They couldn't save everyone, in the end. Even with the Shadesplitter's help, even with all the powers they had working with them — there were too many to save, and the dungeon's monsters were too many in number. Creating three high-level monsters was one thing, but Halis' civilians weren't nearly as high-leveled; the dungeon didn't need powerful monsters to kill them.

It just needed a lot of them. Enough to get to people before either Sev or Vex could get to them with the shields, before Derivan could get to them with the rope. Enough to do it before Misa could notice it and block, because she still needed to know what she was blocking.

The Shadesplitter roared in frustration, and Sev's heart was heavy.

They had saved most, though. They were outside the dungeon, now, and the townspeople were looking around in fear and concern, and there wasn't time for them to panic.

"The dungeon's boundaries are still expanding," Sev said. "We need to run. Now."

There was a note of command in his voice, imbued to him by a divine presence. Sev felt a little guilty for using it, but it wasn't anything as violating as mind control; all it did was make sure the command came through clearly, piercing the veil of panic that had started to overcome a lot of them. Some stumbled, but most started to run, and Vex created a giant arrow of mana in the sky to help.

"This way!" he called. Sev appreciated it. He hadn't thought of that at all.

In this way, they were able to make it back. The Elyran refugees had made some progress in the time without them — more than he'd thought, actually, which meant it took some effort to catch up — but they did catch up, in the end. Sev offloaded the Halis townspeople to Helix and the other leaders of the Elyran rebellion to let them bring them up to speed; they were pretty much the de-facto leaders of the expedition, anyway.

Sev had bigger concerns. Mostly the fact that the gods were pinging him rather urgently, and several of them were gods that were worshiped heavily in Anderstahl. He gestured for his teammates to wait for him in the caravan and tapped into his divine connection—

SEV!

A dozen voices screamed at him at once. Some of them were quieter, and not all of them said his name; one called him a supplicant, and another one just said boy. He was pretty sure he knew who those gods were, and he suppressed the wave of irritation that followed.

I was busy, he responded down the connection. There was a clamoring on the other side, like a dozen different presences were fighting over who got to speak — Sev rolled his eyes, though he knew the situation must have been serious to warrant this kind of response — before Tempus finally took control of the line and spoke.

Sev, Tempus said. The god of time's voice was urgent and hurried, as if he knew he didn't have much time — and that was worrying. Sev knew the man as a slow and patient speaker. Time was his domain, and he never needed to hurry. Anderstahl is beginning to fall to the Void as well. We do not have as much time remaining as we hoped.

Shit, Sev responded. It was meant to just be a thought, but he accidentally sent it along the connection anyway. ...How much time do we have?

Weeks, Tempus said.

It would take weeks for their envoy to even reach Anderstahl. The last Prime Kingdom was supposed to be a bastion for all of them. If what Tempus was saying was right, they would arrive just in time to watch the kingdom fall just as Elyra had.

You have a solution, Sev said. He wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement; his tone was pleading. He wanted there to be a solution.

Yes, Tempus said cautiously, and Sev experienced a wave of relief before Tempus continued, perhaps.

Why perhaps? Sev demanded, a touch more impatient in his mental voice than he actually wanted.

There is a contingent of humans that are looking for you, Tempus said. They are well-shielded, and they seem to know more about the Void situation than almost anyone else. We would not have found them if Onyx had not guided us — they are hidden even from divine senses.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

What the fuck?

Sev's brain stuttered to a halt. Humans? Looking for him? The people he was closest to were his team, and to a lesser extent the Guildmaster and some of the clerks that worked at the various Guild branches he visited. He didn't know anyone else that knew him, especially not anyone that knew about the Void, and especially not anyone powerful enough to keep themselves hidden even from divine senses.

They may have a solution, Tempus added, unnecessarily. We do not know much about them. Only that they are searching for you, and that they know about the Void. But if there exists anyone that may know how to delay the Void's expansion...

It would be a group of mysterious humans that happened to know about the expansion of the Void, yes. Especially if they were looking for him.

They have left a beacon for you, Tempus said. We thought it was nothing, at first — divine noise sent out by the death of another god. It was only Onyx pointing us in the right direction that allowed us to identify it as something more.

There was something about how casually Tempus had mentioned the death of another god there. Like it had been happening for a while, and he'd gotten used to it. A thought hit Sev, and he searched desperately for his connection with Aurum—

—It was still there. Weaker, certainly, but still there. Aurum sent a weak pulse of gratitude down their link for his concern, and Sev brushed it aside. Tempus, what's been happening to the gods?

For a kingdom to be eroded, its gods must be destroyed, Tempus said grimly. The anchors pull at us to supplement their power. If they lose integrity...

They would eat away at all of them, trying to fuel itself to save an empty kingdom.

I did not want to tell you this way, Tempus added, his tone a touch sorrowful. He'd tried to hide it, Sev realized. He wouldn't have said anything if Sev hadn't called out his phrasing.

...How do I find the beacon? Sev asked.

Reach out with your divine sense, Tempus said. I will guide you.

Sev didn't waste any time.

It took him only moments to let Derivan, Misa, and Vex know what was going on; all three of them were worried, but none of them could do anything for this. He was at the center of it all, and he needed to go find out what this group of humans wanted from him. If they were lucky, they would have a solution.

If they weren't... They'd find another solution. They had to.

Which was one of the reasons Sev chose to do this by himself.

He was reluctant to part with his teammates, but they were being stretched thin enough as it was, and they couldn't afford all four of them to be caught up in something that didn't guarantee them a solution. There was another potential avenue they needed to explore — Teque.

The mana had been able to hold against the Void for years, in that other history. The bonus room in Elyra was gone, but Teque wasn't; the primordial river of mana there still existed. The mages there, with all their knowledge of the old ways and how mana behaved — they were still there.

Only because they had bonded with Fendal's citizens, as Sev understood it. When Elyra had started to fade away, something about Teque had started to destabilize, but their connection with Fendal helped them hold strong.

Misa's village had a loose connection with Fendal because of how Charise, Volaro, and Juni had helped assist with Fendal's rebellion. There was some kind of link there to Misa's skill that they thought could be exploited — some way to fold both Fendal and Teque into the protection of Misa's skill, and vice versa allow Misa's skill to be fueled by the integrity of the two villages.

It would, they hoped, bolster her reality anchor, which might very well become the last bastion for them if things kept going the way they were going.

Vex and Derivan would go to Teque. The wizards in the city of magic had been working on a solution for the void, and although their glyphs had yet to be able to fight it directly, they had apparently been able to make some progress by folding the magic of the Roads into their spells. The Roads, after all, was gifted to them by the mana to allow them safe travel in the world otherwise ravaged by the Void — it made sense that the magic within could be used in some capacity to fight it off.

Even then, that ability was limited.

"Good luck, guys," Sev said firmly. It was a serious moment. They were going to split up here, and if he was being honest, he didn't know if he'd see any of his friends again. "If I don't see you guys again—"

"Fuck that," Misa interrupted. She grabbed him, then Vex, and proceeded to crush them both against Derivan. "Group hug. We're gonna do this, you guys. We're gonna fucking do this."

Sev didn't know how she managed to sound so confident, but he saw the way everyone's spirits were lifted by her. He managed a smile himself as he hugged them back, letting himself be drawn into the warmth of their companionship just for a moment.

"See you later," Misa said firmly.

"Right, right," Sev said with a small chuckle. "See you later."

And just for a moment, Sev let himself believe it. He would see them again, even if he had to tear down the Void to do it.

The doubt in his heart could go fuck itself.