Romulus opened his eyes to light, bright and overbearing, washing away everything around him. He squinted against it, feeling firm ground beneath his feet and tasting a sterility to the air. As he blinked against the radiance, the brilliance gradually dimmed until it resolved into a manageable luminance level. When he glanced down at his hands, the Liber Nox was gone—though Lightsbane remained on his hip.

  “So, this is what passes for a Chosen in my sister’s eyes.”

  Romulus turned at the sound of a voice and raised his eyebrows.

  A blond man in golden armor stood before him, shorter than Romulus by several inches, yet possessed of a presence and sense of authority that spoke of terrifying power. His eyes shone an azure blue, and upon a second inspection, the plates of his armor seemed to be formed from liquid light, with golden flames curling off of it like miniature solar ejections.

  “I see you don’t know who I am,” the man said coolly.

  “I can’t say I do,” Romulus replied with a strangely dry mouth.

  “I am known by many names and titles, Traveler, but you may know me as Hyperion.”

  When Romulus instinctively furrowed his eyebrows, the blond warrior clicked his tongue in annoyance.

  “I am Lilith’s Counterpart,” the man explained with faint impatience. “I am the patron deity of Kings and the Divinarch of Light, Life, and many other things.”

  Romulus’ eyes widened, and his mouth formed an ‘O’.

  “From the panic in your eyes, I see you understand. Good.”

  Hyperion looked away from him after he spoke, clasping his armoured hands at the base of his spine beneath a flowing cloak of radiant light. “I have brought you here to offer you a chance at salvation, dear child. It is within my power to cleanse you of my sister’s Brand, and grant you absolution.”

  Romulus’ heart beat with surprising calm in his chest while the Divinarch monologued, and he tried to parse through his thoughts. His uncle’s voice returned to him again, urging him to look at every angle, and so he did. The ‘god’ of Light, Lilith’s ‘brother’ and antithesis, had called him for an audience. Likely, he was before the Power in a non-physical form, which explained Lightsbane’s presence: the sword was bound to his soul.

  Why was Hyperion negotiating, though?

  That was what Romulus couldn’t figure out. He needed more information.

  “Forgive me my ignorance, ah, your holiness—” Hyperion’ subtle nod told him that was the right choice of words as he continued, “—but I don’t quite understand. Why would you offer me something so gracious?”

  “You are quite daring to question a Power of my might, child. However… I suppose it is only fair that you would be curious, especially given your ignorance as a Traveler.”

  Romulus smiled at Hyperion’s insult, nodding as if thankful. “Your charity is most appreciated, Your Radiance.”

  “I can see why she Chose you. You are properly respectful, if nothing else,” Hyperion rumbled approvingly, a haughty smile on his features. “We Powers have rules, you see. Rules that were laid down by the System. We cannot directly intercede against one another in the mortal realm, and must act through proxies.”

  He glanced at Romulus to check he was listening, and Romulus nodded compliantly.

  “However, we are allowed to speak to mortals—to offer them a better way, or rewards for tasks we need completed.”

  “So you wanted to reach out to me now,” Romulus guessed, “instead of after I underwent an irreversible change and became the Dark Lady’s Autarch.”

  “Yes, you are correct,” Hyperion said with approval. “Certain protections are afforded to our proxies, including a lack of direct intervention by each other. We can affect things around each other’s proxies, but we cannot affect them directly.”

  “I understand, Your Brilliance. You wanted to offer me a chance at salvation before I was too tainted for your beneficence.”

  Hyperion smiled, nodding at Romulus like he were a clever dog. “Precisely! You truly are a smart child, aren’t you? Yes, I sought to offer you a chance at deliverance before you damned yourself to my foolish sister’s cause forever.”

  “What precisely would you need me to do, my lord?” Romulus asked politely.

  “Well, that is rather simple. All you need to do is renounce the Dark Lady, rid yourself of that abomination on your hip, and surrender to me the Liber Nox.”

  “Pardon my impudence, glorious one, but what would I receive in return?”

  “Is a god’s pleasure not enough, boy?” Hyperion asked with a cold look.

  Romulus took note of that. Lilith, in contrast to Hyperion, found the title of ‘goddess’ to be trite and improper. The Divinarch before him, conversely, seemed to revel in the mantle like some sort of prize he had won. The difference was telling.

  “It is a great thing, Your Magnificence,” Romulus continued, “but I am being offered some small measure of power by your sister. By your bearing and evident power, I can only assume that you are the mightiest among the Pantheon, and so revered that I had not even learned your name due to the pious adherence of your faithful flock.”

  Hyperion nodded as if that made perfect sense while Romulus continued.

  “They do not wish to tarnish your name with mortal lips often, so you must forgive my ignorance,” Romulus said apologetically. “Nonetheless, I would assume that a being of your impressive glory and immense power could see fit to offer me some small incentive?”

  “Mm… Well, I can hardly fault you for your mortal limitations. Of course, you would desire a reward…” the Power nodded to himself. “Very well. Here are my terms: you will renounce my sister, hand over the Liber Nox, and divest yourself of that thing upon your hip. In return, I shall grant you riches, designate a league of land as yours in perpetuity, and name you a Paladin of Hyperion and a Hero of my Church. I shall grant you access to my power via Light Mana, and guarantee your canonization as a Living Saint.”

  Romulus listened with carefully neutral silence to the offer, while alarm bells went off in his head. In return for turning his back on Lilith, handing over a book, and getting rid of Lightsbane—that alone was a dealbreaker anyway—he’d receive all that? It was incredibly generous.

  In fact, it was downright excessive.

  Especially given that Hyperion had been loath to negotiate in the first place.

  That left only two possibilities.

  First, Hyperion wanted Romulus very badly to be on his side, which would make sense if not for the fact that the Power had done everything except make an equitable offer: he had not offered Romulus to be the Autarch of Light. That alone meant that something else was at play despite the god’s seeming magnanimity.

  Which brought him to the second and more plausible theory.

  Hyperion was afraid of Lilith’s return.

  Romulus knew his answer, but he needed to be careful.

  “You have given me a most generous and incredible offer, Your Eminence.”

  “Indeed, so it is time to accept it!” Hyperion responded firmly.

  “Of course, but first, I do have one concern. A fear, actually.”

  Hyperion’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing as he waited.

  “If I were to accept your gracious allowances, Your Radiance, I fear for what your sister might do. After all, she is the goddess of Death… What is to stop her simply killing me herself?”

  “Tsk. Foolish,” Hyperion said with a pitying shake of his head. “Did you not hear me, Traveler? She cannot! We cannot directly act against proxies!”

  “But I would not be your Autarch, Your Grace. Would that not leave me vulnerable?”

  “Ah, I see your confusion,” Hyperion said with a superior tone. “You do not comprehend. Let me be more simple in my explanation: a proxy is not merely an Autarch, but any creature or being that owes total allegiance to a Power of sufficient rank, especially one at the level of Divinarch. My errant sister had her Death Knights, Inquisitors, Acolytes, and others—loathsome as they were…”

  The Lord of Light scowled at the thought of said followers, then continued.

  “I have my wonderful Paladins, Confessors, Living Saints, Apostles, and more. You would be among the first and third of those. While Autarchs are certainly the most powerful of a god’s representatives, they are hardly the only form of proxy.”

  “And if you were to bless me with your Brand, as she did?”

  “Yes, that would also count. You would be utterly safe. You have my word.”

  “Thank you, Great One. That is all I needed to know,” Romulus said with a pleased smile.

  “Excellent!” Hyperion declared with an arrogant lift of his chin. “Now, let’s—”

  “No,” Romulus said simply.

  “What?” Hyperion asked in momentary confusion.

  “Ah, my apologies. Let me be clearer: go fuck yourself, you radiant ball of stupidity.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Hyperion’s eyes widened momentarily, and then narrowed dangerously. His armor started to ripple and flare radiantly, and golden lightning arced around him. “You dare?! I will obliterate you for your insol—!”

  “Nope,” Romulus said smugly. “I have Lilith’s Brand. You said it yourself, you can’t touch proxies, and I doubt the ever-honorable god of Light would lie to a mere Traveler. It isn’t part of your brand of rainbows, sunshine, and utter bullshit.”

  Hyperion hissed. “You snarky little rodent. You think you tricked me?!”

  “I think you’re a pretentious shithead with delusions of grandeur. I think you’re a bully who doesn’t like being told no. More than any of that, I think you’re scared. No, you’re terrified. This was your only real chance to stop my goddess—” it felt strangely good to say that, “—from gaining momentum. If I’d given you the Liber Nox, you could’ve spirited it away to keep it out of the reach of her Autarchs for as long as you wanted. This was your only real chance at stopping her. You clearly don’t have the testicular fortitude to actually face her yourself.”

  “SILENCE!” Hyperion roared.

  “Fuck you!” Romulus shot back. “I’m going to burn down every one of your Churches, you arrogant prick, and I’m going to piss on your altars! I’ll ensure uttering your name is so anathema that you fade into complete obscurity!”

  “MY SERVANTS WILL CRUSH YOU!”

  “Bring it on, you asshole. I can’t wait to skullfuck your Autarch with my runeblade!”

  At his side, Lightsbane pulsed ecstatic agreement and vibrated with excitement, showing life for the first time since they had arrived.

  Hyperion snarled in rage as his armour transformed into blinding light.

  Romulus stuck up his middle fingers and laughed in the Divinarch’s face.

  Consumed by the Light, everything faded away.

  “Boy!”

  The Revenant-King’s voice brought Romulus back to himself, and he jolted, looking around himself at the throne room and then down at the Liber Nox in his hands. “I… sorry,” he said after a moment. “Hyperion dragged me away to get me to join him.”

  The Revenant-King went very still. “What did you tell him?”

  “To go fuck himself,” Romulus said as he peered down at the Liber Nox.

  The Revenant-King’s laughter startled him a moment later, and he looked toward the wraith in surprise. He almost said something and then thought better of it, eyes turning back to the Liber Nox. “So what do I do now?” he asked aloud instead.

  “The Liber Nox will only open to the blood of the Branded,” the Revenant-King said with clear and abiding mirth. “There is a spike on the middle chain encircling the book. Press your palm against it.”

  Romulus turned the book to find what the undead referred to and spied the subtle glint of something sharp. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his palm against it and hissed at the feeling of a puncture. [Pain Tolerance] activated when he did, and the sharp sting subsided quickly.

  “Alright, now what—?”

  He fell silent abruptly when the chains melted away, unshackling the book and allowing it to open in his hands. Instead of a random page, he saw a blank slate of silver, and then the pages flashed aside rapidly. Moments later, the turning pages finally halted at a place near the front, and letters started to appear in red.

  With only a little surprise, Romulus discovered he could read them easily.

  My Chosen, I can sense that the Liber Nox has come into your hands. While I hoped for this outcome, I would be remiss not to admit some measure of trepidation. However, your acquisition of my scripture has put any lingering concern to rest.

  I have little time, so I must impart knowledge with haste. The Liber Nox is the key to becoming my Autarch, not because of the scripture, but because of the rituals involved. Without a Focus, I am unable to affect the world properly.

  With the Liber Nox in hand, I can use it to circumvent this restriction and empower you properly as my Autarch. Each Power has different means of achieving this, but the Liber Nox is mine.

  You now have three divergent, equally beneficial, and difficult paths to choose from. Your Eidos must be altered for you to become my Autarch and channel the pure essence of my power. The purity of my Gift, otherwise, would tear your Eidos apart.

  Romulus raised his eyebrows, glanced at the Revenant-King speculatively, and then looked back down at the Liber Nox to continue reading.

  The first of these options is the path of the Wightborne Revenant.

  With my abilities and command over death, I can petrify and freeze your body in time. You will be liberated from the need to sleep, eat, and drink, and will never deplete your stamina. Your Eidos will also be gifted with tremendous durability and power.

  Wights are creatures of ultimate physical force; you would be no different. Your skin would turn away all but the greatest enchanted steel, you would be able to fight forever without fatigue, and you would never lose your calm focus even amid the most tumultuous wartime chaos. You will be a singular pillar, reliant on nothing but your own power and the sharpness of your runeblade.

  However, as all things must, this great power comes with a cost. You will no longer be able to enjoy food, drink, dreams, or the pleasure of a night’s rest. You will also lose all ability for intimacy now and forever in the future. You will feel neither love nor loss, and your emotions will forever be dampened to cold neutrality.

  Romulus winced at the last section.

  He’d suspected that sex was an option in Eternus Online. While he didn’t really intend to pursue that course of action any time soon, despite the way he appreciated Isolde’s appearance, the idea of losing the option and his emotions just did not sit well with the most primal, deeply rooted parts of himself.

  Hoping for something better, he kept reading.

  The second path is that of the Lichborne Revenant.

  In this way, you will become a being of mana and power, not unlike the last Revenant-King’s current form, though yours will be far more tangible and stable. Your physical vulnerabilities will be removed, and you will become a spellcaster of singular power.

  Liches are masters of the Undead and powerful Necromancers. As a Lich, you would forever have an army at your beck and call. Every foe you faced would be another potential recruit, and even the most pious of enemy warriors would be yours to raise in undeath against their former allies.

  This path would result in you losing most of your physical strength in exchange for near-total physical invulnerability, but so too would you lose the ability to eat, drink, dream, sleep, and be intimate with others. It is a great sacrifice, but one none have ever regretted. The power of a Lichborne Revenant is legendary.

  “I like this one even less,” he muttered out loud, glancing at the Revenant-King. “No offense, but being a ghost isn’t exactly my idea of evolutionary improvement.”

  The Revenant-King said nothing, but Romulus thought he detected amusement in the cast of his ghostly skull.

  Looking back at the Liber Nox, he continued to read.

  The third and final path is that of the Sanguine Revenant.

  Using my very blood, I will gift you the eternal body and ageless guise of a mighty and unique immortal. Your body will gain strength, agility, vitality, and endurance bonuses that grow with every level. Unlike the first two paths, however, this one relies on your ability to lead as much as your own capabilities.

  Your individual strength will evolve as you add more Souls to your Court. Each individual you Sire will grant you a percentage of their strongest Attribute permanently, increasing your power relative to the capability of each new addition. While all the arts of the Dark will be open to you, the path of the Sanguine is neither as physically unstoppable as the Wight nor as sorcerously gifted as the Lich.

  Your mana pool will be merged with your health, and it shall be the only resource available for spells and abilities, simplifying your path and also limiting you. As a Sanguine Revenant and my Autarch, you will be immune to the typical weaknesses of lesser Vampires: Silver will not affect you, and the sacred places of the other gods will hold no thrall over you.

  You will, however, gain a severe weakness to both Fire and Light Mana.

  Well, that seemed pretty standard, despite the other benefits. He nodded idly to himself while he read, and continued to absorb more of the information.

  You will also need to feed regularly to maintain your strength. The more potent and high-levelled the person you feed on is, the longer your hunger will be sated. Unlike many false myths, Sanguine are not creatures of undeath like lesser Vampires: Instead, you will maintain your youth and vibrancy through the life force you consume from others, and your heart will beat, your blood will flow, and your lusts and wants will remain fresh.

  You may still consume food and drink and enjoy the peace of slumber. You will not need to breathe, but may do so as naturally as any mortal. Sanguine are masters of subversion, infiltration, and assimilation—these tools will be your arsenal in bringing regular mortals to your side and into my Faith.

  There is more to be learned about all the available paths, dearest Romulus. That information, however, must be earned with time. For now, you must make your choice.

  Be warned: once you decide, there is no going back.

  I await your decision.

  Romulus stared at the final line and sighed.

  Three options, and while the last one appealed to him the most, it also presented the most challenges. First of all, he’d be more vulnerable than he would be as either a Wight or Lich because he’d be susceptible to all the failings of a mortal body in terms of wounds, and he had to assume that also meant pain. The logical deduction was that the Wight and Lich enjoyed some measure of immunity to something as mortal as pain.

  [Pain Tolerance] would help, but it was hardly a fix-all.

  Furthermore, if he chose the third path, he’d need to find followers to grow his power and manage those followers thereafter. He also suspected that nothing was stopping an ambitious Sireling from trying to supplant him as both leader and Autarch if he let himself be vulnerable to it, especially given both Lilith and System’s warnings to that effect. Finally, he needed to ensure a steady supply of… food. The thought made him mildly queasy, but he didn’t think that was a bad thing.

  The moment he started to view people as less than people, something was wrong.

  “You must choose,” the Revenant-King said from beside him, “and quickly.”

  “I know, it’s just difficult,” he grumbled. “All of them have benefits and negatives, and the idea of the Wight on paper seems the most straightforwardly beneficial,” he sighed. “Dependency on others seems like a huge weakness to the Sanguine.”

  After more thought, he turned to the wraith beside him.

  “Which did you choose?”

  The Revenant-King looked toward the book, then back to Romulus. “Sanguine.”

  “Did you regret it?”

  Another pause followed, then…

  “No.”

  “Well, that’s good enough for me,” Romulus said with a shrug, returning to the Liber Nox. “Let not hesitation anchor your footsteps,” he murmured to himself before speaking clearly. “I choose the path of the Sanguine, Lilith. I am certain.”

  Romulus squinted at the Liber Nox warily after he spoke, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, he frowned. Had he said the words wrong? Perhaps he needed to write down his decision? He turned to the Revenant-King to ask.

  A moment later, Romulus staggered as the flaming skull came into view inches from his face.

  “Hrrk!”

  He looked down after the sudden and involuntary gasp, and saw the ethereal length of the wraith’s runeblade impaled in his chest.

  “Wh-what…?”

  It felt so goddamn real. Romulus found himself struggling to breathe.

  Blood pumped from where the blade had penetrated and destroyed his scalemail.

  His eyes rose to look at the Revenant-King again, and he thought he saw sadness in the spectre’s skull-sockets.

  “It is your turn to carry the burden, brother.”

  The runeblade came free in a whisper of ancient steel and blue fire.

  Romulus collapsed and fell to his knees.

  “You’ve g-got to be f-fucking kidding me…” he rasped as blood filled his mouth.

  The Revenant-King bent to look down at him, and he saw a flame-wreathed gauntlet reaching out toward his eyes. His breathing slowed, his vision grew blurry, and he felt his consciousness slipping away as he collapsed to the cold marble floor.

  “Peace,” the Revenant-King said in a shockingly gentle, now-distant voice. “This was your fate the moment you agreed to her Choice. Cause and effect, Romulus.”

  Romulus gurgled, but his mind and mouth would not form words.

  “Do not fear the Reaper, Darian,” the wraith said softly. “You are to become Death.”

  Romulus felt his heart stop a second later, and everything faded to black.