Elysium's Multiverse

Chapter 298: (End of Book 5)

Chapter 298

Wrath.

So that was who, or what, had been talking to her all this time. Why her? Why now?

But the more pressing question was: how was she supposed to leave this place and get back home to Panu? If the visions Wrath had presented her with were correct she needed to leave. Right now.

Allie’s ghost-like body whipped, pulsed and then surged as notifications sprinkled her vision one after the other.

[Congratulations, Host and Reincarnation of Wrath. Your stats have been added on to with your ascension into the E-grade, and with your race and title change. Please see your status page for more details. You have also acquired the following abilities and traits, selected from Wrath’s old repertoire as his most needed abilities to start with:

• Feathers of the Wrathful Angel (Sin): Spread your wings and unleash a storm of feathers afflicted with Sin energy. These piercing feathers regrow rapidly and cost small amounts of mana, dealing significant damage, but with every successful strike they increase your rage.

• Prayer of the Lost Souls (Death/Sin, Tier 4): This is a direct branch off of your innate ability “Angel’s Phantom Touch”. This chanting prayer can only be done while in your Angel of Wrath form, while maintaining the prayer with proper hand signs for at least a minute to activate. Then focus on the soul you wish to find in the beyond, and if they are within reach - they will answer. This Tier 4 spell has the following obligatory Xax affiliated with it: An arch enemy’s soul sacrifice, with complete obliteration of the soul during the chant. Beware, using this prayer will draw ancient predators from the beyond towards your position. Do not use this prayer if you are not ready to contend with them.

• Prior ability branch platform: Angel’s Phantom Touch: Allows you to completely resurrect allies by physically dragging their souls back into the world with your phantasmal body aspect. Does not require activation of an ability. This is contingent on being able to find their souls before they’re swallowed and lost to the afterlife, or finding them again once they’ve already been lost.

• Farsight Banishment (Sin): Send a pulse of sin that eradicates all ties to the area around you concerning scrying, remote tracking, spying, karmic ties, or long-range visualization abilities. Very long cooldown.

• Soul Clone Projections (Sin): Create a single summoned projection of your Wrathful Lion, allowing you to attack enemies with your projection. Attacks with your soul clone body cause soul-damage, decreasing all mana, stamina, divinity, and health regeneration until the enemy soul has healed. Beware, summoning your Wrathful Lion will cause your rage to build far faster.

• The Angel of Wrath, Ultimate Undead, Bastion of Death (Trait): Your body is now transitioned to a state between life and death, an ultimate form of the First Undeath, and an aspect of Wrath’s demonic heritage before it was tainted and warped by the new age undead. You may switch between your original angelic body and this one at will without any cost, but you gain vast amounts of power while maintaining your Angel of Wrath form. The downside is that you become enraged slowly over time, and the more angry you get - the more power you deal. Damage you take amplifies your rage, and thus your power, until you hit a berserking form at the pinnacle of your anger. You will now have a RAGE bar as well to monitor your anger, and should you change into your berserking form - you will be UNABLE to tell friend from foe as your power in all categories triples; and you will simply wish to kill everything in your path as you are engulfed by hatred.

• Reincarnation of Wrath, Original Sin (Trait): You once were a being feared across the cosmos. Reaching the SSS grade again after your reincarnation will unlock previously unattainable aspects for your Path of Wrath, allowing you to ascend higher than ever before. If your vessel and host dies, you will be forced to restart on this path once again. You have been labeled as a ‘MYTHIC’ tier creature in comparison to others your level across the multiverse.]

[System Notice: Elysium’s contractual agreement has been met. As one of the seven Original Sins, you are being allowed another chance at life. Per the contract:

• You will remain as a symbiotic organism to balance out your Wrathful tendencies

• You will have a nearly complete reset, losing over 99% of your skills, knowledge, and levels

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• You will no longer be contained to the abyss

• The ones banished with you during the War of Eternum will also be returned to life, with the same reduction of skills, knowledge, and levels as you experienced. These banished ones will only appear after you leave The Abyssal Descent.

• Limiters on all other Original Sins, and the angelic Commandments, will be opened - allowing them to take the same deal you struck

• Should your symbiote ever die, you will be given the opportunity to start over again and choose a new one - but you will have another complete reset in doing so

• All Shards of Wrath will be returned to you now that your banishment is being lifted, but remnants of your old power will remain in the harbingers you created during your attempts to circumvent my rules

• Any further attempts to circumvent my rules will result in another, permanent, banishment]

Allie felt Wrath sneer internally at the last note on the message. The sensation was odd, having overwhelming anger and an accompanying fountain of raging power at her fingertips - yet the energy she felt here was not like normal Death mana. Instead it was something older, more ancient, and lacked some of what newer undead today sported in their souls - yet it was also accompanied by something so much more. Something that she could not put her finger on.

[Your level has been set to equal the symbiote partner you’ve bonded to. All of your previously banished servants will start at level 1 when you leave The Abyssal Descent.]

[New system quest dispensed: Save Mara and Kathrine, and secure the Fallen Vampiric God’s Essence - You have been chosen as the vessel for Wrath, the most aggressive of the Original Sins, and have survived Elysium’s tribulation. You have been promised a way out of The Abyssal Descent as part of the contractual agreement, and Wrath is willing to make a way out through further dealings with Elysium. At the cost of further suppressing Wrath’s tendencies towards obscene violence, a portal will be gifted to you over the skies of Brightsville on Panu.

For you don’t have long to act. Crendir No-Name, a traitorous E-grade commander from The Blood Moon Requiem, has meanwhile decided to take matters into his own hands concerning ‘World Quest 4, Blood of the Fallen God’. He is attempting to rob you and your planet of the fallen god’s essence and opportunity. He is not a pureblooded vampire, but he has been given a means of temporarily masking himself as a pureblood - becoming one of only a few on your planet that can benefit from drinking the ancient god’s blood, and will be able to absorb it without issue should he reach the tomb. Stop him before he obtains this taboo power and leaves the planet, save Mara and Kathrine before he executes them, and secure the ancient one’s blood for Riven - or destroy it entirely if this cannot be done.

Mara and Kathrine’s lives are guaranteed for 20 hours per this system quest; regardless of how much damage they take. Afterwards they will have their protections stripped. It is highly likely that they will die if you don’t reach them in the underdark by then. In lieu of this boon: Crendir No-Name has been given a quest of his own that will reward him with extremely valuable prizes should he succeed - including a portal off Panu to anywhere in the multiverse if he successfully fulfills all of his own requirements; INCLUDING AN ENTIRELY NEW ALTERNATIVE BRANCH OF THE BLOOD SUB-PILLAR THAT WILL BE RESTORED BY ELYSIUM’S WILL SHOULD HE ABSORB THE BLOOD PROPERLY. Perhaps your brother, as a pureblooded vampire himself, will benefit if you manage to secure the ancient Blood Sub-Pillar alternative? Let the race commence.]

[New religious quest dispensed: Destroy the Fallen God’s Bloodline - You have previously been denounced as an Apostate by The Blood God, and have angered nearly all vampiric factions across the multiverse in doing so. Hated by many and loved by few, The Blood God extends to you a new olive branch in light of recent events: Kill Crendir No-Name and purge the Fallen God’s blood from the face of Panu entirely. Destroy all remnant artifacts of the ancient, alternate Blood Sub-Pillar, and you will be forgiven of your sins. Despite your ascension into Wrath’s Reincarnation, The Blood God will not tolerate allowing the ancient Blood Sub-Pillar alternative to revive itself by way of Elysium’s laws. It is a direct threat to The Blood God’s rule over this Sub-Pillar, and allowing this remnant to live on is akin to a direct attack on him. Destroying the ancient fallen god’s blood entirely will result with a gift of 1 planet to add to your budding empire, one of your choosing within The Blood God’s domain, all additional slaves residing on that planet to rule over, devotion from any clergy of The Blood God residing on that planet, and all associated resources on said planet. You will also be labeled a Hero of Blood, and be given a short range E-grade stargate setup for traversing between planets in adjacent solar systems should you choose to accept. Meanwhile, a crusade will be declared upon your Panu faction and upon Wrath’s Church should you succeed to kill Crendir yet choose to allow this sub-pillar to exist. Pick and choose wisely.]

***

Riven’s heart still thundered in his chest, but his breathing had calmed down. Only a handful of people remained outside of Riven’s own group, most having fled the room with Allie’s ascension, and he had to say - she was rather intimidating to look at. Not because of what her body looked like either, but rather - setting eyes on her gave a sense of severe and impending violence. It was incorporated into her aura now, and it stayed that way until she looked up from where she was hovering to meet his gaze.

She slowly let her ghostly body touch down, right-foot forward, onto the cracked stone floor as the ceiling overhead began to repair itself by some unknown mechanism. The black bones encompassed within her phantasmal body shifted as she moved towards him, and the massive four wings out to either side of her glittered black with every step.

He turned, seeing the suns unwrap themselves from Allie’s body to take up their original spots at the Sin and Death stations. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he ignored the other gawking members of his party and let out a shaky breath. “You really scared me there, I thought you were in trouble.”

She didn’t smile back.

Instead, she just stared back at him with a cold and calculating gaze through pale silver eyes. “You should have told me about mom.”

Riven’s breath caught in his throat, a look of surprise flashing over him which was too quick to hide. “You know?”

“I’ve known.” Allie said sternly, snapping her fingers at Fimrindle who’d prostrated himself not far off. “Fimrindle, we need to leave. Events are transpiring elsewhere that need my attention.”

“Y-yes master!” The reaper stammered, which was quite uncharacteristic for the creature.

Riven’s brows furrowed. “Wait… You’re leaving?”

“Yes.”

“Why? And just what are you now? Gluttony’s telling me that you’re now Wrath’s reincarnation… Don’t you want go over-”

“I don’t have time, and you can complete this stupid little adventure on your own.” Allie said with a snarl, her right three arms pointing at him accusingly. “We will speak when you get back, about how you’ve been treating me like a child. It is unacceptable. Until then, there isn’t anything else to say.”

“But you-”

“Unless you want your vampiric princess Kathrine to die a gruesome death, I suggest you let it go. I need to leave, right now.” Allie sneered. “Don’t want another one of your would-be harem members to eat shit, now would you? Ah how the tables have turned from those days where you lectured me on the principles of moral values.”

Riven’s jaw slowly dropped, shocked at the accusation and a little bit irritated. “Why are you so angry? I did what I thought was best when I saw the vision! When mom-”

“SHE’S MY MOTHER TOO!” Allie screamed, reaching out and bitch-slapping him across the face with a resounding CRACK.

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Silence ensued, and Riven held out a hand to stop Athela from coming forward. The demoness was trembling with both anger and fear, but she was about to try and intervene - or perhaps even attack Allie back with a retaliatory strike. He couldn’t have that, for numerous reasons.

Allie snorted in disgust when she noticed, and glared at the archdemon in challenge. “What? Don’t like being labeled as a part of his collection? Tough shit sister, you’re far too gone to not be. Maybe if you’re lucky, it’ll be you who has the HONOR of getting pregnant instead of some elf slave he stole from a village! You think you’re special because he’s Gluttony’s Reincarnation? You’re a piece of hot ass. But maybe I’m wrong! Maybe if you ask him nicely, he’ll even stop flirting back with that dumb-as-a-rock drow slut over there and NOT take her on too for variety’s sake! Or maybe not. Who knows? But I CERTAINLY remember getting shit for having my own thrall man-harem when I was still a vampire!”

Athela’s eye twitched, and Kara shamefully lowered her head in embarrassment from where she half-way hid behind Azmoth’s huge frame.

“Jesus hated hypocrites, Riven. Then again, we’re both aspects of Original Sin now - right? Maybe the teachings of Jesus don't apply to us anymore? Go ahead and fuck yourself.” Allie jeered with an unamused laugh, and a portal of unknown origin smashed into existence a second later - blinding him for a moment. The last thing he saw was Allie flipping him off before she abruptly vanished with Fimrindle quickly following behind, the portal snapping shut on the way out with a final POP sound.

[One of your party members has left The Abyssal Descent. You are now a party of 4.]

Silence ensued for the next couple of seconds.

Riven was… dumbfounded, and at a loss for words. Unfortunately, Athela was not.

“WHAT, a, CUNT!” Athela screamed, pulling at her hair and kicking rubble at the spot from where Allie had left. “WOW! Just - WOW!”

“That was completely uncalled for.” Fay said in a whisper, though she looked rather upset after the exchange. “We’re not pieces of ass.”

Riven winced and hoped Fay and Athela weren’t bothered by what Allie had said. Riven didn’t think he was flirting with Kara, but did they agree? Was Kara really intentionally flirting with him, or was Allie just being an asshole? He was both embarrassed and angry, and didn’t know where to find an answer for what had just happened. Riven blinked and turned to look at Retesh, and the old lich just shrugged.

“Don’t ask me. She’s your sister.”

True. But not helpful.

Gluttony was the one to finally fill in some of the blanks, speaking directly into Riven’s mind. “I believe that Wrath’s influence, coupled with the revelation that Lahn has been dating someone else in her absence, made her react the way she did by singling you out. I would not take it personally. We merely need to kill and eat an enlightened being once a week to stave off problems, while she will forever have… as you call it, anger management issues - while in that form. In order for her not to retain the building rage, she will need to revert out of that body into what we would call a more ‘normal’ angel of death.”

Lahn was dating someone else?

When did that happen?

Just what the fuck was going on back on Panu?

He’d been gone way too long.

Riven cringed at the mention of eating other enlightened beings. Yes, he did it regularly, but he’d try to not think about it too much and mostly went after those he killed in combat - or people with rather extreme backgrounds that deserved to be locked up in prison for the rest of their lives. Not eating people resulted in both mood swings and debuffs, so he had an inkling of an idea of what Allie was going through right now.

“Still, that was a brutal roasting she just gave me.” Riven muttered, scratching the back of his head. “And what was that about Kathrine? I knew she was in some kind of trouble, but what does this have to do with it?”

Gluttony internally grunted. “That’s not something for you to worry about right now as there’s nothing you can do about it. Allie is handling it, but it is up to us to get Lillith back and finish the descent - before continuing on to claim Chalgathi’s quest as your own.”

Thinking about it some more, and ignoring some of the speculative or awestruck looks of the other groups who’d had the balls to remain, he managed to regain his composure and decided it was better to sleep on it to clear his mind. He was rather tired anyways, and there’s no way he’d be able to cultivate like this. Or maybe he’d go and talk to Prince Rantali about what the next floor had in store for them - as the man was still here and waiting rather eagerly on the sidelines to speak to him given his demeanor.

Yeah. That’d probably be for the best. It was likely Prince Rantali’s group was the one Riven would pair with anyways, so he might as well figure it out now while he wasn’t able to finish this floor - and changed course mid-walk while shamefully avoiding Kara’s stare on the way over.

This was going to be a long, long day.

***

Elder Thune paced back and forth, his white ponytail was over one shoulder with his hands steepled in front of him.

Across the blood pit and on the opposite side of the room, two humanoid figures stood in eerie silence. Hoods adorned their features and masks covered their faces, but he could tell even from here - these were no pushovers. S-grades each with the power to single-handedly topple empires, they were some variety of shape-shifting demons accustomed to subterfuge. They gave even him chills, and his own two elite soldiers on either side of the throne he sat on were firm-jawed and rigid in anticipation of a fight should things go bad.

After all, one did not just invite the religious zealots of an original sin into their home without taking precautions. Greed of all the sins was rumored to be… extravagant, in how he manipulated people. But they had a common enemy here, and Elder Thune was very keen on getting to the bottom of just what they could and would do concerning the world of Panu - as it was still under Elysium’s shield through the integration process.

Through the door’s awning and between the two visitors, a third man with sickly green skin emerged. He wore tattered rags and a similar hooded cowl like the two others beside him, though Elder Thune could see bugs or something akin to bugs crawling on the inside of the man’s pale green skin. Orange eyes glared out at him, and the creature’s slits-for-nostrils flared with a creepy smile that went beyond the point of where his ears should be.

“Elder Thune…” The man’s voice called out, with the remnant clicking of something deep inside his throat. “I have heard so much about you. It fascinates me, that we would cross paths like this.”

Elder Thune felt his blood run cold at the creature’s passive aura brushing against his. Though this monster was far removed from his days of glory once upon a time, The Gambler was a creature of literal legends. No longer above the S-grade, and reduced to a mere shadow of what he’d once been, his aura still held the lingering remnants of a time where this thing had swallowed worlds on end in his quest to find and hoard treasures of myth.

“Gambler.” He said, nodding in the monster’s direction. “I would offer you a seat, but I was informed that you’d prefer to stand.”

“Truly it matters little to me. If it comforts you, I can sit.” The gambler said, walking to the edge of the blood pit and staring down at the floating carcasses below. He cocked his head to one side and clasped his hands behind his back with a raised eyebrow. “Sacrifices?”

Elder Thune nodded, gesturing to the naked, mutilated bodies half submerged in the pool. “Two dozen just today. I am in the process of refining a ritual, forgive me. I would have held the meeting elsewhere if I had been made aware of your plans to arrive.”

“No need to apologize, vampire.” The archdemon said with an amused chuckle. “I was just curious. As formy plans on arrival, I’m afraid that won’t ever be in the cards. You see, although I am prone to take risks for greater rewards - I am not one to do so thoughtlessly. Many people want my head, and if that bastard Wrath is now back in the picture… Well. It complicates things all that much more. Did you know that Wrath was the first one to ever kill my master?”

Elder Thune leaned back in surprise, still steepling his hands. “The first? Greed was killed by Wrath? Does this have to do with the system notification on Wrath’s emergence?”

“Indeed it does, and yes - Greed was killed by Wrath in the first era. Long before either of us had been born. Back when the gods hadn’t yet taken up their mantles and there was but one chaotic universe. But the sins are immortal, only their vessels can be killed - and they can only be temporarily banished when done.” The Gambler replied with another laugh, pacing around the blood pit in a slow gait towards the elder vampire. “Unfortunately… That brings me to my first point of conversation. I know that I am here to talk about what our plans are concerning the little bastard Riven Thane, but alas we have more than one problem now. Wrath has chosen his new vessel. And I have it on good authority from one of our agents in The Abyssal Descent, that the one Wrath chose was none other than Allie Thane.”

Elder Thune rapidly blinked. Surely, he had heard wrong.

But The Gambler’s words reverberated in the old vampire’s mind, and slowly Elder Thune’s eyes went wide in horror, shock, and denial - before it all turned into an outright snarl.

He slammed his fists against the throne he sat on and stood to his feet with a bellow. “IMPOSSIBLE!”

The two S-grade shapeshifters across the room immediately lowered themselves and flared their own auras, prepared to end him on the spot should he make an aggressive move towards Greed’s mouthpiece. In turn the two vampires on Elder Thune’s sides gripped their blades and narrowed their red eyes.

Elder Thune calmed himself under The Gambler’s stare, slowly lowering himself back into the big chair he sat in as he took in long breaths. “That is… impossible. Are you sure you have verified information on this?”

The Gambler scoffed, unconcerned - and chided Elder Thune as if he were a child. Perhaps, to one as old as The Gambler, Elder Thune actually was a child. “Do not question my word so frivolously, foolish vampire. I will only let that slide this once. Afterwards, our working relationship will come to an abrupt end with your head ripped off of your body. I’d love to see you regenerate that.”

Elder Thune pursed his lips, but when he didn’t say anything to refute the ancient demon - The gambler went on. “As I was saying, I have it on good authority that Allie Thane has now taken up the mantle of Wrath’s Reincarnation. This is obviously troublesome… for both of us. But given the situation on Panu, I believe it can still be salvaged - with both siblings, both Gluttony and Wrath, being served a timely death if we play our cards right.”

Elder Thune’s eye twitched, but he managed to keep himself under control despite the recent threat. “High Queen Nephridi is already looking into my actions with a keen interest, and the clergy of The Blood God have been summoned with their inquisitors to look into my dealings. As it is, I am already on thin ice. So I hope your plan is a solid one, as I cannot move openly anymore. Just what do you have in mind?

“Well my dear vampire, I thought you’d never ask!” The green man’s skin bubbled and roiled with the movement of creatures underneath. His orange eyes narrowed like a cat’s, and bugs started slowly crawling out of his mouth to dance along his cheeks and neck. “First, it heavily hinges on what your man Crendir can do. The one with no family name, I believe? Is he up to his original assignment? Or will he fail? I have a plan that could very well work if he managed the first part… Now, hear me out. The Seventh Wing, Purity of the Commandments, was kidnapped after her vessel was chosen not long ago.”

The Gambler paused, as if in thought.

“Go on.” Elder Thune grumbled, curious about where the creature was going with this.

The green-skinned demon snorted. “She was taken by my own forces, then was taken from Greed by Gluttony’s church. No doubt they’ve tortured the poor vessel halfway to death a million times by now, but do you know what I find quite interesting about that?”

…

…

“No?”

“Ah, I thought you’d never ask!” The Gambler said once again with a bellowing cackle. “The thing is, we have a discreet way of tracking this particular vessel! And Gluttony knows this! Not only do WE have a way to track her, but Purity also has all those little winged rats you call holy angels scrambling to find and free her too! So what has Gluttony done, you may ask!? Well let me tell you, my little vampire friend! Purity is being transported to none other than Panu, in order to be kept under close guard! No doubt to utilize the planet’s integration shield through Elysium as a means to hold that damnable bitch until Gluttony finds a way to seal her more thoroughly, out from the prying fingers of the angels who want The Seventh Wing back so desperately.”

Elder Thune still didn’t get it, and it showed on his face. “What does this have to do with…”

He stopped. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“If you’re saying that I’M saying that we supercharge that brat Crendir with a fallen elder god’s essence to the point of eventual death by soul decay, and simultaneously freeing Purity’s new vessel as a means to kill the reincarnations of Wrath and Gluttony - then yes! That’s exactly what I mean! And if we can manage to cause them some emotional pain by killing their friends and family - all the better.” The Gambler snickered and threw his hands up in the air. “Just think about what kind of cosmic fireworks we’ll be able to see if Purity and a fallen god’s embers clash with two of the reincarnated sins! And that’s just the beginning… There are at least 6 other factors that could heavily sway things in our favor if the cards are played right! And I intend to play them all! I realize that you’ve given Crendir some of your own blood to help bind the Fallen God’s essence… that is a good first step. But we can do so much more than just smuggle it off world. Now that I’m here, I’d like to discuss just what you can assist in this, and what we expect from you if we can expect our plan to succeed.”

***

It’d seemed like forever since Luke had left his old master, Riven, to go searching for his grandson. Luke Blissfallen had crossed continents to get here, traveling far into the south into the realm of the snow giants - where world quest 5 was under hot contestation and numerous rankers on the top 1000 leaderboard battled it out. But it was here that he felt his familial bloodline tug at him the strongest.

• World Quest 5, Realm of the Snow Giants: In the southern reaches of the glacial islands in the Numenor Sea, on the opposite end of the world from where the Lich King lays in wait, an ambitious king of the snow giants has united the warring tribes. Advanced details are locked until you come into contact with this quest.

Luke’s eyes had never gotten the same odd red color that Genua’s had. Not all thralls did, and it was apparently a rarity to have it happen. But recently, even his had turned a slight shade of burgundy just on the outlines of his otherwise blue irises. Even after being dismissed from Riven’s service, Luke still felt like he had some connection there as well - so finding his way back wouldn’t be too hard. He just had to make sure that Ren, his grandson, was still alive.

His feet crunched through the snow over the light breeze where snowflakes glistened on the air under a gray sky, and his tight fur boots kept his feet from freezing as he used a walking stick to help support his travels up the hill. Coming upon the third snow-giant corpse of the day, the old elf’s eyes widened at the obvious signs of battle across the brute. The bright white skin of the gigantic man was stained with blood, his jaw having been ripped off entirely with some kind of ice magic, and there was a thorned vine digging into his bare and tattered abdomen as if it was attempting to suck out his insides before the vine had been severed. A bloody axe lay embedded in another high elf not far off, and it was very apparent that the war was far spread - as this was not the first and probably wouldn’t be the last day of carnage he’d seen on his trek since reaching the tundras.

Why any of Luke’s kin would want to settle these lands was beyond him, but so too did the human barbarians of the ice wastes. Maybe they’d all lost their minds? Maybe his grandson had too, if he was still here like the bloodline calling to him implied.

Shifting around the corpse and underneath a large snow-covered pine tree, then around a large boulder in the hilly mountain pass, Luke came to an abrupt stop when an odd sight met his tired gaze.

Another dead giant, far bigger than the other ones with arms the size of trees, lay face up with a large ice crystal sprouting from his mouth. He lay completely frozen, entombed in ice along various parts of his limbs as if it’d been meant to pin the giant there, and further up above while sitting on the crystal - was a familiar man; but the aura radiating out from him was nothing like Luke had felt since leaving Riven’s side.

Dozens of snowflakes the size of watermelons formed, reformed, and dissolved around the meditating elf far up atop the long crystal pillar. Intricate patterns shaped and reshaped with every rotation, swirling about him in a spherical pattern alongside blades of ice that made him look something akin to a flower. The man was in a lotus position, toned and shirtless aside from a black sleeveless vest he wore that doubtless did little for warmth, and slightly baggy pants with stylish curved shoes made him look like he was meant to be in the sand dunes rather than a tundra. Long blonde hair drifted in the breeze, far too long and needing to be cut, with pointed ears and a very feminine face considering it was a man.

Luke gawked upwards, beginning to silently weep, when the serene man finally opened his bright blue eyes to look down upon the thrall. “R-Ren?”

The young man gently smiled, and the snowflakes surrounding him began to fade away into frozen mist. “Hello, grandfather. It is nice to finally see you again. It has been… a long time. I am glad to see you well.”

THIS IS THE END OF BOOK 5.