried to process the events. She had been on the wall with the other defenders, firing arrows or using the odd throwing dagger at the Nightlings as they tried to scale the wall.

A powerful Nightling adept at stealth had somehow jumped onto the wall from the village side, bypassing all the defences as it pounced at her. After raking her with its claws, the beast was quickly ended under a furious onslaught of attacks, but it was too late to care.

She ignored the dark, bleeding corpse at her feet as she reached outwards, trying to call on whatever air essence she had left to snatch her son from the air and carry him back to her.

Her efforts were in vain as she felt her depleted reserves splutter and fizzle out, much like her hope. As the tiny form fell, her heart sank with it as she screamed for her son, seeing the waiting maw of teeth.

* * *

Marcus caught himself and landed on his feet, dirt firing to his sides as he slid backwards after being knocked aside by the rampaging monster. He managed to keep hold of his weapon due to his years of combat experience but couldn't help expelling a chest full of air at the blow.

As he stood tall, ready to charge back in for another attack, a recognisable scream came from his left, and he turned towards Mysthaven.

Focusing essence into his eyes, he zoomed in on a section of the wall to see his wife, arms outstretched and a look of horror frozen on her face.

Following her agonising stare, he spotted the miniature form of his son as he sailed through the air, poised to land in the now-waiting mouth of his enemy.

White-hot anger surged through him, but even now, with that burning drive of necessity, he couldn't take that final step towards a breakthrough. He was weaker than before he stepped into this realm due to the intricacies of the destruction phase, but that didn't mean he had no reserves left.

With a roar, he threw the twinblade in hand with all his power and watched as it tore through the air end over end—glowing white light mixing with extreme darkness.

The ethereal-looking spectacle drew the eye as a deafening whirring noise ripped towards a waiting outstretched neck.

The attack grew in size as it travelled, making decapitation a certainty. Marcus had put everything he had into this attack and fell to his knees with extreme exhaustion setting in, his eyes never leaving that tiny form.

He knew the attack wouldn't land before those teeth snapped shut, but that wasn't the point.

I failed to protect you as a father, but I'll be damned if I let you end up in that monster's belly.

Nightlings nearby charged over at him as he knelt, the scent of despair leaking from his pores attracting them.

* * *

Inside, Thanos watched as he slowly condensed the forming hourglass, causing it to shrink slightly. He knew from Turok that this wouldn't be an issue as some cultivators did the same when igniting their core or later.

There was no benefit to him doing so now as his core wasn't the kind to profit from such a thing, but at later levels, it would give his core more room to expand. Turok had said that all cultivators would eventually compress their core, making it denser, which put his mind at ease.

I hope this ignites soon, or I'll be monster food.

The elder had quickly hammered out a rough plan with him before winking out of existence. He didn't say it but suspected this would be the last time he met Turok. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but it was something to unpack once he got out of this dangerous situation.

I didn't even get to thank him for everything.

*Wub*

A ripple of energy emanated outward from the forming core, drawing his attention away from his negative thoughts. The core was glimmering slightly as small ripples formed across its surface.

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*Thum*

Another wave of energy pulsed outward not long after the first. He felt his connection to the will he kept inside the core that held it together end after that wave, causing it to return.

Come on, this is it!

He ran through the plan again, knowing that he would only get one chance to save himself in a very short length of time. The core continued to pulse, the frequency increasing as his will surrounding it continued to melt away.

As the pulsing reached a crescendo, they ceased and stillness and silence settled through his core. He knew that this was just the calm before the storm as the brightness of the hourglass grew until it was blinding even to his mind's eye.

Once it ignited, his consciousness would return to the external world, and it would all be up to him. Live or die.

It didn't take long and came on fast when it happened.

*Bang*

* * *

Marcus watched as his strike grew closer to his target. It had been a few moments since he had launched it, and he fell to his knees.

*Bang*

A blinding flash of colours erupted into the night like a miniature sun suspended in the air where the diminutive form of his son was moments before.

The enormous glowing ball hung there as a shockwave of energy blew outward, knocking him onto his bottom as it passed. That wave of energy wasn't just one wave but felt like a constant outpouring as it forced him down onto the flat of his back.

He tried to sit up but failed, his head being the only part of him he had managed to raise even a little.

He watched in confused awe as energy spread outwards from the explosion in the air, sending a humungous dark form crashing through the landscape nearby.

That energy felt primordial, as if he had gotten transported to ancient times, leaving him more confused about what was happening.

He spotted the immense Terror as it was blasted away, headless. For a moment, he was happy that his strike had landed true before realising this wasn't his doing. The head was missing, along with a large section of its upper body, as if the monster had melted from some kind of attack.

Has a passing expert lent a hand?

The thought sent a wave of hope through him as he turned towards where Thanos was last to see an even more incredulous view. He expected to see a mighty expert hovering in the air, holding his son. Instead, he met a sight he would remember for the rest of his life.

His son was floating in the air at the explosion's epicentre that constantly buffeted the surroundings. He was completely naked and on show for the whole world to see as radiating purple and blue lights danced around him like a halo.

What in the night is that?

* * *

Valeria stared, her mouth hanging even lower as she looked at the miraculous site of her little boy suspending midair, looking like a little pudgy god.

Little Than? What in the world is going on?

The entire battlefield surrounding the village seemed to have stopped as man and monster stared in confusion at the near-blinding sight before them.

Looking past her floating son, she saw Marcus and Ajax separated by a giant, headless corpse, much to her relief.

Just as the beast seemed set to consume her little boy, she saw a bright light erupt outwards in an explosion that instantly dissolved the top half of the Terror.

The destructive wave then spread outwards, knocking people off the wall, and she was sure that a section of it had even collapsed inward further down.

The death of the Terror seemed to cause a change in the attacking swarm, and it broke in a mad scramble to get away from the well-lit area surrounding the village as the Nightlings headed for darkness.

Her heart, which had begun to settle at the sight of the retreating attackers, lurched once more as the halo surrounding her son winked out of existence, causing him to fall towards the ground.

Without thinking, she jumped off the wall, running as fast as she could towards him as she spotted the General and Marcus doing the same. It seemed none would make it in time, and she cried out, urging her legs to move faster.

* * *

Two green glowing orbs watched the attack from the mountains that overlooked the village. Next to a small skeletal bird was an older woman dressed in purple as she floated in the air, hidden by the backdrop of a nearby tree.

"An essence body forming now. Shouldn't that be something that only happens at birth?"

"Anzu doesn't know. The child seems strange. Interesting to watch. Why didn't you intervene?" A cartoonish voice replied.

"This is not something that concerns us. It's best to keep hiding here and not draw attention to ourselves. Once I'm strong enough, I will pay the Fang clan a visit. Anything else is just an unnecessary distraction." The woman said with vehemence lacing her voice as killing intent leaked into her surroundings before getting a handle on it.

"That being said, I was close to stepping in. I like this quaint little village, but my aid seems unnecessary."

The strange bird sat on her shoulder and said nothing as the pair vanished from the spot they had just been in a moment ago.

* * *

Thanos returned to the outside world with a blinding flash of perspective that didn't seem to abate even though it was nighttime. He expected to be in free fall by the time he returned to conscious thought, but that wasn't the case.

He was somehow suspended up in the air, overlooking everything, and he noticed everyone was staring at him. The commotion caused by igniting his core seemed more severe than he had expected, drawing an audience, but that wasn't the worst thing.

I'm naked, and everyone can see my little todger!

He tried to move his tiny hands to cover himself up, but whatever force kept him up in the air also had his limbs spread out, starfishing, balls flapping in the wind.

It seemed stupid to be worried about, but he didn't care as the Terror had somehow met its demise, meaning the fact the entire village had just seen his manhood waving like a flag was next on the worry agenda.

That didn't last for long, as whatever held him aloft gave out, causing him to plummet towards the ground. He forgot his modesty in a flail of flapping limbs and body parts as he raced towards the ground.

Pushing back against the rising panic, a cold part of him took over, and he prepared his countermeasure just like Turok had taught him. Using his newfound core for the first time, he called on all the stored essence and forced it out through his feet.

This action caused the essence channels in the lower half of his body to expand to twice their standard size as tears spread throughout them, causing great pain.

The burst of essence leaving his bottom half slowed his fall just as his tiny form crashed into the ground. Usually, he would have landed on hardy grassland, but the earlier explosion caused a small crater to form under him.

His head smashed off a large stone as his tiny body rolled into the crater before coming to a stop. He was cold, aching all over, and sure, he had a concussion, but that didn't stop a little cheer inside him at pulling it off.

It might have been the head injury, but he couldn't help getting flooded by another wave of embarrassment.

Did I just essence fart my way to survival?

* * *

Somewhere deep underground was a spacious cavern covered in rubble and damaged buildings. In the centre was a gigantic half-destroyed pyramid bathed in a soft light from a single large crystal hanging above.

"So, he managed to pull it off."

The large pale crystal hanging from the ceiling flickered and dimmed substantially.

"I guess this is it. It may not be what we intended, but master, brothers and sisters, if you can see this, our race survived."

A large crack spread out from the top of the crystal and slowly moved down it. The light of the crystal suddenly grew bright again.

"I forgot to tell him about bloodlines." Sigh.

"Well, I'm sure the kid will figure it out. His adopted father should help there. I can just go and see the others."

"Master, brothers and sisters, I'm coming."

The crystal that had stood vigil over the empty cavern since time immemorial shattered into thousands of pieces, raining downward, bringing the end of an era to a close, just as the explosion above ushered in a new one.