Kalinor sat on his throne at Last Light Temple. Yet another day of tedium and being bored. But it was a job that he had to do. Not even the prayers of the faithful brought a reprieve from his day-to-day operations. A being of his power did not need worshippers. The Aether Shards within him and Eternal Flame fueled him and his Heat. It was easier if mortals didn’t know of him.

As such, he was confused when he heard a prayer. No one prayed to him. No one remembered him. The most thankless job in The Universe was his to perform along with his priests.

No mortals knew of him, that is, except for those who reincarnate with knowledge from their past life. Most of them were living happy existences, and as such, they rarely prayed.

“Please…someone…anyone…”

Kalinor instantly recognized the voice. Glancing at The Last Light, he grimaced.

I can’t leave again this soon.

The Eternal Flame needed him, just as he needed it. If he left too often then it would slowly diminish. If that happened, The Void may return. And he could not let that happen. He could only leave Last Light Temple for two days each week – and never consecutively.

A golden portal appeared in front of him as Vythin stepped through, sharing a look of disappointment and sorrow with his husband. “His soul mate died.”

Kalinor nodded, “I know.” He stood up and manifested his Heat, calling her soul to his side.

And it did not come.

What?

He tried again. Same result. “Someone has trapped her soul,” he muttered.

Vythin’s eyes narrowed, and his face went red with rage. He growled, a deep, terrifying noise. “Who was it?” Kalinor shook his head, and Vythin waved his hand as another blast of Heat shot out from him.

A portal opened to Slate’s workshop, and the New god of knowledge looked through. “Oh, Vythin! And Kalinor. What a treat-”

“Miracle. Now.” Vythin explained what he needed to know. “Echo is integral. If he doesn’t have her, he might be unstable. I can’t allow that.”

Slate nodded and did as instructed before smirking as a flash of red danced around his head. “Oh…it’s all okay. Things will work out.”

Vythin calmed slightly and shared a concerned look with Kalinor. “What do you mean?” Kalinor asked.

Slate chuckled, “Just trust me. Have I ever led you wrong?”

---

“Damn!”

Tiberius was looking through his magical sensor at the whole event. He knew of Rose’s manipulation, and his worst fears with his two monsters were coming into being.

“Now I only have one chance! You stupid bitch!”

He screamed at the sensor and turned around, stomping to his lair entrance, and holding the Mimic Cube aloft.

I wanted both.

He gripped the Mimic Cube as his fingers began to compress the object, his brown Quintessence boiling out of him and creating a miasmic cloud that darkened the whole mountain before condensing into the artifact.

“Bring her back!”

The Mimic Cube attempted to do as he instructed. Attempted to follow his will. But the distance was too vast. The Heat remained, stored in the artifact.

Then I need them to bring her closer.

Tiberius guessed that Rose had some connection with these two. It was within her power to preserve the corpse. He just had to get them closer.

“Yes. I’ll make it easy. A trail of monsters leading the way.”

He performed a flurry of spells using mimicry and various silly voices to place even more quests at the Guild Hall. All of them reserved for The Undying.

All of them with his name attached.

---

Why even bother?

Echo was despondent. Laying in a heap surrounding by devastated land as the calm ocean air returned and the warm breeze caressed his face just like Fumi’s hand used to. He curled into a ball and cried.

It should have been me.

He thought of ending it. Going to join her. He had no clue if Blessings persisted in between lives, but he knew if he could talk to Kalinor, then he’d get to plead his case. Maybe there was an appeal system, and he could repress the Deathless Ability, or-

His thoughts were interrupted as Rose put her cool hand on his face. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Echo turned over and looked up at her, seeing the grief and some other unidentifiable emotion crossing Rose’s face. The sorrow turned to anger. She pushed them to eat people. “You’re responsible.” Echo growled as he pushed himself up.

Rose nodded solemnly and her face slowly returned to its resolute state. She held up the vial in her hand, in front of Echo’s face. “I saved her soul…and I apologize.” Echo snatched Fumi’s soul from her and held it close to his chest, the soft warmth pulsing in time with his heartbeat. Rose glanced sideways and Echo followed her gaze, seeing Fumi’s corpse.

Echo crawled over to her. Her eyes were dull, her chest a gaping wound. He pulled her up to his chest and shook as rage and sorrow overtook him.

Rose channeled her icy-blue Quintessence into her staff. “Preserve this vessel, Graceful Repose.”

Her spell suffused Fumi’s body and she went stiff. Rose put a gentle hand on Echo’s shoulder. “I can repeat the spell for however long it takes to bring her back. We have her body, and her soul. All we need is to fix the body, and then restore her mind.”

Echo looked up to her, “How?”

Rose sighed, “The Mimic Cube replicates Malvir’s power over life. It could easily restore her body. Reintroducing the soul is easy enough, I’ve done it before. The tricky part is the mind.” She explained that if they did not restore Fumi’s mind before the soul was reintroduced to the body, then her soul would fill in whatever echoes and memories were left behind. She would still be Fumi, but there would be gaps in what she knew, and who she was.

“We need to find a mage with that Affinity.”

Rose nodded. “They are exceedingly rare. Archrune Spire would be our best bet. In the Siltar Republic.”

Echo felt tension in his stomach. “Isn’t Tiberius a universalist? Couldn’t he do it?”

Rose nodded, “Yes. But he could implant memories that are false. We need a neutral party.”

Echo channeled his Quintessence into his ring and gently placed Fumi along with her gear into the pocket dimension. He put the vial holding her soul in her chest cavity. He could see the green swirl inside as gold sparks flashed across it, the spirit within pulsing in rhythm like a beating heart.

I will bring you back.

---

Tiberius chuckled, “Well, you’re good for something.”

White Rose had done as he wanted. And even better, Echo had evolved massively. This was possibly the best outcome that Tiberius could have hoped for given the circumstances. Now he just needed them to be lured to his current lair.

It sent a chill down his spine. When Echo found him, he might die. Then his soul would return to Malvir thanks to The Arbiter’s actions.

But he accepted this fact. He welcomed it, even. His centuries of toil would bring forth the pinnacle of a creature’s possibility. The greatest stage of evolution.

Malvir will forgive me once Echo enacts our revenge.

It comforted Tiberius. Malvir would not condemn his oldest friend for doing what needed to be done.

But he still had a chance. He stood up, preparing for the final phase of his machinations.

---

Echo closed the portal and stood up. “What now?”

Rose resumed her implacable expression, “We go to kill Tiberius’ monsters. Then we try and track him down.”

A thought crossed Echo’s mind, “I can get new Affinities if I get lucky with what I eat. What if I get the mind Affinity? Could we bring her back faster?”

Rose shrugged, “It’s possible. We still should fix the body first. That means you either get lucky with obtaining life Affinity – just as rare as mind or spirit – or we find a mage with it.” She crossed her arms, “I’d prefer we get Malvir’s Mimic Cube. Divine power would not only be able to fix her body, but make it even stronger than before.”

Echo nodded and lifted off the ground, his spectral, tendril-like wings even larger and brighter than before. “What changed?” He looked at his identification.

 

God Eater?

He could eat Aether Shards. He could eat gods. He had no clue what implications that had. He showed Rose as they flew and she cursed under her breath.

“That’s what he was up to.” She explained that Malvir and his high priest Tiberius were forced to flee Heimfold after The Void was defeated, and Lux went on a hunt to try and kill them. “They wanted revenge.”

“Why did Tiberius leave if they both wanted revenge? It would’ve been better if they worked together.”

Rose shook her head, “It seemed like a difference of opinion on how to go about the task. They wanted to make a monster strong enough to kill Lux.” She frowned slightly. “Malvir wanted to be moderate with his efforts, and Tiberius wanted to go fast.” She gestured to Echo, “And he got what he wanted. A monster that can – theoretically – grow infinitely. As long as you have something to eat. Other monsters, people and creatures, and now also gods.”

“How do you know this?”

Rose grimaced, “He…spent a long time with me in Kaad.”

The two continued on in silence as Echo thought of the implications of his Evolution Instinct’s final upgraded Ability. If he could eat the gods, then wouldn’t they all want him dead? He’d be a threat to them. He didn’t even know what the impulse for either Evolution Instinct or Primal Consumption would be like since they hadn’t been near anyone after he ate Fumi’s heart.

Will they even let me live?

Rose looked at him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder as the sea passed under them. “It’s alright. Whatever you’re thinking, it will be fine.” Her voice was warm and gentle. Consoling.

 

The kilometers passed as The Sun and Inferno rose in the East. The duo passed over the Treaty Peaks and saw the vast expanse of the Essence Sea extending far to the Northwest – seemingly eternally expanding as the horizon curved off.

A twenty-kilometer-wide bay extended down from sloping mountains, and to the North a large copse of oak and cypress trees that softly swayed in the breeze. The Forest of the Fallen, a place where natives to the Essence Isles that wanted a land burial would be set amongst the roots and foliage.

The two flew over the forest as Rose scanned with the environment, her eyes glowing white as her Detect Life Innate Ability was scanning the canopy below. She shook her head, “I don’t see anything standing out. Just animals and plants.”

Echo stopped above the center of the forest. “You’re pretty sure that quest slip was from Tiberius?” Rose nodded. “Okay then. Here’s the plan…”

 

The two flew over to the beach where the soft, gentle waves lapped at the shoreline. There was a thirty-meter gap between the shore and where the tree line started. Echo readied his weapon and shield as Rose gathered Quintessence into her staff. He activated Bulwark on her before taking a deep breath.

“Animus Aura!” Echo shouted and activated the Ability as the crimson sparks exploded in a shockwave that crossed the whole forest, the small burst of energy gently shaking the leaves as the red, crackling sparkles went all the way up the mountainside before fading. His increased stats causing the Ability to expand farther than it ever had.

A few minutes passed. But soon enough, they heard running. Crashing trees. Gnashing and howling as dozens of monstrous fiends descended towards the shore. Their black eyes marked them immediately as one of Tiberius’ monster broods. They were a combination of humanoid shape and octopus, slinking tentacles, and tendrils in place of arms. They were covered in shell-like armor as they advanced.

Rose raised her staff, "Cover all in endless frost, Glacial Prison." The air in front of the creatures froze and they were all restrained in an enormous block of ice.

Kill…

Consume…

Evolve…

Echo felt the Evolution Instinct spurring him onwards…but it was subtle. Not a driving impulse, but more of a suggestion. He walked up to the cube of ice as Rose melted the top, exposing the monster’s heads. Echo calmly walked up and decapitated each in turn until all had been slain. Rose cancelled the spell as the ice disappeared into the air, leaving corpses lying on the sand. “Transmute Substance,” Echo followed up, as the hearts and the corpses formed two separate spheres.

He ate the hearts, one after another, crunching down on them as they burst with cherry-flavored pops. Rose used her Siphon Strength spell on the corpses, turning them to Ash as she drained them. Echo felt pain, but it was minute. Nowhere near crippling as he had experienced prior.

Fwoosh.

Echo turned around as he heard something break the water behind them. Something was coming from the ocean. Something large. And its cephalopod head crested the surface, its black gaze meeting his own.

More to eat.

He grinned as the blood dripped down his face and he stowed his shield, holding his blade with two hands as he flew at the creature.

KILL!