As Earth basked in its new glorious rise, no one seemed to know that the hero responsible for it all was about to thrust himself into another storm.
**
Archibald looked to the skies, tears brimming in his eyes. He seemed older now than ever before, a burden that had rested on his shoulders for so long finally being laid to rest.
They… no, really, it was really just him, now wasn't it? Maybe in the entire history of the universe, there had only been a few men and women that had accomplished as much as Sylas had.
Somehow, despite the fact he knew how much Sylas had likely put himself through, it just felt almost… too easy for him. How many times did Sylas go off Earth and suffer at the hands of the time warp? Even if there was no time warp to consider at all, how long had it been since the Summoning even began in the first place?
Was it even more than a year?
Time really flew by fast. Truly, he was quite proud to have such a descendant.
"Do you really have to go, old man?"
Archibald looked back and met Nathan's eyes.
"Do you think it's natural to live for so long?"
Nathan didn't say anything and just fell into silence.
"There's really no need to be sad."
"Who's sad? Not me. All you do is push me around like I'm a worker elf."
"But I also give you gifts like I'm Santa Claus."
"That's a lame joke, old man."
Archibald frowned. "Who the hell said it was a joke? Give me all my stuff back, then."
Nathan shrank back and Archibald snorted.
Eventually, the Grimblade Ancestor sighed and looked to the sky again.
"All those years ago, we made a deal with the devil to live just a little bit longer. We leached off of Earth and its potential, thinking we were doing a good thing. If we could just survive a little bit longer, we could help the next generation along—truly increase our chances of succeeding next time.
"Maybe some of us had those thoughts sincerely. But the vast majority were just leeches, clinging onto life and hoping to live a little longer so that they might take advantage.
"It wasn't until later that I understood just how much of a mistake that was. We took so much from Earth, maybe even more than those outsiders ever did."
Archibald sighed again.
"It's time to give that back."
Nathan stood there in silence, not saying a word. For someone who was as chatty as he was, one would be hard-pressed to find him in such a moment. But right now… his tongue felt like it was weighed down by mountains, his throat suffering under a pressure that somehow seemed even worse than that.
"Alright. No need to see me off. I'll be going now. Once we're gone, I'm confident Earth will be in good hands. Tell that brat to not go off and get himself killed. I don't know how he did it… but I bet it cost him a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. It took Earth nine tries before it got a genius like him with just the right amount of Luck…"
Archibald looked back to Nathan one last time.
"And you, you have my legacy. This time period… I believe all the work I've put in will truly bloom and flower. Don't screw it up, or I'll come hunt you down from the dead."
Nathan scoffed and Archibald gave him a light smile.
After that, the man vanished.
Nathan continued to stare off into the distance, his mind a bit blank. But then there was a flash in his gaze.
Just like Archibald had said, this time period would decide a shocking amount of things.
Earth's Runes were healing, but it was deeper than just that. Not only were they healing, but there were nine iterations of differing laws of physics that were intertwining and layering atop one another.
Every time Earth's physics had been changed, forcing them to start from square one and rebuild all of their technology again, there was a slight fingerprint of what once had been left behind.
This imprint was still there, and as Earth repaired itself, it was taking bits and pieces of them all and fusing them together into what was yet another new physical makeup of the world.
Archibald's truest work had been to stop Earth from being cast into yet another Dark Age.
Successfully Summoned Worlds would be at a huge disadvantage. They would lose the advantages that came from being in the middle of the Summoning, while also lacking in the foundation that allowed other worlds to thrive. Sure, they would still have a great amount of resources and it would probably take three or four generations before they were depleted, but they wouldn't know how to use them efficiently at all.
They would lack the Professionals, the insight, the technology or science necessary to make everything work.
Archibald gave his life to ensure that wouldn't be the case.
They would do what Earthlings… what Humans did best.
Innovate.
He had spent his life studying the technologies of all Nine Summonings and mastering them all. Then he spent another lifetime deducing and mapping out what would happen once the Summoning was successful.
Then he laid out a road map, a skill tree of sorts for exactly how Earth could rebuild their technology not only just to its peak, but far beyond it in a short year.
That was what he had left behind for Nathan, and that was what Nathan would be sure to take advantage of.
When the year period was up and everyone thought that Earth would be easy pickings… they would be in for a rude awakening.
On the front end there would be Sylas.
On the back end there would be him.
—
[System-Wide Message]
[Rewards have been modified]
[Adjustments completed]
[World Earth will be upgraded from Grade 4 Silver to Grade 10 Silver.]
—
Nathan slowly closed his eyes.
With that message, he knew…
Archibald and all the Failed Overlords of Earth were now forever gone.