Rowan hurried toward the swirling yellow portal, he hopes that it would be the familiar Teleportation Station the prince was familiar with.

The earthquake increased and Rowan had to begin jumping across the gaps on the ground, and tried to steady himself with each footstep he was making as he landed, time was of the essence.

Reaching the portal, he looked around for the raised Teleportation Dais by the side that controls the portal. He silently hoped that the controls still worked, and was glad that the dais still had a silvery glow around it.

The controls were also similar to others he knew, and he was lucky that it was still powered on. As activating the Teleportation Dais requires the ability to harness and manipulate Aether.

The Teleportation Dais were used as prearranged locations for teleportation, and it could also be used as a control method to teleport into specific random locations as needed as far as there was a teleportation station at the other end.

The most important part was that It could also teleport to random locations without any receiving teleportation stations, but it was a risky move.

Without any receiving station, he could find himself teleported into the ground, or maybe into space or a dozen other mishaps of randomly sending himself into the void, using a device that folded and rearranged space like a cloth.

Rowan did not understand all the specifics of teleportation, it was among some of his studies in alchemy, but he never went beyond the basics and only knew how to control and manipulate an active Teleportation Dais.

He intended to use the third feature to leave the Nexus, which was teleporting to a random location, else if he goes through the portal, it was most likely that he would be sent to the headquarters of his enemies, at his current level of power, that was a death sentence, or even a worse fate.

Now, how was he to find a location far enough from the Nexus and away from the reach of his family?

Rowan tapped on the surface of the Teleportation Dais, and like a hologram from his previous life, glowing symbols and a large map floated above the Dais, it was voice and touch sensitive.

“Show me the present location.” The glowing map reversed and zoomed out, before the image began to rapidly shift and he saw his location. It was on an island in the middle of nowhere. There were no visible landmarks thousands of miles around him.

Rowan shook his head in chagrin, this was not what he should be concentrating on checking first.

“What is the maximum distance for a random teleportation into the void?”

The Teleportation Dais began to hum as numbers began to arrange themselves before him one at a time.

“You cannot run far enough.” The voice behind him was Lamia. Rowan closed his eyes in frustration and turned towards her, hiding every frustration inside his heart. He made sure he was blocking her sight with his body.

Standing behind him was Lamia’s champion, he was bleeding profusely, his yellow blood creating a small pool around his leg.

The sight before him was bizarre and made him frown. Rowan looked down at the chest of the Champion where he had torn it apart, and held it open with his two hands, inside that gory cavity was a face made from the internal organs of the Champion.

The mouth was made up of the intestine, the tongue was the liver, and various organs that Rowan could not recognize molded the rest of the face, a beating heart rested on her forehead and Rowan saw the champion had ripped out two eyes from his face to create eyes for Lamia.

The grisly internal organs came together to create the face of the Abomination Core. Rowan had made a mistake thinking she would not reach below in a short while, and forgot that Abomination Cores were notorious for utilising pawns, while keeping themselves far from danger.

Rowan looked at the eyes of Lamia, although peering at those eyes covered with blood deeply disturbed him, he did not show it. It would be like showing your back to a predator, that would be an invitation for her to attack if he showed vulnerability. “I thought we were both prisoners, I expected your encouragement, as we both tried to escape, not your criticism, Lamia. Or were all your previous words you spoke in the lake lies?”

“Nothing of such.” The face of Lamia smiled, “I am here to help you, if you require said help, and looking at your current state. It’s clear you desperately require my help.”

“In what way can you help me?” Rowan tensed up as he steadied himself, the earthquakes and the collapse had not stopped, and they were at a knife’s edge.

“It is simple really, it is impossible for you to survive out there without any backing or knowledge of the World of gods. Join me, and together we would not only survive, but we shall bring down all the gods.”

“What if I want to do that on my own?” Rowan gestured to the crumbling Nexus. “I have brought this place down, and broken your chains, surely you would not stop me from leaving, are you so quickly forgetting our common enemy? These arguments between us would only lead to their benefit.”

Lamia paused for a second, “I am aware of our enemies, child of the stars, even more deeply than you do. Yet, you have repeatedly surprised me with your actions, and I did not expect you to come this far… I did not expect you to survive the descent of a god’s Anima relatively unscathed. By all rights, I should let you leave.”

“You talk about letting me leave Lamia, as if you were capable of stopping me.” Rowan growled, this conversation was heading in a direction that would not favor Rowan, he knew how vulnerable he was at the moment.

“Tsk… Tsk… let’s not quickly be hasty with our judgment, Rowan Kuranes, I don’t need to stop you, only destroy the portal behind you.”

Rowan shook his head in annoyance, “Then how would that help you? You will be stranded here with me, waiting for the iron boots of our captors to fall on our throats. Your words Lamia, are not making any sense, to stop me from escaping, you would rather condemn us all?”

The Champion’s weird bone mask suddenly snapped open, and Rowan gave a little start, he recognized this man, from afar it was easy to mistake his features, but as he was close to him, Rowan could recognize the placid face of the Champion. He was just a boy when he saw him last. Regolf, a hardworking lad of ten or twelve, he had a beautiful laugh.

Rowan frowned a little, he should never forget he was talking to a monster. The mouth of Lamia Champion opened and darkness began to pour out of it.

“I can walk the Shadow world Rowan Kuranes, unlike you, I can now leave this place at any time I want. My jail cell has been knocked down, and I’m free.”

“Then you should leave Lamia, you’re not my enemy, and if I leave this place, there is no reason for me to hunt you or your kin. We are on the same side in this problem.”

Lamia face bent to the side, as if she was in deep thought, when she moved, the internal organs of her Champion swished around in a manner that made Rowan cringe,

“I wish I could do what you asked, Rowan Kuranes, I truly do. Yet, you have shown me your potential, and I would wager, that it exceeds even the gods themselves. I cannot trust a power such as yours outside my control, I will forever sleep with an eye open!”

“You have shone too brightly to be ignored, and I’m not foolish enough to let you leave this place without placing my leash on you because I know after this juncture, I will never get the opportunity. Forgive me for what I must do, but I have a war to fight, and you shall be the tip of my spear.”