“That’s enough, Wyn,” Dark Force says, his voice calm but firm as Wyn continues to hammer at the throne. “It’s over.”

  Wyn pauses, his fists still clenched, but the anger quickly fades, replaced by an overwhelming wave of emotion. His tears pour uncontrollably as he turns to face Dark Force, desperate. Reaching out, he tries to grab Dark Force by the neck, but his hand passes through the dark hollow mass, unable to make contact.

  “The best thing for you to do now is to absorb the essence and become a life force,” Dark Force says, his tone devoid of pity.

  Wyn halts mid-motion, his sobs deepening. “You’d better find someone else. I refuse. I can’t. I don’t want to keep going anymore.”

  As it turned out, Light Force had two options when dealing with the souls. One was to allow one of them to join him; the other was to kill them all. For a being to ascend to the level of a life force, it needed to be strong enough to withstand the overwhelming power of the divine essence. Wyn and his team had grown stronger over time, constantly increasing their essence count until they were more than capable of overcoming the guardians – making them all potential candidates.

  In Light Force’s mind, killing them all would secure his survival, knowing that Dark Force was coming and would spare him to prevent Earth from collapsing.

  “Then let everything fall. I don’t care.”

  “Think about what your friends would’ve wanted. They didn’t come this far just to let Earth shatter.” Dark Force’s voice is neutral.

  “Then you should’ve saved David.”

  When the team was taken away, Dark Force worked with the nerds to locate them. After pinpointing their positions, Dark Force tried to follow, but soon discovered that his portals were restricted to Heaven, Hell, and the rest of the void space. It didn't take long for him to realize this was the work of the void warden, who simply complied with Light Force's commands.

  In its nature, a void warden cannot defy its life force’s will. With Earth’s void warden being a merged form, it answered to both. In this instance, however, the warden had been instructed to hide in the vast void space, forcing Dark Force to search through every nook and cranny just to find it and issue his own commands.

  While Dark Force could force open a portal to any location on Earth or within the afterlife realms, doing so would expend too much energy and risk jeopardizing his mission. He gambled that at least one soul would still be alive by the time he found the void warden – and his gamble paid off, but not in the way he had hoped. The soul he envisioned surviving wasn’t the one who did.

  “By the time I reached the others' locations, they were already gone, leaving nothing but their bands,” Dark Force says. “The nerds have them. You can ask them when you return to Hell.”

  “You sent us to our deaths, yet you fear your own,” Wyn says coldly.

  “You’re not wrong,” Dark Force admits. “But it’s for Earth. Trust me, as a life force, that’s all we care about – our methods just happen to differ.”

  Wyn begins to mumble his friends’ names – Yu, Mira, Anish, James, Lisa, David – his voice weak and unsteady. He repeats them over and over until the words blur together, becoming a broken, incoherent murmur. That is, until he stumbles on “David” again, clear and distinct.

  “Would you still pick David if Steve and Wei were still around?” Wyn asks, his voice cracking with grief, the tears still falling.

  “It was always David. It always had been.”

  “I’m not David. You can’t trust that I won’t turn on you.”

  “Probably not, but I trust David. He trusted you.”

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  Wyn continues to sob, his hand covering Fatima’s band as he stares at the floor, sitting in desolation.

  “I can’t become something I hate. I hate you gods. There was no need for the war. There’s no need for Earth when the afterlife can replicate everything it has. You, you killed what I loved. You killed the best things that ever happened to me.”

  Dark Force walks up to Wyn and crouches down in front of him, his expression neutral as he speaks. He explains that, in his view, humanity has reached its peak but still requires guidance to fully realize their potential. Contrary to Wyn’s beliefs, Dark Force intends to restore all the souls to Earth – not in its current state, but as a new reality. There will be only one life: the afterlife, but it will be lived on Earth. The void space will serve as the domain for punishing evildoers, while Heaven and Hell will be erased to make room for something new.

  Wyn looks up, confusion and grief in his tear-filled eyes. Dark Force continues, outlining how the void space can become full. Other life forces sometimes open portals on distant planets to empty their spaces, but Dark Force’s plan is different. He wants to create a space where the evildoers and the floor moderators are kept, while the rest of the void remains empty. His vision is for a future when humanity reaches its full potential, at which point Dark Force plans to travel to other planets, learning and experimenting to evolve his creator even further.

  “If you don’t absorb the essence before it disappears, Earth will be gone. Everything you and your friends fought for will be lost,” Dark Force says. “I promise, after this, I won’t force you into anything again. You don’t have to help me lead – just as long as you exist.”

  The thought of living forever haunts Wyn. The idea of spending eternity alone is unbearable.

  “But of course, you can help me if you want,” Dark Force adds. “It’d be useful to have insight from someone who was once human. Think of Pete and how much he’s contributed to Hell.”

  Wyn shoots him a death stare. “What if I kill you?”

  Dark Force finally smiles. “If you want, go ahead. But you’ll find that we’re equal in power, and nothing good will come of it. Besides, David wanted to end the war. I doubt you’d want to start a new one.”

  Wyn is taken aback by Dark Force’s smile and his response. His emotions are tangled, but the thought of having control over his own life intrigues him. With the power to create beings, he could bring his friends back. Yet, he quickly shakes his head at the thought. Instead, his mind shifts to reshaping the world – one that had once been cruel and unfair.

  But then doubt creeps in. Given his current state – especially now, without his friends – he doesn’t know how he’ll hold himself together. His tears haven’t stopped, and the inner conflict only deepens.

  After a long pause, he finally speaks. “As my reward, you’ll have to let me do certain things I want. Promise you won’t interfere – unless it puts humanity or Earth at risk.”

  Dark Force doesn’t respond, only smiles. Slowly, Wyn lifts himself up and points his band at the vast pool of essence. The absorption process begins. With so much to take in, he has to move around, ensuring he gathers every last bit. All the while, he mutters, “This is for Yu. This is for Mira. This is for Anish. This is for Lisa. This is for James. This is for David. This is…for you all.”

  The process stretches on for days, Wyn’s voice never ceasing, the same words spilling from his lips over and over. He never stops crying, his tears falling endlessly as he moves, his grief woven into every word he speaks.

  But, with the last bit of essence absorbed, Wyn feels something burning intensely inside him. He falls to the floor, twitching in agony as if he’s about to combust. This continues for even more days, with Wyn finally passing out not even half-way through.

  Then, he wakes up, finding himself sitting on the throne. Even without knowing what just happened, his tears continue to fall.

  "You are now a life force. Light Force’s power has replaced yours. You can no longer wield your weapons or the powers of cyclone and earth," Dark Force, who has now returned to his all-red form, says. "You are now my partner."

  "I don’t feel any different."

  Different life forces assign different methods for how their creations can ascend to their level. On some planets, life forces split themselves, halving their power and residing within a being so that both parts can eventually grow into full-fledged life forces. In these cases, they have the choice of either taking full control of the being’s body or coexisting with them. If the latter, wielding the power of a life force becomes harder, as control is shared. Whatever the case may be, the split halves grow independently, evolving into distinct new entities while still retaining the elemental essence of the original life force.

  "I have a lot to teach you," Dark Force says with a smile. "Let’s go home. Let’s return to Hell."

  And with that, Dark Force opens a portal leading to a familiar place – the third floor of the seventh level. They step into the square, where the tents remain pitched beyond, yet the place feels emptier than before, like a haunted town. The shamali tree is now gone, replaced by metallic statues of the CATOTO family cats inside the dome, and the ceiling above has been sealed off. Then, a commotion stirs from behind the dome. Wyn's breath catches as his eyes well up once more. A familiar figure appears – Cateto. The feline leaps into his arms without hesitation, and Wyn clutches him tightly, his tears falling anew.