Tread Lightly

For the first time since I initially witnessed them, I can genuinely see the Endless. Before, I was simply able to tell what they were, but... as my vision sharpens and more is revealed to my Godly eyes, I see the entirety of the swarm that makes up Vincent Harvey.

This is it. This is it right here.

It is the final stage of development for most Gods. Imbuing the core of the most extraordinary skill they have with their Divinity, their Concept. It's far beyond what I have done recently, though on the same page. From here on out, gradual growth is all that can exist—the slow, painful advancement of one's understanding and adeptness with one's life.

I reach outward with my boned claws and grasp just one of the infinitesimally small insects with the ends of the sharpness I possess with precision. The Godly war continues a mere hundred feet away, but as my heartbeat vibrates the sky and earth, I remain unaffected.

The Endless one within my claw's tips struggles profoundly; it bites and scratches at my bones, managing to do very little damage. Yet, it calls for more, like a single soldier rallying the whole army. Thousands more, no millions more, surge toward me for the sole warrior.

I stare at the many, taking in their beady eyes hidden inside the appearance of sandy motes.

And then my Dominion lurches forward with Limitless inside my soul.

The Endless lose their wings and fall to the ground, utterly useless despite their false life. I peer down at the writhing bugs. How... pitiful. Wholly powerless on their own. Only strong in numbers. I see what the young Prime came up with. He thought all others were too weak to keep up, but he knew he needed allies. So... he made his own and gambled on creating a Graves to match him. Clever. Very clever.

It brought him to the very pinnacle of the cosmos, after all, but not without a price.

The next step of my boot brings me closer to the Mother Below. Then, the following one lands with my eyes glancing up at her orbs. Reactionarily, she stomps toward me, and I simply raise a hand, catching the enormous spike of chiton with one boned arm.

An impact shakes my whole body, running from my claw to my heels, but more bone grows limitlessly to account for the stress. It reaches out from my body, wrapping around the spider's leg and bolstering my grip.

Her Darklight is put to the test by the Endless, wholly distracted with Desolation's advancement. As such... I attack.

Twisting my arm and bringing all my strength to bear as my other arm grabs the spindly leg, I attempt to bring the God down to earth. My feet dig into the earth while Limitless Manacles spew out from my sides to give me better leverage. Then, more bones emerge, latching onto higher portions of the chitin.

As I pull with all my strength, feeling teeth shatter in my mouth, a shadowy figure flickers to another of the spider's legs, stabbing it with a piercing stiletto dagger. Virgil Boone manages to enter the God's flesh with the weapon from Clarence Love and his own skills. The assassin helps me, giving a little nudge toward Usen's imbalance.

A second later, a swordsman slashes open another leg, sending black blood spraying into the air. Lennon Hull spots the moment of reckoning and takes total advantage, hacking away again and again at the limb and doing some genuine damage this time. It seems he's grown some more, too. Of course, he has. He would be dead if he couldn't. If there is one person who can keep up, it's him.

Finally, I spot a fourth figure, burning with fire as it rams into the God's limb, scorching yet another leg. Bonfire lands beside the leg, both hands twirling with his unique strand of living and dying fire. His effect isn't as prominent as Lennon's, but I do spot how his flames eradicate the Endless around it. That will be useful later.

But just as I think all the help is over, a shrill sound comes from the distance, and I feel an impact hit the leg I'm holding. I can hardly see the object, but I recognize it as a bullet. But not just any bullet.

One of the rounds that Johnny would always carry within Fate Sealer. Elizabeth. She's shooting through the mirage of dust and shadows.

The force of Usen's limb against me suddenly plummets, but it's still not enough. Tensing my whole body, I feel Limitless sink in deeper into my whole body, and Blodwyn goes all in with our Sirza.

More bone spews out of me, adding to my body and giving me more power. Second by second, the bone turns dark as the waters of the Cardinal stain it from within, granting me even more strength from Lily joining in.

Yet, just as I feel Usen's strength start to give, a growling, reverberating howl tears through my soul.

"Enough!"

Darklight suddenly encompasses my vision like a rapture before I'm flung into the sky. Air and the insects of the Endless bat at my face, yet a shadow fills my vision. And the next thing I know, I'm standing on the top of the colossal spider's back.

Glancing around in confusion for a second, I find the answer in the kneeling Virgil, his mask bloodied and torn. I reach forward to heal him with Sacrifice, but he shakes his head with a grim smile through the tear in the cloth.

"No. We don't have time. Had to come personally to pull so many at once."

Lennon lands beside us as well from a shadow, flinging him to us through space while even Bonfire slams his forehead against Usen's chitin. The four of us gather in a diamond before the swordsman acts first, stabbing his Claymore directly into the spider below us, which seems more like a landscape than a living thing from where we stand.

"Kill the bitch!"

I nod and gather strength in my hand while Virgil vanishes, the darkness taking him somewhere else. Bonfire grins wildly as he leaps into the air, combusting his entire figure into flames that allow him to soar without issue.

"Way ahead of you!"

Emmet Knox shrieks through the sky, flying around Usen as the legs that have grown out of her back angle themselves toward us. The spider continues to grow in size and lethality as the total of legs has to be nearing twenty.

That means a total of twenty Gods dwell within her now. Her Divinity itself must allow her to use the strength from others, but it obviously isn't one-to-one. Or maybe it is. And the ones still alive are just weak. Who knows. Regardless, the plethora of Gods do not shirk from displaying their strength.

For, Usen's speed has increased thusly.

A spearing chitinous limb stabs through the air, heading right for my skull. I leap several dozen feet away just to dodge the impact zone of the spider's leg. Lennon uses his Claymore to eat most of the force but is sent flying in another direction from me.

I can spot him somehow manipulating the momentum of the strike, but I have little time to worry about him as Bonfire is sent hurtling toward me from being smacked by Usen.

Limitless Chains grow out of my body to catch him, and I continue him on his way without so much danger as there are too many near me. Simply looking up delivers a dozen of those chitinous deaths to be staring back at me.

Quickly, my life devolves into dodging the limbs again and again. I'm hardly fast enough to evade one, and fifteen might just be too much for me to ever handle. But I have to. At least I'm immune to the Darklight. Bonfire, too, after what happened to him. And even Lennon is highly resistant. Only we can be this close.

Still, if I'm not fast enough to escape merely one leg, I'll get as far away as I can. We just... we just need to wear her down!

There are so many of us!

Lennon cuts at her with every chance he gets while Bonfire hurls his devouring flames non-stop. Vincent is on his own warpath, taking the brunt of the Mother Below's Darklight while I help with my Dominion. I'm not sure what Virgil is doing, but it must be just as helpful as the rest.

Second after second, I begin to grow tired as the bones grow upon my body. One Heart Beats For Three has no ending other than my death or its cancelation, and the pressure of the skill is starting to reach my limit.

My limit. Huh.

I can feel it growing endlessly, but not fast enough. There is just never enough time. Fuck.

I need to—shit, not fast enough!

Twisting up, knowing I cannot escape this strike, I brace for impact. But that limb never hits me as a voice grasps me through an impenetrable darkness that momentarily fogs my vision.

"I got you, buddy. Hit her with all you got."

Again, I land upon the surface of Usen's back, the chitin beneath my boots. Virgil shifted my location with his Dominion. I can sense another spike already seeking my head, but I trust in my friend. He's never failed me.

And he won't now.

Crouching slightly, I let the bone build within my body as it expulges from my heart. Blodwyn and even Lily help, adding all they can with their skills. Cardinal water and Godly blood spew from the lining of my white armor while shadow takes me to another place the instant before I am struck.

At the same time, I breathe in deeply through my extremities as my mouth is sealed.

Air surges toward my lungs, invading everything, but it is not alone. Ether comes, too, and in incredible amounts as I try something new. I hold onto my right arm as I begin to flow all the Ether I can to it, letting Accretion Ether build to a very dangerous point. But that is not all.

Limitless melds with Freedom as the inhale doesn't stop. It's not a second or a third.

I merely continue absorbing the air, Ether, and Darklight around me. The Dominion of my soul crushes Usen's within my soul, protecting me from the infection. The Endless invades my being, too, but they are struck clean in instants without trouble. This is my body. My soul.

And no one else can have it.

I feel incredible strength surge within my soul and body as Virgil continually transports me away from danger. I begin to wonder why I didn't just do this elsewhere, but I quickly realize why as I sense the strain of his soul.

The tiny movements take just about everything he has.

I don't even know where he is. But I can feel his soul. He is at his very limit, bursting at the seams. And yet... he doesn't complain. He doesn't even groan in pain or strain.

The damned bastard just takes it all as if it's nothing.

Fuck, Virgil!

Noticing his pain, I force more air to sink into my flesh and bone. My right arm howls of death and despair, the Ether so compressed to a fine point that it's something I've never seen before. I've seen dark Ether. But this... It's darker than black. It... possesses no color.

It has so be something new. Maybe... another evolution of Plasmic? I don't know. But it is...

A chill runs through my soul as it's shaken by the Ether that lets out audible noise, disrupting the sky with its volume. Space cracks as a Crossroads form inches from me, and still, Virgil transports me away from the danger with his Dominion.

Another of those rippling portals to another realm sublimates a second after I land, however.

The bone born from my Sirza is ripped from my arm by the raw strength of the Ether, but without the bone, I'd have already lost the arm, if not more. The durability it grants is the only way I can do what I'm doing.

Yet... I cannot do it much longer.

Virgil is past his limit. I can feel it. Blood is leaking from his eyes and ears. Foam slips from between his lips while he wobbles in whatever shadow he hides within. His hands are held together in a wretched motion to help him focus, but the bones of the fingers that do so are broken from the stress.

He won't say a damned word. Tears come to my eyes as I see just how determined my friend is. Just how far he'd go for me.

And the world.

He'd quietly bear the weight of it all without letting even one person know how difficult it was for him. I... I don't know if this is enough, though.

I don't know if this is enough to kill Usen. No. It's definitely not. Nothing of this magnitude could. It might stun her, though. That's not adequate. I need more.

I need to batter her hard enough that she won't get back up from the follow-through.

Virgil...

Fuck being hopeless. So many thought we'd lose this fight. If this is what you want, friend, then I will join you in this. You might die from the strain... but... Always together.

The Ether continues to build as Virgil transports me from one more attack. Then another. The color upon my hand darkens further to a shade more profound than any abyss. I can hear nothing but the howl of the air and the Accretion in my hand.

A moment here or there, I sense Lennon or Bonfire in the edges of my vision, but I don't focus on them. The darkness continues to build as Virgil falls to one knee, struggling to stand.

Still. Not a word. Not even a groan. The assassin bears his pain as noiselessly as my father would.

Thank you. You better not die yet!

Finally, my hand is ripped off by the build-up of Ether as the unbreakable steel hidden within is crunched into nothingness. With the bones of my forearm, I finally shift my feet, the weight within my grasp heavier than the sky.

"Let go."

I tell Virgil to release the hold, the man's hands broken and twisted, his chest caved in, and his eyes colorless. He does. Then he falls to the ground in some unknown place, and I lose the connection with my shadow.

It is at the very moment that I can no longer feel him that the bomb of trauma within my forearm's bone, reminding me heavily of how my father fought, demands to be released. It is no longer something I can wait for. But it is heavier than I expected. I struggle to move it even an inch, and yet another dreadful nightmare of chitin falls for me.

I stare up at it, screaming internally at myself to act, but I just can't. The weight is equal to that of the skies.

Despite my struggle, the chitin doesn't reach me. It almost does before it seizes somehow, going... back in time. The corner of my eyes catches a figure lost within the sands, hardly visible other than the shining golden eye that remains. Finally, my body moves, even though I know it is not Johnny who is watching me; instead, it is Abraham's idol. Still, I would lift the skies if it meant impressing the gunslinger, the smallest morsel.

My muscles contract, and blood explodes from my veins as I crash my fist downward. An aura of finality surrounds it, absorbing all light and extending several feet in every direction.

Several spindly limbs collapse toward me, seeking to end my life as I can sense Usen's panic. But they are too slow as that Idol's Golden Eyes pierce through it all. I only have feet to travel, and they have far more. They have stretches of boundless time.

When I make contact, all the color in the universe reverses within a frame of paused time. The whites become black, and the blacks become white. In the distance, with the disjointedness, I can see the skeleton within Lennon Hull, the hardy bones within. It's...

Black lightning sparks out of my gnarled Ether, letting me see into spaces that should not exist, and the flesh of the Mother Below evaporates as it is sucked into the lethal ball of destruction. My mind can hardly comprehend the destruction as I realize this is the pinnacle of my strength. This is the most destruction I can possibly cause, the accumulation of all my power, all my knowledge, and all of my skills that I have ever gained.

It contains all the types of Ether I have learned. It incorporates my most powerful skills, all centered on the Sirza. It blends my Power, Virtue, and Dominion all together at once. Explosion becomes something incomprehensible at the bottom of that barrel. But the Ether doesn't speak. It simply howls in agony.

A screech that can only be likened to a billion animals at once suffering the most gruesome torture possible echoes through the fractured reality. Spreading out from my strike, the Mother Below's chitin shatters and falls inward on itself.

The God stumbles backward, and I begin to lose my balance as the bundle of gathered Ether I created is beset by her Darklight. I protect it with Dominion, cradling the lethality with my own soul, but it hurts. It's not safe for me to touch, either.

Nonetheless, bit by bit, the Mother Below works at the ball. Still, it eats through more and more of her body. And...

It's not alone—the insects in the air dive into feast on God's flesh.

The Endless have come for the kill. Vincent is here for the reward. Shit.

I stumble backward, utterly drained of any and all strength within my body. Blodwyn attempts to fuel me with his own Ether, but our Sirza quickly falters. Falling to a knee, I listen to the awful howls of agony from the God and the many Gods within her.

My attack was not nearly enough to kill her. But it was enough for Vincent and the others to push her over the edge. Desolation had already placed her at an equal's edge. Now...

We just have to worry about him devouring her strength. We don't want Vincent to be... invincible. If it took all of us to take down Usen... Vincent will only be worse.

He's arrogant, he's a prick, and he's uncaring for others, but he's smart. He's way more tactical than Usen, and in the end... we might only give birth to a more dangerous monster.

On my knees, I feel the Mother Below collapse to the ground. She speaks more, none of it anything I can hear as only the gradual sloshing of blood in my ears is within my eardrums. I roll across her back, searching for something to catch me, and a burning hand does so.

Emmet Knox lifts me into the air and delivers the both of us to the front of Usen's head. The spider's maw is wide open and clacking, with a swordsman and a legend in front of it. I lock eyes onto the latter, knowing how he had killed my father and possibly participated in my mother's death. My teeth grind, and my hands clench, but I hold on for now.

Vincent Harvey has returned to his true flesh while Lennon stands shakily beside him. I meet eyes with the man I've often fought against and with, and we nod simultaneously. He agrees.

"You... do... not... understand... the... evil... you've... awoken..."

Desolation laughs to the God's face, seeing her words as pure arrogance. I, however, know that she is not lying or boasting. The roaming veins that appear sickened upon Vincent's body are worrisome. The worst is the smile on his face.

He hasn't lost his mind. He believes he's still in the right. He believes that the world can only be peaceful under his iron claw, and he doesn't see how awful that would be for everyone else; only those he cares for would never suffer again.

"Stop your bullshit, Usen. You've lost. Quite... quickly, too. I expected better from you... It appears you disappoint like all the rest. Maybe... maybe the universe is just weak? What do you think, Lennon?"

The question turns to the wobbling swordsman, his body pushed to its limit again and again and then forced to move some more. Still, he nods with a smile, finding Vincent's words not all to wrong to himself.

"I do agree. It is weak. But... some of us are not. What will you do now, Vincent? Will you finish her off?"

The Wastelander, the Executioner Of Dust, bobs his head in a slow motion that sends twinges through my heart. Of course. Of course, he will.

"Yes. I shall take her power. And then... I'm not sure."

Just as the man admits his intent, that disease festering within him activates. Previously, it had only been passively weakening him, affecting his Ether and soul from what I could see, but I physically witness the tattered bits of sand and flesh ignite with a deathly glow.

Vincent steps backward as a man steps out of the maw of an enormous conjured skull. It is not the man I wish to see. But it is the one he oft relied upon.

The Cackling Lighting chuckles as his whole body streams with gray electricity. In his palm, a stone of Godly might rests, already fused with his flesh and altering his Dominion. The Third delivers my father's words for him.

"The Immortal Reaper, the Undying Curse, Death sends his regards from your soon-to-be corpse. Lennon Hull. Kill Usen. Any means necessary. I will slow him."

And it is that very same instant that another voice enters my mind while Vincent's eyes light up with unimaginable fury. He obviously didn't know the depths of Killian Graves' hate for him. It was enough to let him ascend.

"I told you. He cannot die, little one. Now, don't let your father do it all alone. I have no more Personas to send, so I cannot aid you. I am sorry. I will, however, retrieve Virgil. The lad's not done quite yet in this war. He can't be. You'll need him for what comes next.."