The Deepmind died.
Its existence snuffed out like a candle. Killing it had been so easy that it almost felt wrong. The ancient monster never even got a chance to complete its final words. They died in a strangled, begging scream. The last of the magical power that the lich had gathered poured into Arwin in a crashing river of strength. They filled the final gaps within his mind, body, and soul.
He ascended.
Arwin barely even paid any attention to the remains of the Deepmind as its huge skeleton collapsed to dust, drifting down like falling ash to vanish into the depths of the pit from which it had risen. The force tearing through his form was so immense that everything else was just completely unimportant in comparison.
For a brief instant, there was nothing but silence.
Silence and the power that now belonged to him.
And only then did he look down.
The silence had been entirely his own. Nobody else had felt it. They couldn’t have.
In truth, the world was awash with sound. With distractions. The yells of those he had come here with, the clank of armored Guildsman feet against the winding stairwell, the sounds of the Guildwall all around them — and then beyond it.
There was so much. And yet, it all felt so simple. The knowledge settled in his mind as if he had always known it. There was nothing new here. Every member of the Menagerie, every member of the Guild, each insect and animal and monster — every single living being anywhere near the Guildwall — Arwin could feel all of them.
And he could feel more.
He could feel the Leylines working their way through existence all around him. They were buried deep under the ground, but should he have willed it, he could have been upon one of them in an instant. All the power within them may as well have already been his.
Arwin knew, without even the slightest doubt, that it would take nothing more than a mere thought to consume them. To devour the Mesh itself and fix this mess of a world it had created. He had power. Real power. The cycle didn’t have to continue. It only existed because the Mesh was too weak to do anything itself. It couldn’t control humans. All it could do was watch passively.
But he was different.
Arwin looked down at his hand. He could feel the magic within it. Flattening the entirety of the Guildwall would have taken little more than a flick of his finger.
I can fix all of it. Ensure that nothing like the Guild ever has a chance to come about again.
The back of Arwin’s neck prickled. A frown pulled over his lips. Someone was yelling at him. He let his gaze lift from his hand to sweep over the room below. The Guild’s forces had gathered near the entrance, but only a few of them had been anywhere near bold enough to step into the room.
“Hero!” the man at the front yelled again. It hadn’t been the first time. He looked weary, but there was a confidence behind his eyes that had no place existing within his presence. “We must speak, and you know it.”
“I am not the Hero,” Arwin said. He floated down to the ground, alighting gently, his cold gaze boring into the man. “And I must do nothing.”
“Arwin, then,” the man said. He took a step forward, inclining his head slightly in greeting. “I am Alrich. Second in command of the Guild. And the two of us are this world’s only hope of continued existence. I see that you have consumed the Deepmind. I don’t know how you managed that. But it is clear that you have become what we sought to create. To be completely honest, it was far from what we had planned. That changes nothing. You want to save this world, don’t you? Then you — and the Menagerie — are on the same side as us.”
“Is that so?” Arwin asked, his lips curling in amusement. He’d almost forgotten that the Menagerie were here. There was just so much else to deal with. A few extra lives weren’t all that much in the grand scheme of things. “I would love to hear how.”
Alrich took another step forward and pressed his hand to his chest. “With your newfound power, you must realize the truth. The Mesh was a worthless god. It could do nothing but watch passively. We needed a new one. But there is no room for two gods within this world.”
Arwin tilted his head to the side.
“I am aware,” Arwin said. “The Mesh is unneeded. I will do what it could not.”
“Exactly,” Alrich said with a wide smile. “And that is exactly what we wish. It is the same reason we worked with the Deepmind. The Mesh must be replaced. But… you must realize, that it is not just two gods that the world does not have power for. Even one is too much. You can tell, can’t you? Even with all the power you possess… you will need more. Your very existence will drain this world to nothing.”
Arwin’s lips pulled downward.
His senses traveled out, newfound knowledge flowing as easily as breathing. He let his mind travel through the Leylines and brush across the world. He felt the magical power flowing in the eternal cycle that the Mesh had built. The magic flowing into the new lives and flowing out of the old ones.
He felt the magic that was still flowing into him.
And then he knew the truth.
Alrich was right.
He could fix all of this. All the damage the Guild had done, all the horrible acts they’d committed… he could fix every single one of them. He could undo it all. Bring the dead back and wind time in reverse. Everything could be as it was meant to be.
And he could keep it that way.
But he would need more power.
“I know you’re thinking you could drain the power from us,” Alrich said. “That would give you some more. But that would just be temporary. The Cycle is broken, Arwin. You know this. It’s just… not enough. Not enough for someone to truly shepherd the world. That is why the Guild exists. We know that terrible things must be done for the sake of the world. This war… it was a patch. But we finally have a chance to remove that patch and solve things for good.”
“Just fucking kill him!” a girl yelled. “Arwin, why are you talking to this bastard?”
Arwin glanced at her. It took him an instant to realize that it was Reya. He did remember her, of course. There were just so many other things on his mind. So many more important tasks. He didn’t have room to consider the Menagerie right now.
He looked back to Alrich.
“And what is it that you believe the solution to be?”
Alrich’s smile grew wider.
“We just need an external source,” Alrich said, clasping his hands before him. “And you have a way to get it. With the magic you possess, you could open a real pathway to other planets. We could harvest their strength en masse. Not just a few occasional new scraps of energy, but a real flow of it. A constant one.”
“Disgusting,” another of the Menagerie growled. Koyu. He thrust a metal finger at Alrich. “You want to keep the planet alive by constantly kidnapping people from other worlds so you can kill them, like some slaughterhouse? You’re as bad as the Deepmind was.”
“You think I want any of this?” Alrich snarled. “I do what I must! And so will Arwin. He knows that I speak the truth. My request is not selfish. It is what must be done for the greater good. And Arwin himself cannot continue to exist without doing as I say. He knows this, too. All the power he has will not last forever. A God is only a God so long as they have power. And when this world withers and dies, he will too.”
“He is right,” Arwin said. “I can feel the Cycle. It… is broken. Without the war, without a flow of energy to replace what I will need to fix all the damage they have done, we will all wither and die.”
A groan rose from beside Koyu, where two women from the Menagerie were crouched by the wall.
The fallen one pushed herself up, her teeth clenched in pain. Her wound was still eating away at her.
“I’d rather die than live knowing we only persist on the constant death of innocents,” she hissed. “And I know you would to. How could you even consider something like that?”
“What would you have him do?” Alrich demanded. “Give us a solution, Lillia! I will take it! Do you think I wish for death? I wish for survival. For all of us here. But if you cannot then Arwin will simply fade away. He will be gone, and the world will be back where it was. A boulder rolling down the mountain, soon to shatter into nothing but dust.”
“Better that then the alternative. If that was really the case, then maybe we were always meant to die,” Lillia said. She shoved herself to her feet, pushing the rest of the Menagerie away as she dragged herself toward Arwin, her eyes locked with his. “I won’t let you bastards turn me a monster. And I won’t let you turn Arwin into one, either.”
Arwin stared at her for a long second.
Then he blinked.
Lillia.
Memories bubbled up.
This magic could let me live forever. It could let us live forever.
Together.
And not just her. He’d nearly forgotten.
The Menagerie. There was Rodrick. Esmerelda and Vanessa. Olive and Reya and Thane. Elias and Maeve. Madiv, Kien, Anna. Art and Vix. Monica, Melissa, Raen. Every single member and friend of the Menagerie. Everyone in Milten that he cared about.
Are the lives of those we’ll never meet really such a big ask? We’ve suffered so much.
Is it so wrong to ask for peace? Even for just one generation, couldn’t we have peace? Why can’t someone else suffer for once?
His mind delved deep. He considered all the magic at his fingertips. The possibilities sprawling before him if he simply consumed the Mesh and put its even greater strength to use. If he became a true God.
Arwin looked deep into Lillia’s eyes.
There was no forgiveness there.
Not if he went this path.
Arwin pushed the magic back, prying his mind free of it.
He let himself think. Not as a god, but as Arwin.
Several long seconds passed.
Then the power returned.
He turned back to Alrich, and to the forces of the guild that stood behind him. Idly, he noted that the Guild Leader was still in hiding above them. The man had been too scared to come face Arwin himself. That was amusing, especially considering Arwin barely even remembered what his face looked like — and despite that, he could have killed the coward with a thought.
“You know that I am right,” Alrich said. “You love the Menagerie. This much, we know. And there is only one way to save them. To save everyone on this world. You must make the very same choice that we have been forced to make. It is not an easy one. But love never is.”
“Your calculations were right,” Arwin said finally. “There is no room for a God in this world. The Cycle cannot sustain me. Not without drawing power from another source.”
“No,” Lillia said. “Arwin, don’t. You can’t.”
“Yes, he can,” Alrich said with a cold smile. “Because none of us have a choice. The Cycle must end.”
“That isn’t it, either,” Arwin said with a slow shake of his head. “That which weighs the Cycle down to the point of breaking is not this world. It is me. There is no room for a God.”
Alrich’s smile faltered. “What?”
“I am the problem,” Arwin said quietly. “Greed is the problem. The reason this world is crumbling has nothing to do with the Cycle. It is because your hunger for power and life has made you steal the resources that belong to the Cycle. Without me… the Cycle would work exactly as it should.”
Alrich let out a callous bark of laughter. “Perhaps. You could kill yourself. Abandon those who love you. Release the magic. And then, inevitably, the world would end up exactly where it is right now just a short ways down the road. Even if you were to wipe the Guild away, there would be another. Someone who seeks what is not theirs will always come. But you are a righteous man. You could prevent that. Like it or not, Arwin, this world needs you. You must tear the Mesh away and rule in its place… or you can kill yourself and kick the problem down the road. Those are the only options.”
“They can’t be,” Lillia said. She gritted her teeth, dropping to one knee as a spasm of pain tore through her body. She let out a hissing wheeze. “Arwin. Please. There has to be something else. We can figure it out.”
“But you can’t spend the time on that, can you?” Alrich asked. “Arwin’s mere existence is already draining power from this world. He needs to use that magic to consume the Mesh and establish a flow of new power, or there will be nothing at all left to save.”
Arwin let his eyes linger on Lillia for a second longer. He couldn’t even risk wasting magic on crushing Alrich. The infuriating man was right. Whatever he did… he had to do it fast. He could feel even more magical energy flowing into him. The Cycle was starting to flow through his body. Magic from those who had died all across the world was entering him.
I… I can’t become something that she won’t look upon.
His gaze returned to Alrich.
“I have to use this power,” Arwin said slowly. “You are quite right about that. I cannot clutch it to my chest like the Deepmind. It has a purpose that must be fulfilled.”
Alrich smiled. “Then do it, Arwin. Use your power. Save us all.”
“I will,” Arwin said.
He drew deep on the magic within him, gathered up every single scrap of immense power at his fingertips. He felt it coil through the air around him. The power was eager to obey. To do exactly as he commanded.
And so Arwin commanded.
He clapped his hands together.
A thunderous explosion tore through the room. Golden magic tore out from him in a huge rippling shockwave, heading out in every single direction to pass through the earth. It continued past the Guildwall.
He pushed harder. It continued through the Kingdom. He pushed, and it passed Milten. It passed the farthest reaches of the Kingdom and beyond.
Arwin pushed until his magic had enveloped the entire world.
Then it was spent.
The coils of magic surrounding Arwin faded away. All the knowledge and power that had filled his mind faded, every single scrap of it consumed.
A wave of exhaustion washed over Arwin. He dropped to one knee, the world swaying as all the pain and weariness of mortal flesh rolled back over him. Golden letters carved into the air before him.
You have offered the [World] a Quest.
Memories washed over him, and they were his own.
He saw himself as a child, training with the Guild. He saw the many demons that had fallen at the edge of his blade. He saw Blake. He saw all the pain and suffering, all those who had died for no reason at all. He saw all the lives that the Guild had thrown away in their desperation to stay in control.
Arwin saw his final fight with Lillia and the detonation of the gem that had saved them both.
He saw Milten. The Menagerie, arriving one by one.
And he saw all that the Guild had done.
The last months of his life danced by his eyes in a flash, taking no more than a few seconds. It did not end until the Deepmind fell for the second time, until Arwin’s thoughts caught up with where his mind currently was.
Nearly everyone in the room staggered. Arwin hadn’t been the only one to see those visions. For that matter, there were only a few people who hadn’t seen them.
Namely, the members of the Guild who had been aware of its actions. He figured it would be a little more fun to let them find out the consequences of their actions the hard way.
New letters twisted through the air as the Mesh’s presence filled the entire room. And, this time, the message it displayed for those able to see it was exactly the same.
Arwin Tyrr has offered the world a Quest.
The Adventurer’s Guild has subjugated this world for too long. Now that you have witnessed the truth of their actions, choose your future for yourself.
The members of the Guild who were aware of its actions will be highlighted with the innocent blood they have spilled. A considerable portion of the magical energy they stole will be transferred to any who slay them. Further rewards may be taken from the bodies of your oppressors.
Would you like to be teleported to the Guildwall?
[Y] / [N].
“What?” Alrich whispered, horror washing over his features. Not at the Mesh’s warning, which he couldn’t see, but merely at the fact that Arwin had somehow spent the powers of a god without visibly managing to accomplish a single thing. “What did you do?”
Arwin’s lips curled up in a faint smile.
“What you told me to. I used up all my power,” Arwin replied, dragging himself toward Lillia. “There’s no god here. Just a few mortals… and a Quest. Have fun with that.”