"He is here!" Mason almost shouted as he saw the brilliant rays of gold dawn upon the reborn Midpath, coloring in the blueprints of the Aviania angels into mechanical structures of gold and white plate surrounding azure blue cores.

"The One Light himself. I…I…had no idea it would feel like this." He put a hand to his heart, and his fingers gripped his shirt tight, and yet, his expression, though awed, remained neutral. "It…does not feel warm. As warm and comforting as I thought the Light would be."

The light spread from statue to statue in weaves of gold before finally arcing its way to the twin sand obelisks Li stood in front of. The luminescence gathered, swirling in tight-knit strands that eventually became so compact they created a swirling portal that shimmered like a miniature sun, though, as Mason noted, no heat came from it.

Everyone in the party except for Li took steps back, for even if there was no heat from this light, the sheer output of magical energy from it was enormous, bending the very space around the portal in distortions that mimicked heat waves.

This was the power of Helius, after all, an entity that stood above even the Three Great Gods.

And Li could feel that the light shone for him.

"Papa, you going?" said Tia as she tugged at Li's brown coat sleeve.

"Hm." Li stared at the portal, wondering about if things could go wrong. Would this lead to Valhul? If so, then did he have a way out?

It was odd that Helius would ever invite Li back into Valhul if the god had no way to send Li back. But there was a chance. Had the god become antagonistic? It seemed highly unlikely.

Regardless, if Li had to prepare for a worst-case scenario, he would rather be safe than sorry. He was curious about this portal, massively so, in fact, considering this would be the first time he interacted with any of the three great gods since what seemed like an eternity ago in the first month of his time in this world.

He wanted to know of their status and their plans, for they alone were entities related to this world big enough to match the impact he could make. It was crucial that all of them cooperated together.

If things went massively wrong, Li would not hesitate to draw upon his eldritch powers to break space and warp himself away, even if it would cost him some of his humanity.

"Yes, Tia. Father is going," said Li. "This portal was meant for me. I would be rude not to accept the invitation."

"You…hold personal counsel with the One Light himself?" asked Mason in slack jawed awe.

"Why do you think I am so confident in making judgements about the Light?" said Li. "I will let you know how things are on his end soon enough."

"Stay safe, papa, and come back soon!" said Tia. "Make sure to think about me."

"Of course, Tia." Li smiled and put a hand to her head. "I always think about you."

He stepped up to the golden portal, eyed it once, then stepped past it.

The sun.

Li found himself floating a hundred or so meters away from a gargantuan sun, though even with its size, it was evident that it was not a real solar body. An imitation. Perfect in terms of visual appearance with its orange, white-speckled spherical body lined with bright white, flaring bands that formed a corona.

But there was no dangerously high heat emanating from it. In fact, there was no heat at all. Nor was there bliding amounts of light. Rather, the light that shone from the miniature sun seemed rather dim for its size, casting just enough to light up the surroundings of this new area.

Li could see floating in free, white space blue orbs of varying size, their figures lined with dull gold patterns reminiscent of circuitry. One of these orbs, about the size of a small house, approached Li, and atop it sat Helius.

Li willed himself to move, landing in front of the sun god atop the orb. He inspected Helius again, wondering if anything had changed.

Helius was still much the same. His ragged, unkempt gold hair ran down beyond his shoulders. His facial features were as gaunt and sunken in as ever, dark bags under golden eyes that should have been filled with fiery light. He was still thin, his divine armor absent with a tattered white sackcloth in its place.

"You seem well," said Li.

Helius looked up at Li for a second before shrugging. "Well as I can be, I suppose."

"What brings me here?" said Li.

"You restoring the Midpath," said Helius.

"Care to explain a bit more?"

Helius nodded. "Of course. Sorry. I have lost a bit of touch in how to speak with others. I have been watching your journey. I knew you would reach the Midpath. The Midpath is one of the few remaining structural gateways that exist to manifest my divine power upon realm, if temporarily. I did not want to miss the chance to convene with you."

"I see," said Li, nodding to himself in some relief that the gods were not opposed to him or that the world had entrapped him again. In fact, this place did not seem at all like Valhul. "Where is this?"

"Just as you encountered Chi-You in his personal realm, so too do I possess one," said Helius. "Though it was Zahaka that created realms for Chi-You and Khonsu. This realm is one of my own power. An intermediary dimension that once channeled my power to fuel my angels. Though now, it is cold and inactive."

"I see. Is there a reason we did not meet on Valhul?" said Li.

"I do not control Valhul. The World does. If you enter there again, I have no means of sending you back. Zahaka can, but I doubt you wish to go through that lengthy process again." Helius waved his bony hand around him, gesturing to his dimension. "But entry and exit from this realm, I alone control."

"I am curious about Zahaka. She was working on a means of taking all of you out of Valhul, no? How is the progress on that?"

"I do not talk with Zahaka much. She does not talk much to us either anymore. She has grown distant. Absorbed in her work, perhaps, or something else on her mind, but I do not care much. From what she does tell, she is close. Soon, she says. Perhaps in time for me to aid in your purpose heading to the west."

Li narrowed his eyes. "You speak about your brother. Noctus."

"Yes." Helius sighed, his eyes growing distant. A few seconds later, they focused again. "Yes," he repeated. "You journey now to face him."

"He has become a problem," said Li. "Or rather, others have begun to use his power, spreading madness and corruption anywhere. I see no end to this unless I wipe out the source of the problem itself. This, I hope you do not oppose."

"Of course not. One of the reasons why I wished to speak to you was to confirm your intent to fight against Noctus." Helius put his pale, bony hand out in front of him, the fingers wide, as if he were reaching out to grab something. Then, his hand closed into a tight fist. "And to tell you I will fight."

"I do not know about that," said Li. "It is not that I will not fight Noctus, but I worry about what this fight will entail. Even should you and the three great gods descend to aid me, awakening Noctus will still cause a fight of mythical proportions.

Any war you may have had with Burning Ones and demons will look childish in comparison. Noctus is stronger than any of you in Valhul. Even if all of us took him down, if Noctus manages to unleash just one errant blow, then it may be that millions of lives are lost."

"You will not have to worry about that," said Helius. "I have planned for centuries to right my wrongs and end the misery I brought my brother to. This realm-," Helius gestured to the dimension around him again. "Will contain Noctus. Here, I will isolate him.

Another reason I called for you. I wished to give you peace of mind knowing that my realm is at your disposal."

"I see." Li brought a hand to his chin. "Indeed, that would work. Noctus is potentially capable of dimensional travel, but doing so will take time, and we will not give him that time if we face him in combat.

But still-," Li looked to the sun engine, at the countless blue orbs that must have once fueled many, many angels. "Will you not feel loss in having this realm be destroyed?"

"All the angels are dead," said Helius. "That is one of my many regrets. That I abandoned them when my mind reached its lowest depths." He shook his head. "But even I cannot alter time and fate. They are gone, and I do not wish to create anymore, not when I have proven myself to be such a failure.

I have no attachment to this realm anymore. It is nothing more but a graveyard for beings I once thought I would nurture forever."