"Come, come, whoever you are, Wanderer, idolater (Polytheist), worshiper of fire (Zoroastrian), Jew or Christian. Come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times, Come, and come yet again. Ours is not a caravan of despair."
- The Sufi poet, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī.
Ungar, Hermes and the others met with Ebisu as well as Yadala and Mamara in their quarters at the academy. It was in an old bookseller. Ungar replied: "It's been some time since I've been in Umi. And you told me long ago well I guess long ago from now how you broke through the barrier." Ebisu laughed: "That's right, we're breaking out as soon as the sun goes down which should be in about 5 hours. If history is any indication of anything I think it will be a success." Ungar thought to himself: "He's definitely the Ebisu I know and remember, so headstrong and so confident. I would follow him now even as a teenager." Talus tapped his fingers as he folded his arms: "Well what's the plan?" Ebisu smiled devilishly: "I thought you'd never ask."
Back on Planet Helios, Lupus and several of the heroes landed in front of one of the Cubes: the heroes included Frog Man, Skunk Man and the Great Denier (whose power was to deny something and thus make it kind of true). As they landed Lupus was about to strike the cube when a figure appeared. Dressed in black with a long curved sword in his hands. Lupus scowled: "Get out of the way fool, we need to take care of this." The man laughed: "So you haven't heard of me?!" Lupus looked around and no one else had either. "My name is Alibaba. I'm the greatest assassin in the world, prized hero-hunter and now I'll be the one to kill the Great Denier once and for all. Cementing my name in history." He began to make an elegant speech but Lupus sent him flying in one punch. "Now that that's over with." Lupus hit the cube and began to fight it when it transformed into another geometric monster. The fight was short and Lupus defeated the thing in no time causing the creature to collapse and become a strand of light which would go back in time and enter Hermes' sword. Lupus was annoyed: "Jeez what a pain in the ass. Running around helping this kid." Another hero, Scott Greer flew overhead: "There were 12 Cubes spotted all next to each other on the continent of Pangora." Lupus looked up and said: "Really how far is that?" Scott replied: "About 100 miles off the coast of the Qatari realm." Lupus huffed: "Well let's get going." They all took off like bullets following Scott, Lupus caught directly up to Scott. "How long do you think it will take to get there?" said Lupus. Scott replied: "A little under one hour air by air." Lupus grew angrier: "This is interfering with my plans. I was planning on taking back my empire next month. But this kid's nonsense keeps getting in my way. King Lupus, lord of the stars, and God of the Universe reduced to a common babysitter. The very thought of what I've become makes me wretch." Scott was intrigued: "Retake your empire?" Lupus replied as they traveled through the air at Moch 10: "My galactic empire was conquered by a rival warlord, in that time I've been off world for at least three years, enough time to start a family which I of course have. Once I take it back I can begin my quest to overthrow the gods and later these Watchers will be close at hand." This stunned Scott: "You're going to challenge the Watchers. But they're omnipotent, they're essence surrounds this universe all the time within every atom, just saying you're thinking about taking them on is suicidal." Lupus laughed: "That's the difference between you and me, my ambition is boundless. Besides, the trip to my empire will only take around a week in one of Nova's spaceships, so it's worth the trip." Scott interjected with the subtlety of an elephant: "You know you could read my entire book several times over on the way there… it's called, "No Campus For…" Lupus growled: "I have no time for your nonsensical babbling," as he said that he intentionally fell behind leaving Scott heartbroken.
Back in Umi, Ebisu was about to go through with his plan to break through the barrier. But history had changed this time: but like in the previous history of this world, Ebisu had convinced 150 students to help him break through the barrier that kept the gods separated from the world above and below. As the moon began its slow rise over the crystalline horizon of Umi, the courtyard of the Academy buzzed with a tense, electric energy. The students Ebisu had rallied and moved in tightly coordinated teams, carrying crystals, arcane conductors, and relics smuggled from the Archives. Mamara coordinated the loading of the final prism-core into a rotating pedestal, while Yadala chanted low under her breath, drawing glowing runes into the stone with each step.
Hermes stood beside Ungar, eyes scanning the perimeter, sword resting in its sheath like a sleeping storm. "This is bigger than I thought," she murmured. Ungar nodded. "It always is." Ebisu stepped up onto a platform of concentric runes and raised a hand. "Brothers. Sisters. Seekers. We were told we could never leave. That the barrier was absolute. But we've seen enough to know the truth—no barrier lasts forever. And tonight, we break ours." The crowd murmured their assent, but Hermes felt the shift in the air. Something wasn't right. From across the square, Talus turned suddenly, eyes narrowing. "Someone's watching." That's when it hit—an explosion of soundless pressure, a ripple that bent light and silence itself. Above the Academy, a tear in the sky appeared—no wider than a man's hand, but growing. From it, a figure descended like a hawk falling toward prey. Daniel. But this time, not alone. Behind him came the Hunter. Cloaked in fractured gravity, her armor absorbing light like a black hole, her curved blade already humming with dimensional energy.
Ebisu's eyes widened. "Impossible. The fracture wasn't due for another cycle." Ungar growled. "History's been rewritten." The Hunter landed hard, cracking the marble beneath her boots. Her voice echoed without moving her mouth: "You are out of time, Ebisu. The gods made their verdict. You were never meant to breach the veil." Talus stepped forward. "Then it's time for a retrial." And then, as if time itself took a breath, the Academy erupted in chaos. Students rushed to defend the relics. Mark raised a wall of kinetic force just in time to block the Hunter's blade. Hermes drew her sword—now glowing bright as dawn, pulsing with the power of every cube. She could feel Niffy's presence surging. "Ready?" Niffy whispered. Hermes smiled grimly. "Always." Daniel watched her from above. Cold. Detached. "She wasn't supposed to survive this far," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. And then he moved. A war of timelines, gods, and willpower had begun—and only one version of the future could survive.
Back on Planet Helios, Lupus, Scott and the others were on their way to Pangoria when they noticed a cube down below in a nearby city. Not only that but the city was being attacked by giant mechs the size of skyscrapers. Scott announced: "We need to help those people." Lupus was not happy about it and replied with a: "Those people can wait, we need to destroy the cubes in Pangoria." The others left Lupus which angered him, "Damnit fine, we'll clean up the mess, at least there's one cube there." The city below was burning. Steel titans moved like giants through smoke and flame, their limbs firing plasma bolts that turned towers into slag. Civilians ran in all directions, their cries barely audible over the roaring engines of the mechs. Scott dove first, crashing into one of the mechs shoulder-first, sending it toppling into a river of molten concrete. Frog Man leapt from rooftop to rooftop, flinging acid grenades onto targeting visors. Skunk Man left a trail of toxic fog, blinding sensors and forcing evacuation hatches to pop open with the hiss of pressurized fear. The Great Denier stood calmly in the center of it all. A mech locked on, charged its railgun, and fired. "I deny the laws of ballistics," he said. The shell froze mid-air, cracked, and crumbled into harmless dust. Lupus landed hard on a parking tower, cracking the roof beneath him, arms folded as he surveyed the battle. "Babysitting and cleanup duty," he muttered. Then, reluctantly, he blurred into motion—one strike, one mech down, precise and final.
But from above another hero arrived, he had a white cape and an all white uniform with golden lining, beautiful white hair that was short but the bangs covered his eyes, and white gloves and boots. The people announced: "It's The Light Crusader. He's come to save us all!!" The people began to cheer, Prince Lupus was intrigued, "Who's this Light Crusader?" The Light Crusader hovered above the burning skyline like a star descending through smoke. His presence bent the light around him—not from power, but sheer precision. As he dropped into the chaos, his boots barely made a sound on the shattered pavement. One of the remaining mechs turned, scanned, and fired. A beam of searing plasma screamed toward him. He moved once. The beam missed. The mech's cannon dropped to the ground in two clean pieces before it even realized it had been cut. The Light Crusader stood still. In another blink, he vanished again, reappearing inside a mech's chest, his sword plunged through its core reactor. The mech's eyes went dim. It collapsed, smoke rising as if in surrender. Lupus watched, unimpressed but curious. "Fancy footwork," he muttered, landing beside the Crusader. "Who the hell are you?" The Light Crusader turned, lifting his chin slightly. His eyes remained hidden under his bangs. "I'm no one special," he said simply. "Just a hero who's trying to have some fun." Scott approached, still catching his breath. "You're late, haven't you been in charge of defending this sector, you are the number one hero in the Association so when they tell you to jump you jump." "Or just on time," the Crusader replied, then turned to the others. "You're fighting these drones, right?" "Among other things," Frog Man said. The Light Crusader nodded slowly. "Then we're on the same side." Skunk Man scratched his head. "So... Do you, like, have a name?" The Crusader gave the faintest smile. "You can call me Lior. I was born in the realm of Etros, raised by the priests of the First Flame. The Cubes were once guardians in our records. Something's corrupted them. I've been following the light trails. They lead here. To you." Lupus snorted. "Great. Another mystic with a savior complex. No one asked for your life story jackass. And besides the thing about the cubes is fake, they appeared because of the watchers you…"
As Lupus said this the Light Crusader noticed one last enormous drone left and it was about to destroy the city he punched his way right through it. Destroying it in an instant, the people cheered and the women began to fawn all over him. The Light Crusader began to sign autographs and so on until he heard a villainous sounding laugh cackling it was Lupus, everyone turned towards the Izadoran reveling in delight. "You're nothing Light Crusader. You're a mere man, I'm the future God of this world. And you're nothing but my servant, maybe you can shine in my shoes." Light looked at Lupus menacily, "You're quite the arrogant one aren't you? But is your bark worth more than your bite?" Lupus shouted: "Just watch me!!" He shot some lasers from his eyes which Light dodged as he appeared behind Lupus. "Looking for someone?" said Light. Lupus was stunned: "How the hell did he get behind me, I didn't even sense him." Lupus dodged a punch from behind but he realized soon it was harder than he thought to keep up with this guy. Lupus said as he continued to fight him. "I trained in the eighth Nakara (Hell) Mahāpadma itself, I won't lose to some guy playing hero." Light smiled: "Really you trained in another world, then show me this other-worldly power I'm still waiting for it." Lupus growled with anger: "You shut your damned mouth!" Lupus roared as a crimson aura flared around him, splitting the clouds overhead. The ground beneath cracked and buckled under the weight of his unleashed power. "Do you want something otherworldly?" he bellowed. "Then bleed for it!"
In a flash, he lunged at Lior with a ferocity that blurred the world around them. The air detonated with each strike, shockwaves rattling buildings and shattering glass across the city. Lior met Lupus blow for blow, each movement precise, controlled—effortless, even. He wasn't just dodging. He was reading Lupus like an open book. "You rely too much on force," Lior said between movements. "Power without purpose is just noise." "I am the purpose for power!" Lupus roared, slamming both fists into the ground, triggering a seismic pulse that sent Lior flying backward. Dust clouded the battlefield. For a moment, silence. Then Lior walked out of the smoke, adjusting his gloves. "And I'm the silence that cuts through it." In a blink, he was on Lupus again—this time with intent. A dozen rapid strikes. Elbow, knee, palm, edge of the hand—each hit a pressure point. Lupus staggered, momentarily stunned. Lior wasn't trying to overpower him. He was dissecting him. He finished off Lupus with an overhand hit to the ground. Lupus slowly got up and had to admit something he detested: "Fine you win, damn you strong, what a pain in the ass, if I'm to become the god of this world I can't lose to anyone." Then Lupus began to laugh: "Enjoy it while you can because soon I will become even stronger." Lior laughed: "Sure buddy, whatever you say." Lupus scoffed: "I mean it." Scott walked over to Lior, "I guess you're going to do the honor then, fight the being inside the cube. I'm sure giant mechs are a regular occurrence around here but these cube beings are something else." Lior nodded: "I'll take care of it."
Back in the city in Umi Ebisu and the others continued to fight X, Zed and this new strange woman. The sky over Umi split in threads of gold and ash as spells collided, blades rang, and timelines tangled in fire. The students fought with desperation and precision, wielding magics and relics they barely understood but believed in fiercely. The barrier trembled—unstable, fracturing—but still held. For now. Hermes moved through the chaos like lightning wrapped in purpose, her blade carving streaks of light through the dark. The Hunter's strikes were faster than thought, warping space, slicing through reality itself. But Hermes was no longer just a fighter. She was a conduit. Every cube Lupus and the others had shattered in the present time had fed into her sword, and now, it whispered of futures unwritten. "Left!" Niffy yelled in her mind, just in time. Hermes ducked, twisted, and drove the blade upward, catching the edge of the Hunter's armor. Sparks flew. The Hunter recoiled. Talus flanked her with a crack of lightning, while Ungar and Ebisu worked at the center dais. The final prism-core was spinning too fast now, arcs of blue fire leaping from it as the veil barrier started to melt like ice under flame. "We have maybe two minutes before this place becomes a crater!" Mamara yelled, shielding a group of students behind a temporal bubble. Daniel descended now—no longer just watching. His cloak of dimensional thread fluttered as he landed with silence that sucked the noise around him into a void. His hand shimmered with time distortion. He moved toward Ebisu. "You don't understand," Daniel said coldly. "This breach will collapse every anchor the gods used to stabilize the layered realms. If you succeed—reality tears."
Ebisu didn't stop. "Then we'll build something better. Together." Daniel's voice cracked—anger or sorrow, no one could tell. "You won't have the chance." He charged. Hermes broke from the Hunter and intercepted Daniel mid-strike. Their blades clashed, time bending around them. With every blow, flashes of what could be bled into view—cities burning, gods falling, stars screaming into silence. The weight of infinite possible futures bore down on her, but she held. "We make our own future!" Hermes screamed, and pushed him back. The Hunter surged forward again, too fast for the eye—but was stopped mid-stride by a blur of red and silver. Talus. The ground cratered as he slammed into the Hunter, driving her back with raw celestial force. She skidded, hissed, and vanished into folded space. "Get the veil open, now!" Lupus barked, shielding them with gravitational flares. Ebisu reached out, his hands glowing with every fracture of time he had seen, every memory he hadn't lived. The prism-core responded. It expanded, became translucent—and then exploded outward in a sphere of quiet. The barrier shattered.
Above them, the sky cleared. For the first time in millennia, the path to the realm of the gods stood open. Daniel dropped to a knee, breathing hard, his power destabilized. "You have no idea what you've done. We could've stopped this from happening again." Ebisu stepped forward, quiet but unwavering. "We've given the world a choice." Daniel retorted: "You'll come to regret this later on, literally." Ebisu scoffed: "Not everything an older person picks up is wisdom, they're capable of learning ignorant things as well. I have no doubt that there are costs and risks. But without them life is no longer worth living." Behind them, the breach began to stabilize into a golden archway. Hermes lowered her blade. "What now?" Talus cracked his neck. "Now? Now we walk through." And with that, the heroes crossed the threshold—into the realm where even gods were afraid to look. But behind them, far in the ruined edge of the fractured Academy, Daniel stood. Watching. Waiting. Whispering to the Hunter who reappeared beside him: "They'll wish they'd never opened the door."
The door was opened and the students were free but they were met by countless archon warriors in futuristic battle armor. Their freedom after all had a price as they fought this armada in the sky. Talus called out a name, "DANIEL!!!" Daniel turned around and took off his crystalline helmet. "So you've finally come to face me, you've changed for the better old friend. You should know I'm only doing this for the greater good, I know the damage that child can cause, its worth the price of my own existence." Talus stood there silently for what seemed like an eternity. "I just can't believe you bought into your own bullshit." This caused Daniel to gasp. Talus smirked and began to crack his fingers in anticipation: "Long ago we battled at the Martial Arts Tournament you had to put me in my place because of my wicked heart. Yet here you are with the same distorted ignorance of all those you fought before." Daniel grew angry: "And like you have any right to lecture me Talus. The things you've done, do you honestly think you deserve to be forgiven for any of this." Talus smiled as a tear rolled down his cheek: "I know more than anyone else that I'm going to hell. It just breaks my heart. I have to take you with me." Daniel charged forward: "You talk a big game, let's see if you can back it up!" Talus conjured up a sword from nothing and began to battle Daniel in the sky above; one strike caused a mountain to be shattered in half in the distance. Talus laughed: "I have grown stronger than you know, MAOI-MAOI FIN!!!" In a flash Talus gushed with energy slamming into Daniel breaking open his armor. Daniel coughed up blood and saliva as he was propelled backwards.
"You bastard. How dare a lowly mortal treat a god like this," said Daniel. Talus pointed: "There it is, I knew your heart had grown, conceited you believe your superior now. Well guess what I've obtained the power of godhood as well." Talus exploded with energy, in a flash he was a being with wavy hair that looked as if he was swimming in water and had eight eye balls on his face, with red energy glowing everywhere. Talus announced: "Behold my Rakshasa form." Daniel began to breathe heavily as he thought to himself: "Damnit, he's gotten so strong. How can I compete with this?" Talus lunged forward and as they fought the sky began to crack. But in an instant a large collection of water smacked Daniel head on knocking him backwards and stunning him for a moment. It was Hermes: she was surrounded by water and the spirit of the Guardian Avatar, the giant octopus with countless eyes as it roared, began to kick the water particles at Daniel with her feet like bullets. They struck with pristine accuracy causing Daniel great pain. She then concentrated the water and shot it at him like a cannon of fluid the water pounded him from above as she appeared from above and struck him with Fire from her Qadar. Ungar was deeply confused by this: "This doesn't make any sense. My body and soul is made up of no less than 600,000 Universes, and all the souls that reside in it and everything else even down to the smallest microorganisms and micro-beings, whenever anything in the world is fighting my essence burns with fire, yet I feel nothing. Its like Hermes is not part of this world, like she doesn't exist. What the hell is going on?! This is beyond strange!"
Hermes hovered in the air, her eyes glowing a deep violet as the Guardian Avatar coiled behind her like a living storm. Water, fire, and raw elemental force radiated from her body, each movement a symphony of cosmic violence. Daniel struggled to lift himself, pieces of his broken armor clattering into the void below as the cracked sky rained shards of unreality. Talus took a step back, still in his Rakshasa form, his eyes narrowed. "Hermes… You weren't supposed to intervene." She looked at him, but didn't speak. Instead, the air around her vibrated with a hum that was not sound, but memory—an ancient, echoing resonance that spoke to forgotten truths. The Avatar behind her pulsed with it, sending waves of fear through even the Archon warriors who circled the battlefield like vultures. Daniel staggered to his feet, barely standing. "What… what are you?" Hermes turned to him, her voice now layered, like multiple beings were speaking through her all at once. "I am what the world forgot. I am what you abandoned. I am the Echo of the First Pact. I am the Light, the bane of Darkness. Have you forgotten your formal role? I'm protecting what the GateKeepers protected before the seal of Prophethood returned!" Talus's eyes widened. "She has awakened." Hermes nodded slowly. "Yes. And yet here I am. Because one among you—" she looked at Talus, then to Daniel "—remembered. You brought war, betrayal, and power into balance again. That cracked the seal. That opened me up." Daniel smiled: "Fine I've been bested, I concede, you win." Hermes shot a final ray of energy at Daniel but at the last second the unexpected happened. Talus leaped in the way shocking everyone, Hermes, Daniel, Ungar and everyone else.
As the elemental forces cleared Talus floated there with blood dripping from a giant hole in his chest and crimson blood dripping heavily down his arm as he slumped over arm forward on one side. "This isn't over, its my job to finish this. The wound healed itself and the blood cleared but Talus still lost some stamina." Talus spit to the side: "You gave me a second chance that day at the tournament. Because of that I won't submit to anyone committing evil. You know this kills me, the roles should be switched." Daniel gasped again: "What are you talking about, Talus?" Talus began to have tears pour from his eyes. "You were the one who brought all these people together, you saved the world several times before I arrived. You should be fighting me and I should be fighting you, and you should be killing me and ridding another demon from this world once and for all." Talus continued to sob: "The guilt I've felt because of that is overwhelming." Daniel breathed a sigh out: "Don't you get it, or are you really that dense?" Talus looked up confused. Daniel responded screaming: "I CHOSE YOU TO CONTINUE MY LEGACY TALUS! And by the way you and Ebisu were right and I was wrong. I clearly have chosen the wrong side, I was blinded by fear. You need to continue my legacy, carry my energy, and everything I stood for, which I know in your heart you always stood for as well, you simply needed to be guided to the right path." Talus wiped the tears from his eyes. "How about one more fight for real, let the best man win," said Daniel. Talus nodded. The two began to throw fists. Eventually the fight ended when the two of them charged towards each other fists out as they both punched each other at the same time causing them both to fly backward. Talus began to think: "I get it now, Daniel you only do good, you changed your ways when you knew you were wrong." Daniel caught his balance in the air. "Well, I guess we're all together again, lets ge…" as he said this a harpoon on a chain went straight through Daniel's chest causing him to cough blood. Talus screamed: "NOOOOOO!" As he looked up he saw who it was , X (Ebisu). Ebisu scoffed: "You really are a sentimental fool, you know as well as I do how dangerous that girl is yet you chose to be influenced so deeply by your own emotions."
Daniel began to cough more blood. "The harpoon is a light eroder that will kill you in less than a minute so I hope aiding that monster was worth it. You will experience real soul destruction, no reincarnation, no heaven, no hell, no rejuvenation. Goodbye, my son." As he said this Daniel began to collapse into a dust of light a single tear rolled down his cheek: "Talus, succeed where I failed. I never regretted anything. Please know that. Never feel guilt again. Good bye, my friend. I love you, make sure to say goodbye to Zaiyal and everyone else. Farwell." In that instant Daniel had disintegrated as he experienced complete soul destruction. Talus's heart began to beat as the tears in his eyes began to dry and he was stuck with a blank expression of terror on his face. "My friend is gone, he gave up everything," he thought. "I WON'T LET your sacrifice be in vain. I'll reform Lupus just like you reformed me and any of the demons like Krampus, Khidr if I am able just like you've done with countless others before. I'll continue your work my friend. You're right I will be your sword!!" Talus exploded with anger, the air being flooded by Qadar of both fire and water. This terrified X (Ebisu): "What the hell is happening?" Talus looked as he did before but he had red hair that was like cosmic fire and his skin was transuluent and filled with stars. He leaped forward and began to hit Ebisu with one strike after the other. It wasn't even close. Ebisu (X) was being destroyed by Talus and everyone was stunned, each strike was like an atom bomb.
Ebisu flew backward, smashing through layers of sky and cracking the firmament itself, shards of cosmic glass spiraling around him like broken planets. He coughed blood—real blood, not the kind projected by his multi-dimensional shell. "This can't be… You weren't supposed to ascend," he muttered. Talus didn't answer. His new form—Celestial Raijin—radiated a force beyond mortal comprehension. With each step he took, entire pockets of reality blinked out, replaced by streaks of fire and galaxies that flickered within his translucent skin. The world bent around him, time staggering just to keep up. "You destroyed him, Ebisu," Talus said, voice now layered with thousands of echoes—Daniel's voice among them. "And in doing so, you completed me." Ebisu snarled and launched another chain of harpoons, each one tipped with Null Energy. Talus raised a single finger. The harpoons froze mid-air, then shattered into dust, dissolving like ash in the sun. "I raised you, I raised the child who reformed you so I therefore raised you," Ebisu spat, rising to his feet. "He took you in when no one else would. And therefore I took you in. I taught you power, I showed you how to survive—" "No," Talus interrupted. "You taught me nothing.. Daniel taught me everything, not you." The battlefield trembled as Hermes hovered nearby, her Guardian Avatar receding like a mist, watching silently, reverently. The remaining Archon warriors didn't move. Even Ungar—the multiversal composite—stood still, as if witnessing the rewriting of a myth. Talus walked slowly toward Ebisu, his fists clenched, not out of anger, but of focus. "You feared what she could become. But fear doesn't guide justice. Fear is how tyrants are born. All you are is a scared child pretending your prejudice is justified."
"Then you're naive," Ebisu snapped. "You'll regret sparing her. They always do." Talus stood before him now, close enough to see the madness in his eyes. "Then let that regret be mine to carry. You won't be around to see it." With one motion, Talus drove his fist into Ebisu's chest—no theatrics, no light show, just raw, final truth. The strike shattered Ebisu's armor, cracked his soul-core, and silenced his screams. Ebisu gasped, eyes wide with disbelief, before collapsing to his knees. "Talus…" he whispered, a strange flicker of pride in his dying breath, "you've… surpassed even the GateKeepers..." Then he was gone. Silence spread like wildfire. Hermes landed gently beside Talus, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Uncle Talus the war isn't over. But the path forward is clearer now." Talus nodded, exhausted, but resolute. "Then we keep walking." Talus looked to them all, standing tall in the wreckage of fate. "We rebuild," he said. "For Daniel. For everyone. We end this cycle."