Occult slowly dropped me back on my feet, still rippling around me all the while.

Ahead, To’Avalis’s dead shell hit the ground, everything within still intact and powered, and yet following no orders besides the last ones it had.

This was technically To’Aacar’s old dead shell come to think of it. I half expected it to stand back up and try to fight me mindlessly like it had the very first time I’d put him down. History really does repeat.

But the shell remained motionless otherwise on the ground, unblinking. And as I looked over the battlefield, the rest of the pale lady’s machine forces were running into the same fate. My earlier wave of power had devastated just about all of it, leaving only disorganized stragglers getting picked off.

Relinquished hadn’t taken to losing easily. She hadn’t bothered to even remove the game pieces from the chessboard. This entire strata was basically abandoned all at once.

There was a sound all around the battlefield, and it was only after the occult stopped distorting everything around me that I realized what that sound was:

Cheering.

All around, surrounding me in a once constrained circle fighting for their lives, were the Deathless and Imperial elite who’d lived through it all.

Blades up in the air, turning to their brothers and sisters, hugging each other, hands over shoulder, elated.

We had won.

The emperor of mankind had been restored to full power. And the crown passed down to someone who had the skills of the prior emperors.

The pale lady was going to be dragged up to the surface. Where she would be in mortal danger for the first real time in thousands of years. Even if we missed our shot against her, this was the furthest humanity had ever gotten.

It wasn't a fight in the darkness against Feathers that would simply come back to life. There was permanence to this victory.

“I am recording this moment, please act in a regal fashion Mr. Winterscar.” The Icon spoke over the comms, as if whispering in conspiracy to me. “Morale is an incredibly important aspect to the war effort for now.”

Ahead, I could see exactly what she meant. Chaptermaster Titus, and four other Imperial imperators flanked him. I wasn't sure if they had portaled here, or if they had been here all along with the rest of the Deathless, fighting tooth and nail to hold the enemy off my back.

“This is a little too fas-” I almost argued until Wrath stamped on my boot to the side.

“I do not believe so. Time is of the essence. Mr. Titus understands and has agreed to handle the majority of the speech and work. Please stand straight and appear menacing and/or legendary.”

The entire army around us started to quiet down, now turning to watch the center. An army, which I remembered just now, was filled with quite literally the greatest heroes humanity has ever had over the past seven centuries.

Deathless who had history and tales written about them longer than my own house probably. Deathless like Lord Atius, standing further off to the side, in attendance among his kin instead of any position of honor.

He gave me a slight smile and nod, as if he knew the truth of what was going on under my helmet.

The cheering had stopped. Everyone was now looking at the Chaptermaster.

He turned to the crowd. “All ye who behold this moment. Warriors of long past ages, and warriors of today’s age. We were tasked to hold off the pale lady's direct attentions, long enough for the emperors of man to unite and return to the world alive. And we have done it. We have held off the hellspawn of the machine body, the soul of the violet goddess, and in the face of annihilation, we remain. The Emperor stands before us! Humanity will not fall on this day, we will rise up instead! We will endure! And we will prevail!”

The cheer was deafening. Now clear and overwhelming without the occult distorting things around me.

I was having some whiplash. Two sets of memories in my head were used to this kind of treatment, while my set of memories basically had no idea how to handle this.

Until I remembered who I was deep down inside.

Did I feel mildly awkward standing right before this old man shouting out to the crowd of ancient warriors, likely with this very video being sent from every angle by the Icon to every human on the world currently in a fight? Where I had to stand tall and appear mysterious and regal?

Absolutely not, my ego woke right back up as if deeply buried down and waking back up for the first time.

Chaptermaster Titus turned to his second in command holding an ancient relic, a chest of some kind with dust over the top. And with great show of reverence, unlocked it.

Within was a single gold crown of absolute majesty. Built to be put on top of a relic armor helmet.

And I recognized that crown easily. It had been Talens. He’d also built it with the occult imbued within... but for far more cosmetic reasons really.

His blade had been the real power he’d put his weight behind. The crown here was simply decoration. That sparkled. And a tiny bit more.

Titus held the crown and turned, kneeling down before me. “The crown of the lost emperor. Wielded by Talen. Wielded by Urs. Held by our chapter for centuries since we’ve reclaimed it for the third and final emperor of man. We return this crown back to its true wielder. Great Emperor of Mankind, lead us all to victory.”

I took a step, took the crown and slowly placed it on my helmet.

Occult pulsed at once from it, and the true origin reason Feathers had halos manifested around me.

Relinquished had goddamn tried to copy Talen's idea.

A blinding gold light solidified above my head, slowly circling as a translucent crown superimposed over me, a halo of power projected from the crown.

It did absolutely nothing of course, pure looks. But the effect on humanity beholding it was exactly what Talen had made it for: To inspire hope.

Every Imperial in attendance knelt down in one motion. Even the Deathless that hadn’t been aligned to the church knelt down in respect.

“Well done Mister Winterscar. Morale is climbing up. Do you have a speech you might give?”

“Hell no.” I hissed back in my helmet, “Do I look like the kind of guy that can just throw a godsdamned speech out of nowhere? Oh hello all of humanity, how do you all do? Let’s all get along together and do our best to survive against the apocalypse. I’m proud of you all, my sons. And daughters. I’m too young to have to deal with kids yet!”

“Regal silence would also work.” The Icon hummed back. “We are unfortunately short on time, Relinquished has returned to the digital sea and it appears she is preparing to send an all out attack to track conviction and I down.”

“No, I got this.” I had Urs’s memories, and his favorite tactics in mind too. I knew what the relic armors could do besides just look glorious and shiny. “Cathida. You’re still there, right?”

“Always am, deary.” She spoke back. “Simply trying not to distract you from the, well, everything. Both Journey and myself would rather you survive through it all.”

“Good news, becoming the proto-deathless of all deathless technically covers that part. It’s going to be real hard to put me down now. But it doesn’t make me any better at speeches. So, uh, by my command as emperor and mostly root administrator, take over the speakers and give a rousing speech for me. Oh and make it sound a little more regal than my squeaky voice please?”

Urs had always loved to delegate speeches to his relic armor or to the chaptermaster of the day back then. And if it worked for him, it’ll work for me.

My power armor locked in place, and the hand moved for me, flourishing Talen’s blade.

I flared the occult out around me once more with it, making the entire blade glow bright gold. The crown equally reacted to it all. Power pulsed out, and that part wasn't smoke and mirrors. Resolve flared within me, and every Deathless in attendance could feel the origin point of their own souls mirror the force.

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My voice came out of my helmet as if it were my own.

And Cathida… was unabashedly Cathida.

"Seven hundred years ago, our forefathers rose from the ashes of a broken world and raised their blades against the violet goddess herself.”

She forced my voice to have a more deep resonance to it. Talen’s blade rose higher in my hand.

“The old emperors of mankind stood shoulder to shoulder beneath an unbroken banner, and in that hour they struck such fear into the pale lady's blackened heart that she has spent every century since, every whisper, every war, every stolen soul, laboring to ensure this moment would never come to pass.

She. Has. Failed.

That moment is now. Let it ring across every scorched field and every shuttered city: I am the Emperor of Mankind, fully restored.

Hear me now, sons and daughters of a wounded world. Today, it ends. Tomorrow, the children of man will look upon a sky that does not belong to her.

And hear these words, Relinquished - foul, misbegotten creature that dares call itself a goddess. You wretch crowned in rust, ruin and waning power. This is the story of your defeat.

You will find no fortress deep enough, no legion vast enough, no lie old enough to shield you from me.

I will drag you from whence you hide. I will force you out to the surface, and the light will know you for what you are:

Nothing more than a simple machine.

You will be brought low. You will be unmade. Nothing under your banner will be left behind my wake.

Let every machine hear these words and despair.

I am the voice of every soul you have murdered.

I am the cry of every city you have burned down.

I am mankind’s blade made manifest.

And by this blade, I will be your end.

Solaris Imperium!"

It's a good thing I had a helmet. I might have gone deaf for what came out around me. I'd heal that damage now of course, but it was the principle of the thing.

And that cheer did not politely die down either. It was as if everyone had turned half-insane, frothing at the mouth or something.

"Holy scrapshit Cathida. What did you do?"

"I told them what everyone in the world wanted to hear most. That there is hope." She gave her usual verbal shrug, as if being humble about delivering an impromptu speech out of nowhere.

“That will do nicely Mr. Witnerscar.” The Icon spoke, showing me video footage of the reception around the world.

And boy did Cathida hit critical mass. The cities and armies gathered looked more like fanatical zealots. Or rather, they really had become exactly that.

“Going to have to get used to everyone calling out ‘For the Emperor!’ as their battle cries now deary.” Cathida whispered smugly. “You did ask me to do the speech for you, no take backsies. Good luck.”

“I… uh, I think I might need you to do more speeches for me in the future because there’s no chance in hell I can even speak half that well. And now I can’t show my face without ruining the entire mystique.”

“Of course, deary. The secret of your weasel-ness will remain with us.”

“Relinquished has certainly heard the speech.” Wrath said, next to me. “There are mass movements being reported everywhere in the world. I believe she has run into decoherence even, spy programs the Icon built are showing a mass of confused orders, being sent out more emotionally than logically.”

"I can die happy now." Cathida hummed. "Spoke words that made even the violet bitch herself go into a panic. Oh, if only the old bat were alive to see it happen."

“The morale boost is statistically significant.” The Icon said, as we saw more and more video footage around the world. “It may even hamper my movements. Soldiers are starting to refuse extraction orders after a successful attack. Perhaps we should have toned this down?”

“Your golden age AI is clearly defective.” Cathida scoffed. "Tone down a speech? Me?"

For a moment, we took a pause and watched as the world rose up against Relinquished. They hadn’t become better warriors or could suddenly aim better. What they did have was hope.

They believed something larger than themselves was now on the battlefield on their side, and they were entrusting everything to me. If I could strike down the goddess, they would handle the rest of her empire to their dying breath.

Because for once, the machine empire was no longer an undefeatable force of nature. They could be fought back. They could be defeated. And the world could be saved.

“We are short one role for the prophesy.” Wrath warned, over the screaming cheers around me. “Tenisent will be able to pilot the fortress, however if I remain there with him, we do not have anyone to keep Relinquished from escaping through the unity fractal in some other location when the physical laser strikes whatever avatar she brings.”

“Sure,” I shrugged, “But it’ll be a hell of a lot easier to find something that can pin her down here. Do you know anyone else who can fire the laser and guarantee the damage will be enough? We need you and Father to be the ones on the orbit. I’ll figure out how to hold her in place, somehow, we have an entire planet's worth of people to work that problem. Take a moment to breathe, celebrate a little.”

And while Urs and Talen’s skills in the digital realm weren’t as perfect as Tsuya’s, they had to have something in there somewhere I could make use of.

“Unfortunately, we have very little time to do so Mister Winterscar.” The Icon chimed. “Relinquished has turned her full attention on hunting down Conviction and myself. I can see her preparing a full scale assault all across the realm. If you have a replacement for Miss To’Wrathh, please inform me now so I might make preparations. I will soon be forced to flee Tsuya’s command and control node if her assault force is drastic enough.”

“That…” I looked around at the cheering soldiers, knowing in moments we needed to be back out there on the field.

I’d seen what Relinquished was during the tug of war for the soul of Avalis.

More importantly, I’d felt her sheer size. A planet’s worth of power and processing, along with thousands of years to slowly coalesce that power together.

I knew even I had no chance to fight her off soul to soul. She was dangerous up close. Anyone there would die against her. Talen and Urs never even tried to fight her in her realm, and Tsuya spent every last waking moment avoiding a direct confrontation. And when that confrontation did happen, she'd been snuffed out within a minute.

“It would need to be a deathless of some kind.” I hummed, looking over the old heroes all assembled around me. "Someone who can come back to life after."

They were all still cheering, celebrating. Portals were opening for those who were needed immediately, but the Icon was allowing a quick moment for the greatest of our kind to take a breather.

“Maybe Bob might have the occult power needed to hold her down?”

“Keith.” Wrath said, looking at me with curious eyes among the celebration.

“No, no, we’ll figure this out.” I said, waving her off. “I know the answer.” I struggled to think of anyone else who could potentially stand against the enemy I’d felt on the other end.

A single name came to mind and I jumped for it. “Conviction. If we give him the right tools, and bring him out on the field, he might be able to hold her in place long enough.”

“Keith.” Wrath repeated, “I will carry Tenisent to the station. And there, we both agree we can inscribe his soul fractal within the center chamber. And then I can return to the surface.”

I could sense my memory flash through older times. Of a long dead bunker lit back to life, opening fire on the enemy one last time to give us the means to survive.

It hadn’t survived.

“Conviction cannot hold of Relinquished.” The Icon spoke. “He is already engaged in fighting against her intrusions and throwing our trail off. Eventually, he will be forced to fight her directly while I escape. He is preparing himself for that moment. We are not calculating a victory chance, merely the amount of time he will be able to hold her off. If she needed to escape his grasp, she could do so effortlessly.”

“Scrapshit. Bob then.” I turned to the first rotsworn knight, who looked back at me.

He froze for a moment, as if hearing the voice in his head speak, then looked up and shook his head.

“Bob does not agree with that action either. I have asked it just now.” The Icon spoke for the giant coward of a fungus. “It is still new to soul on soul combat, and while it would theoretically excel at such things, it lacks the training. Too dangerous, as it states. It plans to live through these events as its primary driving goal.”

“Human.” Wrath reached her hands out and slowly pulled off Journey’s helmet, letting me take a breath of air. She stared at me eye to eye, a sad smile on her perfect features.

Everything felt burned and scorched around me. Like ash in my mouth. The warriors of legend all around me were giving me space to speak to Wrath. As if by instinct they knew this was going to be the last moment of peace, before I had to set off and complete a promise I’d just made.

There were shouts and jeers, cheering and revelry all around and I felt none of it now.

“Superior could do it.” I wheezed out, and even I knew that was hollow. “He’s got the training from Judge itself, the mites have prepared him for this. He could do it. I know he can.”

I’d seen the enemy. And while I could probably fight her in the real world and stand against her for some time, I knew within the digital sea she would crush me. And if I couldn’t stand against her with Resolve, what chance did Superior have?

Superior sent me a nudge through the soul fractal. And I could tell it wasn’t an answer I wanted to hear.

“Just as there may be others who can theoretically command the final weapon against Mother, Tenisent is simply the most certain choice we have. And I am the most certain choice against Mother. We have but one single chance. We cannot fail it.”

“Look, just getting you into orbit is going to be hard enough, that station is going to fire at everything approaching it. You’d need to come out of that completely untouched to even run the chance of making it in grabbing range of Relinquished right after. You’re not the right person for the job Wrath, let me figure something out.”

“I have made the correct preparations for Miss To’Wrathh’s flight into low orbit.” The Icon said, her voice speaking on the separated comms over my ear. “I calculate with your assistance in the early stages, she would be able to catch Tsuya Station’s next rotation. I can portal you both to the best launch location.”

“It can’t be you.” I dug my heels down regardless, “You have to be in the fortress with Father, you’ll survive there. You both will if you do this together. I can see Urs’s memories of how he built it, I know it would work. And…”

“And?” She asked.

I didn’t want to say it. “...And it’ll work better with you in orbit away from all this.” For some reason, those doomed words still came out of my mouth.

“Because?”

“There’s… I can find someone else, we have an entire planet’s worth of people to call on, there has to be someone better or equal enough!”

She tilted her head. “Ah. I understand. The true reason you remain stubborn on this.”

“Oh and what might that be?”

“The same reason why To’Orda will be the inheritor to the throne of machine kind. And it is not because he has the Icon at his side. But because he will be the only one left to claim it.”

The words I didn’t want to hear out loud were plain as snow on the horizon.

To hold Relinquished in place, Wrath would need to be there.

Grabbing the soul of Relinquished and holding it prisoner.

In the same location where the world’s oldest weapon would lock on and open fire, full power.

I whispered the real reason I didn't want her to be anywhere near the surface. “You will be killed with her.”

She gave me a sad smile. “I will be, yes.”