What's going on?! I think.

  The Illusionist smiles, and with a wave of his hand, disappears along with Elijah. The earth shakes and roars, and tidal waves crush and destroy the surrounding island. I grab the court jester's hand as the temple collapses and try to propel myself with fire, but like a broken gear, I can't.

  “This is not the time for this!” I shout.

  “I'm sorry! I can't stop!” he says.

  Shit.

  I move forward. I pull the clown as I run, his fear being used against him. The sky becomes dark and starless, and the shiny technology beside us rusts and shatters against the ground.

  That power… Wander?

  Impossible. He achieved metamagic? How? None of this feels good. Did he succumb to Andreas' pressure? We were warned this could happen. Was this the Illusionist's plan all along?

  I ignore the thoughts to focus on running, a cloud of dust rising from the disintegrated sediment. Although it doesn't affect us, I use Chaos as a mere precaution, randomizing the power of death's application so that it doesn't reach me. The green aura pulses through the archipelago, stones fall around my feet and sink us into the Sea of Thoughts, but we don't fall. In front of me, I see the Court Jester moving his legs in the air, using the wind as a platform.

  “Can you do that?!”

  “As long as I don't look down!”

  What? No. Never mind. If he can still use his power, then I can't distract him.

  “Don't look, then! Keep running! Think about reaching my allies!”

  “What?! Why?!”

  “So the Illusionist doesn't kill you!”

  He shouts as he runs, thinking he's escaping from the latter. I was right. We pass through storms and hurricanes, lightning strikes the Jester's head and fries us, but he wipes himself clean with a cloth and seems to be fine. Ahead, I see the team like ants.

  Magnus battles a giant creature, cornering the glowing beast into the sea at one end of the island. It has the characteristics of each person in the group, and its presence is somehow familiar to me. Instead of resisting drowning, however, it purposely lets some of its parts fall off. The priest doesn't bother using the suit to keep it away from the others, even though he knows something is wrong. None of them had died this time, but with the decay of the archipelago, the danger becomes real, and the coastal region had already been consumed by the darkness that takes over even the sea. It comes from the depths, rising like pillars to the sky, causing matter, magic, and everything else to decay into its most basic parts. If it weren't for the Unchanging Law protecting the islands, it would have consumed everything instantly. The distance between us increases more and more, but as we leave the Clown's domain, my power returns, and I propel myself toward the land.

  Far, so far. Space seems to distort. No matter how fast we go, we don't cross it. The Illusionist's influence had already spread, and with dominating psychic power, he also dominates the structure of the Archipelago. In the cold, a hand emerges from the fog, taking shape and grabbing me by the back of the neck along with the Clown. Morgana manifests herself and helps us, carrying us at the speed of the wind until we land in front of the rest of the team.

  Strange smiles of those who are saved, but whom I do not know.

  “Keep running!” I say to those who have stopped, even though some haven't. I follow them, and another voice shouts at me. This one catches my attention.

  “Sieghart!” Magnus crosses the skies until he falls beside me into a crater. “You made it?! Great!”

  “What's going on?! Where's Wander?!”

  Magnus swallows hard. “I don't know. Marduk appeared on the horizon, and while we were fighting that thing, he threw himself into the Sea of Thoughts with him!”

  “Marduk…? So he survived… And what is that thing?”

  The priest turned to the monster, now paralyzed, letting himself fall into the depths. “A demon.”

  “A demon? Here? How?”

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  “The Illusionist must be influenced by him, and vice versa,” Morgana says.

  “W-wait, what do you mean, a demon?! What's going on?!” says the Clown.

  “No, no. It makes sense,” I say. “The Illusionist let us escape because his intention was never to capture the Clown, but to use him as a distraction. Wander was always his main target. He must have been informed by the demons of his connection to Andreas.”

  Magnus frowns. “Does that mean Wander has turned against us?”

  “… I don't know,” I say, sensing a presence approaching. “But I'll find out.”

  “If that's the case, we'll need to neutralize him,” Morgana says.

  “No rash decisions. I'll talk to him. Take care of the students and delay the shining beast. When you destroy it… If you do, that is, our last option is to kill the Illusionist, so go to him even if I don't return.”

  Magnus inhales. “You're his friend, aren't you? Very well. I'll allow it. Be cautious. We need you. If Wander has turned against us, you know what you must do.”

  I nod. Magnus grabs the Jester and brings him to the group. Morgana looks at me as if to tell me to be careful, as she always does, then disappears to regroup.

  Against the shadows, I advance. The darkness grows ever greater. Not a darkness of the same nature as my magic, but of the void left behind by the ink that colors the world, stripped away to its deepest layers. Even at the cost of worsening the situation in the Rift, I do not trust that the power of Death will ignore me, so Chaos protects me. Step by step, I feel its presence grow until it shines like a beacon at night.

  Wander.

  He wears a white cloak and carries a bone scythe. His face is pale and gray, his eyes green, and his power is undeniable. He had awakened metamagic through some affirmation of his identity. Among the oddities, the apathy in his gaze is what concerns me most.

  “Sieghart.” He says in a voice similar to the one he had, but uncomfortably different. “Your mission was a success, then?”

  “Yes. I found him.”

  “I also note that no one had to die for it. Good. I was tired of praying.”

  “We have to do it, even when we don't want to.”

  “It's our duty, after all.”

  “… You seem different.”

  “I feel different.”

  “What happened?”

  “I did my job as a soldier.”

  “What is your job?”

  “I'm not sure. Savior. Executioner. They're both the same thing. You told me I was chosen for a reason. It could have been because I don't mind killing thousands, and so only I could bear such a burden. But I disagree. The heavens need someone who suffers for every life they take as their executioner, for only then can they understand the weight of life. That was my perception when I used my power for a very, very long time. But something whispered in my ear that this suffering would not need to exist if the world were as I believe it should be. Wouldn't it be beautiful to bring about a world without death sooner?”

  “And what did you decide?”

  Wander stares at me. “I'm going to kill death.”

  “What are you saying…?”

  “A world without death, brought about through death, is still horrible. Andreas showed me that. His vision is deplorable, and his methods are evil. No, if that is the vision I am to follow, then I was wrong, as much as it pains me to say so. The only option is to realize that I can achieve the absence of suffering by using death against death, as I did before. By defeating it, and thus transcending it through it, I can be part of the machinery that moves the world. Just like you, who will divide the heavens from the earth on the day chosen for it.”

  “If that is your identity, then killing death is just a mission. If you fail in this mission, or if you change your path to do another act, will you still be with us?” I say.

  “… I don't know. How could I know? Even if my mind were at full capacity—which, as you well know, is not true in a situation like this—I feel that I will never fully discover it. You never discovered it.”

  “You speak of identity, not of action. Tell me, Wander, are you still with us? Are you still Wander?”

  “I have always been Wander, and I always will be. But if you think it's innate for me to stand by your side, then maybe my perception isn't the problem.”

  “What do you mean?!”

  “It's clear, isn't it? You don't even care about those who give their lives for you, let alone someone who merely supports you.”

  “I can't know the names of everyone in the world, and this isn't about me. Will you betray us? Are you with us or against us?”

  “Always the same excuse. I know. You don't have to. I don't have to please everyone either, much less grace them with kindness. But yes. I'm with you. It's the only way to be right.”

  “Until the way to be right changes?”

  “I'd rather not think that's an alternative. It would be a shame.”

  I take a breath. “Great. We'll leave that for later. Why did you use that spell? The island is crumbling. There's a demon near the coast, and the Illusionist did all this to get his attention. Apparently, he failed. We have to go to him and kill him… But something tells me you know more.”

  “Yes. It's true that the Illusionist wanted me to follow Andreas, but my corruption was a backup plan. The demon you mentioned is Dagon, who has several domains, including fear and the ocean. He is the same one who was sealed away, but in incomplete form. The Illusionist planned to make us battle while using his mental influence on the islands to make his wishes come true, reanimating Dagon and bringing him to his full capabilities with the terror suffered by the participants. In the end, there is a terrible fear of confronting destiny, which leads them to escape from it as Marduk tried.”

  “Dagon… Yes, the shining eye in the ocean. I knew it was familiar to me. I believe the Illusionist will make him use Atlas's carcass, then?”

  “Yes. With you busy and Magnus trying to stop Dagon, his path would be clear to strengthen the Rift and win the war against Hoffstein. But now, we have a small chance to win it all.”

  “The Clown and I will break into the Illusionist's storm and kill him. You and Magnus can stop Dagon meanwhile.”

  “Indeed.”

  “You can, can't you?”

  “If I said no, we'd do it anyway, wouldn't we?”

  “… I — ”

  “It's your destiny. Don't apologize to me. Go and face him. I'll worry about the death of my own.”

  I take a breath, then nod.

  He laughs softly, then clenches his fist over his forehead. “Even with so much power, I'm still afraid. Just so I'm sure, do you still…?”

  “Always.”

  “I see. Thank you.”

  “Let's go.”