Author's Preface
A beam of dark energy descended from the cosmic pupil into the heart of Valoria.
By instinct, the Wanderer raised his arms to shield his face as the black torrent erupted outward, the shockwave driving his massive form backward through the air.
He slowly lowered his arms to find the beam gone. The sky tremored before the colossal eye closed and vanished into the void.
For a moment, silence fell over the burning ruins of the capital.
Then, the earth beneath the city began to shift.
Using the Spiral in his left socket, the Wanderer stared deep into the bedrock. Beneath the ruined streets sat a massive figure curled into a fetus position.
"How... how could I not have seen this before?" the Wanderer muttered.
The figure began to uncoil as the entirety of Valoria shook.
First to break through the crust was the head. A monstrous, black skull crowned with two horns and an elongated chin tipped with a third horn. A thick black liquid dripped continuously from its hide, vaporizing the stone and soil it touched into smoke.
Slowly, the entity rose to its full, staggering height. It towered like a living mountain, hovering high above the broken walls of the capital.
Down on the scorched plains, Hidan came sprinting toward the shadow of the monster, his eyes wide with unhinged devotion. "Rise! Rise, you primal beast! Remold Avaris in your image!"
Hidan fell to his knees in the burning dirt, throwing both arms toward the sky.
The beast unfurled its massive wings, blocking the sun and covering Valoria in a moonless night.
As the wings snapped open, a torrential rain of the acidic black liquid showered down over Valoria, coating soldiers and citizens alike.
Hidan shrieked in sudden agony as the corrosive rain rained down upon his upturned face, eating through his skin in seconds.
"No... no!" Hidan gasped, his voice dissolving into wet gurgles. "I released you... I worshipped you...!"
His flesh melted from his frame, and his bones vaporized into ash as he pleaded
[ 1 MINUTE REMAINING ]
"I wished for Valoria to fall... not perish!" the Wanderer roared.
Ignoring the agony tearing his own body apart from the inside, he surged forward, flying toward the beast's black skull. Bringing both hands together, he funneled the infinite rings of mana into his palms.
He unleashed the entirety of his compressed mana sphere in a devastating beam, a continuous torrent of energy aimed at the monster's face.
The force of the impact shook the heavens. The primal titan roared as its colossal body pushed backward, shielding his face with his arms.
[Energy depleted. Collapse countdown stopped.]
The titan uncurled its massive arms from its face, fixing its abyssal gaze upon the Wanderer, and unleashed an earth-shattering roar.
The shockwave pushed the Wanderer backward through the ruins. His body smashed through one ruined building after another, collapsing already shattered stone structures before stopping in a heap of rubble.
He pushed himself onto his knees, gasping for air. "No... it's not... over yet."
He looked down at his trembling hands. The blue blaze around his eye was dying, the energy arm flickering, as his borrowed power was slipping through his fingers.
Channel the leylines through me!. He ordered internally.
[Request denied.]
"Do it, or I'll jump straight down its throat!" the Wanderer screamed at the sky.
[Calculating...]
[The vessel cannot contain this volume of energy. Searching for structural alternatives...]
"Do as I say!"
[It is possible to utilize the vessel purely as an open conductor for the leylines, delivering a single strike before total structural collapse.]
The Wanderer looked up at the beast as it began to flap its wings.
"Then let's make it count."
His frame expanded once more, forcing the World Ender Protocol into a final ignition.
[10 seconds remaining.]
The subterranean leylines erupted from the stone behind him, driving into the back of his heart like spears. He grunted in agony.
[9...]
He attempted to form the mana into refined circles, but his heart couldn't stand the density. Raw energy burst outward, causing blood to erupt simultaneously from his mouth, nose, and eyes.
[8...]
He forcibly aligned his limbs, using his body as a living pipe to aim the raw mana at the titan.
[7...]
He unleashed the unrefined torrent of the earth's veins through his chest.
[6...]
The raw energy set his flesh ablaze from the inside out as it traveled through his torso, firing outward in a beam of annihilation.
[5...]
The monster shrieked, instantly wrapping its massive wings and forearms around its head to form a shield.
[4...]
The unbridled mana slammed into the titan, tearing through its wings, penetrating its forearms, and destroying the horn extending from its chin.
[3...]
Corrosive black acid sprayed like a geyser from the titan's mangled limbs as its roar echoed across the kingdom.
[2...]
Shaking off the impact, the beast opened its mouth. From the depths of its throat, a counter-stream of dark energy erupted, pushing back against the Wanderer's beam.
"No..." the Wanderer gasped, feeling his grip falter.
[CRITICAL LIMIT REACHED. TERMINATING WORLD ENDER PROTOCOL.]
"No! Just a few more seconds-!"
The connection snapped. The feedback of the two colliding beams exploded, sending the Wanderer flying into the devastated streets of Valoria.
The titan circled high above Valoria, its massive wings fanning black rain that settled over the capital, turning most of Valoria into a tar pit.
The Wanderer raised a trembling arm, gritting his teeth against the searing agony. But no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't gather a single drop of mana. He dragged his broken form toward Altharion's corpse.
Desperately, he wrapped his fingers around the hilt of Justice and pulled it free.
The blade ignited in a blinding white light.
Reality snapped, pulling him once more into that ethereal expanse.
The moment his feet touched the void, Warden 604 lunged forward, seizing him by his bloodied collar. "What in the hell have you done?!"
The Wanderer rasped. "The Beyonder... he was imprisoned beneath Valoria... by the Nullstones..."
"You idiot!" 604 roared, shaking him. "Why did you have to take it this far?!"
"I had no choice!" the Wanderer yelled back.
604 let go of him, taking a step back. "That thing out there isn't even the Beyonder! It's just one of his twisted followers!" He buried his face in his hands. "It doesn't even matter now... you’ve completely destroyed your own vessel."
The Wanderer stared at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean you can't hold magic inside your body anymore!" 604 shouted, his voice echoing through the fracturing void. "Your channels are burnt to ash! You can't draw mana, and you certainly can't fuse the three blades now!"
The Wanderer collapsed onto his knees, as cracks spread through the dimension around them. "I... I didn't know..."
Then, a sudden spark of rage ignited in his chest. He looked up, glaring at the ancient warden. "You took part in shaping this wretched world, 604! You built this system!"
604 glared back. "You fool! You have no idea how much I sacrificed just to keep the Beyonder from stepping foot into this realm! so its people could have a chance!"
"A chance to tear each other apart?!" the Wanderer spat.
604’s form began to flicker wildly as the void tore at its seams. "It wasn't enough... I admit that."
The space around them began to collapse. 604’s silhouette faded into static, but he suddenly lunged toward the kneeling Wanderer.
"There might still be a way... I don't know if it would work, but that's all you have left!"
He pointed a ghost-like finger at the Wanderer's chest. "Go to the Murak tribe at Mount Rashven!"
The realm shattered completely, 604's voice fading. "It is your last chance..."
Reality slammed back into place.
The Wanderer gasped for air, collapsing onto the ground of Valoria, clutching Justice in his hand.
He gazed toward the sky, watching as the mountain-sized titan turned away from the ruined capital, its massive wings carrying it through the dark clouds, heading straight toward Hosar.