They returned in what had to be the fiftieth explosion of light of that night. As the blinding flash engulfing Ayo, Wole, and Mairo faded, they found themselves back in an almost unrecognisable An Layan. The stench of burnt earth and ozone filled their nostrils, a stark contrast to the serenity of their ascension.

[Rank up successful! Congratulations on ascending to the rank of Icon! Your essence pool, base strengths, reflexes, and Arts have all been strengthened for achieving this feat.]

[ALERT! Secret Quest II has been completed. Requirements have been met! Title of Secretseeker I has been upgraded to Legendseeker. Questline: Path of Legends has been unlocked!]

[Please standby. A Fragment of the Administrator will be in contact shortly.]

Ayo frowned at the last parts of the notification but she didn't dwell on it for too long. She could worry about that later. Her gaze instead fell upon the smouldering remains where Tolu, Sebel, and Salim had stood. Grief washed over her, a tidal wave threatening to drown her newfound resolve. Mairo and Wole placed a hand on each of her shoulders, standing silently beside her and she drew strength from their quiet support.

Steeling herself, she knelt before the charred ground, a silent prayer escaping her lips. Those three had paid the ultimate price for her ascension, and she would not forget their sacrifice.

A sudden commotion drew their attention and they looked up to see a cloaked figure darting across the periphery of the battlefield, clutching a familiar glowing sphere. Mairo and Wole, their eyes shining with newfound power, paused to exchange a nod with her before vanishing in hot pursuit. Ayo recognised the Eboncrest cultivator who had stolen the artefact – Haji was the name and that one had always been a sneaky, little rat.

Leaving them to their hunt, Ayo propelled herself up towards the sky, Nightshroud unfurling around her like a great, silver cloud. She wasn't sure exactly where Folarin had gone–her vision had ended shortly after the murder–but she thought she had spotted a lance of ice from Elder Ade heading towards…

There. She found them easily, their pathetic figures terrorising a group of Suncrest cultivators. She was glad to see that someone had removed a chunk of flesh from the neck of Folarin’s dragon and ripped up the wings of Iman’s. Folarin snarled, raising that horrible whip of hers but it was child's play to flash forward and remove the hand holding it.

So easy, Ayo thought as the Redwood woman screamed and stumbled back, clutching her stump. The Suncrests called out thanks and platitudes from behind her, but she barely heard, so focused was she on the trembling disciples. It was gratifying to see them take a cautious scan of her aura and stagger back in fear at the taste of it.

“Icon,” Folarin gasped, face contorted by a desperate rage.

"Folarin," she replied, her voice echoing through the ruined city.

“I knew we should have killed you the instant you fell,” she snarled. “But those meddling traitors and that Elder! They kept interfering.”

“Yes. They saved our lives,” Ayo countered, her voice laced with steel. “And now, you die.”

Folarin lunged, a feral snarl escaping her lips. But Ayo was faster. She weaved through the attack, moonlight energy crackling around her hand as she delivered a swift blow to Folarin's chest. The Redwood woman crumpled to the ground, a pained gasp escaping her lips.

A flurry of movement caught Ayo's eye. Iman and Diallo lunged from behind, their desperation fueling their reckless charge. But before they could reach her, shimmering webs of moonlight energy erupted from the ground, wrapping tightly around their limbs. They thrashed and snarled, their struggles futile against the unyielding energy binds.

Suddenly, the air above them roared. Two massive Redwood dragons, summoned by Folarin, swooped down, their fiery breath bathing the battlefield in an orange glow. Ayo reacted instantly, tendrils of moonlight energy lashing out, weaving between the dragons and their intended targets. The energy crackled across their scales, leaving smouldering burns and forcing them to screech in pain.

Folarin screamed a command. The dragons, despite their wounds, obeyed, and retreated into her soulspace, leaving Ayo utterly unharmed. Her gaze fell back to Folarin, who lay whimpering on the ground. The woman's eyes bulged impressively, taking in the scene with a mix of terror and confusion.

“Domain Release,” Ayo whispered. “Moonlit Tribunal.”

The world dissolved around Folarin, replaced by a cool, ethereal glow. Towering obelisks etched with intricate symbols rose from the obsidian floor, casting long shadows that danced across the landscape. A mighty loom spat out great loops of threads that crackled with a faint electrical hum and Ayo herself sat upon a throne, a spider-shaped contraption whose legs connected to and held the entire mausoleum in place.

Folarin's eyes darted around wildly, taking in the otherworldly scene with a mix of terror and confusion. She tried to scramble to her feet but found herself held down by the threads, then forced into a kneeling position.

"Folarin of House Redwood," Ayo's voice echoed through the Tribunal, laced with the weight of judgment, "you stand accused of numerous transgressions. You have sowed discord, driven by greed and ambition, and unleashed avoidable suffering upon this city."

Folarin spat on the ground, her voice raspy. "What about it? But what rights do you have to judge me? I didn’t push anyone to fight, they did it all their own."

"Justice doesn’t care about the hand that delivers it, only that is served," Ayo continued, her voice unwavering. "And it doesn’t care which hand directly committed a crime, only that a crime was committed. What matters only is the truth. And the truth of your actions, Folarin, is in the countless lives you have ruined, the pain you have inflicted."

Folarin snarled, her defiance flickering. "I did what I had to do! To survive! To protect my people!"

Ayo raised her hand, tendrils of moonlight energy crackling around her fingertips. "Survival is not an excuse for such cruelty. You will face the consequences of your actions."

Folarin’s eyes widened.

“Celestial Silk!” Ayo commanded.

But the art never landed. Just as Ayo prepared to deliver the final blow, a thunderous voice boomed across the newly formed landscape, shaking the very foundations of the Tribunal and sweeping away the art like yesterday’s trash.

"Enough!"

The air snapped open like a twig and a powerful wave of energy washed over the Tribunal, dispelling the moonlight and dissolving the obelisks. Ayo stumbled back, her vision momentarily whiting out and when it cleared, she found herself back on the battlefield.

The Ordinator hovered above them, its face etched with a grim expression. The majestic sphere thrummed with power in his outstretched hand. He wasn't alone. Flanking him were other fragments – the Mediator, the Curator even what had to be the four Fragments in charge of the Core Cities. They all wore the same look of grim urgency and grave disappointment.

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"What is the meaning of this?" Grand Elder Wonu managed to gasp, her voice strained. There was a gash across her face and the wound on her side bled freely.

“We are putting an end to this foolishness for good,” said the Ordinator and raised the sphere, then swept an arm to where Mairo and Wole hovered just out of view. “My beacon has been found and returned. House Whiterose wins the Trials.”

There was some cheering, but those died almost as quickly as they began, replaced by a heavy silence that hung thick in the already tense air. No one felt truly victorious, the weight of the looming threat overshadowing any sense of triumph.

The Ordinator, its voice resonating across the battlefield, addressed the assembled fragments. "For millennia, we have observed and guided, intervening only in moments of near annihilation. It was our mother, the Administrator's, final decree before her slumber: to allow humanity a chance to rise or fall on its own merits."

A murmur of dissent rippled through the crowd. The Mediator, its voice tinged with disappointment, spoke. "And yet, how many opportunities have you squandered? How many times have you been presented with the chance to unify against greater threats, only to be blinded by your petty squabbles and ambition?"

The Red Queen, her voice sharp, cut through the silence. "Enough with the veiled pronouncements! What is this threat you speak of?"

As if waiting for her cue, a blinding flash erupted in the distance, followed by a crack that seemed to split the very sky. A gasp rippled through the crowd as a monstrous beak, impossibly large and feathered in an inky black, emerged from the tear in the heavens. Crimson eyes, each the size of a skyship, rolled around madly, sending chills down Ayo's spine. The monstrous bird, easily dwarfing even Sanna, slowly pushed its head through the tear, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth lining its beak.

Before anyone could react–not that there was much anyone could do to that–Elder Nuru materialised in their midst, Narai and Luan trailing behind him. All eyes turned to him as he gestured towards the horrifying vision. "That," he croaked, his voice heavy with dread, "is the Ziz, the Calamity of the Air. And it is merely the first of three harbingers of destruction coming to consume this world."

Ayo stared, along with everyone else as more of the monstrous bird forced its way through the rift. The ground rumbled beneath their feet, and a cold wind carrying the scent of ozone ripped through the city. Bright, chaotic flashes of lightning erupted the cracks, as though fleeing and the nearest clouds churned and twisted, as if a great hand was tearing them apart.

Ayo's heart pounded, the weight of everything crushing her. All the battles, the struggles, the deaths suddenly seemed insignificant in the face of this new, world-ending threat.

"A Calamity is the greatest and most dangerous of soul beasts in the Apotheon," Elder Nuru intoned in the manner of one reciting scripture. "Their presence alone disrupts the fabric of reality, twisting order and bringing devastation. Most times, their intrusion can be prevented if a world remains hidden long enough." His gaze swept across the gathered Fragments, his voice hardening. “But they didn’t just stumble onto Vestige, did they? They were summoned here by someone.”

“The Prodigal,” snarled the Ordinator and the depth of the disaster hit Ayo like a wave.

“But what can we do?” demanded the Inkspire Legend. "How do we fight that?"

“The answer is simple. You don’t,” said Narai with absolutely no fear. She seemed not to realise that any of the beings floating above her could smite her to ash with ease. “At least not for long. The least any of you can do is hold them long enough for the rest of us to reawaken someone that can.”

Ayo blinked, startled when their gazes turned to her.

“Her? The Starborn?” asked Grand Elder Wonu, but she sounded intrigued.

Narai proceeded to reveal that this was what they had been researching and working on for Elder Nuru. They suspected that the Prodigal Fragment had been signalling something akin to the Calamities and he had been sending them off to various locations to collect as much information as possible. And now, they had a plan.

"Restore the Administrator," Narai declared, her voice carrying a weight of urgency. "The single most powerful entity on the planet. She alone has the power to fight off the Calamities."

The Fragments exchanged reluctant glances and then nodded. Ultimately, even they agreed that it was their only hope. But resurrecting the Administrator required a monumental effort.

“How do we restore her?” Ayo asked tentatively, her mind racing with questions and doubts.

To her surprise, most of the Fragments smiled at her, their expressions filled with a strange mix of hope and determination.

"By you, of course," the Curator replied, his voice gentle yet firm. "And Mairo and Wole. The Three Heirs of the Ris reborn."

Ayo's breath caught in her throat as she processed their words. The weight of their destiny, of the role they were meant to play in the fate of the world, pressed down on her shoulders like a heavy burden.

“For millennia we desperately searched," the Curator continued, his voice echoing in the tense silence, "for individuals strong enough, pure enough, to carry the spark of the Heirs. The most powerful and noble of the old gods of this universe. These ancient beings were once the universe's protectors, wielding immense power and unwavering devotion to safeguarding lesser beings."

“That is what the Title Elder Reborn means. But they were always incredibly rare, and even when we came close with Wole and Mairo, we never managed to find three suitable candidates at once. Until her.”

It was Mairo that voiced the question that hung heavy in the air. "While all of this is… a lot to take in," he said, his voice calm despite the tremor in his hand, "how exactly do we awaken this Administrator? And what role do we play in all of this?"

The Ordinator, its voice resonating with a melancholic weight, explained their tentative plan. "The Administrator, in her fragmented state, resides within the Last Isle, specifically in a hidden sanctum protected by powerful wards. Your combined power, the spark of the Ris amplified by the Trials you have undergone and Ayo’s Spiderkin nature, will be used to breach these wards and access the Administrator's essence."

Wole, his brow furrowed in concern, spoke up. "But wouldn't entering the Last Isle be dangerous? What if we can't awaken the Administrator, or worse, what if the process harms her further?"

The Mediator, its voice laced with understanding, responded. "There is always a risk, young one. However, the world teeters on the brink of annihilation. This is our only hope. We will do everything within our power to guide and protect you on this journey."

The Ordinator spoke next, his voice resonating with authority. "As for the rest of you, the plan is clear. We must work together to buy Ayo, Wole, and Mairo enough time to journey to the Last Isle and find a way to restore the Administrator. I don't know what you've done to one another. Who you've hurt or killed. And frankly, I don't care. You will work together or you and the rest of this planet will die."

Chaos erupted like a dam bursting. Legends and Icons, their faces contorted with a mix of fury and disbelief, surged towards the Fragments and Elder Nuru. A cacophony of shouts filled the air.

"Explain yourselves!" boomed Lord Patriarch Uwezo, the Inkspire Legend whose name she had finally learned. His voice was shaking with barely contained rage. "You knew about these… Calamities? And you did nothing?"

"We did not. And even if we did, we would not have told you because we were following the Administrator's directive!" the Curator bellowed back, his voice strained. "To allow humanity a chance to rise or fall on its own merits!"

The retort did little to quell the rising tide of anger. Accusations flew like arrows, punctuated by the anguished cries of those who had lost loved ones in the Trials. Meanwhile, the other cultivators were caught in a different kind of frenzy. Status screens flickered to life, displaying the long-awaited rewards for completing the Harvest Trials. A collective gasp rippled through the crowd as some rewards were revealed - rare artefacts, powerful techniques, and even boosts to their cultivation levels. The allure of these rewards, hard-earned after weeks of struggle, momentarily eclipsed the world-ending revelation.

In the midst of the pandemonium, Ayo felt a strange sense of calm descend upon her. This was too much. Too much information, too much responsibility. She needed a moment to breathe, to process the weight of everything that had been dumped on her. With a swiftness born of desperation, she slipped away from the throng, weaving through the crowd until she reached the outskirts of the battlefield.

Her gaze fell upon the highest building in sight, a skeletal metal structure that scraped the clouds. With a burst of newfound energy, she ascended the building, the only noise she made a whisper of Nightshroud’s fabric. Finally, she reached the rooftop, a platform exposed to the elements. The wind whipped at her hair, carrying the faint scent of ozone and a chilling reminder of the monstrous creature tearing its way into their world.

Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring the image of the monstrous bird as it pushed further through the rift. It was then that she felt a comforting presence behind her. She turned to see Mairo and Wole, their faces etched with concern mirroring her own.

They hesitated for a moment, unsure whether she craved solace or solitude. Then without a word, they reached out and pulled her into a tight embrace and Ayo felt the walls around her heart finally give way. Everything hit her at once - Folarin's betrayal, Tolu's death, and the loss of her would-be students. And now this new realisation about herself. She clung onto her boys with all her strength and only after a minute or so of this did Ayo finally allow herself to cry.