"...I trust I need not threaten you at all," he glowered at them coldly, saying nothing else.

The two Ossuary Inner Circle members simply nodded, showing that they understood. They moved into action immediately, calling out soul masses of flight before taking to the skies under the watch of Finn and everyone else.

The moment they were gone, Finn moved his attention to the remaining survivors.

"Well. I believe I do not need to repeat myself. You heard my order to them," he nodded at the fleeting dots on the horizon. "You’re going to do the same, except, you’re doing it at the grassroots, mid-level, and mid-high level stages. Contact everyone you know. Spread the news as far as possible. To all reaches of this world tear, and to all three continents on the outside..." Finn said.

He moved to sit, and Ryuga sensed his intention, coming up behind him and making his form even smaller — no longer than five meters. Enough that Finn could sit comfortably on his side without any problems.

Finn sat, then clasped his hands, muttering the last bit to himself:

"... I’m tired of looking for the Transcendents myself. Let them come to me from now on," he said nothing else for several seconds, but no one still dared to move, until Finn finally waved a hand.

And immediately, like ants in a hot pan, every surviving Ossuarist scattered in all directions — on flying beasts, flying artifacts, land artifacts, and land beasts. They moved in all cardinal directions to carry out Finn’s orders promptly. And in all their minds there was a singular shared thought...

The whole hierarchy of the world is about to be lit on fire!

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.

.

World Tear Breach. Barely a day later...

The first news of the fall of the Soul Sanctum was just beginning to reach here. And it very quickly spread like wildfire.

The breach point that connected the real world to the tear was vast. It was far larger than a usual chaos breach. Over the months it had been open, the entry point had grown wider, stretching across various points of the landscape. This particular entry was the largest, and the volume of the population reflected that.

Naturally, this was a major target for many of the Ossuarists who had witnessed the battle and were spreading the news. The first of them had headed for this place directly, not bothering to stop anywhere along the way.

The first whispers of the news hit after an Ossuarist arrived and retold the whole story, looking ragged and worn.

Most people had doubted the authenticity of his words at first despite the fact that this was a Caretaker Ossuarist in person, looking so hollow and frazzled. That was just how almighty the Ossuary was in most people’s minds.

But when another Ossuarist arrived, and then another, and another — some more higher ranked than the first few to arrive — everyone knew with certainty that something world changing had definitely occurred, and the news spread like wildfire from there.

Before the end of the day, the entire breach border city had known of the happenings at the new Soul Sanctum, no matter how impossible the tale sounded. The name "Errant" and "Finnegan Slade" were on the tongues of everyone, and those with some level of power — both Ossuarist and Arcanist alike, had begun to dig for information about him.

.

.

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In a secret location, somewhere within the world tear...

Althea stood on the balcony of an ancient castle overlooking the meadows in a valley. The image of the flowers and grass against a harsh backdrop of jagged black rock and bleak, fog-filled air cut a very contrasting, yet picturesque scene that she loved to come out and watch every time she had things on her mind.

This was one of those times.

"So you’re already making big moves, Finn..." she muttered with an unreadable wistfulness in her eyes. A falcon soul mass of some sort took off from her shoulder and disappeared into the valley now that its message had been delivered.

The bird hadn’t flown too far away when the door in the room behind her opened rather frantically and hurried footsteps were heard before the curtain of the balcony parted open sharply.

"Have you heard the news, Althea?!" Priest’s familiar voice came sharply through his heavy breathing. He was about to continue and tell Althea all about what he’d just learned, but then his eyes caught the falcon soul mass retreating into the jagged peaks of the mountains that lined the valley.

"So you’ve heard..." his voice lowered and his haste lessened considerably.

Althea nodded to his statement, saying nothing as she continued to stare at the meadows.

"What is our move now?" Priest asked. There was still a slight tinge of haste in his voice, or rather, urging. It was as though he hoped this new development would spur Althea into an action he hoped for, and had perhaps tabled before her previously.

"We?" Althea asked, pointing out Priest’s choice of words.

Priest immediately let out a tired sigh, his expression softening and becoming mellow in what looked to be like regret and remorse.

"Alright. What is your move now?" he asked again, this time careful with his choice of words.

Althea let the question hang in the air for a moment, before she breathed out sharply and straightened out her shoulders, turning sharply and facing Priest, who met her eyes with expectation immediately.

"Now," she said, "I prepare."

She walked past Priest and into the room behind the curtain. It was a large bedroom that was more like a lounge rather than a simple bedroom.

"Prepare...?" Priest repeated in disbelief. "Althea, you have been preparing and preparing, on and on over your many lives. I would think you have made more than enough preparations by now."

"You can never be too prepared," Althea muttered, sitting on the bed and wearing her boots as she prepared to leave.

Priest made to say something but then stopped at the last moment, swallowing the words and staring at Althea pointedly. She didn’t look at him, continuing to prepare herself, wearing arm braces, tying her hair into a neat ponytail, and putting on some other minor finishing touches.

"Althea..." Priest spoke eventually, visibly tiptoeing with his choice of words as though he was about to say something she wouldn’t like. "The Errant Heretic has moved already. This is your chance to also do the same. You have the power and you have the means. The only thing holding you back is your adamance on protecting this vessel you now possess—"

Althea’s head whipped sharply to face Priest. Her eyes had gone cold, and her expression was utterly frigid.

Priest flinched back instinctively, his words cutting off sharply. But then his expression firmed and he pushed on regardless.

"No. Althea. I won’t back down this time! The opportunity is too good for you to keep holding on to this petty act of yours! The body you inhabit now is a vessel. And no matter how much you choose not to use your powers, the vessel’s end is still to perish by the strain of bearing your entire soul..."