I PREPARE TO FACE THE ETERNAL ELEMENTALS ONCE AGAIN.

I have already meditated and regained some of my strength thanks to Soul Cycle. It will be a difficult battle ahead of me, but I am ready for it. Before that, there are other matters to attend to. Nelrel and I inform Kalmat about what Galgom has told us— that the destruction of the Flourishing Flatlands is not enough to defeat the Eternal Elementals.

“Create a vacuum, huh?” Kalmat rubs his chin. “So perhaps Thornthistle may just survive this battle.”

“No,” I say as I shake my head.

“No?”

“We still need to evacuate Thornthistle. If this fails, the city will not be safe. Bring them to the Blazing Desert. Do what needs to be done.”

Kalmat’s eyes narrow. “Will you do this alone?”

“Nindran and Beihal are still there. I will use their help. Perhaps Nelrel can come too, but…” I trailed off, looking at the elderly woman.

She shrugs. “If Kalmat can handle Galgom, then I can join Tian in her battle with the Eternal Elementals.”

We glance back— where the purple man is standing. He is bound, but he can break from his shackles. The only reason he has not escaped is simple.

“At his state, he won’t be able to harm anyone,” Kalmat says. “He has no access to his technology, and neither does he have any other bodies. I can deal with him just fine.”

“Very well, then.” I pat the leader of the Keepers of the Grove on the shoulder. “I trust that you will be able to handle this. Let us go, Nelrel.”

I activate my Aspect, spreading my wings wide. The elderly woman nods proudly at Kalmat before taking my hand.

“Good luck,” Kalmat calls out to us as we fly off.

We leave Thornthistle behind, flying into the distance. A large column of smoke rises into the horizon. I pass by the same forests and orange trees on the way to the battlefield. I see large divots and craters covering the ground— where I had fought the Eternal Elementals before the arrival of my friends.

I see explosions just up ahead. Blasts which shake the earth, sending tremors that wash over the forest trees in waves. Beihal and Nindran are still there. I can see their magic. Nindran has a wide stance, calling a pool of Lifeblood around her before converting it into flames. It burns something at the center of a large crater as Beihal supports her by tossing an odd glinting object after it. A burst of electricity shoots up, crackling louder than even the lightning from the Forsaken Palace.

I land next to the two as they stand there, panting in exhaustion. They glance over at me as I lower Nelrel to the ground.

“Back already?” Beihal grins weakly, hefting an upgraded lightshooter over his shoulder. “We’ve got this handled.”

“Nope. We definitely do not.” Nindran leaps over to me and hugs me.

“I’m glad to see you too.” I smile at her.

“We’re getting our butts handed to us. Please tell me you’re here to swap us out.” She gives me a pleading look.

I chuckle. “No, but I believe we have found a plan that can defeat these Eternal Elementals without destroying the Flourishing Flatlands.”

Beihal blinks. “Are you certain?”

“Indeed,” Nelrel says as she steps forward. “We shall create a vacuum. One devoid of any matter. So that this creature of calamity can be felled without bringing destruction to our home.”

“A… vacuum?” His eyes widen. He furrows his brows and murmurs to himself. “That’s right. If we can rid its surroundings from matter, it can’t…”

I look past Beihal. Already, I can see the toll of the damage on the surroundings purely from the regeneration of the Eternal Elementals. It sucked in the life of everything around it, killing the trees, the earth, and even the air just so it can live.

It is an immortal that destroys others to preserve itself. I remember the immortals of Jhisie— the five Springs who struck me down and banished me from my own world. My lips twist as I take a wide stance.

Meanwhile, Beihal faces Nelrel with an amazed look. “By the Grovetender, this plan is genius, Nelrel!”

She meets his gaze and smirks. “I’m surprised you didn’t think of this yourself.”

“I didn’t think that… but to create a vacuum—”

“I will need your help for that,” I say, cutting him off. “Nindran, Beihal, Nelrel. Get ready.”

At the center of the crater is a charred mess. A concoction of malicious intent. It looks like a molten rock, burning yet sheening wet. It is held together by cracked mud as it sizzles and lets out a pillar of steam that stands out in the smoke billowing off it. Then it shudders. The thing moves jerkily and looks up at us with no eyes. It looks like it is straight from a nightmare— the kind of illusions that terrorizes me in the Seventh Heaven.

I raise a hand and unleash a Ray of Esh into the pit. The attack stops its regeneration before I leap into the air.

“Distract it!” I yell. “Lifeblood’s Call!”

All at once, the Lifeblood gathered around the area. A pool— a red sea that covers the sky. Nelrel, Nindran, and Beihal dance with the crimson wave, unleashing a barrage of elemental magic down into the earth.

I close my eyes as I reach deep within my core, converting the Lifeblood around me into Qi. My wings beat rapidly at my back, and I exhale. The explosions resounding beneath me fade into the distance. I focus purely on what I have to do. To create a prison. One that can trap these Eternal Elementals.

A box made of metal seems simple enough, yet I struggle to picture it in my head. After all, is that enough? No— I remember something else. The fact that Galgom calls these Eternal Elementals slaves. Not just them, but the others I have fought too.

And if they are all slaves, that means they have come here in their own prisons. Their own cells.

“Now then,” I say as I begin to imagine the ships they crashed into this world in. A shape begins to take form above my head. “Let us see whether this is enough.”