"How long have I been here, exactly?" Tetsuda asked, wiping his forehead of sweat. For what had felt like years, he'd been traveling in and out of mind after mind, the owners of whom ranged from pygmies to bugs to wild dogs. He'd just exited a creature resemblant of an Et Cinere, though with more of a free will.

"By your time, one week. And you've grown exponentially. So exponentially, in fact, that I'm sending you home."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"There's nothing more you need to learn to save Tyrannus. Anything else you'd do would just be practice, and you can do that on your own in your own world. You don't need to be here any longer."

"But...but I've never practiced on a real demon before!"

"No better time to try."

"You don't understand, I—"

"If anyone should understand, it's me," she said, tighter this time. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and their eyes connected. "You are far more capable than you realize, Tetsuda. Anyone can see that. But anyone can say the same about Tyrannus. He's very powerful, and now that he's taken Tairo's soul, there's no telling what he can do to you."

He nodded, albeit slowly. "I understand."

"I pray you do." She lowered her hand. "Save him. If not for yourself, for your people. He's a good leader. Iyan will fall apart without him."

He chuckled softly, and a smile appeared on his face. "I never thought I'd find someone who cares about him as much as I do."

"No, you care for him far more. And that's why you're ready. Now go. Your time is limited."

He was about to run off, back toward the place he'd first encountered upon arrival, then looked from side to side with tongue in cheek. "Ah...how do I return?"

"How?"

"Y-Yes. I was transported here by stone, so...do I go back the same way."

"You could. But it'd plop you down in some random location, rather than immediately back in Crystalline. A means of preventing suspicion. If you truly want to pick your destination, go there."

She pointed a finger toward the grey waters. Tetsuda followed her gaze, yet he found naught but ocean for miles and miles—not a rock or reef in sight.

"Where?"

"There. Into the waters. You remember Tyrannus's fountain?"

Of course he did—it was the first place he'd encountered the true Tyrannus. He could picture their first meeting so well, even now: the shock of Tetsuda's new body, Tyrannus's commanding tone, the sludge cascading to reveal a beautifully dangerous creature…it ached a bit to think about, yet it also made his desire to fight even stronger.

"It's the same principle," the Ira continued. "Walk in with the place you wish to go to in mind, and out there you will come. Be sure to focus, however, for once you leave Cosiyan, you cannot return unless you go to Crystalline again."

"I understand. I cannot thank you enough for all you've done for me."

"Not if you stay here any longer. Go on. Save your king."

With a final smile, Tetsuda strode into the water. There was no telling where his allies were at this point, but somewhere with as much magic as Cosiyan had to be at least somewhat flexible. So he pictured Hirokan in his mind—or, rather, the spot next to Hirokan, lest some disastrous fusion occur—as the water enveloped his body.

His head filled with haze, it seemed, an his body tingled all over, yet his mind stayed fixated on his fellow incubus. He saw nothing, couldn't feel the water around him, didn't breathe but felt no need to. And then, in the distance, there shined a pinprick of light, a light that grew larger and closer the more he gazed at it.

Soon it consumed him, completely enveloped him in warmth and hope, yet also in fear, for the prospect of materializing next to a corpse of Hirokan popped into his head. Could Tyrannus's forces have found his supporters? Would they even have bothered to look? Were they captives, held in hovels and tortured to bait Tetsuda back?

No, that was foolish, he thought, and this was proven when the light blinked out and a landscape of dry earth appeared. He dropped to the ground in a heap, sending up bits of dust around him, and the warmth of the Cosiyanic light still swum about in his brain.

The tip of something sharp pressed to his forehead, and Tetsuda looked up to view an incubus with a stern face.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You don't recognize your leader?" Tetsuda asked. "Put that down and let me stand."

The incubus blinked, and with color on his cheeks, he sheathed his blade and stepped back. "I'm sorry, Tetsuda, I didn't realize you'd—"

"Where's Hirokan?" he asked, rising from the ground. He seemed relatively intact, with just a few quick-healing scrapes from the fall.

"I'll bring you to him." They began walking, and like a puppy the incubus smiled up at him. "You gave me a bit of a fright there, you know. I didn't know you could teleport."

"I can't. Someone else transported me."

"Who?"

"I'd rather not say."

Nodding, albeit slowly, the incubus allowed the rest of the trek to pass in silence.

A short while later, they came across an area where the terrain sloped in on all sides, forming a sort of "bowl." Tents dotted the land, and demons of various races milled about with swords and armor of varying constructions. Torches allowed for illumination against the night, along with a few campfires here and there.

Murmurs circulated as they delved deeper into the camp, with faces twisted in degrees of both hope and boding. Mostly there were Luxuria, along with pockets of Invidia and a few Ira. Nothing as substantial as he'd preferred, but hopefully enough to at least hold the palace forces. He'd need all the isolation he could get if he wanted to save Tyrannus.

"He's in there," said the incubus, stopping before a more sizeable tent. "I think the others are, too. The Ultimas, I mean."

Tetsuda nodded once, then parted a flap and stepped inside.

It was nothing grand, just a wooden table with a map sprawled across it and markers stabbed atop it. Hirokan and Potentia stood at the table's head, with Regina on one side and Zelotypia on the other. Their heads inclined when Tetsuda entered, and it was Hirokan who spoke first.

"Tetsuda," he said. "You're alive."

"You were concerned I'd die?"

"A bit," he admitted. "Setting off to find a place that only perhaps exists, it's...concerning, to say the least."

"Well, I'm alive and mostly well, as well as better equipped to end this once and for all."

"You learned Anima Effusio?" asked Zelotypia.

"Keep your voice down," Tetsuda advised. "I wish I could tell you all, but I swore that I wouldn't. Just know that I can do this."

"You're certain?" asked Potentia. "Tyrannus isn't one to be underestimated."

"I know that better than anyone. I won't let you down."

"But if you do?"

"I won't," he said sternly. "I promise."

That includes you, Tyrannus.