As the party left the tower, they were once again met by Rederis. They were informed that the entire city witnessed the light, and knew that Vogeron had passed on. They were also told that Vogeron's power was wearing thin, and soon the entire city would cease to exist. Jezza tried to persuade them to leave with them, but Rederis' response was unanimous with the rest of the priests. "We have lived in this city for thousands of years. It is time that we too, passed on." Accepting that further arguments would be futile, they left the city of Krasis.
As they exited the city, they turned around to look at it one last time. Right before their eyes, the city faded away, like in a dream. "And so ends, the legend of Krasis," Aren stated.
"That's what you think," Nevanyk contradicted. "People will continue to seek out Krasis. No one knows that Krasis is no more. And so, men will continue to seek. Is it man's fate to seek what can never be attained? Was man created by some cruel being, just to sit back and watch our futile search for happiness?" Nevanyk stared into nothingness. The party was quite confused at what Nevanyk was talking about. He had never talked this much since they had met. They knew that each of them were given a new power in the tower. And so, they wondered, just what exactly had happened to Nevanyk.
Nevanyk continued his speech. "No, man was created for one reason, and one reason only. Man was created to die. I know the truth now. Man was created for the sole purpose to die. We have no specific reason for being. Therefore, we must take this meaningless thing we call life, and do with it the most that we can." Nevanyk looked at everyone. He could tell that they were stunned. "And you know what I feel like doing? I feel like killing. It is what I do best you know. So let's go to Vargania, and do some killin'." Nevanyk had a very malevolent grin on his face. However, his eyes were different. He no longer had the eyes of an insane killer, filled with torment. His eyes were the eyes of a caring human.
"Nevanyk's right," Alex agreed. "We will have to first destroy Vargania. For as long as that life shaver is still working, Malachy will just continue to get stronger. We must first put an end to it. Agreed?" Everyone agreed. "Onward, to Vargania!"
They continued to walk the rest of the day. They didn't talk much, but then again, what exactly did they have to talk about? Each of them, from a totally different walk of life, brought together by an extreme twist of fate and circumstance.
All of a sudden, it dawned on Mathis how powerful he actually was now. At the time, it didn't seem that much because he was still recovering from the shock. But now he knew; he controlled all of the world's magic! With the exception of course of Jezza and the Fire Force. He suddenly had the urge to brag about his new found strength. But there was no time for bragging, for a small army of Malachytes were instantly upon them.
"Where the hell did these bastards come from!?" Nevanyk exclaimed.
The leader of the group answered. He was wearing a topaz cape, and azure armor. "You could say, we took the right Road." The Malachyte had a sinister grin on his face.
"What!?" Mathis exclaimed. "How is that the Roads still exist!?" The rest of the party had a complete look of surprise on their face. They didn't understand what the hell Mathis was babbling about. Mathis assumed that he should explain. "There was never a physical road through the Arkhis mountains. The Nezytes and humans traded with the use of magical Roads. A tunnel dug right through time and space. There were many of them created, but I thought that they would have been destroyed after the Great War." Mathis would have to explain later how he knew all this from the knowledge and power of the Nezytes that had been bestowed upon him.
The Malachyte looked impressed. "Interesting. It seems that humans know of the Roads. As to their existence? They're still here, it's just that not many people know how to use them. By the way, my name is Satyre, leader of the Ocean Faction."
"The Ocean Faction! Are you saying that the ancient Malachyte Factions had regrouped!?" Satyre nodded. Mathis once again realized that he would have to explain. "During the Great War, the Malachyte army was divided into four Factions: Ocean, Earth, Sky, and Fire. The Ocean wore armor of azure; the Sky wore gold; Earth wore emerald; and Fire wore Ruby."
"Very amusing boy. I'm surprised how a miserable human would know so much." Satyre looked the small band over. His gaze stopped at Nevanyk. "Well, if it isn't the infamous Malachyte hunter. It seems like we finally meet face-to-face. However, your hunting days are over."
Nevanyk had a sardonic grin on his face. "Ooooh, I'm shaking in my boots."
"Don't get insolent with me human! I will show you the power of the Ocean Faction!"
"Nevanyk," Mathis asked, "how many Malachytes have Matron weapons."
"Quite a few of them."
"Good." Mathis had a very evil look on his face. A face that scared Jezza, but impressed Nevanyk. Nevanyk could see an eerie purple glow radiating from Mathis' palm.
Satyre raised his azure blade. "Matron Knights! Assemble!"
A soldier approached Satyre with a very fearful look on his face. "Sir, we have a problem."
"What is it!?" Satyre demanded.
"All the Matron weapons are gone!"
"What!?"
"I don't know sir. They just vanished." Nevanyk looked once more at Mathis. He knew exactly what was going on.
Satyre looked back at Alex's party. "It doesn't matter. We don't need Matron weapons to defeat five mere humans."
Mathis raised his hand towards the sky. "Lightning Lance!" A bolt of lightning formed in his hand. He hurled it at a soldier and it exploded on impact.
"What the hell! How can he use magic without Matron!?" Another bolt was thrown at the army. "Don't just stand there fools! Attack!" The army began to charge.
"Hey guys," Aren said. "I got a really powerful attack here. It takes a while to build up ki though. Could you guys cover me?"
"You got it Ki Master," Nevanyk answered. He raised his naginata into a fighting position. With a quick slash, he slew a Malachyte.
Several Malachytes attacked Alex. Alex blocked the first one, then ran him through. "What's the matter?! Can't win without your Matron weapons?!" The battle fever took over, and Alex began dispatching Malachytes.
Mathis readied another spell. "Stalagmite Impale!" Several stalagmites appeared under Malachytes, impaling them instantly. As the lifeless bodies lay limply, their red blood poured from their wounds.
A group of Malachytes surrounded and attacked Mathis. "Tornado Shield!" he chanted as a cyclone appeared around him. The cyclone picked up shards of earth that literally chopped the attackers to little pieces. Out of the cyclone flew hunks of flesh, and gallons of blood.
Because of his immense power, Mathis was practically invincible. His other companions didn't have that luxury however. Alex had taken several wounds during the battle. He went to get his healing Matron when he noticed that it was gone. Before he had a chance to be confused, he was healed. He decided to forget about it, and continued to fight.
Nevanyk charged right into a group of Malachytes. He gracefully dispatched them all. Nevanyk's attacks were quite different. Instead of a blind rage, or skilled swordplay, Nevanyk's attack looked more like a dance. It was so graceful and smooth.
Jezza now prepared her attack. She chanted something illegible, then thrust her arms forward. A wall of flames was conjured up from the earth, incinerating a good number of attackers.
Alex got tired of manually killing so many attackers. He began to cast a spell. "Dragon Bolt!" Alex conjured up a white dragon that spewed bolts of white lightening at the enemy.
By now, Aren was ready to attack. "Out of the way!" he commanded before he fired. "Haken-Shinta-Ho!" A beam of white energy, whose size was unprecedented, was shot from Aren. The beam was aimed at the general mass of the army. The attack was so bright, that the rest of the party had to shield.
When their clothes finally stopped blowing from the wind that the attack generated, they removed their hands from their face. What they saw, was utter devastation. Where the army once was, was now a small canyon. There were only a few scattered Malachytes that survived. One of them, was Satyre.
Mathis walked up to him, and pointed his arm toward him. His hand began to glow. "All right Satyre, how'd you travel through the Roads?"
"Only if you promise that you won't kill me!"
"Agreed. I'm not that kind of guy anyway. Now tell me!"
"OK, OK! Here." Satyre handed him a small pendant. "When wearing this, you can see all the Roads. It is also what you use to open them."
Mathis looked over the pendant, then put it on. In his mind, he really could see the location of all the roads. "Thank you, Satyre." Mathis walked away from the Malachyte.
Nevanyk took his place. "Hello Satyre," he said maliciously.
Satyre became frantic. "Y, you said that you wouldn't kill me!"
"I won't. I already told you that I'm not that kind of guy. Unfortunately, Nevanyk is." Without further delay, Nevanyk thrust his naginata into his heart, killing him instantly. Jezza turned her head at the site of the blood that erupted from his chest.
"You have changed a lot boy," Nevanyk commented. "I like the new you. Tell me, what exactly happened to you in the tower."
Mathis looked down at his hands. "I believe that we all have a lot to talk about, but not now. We are tired, and should get some rest. Later tonight, we'll all explain what we can do with our new powers."