The world was changed.

That was what many said. Wiser heads pointed out that the world constantly changed as the seasons passed. However, others pointed out that it was not like what had happened over the last few days.

From the mortal realm to the divine things had changed.

On the continent of Kyber, the changes were most pronounced. A trail of destruction had been parked across it by hordes of void-corrupted monstrosities. The horde had been broken but not annihilated. Most were gone, but many more had fled into the wilds.

The humans who lived on this continent knew they had only a reprieve. The battle would continue. The monsters would come again if not hunted.

The nonhuman races looked on with both fear and concern. Some of the anti-humanists amongst them called for an invasion of the continent and cleansing of the race. The majority ignored them, knowing that in times of change, it was best to walk carefully.

The Kingdom of Nygar was wounded but not dead. Some of the more ambitious nations around try to take parts of the kingdom for themselves. They found that the kingdom's military was largely intact and quite happy and willing to teach them the error of their ways.

The nation was not without allies. Cythia, the old capital, and its surrounding territories were the first to reach out to help. Others soon joined in. It would be hard, but many hope the kingdom will be rebuilt.

All knew it would be difficult. The horde had laid a trail of destruction through the nation. Two of its great cities had been destroyed. The second was that the capital had now become a magically polluted wasteland, affecting the rivers that passed through it and spreading danger to all the downstream communities.

It was predicted that the pollution would reduce further away from the blast site, but many were not taking the chance and were abandoning those rivers.

Void corruption remained present throughout the horde's path, and we must address it promptly to prevent spawning more abominations.

At least now they had the means to fight the corruption of the void.

There was one other thing that times of change brought. Those were opportunities, and for those willing to take such risks, the outcomes could be either handsomely rewarding or disastrously disastrous.

Across the world, members of all races began making significant contributions.

## ## ## ## ##

Ranus stood before the ruins of the Dungeon surface building.

A strange sign had appeared, and he reread it, still perplexed.

Behind him, his city was recovering from the battle.

The second line had held barely. Many parts of the northern section of the city were damaged. The fires were finally under control, with the wounded being treated and the dead now being collected.

The floodplain was still covered with the corpses of the void monsters.

A path had been cleared, leading to the ruins, by Trixis and her followers. They seem to be far more resistant to the void corruption than others, so many left the tasks of cleaning up the bodies of the monsters to them.

Ranus had looked at them as he approached the ruins as they worked. They had created a large fire at the far north of the valley, and they were taking the bodies to be burnt. Some were so large that they had to be disassembled before transportation was possible. They were grim, but they seemed happy with their task.

Standing here now before the ruins, he was forced to count the cost.

Arbiter Nextom was dead. Ranus had seen his death during the chaos of the battle, and his loss was deeply felt across the city.

Averance, leader of the Adventurers' Guild on Kyber, had fallen. He had not witnessed her death, but he had heard that she had gone beyond the walls to fight the greater beasts that appeared. She had brought them down and read the tally of eleven monsters that could have destroyed the city by themselves. Their numbers, however, were too much for her, and with her final breath, she managed to delay them long enough for the spell sent from aboard to end them. Her body had been destroyed by one of the spells.

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Doltum lived but was severely wounded. Seela had told Ranus that he was suffering from void corruption, but the healers were confident that he would recover in time. Some were already calling on him to take Averance's position.

Elian had lived through the battle but had lost an arm. One of the void corrupted monstrosities had bitten it off below the elbow. She would recover in time, but was still bedridden.

Albrot survived the battle, wounded but still able to move around. He was organising what was left of the guild within the city and communicating with the rest of the continent.

Danrum had held the gates for the rest of the defenders to escape. He had been killed doing this, and they had not yet found all of his body. Many doubted they would.

There were more, but Ranus couldn't think about any more of them as grief was threatening to crush his soul. So much had happened in the battle that he could not have foreseen or even dreamed of his worst nightmare. He lost contact with many of those around him during the fight due to the chaos. It was only after the battle that the cost was understood. They were still finding the dead and very rarely, through some miracle, a few living.

He felt like he needed to weep, but he had no tears left.

He had heard reports that his family was already trying to ingratiate themselves more into the city. He had also been receiving offers from local powers and those further afield, offering him deals and resources to rebuild. Of course, they all came with conditions and strings attached.

He was too weary to deal with any of it right now.

He heard footsteps approaching him and saw Team Leader Gran coming up next to him.

"Lord Goldwind." The man greeted him with a nod of the head.

"Team Leader Gran." He replied as the older man stood next to him and looked at the sign on the doorway of the ruin.

After a few seconds, Ranus asked. "How is your team?"

"We made it. Battered and bloodied, but we made it." The weariness of his tone was easy to hear, but there was no bitterness or anger.

"What brings you out here today?" Ranus asked absentmindedly. The weight of everything still weighs him down in both his mind and soul.

"That," Gran replied, pointing at the sign. "I led the first adventure team into this dungeon, and I thought it only right that I came and saw the aftermath."

Both men now looked at the sign again.

The Tower in the Shadows is presently closed for refurbishment. Please be patient.

"I think I've seen it all now," Gran said.

## ## ## ## ##

Rickle was hiding in his realm again.

He wasn't throwing cards into the hat; instead, he had his head on the table. He was questioning everything he had done in both his mortal and divine existences.

The plan had worked.

Oda was cut off and isolated. Bhaldor was now part of the Paths of Ascension and was safely siphoning away the void corruption contained within the pocket dimension imprisoning Oda.

Of course, the Paths of Ascension then sought to rebalance the realms.

A new god of time had appeared.

Several other mortals had gained access to Mantels that were not in use or had been lost and had become minor deities.

The others were welcoming them now.

For all of his good deeds, he had been, of course, punished. He couldn't believe what had happened, but he was forced to exist with it.

He had gained a new Mantel, that of the God of Balance.

There was one other change. There was a new god, one with four Mantels. Rickle was very thankful he didn't have to deal with this one yet. It wasn't going to be a pleasant time for any of them.

## ## ## ## ##

The power had flowed through me like an ocean.

It faded, but much of it remained. With it came knowledge and understanding.

I can still feel my connection to my Dungeon and the core within. It was in ruins when I needed it to rebuild. The automatic rebuild function I had relied on was now gone. I would have to do it myself, but this allowed me to make changes to it. I couldn't do it right now, but I left a sign asking people to be patient.

I'm dealing with a lot right now.

I understood that I was now a divine being with four Mantels.

I could sense my small following down in the mortal realm.

I could still sense the void essence entering my core, but it was no longer threatening to overwhelm me. It felt like all the blocks allowing it to pass through me had been removed. I could feel it leaving me like water flowing into an ocean from a river.

These were the least strange things affecting me. I had a body. An actual human body. Note that I was correct; it was a representation I created in my mind, and it was also influenced by the divine power of the human body's appearance.

I've been looking down on it, and I was dressed in a multicoloured robe. But what was weird, apart from having a body in the first place, was the golden glow surrounding me.

Looking around, it appeared I was standing in a cloud.

"Okay, what now?"

My voice sounded the same, so at least there was that.

Before I could say or think anything else, I got the impression of approaching divine beings. I looked around and eventually spotted them coming from behind me.

At first glance, they appeared to be a man and a woman. But as they approached and I saw them clearly, that was just what they presented; they were so much more. It was hard trying to grasp everything that I was understanding and seeing.

"Greetings, Bhaldor. I am Xandus, and this is Nictor." As she spoke their names and mine, there was a strange resonance to them, and I suddenly came to understand all that they represented. My mind had changed, and I realised that such information in the past would have overwhelmed me completely.

"We are here to help you find your place as a new member of the divine pantheon," Nictor added.

"If I understand this right, you're the heads of the courts within the pantheon?" I asked.

"That is correct. We do not expect you to choose a side yet, or we will respect your choice if you decide to stay neutral." Xandus confirmed.

All this is too good. I've been waiting for this opportunity. I smiled, and I knew it was an evil one from their reaction. "Fantastic. I have a few things to say….."

Change came to all. Some rose, some fell. Bhaldor had ascended. Although some wished he hadn't, it happened very quickly.

Life for the Pantheon was going to get very interesting.

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