Mentally straining against the compelling power that was making him obey, Larek felt completely helpless for the first time in his life. Always, before, when he had been in a tight spot, there had been some way to get himself out of it; but now everything he attempted was thwarted, simply by his body and conscious mind not seeming to care about what he wanted to do. Instead, it was as if he was completely devoted to following the Grand One in whatever they wanted – which didn’t include escaping their control, of course.

  “Struggle all you want, but in the end, you’ll do what I say. Even your paltry Fusion blocking Dominion magic, which was an ingenious if annoying idea, I have to say, wouldn’t have saved you from this. When I encountered one of your ‘Volunteers’ before, I could’ve broken through that thing in his head if I had used my Divine Spirit like I did against you, but that would’ve tipped my hand to my servants. Perhaps if you had even half the ability in Dominion magic that they did, you might be able to eventually resist; but as it is, you’re helpless against my might.

  “I’ve been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years, after all.”

  While the Divine Fusionist might not have been able to fully control himself anymore, the Grand One seemed to sense his skepticism by his body language.

  “Do you really think this is the first world I’ve conquered? This ‘Corrupted’ world you and everyone else calls the world through the Breach was only the last in a line of those that I’ve taken complete control of. I could’ve easily done the same to this world, but I wanted something different; there’s only so much pleasure that I can obtain from a world until everyone dies or falls fully under my control, so this world was supposed to be an experiment, a way to rule over the people under the guise of those already in power.

  “For the most part, it worked out exactly as I hoped, though it took much longer to achieve than I expected. Unfortunately, the power that comes with the ‘Corruption’ you speak of has some drawbacks, which came in the shape of the Scissions and now the Apertures that have appeared. Without allowing the Breach to widen further, leakages are bound to occur, but I was fortunately able to use these occurrences to solidify my rule over the people here.

  “At least until one of my rivals, whom I’d thought I’d completely wiped from existence, decided to intervene and appoint the so-called ‘Guardians’ to help stop the spread of Corruption. While I ultimately wanted the same, as doing otherwise would simply lead to my rule as the Grand One being over faster than I wanted, they ended up causing more problems than they helped. Still, everything was fine until you showed up, and their influence has caused you to evolve into an Avatar, of all things. Fortunately for you, I know how to make use of your nature better than you can, so you won’t have to waste your life making Fusions like a weakling.

  “I can show you true power, and you will serve me while we wrestle control of this world away from the Corruption. Or, if not, then I’ll simply take you with me while we try this experiment again on a different world.

  “Either way, you’ll come to appreciate the way I’ve spared your life, especially when you hold the lives of trillions in your hands, and I can end them at any time. You will be my servant, and perhaps even my right hand, as we conquer our way through the dimensions, until the end of time.”

  Larek stopped subconsciously listening halfway through the Grand One’s impassioned speech, though his conscious mind and body were perfectly in tune with it. If he didn’t know that he was being controlled, then he would’ve thought he was actually excited at the prospect of spending eternity as this creature’s slave.

  “Now, to get you started on your duties, I need to teach you how to contain the Breach so that it doesn’t expand any further than this. It’s been slipping the reins lately, thanks to your foolish efforts to oppose me, so it’s time for you to make up for your mistakes.” The Grand One turned around, facing the misshapen Breach. “Take a look at the energy flows and you can see where the…”

  Larek listened to the explanation that the Grand One was giving about the Breach, while subconsciously wishing to be able to get to his feet so he could jump at and tear apart the distracted figure. Unfortunately, he both couldn’t move and was hesitant to do so anyway, as he believed the claim that if he killed the Grand One, his family wouldn’t survive. While the trade – the life of a tyrannical being of Corruption capable of killing billions against the lives of four people – was something that most might make, Larek wasn’t one of them. He would find another way, even if it killed him.

  Being instructed to watch the energy flows in the Breach led him to watching all of the energy flows around him, and for the first time, Larek saw something different. Emanating from the Grand One was an aura that was brighter than the Mana, Aetheric Force, and Primal Essence floating around everywhere, which he quickly identified as the Divine Spirit that he had sensed but hadn’t been able to actually see earlier.

  It was familiar enough that he could feel a pool of it suffusing his own body, but instead of being actively used to keep control of Larek, it was basically inert. Remembering what his Divine Fusionist Specialization had noted, he could theoretically use his Divine Spirit inside of Fusion formations, but he had never actually figured out how to do so – and he hadn’t the first idea of how to go about it.

  But now it was different. Having identified the Divine Spirit inside of him, he felt that it was a resource that was ready to be used however he wanted, and that it would prove to be more powerful than even Primal Essence. The only problem was that even if he figured out a way to use it to break himself free of the Grand One’s control, he couldn’t actually do it because his body and mind wouldn’t listen.

  But at least it was an idea – the first one that he’d had since he fell under the sway of the Avatar of Dominion.

  As if watching someone else pilot his body, Larek was soon up off his knees and next to the Grand One, using his ability to manipulate energy to start condensing the boundaries of the Breach to keep it contained. It was similar to trying to keep an open bag of water from spilling out of different holes all at once, but by manipulating the Primal Essence that spilled out of the Breach – which he realized was what had been feeding the Diregate to produce continuous waves of monsters – he was able to produce a fairly consistent bubble around the tear in the world, keeping it from getting any larger.

  “I just knew that you’d been good at this,” the Grand One said, and Larek felt a flush of pride involuntarily suffuse his body at the praise, while his subconscious mind was disgusted with it. “Now, keep that up and even try and condense it if you can, as that will somewhat reverse its expansion; there’s no way to reverse it permanently, but it will help with the strain of containment. For now, I’m going to retire for the day while you keep this up, and I’m taking your family with me for safekeeping.”

  Larek couldn’t do anything but focus on containing the Breach, while in the corner of his eye he watched the Grand One use a spell to lift his family into the air, and they floated behind the Avatar of Dominion – still frozen in place – while they disappeared beyond his vision. His senses, which were still focused on the Breach as had been ordered, followed his relatives for a little while as they moved through a winding tunnel, but he lost track of them after about a minute.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Waiting for the strain that containing the Breach would bring, at least according to the Grand One, it took a few minutes before he realized that there was none. Manipulating energy was, at that point, so simple, and such a part of his nature as the Avatar of Fusions, that instead of being even the littlest bit of strain, it was as easy as breathing.

  In fact, it was so easy that he gladly obeyed the other order he was given, which was to try to condense the Breach, reversing its expansion. At first, he wasn’t sure what to do, as it was like trying to make a bladder full of water smaller by pushing on the outside; all it did was push the water around inside, but it ultimately did nothing about the container it was in. He could let out some of the water, or in this case energy, but that wouldn’t do anything about the shape of the Breach itself—

  —except that it would. The more he looked at it, the more he was convinced that the exterior of the Breach was actually formed of energy, though it wasn’t of a type that he could identify. As Larek began to try to manipulate it, which was harder than it looked as it wanted to almost “slip” out of his control, he felt that it was more real than other energy, almost with a physical component to it. If he was right, then what he was feeling was the edge of reality that differentiated this world from the other – like some sort of Dimensional Fabric.

  As if that insight had triggered something within him, the Divine Fusionist suddenly had an insight into how to manipulate the edges of the Breach. Instead of directly attempting to grab it with his abilities, he needed to use something else as an intermediary, something that might actually stick to it. Like wearing a pair of rough gloves before handling something slippery, he tried on different energies, starting with Mana, then Stama, and even Primal Essence as he attempted to grab ahold of the Dimensional Fabric. None of them worked, so he tried Pattern Cohesion – and it was like night and day compared to everything else. Whether it was his special connection with Pattern Cohesion, as he manipulated it more than any other energy, or because it was simply the correct one to use, he had absolutely no trouble coating his ability to manipulate all types of energy with it.

  Tugging at multiple edges of the Breach, he began to bring them together, but even if he had a full grip on each edge, it was still like trying to push together a bladder full of water, as the edges he didn’t have a grip on tended to push out in other directions, undoing all of his work as it simply changed its shape, not its size.

  So, he experimented with using even more Pattern Cohesion, stretching his ability to the utmost to cover all of the Breach from every direction. As his body and conscious mind continued to try to condense it all together, his subconscious mind continued trying to find a way to break free from the Grand One’s control. Attempts to tap into the Divine Spirit inside of him had failed, as he had no way to access it. Or, at least, not in a conventional way. Since it was a subconsciousness, he had no control – but that didn’t mean he didn’t have some sort of influence on the conscious mind.

  In other words, while his subconsciousness didn’t have access to Pattern Cohesion to make a Fusion, his consciousness did – and it was currently utilizing it right now. All he had to do was subtly influence it to create a formation that might get him out of this predicament, but it also couldn’t be obvious. It also had to be rather simple, as anything complicated would surely alert his consciousness to what he was doing, which would undo all of his work.

  Using the most subtle of suggestions, his subconscious started making slight changes to what was being done with his Pattern Cohesion as he manipulated the Dimensional Fabric of the Breach. Nothing seemed to happen at first, at least on a conscious level, but soon enough a pattern began to emerge that appeared natural, though it was anything but. As Larek improved his ability to condense the edges of the Breach, he started leaving sections alone that he’d squished quite a bit, making them as thin as long lines and curves, before moving on to the next section. Losing himself in the work, as he was both enjoying himself and obeying the orders of the Grand One, he abruptly stopped condensing it when it had shrunk to the point where he wasn’t sure it would go any further.

  This must be what the Grand One meant when they said I couldn’t completely reverse it. Though, what if I could? Wouldn’t that make them happy, as they wouldn’t have to worry about it growing anymore? But how do I close it completely? How can I seal it shut?

  Flood it with Mana? No, that won’t work.

  Primal Essence? That would be stronger, but I don’t think it’s strong enough?

  How about that Divine Spirit stuff? I sense a bunch of it inside of me, but wasn’t it only for Fusion formations? Oh well, I guess it can’t hurt to try; if it doesn’t work, I’ll try something else, or simply let it re-expand and worry about it later.

  Larek reached inside of himself where he felt the Divine Spirit he vaguely remembered noticing earlier, before pulling it out of himself using his ability to manipulate energy. It felt odd, though, as if the energy wanted to fling itself from his hands like it was too strong to be handled even by himself, but he wrestled it to where he wanted it – right on top of the Breach. He started spreading it around like it was glue, intending to seal the condensed edges of the Breach closed with its apparent strength – but something else he didn’t intend to have happen occurred.

  It was only when he consciously took a step back and looked at the Breach that he realized that it appeared very similar to a formation – though not one he could remember ever making before. The floating formation made of Dimensional Fabric began to glow as it absorbed the Divine Spirit, and Larek suddenly knew what he’d done – or what his subconscious had made him do.

  “NO!” he screamed, trying to reverse what he’d done, as he let go of everything keeping the Breach condensed, and trying to yank back the Divine Spirit he’d supplied to it, but it was already too late. Even as he reached out to undo whatever he had been tricked into making, he felt it as it activated, and a wave of incredible power exploded out of the Fusion, passing through him in a bubble of world-altering force. He was shot across the room from the impact, sliding down the stone wall as he tried to figure out what he’d done.

  As Larek’s thoughts returned to him, his mind felt clearer than ever. Activating his Healing Surge, he quickly got to his feet as all of his subconscious thoughts flowed into him, and he stared at the Fusion made of Dimensional Fabric and Divine Spirit floating in the middle of the cave. He wasn’t sure if it was the “material” he had used for his formation or something else, but the Fusion was the strongest one he’d ever created – and it seemed as though it was a permanent fixture, because he had severe doubts that anyone could damage it or make it budge from where it floated, anchored to the fabric of the very world from which it was created. It was so strong that he wouldn’t be surprised if its Effect could reach everyone in the world.

  As for the Fusion he created, the formation was the simplest one that he’d ever created, as it only had one section to it – the Effect.

  Freedom.

  That was all he had wanted it to be, and the other sections – the Activation Method, the Cost, and the Magnitude – were extraneous, as its Effect was now intrinsically linked to the world itself.

  Looking closer at the energy surrounding the Fusion, he could immediately see that he hadn’t closed the Breach completely, as there was still a tiny bit of Primal Essence and other energies slowly leaking out, but unless something managed to break his Fusion, it wasn’t going to grow any larger. In other words, the danger it posed was now at a bare minimum, granting the world freedom from its presence.

  I guess that my Fusion is working in other ways already.

  He could tell from an evaluation of the formation that such an Effect wasn’t necessarily intentional, but he couldn’t help but believe that it wasn’t just coincidence. What it was designed to do was to free everyone and anyone from the magical influence of others, which was exactly what it had done to free Larek from the control the Grand One had over him. If he was right about his new Fusion and how it was intrinsically linked to the world itself, the Avatar of Dominion would likely find it hard or even impossible for them to control other people – even with the use of Divine Spirit.

  With that thought in mind, it was time to find his family, ensure that the connection he’d noticed between them and the Grand One was broken, and then kill the Avatar of Dominion once and for all, stopping his reign of destruction so that he couldn’t threaten any more worlds with his Corruption.