Zeyzal Aveer, Transcendent of Chaos, stood on his balcony and tried his best to not break the longcomm beside him.

“Breaking development on the Serenity Takeover,” rattled off the excited voice from the longcomm. “It appears that the pirates who have commandeered the airship have been thwarted! That’s right, folks. Thanks to the combined efforts of the passengers and crew aboard the airship, the Scapegoat pirates, led by the notorious Captain Dennier Safras, have been defeated. The Justice Alight, a Class-A interceptor, managed to reconvene with the brave hostages-no-longer in the pirates’ own airship! They are expected to land in Advance by tomorrow morning. More details will surely be coming then, so stay tuned, and remember to always—”

Zeyzal slammed his fist down on the longcomm, shattering it to pieces. Unfortunately, due to his enhanced strength from being Transcendent, he also split the ornately-carved table the longcomm sat on in half. It fell into pieces.

“Master,” came Fortis’s disapproving voice behind him. “Those communicators are quite expensive.”

Zeyzal ignored the man, clutching the banister of the balcony with both hands. After a moment, he heard Fortis sigh and step out beside him.

“Was there anything that could tie that worthless pirate back to us?” Zeyzal said, continuing to stare out over his territory.

“No, Master. I have made sure of it and will continue to monitor the situation moving forward.”

That assuaged him somewhat, though barely. These days, his anger seemed to be getting worse. A part of him knew it was because he was only sixteen, and Transcendent or not, his body was that of a teenage boy going through its growing pains.

The greater part of him feared that unlocking the unique Perk was taking over him. He’d been hearing voices whispering in his mind from the latent Chaos energy suffusing the world. Whispers about Corruption, Divinity, and the coming days ahead. He hadn’t even told Fortis about them.

“Master?” Fortis said, and Zeyzal turned and faced the old man.

Ever since Zeyzal was young, Fortis had been there. Equal parts confidant, butler, mentor, and paternal figure, Fortis was the outwards face of Zeyzal’s public persona. Whenever he felt like attending those silly but admittedly informative meetings between the Transcendents outside of Chaos, he’d sent Fortis in his stead.

The man was old. Old as the Shattered Ruins. His long face was more wrinkles than skin, his hair silvered and receding, his skin splotchy with those marks that accompanied the elderly. But his violet eyes remained as sharp and bright as ever. The unique coloring indicated his noble birth as a trueborn native of the Province of Clarity—or the Province of Madness, as the outsiders called his land.

“We need an alternative to obtain [Lockdown Crystals],” Zeyzal said, returning his gaze outwards. “I trust you have them already set in motion?”

Fortis bowed his head. “Of course, Master. The pirate was merely a riskless gamble. If she succeeded, excellent. If not, no harm done.”

Zeyzal nodded curtly. He tried to find peace in the sights around him. The untamed wilderness of the northern reaches of the province were bleak and desolate, but they were his. No one dared to enter this stretch of land, and not just because of the powerful monsters that roamed through it. Everyone knew he was here, even if they didn’t know who he exactly was.

Chaos energy coursed vibrantly through this land. Massive rivers of it flowing through the air, the water, the land. Most people could only see one of the Three Currents. Zeyzal had been able to see all of them from the moment he first opened his eyes.

Then, he cleared the [Rift of Damnation]. It had regenerated in his territory upon the Apotheosis. And upon doing so, he’d gained a new, unique Perk.

{Damnation’s Blessing}. His vision had expanded, unlocking his ability to see a fourth

Current. One that looped around the whole world, one-eighth of the elemental cloud that suffused the planet. A cloud formed from the energies of the eight gods, now long dead.

The voices had intensified then. He heard them every day now.

His eyes were drawn down to a coalescence. Down far beneath his palace-fortress, a pocket of Chaos energy formed. Fortis frowned down at it—the man was capable of seeing land and water Currents, though not air.

From the coalescence came forth a swarm of monsters. From his vantage atop a rocky cliff, Zeyzal could just barely make them out. [Superior Chaos Elementals], a Master-rank monster.

Zeyzal summoned his decks. His [Main Deck] formed as an X in front of him, while his [Burst Deck] appeared as a line down the X. His sleeves were formed from pure Chaos energy, fashioned by Fortis himself on the day of his birth.

“Master,” Fortis said warningly. “I believe we discussed this. Unnecessary displays of force will draw attention to us.”

“Don’t care,” Zeyzal said, pulling a card from his deck. “I need to let off some steam.”

Fortis sighed loudly, gripping the banister tight as Zeyzal pointed the card at the monsters and cast.

[Oblivion] unleashed, the charge duration negated by his {Rapid Charge} Perk. A sonic boom of wind and sound rushed out from the Attack, which would’ve sent Fortis stumbling backwards had he not braced himself beforehand. Zeyzal smiled as his long hair—not cut since his birth—whipped about him, the crackling violet light of Chaos energy casting shadows across his face.

The giant beam of Chaos energy roared forth, crossing the hundreds of feet between Zeyzal and the monsters, and immediately incinerated them. He blinked away the loot messages.

Yes, whispered the voice in his mind. Good. You are the strongest. You are born to rule, to become Divine. The others are mere children before you, grasping at the pitiful powers they cheated and connived to gain. They do not have your birthright, your heritage.

Zeyzal swept the card around. Wherever the beam touched, oblivion followed. Stone, wood, the very air itself was transformed by Chaos energy, twisting them into strange transmutations of their natural state.

Stone became glass. Wood became hide. Air became screams.

Change was the very essence of Chaos. How could the outsiders not see the beauty of it? They waxed poetic about Order’s stability and how it made elemental engineering possible; this was true, but they in the same breath they ignored that stability was Order’s greatest weakness.

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Without Chaos, nothing could change. Without change, nothing could grow.

A soft but firm hand clasped on his shoulder, making him blink. Zeyzal turned his head, the Attack still casting in his hand, and saw Fortis frowning disapprovingly at him.

With not a little effort, Zeyzal stopped. [Oblivion] cut out, returning back to his deck. Down far below, the effects of his Attack were apparent. Swaths of the forest were now a roiling mess of Chaos.

Not enough, whispered the voice in his head. Not Divine.

“Master,” Fortis said. “You have your meeting with Transcendent Vexal soon. The man has some news to share apparently. He also wishes to discuss the idea of creating a formal alliance with Transcendent Mirova.”

Zeyzal tsked. He hated the idea of allying with other Transcedents, much less other Transcedents of Chaos. But it had to be done. He knew the Transcedents of Earth and Air were gathering, and it was only a matter of time before the others did as well.

“Let’s go,” Zeyzal said.

He cast [Greater Warp] and teleported himself into his throne room. A moment later, Fortis followed with his own cast of the card. The man was not only a Transcendent forger but a Grandmaster cardbearer. Zeyzal expected nothing less of his second-in-command.

He crossed the breadth of the obsidian room and sat down on his throne. He pulled [Dimensional Space] from his deck and cast it out into the air, affixing Vexal in his mind.

The Transcendent Field card activated mid-air, transforming the throne room. Chaos energy burst outward and locked into place at the boundaries. In the blink of an eye, Zeyzal now sat in an undulating spatial room. Fortis stood by his side this time, instead of remaining outside the boundary as he had when Zeyzal spoke to the pirate captain. That had admittedly been a mistake on his part; bringing the woman into this space greatly exposed his true identity.

A moment later, a gap appeared in the room and in walked Transcendent Vexal. Zeyzal did his best to restrain his scowl at the sight of the man, who embodied nothing of the virtues of Chaos and was somehow still his peer.

Vexal was a sniveling, scurrying worm of a man. His appearance more resembled an accountant than one of the strongest cardbearers on the planet. He wore a thick checkered sweater vest with stiff brown pants and loafers. A pair of thick-rimmed spectacles sat on his round nose, and his violet eyes were beady and skittish, always flitting around as if he was perennially afraid of being ambushed.

His mundane appearance didn’t fool Zeyzal, though it did disgust him. He was all too aware that every piece of Vexal’s clothing—visible or otherwise—was of the highest quality and strength.

“Zeyzal, Fortis,” Vexal said in greeting, coming up in front of the throne. He peered around at the room with undisguised envy. “I would really like to hear about where you found the [Blueprint] for this card. It would be quite a boon to my business.”

“It has been a… difficult day,” Zeyzal said. “I would recommend you speak quickly and get out of my sight.”

“Hmm.” Vexal peered up at Zeyzal. “I assume this has something to do with the Serenity?”

The room rumbled as Zeyzal’s anger peaked. Jagged spikes of Chaos energy punctured the room, turning it into a pincushion. Vexal yelped as a spike shot out beside him, and Fortis sighed.

“How do you know of my involvement?” Zeyzal growled, leaning forward.

“You know my spies see and hear all,” Vexal answered, stepping gingerly away from the spike. “But don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. We don’t want to start hostilities with the other Transcendents, not yet anyhow. Still, targeting Magenni’s own airship was rather ill-advised. Fortis, I assume you tried to talk him out of it?” He chuckled, a nervous, weaselly sound. “Just a joke.”

Zeyzal glowered down at the man but reluctantly relaxed. The spikes disappeared, though the room was now riddled in holes.

“Speak,” Zeyzal snapped. “I don’t have time for your nonsense.”

“You’ll be pleased to hear that Mirova is keen on moving forward with our alliance,” Vexal said. “She wishes to meet in person to iron out the details.”

Zeyzal waved his hand dismissively. “Speak to Fortis about that. Tell me what you know about the Island.”

“Ah, yes. Well, as you know, the Continental Assembly sent out a scouting excursion to the Island. Just a contingent of their Grandmasters, no Transcendents present. I managed to get one of my spies aboard as a retainer to one of the Grandmasters.” Vexal paused. “I haven’t heard from them since.”

Zeyzal frowned. The Island was shrouded in a strange, elemental cloud that somehow prevented any observation cards from working. Furthermore, the Island moved, making it even more difficult to obtain information.

“No contact at all with the scouting party?” Zeyzal looked to Fortis, who was frowning. “What’s the consensus out of the Assembly?”

“That they’re all dead,” Vexal said bluntly. “It can be the only explanation. Any attempts at remotely connecting with the party through cards fails.”

Zeyzal nodded slowly. “Any updates on this Divine Expedition they’re preparing?”

“Just that they’re continuing to gear up for it. It’s going to be a grand fleet of ships and airships combined. Hundreds of cardbearers, all of them Grandmasters. Three Transcendents are currently being groomed to lead the Expedition. Asfal, Pyrrha, and Junior.”

“Pyrrha? I expected Asfal and Junior, Assembly dogs that they are, but Pyrrha is unexpected.” Asfal and Junior were both Transcendents of Order, and as such were subservient to the demands of the politicians. But Pyrrha was a Transcendent of Fire, and she always walked her own path.

Vexal shrugged. “None of them have accepted the position yet, as far as I know. But if she’s throwing her cards in with the Assembly, then it’s for a good reason. She likely believes that’s her greatest chance at reaching Divine.”

Zeyzal mulled on that as he leaned back on his throne. Beside him, Fortis rapidly scribbled down notes on the meeting as he was wont to do.

“Anything else?” Zeyzal asked. “If not, let us end this. I feel a headache approaching."

“Just one more thing,” Vexal said. The sly smile on his face suggested the man was about to say something big. “There’s another Transcendent.”

Zeyzal froze. The undulating ripples of the room abruptly stopped. Fortis looked up from his notes, a look of shock on his face.

“What?” Zeyzal breathed.

Vexal nodded, clearly pleased by the reaction he’d garnered. “I have a source close to Transcendent Helva. Apparently, she met with some others to discuss news she’d acquired about the existence of a hidden male Transcendent who was apparently on Solossi.”

“This makes no sense. Why would he be on Solossi?”

“My source was unable to ascertain that, though logic dictates Solossi is as good a hiding place as any. After all, we were unaware of his presence until he revealed himself by clearing the Dungeon on one of the beginner biomes there.”

Zeyzal was stunned. A new Transcendent? There were such a limited amount of Transcendent-rank Terrors, all obscenely difficult to clear, that the thought a Grandmaster could clear one, advance, and then go into hiding without anyone knowing was highly improbable, bordering on impossible. Also, the Serenity had taken off from Solossi had it not...?

Fortis took over the rest of the meeting from there, as Zeyzal’s mind spun over this new development. He barely noticed when Vexal said his goodbyes with a promise to meet again with Mirova to discuss their alliance.

The Field card ended, plunging him back into normal space. Fortis went off to find some more information about this Transcendent, leaving Zeyzal alone in the throne room.

A sharp pain ripped through his head. Zeyzal gasped, then grunted as some invisible force pulled his head up, forcing him to look up at the ceiling.

{Damnation’s Blessing} has activated.

The ceiling disappeared. In its place was the elemental cloud that surrounded the whole planet, like an invisible storm smothering the world. Zeyzal could only see the band of Chaos energy in the cloud…

Wait. There was something else.

A tiny spark of iridescence in the Chaos energy.

Corruption.

Hurry, whispered the voice in his head. The end approaches…

THE END OF ARC TWO.