-1 month later-

  The light of a dark angel threw itself across one of the most unremarkable mines in all of Argwyll.

  The rats that made the dismal, dust-caked shafts of this place their home scurried away in fear of the being – something that had to arch its great back and fold its quad-wings to enter into their dominion. As it entered, its four eyes flashed lambent purple, seeking something hidden deep within the forgotten place.

  If these rats had been a little more observant, they’d have noticed that this was no random traveling being of divine origin. In fact, it was someone they knew.

  Instead, they simply got out of its way as it walked the vacant halls of a place that, until very recently, had barely seen any excitement at all.

  Near the end of the mine shaft, in a small nook sequestered deep within its bowels, the angel knelt down beside a seemingly insignificant mossy rock. Within the deep darkness of the mine chamber, only the constant dribble of water from the jutting rocks above could be heard.

  And Ethan, bending low and touching the small thread of blue he found on the ground just beside that rock, smiled. He’d found what he’d been looking for.

  Getting sentimental in your old age?

  Sys’s voice was just as potent as it had been back then – during his first few minutes of waking up here, on Argwyll.

  “Where it all began…” he muttered to himself, feeling the cold drips of moisture on his black feathered wings. “I don’t know why but – I had to see it again. Maybe just to remind myself of what it was like when I first arrived.”

  His thoughts swam with memories that were not his own, these days. At this point, it was becoming difficult to sort out his thoughts with those of all the Hosts he’d taken command of. But seeing this, and touching the small thin threads of his hem that old Theo had chewn through right here in this shaft – that was a memory that could only be his.

  He caught sight of his reflection in a small puddle beside him, tracing his regal skin, quadruple wings and eyes and flowing, jet-black hair. His thoughts drifted for the first time in a while to who he’d once been back home – the oddball good wage slave clocking in, clocking out, never bothering anyone and expecting never to be bothered in return, all the while wishing for a life that he didn’t know how to attain.

  For a moment, he thought he could see that very person – that old human, Ethan – staring back at him in the thin black surface of the puddle. But this version of him was the one he’d seen in Lamphrey’s vision. Corrupted. Vicious. A pair of lambent green eyes shining back at him with a bestial, hateful, voracious hunger…

  You’ve never really thought about it, have you?

  Ethan blinked. The vision was gone. Only he remained.

  “Hm?”

  Going back home, Sys clarified with a half-serious chuckle. You know, when you take Kaedmon’s head, you could probably have the power to hop right on back to Earth. Shouldn’t be too hard to work out how to open a dimensional gateway or two. Doubt you’d be able to come back though. I don’t know much about the intricacies of interdimensional cosmic deity traversal, but Gods tend to stay Gods only in their own dimensions.

  “You’ve never mentioned it either,” Ethan replied as he slumped down and cast a tiny stone across the small puddle’s surface.

  I ain’t the one who makes the decisions round here. But – how about it? Would you ever go back? End your little Isekai adventure by going home, more knowledgeable, more experienced, more – dare I say – mature?

  For the first time ever, Ethan thought about it. Here, in the place where he’d spawned into a world that just kept on getting weirder, he considered the idea of trading everything for another chance on earth – a chance to fix up who he was, to change himself, and maybe change others. He thought about trading everything he had here – including his position as leader of a new world order – for the slovenly life of a perpetual one-bedroom-apartment-dweller.

  He thought about it.

  For the best part of five whole seconds, he did. Sys did, too.

  And then they both delivered the same answer:

  “Nah.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  He hadn’t noticed the person who had followed him in here till now. She’d slipped in with a spell of concealment that he could have detected if he’d bothered to set his angel eyes on her. As it stood, he was rather enjoying not having to use his powers for once. There’d been enough fighting over the past few weeks.

  And there was going to be a lot, lot more.

  Fauna appeared round the bend of the shaft mouth, staff clutched behind her back, and looked at him with a light smile.

  “This was where you arrived, right?” she said, eyes wandering round the dismal little chamber. “Cosy.”

  “As roomy as my old apartment back home,” he said, rising and ruffling his feathers. “Only difference is that I actually have a visitor here.”

  “I wasn’t intending to follow you,” Fauna muttered. “But when you failed to show up for the first meeting of your very own High Council, I thought it best to see what the Archon felt was more important.”

  Ethan chuckled – a deep, discordant sound that sent the rats scurrying about in the dark on edge again. He wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them had been the same as those who’d attacked him on his first day.

  Fauna was right though – he knew he should be at the council. But the last month had him in a reflective place. They’d solidified their position in Westerweald, drawn up their borders, and even managed to open up trade routes with human settlements in the surrounding regions. Lucent was aglow with a new light now. The city had even been renamed in his honor as ‘Arcona’, though he’d bristled at the idea.

  The Lamphran Mandate had continued to spread – and he’d done his part to make sure that the people of Eastmarch had heard it, too. He wanted every single being on Argwyll to know exactly what he was offering. To know that the time of Kaedmon was coming to an end.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  And in the midst of all this, he was beginning to get a good idea of who his final enemies would be. The Council of Cardinals of Eastmarch still had a powerful hold on the people of their nation, backed up by their own Greycloak order.

  But that hold was slipping – and how exactly they would break it was to be the topic of the very first Council of Arcona.

  Yes – it had been a good month. One of growth. One of productivity. But one which, he knew, couldn’t last forever.

  As his mind began to trudge through the deep, muddy waters of Lamphrey’s dream-vision warning again, he suddenly found that Fauna was right by his side, nestled close to him in the dark.

  “Ethan,” she said. “Did you come here because you miss how simple things all used to be?”

  He looked down at her and nodded slowly, casting his eyes over the tiny chamber again as though he expected something of significance to burst out of the rock he’d been spawned on.

  “Slaying monsters and leveling up,” he said. “It’s a formula that’s perfect in its utter simplicity. I used to love those stories – those games. I used to think that if I ever got into one, it would go on forever. That there’s no limit to how strong you can get. But – well – then I wound up here. And I wound up seeing that there might just be a penalty to all that strength.”

  “The vision won’t come true,” Fauna said emphatically, knowing where his mind was at behind his musings. “I know it.”

  His four eyes then abruptly met hers. “I’m sorry.”

  “What?”

  “For leaving you behind at Griffon’s Watch,” he clarified, trying not to laugh at the blush that came into her cheeks – clearly visible even in the dark depths of this place. “I know I’ve said it before – but not to you, personally, Faun. I was an idiot to think that I could do this alone. Even Gods need people who believe in them.”

  Fauna relaxed as he sighed, his great form lowering like a weight was finally being lifted from his shoulders.

  “You don’t need to apologize for being who you are,” she said. “After all, it’s what makes you exactly what Argwyll needs.”

  They shared a small look in the dark then – a glance that lasted only a fraction of an instant and yet communicated something they couldn’t directly get through to the other. There was more than trust between them – there was the knowledge that, without the other, they wouldn’t be who they were right now. And there was knowledge too of the invisible distance that was between them. There was the specific brand of regret that comes with knowing that both of them might not have a shared future even if, under different circumstances and with more selfish attitudes, they could have made something for themselves.

  She knew it. He knew it. But still – she wouldn’t quite let him go just yet.

  “If you’re staying in Argwyll,” Fauna whispered. “Then you’ll need someone to look out for you.”

  She stood, dusted off her robe, and offered him a fluffy white hand.

  “I may not be a Goddess,” she said. “But I can whip up a mean carrot broth.”

  He let out another deep chuckle as he took her tiny hand in his.

  “I’d like to try it one day.”

  ***

  -Arcona (Formerly Lucent)-

  -Maran Monolith-

  -Council Chambers-

  The last time Klax had seen the inside of a palace, it had been as a captive outlaw in his youth being sentenced to death.

  Now, the reconstructed marble walls of Lucent made him feel the same trepidation and stuffiness he’d felt then. Ethan had explained to him how solid, reinforced walls were necessary for a strong base of operations in the region, and the Geomancers under Caelor had acquiesced to his construction blueprints. Still, sitting within these white-gold walls, knowing that the enemy once walked these very floors, made Klax a little stiff with discomfort.

  That and the constant bleating of the High Council was making him regret he’d ever agreed to come to this meeting.

  “Our defensive perimeter is solid,” Borlor was saying with a wave of his pudgy arms. “Local militia are being trained by our finest Lycae warriors. Add in the vanguard troops inspired by Mara and our Drytchling support units, and you’ve got a force to be reckoned with.”

  “Which is exactly why we should be looking to our enemies in the East sooner rather than later,” Caelor broke in emphatically. The old Minxit Geomancer had ants in his pants these last few weeks. He was desperate to throw all of them into the next stage of this conflict, believing they should seize their advantage.

  “With the Archon at the head of our forces,” he went on. “We could send a message to the rest of the world that it will not soon forget. First, we can take the border towns of Holzah and Rimtel, smash through the Eastmarch forts along the mountain passes, and have a clear line of attack right up to Camoran itself! We could take the capital within a tenday.”

  “The Archon is not interested in a war of extermination,” Malak – the only human appointed to a council position – interrupted. “His orders are that we maintain our defensive measures and be ready to counter any advance from the East.”

  “While sssetting up the right precccedent,” Fraxx nodded. “Remember what the point of thisss all is – to ssshow the world that we’re prepared for conflict, but that we aren’t conquerorsss. Co-exissstenccce isss the key.”

  “Try telling them that,” Caelor bristled, gesturing slightly to Malak at his left. “First chance they get, they’ll come for us. Now that we’re out in the open, they won’t stand for it.”

  “Then we’ll be ready.”

  Tara’s voice – cold and seemingly detached from the petty drivel of these proceedings – came as a shock to the council-members. The Minxit rogue gave a long stretch, winked at Klax, and simply leaned back in her chair and yawned in the face of Caelor’s consternation.

  “Don’t be so hasty for a fight,” she said. “The Archon’s got plans. He could fly to Mistborne Isle right now, collectin’ his last spirit cores on the way. Only reason he hasn’t is because he wants to make sure that, no matter what happens, we’ve built something that can sand the test of time, here.”

  Klax’s eyes darted to the other councilors for a moment. None of them knew about Lamphrey’s vision. To this day, Ethan had trusted only his closest confidants with what he’d seen in the snake-mage’s mind. But it was obvious that Tara hadn’t forgotten. If Klax was being honest, neither had he.

  He returned her cheeky wink with one of his own, and she snorted as he attempted to make it look cool.

  Dogbrain looks like he’s having a stroke, she thought. Cute.

  The other Minxit at the table wasn’t so relaxed.

  “The Greycloaks of Eastmarch are still a force to be reckoned with,” he said. “Plus, the Council of Cardinals command the armies of their realm with absolute, unquestionable authority. There is no more pious region in all of Argwyll. You do not truly believe that they shall lay down their arms and accept our takeover of Westerweald sitting down, do you?”

  Tara shrugged. “Big Ethan’s got a plan for them, too.”

  Caelor blustered while Borlor, Fraxx and Malik exchanged knowing smiles.

  “I would love to hear it,” the Geomancer said. “Kaedmon may have given up the Lightborn, but it doesn’t mean he won’t put up a fight. Cornering his most faithful servants isn’t going to be easy.”

  “Sssoundss like sssomeone lacksss faith in the Archon,” Fraxx chuckled dryly.

  “Well – isn’t that somewhat natural?” Caelor blustered. After all, he’s not even he-!”

  The marble doors to the Council Chamber were thrown open just before Caelor’s face could burn a brighter shade of red.

  Into the room walked the being the spoke of. They all knew him – the whole world surely did at this point. They knew his words and his deeds and his promise for their future. But still, to look on him as he sauntered into the room, wings fully unfurled and framing his titanic body, was to look on a living legend that the council still couldn’t quite wrap its head around. Even Caelor was stunned into total silence by his presence.

  Klax only noticed Fauna sheepishly ambling into the room beside him after Ethan had told them to be at ease, apologizing for his tardiness. Curiously, Klax was almost certain that the Hopla’s hand had just left the Archon’s when they both entered.

  He and Tara exchanged a knowing look while they all stood, bowed low, and welcomed their angel to the meeting of the first Council.

  “Ah, so that’s where he’s been, hm?” Tara teased their Hopla Magi as she sat herself down beside her at the oval table. “Nice time of the day for angel hunting, eh?”

  Klax stifled a laugh as Fauna poked at Tara’s ribs, shutting the Minxit up before she got started.

  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

  Still, the old wolf thought, it’s good to have everyone together again. No matter what comes next.

  He grasped Jun’s locket around his neck as the Archon then nodded to him and set himself down on the empty throne at the top of the table.

  The angel fixed each of them with his radiant eyes before he leaned forward, clasped his hands together, and smiled.

  “Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Ethan said. “We’ve got a world to win.”