Casmir's expression became deadly serious.

"It'll be dangerous," he said bluntly. "A mad dash for the breach. We'll be moving through heavily fortified territory with divine opposition. Some of us..." he paused, letting the weight of his next words sink in, "...some of us might not make it."

The fire crackled in the silence that followed.

"But," Casmir continued with deep conviction in his voice, "just because they're divine doesn't mean we're helpless. We're Transcendents. We've faced impossible odds before."

Himothy grunted in agreement, straightening from his slouched position. A familiar fire kindled in his eyes. And unlike the usual manic, glory-seeking glint he usually had, this something steadier. More fundamental.

The others stirred similarly. Thalia's Order aura flickered stronger. Yara's shoulders squared. Even Keeva, Osric, and the newly returned scouts showed subtle shifts in posture.

Of course, Finn thought, watching the transformation ripple through the group. It's not something so simple to discard.

The confidence in their abilities, the bone-deep certainty that they could overcome. It was inherent to being a Transcendent. Part of their fundamental identity. Especially for bearers of powerful, combat-oriented concepts like Himothy's Glory, Thalia's Order, Casmir's Space, Deacon's Truth, Yara's Resilience.

So long as we don't face another absolute power like a Great One, Finn mused darkly, there will still be fighting spirit. Even against a more powerful force.

And that included him.

In fact, besides Himothy, Finn felt he might be the second most egotistical Transcendent here. He'd tried to become divine despite complete uncertainty about the process, and he had succeeded — if only for a short while — through sheer audacity and conceptual manipulation.

Even more. Having entered that state, that certainty of being not just Finn, not just Arros, but Error made manifest, he now had something more than simple ego.

He now had an assurance of self that went bone-deep.

Even after facing a Great One. Even after being shown the monumental gap, the insignificance of his own power against something like a Great One, that didn't change the fact that he knew he was still very much powerful.

And the same went for the other Transcendents. They recognized the task ahead of them as difficult, but they didn't see it as impossible. Especially after considering the fact that their mission wasn't to fight. It was to infiltrate covertly, reach the breach, and escape. A run, not a battle.

If they couldn't stand against these Gods in direct confrontation, they were confident in their ability to at least escape with their level of power.

"I'm ready," Himothy said, cracking his knuckles as concept-born lightning began to flicker across his skin before he suppressed them. "Been ready since we got here."

Casmir nodded. "I actually agree with that sentiment. It's one we should all have for this mission. No one holds back. Go crazy. Use everything in your arsenal to ensure that we reach that breach — that you reach that breach."

He paused meaningfully, looking around the circle, meeting each Transcendent's eyes.

"You all need to bear in mind that while we'll all work together to get there, at the end of the day, your survival depend on you, and you alone."

"My primary objective is reaching the breach. No matter what happens, I will not stop my charge for anyone." Casmir delivered the words with calm certainty.

It sounded heartless. Clinical, even. But no one objected. No reproach colored their expressions.

They were Transcendents. People used to making decisive, pragmatic choices in split-second timeframes. Casmir's brutal honesty was just an acknowledgment of a tactical reality.

Finn agreed with his analysis too. He didn't see himself stopping for anyone at the expense of his own life. Doing so would be pure foolishness.

In fact, he could see that being a tactic to make them falter if they actually looked like they had a chance at escaping. If Finn could think of it, then the Gods and whoever was guarding that breach area could also do so if it looked like they were going to escape.

That thought made his gaze drift over to Ailin's unconscious form.

What about her?

Seeing as he bore a responsibility for her current state, he knew he wasn't going to allow any plans to leave her here.

And it seemed he wasn't the only one thinking along those lines.

"What about Ailin?" Yara asked before Finn could voice the question. "What do we do with her?"

"We take her with us," Deacon said firmly, with no room for debate in his tone. "She's fighting a battle of her own. We don't abandon her." He paused, choosing words carefully. "Her mind is still evolving. If she can survive what she's going through, then..."

He stopped mid-sentence, leaving the implication hanging.

The others understood immediately. Deacon had seen something with his Truth, something he couldn't speak aloud without drawing dangerous attention. But whatever it was, it made Ailin's survival critical beyond simple loyalty.

"I'll carry her," Yara said quietly. "And I'll make sure she survives no matter what..."

Her Resilience concept would help, making Ailin harder to harm, more resistant to shock and trauma from rapid movement. It was the best option they had.

Casmir nodded, already incorporating this into his tactical calculations. "Yara stays in the center formation when we move. Protected on all sides."

He turned his attention to the scouts who'd just returned — Keeva, Tavian, and Osric.

"Report," Thalia ordered.

"Coast is relatively clear," Tavian said. "Patrols exist, but they don't come this deep into the forest. We spotted three groups within a five-mile radius, but they're all following established routes."

"No divine presence detected either," Keeva added. "Only mundane soldiers with standard equipments."

"Good," Casmir said. He then quickly filled them in on what had been discussed, before continuing:

"You three have the most critical role in the first phase. Keeva, Osric — your disguise and silence magics need to carry us as far as possible. Ideally past every checkpoint, every security measure, every temple, every God, all the way to the breach itself."

He met their gazes seriously.

"I know that won't happen. But I need you to give everything… everything, to keep us hidden as long as possible. When things go wrong, every second of concealment you've bought us becomes the difference between success and failure."

Keeva nodded with a grave expression. "Understood."

"I can layer silence thick enough that a stampede would go unnoticed," Osric said. "But maintaining it while moving at speed, over that many people..." He shook his head. "It'll drain me fast."

"Then we move efficiently," Thalia said. "No wasted energy or unnecessary actions. We're ghosts until we're not."

Casmir turned his attention to combat assignments.

"When we're discovered, the attack force consists of Himothy, Thalia, Finn, and—" He started to say Yara's name, then stopped, remembering. "Right. Yara's on protection duty."

His eyes found Deacon, considering.

The Truth bearer watched back silently, golden eyes unreadable.

"I'll leave you to act according to the situation," Casmir decided. "Figure out where you're best needed and go there. I trust your judgment."

Deacon inclined his head fractionally.

"The breach itself," Casmir continued, pulling everyone's attention back to the dirt map, "is located deep underground. I can feel the spatial disturbance coming from there, it's unmistakable once you know what to look for."

He frowned, frustration creeping into his voice.

"It would be trivial if I could teleport us directly to it. But blind jumps are too unreliable..." He shook his head.

Tavian looked confused. "How far off are your landing points when you jump blind?"

Thalia, Deacon, and Keeva all reacted, barely suppressing their chuckles, as if remembering past disasters.

Casmir's lips pressed into a flat line.

"Could be right next to the breach," he said evenly. "Could be the other side of the world. Could be inside a mountain. Could be three hundred feet in the air."

Tavian's eyes widened.

"When I move through the fabric of space, conventional reality stops applying," Casmir explained. "There are no 'directions' in that state. No up, down, left, right. I'm cutting behind the fabric of space and reality, taking a more direct route between points. But without a clear reference — visual confirmation or prior experience with the location — I'm navigating purely by conceptual proximity."

"Like trying to find a specific grain of sand on a beach," Thalia added. "While blindfolded. And the beach is infinite."

"What about the spatial disturbance you mentioned?" Tavian pressed. "Can't you use that as a beacon?"

Casmir actually laughed at that. A short, dry sound.

He looked at Tavian with dawning realization, reassessing. "Your Passage concept... it's nothing like Space magic, is it? I thought there might be overlap, but..."

Tavian shook his head, clearly uncomfortable.

"When moving through space," Casmir explained, "the background chaos, the level of 'spatial noise' in that state, is so overwhelming that even a world tear would drown out entirely. Everything is signal and noise simultaneously. I'd be just as likely to teleport to a random strong spatial fluctuation as to the breach itself."

Tavian shifted, clearly wanting to explore other options. "What about the artifact? The one we used to tunnel here? If it can create stable passages— m"

"It still requires one pair to already be at the destination," Finn cut in this time. "Right?"

He'd thought it was obvious, but looking at Tavian's expression, the hesitation, the conflict in his body language, Finn suddenly understood what the Passage bearer was really asking.

He's afraid. Finn realized, first in confusion. But then understanding dawned on him.

Not all Transcendents are created equal.

Unlike bearers of fundamental, powerful concepts like Order, Chaos, Space, Error, Resilience, Glory... Some Transcendents like Tavian, Osric, and several others back in their world had concepts that were... weaker wasn't quite right. "More dependent on creativity" fit better.

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