He had his mission now.

Get to Mistborne Isle. Climb Kaedmon's Cradle.

And beat the God down long enough to possess Him.

After he'd acquired the 50000 Spirit Cores necessary to do that…

Before the soft eyes of Jun'Ei closed forever, the Prophet had one more thing to tell him:

Your enemies are coming. As we speak, the Viceroy of Lucent sends the city's fleet to knock upon the blasted walls of Griffon's Watch. When I leave you, you must meet them, Ethan. For they do not yet know what you have become.

Ethan looked through the mists covering the Argwyllian sea and saw that her words rang true: masts dotted the horizon—a fleet sailing from Lucent, armed with enough trebuchets and ballistae to shatter a city.

But Ethan did not look upon them with fear.

I'll do more than just meet them, he declared. I'll smash through them, then I'll pummel that city into the dirt. Only then will Sanctum be safe. And I'll be ready to meet Kaedmon.

Jun'Ei said nothing in response. But he could tell that she was smiling.

I could use a hand, he said. Sure you don't want to stick around and show the world that Jun'Ei won't go out without a fight?

She glanced sidelong at him as they drifted back through the fortress walls.

My strength is all but gone, Ethan. But that does not mean I shall fade without incident. I have one final gift for you.

He felt the cool, serene touch of her paws once more and knew that, as she left him, she was granting him the only skill she could still bestow.

Take up the mantle of Prophet in my name, she whispered while their spirits rushed toward Griffon's Watch, where their mortal forms lay. Use it to forge your own future—yours, and Argwyll's.

[Skill Transferred]

[Prophet's Pacification] Grade S Heretical skill conceived by the Prophet Jun'Ei. Allows the user to nullify all skill usage from another target on contact. Duration: 10 minutes. HIGHEST GRADE ACHIEVED

Ethan's eye widened at the skill.

Already S‑ranked, he thought. I shouldn't have expected anything less from Kaedmon's antithesis.

Before she departed this world, he saw her golden form smile back at him.

Show them, Ethan, she said as her eyes turned to motes of gold. Show them that we… are our choices.

Her face dissolved into the sunrise cresting behind the black crags of Griffon's Watch, and she spared a final look in Klax's direction.

…farewell.

Then she was gone—and he was back.

His single eye opened to find the Hybrids staring down at him, their faces mixtures of shock, sorrow, joy, and awe.

They had seen the light of Jun'Ei gutter out. They had watched her brain slump to the floor as her spirit finally released its pain.

…all for me, Ethan thought bitterly.

He looked at the team and gave the order he needed to give.

"Tara," he said. "Put me back on Revok. There's something I have to do."

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Outside, the first rays of dawn pierced the storm clouds hanging over Argwyll and the courtyard of Griffon's Watch.

Ethan strode toward the central crater he'd left, tall and regal, all three of his host's heads repaired by Typhos's [Regeneration].

Beside him walked Fauna, whom he'd asked to accompany him.

At first she hadn't known why. Then, in the dawn light pouring across the rubble, she saw what he had left behind.

The body of the Drytchling Matriarch—Malak's wife, Irlanda—lay torn to pieces. And yet her lambent green eyes still glowed with power.

Ethan looked down at the creature and lowered a single, gargantuan paw.

"You did it," he said. "You held on. Tell me what you want. If it is within my power, I'll grant it."

Fauna studied him uneasily. Ever since he'd first possessed the spider‑boss of the Festering Den, she'd harbored some trepidation about his more monstrous hosts. Yet she had grown to trust that Ethan—the real Ethan—remained inside. Somehow, his kind heart always shone through.

With Revok's six grim eyes, though, she found it hard to see where Ethan ended and the beast began.

Still, when he nodded and raised his great paw above the Drytchling, she could hardly believe it.

"I understand."

That was all he said before he brought the paw down, crushing what remained of her and extinguishing the light where it lay.

"Ethan!"

Fauna ran to the spot. Only splintered twigs and shattered leaves remained—Irlanda was gone.

"E‑Ethan…" the Hopla whispered. "Why?"

He was already walking away.

"WHY!?"

"It was her wish," Ethan answered, pausing only briefly. "She held on for too long—longer than anyone should. The truth is, Faun, I should have torn through this place in half the time. I made her suffer just as her husband did. I benefited from her entrapment exactly as he intended."

"Ethan, that's not—"

He did not turn, and when she stepped closer he loosed a low growl.

"I'm a monster, Fauna," he said. "I always have been. Even back on Earth I cared only about myself. I lay on my couch wishing the world would become a better place—for me—while doing nothing to change it. Because I knew how useless I was."

He spread his wings, preparing to fly to the shattered tower's highest point. He had already warned them that an invasion was coming—and that he would face it alone.

"No," Fauna replied. When he ignored her, she amplified her voice with thaumaturgy. "NO!"

Only then did he look back with all three faces. But she refused to cower.

"That's not you," she said. "That isn't the Ethan I know! I don't care what Jun told you. You aren't just some mad beast! You care about us. I know you do!"

If she were the timid teacher she once had been, the words would have stuck in her throat. Now she spoke them freely:

"You care about me."

She wasn't sure what to expect, and what happened next changed her life forever.

"Sooner or later," Ethan said, "we all have to face reality, Faun."

Her ears drooped.

"You've become the badass Wildglance you were always meant to be," he continued. "You've learned exactly what you're capable of—and so have the others. Everyone in Sanctum will need someone to lead them out of the dark. I can think of no one better."

She shook her head, unbelieving.

"You're our leader," she insisted. "Klax is our leader."

"You saw him," Ethan answered softly. "His will to command is gone. Besides, it's time for him to rest. If I do my job, that's all any of you will need to do."

"Your… job?"

He turned away; even now he could not bear to meet her eyes as he spoke.

Sys's voice rumbled inside his mind. You don't have to say anything. Soon the time for words will be over.

No, Ethan told him. She deserves to hear it from me.

"I've grown, Faun," he said. "I wield power no other being on Argwyll possesses, and I've seen what must be done with it. I'm going far from these lands—and I must go alone."

The tip of her staff crackled with scarlet sparks.

"…Why?" she asked, even knowing it was futile. "After everything we've been through—everything we've done—you're just going to abandon us?"

"I've caused you enough pain. Let me do the rest."

She stomped forward, raising her staff.

"I won't let you!" she cried. "We didn't risk our lives—drag you back—just to lose you again!"

Through her anger she glimpsed his demon eye, and for a heartbeat she saw the warm fool who had brought hope into their lives.

Her staff fell; her head bowed.

"…Everything we've done," she whispered. "It has to mean something."

His massive shoulders sagged, his hat‑form drooped, but his decision did not waver.

"For you, Faun," he said. "Not for me."

A single wing beat hurled a shockwave that nearly knocked her down; then, with one mighty thrust, he rose to the tower's broken summit, silhouetted against the rising sun.

He would face what was coming—and he meant to face it alone.

As she watched him go, a kind of numbness overtook her. For so long she'd thought of what might have happened when this war was over for her. For the children. For them. Hadn't he asked her that himself back in the elevator to the doctor's lair?

She wished, for once, that she could see through his eyes as he looked through others. Maybe then she could understand his pain, and do what she could to take some of it away even if he wanted the burden to be his, and his alone.

Because she knew that what she'd feared was coming true. She saw nothing of that dorky jokester who'd come to them and brought a new ray of hope on to their lives. Who made everything into a silly game and was always there for them even when times seemed bleak. Looking into the eyes of his new form, she saw that he was gone.

Ethan was gone. He was the Archon now.

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