Nyx! Leo called out through their bond. I got the coordinates. We are good to go.

  ‘Finally!’ the feline exclaimed. ‘Took him long enough… Where do you want to meet? I’m ready to go whenever you are.’

  Good. He nodded, stretching his limbs and heading for the exit of his room. Wait for me at the edge of the western border. I got to find Frank or Holden first. We will be gone for a while so might as well let them know.

  ‘Don’t bother. I have Frank almost next to me. I will tell him we will be gone for what… two days? Three?’

  Try a week, Leo corrected her. Naz’Tor didn’t just send me one set of coordinates but two. And according to the transmitter, the second location is far, far away. We’re heading back to the mainland.

  ‘Oh… Understood,’ Nyx muttered. ‘We won’t have much time left afterward then. The god slayers will be coming soon.’

  He shrugged as he navigated the tunnels deep beneath London. It is what it is. I just want to evolve before we leave. Give me that, and I will be happy.

  ‘And if you fail?’

  Then I fail, he answered with a grimace. There’s nothing we can do. Best case scenario, the godlings give me three more levels, and I evolve right after returning to London. Worst case, they don’t, and we figure something out inside the Void.

  ‘I see…’ Nyx said after a moment. ‘May luck be on our side then.’

  Leo chuckled. Luck might be the last thing he was willing to trust, even if he didn’t have the worst one. To be honest, every single survivor of the Outbreak could be counted as lucky. After all, what else could describe surviving ninety-five to five odds? Those might not be lottery-winning odds, but considering that lives were at stake, it was close enough, in his opinion.

  We will be fine, he finally said. I will see you at the border.

  This time, the journey to the next Divine Realm took Leo and Nyx west of London—to Cornwall, to be exact. With the feline attached to his body, he flew faster than ever before, using every enhancing skill as the sights below passed by almost in a blur. He still spotted some survivors on the way—each and every one of them heading toward the capital—and sometimes, he even stopped to help them out.

  Some would have thought he did that out of the goodness of his heart, but that would be a lie. He simply enjoyed scaring the daylights out of those poor people. Besides, if they couldn’t handle the sight of him, then maybe London just wasn’t for them.

  Nyx disagreed with his antics, though deep down, he could feel her amusement. She enjoyed the fear and panic just as much as he did—she was just as bored, after all.

  We’re almost here, Leo called out as the ruins of one Tintagel Castle appeared on the horizon. There was even less of it left after the Outbreak, but he could still spot small parts of collapsed walls amidst the ever-present Vetilim.

  ‘That was fast,’ Nyx mumbled sleepily. Somehow, despite being in her smoke form and wrapped around him, she had managed to fall asleep. How she had pulled that off, he had no idea—but it was impressive in its own way.

  You’ve been asleep ever since we passed Stonehenge. It’s been two hours since then, he commented, his voice as dry as a desert.

  ‘Oh…’

  Leo snorted. Exactly—‘oh’, you lazy cat. What am I? A bloody bed?

  ‘As if!’ Nyx scoffed like he had insulted her. ‘I will have you know, this isn’t comfortable for me. You have nothing on the bed Lily got me.’

  Yet you still managed to fall asleep.

  ‘And?’

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  Leo rolled his eyes. Whatever… I have no idea why we are having this conversation anyway. Separate, and let’s start searching. Just like last time, there shouldn’t be any Vetilim close to the entrance.

  ‘On it.’

  “This should be it,” Leo muttered as he stepped deeper into the cave.

  At first, he had completely missed this place when he scouted the coast, but once the tides receded, the entrance to a narrow sea cave revealed itself. Unlike with everything around it, Vetilim didn’t dare to slither its tendrils inside it.

  Just like at Dinas Emrys.

  With Nyx behind him, Leo continued onward, guided by the glowing fissures in the walls. Even with his limited ability to sense Essence, he could feel the overwhelming presence of something different—something more.

  “Any ideas what godling will be inside?” Nyx asked, keeping her voice low.

  He shook his head. “Nothing solid. According to Naz’Tor, this place didn’t show up in any of the League’s documents. We’re going in almost blind.”

  “So nothing’s changed.”

  “Pretty much.” Leo chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at the feline. “At least it is supposed to be around our power level. Honestly, as long as it isn’t another massive dragon, I won’t mind.”

  She shuddered. “Same…”

  Silence descended upon them as they continued to follow the glowing walls deeper into the cave. At some point, the cracks spread even over the floor and ceiling, bathing the entire tunnel in a soft, deep blue light.

  And then, they finally reached the end of the road, a wall that connected all of the fissures together. They formed something akin to a spiral, filled with symbols of a language Leo had no chance of recognizing.

  Nice, he marveled, dragging his claws over the glowing fissures. They warmed his hand, but there was also something else coming from within them—something he couldn’t put into words.

  Weird.

  Leo stepped back and reached into his soul to remove Riftfang. With the dagger in his hand, he looked at his companion, a question unspoken but clear. To which Nyx nodded.

  There it goes then, he thought, igniting Riftfang with his Essence and slashing at the air.

  Just like last time, the fabric of reality tore before him, forming a crackling rift. However, unlike the portal in Dinas Emrys, this one was darker, with both flames and water licking at its edges.

  That’s… a bit concerning? He thought after sharing a wary glance with Nyx. Yet, the rift didn’t feel any different from the last one, so maybe this was just some cosmetic change.

  “You go first,” Nyx said, nudging him forward.

  Just like that, all the tension drained out of him. “Coward,” he shot back and extended his blades. Bloodmail also activated as a safety measure. The rest could wait until he identified the threat inside.

  “Stay close,” he muttered, echoing his words from the last time.

  Two more steps forward took him right into the rift. The world around him shifted, and instantly, the constant silence cracked, replaced by the thunderclaps that rang in his ears.

  Dark, gray sky, illuminated by green lightning, took the place of the cave ceiling. However, the storm didn’t rage only above him but also in the waters that surrounded him from almost every direction.

  There was only a single path available to him—a narrow, rocky trail that just barely stayed above the raging waters. Though that didn’t stop the high tides from crashing into the rocks and splattering the entire path in water.

  Wonderful. Leo grimaced as his gaze came to rest on the final major part of this Divine Realm.

  Next to him, Nyx didn’t fare all that better. ‘Someone sure got a flair for dramatics,’ she commented. ‘At least I see no dragons.’

  “Right…”

  Up in the distance, a massive volcanic island waited for them. Rivers of molten rock crisscrossed the landscape, while dark jagged cliffs stood ground against the churning, murky waters. Then, at the center of it all, climbing all the way up to the sky, stood a tower—a spire—formed from materials just as dark as the rest of this realm.

  Green lightning constantly struck the tower, fueling the steaming, toxic fumes that surrounded its upper levels. How that worked, Leo had no clue, but he didn’t plan to find out.

  At least we know the target. The godling must be there. Let’s go.

  Together with Nyx, he stepped on the narrow path. He almost jumped when lightning struck the waters to his right, but aside from that, nothing else happened—at least until they reached the middle of the path.

  Out of nowhere, high tides came at them from both sides. With supernatural reflexes, they jumped even higher, avoiding getting swept by the sea. Yet, the damage was done, and when the water receded, it obviously left a surprise for them.

  The entire path, stretching all the way to the island, was now swarming with small, sickly green sea-born monsters. Some walked on all fours, others on two legs, yet they all looked somewhat humanoid in appearance, only with jagged teeth, long claws, and seaweed growing out of their bodies.

  To Leo, they appeared a bit similar to ghouls.

  “A welcoming committee?” A grin tugged at his lips. “That’s cute. Come on, Nyx. Time for the appetizer before the main meal.”

  The feline, of course, had to take his words literally and licked her snout. “Mine!”

  Fire and shadows exploded around her body, and before Leo could say anything, she pounced on the nearest monster, tearing it to shreds. He sighed, dragging a hand across his face.

  “Why did I even open my mouth…”

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