The world was hurting, a deep, aching pain that penetrated to its very core. Haadran had never known pain like it before. It hadn’t known much of anything, really, but the agony of its current situation was enough to cut through the molasses of its consciousness. For the first time in millennia, since evolving to tier 2, in fact, Haadran was well and truly awake.

  It realised what had happened. A part of it had been killed, the bright light bursting with potential it had selected centuries ago. Corruption had stripped Haadran of much of its faculties, but it knew enough to feel loss. To feel rage. Haadran analysed its surface and tracked the last position it had felt its Avatar.

  There he found Shylo’s killer. Haadran bore down on the usurper, the entire weight a fallen planet could bring to bear, so much energy that it could annihilate near-enough anything the world had ever produced. Something foreign was waiting, though.

  It crashed into a wall, one so vast its world core momentarily shuddered to a halt. It was like staring into the terrifying emptiness of space, an abyss so dark, light could never hope to reach it.

  The abyss wasn’t empty, though. Eight eyes were staring at Haadran, glaring with a malevolence even a planet could understand. They hung around the usurper, a shroud that promised death to any who dared threaten the master they served. It seemed Haadran would not be getting revenge today.

  Or ever.

  ~~~

  Things had been incredibly chaotic since Shylo had been killed. Arthur had spent the last two hours finding and eradicating all of the Avatar's followers who’d come out of the woodworks. Samuel had been dealt with first, and then those who’d once guarded the throne room.

  They hadn’t been the strongest of enemies, but the sheer number of them meant he’d wasted far too much time. That was the one resource Arthur didn’t have right now. On the bright side, it had brought him to the cusp of level 150 and the goal he needed to reach in order for his plans to work.

  Arthur walked over the rough, green stone that had formerly been the Silverglade Palace. Shylo had offloaded all the damage from Arthur’s opening attack into it, instantly killing the monster, something he’d later learned from Vira had begun its life as an ordinary house mimic. The simple creature had come very far from its base origins, and Arthur had decided it made the cut to be included in his plans.

  “Where are we going exactly?” Vira asked for the third time. The ancient healer had been following him for the last few minutes, a complete reversal of their usual positions. Arthur stayed true to the role he was supposed to be playing and completely ignored the question, channelling the spirit of a patient old master. Internally, he was revelling in the frustration growing on Vira's face. See how you like it for once.

  Arthur led her down the only surviving staircase in the castle. It wasn’t anywhere near as dramatic as his descent to the Lupis Consortium—only a single fight consisting of exactly 47 steps—and led them directly to the castle basement. Now this was a little more impressive. It was the very heart of the Silverglade Palace and contained a massive monster core, almost three feet across.

  The orb glowed a dark green and released poison deadly enough that Vira had to erect magical defences to protect herself. Chained against the wall were two dragon skulls made entirely from flame, the two remnants of Viktor's consciousness who’d succumbed to corruption. Unlike the dragon he’d met, these weren't so talkative, and judging by the way they snarled and growled at him, he wasn’t sure they were intelligent either.

  “This is interesting and all,” Vira interrupted his musings, “but what are we doing here? My people are celebrating outside. I should be up there with them. Who knows how much bullshit Mavericks cooked up already?"

  Arthur smiled at her. “I almost forgot how much this means to you. You finally managed to defeat your greatest foe.”

  Vira frowned. “I can sense a but coming.”

  Arthur chuckled. “Nothing ever gets past you, does it. There is a but coming. I have a little less than ten hours left before my hunters will be here.”

  “And? You’ll beat them just like you did Rosano and Mysha.”

  Arthur shook his head sadly. “Those two had only just crossed their class evolution at level 200.” Vira wouldn’t understand the terms perfectly, but Haadran had their own words to describe the process, and he trusted Myriad tongues to translate his intent. “I’m guessing the two came from a late-stage tier 2 planet, maybe even tier 3. The people who’ll be coming after me now, however, are individuals at the head of entire galactic empires. Rulers of hundreds of planets. They’re not the kind of enemy I can fight.”

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  Vira’s skin rapidly paled. “What are you still doing here then? Flee. Viktor can help get you off this planet. He once offered me the same opportunity.”

  “I’m not gonna spend the rest of my life on the run. And besides, you’re worried about the wrong thing.”

  It took Vira a few seconds to realise what Arthur meant. “The warnings the other Visitor gave Maverick,” she whispered.

  “Exactly,” Arthur replied. “I’m not interested in harvesting your world core, but those who come after me… Well, let's just say I’m not sure they care much about resigning half a thousand humans to a slow death.”

  The air seemed to go out of Vira as she realised just how screwed they were. The portal back to Earth would reject anyone from Haadran, and while Viktor said he could help, Arthur was certain he wasn’t strong enough to save everyone. He'd just told Vira her world was doomed on the day she should've been celebrating their greatest success.

  Vira chuckled mirthlessly. “For the briefest of moments, I forgot just how unfair life was. What do you need from me then? You must have a plan, right?”

  “I need time, Vira,” Arthur replied, “and while you're not a chronomancer, I know you and Viktor can come up with something. I’m about to go through my second refinement, a process where my body will rapidly evolve. As fast as that process is, though, the last time I did it, it took a little over a day?”

  Vira nodded in understanding. “You want us to come up with a rune circle that’ll speed things up. That can be done. We have something similar to accelerate our crop growth. What else? The process should be similar so long as your refinement has elements of a biological process.”

  “Remember, I’ll be double-checking everything you guys come up with.”

  Vira rolled her eyes. “Paranoid much. You’re our last hope and our saviour to boot. You can call me a lot of things, but never a traitor.”

  “I’m also the one who damned your people,” Arthur replied, staring into Vira’s eyes. “Tell me, is there any line you wouldn’t cross if it meant you could save your people?”

  Vira met his gaze for a moment before looking away. “No line would be too far,” she whispered.

  “You can understand why I’ll always do my due diligence then."

  “Is there anything else you need?” Vira asked quietly.

  “Whatever's left of Viktor's blood. And any other parts of him that may have survived the last millennium. The quicker I can get this done, the better. In half an hour, return here. Is that possible?”

  Vira nodded. Arthur’s expression softened. Their dynamics had changed so much over the last day. The ancient healer deferred to him in all matters relating to leadership. He quite literally held the fate of her planet in his hands. It was a heavy responsibility. “No matter what happens to me, I’ll make sure your people survive. I can promise you that much, though I do wonder what value the promises of a dead man hold.”

  Vira teleported away. Arthur wasn’t sure if she’d taken his last words to heart, but the small smile she’d given him meant she’d at least acknowledged them. Arthur sighed wearily. Now he just had to make sure he didn’t end up a liar.

  Arthur summoned his trusty Ikea bowl and placed it beside the massive monster core. Viktor’s corrupted remnants continued to growl at him, but Arthur just ignored them. It was sad to see such a mighty beast laid so low. Just goes to show how terrifying corruption can be. And whatever Shylo did to them.

  Arthur placed his head over the cauldron and slammed his hand against his nose. The blow did little to nothing, but Arthur willed his blood to flow. When nothing happened, he realised he’d made a stupid mistake. He could only control the rate of his bleeding when the cauldron was merged with his bloodstream. Arthur was glad the only witness to his embarrassing display were the insane remnants of an ancient dragon.

  Recalling his cauldron, Arthur repeated the same steps and let his blood pool in a bowl created with shadow magic. Once he had a litre and a half to work with, Arthur started to work.

  First, he transferred the blood to his trusty cauldron, marvelling at how much the soulbound item changed it. The energy it contained almost doubled instantly, practically bubbling with vitality. Next, he retrieved the two monster cores he’d selected for his refinement.

  Shylo's he was more than happy with. The Avatar of corruption had been a deadly opponent, surviving attacks that would decimate almost anything else. Samuel's core, however, was a little disappointing. The man had been strong; there was no question about that, but he paled in comparison to the master he’d served. Sadly, time was of the essence.

  He’d have to make do with the ingredients he had.

  Swallowing his regret, Arthur threw them both in the cauldron. He hoped the little bit of Mythical weave he’d added would improve things. The room exploded with a wave of corruption that would have floored him a week ago. Now, however, all he did was take a single step back. The caustic energies coming from his cauldron were strong enough to burn his skin, though, getting through 6,000 points in Draconic Vitality like it was nothing.

  It stopped there, however, the damage only surface-level. Arthur glanced at his alchemy. His blood had gone through a qualitative upgrade recently, and enhanced as it was by his cauldron, the cores didn’t stand a chance. They were already dissolving.

  22 minutes until Vira returned.

  562 until his time ran out.

  Arthur turned his attention to the Silverglade Palace’s massive monster core. The real reason he was here, underground, when he could be out enjoying the sun. Some would say it was too weak, not special enough to use. Arthur would argue otherwise. He'd done the impossible with Wovan. Today, he'd break the rules of reality once more.

  It was time to make his second Soul Splinter.

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