Tiberius sat back watching his various sensors, grinning in delight as his creations continued to evolve – slowly – in their stasis.

I have many lairs left. Many more meals to feed them.

He knew the next step of Echo’s Evolution would be to feed him even more monsters. Evolve their Primal Consumption to the pinnacle of its possibility.

Create a god eater.

Someone who could feast on an Aether Shard. He had no clue what effects that would have, but it was the only way Tiberius and Malvir had come up with to kill an Artificial god. Neither of them could do it, and they didn’t have any allies that were willing to intercede in a conflict on their behalf.

I found a way.

Malvir disagreed with his methods. That’s why Tiberius stole the Mimic Cube and left – he knew his reckless, break-everything-and-see-what-works method would work. If Malvir had his way, they may have been at the task for millennia. But Tiberius’ method had shortened that to a little over a century.

He glanced behind him and stood up as a humanoid figure he did not recognize stood there. “Wither before entropy, Death Touch.” His miasmic brown Quintessence flowed from his palm and slammed into the human-shaped creature. The stream of power flowed around the person.

“Tiberius the Shaper, wayward servant of Malvir.”

“Who are you?” Tiberius asked.

The figure swept his hood back. A youthful face with blue eyes glimmering with the mage-sparkle. A cloud of stars swathing his body. “I’m the Arbiter of Souls. And I want a word with you.”

Tiberius felt a chill go down his spine. “The Arbiter?” He knew that this Prime god could leave Last Light Temple but only in short bursts, as his absence would cause The Last Light to go out.

“Yes. Kalinor Blackguard, once a mage of the Archrune Spire. Once a New god of shadows, magic, and stars. Now Prime god of souls.” The starry cloud surrounding him faded and he stood there in dark blue robes. “You shredded souls. You are quite the naughty boy.”

Tiberius sneered, “I did it to protect my creations!”

“You mean Echo and Fumi?” Kalinor sounded amused. “Or maybe your lost love is who you really wanted to protect. The Lich Queen that you spent so long with.”

Tiberius felt his heart racing and skipping beats. That knowledge was private, only himself and White Rose knew about their torpid affair.

So, he really can do anything.

Tiberius felt an intense, deep jealousy. This Prime god was the upgraded version of him. A universalist mage on the cosmic level of power. “What do you want with me?”

Kalinor frowned, “I cannot have you pulling that stunt again. So, I am punishing you thusly. I will remove your spirit Affinity.”

Tiberius sighed, “If that’s all-”

“I wasn’t finished,” The voice grew stern, and Tiberius shut up immediately. “I will also tether your soul to this body. No more body jumping for you.” There was a blast of searing Heat – not the warmth of a god’s blessing, but a stronger, more potent wave akin to stepping into a sauna.

“That’s a reasonable enough exchange for my actions. One last question,” Tiberius stated. “Why did you stop sending reincarnated to Heimfold? Echo was the last one, wasn’t he?”

Kalinor shook his head, “No. He won’t be the last. Others will come. The cycle of souls will continue.” Tiberius withered as the two, light-blue eyes radiated pure malice and hatred – seemingly forcing fate upon him as an impossible-to-envision will warped his future. “You will be found by your wayward monsters. They will kill you. And then Malvir will have your soul…or you will submit to my judgement.” Kalinor vanished in an explosion of stars.

Tiberius held his chest and wheezed as he finally felt himself able to take in more than a scant whisper of air.

---

The trio flew to Alliaria and descended toward the town center. The gorgeous coastal town sat on the glimmering, clear sea; colorful ships dotted the harbor and fishermen were bringing in the day’s catch as evening approached. The double-doors to the Guild Hall were near the docks.

DEVOUR.

Echo stopped mid-air. He knew from his prior testing with Fumi, at around fifty meters the Primal Consumption upgrade to Evolution Instinct would urge him on to violence. Fumi stopped as well, looking back at him. They shared a knowing look.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked.

Fumi quickly explained. “And we don’t have the shards to sate it.”

“I don’t know if we should go any closer,” Echo said. They hadn’t been near a large group of people since beating Tiberius at the battlefield – at least, not without the Heat of the Aether Shards to keep the Ability in check.

Rose frowned and crossed her arms, “You think it’s that strong? That it can take over your will?”

Echo swallowed past the lump in his throat and nodded, “It was so strong. We were hundreds of meters away, and I felt…” He looked at Fumi, “You were able to walk over and talk to them though. How?”

Fumi shook her head, “It isn’t as strong for me.”

It must be because of Bulwark.

The only theory he could come up with is that because he had been undergoing the pain for both, the actual, physical evolutions for both, that the impact was greater for him. She still got the Abilities and stat boots, but not the side effects.

Rose sighed, “They’re just Llios, Ssari, and some Humans. Who cares if you eat a few?”

Echo looked at her, aghast. “What? Why would you say that?”

“You’re not a person anymore. You’re a monster. Get over your moral hangups.”

“I…” Echo looked at Fumi and found her face unreadable.

Come on, say something.

Fumi shook her head and looked away, “I…I want you to get stronger.” She looked at Echo and met his eyes. He saw a deep sorrow there, the two gorgeous, green pools that he could lose himself for hours in seemingly sucking him down to glimpse into her truest self.

She wants me to be a monster.

Echo knew. He hated it, but he knew. Rose wanted him to give in. She was morally gray if not a villain from a certain point of view. Fumi seemed ambivalent but leaning towards siding with Rose. He thought back to his journey since arriving in Heimfold.

The disgust and horror at eating his first allies. The revulsion at eating monsters, but the confidence that they were being released from the horrible fate of being trapped in their own bodies.

But this…this was so, so much different. His ally was encouraging him to eat people. Not monsters, not villains, not evil individuals…but everyday people. It would be a ledge he couldn’t claw his way back up. Give in to the monster and eat for power…or try to retain his humanity.

I…I just don’t know.

“Are you done?” Rose asked. “With this whole, ‘will I, won’t I’ debacle in your head? Make up your mind. Do you want power to get revenge? Or do you want to keep your high and mighty morals in tact?”

Echo looked at Fumi and saw the tenderness she had for him tempered with the ruthlessness of her warrior nature. He gestured to her, “Fumi. What would you want me to do?”

She looked taken aback. “I…” She looked at Rose, then back to Echo. “I want you to stay my Echo.”

He nodded, “That settles it then.” He turned to Rose. “I won’t eat innocents. You can go check out the Guild Hall for any monster sightings. We’ll stay up here.” He held out the quest slip from the Krekyo Dominion. “You can turn that in, also.”

Rose’s fast was an icy wall, not betraying a single hint of emotion. But, she nodded after a few moments of contemplation, and floated down with the quest slip.

Fumi grabbed Echo’s shoulders as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “…You are a good person…But not a true monster.” She kissed him gently. “You want to be good. You could have eaten me back in Tiberius’ tunnels. But you didn’t…you saved me.”

Echo ran his hand through her hair, “You’re mine. I’m yours.”

Breed.

The two flew off to the edge of town, finding a secluded spot to indulge in their passion.

---

Rose stomped into the Guild Hall. She was quite upset despite her exterior not showing a trace of it.

I can’t break his morals. Irritating.

She made her way to the queue and eventually arrived at the window, turning in the quest slip and handing over her identification. The burly man took both, scanned through the slip before passing the identification plate over a metal surface.

“Ah, yes. The funds are a total of ten million dreks. They will be allocated to each member of the company in an equal split.”

Rose nodded and received her identification, “My thanks.”

As she began to turn the man cleared his throat. “Ahem. Beg your pardon.” She turned back and the man had a quest slip he pushed under the window. “This came in for your company. A special request. From someone anonymous.”

Rose raised an eyebrow, taking the slip and glancing it over.

Monster sighted – Forest of the Fallen

Description: Person-sized monsters (black eyes confirmed).

Reward: Ten thousand dreks.

SPECIAL: The Undying company ONLY

Does Tiberius really think I’m that stupid?

She looked at the burly man behind the window and nodded curtly before turning away. She knew that more monsters meant more power for the three of them. Why was Tiberius sending them a gift such as this? It made no sense for him to do so.

Unless it was a trap.

That made the most sense. She smirked on the inside. She could use this to her advantage. Rose exited the Guild Hall and walked to a nearby fisherman. “Excuse me.”

The Ssari – a shark person who in this case resembled a human with leathery skin, gills, and razor-sharp teeth – turned to her. “Ayup?”

“Would you happen to have any news out of Regios?” She asked, ensuring to put on her sweetest and most seductive tone.

The Ssari man blushed, “There be war games on thar seas.”

“My thanks.”

Perfect.

 

Rose found the two monsters after following the bursts of Quintessence to the edge of town. They were in a ditch – the lava-break between the volcano and the town – and had drawn a bit of an audience who watched from far away.

“Ahem.”

The two monsters looked up from their amorous activities, their black eyes slowly regaining their iris as the instinct faded. Their wounds healed slowly as the sweat dripped from them. “Oh, you’re back.” Echo helped Fumi up, cast a quick water Affinity spell to wash the two off, and redressed. “Did you find a quest?”

Rose nodded and held up the quest slip. “We have to go North.”

Fumi grinned as her spectral wings manifested, “What are we waiting for?” She took off and began flying in that direction. Echo joined her a second later, and Rose followed just behind.

 

They made excellent speed and pushed on through the night flying over the Inner Sea. They saw a variety of shipwrecks in the relatively shallow water. Rose explained that most of the wrecks were from the conflict between The Essence Isles and The Empire of Drekfen before it capitulated, when a relic gifted by Aqua was captured by Imperial forces.

As they made their way over the clear waters with The Three Moons casting a reflected night overhead, Echo could make out several twinkling lights on the horizon. It appeared to be a bunch of boats all lined up and tethered together to form a large flotilla.

Rose stopped and pointed, “That’s not good.”

Echo and Fumi stopped next to her, “Why?”

Rose shook her head, “That’s a rebel force. Anti-Imperialists.”

Fumi floated closer to her and cocked an eyebrow, “How do you know?”

“I asked one of the locals if there’s any trouble brewing up this direction. Since we’re adventurers we could solve problems on our way.”

Come on. Fall for it. You trust me, don’t you?

Echo glanced at Fumi, and they spoke in Gori/Japanese for a few moments. Rose only caught a word here or there, but the subtext she picked up based on their body language let her know enough. She had to sell it more. “Or you could let that marauding army of brigands go about and ravage the coastline. I’m sure eventually The Essence Isles navy will get around to dealing with it.”

Echo looked at Fumi, concern written across his face, and nodded, turning back to Rose, and speaking in Common. “Alright. We stop them.”

Perfect.