Although Theo woke the next morning on the mortal realm, in his comfortable bed no less, he was immediately reminded of the mountain of work he had to get done. The idea of the arena now seemed fun only as a distant memory. The alchemist simply needed to remind himself that the people were having a good time, and they were properly distracted from the reality of their situation. It was, after all, the end of the world.

Theo sat with Tresk at the dining room table. Food had been laid out, but there was no sign of Sarisa or Rowan. They must have had duties he wasn’t aware of and no longer thought that he needed to be guarded every second of the day. Tresk was her same chipper self, but she had gained a slight edge. The physical changes to their appearance weren’t great, but they were there. It was a constant reminder of the pact they had made with Pogo.

“So what’s on the agenda today?” Tresk asked, actually picking at her food today. She had stopped shoving it down her gullet, except on rare occasions.

Theo released his aura, covering the dining area in his shadowy willpower. He shook his head. “I’m going to hamstring Elrin’s operation to bring the shards to the mortal plane. I think we need a little more time to get everything lined up.”

“A bit of sabotage?” Tresk asked. “I can’t say I disapprove, but is that the right move?”

Theo shrugged. He truly didn’t know if it was the right play. He only wanted an extra day, not a week, with the system so haggard from her time in this place. He wondered how long she truly had and found it hard to want to push her further.

“If you have any other suggestions, I’m open to them. I could just really use at least one or two more days to ensure everything is perfect for the change.”

Of course, he didn’t need to ask the question. He could feel Tresk’s thoughts. She didn’t care one way or the other. Her impression was that they were as prepared as they would ever be, and delaying the inevitable was a waste of time. The only thing that made her desire to stay on the mortal plane any longer than necessary was gaining more draconic powers. In her mind, if she couldn’t blow fire, then it wasn’t worth the time.

Theo took her silence as complacency with the plan and described the things he would need to do that day. He had to move some shards, train Fenian and himself, and ensure the arena games were going off without a hitch. The one thing he had going for him was that the prizes were all sorted, and he was reaching a point where he was close to being able to take those potions himself. But he was once again forced to question the usefulness of them. If he could just cultivate more celestial energy, was there really a point in playing into the system’s games?

Then there was another question. What would happen when the system went to sleep again?

Shaking away those thoughts, Theo finished his breakfast. At least he got to enjoy some of the delicious sausages made by Whisper before going about his busy day. As if to snub his nose at Elrin, he spent time in Broken Tusk going over administration screens, touring various buildings and production chains, and generally goofing off to avoid its meeting and Boar Hollow.

There was also the Frozen Tear flower he had yet to find the last property of. It still evaded him, seeming to darken out of his senses when he extended them. This was impossible, of course, but it was hard not to attribute some kind of intelligence to the plant. If only he could hold it in his hand for longer than a few minutes. Perhaps he could understand more about it than there was the essence itself. The jumble of symbols and numbers gave no information as to what it should do. He was forced to guess based on feel. His current feeling was absolutely nothing. It was a blank wall to him.

Theo eventually folded space onto itself, soon arriving in the small town on his personal planet. Elrin was there, arms folded with an expression of curiosity on his face. It wasn’t the anger that Theo had expected, which was somehow worse. The alchemist walked over at a casual pace, nodding to the man.

“Are you ready to go?” Theo asked, offering his best smile as though to pretend nothing was wrong.

“Indeed I am,” Elrin said. “Just so you know, I’ve worked with quite a few duplicitous persons. I’ve had the pleasure of watching snakes emerge from my troops. I’ve seen saboteurs and spies. You are, perhaps, one of the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Theo shrugged. “Whatever do you mean, mighty warlord.”

Elrin cracked a smile. “I’m not against the idea of delaying the system’s slumber, but it normally doesn’t come to me like that unless it’s an emergency. I truly don’t think that she has a lot of time left. But I think you’re in luck whether she likes it or not. I’ve got an issue in the mortal world that shards are taking longer to assimilate, but the system was there to swoop in with a little bit of good news.”

“But this sounded like a hard stop,” Theo said. “She made it sound like an emergency, right?”

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Elrin shook his head. “Something like that, but it changed. She said there was a shift in magical energies yesterday that gave her a little more breathing room.”

Theo released a surprised laugh. “Actually, I think that might have been me. We’ve been reworking the draconic energy in the sector, trying to make some more true dragons. The dragon who’s helping us explain how it works, but we’re messing with the way that energy interacts.”

“There might be no need to stop me from moving the shards then. She’s extended the deadline by at least a few days, maybe an entire week, thanks to those efforts.”

So Tresk’s deep-held desire to both kill and become a dragon was the reason they had the time they needed to finish everything before the reset. Theo had trouble not laughing at the situation. She did some ridiculous things in her time, but often those were things that benefited everybody. Even now, they would benefit greatly from the extra time. More things could be put in place. More people could be ushered from the far parts of the world. The alchemist considered this a very good thing.

“Come on, stop slacking,” Elrin said, jerking his head to one side. “We’ll need to take more caution when we approach the island this time. It doesn’t seem very stable.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Theo grumbled. “Okay. I’m taking this good news to heart. Let’s go save the world, or whatever.”

***

Before being placed onto this world after a long slumber, Fenian had never considered himself much of a schemer. If one were to ask his friends back then, they would say that he was a meticulous, forthright person who did everything he could to make his trading business boom. They would have said nothing of his fighting prowess or the substantial guile he now possessed. But to enact his plan, he had to become all those things.

The most important skill of all was the ability to recognize opportunity.

Khahak was a garbage planet, as far as he was concerned. It meant almost nothing, feeling like a place meant for politicians and do-nothings. But as Fenian sat at the wide desk, looking out over the sprawling city. The master of this realm sat behind his desk, fingers steepled and brows creased in concern.

“Of all the people you could have picked, you picked me. I thought you hated me, Fenian.”

“I do hate you. I hate you a lot. Maybe not as much as some other people in this world, but you’re up there,” Fenian said with a wry chuckle. “But you are, above all other things, trustworthy. I know you’re the only one who can watch Erradon while I’m gone, and I assume you will be an excellent steward if my mission fails.”

Khahar stood, walking to the window and growling slightly. “I wish I could say I don’t understand why you’re doing this, but I did help my beloved ascend to the heavenly realms. I would do anything for her.”

Fenian stood, losing himself for only a fraction of a second and slamming his fist on the table, hard enough to crack the surface. “I would go to the hells and back for her a thousand times, again and again. I would watch the world burn. I would do anything.”

Khahar turned, laying his discerning eyes upon the elf and nodding. “I understand the sentiment, but do you think you’re ready to do it? You’ve only cultivated a small amount of the celestial energy. Surely that’s not enough to get past him.”

“I’ll have access to the energy on the inside. It might take a while, but I’ll manage. Now that I have the technique down, I have every piece of the puzzle I need to get through.”

“And what happens when you get through?” Khahar asked, “Do you have a plan for that, or are you going to wing it? This isn’t your first time delving into a realm you know almost nothing about. The reason you escaped from the last one was sheer luck.”

“I have a plan,” Fenian assured him. “It’ll work. It just might take some time.”

A long silence settled between them. Fenian felt a wave of discomfort spread through his body. He knew he wasn’t truly prepared for this mission, but there was no better time. Death would never see it coming. He was weaker than he had ever been at any point in time. This was the only time he could strike. The amount of godly energy remaining in Uz’Xulven’s rapier was minimal, but it would be enough to see him through the trial.

“Go with the reassurance that I will defend your throne,” Khahar said. “I have a list of people I’d like you to look for while you’re there.”

“Everything has a price, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Although Fenian hadn’t planned to look for anybody else, he didn’t mind searching for a few lost souls. His escape strategy could have him bringing at least ten others out, so long as everything worked the way he expected it to. He had already tested it, so there was no reason it would malfunction. He left the realm of the Arbiter shortly after that. The connection between the Bridge of Shadows and the place the system called home was tenuous, but he made it anyway. The system herself was too bedraggled to do anything about his intrusion, and he slipped past her with little effort. It was arriving on Death’s Road that sent a chill up his spine.

The road seemed endless, stretching ahead and disappearing into darkness. Wispy figures moved across it, seemingly lost in the gloom. With great effort, Fenian surrounded himself with his weak aura, infusing everything he had into it. It was a copy of Thio’s technique, but he had refined it to work with the fading energies he had from the ascendance and wouldn’t last long.

He sprinted across the endless road.

The sound of battle reached Fenian’s ears before he even saw Death’s Gate. A smile spread across his face. He couldn’t have imagined a better distraction. When he was within range of the gate itself, he spotted two familiar figures dueling, with Meya and Death himself watching on. Without hesitation, he kicked off from the ground, angled directly for the shimmering portal. For only a moment, he locked eyes with Death. Kuzan did not have a look of surprise on his face. He didn’t look angry. Painted upon the long-dead elven king’s face was an expression of amusement. Fenian swore he heard the man speak before he vanished behind the veil.

“Good luck, Ivaran.”