Ethan looked down at the tiny man who stood against him, feeling the crashing waves of the Argwylian ocean lap at the sides of his ship, tossing and turning it this way and that, ready to drag it into the depths.

And equally, Ranok looked up at him, trying his best to hide his fear. He thought of Jonah, and gripped the dusty bottle of booze at his side.

And then the Archon did the last thing the old Grey would have expected: it spoke to him in perfect Argwlian.

"You must know your quest has failed, Greycloak. Look around you: your brothers are dead. Your fleet is lost."

Ethan could tell the old man was surprised. What was with these Greycloaks and sending their most senior members after him?

Then again, just like with old Arty, he could see the power that lay within this bearded, scraggly-looking warrior's frame. Behind his blue eyes was the intention to kill – mixed with primal fear.

"Aye," Ranok said. "I've lost. Maybe the whole damn world has. I mean, look at you, eh? Nobody suspected you'd look like this. Nobody suspected you'd be this damn strong already."

The cries of the wounded sea-men suddenly seemed to dim. Likely, this was because they'd all died, or were washed up on the shore and already running for their lives. But still, to both the Archon and the Greycloak who stood against his advance, it seemed that the world had quietened just for them.

"Your kind never learn, do you?" Ethan asked, creeping closer to the old warrior and being surprised when he didn't even flinch, even though it was plainly obvious how terrified he was in this moment.

"Why do you fight for him? For Kaedmon? Your God has abandoned you. And yet, here you are."

Ranok smiled, and took a liberal swig of his booze-jug.

"Because I'm an old, tired, and alcoholic old man," he said. "And I came here to do two things. One: fight the Archon. And two: die well."

Ethan saw him level his blade. He tensed, ready to end this man's life in a single strike if he had to.

"You really think you can do what your Lightborn couldn't?"

"Nah," Ranok replied. "But I think I can hurt ya real bad."

In the instant he said this, Ethan surged forward, urging all his heads to burn the soldier where he stood.

But as the three beams of Revok tore through the ship and obliterated it from existence, Ethan saw no trace of the warrior.

Instead, he felt a distinct sense of movement from his back, and the hairs on his three necks stood up.

He activated [Ethereal Form] just as the blade of the Greycloak would have sliced into Baphomet's head. Ranok went skidding along the surface of the water, his feet gliding across the burning wreckage of the ship like some warmongering swan.

He teleported? Ethan thought.

He launched a [Thorn Hail] attack next, sending splinters of thorns tipped with [Petrification Coating] at the skidding warrior. The old Greycloak turned, flashed his blade, and drew an ar. Of light in the air that dispelled his attack before it made it anywhere near him.

Impressive. Sys, I think we've just found another Host.

As Ethan grinned, the warrior came forward, blinking through the air as he teleported right through Ethan's claws and slashed him across his eyes. Then, steadying himself on Revok's horns, he reached towards the tiny form of the Demon Hat itself.

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"Come here, little guy!" he shouted. "Time to take you to the tailors!"

Ethan closed his crimson eye and activated a localized [Repulsion Shield] around his pointy form, blocking the Greycloak's strike and drawing an excited gasp from the man.

"Got a few tricks still up yer sleeve, eh?"

Ethan opened his eye again.

"You don't know the half of it."

He activated [Ethereal Form] again and dragged both himself and the Greycloak into the ocean, deactivating the ability as they sank towards the depths. Ranok attempted to flee, using his Blink ability to teleport back to the surface, but Ethan caught his heel with a [Thorn Whip] and dragged him right back down again.

Not so quick down here, old man.

He smashed the warrior against the black bracken and ruined hulls of the fleet that were sinking all around them, and even as the old warrior was eventually forced to open his mouth and gulp down enough water to fill his lungs, his eyes bulged with burning light as he activated another, hidden ability.

His blade came crashing through the water's surface, aiming straight for his hand. He caught it just as Ethan was about to go Ethereal again, and managed to slice through the chimera's vine and Blink back up to the surface, with Ethan watching as blood – his blood – began to hazily spurt out from the split vine.

Almost forgot that I could bleed…

He'll have to do a lot more damage than that to take you down, Sys reminded him. He doesn't stand a chance, Ethan. And he knows it.

Ethan flapped up a [Wing Buffet] and tore through the ocean's surface, coming up high above the smoking, still burning ships of the Lucent fleet and scanning the flotsam for any sight of the old warrior.

He's no ordinary Greycloak, Ethan knew. And we can't go underestimating him, Sys.

Why not? Sys replied with a chuckle. After all, you've got all the power in the world now!

Ethan tensed, seeing something small, sharp, and deadly fly towards him out of Typhos's field of vision.

Not quite all of it, it seems.

He spun to activate [Repulsion Shield] and was surprised to see the spinning blade of the Greycloak pierce through his defense this time.

He smirked as he watched it come towards him, slice into Revok's head and take a whopping 200 HP from him right off the bat. He stiffened, faltered, and fell towards a flaming pile of ship-rubble below, crashing through the burning wooden beams while the pain radiating up his body increased.

And yet, it was nothing compared to what he'd felt before. All the times he'd faced foes in this world, he'd suffered. He'd suffered through the worst Argwyll threw at him. And this guy, and his little spinning blade, were less than nothing.

But he was surprised again. As he activated [Thorn Whip] to reach for the blade embedded in his neck, he saw the sword come loose on its own, spin like a whirring boomerang in the air, and arrive right in the waiting open hand of the warrior that had launched it.

Ethan's smile only widened as he Appraised the skill:

[Magnetic Grip]

Effect: Your bond with the blade is sacred – allowing you to control its movements telepathically up to a distance of 1000ft.

He's good, he thought. And that little ability is one I might just have use for.

Revok's head licked its bleeding lips as Ethan activated [Skein of Typhos] and began to regenerate his HP. Meanwhile, the old warrior threw his arms wide – a gesture Ethan knew even from earth. He was telling him to come and get him. To make the next move.

It was funny. Looking at the warrior now – the singular human going up against the tainted God that he now was – it was like looking at one of the heroes in the fantasy manga and novels he'd consume when he was sat on his couch in his one-bedroom apartment, wishing away his time by engaging in vicarious imaginings. He'd sit and imagine himself as the hero going up against the tide of evil, not knowing that one day he'd be that very rising tide himself – and that this warrior represented nothing more than a misguided old man.

He was the kind of man whom Ethan would have wanted to talk to – long before he had seen what the humanity of this world was capable of. This man – this Ranok – was the kind of person Ethan would have spared once, many moons ago. Believing that a man like him had the chance to make a choice, and forge a new path in this realm.

The fact that those blue eyes held nothing but excitement at the prospect of slaying him dispelled that notion. There was only one result from this battle. And even the old man knew that.

"Come on then, ya big bastard!" he roared at Ethan over the tumultuous waves. "Us Greycloaks don't wanna live forever!"

Ethan leaped into the air, summoning up his strongest [Wing Buffet] yet. As he floated up into the smoke-filled skies, a storm followed him. Baphomet's mouth was foaming with electricity. Typhos's eyes were narrowed, focused on the prey below. And when Ethan looked down again, he saw the spinning blade of the warrior that was following him up.

"Alright then," he said as he launched into a [Dive] the likes of which Argwyll had never seen. "I'll show you a good death."

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