Tread Lightly

A grin falls onto my face as Alexos tells me something I used to always say, passed down unto me from my mother. Thinking of her brings pain to my chest as I worry for her well-being, but I know she's tough. And smart. She'll be alright until I can find her.

Reaching forward, I give Alexos my word and my hand. He takes it with that faux metal arm, which is cold and deceitful in nature. Nonetheless, it feels honest.

"I promise. I'll take care of them for you, no matter what."

The Phantom Pain's shoulders sag in relief at my response, and he finally takes his own seat upon the dragon. Eyes watch him wearily, but I wave them away.

"Leave him alone. We're all in this together now. Our enemies are those possessed by Darklight and anyone who wishes to still fight after all is said and done. Those of us here, we're tired of the fighting. That, we all share."

I get a series of nods while Leviathan restarts her flight, already heading back toward the wall of dust and debris in the sky. My hands turn sweaty, and I can't help but gnaw on one of my fingernails as I stand toward the top of Leviathan's body.

I'm immune to fear, yes, and I have my mother to thank for that. Yet... I'm not immune to worry and anxiety. They are similar but different. Worry is for others, and anxiety is when I am worried about the situation as a whole. Fear is just for the possessed.

But this war...

It will be the last. It has to be. It's almost over, too.

Yet, I'm already tired.

"One last ride. We got this, Wyatt. Just a bit longer, then we can retire and eat all we want."

"Yeah! It'll be a piece of cake!"

"Who taught you that phrase? It doesn't fit here, Lily."

"Shut up!"

The two in my head bicker as I can't help but smile. Blodwyn is looking forward to all the food after there is peace, and Lily simply wants some fun. I love them both, but sometimes they are just too much.

Right now, however, I merely close my eyes and let them argue with each other. It's music to my ears as it distracts me from what is to come.

"You did not just tell me to shut up! I'll—"

"You'll what? Spew some blood on me!? Oh no! I'll be even more red! Hahaha!"

"You! Stop it! We can't be doing this right now!"

"Who says we can't? I'm having fun, and so is Wyatt!"

"Wyatt? Is this true?"

When the attention is turned toward me, I quickly put my consciousness to sleep and ignore it. The act is a breeze, given how fatigued my whole being is.

One of the two isn't very happy about it, but I sure do enjoy the slumber. Blodwyn will get over it. If he's really angry, he can take control of our body for a while.

"HEY!"

"Hahahaha!"

**************************

Less than an hour later, cold steel slides across my forehead, and I instinctively open my eyes in recoil. The inside of a barrel points downward at me while Lily stands on the other side, a grim smile on her typical happy-go-lucky face.

"Almost there. Time to get up. Sorry. Your snores made it sound like you were quite enjoying it."

I quickly wipe the sleep away from my eyes as I stand to see the vast sands before us. The Endless. Inside of the territory-wide Concept of Vincent is the war we are looking for.

Seeing how close we are, I call for Leviathan's next step. Her plan was to place the attacks and ambushes strategically, but how would we do that with this... calamity?

"Hey! The plan!?"

The dragon peels to the side slightly, flying along the edge of the sands while her psychic voice rings out over the rest of us.

"I can sense the fear in the minds of creatures. I will find what the Gods, Demigods, and below are afraid of. Then, the Wraith will transport the attackers through the shadows. As for our strongest, we will face Usen directly. Wyatt. Wraith. Lennon... That's you three. And the star-forged. You, too."

I nod, understanding why she was so confident in her plan. If she can truly sense fears as she speaks... then she can easily find the weaknesses of just about any foe. How... powerful.

Immediately, Leviathan starts calling out locations and the enemies there, along with the people to go there, as Virgil strides up beside me. The man kneels to the dragon's body as he squints deeply in concentration.

"The God of Cycles. Hmm... He is afraid of unbendable foes. Bonfire. The God of Nightmares. Oooh... Abraham. He's afraid of someone who can show him something worse than he can imagine. Next is the God of Color. Interesting one here. He is afraid of light. Natos. Another is..."

Leviathan goes through the Gods already locked in battle against Vincent's unending swarm. From up here, if I look closely, I can see the Endless getting pushed back quite severely, too. With every passing minute, I can see the sandstorm visibly retreat.

He's losing—worse than before. Why? It doesn't make any sense, but we have to help it regardless.

Shadows curl around Virgil as I watch his Dominion fully bloom for the first time. It's one hell of a sight as the very air changes tint, and everything I see is scaled to darkness.

One person after another is transported to their battlefield, something only possible due to the eclipse and my hand on Virgil's shoulder. With Limitless, I can directly push his Dominion to a higher level of strength despite his lack of mastery or time. Additionally, without the sun to restrict him and having a full... two hours of sleep... Virgil is at his peak.

Unable to do anything but help Virgil with his job outside the sandstorm, I watch as my allies are transported in through the shadows. The first, as Leviathan mentions, is Bonfire. He leaves with a smile as a large domain of shade sharpens in a particular direction to reach the target. Emmet Knox is the first, but not nearly the last.

One by one, my friends and... allies land at their most advantageous match-up. Abraham and Natos go next, then Timemi and Ytern. Bit by bit the Demigods and those who can match up to them leave. Surprisingly, Elizabeth is sent against a Demigod herself.

I look at her as she steps up to Virgil, and I can see the fear in her eyes.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. I'll have her send someone else."

Elizabeth shakes her head and takes my free hand with hers. She squeezes it tightly while peering into my eyes. I can see the determination she holds, and it is not any less than mine.

"Can't do that. A Hunter's gotta do what she believes in. I gotta do it for Johnny. He killed a God with his guns. I can do a measly Demigod. Plus, this one is afraid of loud noises. You, on the other hand... be safe, alright? I don't want to lose anyone else."

I give her a short smile and a promise before Virgil whisks her away, his face already blanched with sweat. From here, I can view the battles within the sandstorm as Vincent is given some reprieve from the army of Gods, Demigods, and Angels upon him.

The next one who walks up after Elizabeth is Earl, and I hard veto this. Earl's enthusiasm is glistening, and his metallic armor is impressive, but we cannot lose him here like this. In all honesty... we shouldn't have even brought him here.

"No. Not Earl. Anyone else. He stays back. I'd rather us all die than him alone. All we do is destroy Leviathan, but he is different. Find someone else."

Earl attempts to argue with me, but Virgil stops him with his own reasoning.

"He's right, kid. Can't be risking your life anymore. Give your armor to someone if you feel that's what you should do. Like Blake. She could benefit majorly from such a boon."

My friend looks down at the scales of the dragon as he sighs, taking off his armor piece by piece so that someone else may don it. With relief, I listen to Leviathan as she calls Blake up to take Earl's place to fight a Virtue that can detonate living matter. Earl might have overcame his fears, but he cannot be placed in such a battlefield. There is no way I'd let that slide.

Soon, everyone on the back of the dragon is gone except for four. Tomas, Primrose, Silas, and even Skyswain, they're all sent off to their own battles, a chance that they won't come back. Silas is against a pair of Demigods, which is something that makes me worried about him.

But it is our Dominions that I worry the most about. Ytern, Natos, Bonfire, and Abraham all face Gods. The lattermost doesn't even have a Dominion, just a skillset that nearly equals one. Hopefully, with the calculated match-ups, they'll win.

I just wish I had time to worry about them.

The fights in the sandstorm are a chaotic spectacle. I spot a flaming figure of a bird with many wings clashing against a rotating cyclone of change, their powers colliding in a dance of fire and wind. Bonfire against Cycles. I can only watch a little of the fight as the Endless quickly blocks my view from Vincent starting his comeback.

Not far from Emmet's battle, a pale man summons his Idols to fight against the God of Nightmares, who conjures the man's worst fears. Dozens of Councilmembers appear around him, several of which are his father, who only manages to create more Phantoms. My friend stumbles, hardly able to stand as his Idols proliferate, expanding continuously against the Nightmare before him.

My heart races as I observe these titanic struggles, knowing that each of my friends is fighting with everything they have. Yet, I have to wait. I tell myself there is a more important foe for me to face. I grip the hilt of my Colt, feeling the reassuring chill of the Blooming Spider Lily.

The dragon beneath me shifts, her massive wings beating against the turbulent air in spite of the fact Leviathan doesn't need them to fly at all. The sandstorm roars around us, but my focus remains unwavering. Each moment feels like an eternity as I look downward. The flaming bird screeches as it dives into the cyclone, its wings leaving trails of fire that light up the storm. The pale man fights without his typical fear, his Idols striking with enough force to shatter the sky against the horrors conjured by the God of Nightmares.

I catch wind of Elizabeth's battle as she dances around a creature of Darklight with dozens of natural holes throughout its humanoid form. I'd say it was a demon if I didn't already know it came from another realm. It is so bizarre that I don't have any idea what to call it. Nonetheless, Elizabeth uses the Ether and techniques of four people at once to stay ahead of it and to damage it. The Colt in her hand weaves time into each bullet, all in a different way, before repeating at the twelfth.

Silas is also in a battle, with Mie by his side in his eye. They share Eli's Arca, manipulating the copied Powers with a genius only Mie could manage. I wish... I wish they could have gotten Johnny's before he passed. Leviathan was right. His was... special. But so was he.

The man always said he was just that, a man with a goal. He would spout rhetoric on how he didn't matter and that we just needed to do this or that. It was never about him. Never. It was always about the next ideal, the next goal, the next finish line.

That is what made him unique. He was never selfish or egotistical. He was just a man possessed by his mission. He wanted to change the world for the better and take down the Estates. I should have known...

I should have known he was not long for the world after his mission was accomplished.

"Leviathan. Is it almost time?"

The dragon groans with pain as she seems to strain. Right. This all can't be easy for her, huh? I can't imagine the stress she's under to simultaneously affect so many minds.

Nevertheless, she manages to respond to me within just a few seconds.

"Almost. Vincent is on the move. We'll drop on him and Usen once they meet. He's already tearing through most of the defenses. Getting all those God and Dominions out of his way did wonders. Still... though... something feels off about him."

I crouch down and peer through the Endless to investigate the Eleventh. The Prime who reigned for the majority of my life over humanity is hauling across the landscape as a wave of tiny insects, devouring all that is in his path. He eats rock, wood, water, and even the Ether of skills thrown against him. Some Dominions and Concepts are nothing but food to him.

Despite that all, I see a... 'plague' within his insects. Most are sandy-colored, but there is a large and glacially growing patch that is sickly and dark. My heart sinks as I feel a connection to the disease.

The Ether speaks to me as I find a man who has broken his limits one final time, for there is no more distance for him to travel, alive or dead.

Undying Curse.

The fifth God.

My chest hitches in its breathing as I realize I will never see my father again. He has... turned into a curse, into a Sirza, a second one. To create a second Sirza... I only know two who have succeeded in doing so. Leviathan and Remington.

I don't know what to think or say as I stare down at him. Virgil shakes me slightly as he shouts at me, but I don't react. Earl bops me on my shoulder, yet it does nothing. I simply stare down at the remnants of my father, a man I hardly even knew.

And... I cry for him.

Because... from here... with my Concept... I can feel the times someone has gone beyond their limits. I can sense, generally, the strife one had been through.

For everyone on the road here, their lives had been full of death and war. They had many battles, but... they also had moments of peace. There are a few exceptions, like Lennon, who has a far more precarious life and is forced to break his bounds without stopping again and again.

But... from here...

I sense a man who had never slept a wink without something to have night terrors over. Whether it was chemicals meant to make him stronger, a beast that had been put against the young child, or the trials that the adult had to face, I feel only pain for a man who couldn't feel any.

In all his adult life, the Undying had never slept a full night. The Graves had never gone on a vacation. He'd never drunk more than half a bottle of liquor. The man had never attended a party where he wasn't the assassin within or the target of the assassin.

Everywhere he went, he was never afraid of another killing him, as to him, he was the greatest danger there, both to himself and all else.

To Killian Graves, the Undying Curse, the father that I never got to know, I have only tears to shed but no words to share.

"What are you crying for!? Wyatt!? What happened!?"

Earl's words finally get through to my ears as I stare ahead at the diseased sands.

"My father. He died fighting Vincent. Hours ago at most."

My friend has no words for me, only a shocked noise. More liquid falls from my eyes, and the now chaotic winds blow it away.

"Oh."

Leviathan doesn't let my hate simmer as she quickly speaks to me, guaranteeing my allegiance.

"Now is not the time for revenge. Focus. We'll get him later. You're father thought Vincent was the bigger threat, but it wouldn't matter. We can't take him now."

I nod to her, already knowing. I learned from the best. Johnny taught me to put emotions after the goal. I won't let his lessons go without a bearer. So, I stay crouched, my eyes peeled and my muscles taut for the moment to strike.

But as I observe the God of Desolation, I spot a figure racing toward him from behind with a scythe on their shoulder. Lennon's glare is practically physical as I glance up at him.

That's the God he fought before. Kaisen, right?

Let's see how this goes.