I refused to let him drown in it.
I’ve got him. I’ve got all of them.
That moment cracked something open between us. I told them how they’d hurt me over the past few days. In return, they explained, apologized, and owned it.
It was exactly what we needed.
Not long after, Doren sent me a letter, asking for help retrieving the fourth member of their Valtrue from Hellveilious.
So we met him and Nero, their other Valtrue member, at the entrance.
Hellveilious is nothing like any place I’ve ever seen. We had to jump into a dark pit to reach the heart of it. The Division, where gods wait to be separated into whatever level they’re going to for their crime, then descends into a world without sun, moon, or stars. Just an endless city beneath a black sky, filled with undead Veilatara and criminals waiting for redemption.
Creed’s power runs through the Division. Every soul that passes through a door connects to him, while the rest flows into the Soul Chamber.
That’s where we found Iric.
At first, we thought he was just an Attendant with a pure soul who didn’t belong there. Turns out he didn’t. He’d been sent there wrongly.
Zareb, the god overseeing the souls, argued with Creed, but in the end, Iric came with us.
To my absolute displeasure, we learned something worse—every time Creed releases souls from Hellveilious, his own becomes more tethered to it. Eventually, permanently.
That’s why he’d been neglecting his duties.
When my soul reached for his in that chamber, it severed the newest thread forming.
If I have to, I’ll go with him every time to make sure Hell never claims him.
On our way out, we encountered Phoelius, the God of Redemption. He took an unsettling interest in me and left me with words I still haven’t unpacked.
A god is only granted his worthiness by the goddess who stands before him.
Once we returned, we didn’t get a moment to breathe.
Derivius arrived with Gladian’s Valtrue and several Dark Gods to search our house for the missing Gods Binding.
V had hidden it, but that didn’t stop them from tearing the place apart.
When the High Chancellor found his statue head in my room, he recorded a crime against me, bound my body, and declared I’d face punishment of his choosing.
He sent me to the imitation room in the healing villas.
There’s nothing healing about it.
It’s meant to break you.
I lived through so many fears. Kirabaddon killing V, my friends leaving me because I’m too much, the trauma Mellcom put me through.
And my worst fear—my men wanting my soul untangled from theirs.
When I came out, reality didn’t feel real. It still didn’t after two excruciating days.
Shadows followed me through the forest and meadow as Riven and I raced. He said rage runs faster than fear.
Eventually, the others shared what they had endured in that room too, and truth slowly settled back into place.
It was both heartwarming and devastating to learn Riven had been marked by Obsidian before killing him—for me.
