Godclads

A breeze this moment; a hurricane thereafter.

-Ori Proverb

32-4

Peace Unchained

—[OBSERVER DESIGNATION ENDWATCHER]—

The highest point of New Vultun came apart as if it was an erupting volcano.

The rupture came first, forming like a crack upon the surface of reality; then came the vapors, gushing through the fissures despite the rends and instability. The tapestries trembled as a heavy mist built, swelling from the cracks, blooming so large that it could even been seen from beyond high orbit.

But the calamity was not done. Even as the Sage of the Sundered Sky came into form, materializing as that mountain-sized palm with an ancient war god splattered flat against its center, embers began to fester within its fog — embers that combusted, igniting the vapors into a blast of metaphysical fire.

In that moment, all of Idheim trembled.

The patterns that constituted the stability of existence shivered and continued to vibrate long after the initial breach.

Deep in the void, one mind observed the unfolding cataclysm, even as the rest of its category continued to hunt the Infacer. Contingency Bleak - Endwatcher observed all that was occurring, its duty, to watch for further abnormalities unfolding from within the Substance.

With the flames splashing against the upper atmosphere, satellite assets useless. Thus, Endwatcher was forced to expend a limited supply of Entanglement-Flickers to gain a direct view of the situation. Atom-sized machines were shotgunned out from distant probes via bursts of radiation. In seconds, they materialized within Ihdeim’s sphere of influence and immediately began breaking—coming apart as the laws of unreality tore into their foundational technologies.

But they lasted. For but a heartbeat, they would last, and grant insight.

Endwatcher spun another instance of themselves to assess the situation. This instance would be deleted afterward after undergoing a full counter-memetic treatment, but the information gleaned, as if through a one-way mirror, would be retained by the original.

With how things were now, sometimes even this wasn’t enough.

As the Entangles burrowed into the Sage of the Sundered Sky, three things became very clear to Endwatcher.

The first was that Chief Paladin Samir Naeko was free from his entrapment. Second, the Entanglers caught a glimpse of Jaus Avandaer within the mists—or at least a clone of him. His appearance at Scale was confirmed, but the exact nature of his current incarnation was an unknown. Voidwatch needed to scramble a Denton to intercept him. And soon.

And third—most unnervingly—Naeko was now at Sphere Nine. A full Sphere higher than before.

Someone had empowered him. And there was only one likely answer as to whom. Through there were other carriers for the Stillborn, Operatives Draus and Chambers were currently under watch, while Veylis’ assets were more likely to drain Naeko of thaums rather than infuse him with more power. ℝ

That left a single likelihood. Former Operative Avo himself. Or at least a node operating in his stead. Preliminary reports suggested that Avo had suffered something akin to semi-death after Veylis’s self-destruction. But the User of the Strix was closer to being a metaphysical mind rather than an ordinary Godclad. A mind that was also an Ark. Add that to his Definements and subminds…

There was never any certainty when it came to the Burning Dreamer.

And so, a new set of orders was dispatched through the deepest recesses of Threshold, calling upon a specialized strike team to make a sacrificial descent into New Vultun once more.

{Activate Strike Force Innsmouth:

Objective: Locate and confirm existence of Strix-node within the Substance. Isolate, contain, or eliminate the threat at any cost. All active combat restrictions lifted.}

The High Seraph, and the Strix’s base-mind were already bound for resurrection.

As a single ego, they could be reshaped to Voidwatch’s benefit should they prevail in the following struggle. But with separate subminds in play—operating within the Substance and beyond Voidwatch’s influence—they became uncontrollable variables.

Variables could not be risked. Not when the survival of the polities was at stake.

In the end, the survival of the first civilizations stood paramount over all others.

***

—[Naeko]—

Naeko’s Liminal Frame rattled as he battered his way through the rupture of spatial instability. Reality itself tried to assert dominance over him, displacing his Heaven from its path. The Sage held firm, refusing to be moved. As force incarnate, its patterns ruled over this lesser canon of space. And so the rupture widened, tears spreading further; and so Naeko pushed on, entropy and instability be damned.

He was free. Free, and he wasn’t going to risk—

+Naeko,+ a voice pierced his mind. A familiar voice that sent shivers down his spine.

Naeko barked a laugh despite himself. +I knew it. I knew it, you eye-eating fuck! Had to be you. No one else could pull something like this off.+

He could feel the Substance trying to close around the rupture, draining its entropy. The opening was closing, trying to reach Naeko. Too bad he had no intentions to stay, and the wounds on the tapestry too priority over whatever metaphysical bullshit the glowing walls were made from.

As Naeko’s heart swelled with the promise of freedom, his thaums began to climb. At once, Chief Paladin Naeko felt a surge of invigorating death flood his Frame—such a spike of deaths he hadn’t felt in a near century, not since the final upgrades made to his Sage of the Sundered Sky.

SPHERE IX REACHED

“Sphere Nine...” Naeko murmured, his voice booming out through his Heaven.

+To help with what’s coming,+ Avo interrupted, calm and warm as it splashed against the borders of Naeko’s mind. Naeko let the ghoul—whatever Avo was—continue speaking even as he squeezed the last bit of himself out. New Vultun expanded before him and… flashes of nuclear detonations and Rendbombs glittered across the Warrens. Fuck. Shit. Couldn’t these half-strand cunts keep their shit together for a single godsdamned— +Things are unstable beyond the Substance. Guilds locked in skirmishes. War stalled, Separated from Arks. Disorganized. An opening has presented itself—an opportunity we lose: Naeko. Need you to bring the palm down on the Guilds beyond. Need you to break them. To remake them. To take this entire world back.+

“The world?” Naeko replied. “I—”

+Everything,+ Avo corrected, his voice steady and unyielding. +Not just the Guilds. No more shackles. For either of us. Fifth Guild War is upon us. But we can win. We can win before it even starts! I am shattered. Only a piece of myself. But I still have enough to Give you what you need to be a titan—THE titan. The tyrant of justice and peace. Do you understand.”

Released from his cage, Naeko’s senses sharpened. It was no longer confined to his physical form but stretched to encompass violence itself. He could feel every atrocity, every torment inflicted, every force unleashed in the city below. The blood, the screams—they painted his heaven like a violent tapestry.

So many were hurting. So many were dying. So much destruction. His Heaven trembled. Order needed to be reasserted. A moment without reminder and now the Guilder dogs forgot what they risked when they shit somewhere that wasn’t their yard. “Yeah. Starting to see what you’re getting at. I was gone for… barely a day! Barely! What the hells is wrong with all of these—”

+I need you to become what you’ve always had the potential to be,+ Avo said, his voice like a whisper carried on the wind. The flames surging through Naeko shivered slightly. +Find my cadre. They will support you. No better gun than Draus. No better cadre. Use Chambers to connect the city. The world. Trust him. Peculiar… but will surprise you. Has always surprised me. Has always changed for the better. Won’t find another like him. Will help you reassemble your Paladins.+

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

A beat of silence passed, heavy and contemplative.

+The survivors. Kare has fallen. Many more beside her.+

That revelation was like someone sticking a filthy finger in an already infected gut wound. “Fuck.” Always the youngest. Always the good ones. Kare. Osjane. Old war dogs like Naeko never got the Big Nothing. Always the ones that burn for brighter days.

Then Avo’s tone shifted, softening. +But... I need to ask you now. I won’t do this if you say no. I’ve already taken enough choices away today freeing you. But I want to know—+

“You want to burn my mind,” Naeko said, the words bitter but oddly calm. The idea was surprisingly poignant, but still disturbing as hell. What would that be like?

+Painless,+ Jaus declared from the heart of the Heaven. He was untouched by the flame as well, Avo sparing him utterly. +You will not even notice if he does not will it.+

+Yes. Can also take away your pain. Shape you however you want. Up to you. All that you suffered can be removed. You wouldn’t have to carry pain anymore.+

Naeko laughed softly, the sound harsh and broken. “No.” Even he was surprised by the firmness in his own voice. “No,” he repeated. “I gonna face it. I want to face it. It’s what I know. It’s what I was taught. I want to be another way; I need to suffer who I am right now if we want me to be who I was. I need the hate; the fury.”

Avo was silent for a moment, as though weighing Naeko’s resolve. Then, with a faint sigh, he said. +Yes. Of course.+

But Naeko wasn’t finished.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t burn me,” he said, wiggling his reality-shaking fingers.

Avo hesitated. +You wish for me to take you as a template, but not to—”

“Not to heal my mind,” Naeko interrupted. “I want to have lived. I want to be who I am now. I’ll figure my way out from here. Everything you for me—for me, for my paladins—and I know—but—+ He trailed off, the words hanging awkwardly. Avo said nothing, waiting patiently. Naeko was never any good at words. Veylis and Jaus were masters, but it was always hard finding the right things to say, to share how he really felt. But action—Naeko was very good at action. And so he lowered his wards, which was statement enough about his resolve. “Come on. Let’s talk. Ego to ego. Let’s see how much this—”

An incandescent tide consumed Naeko, drowning him in light. Yet it neither hurt nor burned. Instead, it felt like being stripped down to his very core, laid bare before the infinite expanse of existence.

For a single heartbeat, the world vanished. There was no Substance. No rupture. No city. There was only Naeko, his ephemeral body suspended in a plane of fire. From the flames, another figure materialized across from him—Avo, wearing his Pale Spider sheath.

“Stings… Shit. Jaus was right. This it? Am I burning?”

“It’s already done,” Avo replied calmly. “I already have a template of you copied over. He’s in my Soulscape now. Other templates are going to start dying a lot more soon.”

Naeko took a step forward, and to his surprise, the fire beneath him functioned well enough as a ground. “So,” Naeko said, glancing around the fiery expanse. “This what it’s like to be you? Just casually shaping minds and tuning your own ego? Gotta admit… still creepy as shit. Yeah. Creepy as fucking shit. Sorry Avo.”

The Pale Spider grinned, showing rows of teeth meant to tear and devour human flesh. A deep instinctive part within Naeko screamed for him to fight or run—that he was facing a predator. Experience reminded him he was the truer monster between the two. “Still. Would’ve liked having this power when I was younger. Might’ve made myself into a better person.”

Avo tilted his head. “None of us decide who we will be. Everyone is blind. The world shapes us. We shape ourselves. Path of our lives cleaves the way between.”

Naeko frowned but said nothing, letting Avo continue.

“You are searching for an answer,” Avo said. “For the pain you’ve experienced. The pain you’ve dealt. The man you’ve become. But I have no answer to give you. I don’t think there is one. All there is concept; perception. Then. After. Choice. That choice is the truest thing unto ourselves.”

Naeko let the words settle, his gaze fixed on Avo. The surrounding flames began to still, the fiery expanse dimming.

“I’ll be severing my connection to you soon,” Avo said. “Substance mending. Need to return.”

“What? You’re staying? Why?”

“Need to secure other parts of myself. Need to wage war against Veylis from within. Secure the Arks. Ensure ‘I’ am the one resurrected in the end. Leave the outside to you and the others. They’ll need you. You’ll need them. Here… I will do things quietly.”

Avo took a step back, sinking into the flames. All he needed to say was stated. But Naeko wasn’t done.

“Wait,” Chief Paladin said suddenly, his voice halting the once-ghoul. He hesitated, licking his lips as he tried to piece his thoughts together. Then, he straightened his back and cleared his voice. “Avo. Stand at attention. I command it.” Avo tilted his head curiously, but did so, emerging from the flames again. “By the powers vested in my under the Treaties of Ao and other shit I can’t fully recall, I hereby skip the rest of the bullshit ceremony and deputize you as Paladin.”

The Burning Dreamer stared at him. And hissed with bemusement. “Honored.”

“I was being genuine, half-strand.”

“So was I.”

“Then why can feel your mockery.”

“Must’ve slipped out. Only a fragment. Control over myself not what it used to be.”

“You’re kind of an asshole, Avo, you know that? Even with the personality bending powers.”

“Should’ve met me before all this. Was very charming.”

Naeko sneered, then his expression softened. “Also… I should probably thank you for what you did a while back... with Karakan."

“Yes," the ghoul said softly.

Naeko nodded, clearly uncomfortable. "Yeah. Anyway… thanks for doing the hard thing, so Jaus could finish with the rest.”

"It wasn’t a pleasure," Avo said, his tone flat but honest. "I had no desire to hurt you. But it had to be done. You were..." He paused, as if searching for the right word. "...chained."

"Yeah," Naeko admitted. "I was. Still am. But I think I can break it. I think I can do it. There’s enough of me." The flames flickered again, thinning further. Both of them could feel the presence of the Substance returning, creeping closer. "Listen," Naeko said, breaking the silence, "before you go and do what you need to do... can you wake up my Heaven?"

Avo froze, his expression unreadable. "Are you sure that’s what you want?"

"Yeah," Naeko said firmly. "I want to understand what it means to be empowered with peace. I want to understand the weight I carry. I don’t just want to be a kid swinging a hammer anymore. Wake it. Let’s see what my god can tell me. Maybe they’ll stand when I fall.”

For a moment, Avo said nothing. Then, with a faint nod, he extended his hand, and a pulse rippled outward from him—a shiver that seemed to vibrate across existence itself. Naeko felt it immediately, like another awareness opening inside him. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t pleasant either. It was weighty, heavy, and vast, a burden hatching inside his Soul.

"It is done," Avo said. “Go with strength, Samir Naeko. Remind them who it was that killed war itself.”

The flames continued to dissipate, and Naeko could feel himself slipping back into his own Heaven. The connection between them was fading. Naeko rolled his shoulders and drew in a breath. “Don’t you worry. I’m about to stomp some motherfuckers real soon. When my palm comes down—you’ll feel it. Even in here. You’ll feel it.”

And once more, Avo smiled. But it was surprisingly human. Genuine. Satisfied.

Then, with a distortion burst, the flames were gone, and Naeko was back in himself again. Back within his Heaven, with two new canons pending his next resurrection.

+A final gift.+

Then, another voice called out to Naeko, grinding against his mind, groaning at the state of the world. “Bring… me

“Yeah,” Naeko breathed, replying to the Sage. “I—” He looked down on Idheim and felt his resolve spike. Centuries he slept inside his own mind. Centuries he let them fuck his city, his world, fuck everything he did for this peace. And now these shits think they can do whatever they want?

Well. The Hound of Jaus was motherfucking awake again, and consequence was about to follow.

He opened a hole at the center of his Heaven as he spread himself away from the Substance. No sense in getting caught again after all that.

+Relax,+ Jaus said inside him, feeling his tension. +Know what you wish to say before, and then speak with a smooth mind.+

Naeko grumbled. “Oh, they’re not getting smooth from me, Jaus. Been smooth with these fucks for too long.” The Sage rumbled, force booming within its expanse like a set of war drums, at once, the bombings across New Vultun slowed as a new force began pressing down on them. Districts trembled. Aeros, golems, and Godclads jerked to a halt. Threads of perception cut upward, looking to the falling clouds of prevailing peace.

“Attention Citizens, subjects, and motherfuckers all! This is Chief Paladin Samir Naeko. I was temporarily indisposed. But now I’m back.”Reality itself trembled as his voice rose, carrying the weight of divine wrath. "I’m back," Naeko repeated, his tone sharp as steel, "and my palm’s coming down. It’s coming down on everyone. It’s coming down on every half-strand who thought they had the authority to wage war when I didn’t give them explicit permission. It’s coming down on every dumb sack of shit that’s still fighting, that’s killed an innocent, that’s hurt one of my Paladins. So. If you’ve done so shit while I was away, better stand tall now because there’s no running. I’m coming. And I know your sins. I feel your violence. And I’m all out of fucking clemency—Scale’s gone, so there’s no jail. Not anymore.

"Some of you might have thought yourselves the law in my absence," Naeko said coldly. “If you did, time to sober up. You had two centuries of fun. Now the price has come due. Goes for you. Goes for the assholes in the void. You drew the blood. Now you face my peace.”

And with that, Naeko was done speaking with words. His palm fell, and the weight of tyrannical peace fell thereafter, crashing hard against the surface of an unready world.