“Sorry,” Seena said. “I must’ve misheard what you just said.”

  “No, I’m afraid you probably didn’t,” Hiral said, his sensory domain practically massaging the runic pathways he felt channeling the energy off into the distance. “This world has already got a lot of runic energy running through it. More than we could bring through in a few hours, that’s for sure.”

  “You noticed too,” Amin Thett said.

  “I should’ve noticed sooner,” Hiral said. “Was a bit distracted.”

  “And I’m afraid I won’t help that at all with my next words,” Amin Thett said. “My time here grows short. This small pause I have created will soon fade, and you will be forced to deal with this world. And all the things that call it home.”

  “The Raze,” Seena said.

  “Likely,” Amin Thett said. “And, before you think to extend things a second time,” he said to Hiral. “It won’t work. You could hold this pause, I suspect, but it’s my life force itself that grows weak. I’ve already lasted longer than I believed I would. And it’s been wonderful! You are all far more interesting than I could have ever imagined.

  “While I thought I may meet my younger self—and give him some advice—this has proven far more entertaining. Before I go—and you are left to deal with the ramifications of what you’ve discovered—there is something I must do. You, Hiral, Seeker, completed the quest given to you. Unfathomable Power sits at one-hundred percent, and it is time for your reward.”

  “Wait,” Seena said. “If the runic energy is already here, our plan to poison the Raze won’t work.”

  “It won’t,” Amin Thett agreed, though he didn’t look at all like he was going to help them figure out a new plan. “And, as I said, it’ll be up to you to deal with that. Now, Hiral, as for the reward for completing your quest, I shall help you unlock the true power of the Greatsword of Amin Thett!” The Progenitor’s voice practically boomed with the power of the statement, the walls of the temple shaking, and solar energy flooding off him in a mighty display of his former glory.

  Hiral was hardly listening, and he flicked a hand to dismiss the statement. “No need. I already improved it.”

  “Yes! The power you shall… wait, what?” Amin Thett sputtered, his S-Rank flex cutting off as quickly as it’d started. “You…?”

  “Improved it,” Hiral said. “Yes, you heard me. Look, Seena,” he continued, practically ignoring the Progenitor now. “You’re right, I don’t think the poisoning thing is going to work. There’s too much energy here for Pallidis’ theory to be true. It’s not quite the same as the energy coming through the portal—less… pure?—but there’s a lot of it. We’re going to need…”

  “Hey!” Amin Thett said, literally snapping his fingers to get Hiral’s attention. “What do you mean you improved the greatest weapon I ever created? The weapon that let me conquer my entire realm. That, in my hand, earned me the unquestioned and unchallenged title of demon lord. It’s… it’s just not possible you improved it.”

  “My would-be apprentice is known for his surprises,” Li’l Ur said.

  “And exploding,” Yanily helped. “But, Hiral, I’ve got to agree with the big guy here. If you improved on that greatsword, I want to see it too. Since the poisoning thing is out, a better S-Rank weapon is sure going to help, isn’t it?”

  “Don’t we have slightly more pressing issues?” Hiral countered.

  “Kind of with Yan on this one,” Seeyela said. “Unless you think we can solve the problem of the Raze without leaving this nifty little time-stopped temple.”

  “I…” Hiral started, looking around at the same time. His sensory domain did extend pretty far, but he couldn’t feel a solution. If anything, his gut was telling him to follow the rivers of runic energy flowing away from the temple. Wherever they were going, there had to be answers there, right?

  Probably also the Raze themselves. Which… yes… maybe a bigger, badder sword would make a difference…

  “If you’re not going to show me,” Amin Thett said. “At least tell me how you think you improved the sword.”

  Hiral sighed, eyes still on the rest of the party. “When you did all this,” Hiral gestured at the paused time around him. “You basically took all the power out of the sword with you. That left behind a kind of empty bucket that…”

  “Wait,” Amin Thett interrupted with the addition of a small pulse of power. “Did you just call one of the most powerful weapons ever created… a bucket?”

  “An empty bucket,” Yanily emphasized. “Doesn’t really instill fear, does it?” His question was directed at Seeyela, and the woman could only shake her head in agreement. “The Bucket of Amin Thett,” the spearman muttered. “Nope, not intimidating at all.”

  Everybody, including the ghost of the dead Progenitor just stared at Yanily as he continued, before woodenly turning their heads back in Hiral’s direction.

  “I did not forge a bucket as my crowning achievement,” Amin Thett said.

  “Wasn’t your Crown of Amin Thett your crowning achievement?” Yanily said before anybody else could.

  By the passing look on Amin Thett’s face, he had both gotten the full-Yan-experience, and contemplated leaving, just so he could make it end.

  “It’s not called that anymore,” Hiral said off-handedly.

  “And that’s the second time you’ve mentioned something like that!” Amin Thett pointed at Hiral with two of his four hands.

  “Yes, when I upgraded the sword…”

  “The Bucket of Amin Thett,” Yanily snorted.

  “… it also changed the name of the rest of the regalia,” Hiral continued, having to consciously force himself not to chuckle along with the spearman. Considering the seriousness of the whole plan falling apart around them, it wasn’t really appropriate. On the other hand, sometimes Yan knew better than the rest of them when they needed to not be too serious. To not dwell on things, to give them a moment’s breather to clear their minds so they could address the problem again.

  Really, Yanily didn’t get enough credit. If this was one of those books Hiral had read back up on Fallen Reach, Yan definitely would’ve been the main character.

  “You changed the name?” Amin Thett said, though his question wasn’t directed at Hiral, but at the small PIMP construct.

  “Negative,” the construct said, and the Progenitor sighed in… relief. Until the construct continued. “My naming subroutine has informed me that a significant change has occurred, with the result of the reported names being altered.”

  “You didn’t change the names,” Laseen translated. “But something else did.”

  “Correct,” the construct said.

  There were a few confused looks among the group, so Laseen spelled it out. “Remember, the PIMP doesn’t always create or define things, just reports them. The old Regalia of Amin Thett probably wasn’t something it had ever named. The item window just stated what the PIMP was reporting. Like it was introducing something to us.

  “Now, whatever crazy thing the boy over there did this time, the name has changed, and the PIMP has been informed of this change.”

  “How does the name of something change, without somebody changing the name?” Seena asked.

  “Some things simply have a true name,” Li’l Ur explained, Amin Thett’s mouth somewhat opening and closing like a fish out of water. “In some cases, they are very important things, such as for certain beings back from our original universe. To know the true name of something is to have a power over it.

  “Whatever my would-be apprentice has done, it has changed the regalia’s true name.”

  “Which,” Amin Thett interrupted. “Does. Not. Happen.”

  “The true name is the source of something,” Li’l Ur said. “The core—or soul—of it, in some cases. Actually, even that is not fair. Normally, a true name is more immutable than the soul itself.”

  “So,” Yanily said. “You’re saying Hiral did something impossible, again, like it’s a big deal?”

  “That would be an adequate description,” Li’l Ur said. “Which means we can move on.”

  “No!” Amin Thett said. “We can most certainly not move on.”

  “Oh, just show him,” Seena said with a huff. “He’s clearly not going to let this go, and we do have things to do. Even if time is on hold.”

  Laseen just cackled at the party leader referring to the Progenitor in their midst much like one would an unruly, stubborn child.

  For his part, Amin Thett didn’t mind, his attention much more focused on Hiral now that it seemed he was about to get his way.

  “Fine, we’ll make it quick,” Hiral said.

  “Just stop referring to my sword as a bucket,” Amin Thett inserted before Hiral could get into the explanation.

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  “Not a bucket then,” Hiral said. “How about… you left a blueprint behind, when you vacated the sword?”

  “Much better,” Amin Thett said.

  “Great, so, with the blueprint, I just took it, made a few modifications, then incorporated it directly.”

  “Modifications? And incorporated it into what?”

  Seena answered before Hiral could. “Your blade of unmaking.”

  “Exactly,” Hiral said, pointing at the party leader who knew him well. “As soon as I did that, everything sort of just clicked. I got the notification the regalia had changed its name—along with each of its component parts doing the same—and I have a new sword.”

  “Did you get an achievement for it?” Yanily asked immediately.

  “No,” Hiral said, turning only a small glare on the PIMP.

  “My achievement subroutine is currently underpowered due to our present location residing outside of Genesis,” the construct said.

  “Pffft, excuses,” Yanily said, and Hiral couldn’t disagree.

  “When… did you do all of this?” Amin Thett asked, voice barely above a whisper.

  “While we were talking,” Hiral said. “It wasn’t hard.”

  “IT WASN’T HARD?!” Amin Thett bellowed. “You created an S-Rank item in the background of having a conversation?”

  “More like recreated,” Hiral said. “And it’s not so much an item anymore. None of the regalia is.”

  “Hiral,” Seeyela said evenly. “I and everybody else—but mostly me—have been very patient with your string of leading statements. Each of which, I might add, has only created more questions instead of answering them. Everybody else is now going to shut up…” she looked specifically at Amin Thett, as if daring the Progenitor to argue with her, “while you explain.”

  “Got it,” Hiral said, standing a little straighter. “Each of my previous items, the Regalia of Amin Thett, has been renamed and become something more like an ability. It might be best to compare them all to the Entwined Destinies items we have. Or, like Yan’s spear; that’s a good example.

  “Yanily can never truly lose Tempest Roar. No matter where it goes or who tries to take it, he can call it to him at will. My new regalia is kind of like that, with the added benefit I can store it any point. Yes, that sounds very similar to being able to put it into Shared Storage, but it’s more than that. I’m storing it in my PIM. I guess that part would be like how Li’l Ur is part of Seena’s PIM.

  “With me so far?”

  Each of the group around him, including the Progenitor, nodded.

  “That said, at a quick look, the abilities… er… of the abilities… are the same as what the items granted before. They’re just part of my regular repertoire now. Yes, Yan?” Hiral said, seeing the spearman pop his hand up.

  “Your pseudo-aspect, is it still the same?” the spearman said.

  Hiral pointed at the glowing white energy in the shape of his regalia covering his body. “Still the same, including the stat boost.”

  “Which means you can double your stats at will?” Seeyela said.

  “I already could, so it’s not like it’s new, but, yes,” Hiral clarified. “Shall I continue?” Seeing no more hands, he did just that. “Though the overall abilities of the items are mostly the same—I’ll get to the mostly part when I talk about the sword—the names of it all have definitely changed. Well, everything other than the ring. I’ve got a notification window for it to undergo a…” he squinted at the window in front of him. “A transformation.”

  “What are you waiting for?” Yanily said, practically jumping on the spot in excitement.

  “Are you going to explode?” Seena interrupted quickly from right beside him.

  “No explosions,” Hiral said. “The other items did this as well.”

  “Then, hit it,” Seena said. “Let’s see what happens.”

  “You got it, Boss,” Hiral said with a smile at the woman beside him, and tapped the Yes button floating where only he could see it. As soon as he did, the crystal ring floating at his back—the once-Ring-of-Amin-Thett—dissolved into the shards of energy and light. Within seconds, the crystal that had followed Hiral since he’d been E-Rank vanished into the back of his coat.

  Snuff.

  “I have to agree with Wallop here,” Romin said. “That didn’t seem like a transformation.”

  Hiral reviewed the window that popped up, then quickly dismissed it. “The ring is gone. Consumed.”

  “You consumed my ring and arsenal?” Amin Thett said.

  “Yes,” Hiral said. “It’s all become part of my abilities. The Ring, Crown, and Arsenal of Amin Thett are now part of the Seeker’s Regalia. The Seeker’s Crown and the Seeker’s Arsenal.” He pointed down at his long coat. “While this is the Seeker’s Second-Skin.”

  “To match your advanced class,” Seena said, nodding.

  “Which makes sense, since I used runes to make all this happen,” Hiral said, then looked at Amin Thett. “That’s how I improved the blueprint. I directly imprinted runic equations.”

  “I see,” Amin Thett said, finally looking a little more relaxed at the explanation. “That could result in an improvement in my masterpiece, if done properly.”

  “It was done properly,” Li’l Ur said before Hiral could. “Knowing my would-be apprentice, it was done more than properly.”

  “Are you finally going to show it to us?” Yanily said. “I’m dying here. Glad I didn’t hold my breath though.”

  “Before that,” Hiral said, and both Yanily and Amin Thett groaned. For a Progenitor, the echo of the dead god was kind of… normal. Then again, so was Li’l Ur after getting to know him, while Tomorrow was plain quirky. Though, that wasn’t taking into account her time as Fenil, which was very normal. Aside from the abuse at Dr. Benza’s hands. That was a god-level ability to take punishment. Ah, but the others were looking at him again…

  “Before that,” he started again. “The Seeker’s Crown did transform, so let’s see what that looks like?”

  “I bet it’s…” Seeyela started at the same time Hiral activated the ability.

  Solar energy peeled off him in a visible series of ropes—like flares across the surface of the sun—while the hood of the Seeker’s Second-Skin dissolved much like the ring had. Or, maybe dissolved wasn’t the right way to describe it, as the dispersing energy rose just above his head, to the same place the plasma-like lines of solar energy converged. There, a halo of burning light formed, before lowering to settle around Hiral’s skull.

  At the front of it, in the center of his forehead, a sun the size of the palm of his hand formed, leaking light and heat, while more streamers of energy rippled off the thumb-thick band. Where this energy rose, drifting above his bare scalp, it was like the illusion of an actual crown formed. There was no solid structure to it, but no matter how Hiral felt it with his sensory domain, every time the lines of solar energy met just the right way, it was like the crown faded in and out of existence.

  As impressive as that all was—especially considering the looks on the faces of everybody around him—none of that really spoke to what it was as part of the Seeker’s Regalia. A second after the crown settled on his head—still flickering between real and an illusion—new sparks of light, like embers from beating a hammer on molten metal, appeared. And within each? A small rune.

  Immediately, Hiral felt the power of the crown reinforcing the Eternal Domain from his advanced class, like it was made to do that.

  Class Ability (Passive): Eternal Domain—With the Edicts at your side, the area immediately around you acts as a minor, constant domain. Any effects trying to harm you or those you see as close allies have their potency reduced by a minimum of 10%. Any effects trying to aid you or those you see as close allies have their potency increased by a minimum of 10%.

  Note: Range of Eternal Domain is 50 feet.

  Note (2): Eternal Domain is always active, and costs no solar energy to maintain.

  Note (3): Under the influence of the Seeker’s Crown, effects are doubled.

  There it was, a new note, showing just how well his new ability intersected with his advanced class.

  “That’s… pretty,” Seena said.

  “And now you both have crowns,” Seeyela said, looking at the pair of them. “One of flame and one of… sun?”

  “Ahem,” Li’l Ur said with an obviously fake cough, pointing up this own crown of blue and black flame.

  “Fine, all three of you have…” Seeyela trailed off, her Little Shadow’s Cloak slithering up the back of her skull to form a crown of blood on her head.

  “I’m feeling left out here,” Yanily said to Romin and Laseen.

  “That is…” Amin Thett said, staring at the crown practically spitting runes off it. “Magnificent. Truly.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without your Crown of Amin Thett,” Hiral said. “Oh, and in case anybody was wondering…” He held out his hand to the side, a small sun igniting beside him, before it vanished to reveal a saber wreathed in black flames floating there. Blight’s Mercy. “Seems the Arsenal looks a bit different, but it works the same.” Another pulse of solar energy consumed the weapon in a quick burst of the same sun.

  “The things we could have accomplished together…” Amin Thett said, his voice quiet and… sad? “The sword, you made us wait for it. Is it… more… than this?”

  “Oh yes,” Hiral said. “And, I saved it for last because the domain you created here may not be able to contain it. Not even with the reinforcement I added.”

  “Meaning we should say our goodbyes,” Amin Thett said.

  “Yeah,” Hiral said, though he looked over at Li’l Ur.

  “There is no more to be said,” the little lich said, the blue lines running down his cheeks somehow thicker than usual. “I shall… seek out my ex-wife, as you advised, my friend. And, I shall miss you.”

  “Even with Genesis being trapped in a dungeon,” Amin Thett said. “It doesn’t change that time is different in there. It doesn’t change we found our way into the place, from different times and places. Who knows, my friend—my best friend—once you all escape the fate the Raze has tried to choose for you, perhaps you will find me out there, somewhere. Alive and well.”

  “I would like that,” Li’l Ur said.

  “Me too. Just…” he looked at Hiral, a smirk on his face. “Don’t make me wait so much to see what you did with my creations.”

  “No promises,” Hiral said.

  “And, you’re sure you can’t tell us how to stop the Raze?” Seena pressed.

  “I can’t,” Amin Thett said. “Because I don’t know. Remember, my plan basically failed, and killed me in the process. They beat us, for all intents and purposes. You need to figure this out on your own. If there is a way—and I’m sure there is—you will find it.

  “Now,” he continued, holding up a hand to show it fraying at the edges. “I really have reached my limit. Show me this Seeker’s Greatsword before I go.”

  “That’s not actually the name of it,” Hiral said, stepping away from Seena and holding his right hand out to his side. “The name is a combination of what came before. Behold… the Seeker’s Unmaking.”

  No sooner had he said the words and activated the ability—calling on the weapon—than the world around them shook like a massive earthquake had struck. Cracks formed across the time-stopped domain—and Amin Thett himself—while the Edicts flashed from Hiral’s back and down his arm.

  Along with them, white, holy flames and black lightning leapt from his open palm.

  Then, as he closed his fingers, the mighty weapon began to take shape. It started with a hilt, blacker than night, but seeming to possess a tremendous weight. From it, the crosspiece came next, nearly a foot-and-a-half wide, forged of the same infinite material. Curved tangs appeared on either end, then grew into small, empty circles.

  Empty, for only a second, each filling with what could only be described as a partial eclipse. As soon as they finished, the blade emerged from the hilt. Grew, and grew, and grew. Six feet long and almost a foot wide, the greatsword had a core of the same black material. Like staring into the abyss, the blade had all the same physical traits of Hiral’s previous blade of unmaking, though somehow more solid. It wasn’t finished there, either.

  As soon as the core of the weapon finished forming—in less than the blink of an eye—the razor-sharp edge on both sides and the pointed end of the sword ignited in holy flame. There, they burned for a brilliant instant, before also mostly solidifying into a strange substance constantly flowing along the blade like a molten, white liquid.

  Then, with the blade itself forged, the final component emerged from that central black core. Brilliant white runes, no, Edicts formed, their power shattering the domain, the temple, and the landscape around where Hiral and the others stood.

  For two-thousand feet in every direction—except for the black dungeon portal—the earth shredded and the howling storm was blasted back.

  “Truly… magnificent…” Amin Thett said, his entire body other than the top three-quarters of his head annihilated by the release of power. Like he forced that part of him to survive the release so he could witness the weapon’s birth, a smile crossed his face. “Magnificent,” he repeated.

  Then he was gone.

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