I staggered backwards, eyes bulging as I looked at the growing dark grey patch on my right arm. The corruption.

I turned around slowly, and five pairs of eyes landed on the mala’s touch. Nobody spoke for a moment, stunned, their faces paling.

And then Val, half screaming, half sobbing, roared, ‘No!’ She leaped forward, reaching towards me, but Arzak reacted quickly. The orc snatched Val by the neck of her dress and yanked her backwards. Yanked her away from me before she could touch me. Before the corruption could spread to her, too.

‘I…’ I said, still in a daze, eyes drifting to Corminar.

‘Alenna,’ the elf said, his face betraying no emotion, still keeping his cool. ‘The ward. Now.’

Lore’s scientist friend stepped forward, and began conjuring the blue magicks of sorcery. But I’d seen what had happened before, to Ama. I knew how Alenna’s magicks worked. They trapped the corruption in the already-infected part of the body, using a ward that was sustained by my own body to do so. It would surely weaken me. And there was no guarantee that it would work.

‘No,’ I said.

‘No?’ Alenna repeated, confused.

‘No?’ Val shouted, collapsing to the ground at Arzak’s feet with tears streaming from her eyes. ‘What the hells do you mean, no? You’re gonna die, Styk. You’re gonna die! And we never even… I never even… I never got to say I was sorry.’ She reached towards me once more, but Arzak still held her back, face glum.

Raelas slumped against the wall at the other side of the bedroom, her eyes upon me. She let her head fall into her knees. I couldn’t help but feel a rage build within when I looked at her. It was her fault that I was in this mess. Her fault, and Carle’s and Ama’s, but the latter two were gone, now. Raelas was the only one left, and so it was to her that I directed my ire.

But I pulled my eyes away, trying to concentrate. Trying to think. There had to be another way. Another way that didn’t leave me a shell of a man, a ward the only thing stopping the corruption from reaching my mind, in fear for the rest of my life that it might fail, that it might take me. Or worse, that it might spread to those that I loved.

I looked around. At Corminar, at Arzak, and at Val. Especially at Val, the witch who even now struggled against Arzak’s hands, trying to come for me, even though it would risk the corruption spreading to herself.

There had to be another way. There had to be.

I caught myself. Here I was, thinking I could be smarter than Alenna. Smarter than someone who’d spent years researching these creatures. I didn’t have anything she didn’t, so who was I to—

Except… I did, didn’t I?

I had the blood of the Architects running through me, and with this blood, access to an ancient power—the Sisyphus Artifact. It had a charge, still, from our defeat of Niamh. It was a charge I’d been saving for when we approached Yusef, but there was no point saving it when it meant I wouldn’t be alive to face him.

Although, even then… how could I be sure that it would work on something like this?

There was nothing for it. I snatched the octahedron from the twine around my neck and I pushed my mana into it.

The world went black.

* * *

I looked around.

I was in the void once more. The limbo state, that I’d only seen a single time before, back when I’d died facing down Jacob, the pyroknight. My instinct even now is to describe it as “dark”, but it wasn’t that. My surroundings were simply… empty. A space between life and death. A space in the aether.

Sisyphus Artifact Activated

Charges Remaining: (0 /9)

Preservation Charged Used: Respawning at Leve——————

——————Conflict detected.

Resolving…

Resolving…

Conflict sustained.

Not good.

I waited for more messages, but nothing came.

I tried to turn around in this void, and though there was no ground on which to plant my feet, I got the sense that it was working. In the distance, I thought I saw a glimmer of light, but when I narrowed my eyes, I could see nothing.

Warning: Emergency conflict resolution in progress. Nature of conflict: entity tainted by reality fabrics. Impossible to identify perimeter between entity and void. World structures compromised.

Well, that wasn’t encouraging. I couldn’t much understand what any of it meant, but I got the gist of it: I was well and truly screwed. Something about the mala’s touch had interfered with the Sisyphus Artifact, that much was clear. But what were the implications of that? Did it mean that the malae were in touch with something fundamental to our existence? And surely that could only mean the corruption. But… what? And why? And just how did that help me right about now?

I tried to turn around once more, resisting against this cage of void, desperate to find an escape from this impossible place. Again, I thought I saw a glimmer of light out of the corner of one eye. When I looked towards it, it was gone.

Possible Conflict Resolution Option #1: Identify versions of entity in other worlds. Use copies to identify entity perimeter. Resolving…

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Resolving…

Error——————Entity copies not found. User exists in [0] world structures.

And that wasn’t much encouraging either, to be honest. What did it mean, no other world structures? Was this referring to the other worlds that the Players had mentioned? The ones they no longer had any presence in? Maybe they could exist across the multiverse, but I sure as bloody hells couldn’t.

Again I saw light in the corner of my eye, though this time when I looked to it, it didn’t fade. There were shapes in the light. There was movement. I focused my eyes as best I could, and I urged myself towards it. As I grew closer, I realised I was glimpsing back into the world. Maybe this was my way out. If I could just squeeze through, then…

But as I grew nearer still, a chill ran down my spine. In this tear in the aether, I saw a world that wasn’t my own. I knew it wasn’t mine so innately, like something within me was repulsed by it. The architecture was strange, with each structure a hundred stories tall, towering over one another, formed of rippling magicks. I saw humans and tieflings in this place, true, but I also saw reptilian humanoids, and beings covered with feather-like structures and wings of metal blades. I saw four moons in the sky above, and a sun that burned blue.

I pulled myself away, bearing to look upon it no longer.

Warning: If conflict is not resolved in the next [299] seconds, then user will be lost.

That was five minutes, by my count. I didn’t have long. And if the system wasn’t going to resolve this for me, then I’d need to get out by myself, which meant finding a tear back to my world.

I urged myself through the void towards another glimmer of light, as though swimming through darkness. But the world I saw next was one of jungles, set inside a huge orb that rose into the sky above.

I moved on to the next—a land of humans with strange metal horses and crackling lightning magicks and glowing glass vials.

And the next, a land with wealthy realms and pink skies and palaces and where every denizen carried metal tubes in belt sheaths.

More and more glimmers of light appeared around me. Not dozens, but hundreds. I’d grossly underestimated how many worlds the Players had access to. And I was running out of time.

Warning: If conflict is not resolved in the next [59] seconds, then user will be lost.

Desperate, I willed myself to find my home world. I urged myself towards it, and I found myself soaring through the aether, dozens of worlds drifting by me, strange chills passing over my skin as I drew close. And then I saw it.

A small bedroom, filled with crates. A tiefling with her head in her hands. An elf and a human shouting at one another. A witch crying, being held back by a tall orc woman. I shot towards this world, soaring through the aether, and reached my hands into the light like it was a portal back home.

But this wasn’t a portal.

And my hand didn’t enter it.

I saw a body, unconscious on the floor of the inn. My own body. The corruption still spreading.

I couldn’t get back.

I was trapped.

I was—

Possible Conflict Resolution Option #2: Issue entity signal to identify entity perimeter. Resolving…

Resolving…

A pain shot through me like nothing I’d ever felt before.

My limbs snapped straight, both here in this aether and out there, through the glimmer of light, back in the real world. Screams erupted from my mouths, uncontrolled, and tears of pain streamed down my cheeks.

Warning: Artifact integrity possibly compromised. Please confirm.

Conflict resolved.

* * *

I gasped as I awoke, and as my eyes snapped open I was pleased to see not the aether, but the real world before me. I sat bolt upright, then lifted my arm to check for signs of corruption. There was no grey tint, no black ooze. I’d survived. The artifact had triumphed over the corruption.

The artifact. The void messages had said the artifact was compromised. Was it destroyed? Was it over? Could I no longer rely on it to keep me alive? And how could I be a hero without it?

As Val gasped with relief, Arzak released her. The witch ran towards me just as I felt desperately on my chest for the familiar octahedron.

It was gone.

My heart skipped a beat before I spotted it on the floor not too far from me, presumably having been dropped during the healing process. As Val ran to embrace me, I pushed her aside to scramble across the floor for the artifact, grasping it. I turned it around in my hands, looking for any signs that it was broken. But I still had that same old active effect. It was still fine. I’d lucked out.

I realised then that Val was standing over me, that I’d cast her aside for the artifact. I looked up at the witch, meeting eyes filled with despair, with terror, with anger, and cheeks lined with running makeup.

I gulped. ‘Val, I…’

The witch turned around and hurried from the room.

"Styk"

Level 20 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 50

Intelligence — 224

Dexterity — 130

Strength — 79

Wisdom — 76

Charisma — 49

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 60

Knifework — Level 42

Stealth — Level 26

Identification — Level 18

Needlework — Level 18

Abilities:

Stab III — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR], increased by an additional 50%.

Execution III — Attack a target while undetected for +300% damage.

Closed Reach — Bend reality to narrow the gap between blade and target by up to 8 inches. Uses mana.

Mana-Fuelled — Passive. Optionally, use mana in place of stamina to activate Knifework abilities.

Knifestorm — Lash out at all surrounding enemies in a tornado of blades, using either one or two daggers. All enemies with arm’s reach receive physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].

Enhanced Portals — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight or within a thirty yard radius. Support up to two pairs of portals at once. Uses mana to open portals only.

Portal Slice — Passive. Portals can now be spawned within non-sentient objects. Doing so slices through all objects that are not reinforced by magic.

Tamed Portals — Passive. Increased efficiency of portal magicks means that your portal glow is reduced by 50%, making them less likely to be detected by enemies.

Ash Husk — Convert your flesh to ash, strengthening it against flame for ten minutes. Gain 50% resistance to fire attacks.

Shrill Perimeter — Create a perimeter wall of 20 foot radius, invisible to all but those adept in magicks. If an enemy crosses this perimeter, this spell releases the shriek of a banshee.

Warped Shield — Passive. If an enemy strikes you with a low-level melee weapon, Warp Shield automatically activates to open a portal that deflects this attack. You must not have any portals currently active. Uses mana on activation.

Pocket Worlds — Open and access pocket dimensions. Storage capacity of summoned pocket worlds scales with [INT] of creator.

Silence III — Create a bubble of 20 yard radius in which sound is eradicated. Uses mana to cast, zero mana to maintain. You may only have one bubble active at any one time.

Saved Portals II — Select a location to “save” for future portals. Until your save point is moved, you may always open a portal here, even if it is beyond your current Local Portal range. Mana is used only upon opening the portal.

Portal Relay II - Up to ten small-scale portals can now be positioned stationary to an entity, and used to communicate sound. In addition, your standard portals may be used to communicate sound.

Stealth Attack III — Passive. 200% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.

In Plain Sight — When activated, you have a heightened abilitiy to hide in plain sight, and are able to spot opportunities to break from combat at a higher rate. Scales on [WIS].

Gentle Step — Passive. Your footsteps are dampened on even the hardest of surfaces. Reduce noise of movement by 80%.

Stitch — Create a basic stitch in common fabrics. Ability scales on [CHA].

Improved Cloth Armour — Craft a cloth armour of significantly higher quality, dependent on materials, time and skill level.

Active Effects:

Legacy of Sisyphus:

XP gain increased by +1,400%