"I mean, yeah, I guess I've killed a lot of people. But, at the same time, that wasn't me."
The man stares at me, clearly confused. Before I can elaborate, Ayvex clears her throat.
"That does not matter at this moment, Dante. No need to explain right now, you'll have plenty of time to talk about it after this battle."
The man quickly looks back and raises an eyebrow.
"And.....if we all die after this battle? Won't have much time to talk if I'm dead."
"Then does it really matter? If you are concerned about dying here, why would the revelation of Dante's previously split control over his body matter? I would like to think that we should all focus everything on this fight, and not care for lesser concerns. Wouldn't you agree?"
Ayvex speaks calmly, but her voice almost demands respect. The man sighs and steps back to the group. I follow suit and join the group in front of Ayvex. She starts talking, I assume starting back at where she left off when I appeared.
"Now, as for the different techniques we could employ, I learned long ago that Grim's weak spot is his back. We will find a way to his dorsal scales and try to slide down into them. His scales may be tight, but we should still be able to pry them apart and attack the soft flesh underneath. Grim, according to the systems calculations, has around one septillion HP. Out of all the Elder Beings, he is by far the strongest. Thus, the reason for having to come together to fight him."
As she pauses, Entren speaks up.
"That number doesn't seem real. But what is the difference between his health and yours. I'm curious how you compare to one of your siblings."
Ayvex answers quickly, making sure not to get off onto a different topic.
"My HP is just shy of ten trillion, a literal speck of dust compared to Grim. But where he is extremely strong and healthy, he is also clumsy in the air. The only way he can get us off his back, is to fly through his own flames. The interior of his body is made to resist his flames, but even his own scales fail to resist the purple flames he releases. More likely, he will ground himself by slamming his back into the ground. That will keep him down for a minute or two, which will be our window. When, and if he does this, I'll use my strongest attack to knock off several of his scales. Everyone left alive will pour every attack that they have into this opening. If it goes as well as I would hope, then we can do enough damage to incapacitate him, which is the ultimate goal of the army. At all times, there exists a strange shield protecting his vital organs. In our last battle, I noticed that this field drops for a brief time if he gets far too injured, he redirects this energy to healing his wounds."
Azeroth speaks up, interrupting Ayvex.
"But, why not just seal him again?"
Ayvex closes her eyes and sighs deeply.
"And leave him for future generations to deal with? Sealing him the first time took a permanent piece of my energy, so another sealing process and I'd be too weak to seal him again. If we don't kill him this time, then it will only be a battle of time. If I were to seal him again, then in a thousand years or so, he would come back with no one to stop him. No, this ends here."
As she finishes speaking, I hear a slight voice in the back of my mind.
"That is not entirely true, there is one more option she isn't telling you. Come to the other side of the tether, let us talk."
Without realizing it, my facial expression must have changed, because Ayvex is looking at me intently. Before she speaks, I quickly raise my hand.
"Forgot that the tether needs to be a bit bigger, I'll go fix it really quick."
I try to keep it short, so she can continue telling the others about her plan. Instantly, I teleport to the tether and walk through the newly made teleporter. As I appear on the other side, I see someone directly ahead of me. They stand on the edge of the beach, the water rolling up inches away from their feet. Their white cloak blows in the gently breeze as the sound of waves overpower the sounds of nature behind me. I step forward, a strange sense of familiarity in this person. Before I can speak, they do.
"Have I ever told you?"
I pause, almost intimidated by this person. Their voice also seems to ring a sense of familiarity alongside the white cloak. I start to speak up once again, but they cut me off.
"About this world, I mean. It is huge, monstrous, beautiful, chaotic, peaceful, quiet, and loud."
"I don't understand, who are you?"
I reply, racking my mind to potentially remember this person. As my memory finds an answer, they turn around. The white cloak folds forwards around his whiter mask.
"Zero?"
I ask, still confused. He reaches forward, pulling the mask down and off. As the mask separates from his face. A large horn grows from the left side of his forehead. He opens his eyes. They shift color, from blue, to green, and finally settling on gray.
"This world is flawed, yet perfect. I wish to protect it, but I also know it will eventually crumble. As such, I have elected to play a neutral spectator in all affairs that occur. No matter what happens, I will get what I want."
I quickly raise my voice, realizing that Nevereth has barely any memories of Zero, but also that Zero and Nevereth collided while in my body.
"But you fought me, err, Nevereth. Or maybe, me being influenced by Nevereth? It's cloudy, but either way you directly fought. That doesn't sound like neutral to me."
Zero closes his eyes again and sighs.
"I know. I had forgotten my goal, waiting so long for everyone to wake up again. But in the conflict, I felt Nevereth once again. I knew it was time, this time the final act for some of the actors in this game. No matter what, I know as of right now, my hopes will be recognized. Whether the premature destruction of everything I cherish, or the elongation and torment of them as well. I wish for both. But I did not ask you out here for a talk on my ideals. I wish to share the information that is being withheld from you."
He steps closer to me, the wind suddenly whipping up.
"You are not Nevereth, but neither are you completely Dante. Nevereth does live, just not in the way you would be told."