Shadowbane

I slowly lifted the rock off of me and peeked around. After confirming that there was nothing around, I placed the rock next to me and stood up.

... I really want to check behind that temple and see just what is back there. All of those living Crotia and aliens must have come from somewhere in that region. The casters entered from the back exit, so there must be a city in that direction. But it's too risky... I don't know if the splinters are still there. And if the caster's god is still around, then I'd most likely die this time. Especially since I've only managed to fix enough of myself to move. I'm nowhere near in combat shape, but I desperately need food. My core is starting to feed off of my soul, which means I need to make it back to the others now.

I turned and began running in the direction of the stairs. Thankfully they're inside of a long mountain. Odds are I'll end up nowhere near the stairs, but I can just run along the mountain until I find them again.

About five hours later I found the mountain, and then it was another hour before I reached the staircase. I recognized a few things on the way back. So long as we run into something I've seen down here, I'll be able to steer us toward the temple. Plus, the aura leaking out from that temple is growing in intensity. It was vague when I first reached the temple, but by the time I left my hiding spot the aura that place was giving off could still be felt almost ten miles away.

I ran up the stairs and passed by several plagued Crotia, monsters we hadn't seen yet, and one dead tree monster that was tumbling down the steps. But eventually, I reached the city.

I immediately jumped on top of a building and looked around. It's completely silent in here, so the others must not be in the city. I can see a few plagued Crotia here and there, but they're just staring at walls lifelessly. So long as I can avoid the casters, I should be fine. The other problem is that I don't know where any of these 'Holes' are... I'm looking up but I don't see any. The only thing I see up there is a bunch of fucking ethereal spiders hibernating in different spots on the ceiling.

I dropped into the plaza in front of me and began running to the left, keeping to the main thoroughfare. The Tengu will know where the holes are, I just need to try and guide them back to these stairs. If I can vaguely measure how far away they are from the main doors, then hopefully we'll be able to quickly find the stairs. Unfortunately, the area around the doors looks just as bland as the rest of the city. No monuments or anything else that would stick out for us.*

As I was running I spotted something I hadn't seen before. What the hell is that? It looks like a coffin that was placed upright. I stopped running and walked toward the coffin. I was about halfway to it when it suddenly opened up, revealing a caster who immediately turned his head in my direction. I jumped backward and continued running toward my original destination. So that's where the little fuckers are coming from... They are placed randomly around the city in hibernation. They're sentries basically.

I glanced back and saw the caster floating back and forth above buildings as it searched for me. ... I wonder why they care if the 'Darkness' approaches them? Shouldn't they be allied with the god who created me? Instead, they appear to be afraid when they sense me.

Ahh, there it is...

I kept running forward and pivoted to the right when I reached the stairs. After that I ran straight up the stairs and past the door, blazing all the way through the tunnel until I reached the surface. Once I was outside I did my best to ignore the curious gaze hitting me from the sky. I rested against the digsite, marveling at how free the outside felt. I can't believe this fog used to feel oppressive. I did love the Abyss realm, and I thought I had gotten used to its aura, but there's just no beating how good it feels being in an area that's not constantly oppressing your soul.

After I was done resting, I stood up and ran toward Arkaios' temple, but I had barely made it a mile before running into the Tengu Lord. He was currently sitting on a monster's corpse while cleaning his staff. It looks like another animal that was corrupted into a monster.

I walked to the front of the Tengu and removed my aura. He looked at me and nodded.

"Did you know I was stuck down there for a few days? Or was it a week or two... I'm honestly not sure. Either way, is everyone okay?"

He nodded again before picking me up and placing me on his shoulder. Knowing what he had planned, I made what little was left of my armor sticky so I wouldn't fall off. He began running soon after that, easily weaving through the trees despite the extreme speed he was moving at. It took barely twenty percent of our usual travel time for us to reach the temple. I repaired what I could of my armor in that time so I wasn't exposing myself yet again to others.

Once we were inside the barrier I jumped down and the Tengu immediately turned around and ran back the other way. Hmm, I wanted him to know about the stairs and the abyss, but it's going to take me multiple days to heal myself, so the others will have plenty of time to tell him.

I walked into the temple and everyone was already sitting down waiting for me.

Markus smiled at me, "Well. I already have a pretty good idea of what happened. You were underground during the reset, weren't you? I don't know how the hell you managed that when those fucking trees were blocking the entrance to the building we were in, but I'm sure you have more than that to tell us considering how long you've been gone."

I sat down on one of the empty pillows, recalling everything I could of the Museum, but before I could speak, Shana moved her pillow next to mine and sat down. "... Just because you can turn invisible, that doesn't mean you should disappear."

"Clever wordplay, but you're right, I'm sorry..."

Shana nodded and rubbed my head the same way I used to rub Aresa's. This feels awkward... But it's also kind of nice.

"Anyways, uh, I followed an ethereal spider into a hole behind the marble building you guys were in. It led down into a massive cavern that... Honestly, it's kind of shocking when I think about the amount of things I need to tell you guys. I was playing it by ear, but in hindsight, the things I found were all ridiculous in scale."

"It's that bad...?" Lindon asked as he put his face into his hands.

"Eh, I don't know how bad it is, but maybe Arkaios will know? Arkaios, have you ever heard of the 'God of the Abyss'?"

{I have not. Although, I am not surprised to learn that there is a god down there. Is it an Eldritch?}

"No, it's..."

Actually, what is it?

"Honestly, I don't think it fits any of the three categories you're all thinking of."

Nisha quirked an eyebrow at that, "Huh? How is that possible? Are you saying it's not an Eldritch, Demon, or Xerath?"

"It's not. There was a Museum down there, although it's probably a temple since you can pray to the god there and he rewards you with something. He filled my soul up so I don't need to absorb anyone for a long time. Oh, I do need food though. I'm absolutely starving, can someone get me something?"

Shana split off a clone who quickly ran into the dining room. Soon after that I heard her cutting something up.

{And?} Arkaios urged me to continue.

"There's an Abyss down there, and the god is reaching through it. There was a thick layer of something coating his arms that was covered in symbols, but it was breaking apart. I initially thought he was sealed but now I'm not sure. Regardless, something is changing down there, because I also witnessed several of the gods he spawned come to life through sculptures his followers had created of them. They were just tiny splinters of their true forms, but one blast from the caster god while I was over-enhanced was all it took. I'm still severely damaged and going to need a few days to heal."

Keith raised his hand, "Rei, I've noticed you do this often, you bounce from one point of the story to the next. Start from the beginning and continue from there."

... I can't deny that.

"Alright, I followed the ethereal spider as it climbed the stairs of that marble building, but it was clearly confused when it reached the top. It was looking everywhere for you guys, but it couldn't find you. That's when I noticed that the outside of the building had returned to its normal state too. There were no enemies anywhere. It hit me at that moment that you must have reset, which means that everything below the city wasn't affected by it. It made sense after I saw the god, and it made even more sense after I saw what was further down past him."

I continued, "Before that though, there was a building in the cavern where the God of the Abyss's arms were, so I entered it in the hopes I'd find something of value. I was met at the entrance by a girl with an ivory monster head. She was rather strange-looking I'll admit, but she was quite nice and not hostile at all. She attended to me while I looked at the murals on the walls and read the books in front of them. Well, not read exactly, since I couldn't read the words, but the illustrations and murals were so well done I was able to glean quite a bit from them."

Markus rubbed his chin, "I would love to visit this building, but My Lord said his connection to us is lost down there, and you have sadly proven it."

"We're going to need to go down there though... I found a way out. The God of the Abyss is creating the fog, and we'll never kill him, so we have no choice but to go through the portals the Demon General is creating for them deep in the Abyss realm." I looked at Keith, "To be fair, he did force me to go out of order."

Keith chuckled, "Very true, but putting that aside. By 'Demon General,' do you mean the Demons are assisting them? I thought they were..."

I shrugged, "That's what he looked like. I assume it was the Demon running the digsite. He's about twenty-five feet tall with large black wings. He's dead by the way. They're using him like a puppet to create portals. At least I assume that's what they're doing... The only part I know for a fact is that he's dead and creating portals."

"That's him alright. So the fucker is dead and still managing to make things worse..." Greyson sighed.

"The last time we went into the city my body wasn't shaking nearly as much as the first time we entered it, but now we're supposed to go much deeper than that? Will we be okay?" Albel asked.

"Oh, that reminds me. We forgot to tell you, Rei." Markus continued, "Since you left we've been going into the city and killing as many of the fuckers as we could. Most of the area around the stairs has been purged. Excluding the spiders on the ceiling of course."

"Ahh... That is nice to hear, but uh..." I rubbed the back of my head, "The stairs we need to reach are about a twenty-minute run to the left of the doors we go through."

"What? Is that how you entered this 'Abyss Realm'?" Lindon asked.

"No, it's how I left it. There were stairs that led to the Abyss behind that building dedicated to the gods. But the stairs I used to return to the city were unbelievably massive. They were designed in such a way that any monster I've ever seen would be able to traverse them."

"I still don't understand why we would... Ah!" Albel looked toward the entrance, "You mean to bring the Tengu Lord with us?"

Markus smiled, "Now that's a damn good idea. The ninjas found several more holes while you were gone. From the sounds of it he could fit into a few of them. You should rest up Rei, while we find the hole that's closest to these stairs of yours. Can you tell us what is around them? Any notable landmarks?"

"Pfft, no. The fucking area is just as bland as the rest of the city. It's going to be a pain in the ass to find, but please do." I continued, "Oh, two other things. I found a coffin in the city, and when I got close to it a caster popped out of it. So if you see any coffins, just know there is a caster inside of it. And the last thing I can say is that the part of the Abyss we'll be running through is pure desert. It feels like you're outside, and on top of the aura crushing your soul, it's... I won't say super hot, but it's definitely hotter than it is up here."

Markus nodded and stood up, "Coffins huh... One last question for now. Where are the portals in this desert? Outside? In a building?"

"In a temple, and while most of it is closed off, the portal area had no ceiling and was in a rather wide room. There were about nine portals, with seven of them being big enough to fit the Demon General. The last two were big enough to fit the Tengu Lord. I don't know where any of them go of course."

"I see... Thank you, Rei. You did a great job. Now go relax for a bit, we'll take it from here." Markus replied before leaving the temple.

Shana picked me up as her clone came out of the dining room. She then carried me into one of the side rooms and laid me down on one of the makeshift beds we'd been sleeping on. "I can still walk you know..."

Shana grabbed the pile of ham from her clone and sent her to follow the others. "Hush. Tell me about what else you saw."

Ishar walked into the room and sat next to me with his back against the wall.

I looked at him, "Not going with the others?"

Ishar shook his head but said nothing.

I grabbed a huge slice of ham and was about to shove it into my mouth when I saw that Shana was just staring at me.

"... I've never had someone stare at me while I eat before. I see why people say this feels awkward."

Shana just smiled in response.

... Fine.

I began to eat as Shana stared at me and Ishar sat there with his eyes closed. When I was about halfway done Arkaios spoke to me.

{Rei. Did you find that girl's ring? I can feel a connection between something in one of those pouches and the girl.}

"For real?! I grabbed them just in case but I didn't have any expectations..."

Shana ripped the pouches that were dangling off of my armor and emptied them onto the ground. Practically everything that fell out of the pouches was made of gold. So that's why the fucking things were jingling so much. I thought it would be coins or something. I'm lucky they weren't blasted off when the god of casters blasted me. But maybe some were? I swear I had more pouches than this initially.

After sorting through the scattered gold pieces, Shana eventually picked up a gold ring with a bright ruby at the end of it. "Whoa... My fingers feel weird holding this..."

Shana then stared at the door for a bit until her clone returned with the girl in her arms. I'll never get used to seeing this. I really hope she isn't as conscious as she appears to be. Or at the very least she better not have been in extreme agony this whole time. But knowing the way this world works, she probably was...

Shana's clone sat the girl down and held her up so she didn't fall. Shana's main body then walked over to her and slid the ring onto one of her fingers. Almost immediately the room was filled with the sounds of cracking and popping as the girl's chest repaired itself. Within less than ten seconds the girl's whole body had been healed. Ishar whistled while Shana looked at me with her eyebrows raised in surprise.

{... I see now. That ring is the highest quality artifact I've ever borne witness to. She tethered her soul to the ring, so she'll live so long as the ring survives. It's risky though, as you have all witnessed. Without us, she may have been trapped in a half-dead state for tens to hundreds of years.}

The girl hit the bed hard and turned away from us, burying her face into a blanket. We could hear her struggling to breathe as she cried. Well, that was to be expected... I'll leave her be for now and focus on healing. I need to be ready for when we leave anyway.

I quickly finished my ham and downed a big pitcher of water before laying down. Shana sat down next to me and began meditating at the same time I did.

Almost an hour later I could hear the girl snoring. Quite loudly too, which made me happier than it should have. I don't know this girl, but I'm glad we were able to return her to a place where she could rest peacefully like this.

"Did I ever tell you that I have a mate?" Ishar suddenly asked me.

I looked over at him and he was lying down with his arms behind his head.

"You told us when we arrived in Kellog about how men and women work in your culture, but I don't think you said anything about having a woman of your own?"

"He did not. I was trailing you two with my clone." Shana added.

Ahh, I remember now. She surprised the two of us at that assembly. That's when we found out about her cloning ability.

Ishar chuckled, "Well I do, and I love that little workaholic. She's the main assistant to the leatherworker in our village and she's damn good at it."

Ishar went silent, continuing a few minutes later, "I enjoyed this life. Serving Terra'ka and rooting out corruption. But while I was sitting in that cell or digging, the only thing I could think about was my home. And then when you disappeared again, something about it felt like the final straw. I realized it's time. I'm going home after this and going to transfer to the darklands border. They'd happily welcome me in. You spend a month there, then a few weeks at home. It'll be heaven compared to this fucking nightmare."

"Heh, tired of the countless horrors and battles huh? You're still going to fight horrors at the darklands border though, aren't you?"

Ishar scoffed, "BAH! Those are structured battles with prior warning thanks to our sensory system. We already know what most of the monsters are in our darklands, and even the surprise here and there almost never results in us losing warriors. I'll still be able to battle, but it'll be more of a pseudo-retirement, ya know? Plus, my shout is highly sought after when it comes to battling large monsters, so they'll treat me real good."

"Speaking of your shout. I saw a caster deflect it in the city below and Mia was completely unaffected by it back in Kellog, why was that? I mean shit, you locked the Tengu Lord down several times."

"I never should have used it on that Kitsune girl while she was being empowered by the nearby broodling. I wanted to punch myself after I did it." Ishar shook his head, "The closer the broodling's... Pets are to him, the stronger they are. And at that distance, no debuffs of any sort were going to work. The shaman gave me shit for it after that battle as well. He was asking why I tried to stun her. But as for the caster deflecting it, all I can say is fuck if I know. Before that very moment I had yet to see my shout canceled out like that. And did you see the way that cunt did it? He just backhanded it as if I had thrown a cotton ball at him."

I couldn't help but laugh at the way he said that. Shana was chuckling as well, but I could also feel her poking my thigh again.

"What's up?"

"Did you fight casters down there too? I saw in the city that the one caster you killed had sensed you while you were invisible."

"That was a really small interaction in the middle of a load of mayhem, I'm shocked you noticed that little detail. But yeah, the fuckers can sense me, and when their god appeared their ability to sense me was strengthened. I ended up having to flee the temple thanks to that, and even had to battle three casters and a splinter of the god of change. I damaged the god with the Elven energy gun I had and killed the three casters soon after that, but that's when the god of those casters nearly killed me from several miles away. We need to be really careful of him if he's still there..."

Ishar whistled, "Three casters all by yourself! Damn girl, I always knew you were strong given the right situation, but killing three of those fuckers. That is something else..."

"Oh, uh, that's because..."

Ahh, I wanted the others to hear this too after I was sufficiently rested, but telling these two first just feels right.

"There was something else I discovered in that building dedicated to the gods. Well, a few things, like something I really do need to tell you Ishar, but first I should..." I thought back to the book describing the black god, "... There are dozens of minor gods, and one of them was draped entirely in a black cloth. The illustrations showed her creating skeletons from bones, and even had drawings of a halo above someone's head. Which normally wouldn't mean much. But uh, the monster girl in that building assisted me and I was able to create that very same halo. I lose the ability to turn invisible, and there is a large rebound afterward, but it's very powerful and overall a net gain for me."

Neither of them said anything. I looked between them and could see that they were both lost in thought. Eventually, Ishar was the first one to speak.

"So you're created from some god that belongs to the Abyss? Ahh shit, that actually makes sense when I say it like that..."

"I am, but not all of the gods have an abyss theme to them. The puppets we fought were from a human-looking girl. And the lions were from a massive lion god. In the illustrations he is easily five times bigger than the lion spawn we've been battling."

"... I really hope he's not down there waiting for us. Even if it's just a 'Splinter' as you call them. Ishar said.

"Rei," Shana said, causing me to look at her. "That makes no sense. You were in a different realm, and these gods here are just waking up... Right?"

"There's more to it. The books showed the gods assaulting different realms, but I don't know when any of that happened. What's important, is the fact that the black god was sent to the Xerath's realm." I continued, "Oh, by the way. I'm just making these names up as I go. Like how I call that one I battled 'The God of Change' because it showed illustrations of him altering living beings into creepy monsters."

"Heh, I figured. You did say you couldn't read any of those books after all. So it was either that or the monster girl told you their names." Ishar said.

I shook my head, "I could only understand a few of the words she had said. Even if she told me their names, I doubt I would have understood her."

"Did you see anything like your god while you were there? Anything that was pure black?" Shana asked.

"Hmm... Nothing that I can remember. And the only invisible enemies I came across were completely different from me. They were like that cat, you could see a haze when the light passed through them. Plus, the books said the black god was supporting the lion god in the assault, and I know I didn't see any massive lions running around killing the Xerath."

Honestly, I really don't know how it happened. The whole fucking thing is a mystery. I'd need to return to that cave, and while some part of me misses my little hidey-hole, I would only go back if I knew I could return to this realm.

"Arkaios, I'm just wondering, but uh, can you send people to the Xerath realm and bring them back?"

{I know why you're asking, but I would advise against it. Sending you there would be simple. I could do it this very moment if you so desired. I had even considered it as a last resort if you all weren't able to find a way to escape Veca. However, it's the return part that would prove... Problematic. I wouldn't be there with you, as it would be a direct warp through the artifact. Meaning, you couldn't bring it with you. And it goes without saying, but I have no temples in the Xerath's realm. Anyone I've sent there, has sadly, never returned.}

Ahh damnit I knew it...

"U-um..." A voice I had never heard before said.

We all looked toward the girl.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you?"

The girl nodded and pointed at Ishar. "That one did. He's loud."

"True. He is loud, isn't he..." I said, smiling at Ishar.

He just waved it off and laughed. "Sorry about that little lady!"

"Want us to go into another room?" Shana asked, causing the girl's eyes to go wide.

"N-no! Here is fine. Please, here..." She said, pulling the blanket up to her mouth.

Doesn't want to be alone, huh? Makes sense, and I'm just glad she's talking. She must not have been as conscious as I initially thought. Otherwise, she'd need some serious rehabilitation. Maybe she only became aware when a soul came within a certain distance of her? Surely they'd have some sort of defense against an existence of torture, like forcing her into her soul realm where she'd wait to be rescued. In fact, I bet that's exactly what happened, but I can't ask her about it. Not right now anyway. The last thing she wants to be reminded of is her chest cavity being ripped open.

The girl looked between my eyes and hair several times. She was about to ask me something but seemed to decide against it. She laid back down soon after that and immediately fell asleep.

Shana laid down, resting her head on my stomach, "You're the reason she's able to sleep like that."

"Heroic feats come simple for me."

Shana flicked my nose, "You ruined it... Smugness bad."

Nisha entered the room, "Hey. You all resting?"

"You're here too? I thought you left with them."

"Not this time. And Rei, you really don't need to heal yourself. You'll be part of the next reset now that you're back here."

"Oh? I thought I was decoupled thanks to me going underground."

{No. The link was merely blocked. My mark is still on you. Although I did remove that girl's mark, so she doesn't revert to her previous condition.}

Shit, I was so preoccupied with everything I didn't even think about that. Good thing he took care of that.

"Arkaios, how old are you? Did you know the Crotia and aliens living here?"

"Aliens?" Shana and Nisha asked in unison.

{I did not. Contrary to what you may believe, I am not like Meizha'thul or Eremnon. Nor did I evolve to power like Terra'ka has. I merely exist. I was not there one moment, and then the next I was. I had a single thought, a drive to purge corruption while bettering the living beings who prescribe to order. I did not speak, nor think, until I had my first worshippers. My manner of speaking is human-like, because they make up most of my followers, which in turn influences how I interact with the world.}

Nisha's eyes went wide hearing about her gods unique origins. I didn't expect to hear that either.

"Did you do anything else or just spread your influence while rooting out corruption?"

{Only one time. I corrupted humans that were living in a hellish environment, hoping to give them a better chance of surviving. It worked. But strangely enough, very few of them worship me now. My temples are mere afterthoughts to them.}

The emotion with which he is speaking isn't sadness, but amusement. Apparently, he finds the situation involving those humans to be rather funny.

{... There's a problem. I'm initiating the reset now.}

Immediately, everyone but the girl reverts to where we were during the second reset point. And just like they said, all of my injuries were healed.

"W-What the hell was that?!" One of the ninjas yelled.

Markus looked at him, "What happened? We were in the middle of battling those Crotians when the reset happened. There was nothing wrong on our end, so it must've been for you lot?"

Another ninja nodded, "We were at our stations, a few hundred yards away from a hole. That's mostly what we've been doing lately. Watching holes and then signaling our lord when a monster appears. But this time something came out of the hole and immediately blew up half of us. I don't know how he did it! I didn't see a fucking thing."

"... Did you see what he looked like? Any of you? Did he happen to have a large head that was completely covered, aside from a slit that showed his single golden eye?"

"That's what I saw! It was only for a split second but I remember that golden eye because it reminded me of our God's golden eyes."

Right. The Tengu has golden eyes too, so I suppose these ninjas wouldn't make a mistake here.

Keith looked at me, "It's the 'God of Casters' that you spoke of before, right?"

I nodded.

Markus saw that and sighed, "So they're going on the offensive... I don't know how powerful that splinter is, but it's natural to assume that he won't be alone. Expect at minimum several dozen casters."

"How many foot soldiers? That city is never ending and we've only cleared out one little part of it." Albel said.

"No way of knowing until they leave the underground. They could empty the entire city---"

Arkaios cut off Ishar. {Strange. They are already topside. The reset would have placed him next to wherever he was when he ascended from the abyss, but I can feel a powerful force above ground, and it's growing in strength at an exponential rate.}

Markus stood up. "Okay people. I thought we'd have more time to explain this, but we're leaving in ten minutes. My Lord, do you agree?"

{Indeed. I do not want to risk all of you versus a powerful caster. Beings like that are very good at locking down souls. There's a good chance he'll grab one or more of you before I can reset. Plus, there's no need to defend this position. Keeping a temple on Veca would be a waste of resources. Prepare to leave, and grab the artifact.}

"You heard him folks, so get ready! We're going to make a mad dash for the portals Rei found underground. It won't be easy, so do your best to keep up, and most important of all, survive!" Markus said before he turned around and picked up the artifact. He and Arkaios began to explain to the regular citizens that they were going to send them to Arkaios realm temporarily. Souls attached to living bodies reject his realm, so they can only stay there for a few days, but it should be more than enough time for us, so they all agreed and were subsequently warped to Arkaios' realm. Markus then put the artifact in a backpack Nisha was wearing.

The first place I went was the room we left the girl in. She was obviously awake again, and looking rather scared.

"I'm sorry sweety, it looks like we won't be able to give you the time you need to recuperate. We're abandoning this place with the plan to jump through some portals with unknown endpoints. It sounds like a horrible plan when I say it out loud, but I'm sure it'll be fine! Don't worry, we'll get you back to your family eventually."

The girl meekly nodded.

Hmm...

I walked over to her and sat down. "What's your name?"

"... Vi"

She looked at me sideways while pointing at me.

"Reimia."

Her eyes went wide when she heard my name.

"S-So you are her! Between your eyes and your friends calling you 'Rei' I began to wonder, but your hair is black... Dad said you had pure white hair."

"You've heard of me...? And my hair is dyed. I had to do that before coming here for, uh... Reasons?"

Vi only nodded in response.

"Can you tell me who your dad is?"

"Ah..." Vi clenched her lips and looked away, "Um... I feel bad, but uh, can we talk about this after we escape from this place? I don't want to cause problems for the people who saved me..."

Problems huh... It must be someone from Xelba. What a strange moment this is. Normally I feel the urge to snap the necks of anyone from Viktor's nation, but I don't feel that at all toward this girl. If anything I feel repulsed at the idea of harming her. Perhaps because I saw her as only a scared and damaged girl? Under normal circumstances, she'd be just another citizen living the good life while pretending her nation isn't exterminating worlds for her benefit. I keep calling her 'girl', but she has to be in her mid-twenties at minimum.

I rubbed the girl's hair. "That's fine then! We'll talk about it after we find a new safe haven. Hopefully the portal we take leads to a civilized area." Unlikely. But even I am hoping for that. I want to take a break from all this fighting and find Aresa. Plus, we need to get Ishar back to his home and wife.

... The others however, they are on their own. I remember right before Viseux fell, Keith was telling us that Arkaios wants to abandon this realm and move everything he owns into Gaia. The path to Gaia requires you to traverse Mother, and that path is going to be filled with unbelievably powerful Eldritch blocking their way. I want no part of that. I need a long break, and then maybe I'll take Aresa to the Elven city. She'll love that place, but I'm going to be a little disappointed if she already went there without me...

I could hear Markus striking his sword against his shield, signaling it was time to go. I have yet to see him even use that shield. I can understand why though. His shield would be just as useless as my artifact armor has been so far. It's barely blocking the damage these monsters can dish out.

I stood up, "Alright then, looks like it's time. Want me to carry you?"

Vi nodded and lifted both her arms in my direction.

I meant it when I said she's in her mid-twenties. She's acting like a kid, but after the ordeal she went through, I'm not surprised in the least that she's being this dependent.

I bent down and presented my back to her. Without hesitating she climbed on top of me and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. She'd be choking a normal human right now with the way she's crushing my neck, but eh, I'll be fine.

I stood up and walked toward the main area. Alright... Here we go. No more resets. We only get one shot at this, so we can't afford to screw this up.