“How long do we have left?” Silvertide asked, staring up at the approaching wall of writhing stone flesh crawling through the sky toward them.

“Minutes,” a new voice said. “It slowed with the shattering of the Long Night. The shock of being free will give it pause, but not for long.”

All of them turned as a bald man stepped out from behind the remains of the Transport Cannon, dark bags under his eyes.

Even through the pain pounding on the doors of Noah’s mind, recognition sparked. It was Ferdinand. The corner of his mouth twitched. On any other day it would have been the faintest hint of a smile. But today, it was little more than a grimace.

“Ferdinand!” Garina exclaimed. “We—”

“Yes,” Ferdinand said, glancing back at the Night’s Shadow without missing a step of his brisk pace. He made his way over to where Tillian had landed on the ground and knelt beside the man as faint tongues of translucent golden energy shimmered to life around his palms. “I am aware of the situation.”

“Why didn’t you help us fight?” Todd demanded. “Aren’t you strong? We could have—”

“Now is not the time,” Moxie said sharply. “We need to do something about the Night’s Shadow. Now. Garina, you’re the only one strong enough to know anything about this. How do we deal with a beast this strong? Is there some other weapon hidden in Arbitage we could call on? Anything at all?”

“Any weapons would have been within the Archives, and they were under the Bastions,” Garina said with a shake of her head. “They’re within the domain of the Night’s Shadow and lost to us.”

“The gulf between this group and a Rank 8 of that strength is insurmountable,” Ferdinand said grimly. “There is nothing that we can do.”

A pained cough cut through the air. Tillian let out a groan, then pushed himself upright with one hand. Coils of energy slithered around him and wound into his body as pops and cracks rang out from within him. His collision with the ground had clearly broken more than a few bones.

“Did we win?” Tillian asked. Then he caught a glimpse of the Night’s Shadow in the sky. His face went pale. “Oh.”

“What if the other Apostles were here?” Noah asked through clenched teeth. He grabbed onto the fleeting, broken thoughts in his head and dragged them into their proper places. The pain couldn’t distract him right now. He couldn’t afford it. None of them could. “If you were all working together, could you stop the Shadow?”

“If it was every single one of us? Likely,” Garina said. Her brow creased. “Now that you mention it… at least some of them should have arrived by now. There’s no way anyone missed the release of the Night’s Shadow, much less its awakening.”

“Could something be holding them back?” Ferdinand asked. “I would have expected the Church of Repose to have responded as well. We can’t allow this damn beast out of the Empire. The damage is already immense. Anything more… inconceivable.”

“Someone could have modified the barrier,” Revin said, pressing a hand to the wall of energy rising up around the Arbalest Empire. It rippled around his fingers to send faint waves out around him. “It would have been immensely difficult, but we can’t ignore the possibility that it’s intentionally set to conceal the presence of the Night’s Shadow for as long as possible.”

“When and how could Father manage that?” Garina asked, her fists clenching at her sides. “I should have noticed.”

“Not if he was modifying it only to filter out Order magic. You don’t have any,” Revin pointed out. “It would make sense. Modifying the barrier to resist Order magic would have bought him more time to escape with the Long Night.”

“What if we made the crack bigger? Would that let out enough magic for anybody to notice?” Silvertide asked.

“No,” Garina said. “Some would, but not enough. The other Apostles aren’t sensitive enough to pick up on a small crack when there’s a barrier this large.”

“What can we do about it, then?” Aylin asked, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the coiling mass of tentacles. “There has to be something, right?”

Panicked suggestions started to rise up from every direction at once. The words rung against Noah’s ears and burned his mind like hot irons. There was too much. It was like trying to listen to a conversation while he was underwater.

The only one who said nothing was Brayden. He stood, staring down at Janice’s body, as the world crumbled in the distance.

A part of Noah couldn’t help but relate. He knelt, scooping up the two halves of the Long Night as his scattered mind tried to come up with a solution. There was no magic left within the staff. The runes that had been Imbued upon its length were shattered, the connection between them and the monster severed.

There was no way to return the magic the staff had once had. Even Moxie connected the halves with her plant magic, it would just be a stick.

“What if we shattered the Barrier?” Moxie asked, her voice cutting through the din. “The whole thing?”

“That would free the Night’s Shadow,” Garina said. “It would expose everything to it. Not just the Arbalest Empire. Everything. The death count is already immense. If we shatter the barrier… millions could die.”

“Not if it gets killed before it can do more damage,” Moxie said. “Isn’t it going to break the barrier anyway? What other choice do we have?”

“Is breaking the barrier even possible? Isn’t it immensely strong?” Tillian asked. “How would we even damage it?”

“It would normally take multiple Rank 7s. Probably a dozen of them, and strong ones at that,” Revin said. “It’s a good idea… but we literally can’t break the barrier. Not even if everyone here was at full strength. Maybe if we had a few of me, things would be different. Unfortunately, there’s only one Revin.”

“Now is not the time,” James snapped. “Get your head out of your ass.”

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“That would be the second impossible task we’d have to accomplish today,” Revin said dryly. “Let’s keep to one, shall we?”

“Is there really no way we can break it?” Isabel asked. “What about—”

“Not even him,” Revin said, sending a glance in Noah’s direction. “He could probably break the crack open if he was at full strength. That’s it. This is a construct that’s been around since the dawn of the Empire. It was made by dozens of immensely powerful mages for the express purpose of not falling. Not everyone is incompetent.”

“He’s right,” Garina muttered. “We can’t break the barrier. But the Night’s Shadow can.”

“Yes. That is, in fact, our problem,” Revin said.

“No. It’s our solution,” Garina said. Her eyes flicked to the halves of the staff in Noah’s hands. Then her pressed thin. “I’m going to break the barrier. We will have to move fast. Very fast. The moment the barrier goes down, the Night’s Shadow will realize it’s free. It will accelerate its advance. Revin — you need to get everyone here to safety.”

“But how…” Revin trailed off as his eyes went wide. “You’re going to bait it into the barrier yourself?”

“Yes,” Garina said. She took the halves of the staff from Noah’s hands. “With this. Even without any power, the Night’s Shadow will recognize the key to its cell. It’ll come after me.”

“And how will you yourself survive?” Ferdinand asked. “Withstanding the Night’s Shadow’s presence when it’s this powerful is too much, even for you. It’ll take you time and proximity to taunt it close enough to the barrier. That’s going to burn your reserves away. By the time you manage it—”

“This is my responsibility,” Garina said. She looked up to the Night’s Shadow. “And we don’t have any other option. There’s no guarantee I’ll be out of magic.”

“But—”

“I will not die,” Garina said sharply. “Not before Father is dead. And we have no more time for debate. There’s no other way to shatter the barrier.”

“I can go with you,” Revin said. “Together—”

“You can’t,” Garina shook her head. “I need you to pass through the barrier and release as much magical power as you can. Drain your reserves. It’s the only way to make a signal large enough. We have to control the damage. Someone needs to draw the attention of everyone monitoring Arbalest before the barrier falls. If enough powerful mages gather… there’s a chance the Night’s Shadow is suppressed or killed before it can do too much damage.”

Revin grimaced. “If I do that, I’ll be helpless. I won’t be able to back you up.”

“I don’t recall asking for it,” Garina said. Her hands clenched around the halves of the Night’s Shadow. “Go. Now. If we wait any longer, then everyone here risks being turned to stone.”

Revin said nothing more. He simply turned on his heel and strode toward the barrier. The magic rippled as he passed through it, but it did nothing to stop him. The moment Revin was fully through, he vanished from sight entirely as if he’d never been there.

“Garina…” Ferdinand started.

But she didn’t reply. She was already gone.

***

Garina streaked through the sky in the one direction that only a fool ever would have chosen — directly toward the Night’s Shadow.

Her domain burned like it had been set aflame. She felt her soul withering and cracking at the edges as she drew closer to the Rank 8 monster. It didn’t help that she had a massive knot in her throat. One that had absolutely nothing to do with the magical power bearing down on her.

None of it mattered. She couldn’t afford to give in or turn back.

This was her duty.

Her domain screamed a warning in her ears. She’d reached the limits of her strength already. There was no way to get any closer without turning to stone. Her mouth felt dry and the palms of her hands were clammy with cold sweat.

I can’t die today. Not until Father is dead. That, I swear. By the time the sun sets, he will be dead. I will complete my duties.

By now, Revin should have had enough time to release his magic. Any faction with half a brain would have sent someone to scout such an immense usage of power. There would be a small army of Rank 7s gathered around the edges of Arbalest Empire — but they’d be focused on Revin.

He wouldn’t have been able to stick around after using his magic. Revin had too many enemies, so he’d have run the moment his power was at its limits. Not one person outside the Empire knew what was happening. And, even if Revin had stuck around to warn them, they wouldn’t believe him.

The Rules existed for a reason. Nobody was going to break them and peek into the Empire in the presence of all the other mages from the other factions. Not in a timely manner, at least.

Garina’s lips curled in sardonic amusement. Her own reputation would be enough to delay anyone who might actually believe Revin for long enough to ensure that there would be nothing left to save if they did decide to look, much less break down the barrier.

Even if I myself had gone out and told everyone the situation, it would have taken far too long to convince them and then gather the mages to actually break the barrier. There are too many treaties. Too much at stake.

Noah and the others would all be dead by the time the barrier fell.

The corners of her lips twitched.

How fortunate for me that it’ll only take an instant to break the barrier from this end.

Garina raised the halves of the Long Night into the air over her head.

A keening wail cut through the air.

She didn’t wait to see anything more. Garina spun and shot for the barrier, arriving before it within an instant — and so did the Night’s Shadow. Tentacles exploded from the sky, reaching for her with a furious scream.

Her domain cracked. Power tore free from her. Garina gritted her teeth, crossing her arms before her as she shot back through the barrier, drawing on every scrap of power she had to keep her soul from warping to stone.

She passed out into the world beyond the Arbalest Empire.

The screaming in her ears vanished as if it had never been there, stopped by the barrier. There was a brief instant of silence.

And then the barrier shattered.

A scream like a thousand tortured souls crying out at once tore through the sky. Fragments of glittering magic rained down through the air as the Night’s Shadow’s tendrils unspooled through the air.

The Night’s Shadow was free.

A massive tentacle burst from the remains of the falling barrier and slammed into Garina before she could even try to dodge. Her domain shattered like it was made from brittle ice. The world accelerated into a blur around her. Garina hurtled down to the ground, crashing into it with a resounding crunch and an explosion of burning agony.

Her breath wheezed from lungs pierced through by her own ribcage. Blood welled in Garina’s throat and took the place of air. She choked, coughing blood and sending spasms tearing through herself.

A tentacle filled her vision as it descended from the sky, heading straight down for her. It seemed the Night’s Shadow had taken her taunt personally.

Garina tried to call on any final scraps of strength — but there was nothing left to reach for. Her magic was completely spent, torn to pieces. Despair and anger welled within her.

She wasn’t done. Father was still out there. She sensed him — she knew him. He couldn’t be allowed to escape her. Not again. And more than Father… there was Ferdinand.

There was Noah. His students. There had been so many things that she’d finally started to enjoy doing.

And none of it mattered. No matter how hard she pushed, she couldn’t even so much as twitch a finger.

I’m sorry.

Garina felt her soul crack, its edges warping without a domain to protect it.

The world slowed to a crawl.

And then a foot fell beside Garina’s head.

Her eyes went wide. A familiar face appeared to block her view of the tentacle hurtling down to end her existence.

“Looking rough, Garina. At least you kept your arm this time,” Jalen said, a wide grin splitting his features. “You know, if you were planning on destroying the empire, the least you could have done is give me an invite.”