The angel rapidly advanced, taking relatively small and slow steps, yet its sheer size still allowing it to cover a great deal of ground. From what little he could sense of its aura, Leon did not want to fight it, especially without his family’s sword in hand.

So instead of fighting it, he channeled his magic power into the ring of invisibility on his finger and hoped that it would be enough to hide him from the winged creature.

Light bent around him, the emerald on the ring flashed with green light, and he vanished from sight over the course of several excruciatingly long seconds as he watched the angel approaching much faster than he’d have liked.

At first, it seemed like his last hope to avoid the reborn creature had failed and that he would have to engage the angel in battle, for it didn’t even slow down after he faded from view. As it moved, however, it began to make strange bird-like noises, and speed up as it ran toward the foot of the stairs. Leon also felt its magic senses project outward, scanning the stairs and the area around it, searching for him.

This one simple use of its power was enough to give Leon chills. He didn’t even want to think about what its attacks might do if its magic senses alone were enough turn his legs to mush.

But it seemed the angel couldn’t see him, though it still rightly assumed that he hadn’t moved from the stairs—he was halfway up an enormous cliff face, after all, the only way down was by the stairs or by risking a jump of several thousand feet. It sped up, apparently intent on cutting Leon off before he could reach the bottom and head out into the rest of the ‘city’.

Leon forced himself to start moving. He couldn’t allow himself to get trapped on these stairs, even if the angel couldn’t see him, and neither could he allow himself to succumb to primal fear. He let the power of the Thunderbird fill his body once more, and as silver-blue lightning coursed through him, he calmed down and his mind focused.

He bolted down the stairs, avoiding the skeletons as best as he could. He wasn’t too careful about not disturbing them, he just had to reach the foot of the winding stairs before the angel did.

He made it, but not with much time to spare, for the angel had already closed to within a mile of the stairs, close enough that it was raising its enormous blade of light and preparing for some magical attack that Leon didn’t want to stick around to witness.

He didn’t have many places he could go, unfortunately. The pyramids that made up this place were all built so close together that there weren’t even alleyways, let alone streets between them. He supposed he could start climbing over them, but if he was right, then these were both tombs and prisons, and he didn’t want to touch anything strong enough to hold a Primal God.

What he really needed was to find a safe place and try to fully reconnect with his soul realm. He could access his magic just fine, but he needed to consult with others—mostly the Thunderbird—about how to handle this situation.

He didn’t have much time, so he just started running down the central street, toward the angel. Counterintuitive, perhaps, but he doubted it would expect something like this, and hoped the audacity of the move would give him some protection.

The angel continued to channel its power into its blade as it ran, though, and soon enough, the blade of light shone like the sun. Leon realized that he had to change tactics, for the angel was getting ready for some kind of wide-range attack, and so he swallowed his fears and anxieties and turned off the ‘street’. He leaped right over the long muraled wall that flanked the street all the way to the central plaza and landed so smoothly on one of the terraces of the adjacent pyramid that he barely missed a step as he ran away.

Not even ten seconds later, the angel came to a halt and screeched in a terribly high pitch as it swung its blade in a vertical slash at the stairs, still hundreds of feet away from it.

That distance meant nothing, though, as a gigantic stream of light erupted from the blade, seemingly extending its reach until it was able to strike the entirety of the stairs with one swing.

Stone melted away in an instant before the burning white light of the angel’s strike, making nearly no noise at all as the solid matter vaporized before it. The stairs ceased to exist, leaving nothing but black stone behind, much of it now glowing red and sagging from the heat.

To Leon’s magic senses, the strike was almost as blinding as the beam of light that the Primal God was imprisoned within. He’d managed to run out of the direct blast zone, but he felt the heat and the wind and the magic power wash over him, negating his invisibility and hurling him off the pyramid he’d been running on. He spun through the air, completely throwing away all spatial orientation he had, until he slammed into a neighboring pyramid, then rolled down several terraces before his momentum came to a halt.

Once he finally did stop moving, Leon wasted no time hurling himself further down and squeezing himself into the crevice between the pyramid and its closest neighbor—he just barely fit. With his invisibility down, he’d have to rely on his old hunting skills to avoid this creature… assuming it was even possible to do so.

Leon pushed himself as far down as he could. He had his doubts that this stone was capable of giving him much practical cover, but it was all he had available to him. He restrained his aura as much as was possible and dropped into the ankle-deep running water that was slowly filling up the crevice. The cracks in the ceiling were still spewing copious amounts of water into the massive underground graveyard, but it appeared like it would need days, if not longer, to fill the place up entirely, or at least an hour or two until Leon could hide beneath it.

For now, he could only press himself down, restrain his aura, not move, and hope that the angel would miss him. If it noticed him, he was squeezed in and so helpless that it would find little difficulty in killing him.

A moment later, he felt the pulse of magic senses spread throughout the cavern, and he held his breath as he went completely still, his aura as constrained as he could make it. His throat was tight, he squeezed his eyes shut, and he didn’t dare project his own magic senses. He just lay in the crevice, straining his ears to listen to the angel, and hoped that he hadn’t just met his end in the form of something so strong that he couldn’t possibly hope to defeat it.

In the distance, he heard the angel making more vaguely-angry rolling chirping sounds, and the sounds were growing louder. He’d hidden himself well, and he didn’t think that the angel had immediately seen him given the lack of urgency and almost questioning tone to those chirps, but the chirping began growing louder as the angel turned and started walking back down the avenue, coming closer to Leon with every step.

He could see his ring was starting to glow with green magical light. It would be ready to be used again in less than four minutes, but that was more than enough time for the angel to find and kill him. He could only hide and wait.

The angel drew closer and closer. Leon’s pyramid was large, but it was still near the avenue, near enough that the angel wouldn’t have to work that hard to reach him if it was able to use that attack again.

As its cries grew louder, Leon grew quieter, silently pushing himself as deep into the crack between the two pyramids as he could and hoping with all he had that it was enough. If the roles were reversed, however, and the angel was trying to avoid him in the same way, he wouldn’t be fooled.

At least, he didn’t think he’d be. This angel, on the other hand, didn’t seem entirely in control of its own faculties, yet Leon didn’t underestimate it, for it had one of the most powerful and ancient beings that had ever existed in its corner. He felt a momentary flash of terror when he thought for a moment that the beam of light flickered, and he could only imagine that the Primal God within, a being so far beyond his comprehension and frame of reference that he could barely even imagine its level of power, was speaking with its reanimated servant, telling it exactly where he was.

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The angel reached the point of the avenue that was closest to Leon, and Leon sucked in his aura as far as it would go, straining with every muscle he had to not let out even a scrap of magic power into the air. He was a seventh-tier mage, though, so it was almost akin to someone who weighed double what they should trying to suck in their gut; there was only so much he could do.

He heard the angel pause, and his heart almost skipped a beat when the angel cried out again in its almost ethereal cry, like that of a bird, but with a heavy reverb behind it. It sounded questioning, and he imagined that it was staring right at him, almost mocking him with how simple and practically childish his method of hiding was. His imagination ran wild, and he imagined the angel stepping closer to the mural, raising its blade, and bringing it back down, extending the blade of light far enough to cut through not only the pyramid, but also his entire body.

He squeezed his eyes as shut as they could possibly be and waited for whatever would come next.

Silence. Nothing moved save for the water around him. The angel stood just nearby, as if waiting for him to be a good little boy and come out from his hiding place and get a right good scolding.

And then it made an odd, high-pitched gurgling sound, ending on a rather low note that gave him the impression of sadness. Then it began to walk down the avenue again, making similar gurgling sounds, and leaving Leon unconfronted.

Leon didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until it had gained quite a bit of distance from him, and even then, he was as quiet as he could be about it. He didn’t move until his ring had finished recovering and he was able to cloak himself again, and even then, he continued to lay in the crevice, letting the oceanwater wash over him. However, the sense of relief at having evaded this creature flooded through his system, and he had some difficulty in restraining himself from making some kind of celebration.

He didn’t want to move again until he could take better stock of his current soul realm situation. The thumping in his head had died down somewhat during the encounter with the angel, but now that he was invisible again and the angel had seemingly screwed off, the thumping was back. At this point, he could detect some definite patterns in it, leading him to conclude that it could only be from either Maia or one of the residents of his soul realm trying to reestablish contact with him.

He cast his gaze deep into himself, using his magic senses to examine his internal workings as closely as he could, looking for any sign of what was wrong, for that something was blocking him was the only conclusion that he could come up with for his current communication issues. He didn’t find anything immediately, but he wasn’t expecting to; if this were an easy fix, then the lightning that he’d been filling his body with almost constantly since he’d woken up probably would’ve fixed it by now.

He scoured his body, focusing mostly on his chest and heart, but not limiting his search to just those areas, for long minutes that felt even longer in these circumstances. The angel wasn’t coming after him, but that didn’t mean this Primal God was done with him. It wasn’t speaking up for whatever reason, which made him more than a little nervous, but he didn’t mind the quiet as he searched himself.

It took nearly half an hour of dedicated searching before he found anything, and when he did, he scowled and had to fight to keep himself from shouting out loud in frustration. It was so obvious, yet so well-hidden that he didn’t think he’d ever have looked there if he’d found someone in his position.

In the depths of his hair, now fairly overgrown after months at sea, was a black rune—an ancient rune. It looked almost like it had been painted onto his scalp, but it was leaking fine black fog that was seeping into his skull. His anger quickly turned to panic when he noticed that particular detail. The rune was small, only about the size of the last joint of his thumb, but he didn’t know how it had gotten there, or what, precisely, it was meant to do. He wasn’t even sure if he could erase it…

But that sentiment was immediately quashed when, by instinct alone, Leon sent a quick burst of silver-blue lightning into his head and out of his scalp. A bright arc of lightning flashed through his hair, and in an instant, the rune was annihilated.

Immediately, Leon’s mind was filled with the voice of Nestor.

[…ere you go! Just like that! Can you hear me, Leon?!]

Leon’s opinion of Nestor was still quite low, and he didn’t think was ever going to change, but he was touched a bit to notice a rather large amount of concern in the dead man’s voice.

[Yes…] Leon whispered in his mind, as if nervous that the Primal God was able to overhear, [I can hear you, Nestor…]

[Ah! Thank our Honored Ancestor!] Nestor cried out. [I’ve been trying to speak with you for hours!]

[How long has it been since my fight with Jormun, exactly?] Leon murmured.

[Ugh, I’d say about four hours?] Nestor replied. [That demon’s gone, and our Ancestor hasn’t deigned to show up, so I guess it’s just us.]

[Thank you,] Leon replied. [Now, please hold on a moment…]

[Huh? Hold on for what?] Nestor asked, his voice dripping with confusion.

Leon ignored his question, and shifted his attention to the connection between himself and Maia. He was immeasurably relieved and overjoyed to see that it was still there, letting magic power flow between their soul realms.

Leon didn’t say anything to her, he just let his attention and feelings flow through that connection. He didn’t need to say anything when his joy alone would do.

[Leon!] came the ecstatic reply from his river nymph lover. [Are you still there?!]

[I am,] Leon replied, a little louder than he did for Nestor.

[Where are you?! We need to get out of here as quickly as possible! This place has completely fallen apart since you disappeared…] Maia quickly filled Leon in on what had been going on above, from the appearance of the gigantic serpent, to the destruction of the fleet, to the remains of the island being consumed by the storm and the sea.

Leon was quiet for a long moment when she was finished, just processing what she had said. The only comforting thing she’d relayed was that she and the rest of his retinue, including Gaius and Anzu, were fine, if a little banged up and rather distraught.

But that wasn’t the extent of his allies, and before any of them came his partner, the demon that had been with him for longer than anyone else. [Can you tell me more of that fire demon you encountered?] he asked.

Maia quickly relayed to him what she’d seen of the demon in greater detail than she’d just gone into.

[It was still in that vortex when last you saw it?] Leon asked, unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

[Yes, it was,] Maia replied, a little bit of confusion in her tone. [I don’t know what might have become of it, but given what happened to the rest of the island, and the fact that it was alone with that leviathan, I don’t think it’s still alive…]

Leon frowned. He could feel the contract between them still active, like the connection between him and Maia, only a little different, a little weaker. Xaphan was still alive, but any more than that, he couldn’t say. So, he put that information away for now.

[What about Sigebert?]

[Dead, most likely,] Maia matter-of-factly answered. [Probably went down with his ship. The seas are rough, and there are doubtlessly things from the deep that have awakened and come to the surface looking for an easy meal with all the Bulls falling out of their ships.]

Leon couldn’t help but shudder at that thought. Krakens were bad enough, he didn’t want to know what else might be down in the depths. The water was about as far from his domain as it could be.

[All right…] Leon quietly muttered, and he quickly filled Maia in on his situation. [… and I’m about as fine as I can be right now, but I don’t know how I’m going to get out of here. There was a teleportation portal that led here, though, so I’m hoping there’s going to be another that will lead out. I just have to find it.]

[I… can come look for you,] Maia hesitantly offered.

Leon could hear the sincerity in her voice, but that hesitation was caused by rather obvious and understandable fear. He didn’t want her taking any risks for him, not when it would just put her in the exact same scenario he was in if she succeeded, two of them stuck down here instead of only one wouldn’t help the situation.

[No,] Leon replied. [Too risky. You’d have to not only get past those things in the water, but that serpent, the demon, the storm, hope that the teleportation portal is still open, and that you can then find your way here. Better to stick with everyone else. Make sure everyone watches out for each other and let everyone know that I’m on my way back, but it may take a while. For now, just stay as safe as you can be, and stay alive.]

[I’ll do my best,] Maia replied.

[And don’t just look out for the others in our group,] Leon added. [Do what you can for the rest of the fleet without putting yourself or any of our people in danger.]

There was a long pause before she replied, [… If you insist…]

[Thank you,] Leon replied, and they said their goodbyes. If all went well, they’d see each other again, but they were both aware that the chances of that were lower than either would ever admit to each other.

For now, though, Leon simply took comfort in the knowledge that she and his people were still alive and well. He just had to find his way out of here before that could change.

[All right, Nestor,] Leon said to the dead man, [let’s figure this out.]

And then, he sat up and started climbing out of the crevice. His ring was functioning again, the God was silent, and the angel had returned to the plaza. He finally had some space to work, and he and Nestor had to make use of it as well as they possibly could.