The sun had long set up above the Great Chasm, but the fighting within raged on. In the choking darkness of it's lower reaches, The Hero's Companions waded through a sea of churning demons. Rob stabbed with his spear and slashed with his sidearm, until the sword was bluntened from the abuse of cutting scaly hides and jagged bone. The exploration team realized the demons' nakedness was not out of stupidity or disregard for safety. Round pieces of bone were embedded in their tough hides, a natural armor.

Fists crashed against his head and his hauberk, and he was sure his ribs were shattered in several places. Jaws closed over Rob's legs, jagged teeth only kept off by a layer of padded clothing and chain. Claws slammed against his helmet and threatened to rip the coif off of him. He slashed in a wide arc with reckless abandon and skeletal, taloned arms flew through the air. Robert lunged with his spear at the monsters again and again, until the polearm was tangled in entrails. And more and more of them came from all directions, lurching for him, threatening to reach him with scythe-limbs and chattering jaws. And in their horde, misformed things the size of horses crept across the walls and mounds of bodies. Soon, they would approach the front line. Soon, Rob felt they could reach him and throw him into the deep. He held back a scream when a hand touched his shoulder, and a figure emerged, stepping into the deluge of monstrous creatures.

"Brace. Yourselves. Companions."

The Hero of Providence pointed his sword up into the air, and a crimson celestial light filled the Chasm. In an instant over one thousand demons were gone, reduced to a sparkling powder. The unspeakable giants had turned to a crystalline crust on the walls of the chasm. Even the deceased fiends, a scattered mass of carcasses and gore, had disintegrated with nary a trace.

"SAM!"

Rob's one trusted ally in the festering hellhole that was the Chasm, pulled himself up and over the edge of the rocky path, on the verge of slipping. He quickly grabbed the man and dragged him up towards the others, where the Hero's Companions gathered to rest for a time. Before further demonic forces emerged, the pitiful remains of their group, half of the Sage Company, and three fourths of the Warlord company, the only survivors, temporarily broke formation to catch some rest, and the Fell Scholar's students chanted curative spells. Rob first cringed, then hyperventilated, then doubled over and fell, when three broken ribs snapped into place and the lacerations on his neck, arms and legs forcefully sewed themselves together. Liquid grime and coagulated blood oozed from where the wounds once were, proof enough that without the healing, he would've been a goner, high Resistance notwithstanding. Then, the spells reached Samuel, too.

Sam retched violently, taking off his helmet. Half a demon's stinger fell out of a small hole in his stomach. Another half came out through his mouth in a wave of black fluid. And he wasn't alone. A handful of recruits and warrior elites collapsed even after the scholars' healing, foaming and seizing in place until they went cold. Robert was white as a sheet and shaking, holding his companion up and keeping a look-out on the situation deeper within. A churning sea of eyes and mouths. More fiends were soon to arrive.

"Is it venom? Can your armor still hold? Get up, come on, hurry up!"

Sam struggled to his feet and forced a painful grin.

"A magician's healing really stings... I don't know, it's...  Those things on hooves, they had... Stingers? And, ugh-"

Sam pointed towards a thumb sized hole in his armor, where he had been stung, or rather, stabbed with a forearm sized needle. Unless a demon were to carefully aim for the broken chain link in the midst of a chaotic melee, his gear would hold: Rob knew that for a fact, even before half-assed self reassurance. Still, the fact the larger forms could so easily pierce armor was more than worrying.

"Let's move, Sam. There's no turning back now. And I'm sure as hell not letting you just lie here and let them get you."

"You think we'll make it? Where are we even going? What if it's just demons all the way down?"

"Then we die. Quit thinking so much. If we try running now they'll shoot us in the back."

"Shit..."

The front, back and support teams joined together around the Hero of Providence to make up for lost numbers, and half of the Warlord Company moved right ahead, defending any ground gained on the enemy. The Sage Company cast a litany of spells from the back, but all too often they resorted to launching pebbles infused with the celestial light. A magician, after all, is a creature of magic. And MP is spent easily, and difficult to regain in a time of crisis. The flimsy and embarrassing projectiles worked better than Rob had initially thought. A coin sized rock, glowing with the light of a distant nebula, punched a hole through the skull of a demon.

How terrifying... Maybe, I should have...

The otherworldly voice of the Sage of Disaster echoed through the tunnel, and light began to gather around a black pipe in his right hand. The light flattened into a circle and split in half. Then, it splintered into five shards. Finally, each shard shot out into the depths of the Great Chasm, lighting up the bloodied rocky walls, and exploded into a buckshot of crackling drops of starlight. Demons howled, blinded by the flash, and the humans likewise shielded their eyes. Only, a man from the Warlord company gasped loud enough at the sight of it that many heard him over the cries of the demons. The tenfold rain of stars that each pursued a target. Like the Hero's light, this magic turned their bodies into powder and smoke. But it was also a torch in the dark.

"I can see the bottom! We're almost there!"

"HURRAAAHH!! PUSH FORWARD, MEN!"

The sight and sound of the Legendary Warlord and his veteran warriors crying out in joy sent the three companies into a spirited charge. The bottom of the Great Chasm.  Finally, they could end it all and come back home. They slashed and pierced and bludgeoned cowering forms that clutched their eyes in pain. The Hero of Providence leapt from step to step and effortlessly slashed through crowds of demonic figures. When his sword had shattered from the force, he grabbed a Companion's sidearm and continued the slaughter. One after the other, they fell. Robert found himself smiling under his helmet in the midst of the slaughter, his breathing ragged. He pushed his body to it's utmost limits to follow the man who so easily ended the lives of monsters who each could threaten small nations.

Now, I see it. Now, I can see why they worship him like they do. The grief-stricken frontier towns haunted by beasts and miscreants.

"This Hero is the real deal. That's what you're thinking, right?"

Sam stood beside him, now wielding someone else's spear. A dumb and reckless adventure, once again. Even if it was their last battle, it was something to reminisce about in retirement. A guard's job and a cosy living. And maybe, after they returned to that quiet province...

"Don't say anything about retiring now. It's bad omen- Ugh, shit!"

He wordlessly swung his weapon upwards and split the head of a crawling creature up above.

"Can you see it? We're almost to the bottom! Just a little further!"

"..."

He couldn't think of what to say back. Not that he could, seeing as the tide of monsters only somewhat receded, and Rob Road was still a regular nobody, albeit, now, a demon-killing veteran. In that moment, Samuel looked bigger than life in Rob's eyes. It had not been long since he hung off the edge of the chasm with a sword-sized stinger in his belly, and now, he fought almost like the chosen battle brothers of that great old general, Semien Lougove. Together they speared, toppled and slayed what must've now been a hundred demons. Who would've dreamt of such an achievement in an age of peace and mediocrity? It finally hit him. Not just The Hero's Companions, they were now heroes of legend. But even still, something gnawed at the back of Rob's mind. The deeper they delved into the Great Chasm, the more convinced he became.

What is this feeling? It's almost like... It's testing us.

The Hero of Providence swung a horse-like demon as a club, beating the lesser fiends into pulp. The mere sight of it sent chills down their spines. The closer they were to the end of their journey the more overpowering the stench of demon blood and carrion became. The men braced themselves for the horrors ahead. They pushed on through the last hurrah of the fiendish horde and the stairs-like path widened, until, finally, the exploration team arrived at a flat plane. A plane made of crushed and mangled demons, bodies rotting atop each other. More crawled from among the pile. A near-endless stream.

"Assist us. Haude. Maril. Would you?"

"OF COURSE."

The Sage of Disaster directed his magic catalyst towards the center of the vast chasm, and a field of glowing spears rose from the pungent pile of corpses, far as the eye could see, like fields of golden wheat. And, when the spears of light had turned to mist, so did the corpses. Ash, smoke and powder plummeted a full ten feet down, taking several recruits by surprise. Rob had nearly fallen and snapped his neck in the midst of celebrating the end of the twelve hour battle.

"NOW, GATHER AROUND ME. DO NOT IDLE."

The companions and warlord company nervously approached the figure with a booming voice and less than trustworthy appearance. The Fell Scholar, waving his catalyst in the air as though searching for something, waited for the crowd to gather. His eyes now glowed through the brass contraption embedded in his face. Rob was left to wonder what it was that caused this.

And once again, their back-breaking fatigue had been wiped away, and wounds closed themselves. Many cheered, and the Sage laughed heartily, maybe a tad too much for everyone's comfort. The Hero of Providence stood in the magic's area of effect, as well, and perhaps he needed it more than the others. For, with his superhuman HP bar, The Hero was standing up straight with grievous enough injuries to fell the great Plains Titans that so often single handedly consumed fields of grain and cotton. One had to wonder how he lived despite the pain. And Rob couldn't help but stare.

Wounds mended and perimeter secured, the exploration team temporarily relaxed their posture. Robert went to look for his friend in the crowd of scarred and exhausted draftees. Samuel was no worse for wear than the last time he'd seen him. Now that he looked at him carefully, Rob could swear the man had gone up a level. But couldn't be sure. Such a thing was difficult without a shred of MP to spare, after all. For close quarters combatants, especially, either the divine intervention, as with the Hero of Providence, or magical brews, enlightenment, and sometimes near-death states, as with the warrior-elites and noblemen, were required. Now that he thought about it...

"A tunnel? Where in the hell..."

"Halt, men. Let the Sage Company do it."

One of Haudemaril's students volunteered to scout the tunnel out remotely. He lowered his mask and pushed his index finger into his forehead, and a blue sphere on a string emerged from it. When he pointed his finger towards a downward tunnel in the floor of the Great Chasm, the sphere began to fly inside, dragging more of the string out of his head. Before Rob knew it the Mage Eye became completely invisible, as though phasing out of reality, and so did the string. While the fell scholars discussed what the volunteer saw in hushed tones, the Hero Company and Warlord Company gathered up, voicing complaints and speculating about what lies beyond. Some said it was a gate into the underworld, or the other side of the earth. Others yet said, there was the Mother of All Demons, a massive bee queen-like monstrosity. Even the Old Tactician Semien chimed in, suggesting it was both and neither, or maybe, that it was a buried tower that led to someplace blasphemous. When the most famous man next to the Grand Duke joined in on the conversation the crowd of soldiers and recruits went wide-eyed and lost their ability to speak for a good minute.

"TWELVE DEMONS INCOMING."

The fell scholar's student announced what he saw with his mage eye for all to hear. At these news, the Hero of Providence stood beside the entrance to the tunnel with a sword at the ready, and ten more strapped to his belt. Since no weapon could withstand his power, all eleven would be needed. Those must've been his so called companions' discarded possessions. At least their weapons would continue to slay the monsters that killed them, Rob thought to himself. It would definitely make up for the act of looting from your former ally's body in his eyes. When the whites of their eyes and their teeth appeared in the tunnel, the hero entered a curious stance and braced himself, gathering up luminous particles from the air. And when they barged in, preparing to rush the humans in a wild frenzy, he unleashed a horizontal swipe that bisected seven of the twelve demons, destroying his weapon. Before the rest had the time to react, when the minced pieces of the half-humanoid abominations still hung in the air, he grabbed another weapon and cut the others down. The soldiers stood mesmerized by the force and precision of his slashes and overhead strikes.

"ROUND CHAMBER WITH A SEMICIRCULAR OUTCROP. THE STONE HAS NO MAGICAL PROPERTIES. DEMONS APPEAR FROM THE OUTCROP-"

For a split second, the magic string came into view, and fizzled out with a spark. The student volunteer collapsed, clutching his head in a fit of convulsions.

"INTER-... FERENCE... THERE IS A... SPELLCASTER INSIDE."

The three Companies, or what was left of them, gathered to discuss what they were to. Time was not on their side. Demons would soon come, again, in unpredictable numbers. And because the tunnel had been unclogged, perhaps much faster than before. The Warlord, his chosen advisors, The Sage Haudemoril and the Hero of Providence spoke briefly. Semien was first to speak.

"Young man, what do you figure? If we send a runner and hold them off for two days' worth, reinforcements will come and secure this area. In the worst case, it may be smarter to flood this place with water or burning oil."

"Situation is. Unpredictable. Decisive solution. Is necessary. The enemy. Must think the same."

"I DO NOT FEAR A HERETICAL WARLOCK. THE HERO WILL TRIUMPH WHEN I DISABLE HIS INCANTATIONS."

Rob felt a chill run down his spine. They'd head down to where a magician that can cancel others' spells is bringing more demons into the world? Down that narrow and dark tunnel? If something had to go wrong, it would go wrong when they step inside. The last time he ventured down a foreboding path in the dark, he'd been nearly surrounded by feral creatures. And, the most important part in his mind was this: fighting monsters in a sunless hole is bad enough, but fighting mages and their minions? It's a whole different level of foolhardiness.

Please, Auciel, and bright lords above... Please look after us...

His one and only skill had a limit. It could only be used three times a week. Rob wasn't sure of it's effects, but he believed with all his might in the gods' ability to influence fate. What magicians called Celestial Fiat. What the learned elites called Causality. The absolute force determining the flow of events and what brings them into being. One last prayer left.

"Attention, recruits! We will head down through the tunnel and secure the demons' staging ground. After their blasphemous spellcaster has been destroyed, we will send forth twelve runners for the heartland and await the Grand Duke's Royal Army. This is the final push. Make your brothers in heaven proud and may their sacrifice be written into legend as that which saved our world and our country. ONWARD, HEROES OF GRANICA!!!"

A fire was ignited in Rob's chest, and his body felt light as a feather. There was no one in the crowd who could resist the man's charisma and the spiriting power of his speech. A skill honed by Granica's great strategist throughout his long life as an immovable bulwark against invasion and a crushing hammer against coups and revolts. Due to it's effects, Rob and the others couldn't even consider the fact that Semien Lougove's skill had taken away their free will for it's duration, and deluded them into a sense of false bravado.

And they marched inside, cutting through small gaggles of demons on the way through the tunnel. Despite it being caked with grime and despite the increasing size and power of the demons they had to face, it all paled in comparison to the Hero's power and a well organized wall of spears. The creatures oft invoked abilities like the now-deceased feudal lord's [FEAR I], but under the effects of a much more powerful status effect, the fourth tier of [LION'S HEART], the warriors would not even register the demonic howling's effects.

With a powerful strike, yet another monstrosity fell, it's head split in half by the Hero of Providence. During the long trip down the tunnel, Rob, to his own bewilderment, became bored. It seemed illogical to want to battle horrors from the deep. Perhaps, one of the effects of the Warlord's ability? And in this boredom, he stared at the demons they'd walked past, studying their features. In the chaos of the melee, he had only figured out their general shape and the strength of their hides and claws. But now, he could see them in all their blasphemous ugliness.

The corpse of a blue-skinned demon. It's hide was thick and dotted with non-overlapping scales, some bigger than others. It had a flat, humanoid head, and a body structured like that of person, except hunched over and more powerfully built. A curled red horn protruded from it's nose, separating two slit-like nose holes. It's eyes were large, with a third, transparent eyelid, and it's pupils contracted when exposed to light, despite it's head being detached from it's body. A puddle of violet blood all around it seemed to move slightly, as though attempting to stay alive well outside the monster's body. A bony frame with muscles like corded steel. It's hands had two thumbs and six fingers, with horrid, curved claws. And it's feet were like those of a chicken, but bearing large talons.

Beside it, were the remains of a great demonic beast, like those Rob had seen crawling across the walls of the chasm. It was pale, with eight human-like arms in place of legs. A body reminiscent of a slug, with drooping skin, it's bones visible through the translucent exterior. The skin was tough like cloth with metal fibers woven into it, and it's ribs large and flattened, protecting a mass of moving organs within. A long, revolting head emerged from one end of it's barrel like body, without a neck and bearing one giant, swollen eye and an array of thin tentacles. It ended in a fanged mouth, and a long tongue protruded out in it's death. At the other end of the body, was a powerful, tapered tail, which bore a curved stinger at the end, and it was long enough to wrap around the rest of it's body.

"Ugh-"

The monsters possessed no external genitalia, and their guts moved as though they were snakes. Bundles of odd organs pulsed and sputtered blood and bile. How could a creature so rotten-looking and bizarre even live? Rob supposed they weren't called demons for nothing. A refutation of natural law and the order of things, in the world of men and gods. Perhaps, they came from their own world? A world of demons, and...

Evil Gods? Could such a thing even exist? How could an evil creature even be called that?

He watched the upper half of a humanoid demon, quite similar to the blue-tinged body they had walked past earlier, moving in an odd fashion. A handful other recruits also took note of this: still alive, but not much of a threat. They observed it with morbid curiosity.

"Ba'al-Yasu, Ba'al-Yasu... Ha'ra... Sa'hat... Ba'ar "

The creature chanted a repetitive phrase with it's eyes shut and it's hands clasped together, hissing and gurgling as blood flooded it's airpipe. An unsettling thing to observe. Rob, for one, hated to have his questions answered in such a way. They did pray to a god of evil. Then, what was the unspeakable horror they offered praise to?

Before they knew it, the exploration team neared the end of the tunnel. And just as they were told, it opened into a large chamber. A domed underground space that howled with a powerful torrent of air, suggesting the Great Chasm extended far deeper than initially thought. There was an outcrop, no, a giant archway leading into darkness, where the floor suddenly cut off to reveal a hole nearly as wide as the Upper Chasm itself. The Hero Company gathered up behind the Hero of Providence, joined by the warriors of the Warlord Company, and the magicians followed close behind. An empty chamber made of smooth rock. Rob could swear he saw faint images, or letters, etched into the walls.

The Hero of Providence pointed his sword at the source of a voice that seemed to shake everyone's insides. Rob was only kept from falling over by the effects of [LION'S HEART IV]. He instinctively went to look for Sam, who was just an arm's reach away. Then, he saw a transparent wall of light obstructing the tunnel. The strategist shouted.

"Magician, when can you cancel this?!"

"I... CANNOT. THIS IS NOT AN INCANTATION."

"What do you mean you can't?!"

"THIS IS NOT SORCERY! IT'S AN NATURAL SKILL, LIKE YOUR MORALE BOOST!"

"Do not waste. Your breath. Look forward."

At the Hero's warning, they turned and looked towards the pitch black outcrop. It was as though scales fell from their eyes, and they could see the world for it's wickedness. The Evil God Baal-Yasu has come. It stepped forth from the dark with a jubilant grin. Arms and legs swung into view as it walked, longer than the tallest of trees. It's skin was a grayish blue and covered in spines like needles or javelins. A titan too large to exist. It was thin, and stretched, with a skinless face, like a mummy, or the corpse of a starved man. It was waist-deep in the pit, and it's one eye was larger than ten oxen. Robert could not scream in terror because of [LION'S HEART IV].

When it reached the edge of the pit it was stood in, the creature was fully illuminated by the light of Haudemaril's magic. It had one bulging, dark eye that squinted at the light, and the other was closed, or missing behind thinly stretched eyelids. It had no nose, and instead, had two holes of a violet tinge in its head, which spewed giant torrents of wind as it breathed, threatening to blow the Great Chasm explorers away. It's lips, if it had those to start with, were stretched so thinly on it's skull that large, white fangs and the bones of it's skull, covered with a layer of purple flesh, protruded forward. It's appearance could be compared to a human's but such a thing would both be sacrilege, and an insult to humanity. One curved horn, covered in skin, protruded from it's right temple. Three horns further emerged, curving in the opposite direction, from it to the center of it's head. And a giant, beautiful sword emerged from it's left temple, lodged painfully in it's skull and oozing violet blood. The sword that was depicted in Granica's coat of arms. The sword of Auciel, the Lord of Judgement and Observation.

Rob felt his body slip out from under him, until Haudemoril, The Sage of Disaster, extended his catalyst and chanted something.

The Fell Sage's head exploded into a shower of gore, and over half of the recruits, warriors and magicians jarringly disappeared without trace, like they had never existed. The Three Companies exploded into pandemonium, and the Hero of Providence launched a glowing sword at the monstrosity that loomed over them, before charging in with a swing. Rob covered his mouth and an order came from the Warlord, Semien.

"Spread out, now! Whoever has support-type skills, aid the hero! Magicians, attack with celestial powers!"

Rob contemplated praying, but with only one prayer remaining, he couldn't bring himself to even risk wasting it. Multiple surviving recruits squinted hard and activated some form of power each. And before their eyes the Hero of Providence got the tiniest bit faster, bigger and more determined. The sword launched by the Hero, probably infused with celestial power, sank into the demon's neck. As they watched in confusion and terror, the hardened steel turned black and dissolving into ash.

"What the hell?! Hero, it's-!"

The Hero of Providence's celestial element skills shot out of his sword, destroying both it, and his right hand in the process. A brilliant white lance surrounded in red radiance. The demon covered it's eye with one hand, and swiped with the other, hitting the Hero of Providence with enough power to bury him deep in the stone wall of the chamber. The survivors stared in bewilderment.

Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat.Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat.

They ran with the hope that perhaps it would get bored or tired. And the Evil God Baal-Yasu crushed the recruits, the students of the Fell Scholar, now in disarray after the death of their master, and the warrior elites alike. On it's face, was a gleeful smile. Rob darted with all of his might for Sam, running faster than he had ever run in his life.

"RECRUITS, FOLLOW-"

One of the demon's tapered, spindly talons pierced the Legendary Warlord Semien Lougove through his belly, rending his armor asunder. The movement exerted such force that his helmet flew off of his head, and his neck had nearly snapped. The old generals' horrified men watched, as Semien gurgled and screamed, before starting to shrink. His eyes turned to yellow raisins. His skin stretched thinner and thinner over his body, and his muscles and fat vanished from his frame. When only the dark-orange beef-jerky-like exterior of his mummified body was left over his bones, his whole body, as well as his clothing and armor, collapsed into a colorless powder. Rob never stopped running. The Evil God Baal-Yasu pointed his finger at the greatest congregation of surviving humans, and bent down into the pit, reaching for something with his other arm.

Every single person in the area he had pointed to disappeared. Nothing was left. Not even ash or the dregs of their obliterated clothing. Rob ran and ran, until he knocked Samuel off of his feet and slapped him back to consciousness. The two ran for the crater where the Hero of Providence lay, a heaving pile of meat and bones, still living, and all due to his divine blessings.

"HERO! Hero, what should we do?! Do you have medicines on you? Or should-"

"..."

"What? Where? Tell us, for Gods' sake, please!"

"Shtat... Drainh..."

Rob turned his head back to the sound of squealing and mad ovations. The Evil God had fished at least two dozen demons from the depths, and put them safely beside the edge, showing them the way towards the surface world. The demons cheered and clapped their hands, prostrating themselves before the creature, singing their praises.

Rob's blood ran cold. The demons swelled with bravado and unnatural power, charging towards the three surviving magicians, and a handful of cowering Hero's Companions. A few spells flew their way, and the empowered monsters deftly dodged them all. One of the mages lied prone in a puddle of his own vomit. Several companions clawed at the wall of light preventing them from leaving the chamber. Baal-Yasu moved once again.

"A-a-ah-ahhhah-agh"

"S-sa-s-sam?"

Rob felt a cold mass invade his abdomen, and his spine snapped and creaked unnaturally. Samuel had been squished into him, and he saw a grey claw coming out of his stomach and into Sam's chest cavity. The puddle of the Hero's constituent parts was quickly reduced to ash and smoke. Stat drain. The ability to reduce one's inherent, gods-given attributes to zero. And, apparently, to seize their abilities, too. With a nauseating momentum Rob and Sam had been moved towards the Evil God's face. It observed them with an expression of child-like curiosity and joy evident on it's face. So close to the Evil God, Rob could see a litany of smaller demons climbing around him, and through the crevices of his teeth and spiny covering. He vomited, and prayed for the last time, struggling to think of what he should, or could ask for. The demon's stat drain ability had begun to take effect, starting with the last of his attributes. Rob wasn't sure whether the creature enjoyed the torture, or simply had no other way to absorb one's vitality.

Please, God, please, help... Please save him! I need to save him somehow! I beg you, God, please!

Samuel hung limply off the claw he had been impaled onto, growing cold. And Robert, soon, too, lost his sense of touch, sight, and hearing. A dark and gentle sea consumed him, but even as he died, he grit his teeth and prayed. For his life. For the one man that followed him through thick and thin. For the world that would weep and perish at the hands of a million demons. For his desire to continue living. For the man who cared for him when his mother and father were the roadside and the pecking beak of a carrion-eater. For life. Against death. For salvation.

...