The mirror world dissolved.
Reality snapped back into the shattered remains of Blackthorn Security.
Dust drifted through the air.
Broken stone, scorched walls, and twisted metal bore silent witness to what had just occurred.
Captain Dunn approached Rowan carefully.
"Thank you for destroying the godspawn and saving Tingen," he said. "May I ask… what should we call you?"
He chose his words with caution.
Someone powerful enough to erase monsters so casually might not necessarily be friendly to the Church of the Night Goddess.
Rowan did not answer immediately.
He walked past Dunn and stopped in front of Megose's ruined body.
Her head was gone.
One arm was missing.
Her torso was grotesquely warped.
Yet her soul still lingered, drifting in confusion.
Rowan reached out and caught it.
Soft light gathered in his palm.
He invoked restorative magic.
Not just one system.
Not just one tradition.
Healing light from multiple worlds layered together.
Before their eyes, flesh regenerated.
Bone reformed.
Blood flowed.
Within seconds, Megose's body returned to its original human shape.
Rowan gently pressed her soul back into place.
"She'll wake up after a few days of rest," he said.
Only then did he turn back toward Dunn.
"You can call me Nobody."
With that, Rowan vanished.
Silence followed.
Dunn blinked.
"Nobody…?"
He frowned.
"That's a strange name."
Then realization struck him.
"Wait. Klein—Leonard—Cohen. Did he take the Saint's ashes?"
All three nodded.
Miles's mouth twitched.
He was the only one who understood the joke.
The name would spread.
"Nobody" would soon circulate through the upper echelons of the Church of the Night Goddess, the Church of Storms, and the Church of Steam and Machinery.
Far away, within a divine realm, the Night Goddess herself wore an expression eerily similar to Miles's.
She had not witnessed Rowan's arrival.
Only the final battle.
She had been trying to deduce the identity of this strange being who wielded both sun-like and witch-like powers.
Then she heard him call himself Nobody.
And immediately knew.
Rowan Mercer.
That mysterious "compatriot" whose origins she still could not decipher.
She did not dwell on it.
She had more important matters.
Plans thousands of years in the making were nearing completion.
Back in Tingen, Punishers and Machine Hearts arrived with sealing artifacts.
Soon after, senior clergy from the Cathedral arrived with the help of Storm Church elites.
They listened to the full account.
Then fell silent.
No one had ever heard of a powerhouse called Nobody.
Someone who could annihilate Adrian Crowe and suppress a godspawn in seconds…
At minimum, such a figure bordered on the realm of demigods.
Investigations were launched.
Inquiries sent.
Even the Eternal Blazing Sun Church had no relevant records.
Nobody had appeared out of thin air.
"Perfect."
Back in Beckland, Rowan felt the Faceless potion stabilizing rapidly as the legend of "Nobody" spread.
A satisfied smile touched his lips.
He entered the mirror world.
Adrian Crowe lay inside, barely alive.
Rowan released him.
Crowe quickly realized he was not in Night Watcher custody.
Which meant Rowan was not affiliated with the Church of the Night Goddess.
Hope sparked.
"We can cooperate," Crowe said immediately. "I used to be a high-ranking member of the Night Goddess's church. I know many secrets."
Rowan flicked a finger.
Crowe's quill flew into Rowan's hand.
"Introduce yourself properly," Rowan said. "Then explain this artifact."
Crowe complied.
"I am Adrian Crowe. Former senior bishop of the Church of the Night Goddess."
"This artifact is called the Quill of Alzuhod. Designation 0-08. I took it when I defected."
He spoke smoothly.
Selective truth.
Carefully curated omissions.
Tragedy instead of ambition.
Necessity instead of betrayal.
He even downplayed the quill's drawbacks.
Rowan listened calmly.
Inside, he already understood.
Sequence One…
No wonder the quill could warp reality.
Rowan's gaze lingered on the pen.
Later, when he reached higher ground, perhaps he would test whether the so-called incompatibility between paths truly applied to him.
Rules of this world did not always bind an outsider.
"For now," Rowan said, putting the quill away, "tell me everything you know that has value."
His eyes hardened.
"Or you die."
...
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