Eventually I stood.
Gerald noticed immediately.
"I suppose that’s my cue."
I nodded.
"I’ve already taken enough of your time."
The old man barked out a laugh.
"My boy, I created this settlement specifically because I had too much time."
He rose to his feet as well. The old man stood surprisingly straight despite the white hair and beard. More importantly, now that I knew what to look for, I could feel the immense weight hidden beneath his relaxed demeanor.
The worlds below us weren’t a miracle. They were evidence of a man whose mastery over space bordered on absurdity.
Gerald followed my gaze and immediately understood what I was thinking.
"Don’t."
"What?"
"Start treating me like some ancient wise sage."
His expression became suspicious.
"I hate when people do that."
I smiled.
"Isn’t your title literally Gerald the Wise?"
"That was different."
"How?"
"I gave myself that title."
Eventually his amusement faded slightly.
"Take care of yourself."
The words came unexpectedly. There was no joke attached. Just a simple statement.
I nodded.
"You too."
Gerald laughed at my expression before taking a step back.
Then he lifted his glass one final time. A portal silently unfolded beside him. The old man began walking toward it.
Then stopped.
Without turning around, he spoke one final sentence.
"Oh, and Billion."
I waited.
"If you do find the Ironharts... Tell those stubborn bastards that Gerald is still winning."
Then he stepped through the portal. Space folded. The clouds shifted. And suddenly he was gone. The endless sky felt strangely quieter afterward.
We turned around to leave the place.
The hidden settlement guided us back through its countless layered worlds and recursive pathways before eventually depositing us at the concealed portal buried within the ancient tree trunk. A short while later we emerged into the Soul Sea once more.
The difference was immediate, I could no longer feel the invisible pressure of being hunted. The sensation was difficult to describe.
Verilux wasn’t present.
Hadn’t been present for quite some time.
Yet ever since our first encounter, there had been a constant awareness sitting in the back of my mind. An understanding that somewhere out there, a creature powerful enough to devastate regions was following my trail.
That feeling was gone.
I activated my perception and examined my own soul force. The signature remained altered. The false identity Gerald had woven around us blended so naturally into reality that even I struggled to recognize the original beneath it.
Silver stretched his arms as we floated above the water.
"I have to admit, that old man is ridiculous."
Aurora laughed softly.
"Only now you’re realizing that?"
"I realized it around the third temple."
"The third temple was funny."
Knight glanced toward the horizon.
"He could have made it infinite."
Silver immediately looked horrified.
"Don’t even joke about that."
The conversation continued for a while as we drifted across the ocean, but eventually I looked toward the group.
"We should separate."
The words immediately drew everyone’s attention.
Ragnar frowned.
"Separate?"
I nodded.
"There isn’t much point in all of us traveling together anymore."
My gaze moved across them one by one.
"Until now, Verilux was forcing us into a single group. The moment one person was found, everyone was found. That problem no longer exists."
The Prime Territory contained seven regions. The resistance settlements were scattered throughout them. The Eternals controlled most of the territory. And somewhere among all of that sat six contract fragments.
There was too much ground to cover.
"I’ll continue searching for the Ironharts."
I lifted the token Gerald had given me. The silver crystal immediately responded, the light trapped within its center shifting slightly before pointing toward a distant section of the Soul Sea.
"My destination is already decided."
Aurora folded her arms.
"And the rest of us?"
I had already thought about that.
"The rest of you spread out to each of the regions. Stay hidden and low profile. Gather information and be ready for the final battle."
Lyrate laughed.
"What if we find something interesting?"
"You might."
The Prime Territory was far too complicated for that not to happen.
"If it’s important, contact me through the bond."
I paused briefly.
"If it isn’t important, still contact me because knowing you people, your definition of unimportant is terrifying."
That earned several smiles.
Eventually the discussion ended and preparations began. One by one they selected destinations and disappeared.
Until eventually I found myself alone. I looked down at the crystal. The light within its center rotated once more before settling toward a particular direction somewhere between region five and six.
The hidden Ironhart settlement.
The first contract fragment. And perhaps, if fortune finally decided to cooperate, answers regarding the people I had crossed an entire realm to find.
Without wasting another moment, I turned toward the direction indicated by the token and accelerated across the Soul Sea alone.
*******
The journey toward the Ironhart settlement began peacefully enough.
The silver token Gerald had given me floated slightly above my palm while the fragment of light trapped within its center continuously adjusted its direction. Unlike a compass, it didn’t point north or toward some fixed location. Instead it seemed to react to something far away, almost as though an invisible thread connected it to its destination somewhere deep within Region Five.
Without Verilux constantly hunting me, the journey felt strangely calm.
Just silence.
Naturally, that lasted less than an hour.
My perception suddenly detected movement beneath the water.
A massive shadow shot upward.
The surface of the Soul Sea exploded as a giant translucent creature burst into the air. The thing resembled a slime more than any recognizable beast. Its body constantly shifted shape while countless glowing eyes floated within its gelatinous form. Dense soul force pulsed throughout the creature as it lunged directly toward me.
Unfortunately for it, I had recently spent time being hunted by Verilux.
My standards regarding danger had changed significantly.
The creature never reached me.
I casually extended one hand and condensed a blade of soul force around my fingers. The attack crossed the distance instantly and sliced straight through the middle of the slime. The enormous body separated into two halves before rapidly losing cohesion. The soul force maintaining its existence collapsed and the remains splashed back into the ocean below.
I didn’t even slow down.
Then someone appeared directly in front of me.
I stopped so abruptly that the surrounding space distorted.
Defender Aurora floated several meters away with her hands behind her back and a mildly amused expression on her face.
Then her gaze drifted downward toward the remains of the slime dissolving into the sea.
"You know," she said thoughtfully, "that creature spent nearly three weeks hunting larger prey before deciding to attack you."
I glanced downward.
"It made a poor decision."
"It certainly did."
"Where have you been?"
The question seemed to amuse her.
"Around."
I stared at her.
"There are places within the realm that ordinary souls cannot enter. Places created specifically for beings like me."
"Demi-gods."
She nodded.
"Something close to that."
Her gaze drifted toward the distant horizon.
"The Prime Territory isn’t merely divided into regions. There are layers of authority built into it. Certain spaces exist outside normal governance. Places where entities like me can observe without interfering."
That immediately caught my attention.