It was surprisingly easy to find Will when the empire already collapsed. I shifted to the planet, and then flew around, noticing him eventually. He looked a lot different. Dirty, with a makeshift backpack, he was traveling through a partially ruined district on foot.

When I landed in front of him, he just burst into laughter.

– You made it! Oh, all the gods that do or don’t exist! – he shouted, dropping his equipment, and rushing to give me a hug. – I was so damn worried when all those days passed, and you didn’t show back! I started thinking the worst happened, and soon there will be an army of guardians going after me!

– Yeah – I tried to smile, as I pulled him off me. – Let’s talk about this when we pick up the rest…

I said mysteriously, picking up his curiosity.

– Okay – he said slowly.

I shifted both of us to the other planet where Hatta, Nil, Ki’rai, and Hailwic should have remained. We found them after a couple of minutes of looking around, as they too stayed relatively close to the ruined plaza, and decimated part of the city right around it.

They were so happy after they saw us, which was quite surprising in the case of Hailwic. I thought she would still have anger in her, but I guess the time at least closed the wounds a bit.

– Damn me! You fucking made it! – Sanders yelled. – I thought we were going to die here!

My little lizard’s eyes just went wide open, and tears started to accumulate in them before she rushed forward to jump and hug me. I held her in my arms for a moment.

Then I told them all everything because they were unbelievably curious about the events of the past weeks. While I was speaking I also noticed Martin’s body, wrapped in some clothing, surrounded by a chilling aura of frost. They clearly did their best to preserve him.

Even if they didn’t, his body probably wouldn’t start decaying anyway.

– Wow – said Hatta. – So you now rule everything?

– That’s what you are concerned about? – Nil asked. – The fucking energy, alien, ancient, fucking thingy is more important! You sure you killed that damn asshole?

– Yes. I’m sure – I responded.

– We should have known something was off the moment he introduced himself as The Great One – Hailwic pointed out.

It brought a smile to Will’s face, and mine too.

– Yeah… I guess it was a decent indicator that there is something off with that alien – I agreed.

– How about we continue this in a different location? I would love to get back to Arc – Hatta then said.

I picked all of us up, then jumped to several locations one by one, picking up the bodies of Nobuo and Druoag, before we finally returned.

This led to my proper reunion with the family, which wasn’t easy for me. For them either, when they learned that the one they met previously, wasn’t really the true me. I spare you this, because it was a long conversation, and not that interesting in the grand scheme of things.

What is important, is the meeting with all my friends after a couple of days, which revolved around burying the bodies. Each of those three incredible warriors got their own beautiful tomb, with a statue in front of them, and their sacrifice was proclaimed loud and clear to the city, so everybody would know.

In my basement bar, I grabbed a glass filled with air, and a spoon I was using for mixing some of the drink, then I banged on it to gain the focus of those who gathered there with me.

– It’s not going to be a toast – I informed them from the start. – We should talk about the future. There is no threat hanging above our heads, but as you know I’m now in charge of the Ixan empire, and I would like to not have to deal with that, so… Any volunteers?

Surprisingly, nobody seemed to want to take this task upon themselves.

– How about Katri Xel Avakadaisu? She is still out there, not really knowing about anything. I think she would be a great leader, and I believe we can trust her – Will said.

Obviously, this needed a bit longer discussion, but eventually, we all agreed to give it a shot. After all, I could easily take her off that seat if needed to.

That’s how I traveled to an incredible new home of Atri.

The city was different from anything I’d seen before. A mix of green, blue, and white. White buildings. Many are shaped as spheres or parts of them. There was this giant round structure in the middle, with the top cut off to make an open water tank. The green was obviously all the vegetation. A lot of beautiful, perfect grass, and trees everywhere.

The blue was the streams of water showing all around. Inside the city, and outside of it.

There were no monsters. As I soon noticed, the Atri would walk outside in search of those drifting balls. Big enough to barely fit in your hands. They were doing something with those – as I soon learned, solving puzzles. Giving answers to hard questions, solving equations, or hard moral dilemmas.

After asking a bit, I was led by one of the Atri to their leader, Katri Xel Avakadaisu. She was enjoying a walk in one of the parks inside the city.

I had to tell her everything, before asking the hard question:

– Will you lead the Ixan empire?

– It’s a hard task. I’m unsure if I am the one you are looking for, but I do understand many of the problems that exist in the empire – she acknowledged. – I am willing to give it a try, but you should have your eyes open for a better candidate. After all, I don’t know if my skills will be sufficient.

That was good enough for me.