Or the rubble where the arena had been. The audience towers and most of the surrounding towers were nothing but debris now.

“Could have put me down somewhere better,” she muttered.

Then again, she could be wherever she wanted.

She focused on Lindon, and the Moonlight Bridge flashed.

From a hundred miles away, Northstrider felt Seshethkunaaz die.

They had a long history, spanning centuries, complete with blood spilled and reluctant alliances aplenty. Northstrider had planned the dragon’s death dozens of times.

He had expected a simple death to be too good for someone like Sesh.

He was wrong. This was very satisfying.

Reigan Shen, from the heart of the mountain where he was planning an ambush, began to tear open a portal.

“Stay,” Northstrider commanded, and his will opposed the opening of the portal.

Shen wrestled it open, and combined with his mastery of space, he would surely win the contest.

An ice-blue arrow the size of a lighthouse crashed through the mountain and crushed the King of Lions.

Malice’s attack would be little more than an inconvenience for Reigan Shen, but it would slow him down. Northstrider had a chance.

But rather than pursuing the lion, Northstrider flew over to collect Seshethkunaaz’s body. The dragon hadn’t become a Remnant thanks to Penance, and the corpse of a Monarch was a valuable material. Especially to him.

With the dragon’s body tucked away, Northstrider was prepared to chase after Reigan Shen. The cat could run, but the more he depleted his arsenal now, the better.

But his Presence sounded an alert, and Northstrider stopped.

Finally, the battle around the Dreadgod had become too much. The Wandering Titan was waking early.

Northstrider felt Reigan Shen escape and allowed it. There was more important work to do.

He stepped into the Way, leaving Malice’s triumphant laughter to ring out over the countryside.

[Lindon…] Dross said. [You’re not an Overlord.]

A black hole swallowed the sky. Directly over Lindon’s head.

The void wasn’t dangerous. It was a reflection of Lindon, linked to him somehow. Or he was linked to it.

Lindon wasn’t exactly sure what he’d done. But he had his guess. Some things that were hidden before felt clearer now, as though his spiritual sense had evolved to another level.

He stood over a hopeless Sophara. In simulations, he had mostly beaten her by finding a chance to use The Dragon Descends, but now he didn’t want to obliterate her body. He was here to Consume her power…and besides, if he incinerated her void key, he couldn’t take it himself.

Sophara lifted her chin proudly and clutched her sword.

“Kill me,” she challenged, “like you killed my—”

Lindon blasted dragon’s breath through her chest, exactly like he’d killed Ekeri.

She sagged, but he was there to catch her…and to drain the remaining power from her body. The last thing he wanted was to fight her Remnant.

Sophara was even stronger than he’d expected. The madra he vented from the purification process melted the tiles and stones of the crumbling roof.

When her Remnant was in no danger of rising, Lindon plucked the void key from around her neck and slipped it into his pocket. Then he moved to the edge of the roof and jumped down.

He landed on half of another crumbled wall, then hopped inside.

Eithan lay on the floor, bleeding with his breathing ragged. “I’m fine,” he said as soon as Lindon showed himself. “No tears for me, please. I’ll be…” He coughed loudly. “…as good as new any sec…”

The word trailed off. He gave a clear death rattle.

Lindon stood over him. “What did I do?”

Eithan opened one eye. “You have to have some guess.”

“I want you to tell me.”

Eithan groaned as he sat up. The Blood Sage had obviously run off; Lindon felt a slowly healing tear in space nearby.

“I did tell you that our cycling technique had a long and fascinating history,” Eithan said pointedly.

Lindon gave a hollow laugh. “I thought you were trying not to keep secrets.”

“Honestly, I thought of this one as more of a surprise.”

A white glow filled the space, and then Yerin appeared. She looked over them both, and for a moment Lindon was as alarmed as he’d been before.

Her Goldsigns, her eyes, and a lock of her hair had turned crimson. Dross had overheard the report Fury received about Yerin becoming some kind of half-Herald, but he hadn’t known what to make of it. Who was this?

“Yerin or Ruby?” he asked warily.

She gave him a grin. “Take a guess.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Glad to see you.”

“Same to you.” She looked up the stairs. “We need to get them to a healer two days ago. Eithan, you have that cloudship?”

“Better! I have Lindon.”

Lindon recognized a cue when he heard one. He focused on the older of the two spatial tears in the room, locking his spiritual perception on it and gathering his concentration.

It was just as hard as it had been earlier, and it took him an embarrassingly long amount of time. He was afraid sweat was starting to bead on his head before he finally managed to say, “Open.”

The portal opened.

Pride and Naru Saeya survived.

Barely.

Lindon and the others reappeared on the fortress, where Akura Justice defended the portal alone. They dove through together, emerging back in Ninecloud City.

Which didn’t look much better than the battlefield they’d just left, but at least it wasn’t an active warzone.

The entire Akura faction was a buzzing mess of people, but they found healers quickly. When Mercy really demanded something in the Akura clan, it got done.

Saeya and Pride received medical attention, but Pride would have died if not for the immediate treatment Lindon had given him. The healers were skeptical that either would ever recover completely.

So, in a way, his entire team was gone.

That wasn’t strictly true. The Maten sisters had avoided capture and were perfectly safe. When the Akura clan settled down, Lindon intended to find out how many contribution points the team had earned. Assuming the clan was still honoring points at all.

They wouldn’t go to him. The thought almost surprised him, but he felt the others needed more support than he did. The Maten twins and Naru Saeya, at the very least, could use all the help they could get.

Now Mercy was glued to her brother’s side, and Yerin was pinned in place by the Heart and Winter Sages.

While he had a moment to himself, Lindon managed to corner Eithan.

The Arelius Archlord had accepted quick bandaging and some elixirs before sneaking out to the docks, where crewmen were loading crates onto cloudships to head back to Akura territory.

Most of the crates contained what they’d taken from Sky’s Edge, either from the mine or from their enemies.

Eithan’s entire body was wrapped in bloody bandages, but he seemed content as he watched the packing process. He leaned back, elbows propped against the railing, as people passed him by.

Lindon joined him. “I’m glad you survived.”

“It was closer than you might think. I might remind you that I am not a Sage.”