LoRG 5

Ah Neveah nodded in understanding Swacc finally showed his tail

Just a quick jaunt to repay a debt Randidly barred his teeth To show him to not casually play with lives Then IÆll be back to train before you know it

Lowanna sat at the edge of the cave looking at the woman across from her in wonder The sound of blood dripping out of her companion’s wounds was the only small noise in the enclosed space Truly you are a marvel Even now I look at the threads that led us here and cannot fathom how these events transpired

Mae Myrna who had been introduced to the Nether Arbiter as the Patron of Truth and who had then betrayed her companions and stolen away Lowanna bowed her head Despite her evident exhaustion her breaths sounded smooth I cannot begin to apologize to you We we wished hah it is difficult to explain I thought We all thought Wyndaos was a mobile fortress the secret weapon of the Nether people To have it be populated by children

In a way you are correct Lowanna smiled through her pain There would be time to grieve the sacrifices of her people but it was not yet The spirit of my people was burned to the ground by your attack The records of what brought us here of the way we were before and why we adjusted For the Nether nothing is more important than history Which is why

Both looked up toward the source of the new noise A long undulating shadow could be seen stretching from a monstrous silhouette in the mouth of the cave Lowanna shook her head This deviation was unexpected but in the end

The energies around Mae Myrna began to rotate She gritted her teeth as the ominous shadow of Duo skittered into the cavern ItÆs not right We should not have done this It was a mistake that caused so much harm so why

It is the way of the world Lowanna frowned as she said the words Through her delicate senses she felt a weird pressure on her body one which she had never encountered in the past It felt like the energy put the words into her mouth Life isnÆt fair

Lowanna grimaced but not at the excited hum from Duo’s wings It was because while she didnÆt necessarily disagree with the sentiment she detested those who would blandly deliver similar messages to her in the past

Then IÆll change it all of it The surging rotation of energies intensified Mae Myrna forced herself to her feet This entire world So that we deserve the world we live in

LowannaÆs eyes widened The effect was localized but when Mae Myrna spoke existence shivered

Chapter 2194

Fatia Cerulean leaned back in his chair and took a sip off the steaming mug of sweetened Zhizu root juice The piece of furniture beneath him creaked underneath his balk Reflexively he allowed a predatory glow to seep into his lights His instincts scanned through himself specifically through his three trophies As usual he discovered nothing of note his original self appeared completely inert

Ah what a precious little snake you are waiting for weakness to strike Cerulean thought almost fondly But his attention moved on as soon as the surface hanging before him rippled

A servant crouched off to the side manipulating the water to create a hovering screen in front of him as opposed to forcing him to look down into a bowl to join the scrying array The servant tilted his head to the side and then nodded when all the others had connected there were no problems Cerulean set the mug down on the table and allowed a moment for his natural gravitas to generate tension LetÆs begin Still no word from the Nether leader

Attempts to contact through both official and unofficial channels has been met with violence The wrinkled goblin woman Grettic replied When she spoke her face dominated the water screen She represented all the scattered independent cities in the unified Aether resistance as well as having enough ties with Wasteland forces to nominally represent them But part of the reason that the offensives are so aggressive is they are combing the countryside while stampeding through As we discussed in our last meeting it appears the information we heard from our other sources is accurate

Keh An interjection from Westrisser brought his face to the screen His brow was furrowed and there were heavy bags under his eyes these past few weeks had been particularly hard on Malloon and the surrounding area Yet the ivory light emanating from his irises didnÆt waver at all For all the problems he has caused us it appears Elhume and his team truly managed to infiltrate Wyndaos and capture the Arbiter With their greatest strength bound the Nether are desperate

Yet she lives of that there can be no doubt Grettic observed Otherwise their attempts would not be so brutal

The costs to weather this storm will be unfortunate Cerulean mused But this is truly an opportunity to shake the hegemony the Nether forces have maintained for the last several hundred years Especially if WestrisserÆs experiments continue to bear fruit

On that front I have good news WestrisserÆs face reappeared If anything that pale light was even brighter Seven out of the last ten subjects have successfully emerged from the portals after a period of extended training with their abilities much improved Everyone may send a few of their brightest warriors to experience this time warps So long as these trends continue the war will soon swing in our favor

Seven out of ten did not succumb to this fading sickness you observed Likely corrosion due to proximity to tainted Nether energies The face of the stubborn Turtleline representative filled the screen His brow was heavy and constantly clenched as though keeping a clutch of vulnerable eggs within his shell only through abdominal flexing Along with the Osterai the Turtleline were one of the two races dominating the Southern portion of the Aetherlands As such Cerulean had to suffer their presence in the meeting despite their general mundanity Yet out of the rest how many have displayed signs of mental damage

For several long seconds WestrisserÆs face didnÆt reappear When it did a frown dominated his face one individual experienced mild disorientation upon their return which quickly passed Two others appear to have some lingering deficiencies but they should be fit to fight There are no indications the lingering effects will be long term

A fifty percent chance to have our best and brightest damaged Grettic mused Hard to swallow Westrisser Especially while we have savages burning their way through all of our cities

You do not understand the improvement shown across the board Of what it truly means Westrisser countered You are all aware of the numbers Malloon stands against a host that is almost double the size of any other Yet we have slowed their advance to a trickle because a group of forty average soldiers were transformed into ten potent individuals Elites are what we need fighters capable of interrupting and destabilizing their massed Nether Rituals have saved us time and time again

Hoh WestrisserÆs word put him back on the screen A slow smile crossed his face Well whether or not this will be reassuring to you but I think I can at least provide the reason for his movements A retainer of mine should be in Homewell currently picking up captured Nether Kings They have a troubled relationship

Cerulean barely suppressed a cackle From what he understood of the players involved Undersecretary Swacc was not one to make such a simple mistake not when he apparently managed to slip past Nether King Hungry Eye and escape the area in the first place Likely he revealed himself now on purpose

He had to admire the manÆs gall if nothing else

We strongly object to being used to clean up your messes Westrisser For the first time the Osterai representativeÆs face appeared She had an elongated neck and small tufts of feathers stretching out from the edges of her eyes

Hah Believe me I do not wish for you to be involved Please feel free to allow my subordinate to take responsibility for any trouble he had caused If he should fail I know others would fulfill his role Westrisser nodded I will also send over the report I have made regarding Nether King Hungry Eye I would advise against antagonizing him if possible

Noted Again the Turtleline’s grim face appeared

Cerulean smiled Well then if thereÆs nothing else letÆs get back to work

Randidly slowed his acceleration frowning at the distortion in the air in front of him He floated right on top of a massive cloud only a short distance away from the worst of the fighting around this Southern City He kept his attention fixed forward not even the slightest bit wandering up toward where the past Pine cheerily glowed

NeveahÆs consciousness appeared with him almost instantly She reached out and brushed up against the barrierÆs edge A ghostly mirage of a shell rippled outward in response Fascinating ItÆs definitely the result of an Engraving but has a completely different meaning origin than the one we learned from Yystrix And the regularity of the structure absolutely gorgeous Even with the constant attacks on its edges the lack of warping is impressive

Anything you can do Randidly asked pressing his knuckles against the forcefield He squinted at the way his flesh burned

Hum Well yes but itÆs not a very elegant solution The barrier restrains Nether I can probably layer an Engraving all around your Nether act as a seal Fool the barrier But you wonÆt be able to utilize your Nether or your Authorities It needs to be perfect And Randidly popping the seal while the barrier is all around you would not be a good idea

ThatÆs fine He grinned For Swacc just a fist will be enough

Chapter 2195

Moish cupped the still warm yeast bun in his feet as he leaned against the sturdy exterior of the guardhouse Foot traffic here had come to a screeching halt due to the constant attacks which gave him time for the finer things in life With great care he withdrew a small knife from his belt and sliced the precious treasure in half Immediately he pressed the two halves back together so none of the steam could leak out

Like a world renowned diamond setter he squinted and removed his ultimate prize from a small bag at his waist a hunk of aged butter gleaming golden in the light Looking at the piece of delicious fat it was almost impossible to ignore the constant screams from the battlefield MoishÆs arms blurred as he opened the bun placed the butter within and then closed the bun back up For several seconds he just breathed studying the result intently The long toes of his feet trembled worried he would drop it worried his concern would crush the delicious morsel

Only after ten seconds passed did Moish allow himself a smile of victory

Life was good despite the chaos around them

Trutleline pride will doom us all Raddeus paced around the edges of the civilian entrance they currently guarded his eyes wild Echoes of the melee happening at the edge of the barrier could be heard through all of Homewell but the walls themselves seemed to pick up the thread of violence and resonate with screams It had made Raddeus decidedly twitchy His legs spasmed with each step Without our warning the casualties would have been catastrophic We should be treated as heroes Yet because we revealed the Captain had abandoned his post we are being punished

We are kept away from the fighting Moish pointed out He blew on the bun he wanted it to be warm but not too warm so he could savor the rich yeasty flavor of every bite They might have bruised their pride but there are some lines that they will not cross In a way this is a reward

We took a pay cut Raddeus spun on a fist and started sweeping back in the other direction To better suit our new responsibilities

Shrugging Moish decided to ignore the bad vibes being thrown off by the younger Homid and eat the bun After all money would get them nowhere rotting in one of the many ditches being dug around Homewell to defend against the Nether assault

But just as he raised it to his watering mouth a figure cautiously moved through the gate and glanced around at the interior Defensive Engravings shimmered briefly under his feet as he passed through the threshold but didnÆt activate not some Nether spy then The being was of indeterminate race although tall lean and possessing long clean limbs He had wild black hair which framed his face well and piercing green eyes His left arm appeared artificial metallic and with a large hole in his palm but he moved it just as naturally as if it had been flesh

Flicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth Moish lowered the bun First they would need to work The two of them were stationed at the civilian door more to keep people from fleeing the city thereby weakening the Turtleline lifeseal keeping the Nether forces out but they still had a duty to inspect all trying to come into Homewell

Sir you do not wear a robe Raddeus rounded on the figure his eyes narrowed All the anxiety in his body morphed into tension aimed directly at the new arrival Although Homewell isnÆt usually a stickler about such things robes have become mandatory in light of the NetherÆs offensive Please display your affiliations

Moish sighed You rail against their small excesses against us but you donÆt even notice the large systems of oppression that give them that power

The black haired figure shrugged If he noticed the aggression directed toward him he didnÆt show it Unfortunately my robe was burned away during a fight against a Nether patrol But I can tell you I came from

You donÆt have a spare Raddeus leaned forward weight concentrated in the front of the knuckles His body posture practically broadcast I am about to attack Æ Moish wondered if this fool youngling had ever been in a real fight before

The man smiled without any guile Suddenly MoishÆs hackles began to rise he didnÆt detect even the whiff of an image from this man His eyes clearly promised he stood there but no other senses could place him There have been a lot of battles against Nether in recent days And with robes now being mandatory itÆs quite hard to avoid having them damaged

What he hadnÆt expected was how harsh the anticipation would be Even after only a few hours it already ground against his psyche Made him doubt himself flinch at shadows shaken up the usually smooth flow of his thoughts

Swacc gestured imperiously and the boy who had been stopping to kick a stone across the street hurried to catch up One of many contingencies just in case Well if anything this just makes the timing of my vengeance better I wonÆt be able to mobilize the Homewell defenses but the Turtlelines wonÆt take kindly to a Nether King within their city and his abilities should be severely restricted

Clearing his throat Swacc turned to the other annoyance that buzzed along after him Truly Colonel there is no need to escort me back to my lodgings Especially considering the trying nature of the task weÆve assigned you capturing Nether Kings alive I would understand if you wished to retire to your own quarters for a rest

The arrogant young colonel smiled indulgently at Swacc and pushed his blue grey hair out of his face You know IÆve been given very specific orders to see to your every need considering your importance as a guest from Malloon I would be remiss if I allowed your safety to come into question even once Forgive my nagging I will only sleep easy after seeing you safely to your bed

Well fine One more safety blanket even an uncomfortable one Swacc continued striding forward The sooner they arrived at the destination

Mid stride Swacc froze Because there standing in the middle of the sparsely populated street was the foe he had been waiting for seeming to belong there He wore a shabby brown robe and released not even the slightest hint of Nether But he wouldnÆt mistake those piercing emerald eyes anywhere

Swacc began to sweat knowing how close they were Considering the height of the Nether KingÆs body refining a twitch would bring his fingers to tighten around his throat

Nether King Hungry Eye SwaccÆs hand twitched His voice came out as a croak and he hated feeling this weak He sucked a breath through his teeth and ran through the preparations he had made in his mind His equipment was covered in tight Engravings His own image was fully prepared The childÆs ability was still weak but a strong enough shock should awaken it In the aftermath Swacc himself wouldnÆt exactly be himself well the result was still acceptable The Swacc Family would thrive even if his daughter had tossed aside their name

Did you say Nether King The Colonel gasped and pulled two hatchets from his back Both relevant figures ignored him

Drane Swacc A brave and foolish slug The Nether KingÆs face twisted with fury Even with his Nether suppressed by the vaunted Turtleline Holy Formation waves of formless pressure rolled off his body SwaccÆs certainty that a hand would soon close around his neck grew stronger still

He stood without moving yet flickering shadows of imaginary attacks danced in SwaccÆs vision He had to steel himself not to flinch repeatedly The Nether King didnÆt approach but his calm words felt like approaching footsteps What I donÆt understand is what gave you the confidence to reveal yourself Not that it matters For slaughtering and blackmailing your competition for treating the lives of the people in Malloon as trivia for endangering my people on the skyislands

Swacc tensed expecting the attack to come At his side the useless colonel blinked several times still holding his weapons

But Nether King didnÆt move His eyes widened as he looked first at the child cowering next to Swacc and the Colonel next to him A strange expression of grief passed over his features all the aggression in his stance vanished The boy thatÆs Eliot Swacc isnÆt it

Swacc stiffened How the hell could he be aware of this spawn of an ancillary bloodline Does he also know his ability

The weight in the Nether KingÆs gaze grew even more apparent as he shifted to look at the Colonel with the blue grey hair And you your last name should be Matteo yes

Chapter 2196

The soldier with his cross cropped blue grey hair looked so young Randidly didnÆt remember feeling as young as he looked for a long long time Probably since he had been separated from his body on the frontlines Which felt like an age ago

The uniformed soldier had looked vaguely familiar when he arrived but hadnÆt made the connection until he placed the child was From his origin other characters who would have been alive around the same time came to mind One who he had not met directly but who had cast a long shadow over the entire existence of the frontlines

I I am surprised you have heard of me Nether King The soldier replied The faint tremor in his hatchets revealed his nerves but he kept his voice steadier than Swacc He hadnÆt had time yet to mature but his eyes were bright with fighting spirit I am Domon Matteo yes But do not think any feigned familiarity will save you for trespassing within the limits of Homewell during a time of war and displaying overt aggression you are under arrest

A breath hissed out from RandidlyÆs lips leaving his face crumpled and moody In front of him were the seeds of tragedy that had once bloomed on the frontlines While the monstrous world duplicator Eliot was used as a shield even while he was a child VuallaÆs own father Domon Matteo attempted to arrest Randidly A strange chill spread across his skin

If you come quietly the consequences will likely just be detainment Domon added as though trying to plead with Randidly to agree

Yet RandidlyÆs eyes were glazed tracing the patterns in Nether as far as he could see them into the future outlining the shapes of who they would become They were minor characters now caught up in the currents of history But once they had a chance to develop they would dominate the Third Cohort and beyond

Congratulations Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir has grown to Level 1002

How nostalgic I wonder what your duplicated daughter is doing right now Randidly sighed Considering I spent so much time refining my emotions and facing my blindspots in the Sonara itÆs appropriate to remember her and the connection we had The connection I allowed it to wither and die because there was always one more problem that needed solving

Then his gaze hardened But in front of him was a more pressing issue one that he would not fail by having divided attention

Randidly flexed his left hand The air around him shivered and then a swirling abyss emerged in the whole inside of his palm Sulfur rumbled antagonism seeping through the sealed Nether in his body and into the limb He raised the hand even while VuallaÆs young father and Swacc watched him with alarm Gravity gathered around his fingers Before he actually attacked he needed to

Swacc bit his lip and slapped a hand against his chest In the next instant a halo of light erupted around his body A powerful of image manifested in that light a figure of denial and reflection Randidly couldnÆt help but raise his eyebrows certainly that activated Engraving contained a lot of power Whether it could withstand the full force of his attack remained to be seen However Swacc himself hadnÆt been RandidlyÆs target

He wanted to cover his bases first

With a gentle hammock of gravity he plucked up the child Eliot Swacc and lifted him up to a nearby roof The kid spun and flailed but wasnÆt harmed in the process Randidly didnÆt think he would be able to activate his ability as a child but it was best not to take any chances

The last thing he needed was for the boy to activate his abilities and for the memory to suddenly have a duplicate likely collapsing the whole thing on top of his head

The light faded to reveal a stunned Domon Matteo looking over his shoulder and an ashen faced Swacc Randidly allowed a slow and cruel smile to stretch across his features The darkness within his left hand grew increasingly oppressive One knuckle at a time he cracked his joints An interesting trick Swacc Did you think I was about to attack you and react prematurely I hope that wasnÆt single use

Swacc gnashed his teeth but couldnÆt even speak such was his constricting frustration Into that space Domon Matteo stepped his arms stretched wide his hatchets gleaming An image of unstoppable momentum began to swirl around his body one relatively impressive for his age I say again if you are truly a Nether King you made a grave mistake coming here Drane Swacc is under my protection And so long as the lifeseal remains in place your Nether is out of reach If you believe you can walk out of this place unscathed just due to the strength of your body

Randidly stepped in what he planned to have been a graceful movement that breezed past Domon and allowed him to finish the business with Swacc before more attention was drawn to the confrontation However he had perhaps spoiled himself for so long training on a surface with enough stability to withstand his motions

All of RandidlyÆs various awarenesses were layered together into one super composite Existence swirled with the disparate currents of a choppy sea a surface wracked by chaos the depths animated by ancient forces Ripples and waves blended together For a split second Randidly had an almost perfect understanding of the life in front of him and every aspect of the environment He threw his punch

There would be no escape

Just as that certainly crystalized conflicting information arrived His lips twitched Swacc frothed at the mouth and scrambled backward animated by panic However another force managed to arrive in time

Nether King Hungry Eye We do not take kindly to disturbances of the peace

Ripples exploded behind Randidly as two figures manifested on the destroyed road The first was an ancient looking turtle humanoid with a heavily lined face He leaned upon what looked like a heavy lead walking stick This was likely a Turtleline

Next to the first figure was a creature representing the mix of an ostrich a peacock and a raptor The man had long legs and a long neck with two small arms hanging around his body Around his eyes was a beautiful sunburst of red orange feathers with more serving as an alluring tail

All this information came from a shard of an impression the briefest hesitation before his blow continued Both figures unleashed their images interposing a woven barrier between Randidly and Swacc when he didnÆt acknowledge them

The moment stretched RandidlyÆs body moved smoothly channeling both emotional force and all the kinetic energy he could gather in the surroundings through his body The two defenders of Homewell completed their barrier Swacc remained practically rabid with panic not even understanding the situation had shifted to his benefit ever so slightly

Yet maybe Swacc actually has the right of it Randidly shivered as that realization and its implications filled him For the first time in a long time he felt afraid Not of the repercussions but of the realization that they probably didnÆt matter to him

The only being worth fearing in Homewell was himself

IÆm going to go into an area filled with civilians and break the peace in order to fulfill a personal desire One that will likely alter the course of the Nexus for the better but I suppose itÆs worth admitting IÆm simply justifying my own agenda The widely feared villain in this version of the memory might very well end up being Nether King Hungry Eye

RandidlyÆs eyes began to glow His muscles continued their smooth execution From the private place of transformation the evolving Grey Creature stirred with a powerful resonance generated by change and transformation But even so Why did I struggle for so long if not to be able to overcome the established forces that refused to do the right thing

And Swacc dying for his crimes is right

From the depths of its transformation the Grey Creature laughed

Congratulations Your Skill ChimeraÆs Suffocating Rebuke has grown to Level 980

With just emotion image and the physical force of his body Randidly cracked open the defensive barrier the two new arrivals had erected His fist continued forward and crashed into SwaccÆs chest destroying his chest cavity And to be sure that his target couldnÆt survive the Stillborn Phoenix screamed and devoured every scrap of energy within a meter of that manifestation in his palm

The light in SwaccÆs eyes died

Chapter 2197

The entire street seemed to settle into shocked silence The air directly around Randidly flash froze due to the Stillborn PhoenixÆs enthusiasm in taking energy from the world as he completed the punching motion frost across his arms cracked and flaked off his body

He stood in a miniature snowstorm having accomplished his goal right under the noses of the cityÆs authorities

Tumbling like a ragdoll Drane Swacc the man who would found the horrid Swacc dynasty in the Nexus rolled and bled out before RandidlyÆs eyes Even seeing the near corpse Randidly didnÆt relax his guard With Infinite Incendiary Filaments of the Dove Moirae he watched Swacc as the momentum ceased and he could observe across his body his cells beginning to slowly sputter and die in real time

He had fought too many Swaccs seen them pull out too many tricks to be comfortable with them dying easily

They were a scourge on the Nexus one that would act as a parasite on ElhumeÆs later rule until they grew too fat and bloated for even that making a bid for the Path to the Pinnacle and needing to be hunted down by Elhume himself

The body stilled Its heart had been pulverized its breath ceased its images collapsed its Soulspace began to dissipate Yet what eventually convinced Randidly were the ripples coming up from Swaccs body

Congratulations Your Skill Motif of Unimagined Tolls has grown to Level 1020

At first in small bursts but then in a huge cascading waterfall of force in volume ripples exploded out from the corpse Randidly for all of his heightened senses could barely follow them all They spread throughout the sky Yet along their echoing and bouncing path toward Malloon they encountered strange knots and exploded in complexity Randidly gradually felt a headache brewing and withdrew his attention

Congratulations Your Skill the Motif of Unimagined Tolls has grown to Level 1021

Tragically simply looking away from the issue didnÆt solve his problems Because Randidly soon found his Nether Core beginning to skitter and stutter The sky above him clogged with a heavy web of ripples The flow of the memory became ponderous around him caused by his own creation of a new inflection point

Randidly grimaced as he turned away from his target Well at least that proves it Swacc is truly dead If just because I know have another problem I need to solve ItÆs just a shock to realize how deeply he had wormed his fingers into so many aspects of the Aetherlands normally this sort of shock to the memory wouldnÆt be an issue but with my Nether Core restricted by NeveahÆs seal Neveah Anything you can do about this

The flickers in the memory were intermittent and weak but the ripples had only started spreading Randidly knew they would get much worse before it got better Neveah stirred in the distance He felt her make some experiments before her reply came back Unfortunately you are the source of my Nether I have enough with me to slow the damage to the memory but you will need to get out from under that seal to really fix the issue

And so Randidly faced the Turtleline and the Osterai and smiled as though he hadnÆt a care in the world Because he would bluff his way out of the barrier if he could and force his way out if he couldnÆt

The elderly Turtleline stamped his cane against the ground his mouth pressed into a firm line Impudence You think we donÆt dare divert power from the barrier to suppress you Nether King Hungry Eye

He wielded an image Ethluusen His Nether hasnÆt stirred in the slightest The Osterai tiled his head to the side regarding Randidly much more levelly Between the two of them the Osterai seemed much more dangerous

His punishment

First to gather enough image power to form a claw of darkness and the tattered edges of a hole in the universe With such a weapon he slashed and burrowed his way out through to space outside of HomewellÆs barrier Once there he undid NeveahÆs seal and began to address the problem of the destabilized memory

But also before he left the area around Homewell Randidly used the more ostentatious display of the Stillborn Phoenix to hide another task Yggdrasil spread out its golden lines gathering a network of natural energies and weaving them together into a rejuvenating web

He couldnÆt quite understand the lifeseal quite yet but witnessing its execution did give Randidly several ideas about alternate Engraving structures With those insights he took a seed of Aether and wove it together with lines of warm life energy These spread through the ground and anchored themselves to colonies of moss and other assorted plant life in the caves deep beneath Homewell

All this Randidly did to draw several minute threads of energy tied around the random individual who had offered him half of his yeast bun at the entrance to Homewell They were thin now but should the guard ever need some extra energy or a chunk of Aether to survive it would be waiting

To make sure IÆm different from Swacc from Elhume from those who also believed they were above consequences Randidly clenched his fists I need to make sure I never forget to repay my debts I am not above prices I can just force the issue if I believe its necessary

But I shouldnÆt always rely on that

Elhume stood with the two representatives of the Cult of the Savior sweating A constant burning anger churned through his veins leaving the interior of his body feeling paradoxically scalded and clammy

They should have been here by now

Nathaz Eloise with his undulating arms glanced at the other figure Duo should have returned by now There is no way that the Patron of Truth could have withstood its might

Elhume bit his lip so hard it bled fear and hope warring in his chest He obviously didnÆt want Mae hurt what lay between them was too complicated to name but he didnÆt want to see her fall into the clicking mandibles of the bloodthirsty duo Yet if she didnÆt if the Arbiter continued to remain at large

Pine

What a strange sensation To be wrong The Prophet murmured It should be impossible and yet Heh Well there is no point in waiting

you believe Mae Myrna overcame Duo Nathaz Eloise seemed genuinely puzzled Such an outcome is impossible You know the nature of that hungry certainty

The prophetÆs entire face was covered in the shadow of a deep cowl He waved his hand Possibly a side effect of PineÆs own dispersal Those words caused ElhumeÆs heart to drop if the Hierarchy of Finality weakens so too do the others Still I cannot know for sure until I personally see the cause of these disturbances

Nathaz bowed his head I will give you the most up to date information regarding their flight

No not them They are merely side effects In the depths of his hood the Prophet smiled To truly understand I must see this invisible man Nether King Hungry Eye

Chapter 2198

Well thatÆs one answer Yurrest grunted Despite the corpse he didnÆt even blink

Devick scowled down at the dried pile in front of them The limbs were contorted into a rictus self embrace The Nether Warrior only had a few hours’ head start but the constant wind along the bluffs sucked the moisture away So this prick seriously led us on a pointless chase just to

For all their ferocity in war Nether Warriors can be petty too Yurrest turned away and adjusted his belt Honestly if we are out here anyway IÆd like a bit of time to just view the scenic vistas if you know what I mean DonÆt often get the chance to take a break from it all No ambushes in this shithole

With that he sidled off through the windswept grey ridges vanishing between the whorls of bleak dust on the Western border between Aether and Netherlands At this point the battlelines had moved far past this edge making it purely nominal

Devick wondered how harsh the punishment would be if she dragged YurrestÆs headless corpse back to base and claimed they had caught the fleeing Nether patrol and he had died in the struggle At least that way the constant loping pace they had maintained for the past several hours would be worth it In the end the toil of simply tugging his lard filled body dissuaded her Growling to herself Devick began to pace back and forth

She reached up to run her hands through her hair but they were covered in dust With a grimace wiped her fingers on her armor

For all that she felt herself improving markedly in the few desperate battles she had participated in most of her newfound role as a soldier wasnÆt harrowing or inspiring at all More often she was asked to walk around and stare at nothing

More often she ended the day with dirt thickly crusted under her fingernails without remembering how it had happened

Even worse her exemplary performance in the last few spurts of combat had meant she now had been put in a position of command A small one but It came with an increase in her honestly insultingly low pay but it also meant she now had to deal with the complaints and petty whims of twenty other soldiers Dirty horrid soldiers like Yurrest

Whereas the MiracleÆs had been united by a common goal the soldiers were a much more problematic chunk of biomass

Devick turned and looked up at the sky Nether King Hungry Eye where

I thought I recognized your aura You are one of his arenÆt you

Devick whirled around and found two figures looming where there had been none only a few moments prior The taller figure had a stained cloak wrapped around her body Most of her torso was covered by the front figure but enough of her peeked around the first silhouette to display the seeping color of rust spreading through the robe speaking to a horrible wound lurking beneath the surface The figureÆs face was covered by a low hood but all those details began to fall away this figureÆs presence seemed to suck away something vital from the air DevickÆs eyes widened and she couldnÆt find it in her to speak

Hell she couldnÆt find it in her to do anything

And that lack of control made her furious She cast her eyes around not understanding what was happening

The smaller slighter figure had tan fur covering most of her body and bone white hair stretching from her head midway down her back Her expression almost appeared apologetic Both of her delicate looking hands were in front of her wrapped in curiously ornate manacles made of a black material Devick didnÆt recognize

However she was small potatoes compared to the insulting feeling of deference she felt toward the cloaked figure Devick bit her lip until it bled When she still felt a defeatist urge to submit without even a raised finger from the other party she began to actively chew on the flesh until the inside of her cheek was shredded chunk Which she wanted to spit out but her traitorous body felt appalled by the thought of spitting at this figureÆs feet

The universe does certainly pick favorites Lowanna grinned

Devick gave her a nonplussed look that quickly pinched together into worry Then the stern expression felt vaguely familiar and her skin began to tingle This the way IÆm looking at her like she has not the slightest bit of self preservation instinct and IÆm confronting the fact that she will clearly get herself killed if I donÆt do anything isnÆt this exactly how Nether King Hungry Eye looks at me

The cloaked figureÆs words came back to Devick refocusing her before she followed that insight down a disturbingly self reflective rabbit hole That woman she said something about Nether King Hungry Eye Do you know him

Never met him Lowanna kept the smile on her face

Devick just sighed Great Great great great I suppose that it is within my rights to employ a servant as a Squad Leader I just figured my second would end up being more helpful and less intent on stealing my crown as the of most unhinged individual in the outfit Haah Responsibility has really changed me

Randidly arrived back at the location of his near indestructible ground platform and instantly felt the wrongness in the air The tang felt like the scent of ozone smote into existence by a bolt of lightning

He raised his head and looked around slowly tracing both consequence ripples and lines of energy in the surrounding space Dawn just now reached up from beyond the horizon and the last remnants of his Nether storm still spun lazily in the air He pressed his lips together as the certainty regarding the wrongness increased During the rapid journey back from eliminating Swacc he had begun reinforcing the memory with Nether after he created an inflection point but he hadnÆt rushed to finish

He had assumed he could arrive back at his training facilities and test out his theories about physical restrictions while healing the strain on his Nether Core Now he regretted taking it easy on his return

It was a good lesson he had time to improve while in the memory but if he waited around too long events would pull away from him

The source of the sensation became quickly apparent Neveah sat within her gazebo with a complete stranger one whose presence involved both Aether and Nether drawn together in a dense tangle A single examination made Randidly blink in shock he had never encountered someone who could integrate Aether and Nether like this before The alignment of the two energies didnÆt possess the natural resonance of RandidlyÆs own existence but it involved some very old Nether and Aether living in harmony

Nether so old it must have come from outside of the Nexus he realized He straightened like a finger made of ice ran up his spine

RandidlyÆs skin prickled as he walked up to the gazebo and joined those two The figure wore a cloak bearing the familiar symbols of the Cult of the Savior and seemed completely at ease sitting at the strange table and chatting with Neveah His hood was down so when Randidly ascended the small steps he looked sideways and smiled

His face was round and perhaps vaguely human but jumbled He had two small tooth filled mouths on the upper part of his skull and a bulging eye right above where his chin should be The two mouth eyes formed into gleeful oÆs Bits of the top of the head rose and fell allowing the mouths their articulation Ah so that is it I see I see I suspected as much when conversing with Neveah here but oh Nether King Hungry Eye what a strange existence you are Or should I call you Randidly Ghosthound Which do you prefer

Randidly felt a vein in his temple throb His hands tightened into fists His Nether Core began to rev and roar as it built up momentum even if it strained the memory Survival was more important than anything else What do you want

From what Randidly had understood the Cult of the Savior was the ultimate cause of the schism in the memory It seemed that Elhume would eventually become powerful enough to overwhelm them but the fist user only managed that by reaching the Pinnacle

Honestly From you Nothing in particular The mouth eyes both chuckled Because we both know that IÆve already won

Chapter 2199

When this strange representative of the Cult of the Savior spoke his confidence pronouncement of victory the phrase hummed through the air They contained a hint of a shape greater than just the words Image power and the Weight of a history of being correct flowed with the enunciation

The certainty existing there wasnÆt precisely objective but Randidly also sensed a spiritual integrity he couldnÆt ignore

Randidly drew his lip back from his teeth He shared a glance with Neveah and she quietly stood up and left He had no idea how he had missed the grotesque figureÆs image before it wasnÆt quite a world state image like some he had encountered so far in the early Nexus but the size was so massive it pressed down against the surrounding environment smothering weaker images in the area His three images reared up in rebellion the Grey Creature ready to force its evolution to completion in order to rip its way through the creepy foe

Before it could damage its own transformation Randidly pulled back on the Grey Creature and returned it to the safe space within its chest where it could grow Outside Neveah would quietly move around and make preparations for a confrontation Then he looked at this figure with unbiased eyes trying to gauge the depth of this foe He spoke cautiously What do you mean youÆve already won

This is some sort of projected world is it not The figureÆs massive central eye trembled Its pupil and iris moved minutely visibly flicking around RandidlyÆs body It felt like that eye could detect the pulse of his blood in his veins I have considered three possibilities for why rather abruptly flaws would emerge within the ordained progression The first I dismissed immediately yet I still had to acknowledge perhaps the savior that granted me my gift of prophecy was flawed However if this was true I wouldnÆt even exist and the steps that brought me here would have failed therefore this is not worth further consideration

Before the Prophet continued speaking a lurching motion came over its lower face A semi transparent membrane oozed out and then snapped shut over the bulging single eye When its nausea inducing blink finished it continued its list Secondly it is possible that I am the weak link in the chain My own inherent defects have caused me to be unable to understand the transcendental insight I carry with me courtesy of our savior For the longest time I couldnÆt discard this possibility It haunted me

To exorcize the ghost of that consideration I was determined to find you a figure whose movements were completely outside of the prophecy Because I noticed one other strange fact I will not claim the prophecy I possess has accounted for every variable just the major variables It is theoretically possible that a confluence of small coincidences could have large consequences for the prophecy Yet the prophecy didnÆt adjust even as the differences escalated It was like it didnÆt even see these growing deviations So I came up with a third theory what I was experiencing and what was described in the prophecy were not the same timeline

Randidly tried to keep his face calm The little mouth eyes clacked their teeth at him almost in amusement but it was difficult to read the emotion of this individual So far his words contained very little aggression

He came to me to try and find out about the status of the memory but maybe I can use him to find out about what originally occurred RandidlyÆs emerald eyes flashed

The signs were present although it felt alarming to examine the fabric of myself on such a granular level The Prophet continued Upon closer inspection it seemed to me I was fabricated There were layers of Nether to my existence where there should only be substance And you just witnessing you who doesnÆt possess those supporting layers Vindication The eye mouths stretched wide revealing damp holes without any apparent tongues A being who truly exists The juxtaposition of the projected myself and your reality it was easy to deduce this was a projection or a memory Either way our plan must have succeeded That is why the prophecy did not adjust The Nexus has fallen under our sway as anticipated The Holy Law has been writ As you have been touched by El KedecÆs light dedicate yourself to me

With the final sentence the Prophet raised a hand of thick sausage y fingers and gestured imperiously Randidly tensed but nothing happened He gradually relaxed as the eye mouths began to grit their teeth The Prophet looked around This what

The bulging eye seemed to squint Just so

RandidlyÆs mind raced even while he kept his expression mild He started to see the way the Cult of the Savior orchestrated events in the memory What he didnÆt understand was why the Nether Arbiter would be such an easy mark for kidnapping He really wished he could locate the missing spiritual leader of the Nether people and see the energy around her body Obviously she sat at the center of a massive web of Phaea that restricted her somewhat but surely she couldnÆt be as much of a pushover as that

unless thatÆs groundwork too Randidly breathed slowly out through his nose IÆve heard that the rise of the Nether Arbiter coincided with a period of unprecedented prosperity and dominance of the Nether but what if the real answer is exactly opposite that The whole organization was a trap

These thoughts were just guesses so Randidly let them pass But his wariness toward the Cult of the Savior deepened Especially now with this individual so accepting of his presence in the memory and willing to explain their plan

What happens once you get into the universe core Randidly asked

We establish our true laws The little mouth eyes did their best to smile But the action just seemed to inflate the ProphetÆs forehead Honestly the methods arenÆt complicated Once there you simply need to intrude to the deepest chamber You must crack open the universe egg and also possess a material strong enough to seal the breach behind you With the laws in place the universe will rapidly shift into proper alignment

Another detail occurred to Randidly then And what happens to the universe consciousness that was developing within the universe egg

Obviously it must be removed

Randidly gritted his teeth at the cold response His fingers on the table tightened to the point he had to force himself to loosen so he didn’t crack one of NeveahÆs favorite tables I believe you have been feeding paranoia and fear into Elhume over the past several months Urging him to act quickly lest he lose his son Pine So you lied to him

Of course not With the true laws on our side what need do we have of falsehoods The Prophet tilted his head to the side I will give you a free lesson on planes of existence Nether King Hungry Eye A single man cannot be a universe Inevitably one corrupts the other Either by the personality warping the laws of existence within the isolated space or because the vastness of an interior smothers all humanity within the bearer In a very real way if the Nexus is allowed to crystallize its universal laws ElhumeÆs precious Pine will be annihilated He becomes an object not an individual

As Randidly straightened to glare at the horrid being opposite him his jaw already ached from clenching And I suppose you didnÆt remind Elhume that if Pine is removed from the universe core conscious or not he will once again begin to dissipate

Your knowledge is quite impressive Nether King Hungry Eye The Prophet laughed long and hard Then he leaned forward pressing his hands against the table But you know Elhume experienced the creation of the Nexus itself peering into the void between worlds To ascend to such heights and remain so blind you should not have any pity for such a man

Chapter 2200

Fatia CeruleanÆs left leg ripped into the Nether King as it turned to flee A muffled groan came out of the beastÆs mouth as the rest of FatiaÆs weight and force followed breaking its spine and grinding its body to a halt against the pebble strewn ground

It had taken all of twenty seconds to locate intercept overwhelm and break the spirit of the Nether King The brevity of the process was almost a disappointment

Satisfied with his pounce Fatia stepped sideways and sniffed He clacked his teeth together contemplatively as he considered the twitching body beneath him In the end he shook his massive skull even as his blue aura flared to greater heights around his skeleton esque body Definitely disappointment colored the impression he had of this conflict No I would love to include a Nether King as one of my trophies but you just donÆt belong there Fatal Predation

Cerulean blurred into motion raking first claws then jaws across the back of the downed Nether King The surrounding dirt slope endured a very liberal spraying of gore as he ripped off the flesh of his opponent and then crunched his way through the bones In the beastÆs heart Cerulean found the physical representation of the beingÆs Nether Core

For a while he prodded it with his claw but soon became bored and simply crunched it down like everything else

Just like that of Aether a wide variance exists in terms of a Nether KingÆs strength It is disappointing to have to hunt down these rabble but soon

My liege

Cerulean looked up Arrayed before him in their neat robes were the leaders of the Cerulean Guard bowing at the waist and not even batting an eye at the horrific mess he had made The soft faced chameleon being that led the guard saluted It is time The NetherÆs main army draws near Already ours forces have engaged the vanguard Soon their Tier 5 Nether Warriors will make their move

Well then I must certainly hurry must I Cerulean jested He paused to pick a few flecks of skin and matted fur from his arms anything he missed would eventually be burned away by his spiritual aura but he wanted to cut a dramatic figure on this day I wouldnÆt want you to slaughter them all without me

We would never dream of it sir One of the others chimed in

Cerulean made a private note to have that individual sent on the sort of dangerous mission you never return from Obedience was obvious necessary but he didnÆt need to be a kiss ass about it

Kiss asses also tended to be susceptible to foreign influences in times of peace One more threat Cerulean needed to mind One more enemy needing to be struck down but without providing any tangible benefit

Truly that is the limit of my ability Cerulean mused as he rushed up into the sky and sped West toward where their armies would meet I can hunt and incorporate the most valuable aspects of prey into myself but there are some foes which are too large to hunt Or the powerful individuals are smart enough to hide themselves away while IÆm prowling Haah if hunting stays this lean my attention perhaps must turn toward the Nexus itself

CeruleanÆs jaw clacked in amusement But then he raised his gaze and saw the assembled momentum of the Nether column humming against the horizon His anticipation deepened there were definitely several foes powerful enough within this army to be worthy trophies

A single look at the Prophet made Randidly realize he had missed something Because the strange representative of the Cult of the Savior had completely stilled And for the first time the slightest whorls of unease came off of his body

The Prophet shook his head slowly That should be impossible One Hierarchy being used against another Impossible And based on the original timeline that would mean pah perhaps variables cloud my vision So then Elhume somehow overwhelms us and then simply hides out within the Nexus for the rest of his sorry existence Has he perished of shame by your era Nether King

Elhume has often opened the doors and sucked more worlds into the Nexus He has done so seven times He continues to rule the Nexus Randidly replied

What That cannot The eye teeth clenched and the chin eye bulged After a few seconds the Prophet pushed himself back from the table and stood up There is something I must check Perhaps you feed me the incorrect information but if it is so Let us meet again Nether King Hungry Eye

The Prophet generated a strange note of resonance and bridged the gap to a distant location The fabric of space around his body began to buzz in harmony with that note Randidly felt genuinely impressed by the speed and ease at which the Prophet bridged through space it rivaled the AlchemistÆs Passport So much so that he almost reached out and smothered that note out of existence

He didnÆt appreciate the Prophet stomping here while he was away approaching Neveah speaking snidely with that edge of horror in his appearance Yet ultimately Randidly needed some time to think so he allowed the connection to be made

The Prophet vanished

Humming to himself Randidly walked back over to his training area He thought about why the shocked Prophet had said one Hierarchy being used against another’ He thought about Elhume being used by these people and being left stranded exactly where he started with a brilliant child who couldnÆt survive alone in the world

But also another of the words spoken by the Prophet stuck with Randidly A man cannot be a universe huh either he corrupts the universe or the vastness contained within eventually smothers his humanity

Randidly allowed a bitter smile to flutter across his features WeÆve felt that haven’t we How difficult it is to balance it all

YggdrasilÆs trunk creaked and groaned shifting in response to his thoughts The Stillborn Phoenix began to howl making its opinion so audibly known Randidly could only laugh Okay yes I know how you feel about the world impossible ItÆs just another chance to prove existence wrong But also

RandidlyÆs eyes sharpened Around him he began to recreate the Nether Dome if it came down to a choice I would allow myself to be wiped out of existence To become an object the framework the protection for the Alpha Cosmos I IÆm sorry to you three I donÆt know what will happen to you as my images if I

All three images urged him to stop They understood They would make the same choice They stood with him

Randidly let out a relieved smile Good Well that problem is for later For now Grey Creature Can you feel it in the air The war is about to shift into high gear ItÆs time to find the shape we will use to advance

Chapter 2201

The Grey Creature was born when the Grim Chimera admitted to itself it was a monster When it looked at its own reflection and no longer feared the lack of humanity it found there

Now the Grey Creature looked even deeper at its shape seeking the path forward

In the darkness of Randidly GhosthoundÆs Soulspace with currents of Nether forming a pulsing heart of possibility around its coalescing elements the Grey Creature considered its form The unwavering emerald blaze shone out through its shadowy existence the hammered scales of refined darkness and vicious glee whispering just out of sight The huge urges and desires at the Grey CreatureÆs base drifted past each other like icebergs on moonless nights mere silhouettes that only hinted at the depth and weight they possessed

Brief glitters in the darkness hinted at the claws and teeth that had yet to form yet always lurked in any iteration of vicious Grim Chimera of Randidly Ghosthound

The Grey CreatureÆs consciousness spun slowly as it considered the problem It wanted to fulfill the main bodyÆs desire for a quick transformation yet it could not quite manage to assemble a cohesive whole with all its separate elements So it sunk into a meditative trance calling on the methods learned through the Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession The distractions steadily fell away as the image pruned down its awareness until only its next transformation remained

Birth the darkness whispered

So the Grey Creature began at its own beginning An origin of char and violence in the Seven Kata of the Ashen Spear A rare and unrefined ideal of overwhelming power leaving scorched ground in its wake To finish the developing brew fate added the horrible desire to survive birthed between the brutal training methods of Shal and the insidious machinations of Yystrix as both molded who Randidly Ghosthound would become

Ash and desperation to forge a grim survivor in the heart of a scared human

Even then Alchemy The darkness observed Thin tributaries of significance slithered out infiltrating the pulsing heart of potential A shift beyond equivalence

The Grey Creature felt itself drifting down settling into those definitive moments that had guided its evolution The sweaty desperation of fighting against Shal until Randidly couldnÆt move his arms Until his muscles were torn and his skin blistered from acid baths to toughen up his mentality The times he was prodded by spear to ignore both exhaustion and broken limbs The way he had been worked and pressured until all the details of his life before the System became almost smoothed away

All his prior problems and insecurities felt inadequate next to the possibility of his throat being ripped open by a spear

With his spirit hardened and a growing focus on the spear as used by horrifying spectres Yystrix herself stepped into the watercolor painting of RandidlyÆs life Wreathed in barely hidden grief and fear with long fingers she reached and began to meddle Both in ways that benefited him like nudging him into starting in the Dungeon and providing some extra Aether and by trying to create some sort of isolated time zone in the Raid Dungeon to escape Elhume forever

A being beyond ken Eventually humanized with knowledge but that impression of her wasnÆt what created us was it No it was the implacable twisted other that corrupted us

The Grey Creature felt its body beginning to seethe and compact It might not possess the acute awareness of the main body but its whole structure pulsed with unintended consequences of Yystrix Its limbs contained her darkness her vicious desperation merged with RandidlyÆs desire to survive The fusion of those two aspects turned out to be unexpectedly overwhelming Relying on those two aspects the Grim Chimera was birthed onto the scene possessing the hard edges and quick reactions to thrive even when separated from the main body and forced to fight against Nether Beasts on the frontlines

Another impossibility although one only necessary for a limited amount of time The forged scales of darkness careened off an invisible edge like a waterfall fluttering in the air and crashing in a hushed mass The beginning of a direction emerged within the accumulating flows of Nether Perhaps seeking to resolve all the details is not the correct method

More distractions fluttered away striped from the Grey CreatureÆs mind The streamlined and gleaming purpose of evolution steadily grew more apparent in the depths of its consciousness Birthed from the many forms of chaotic violence the Grey Creature had experienced to get here but born from a single word

Advance A dark smog of possibility wafted up over the impact sight of the scale waterfall Ripples set the diffused arrangement to quivering What does it mean to advance

The Grey Creature remembered twisting and evolving becoming a monster with RandidlyÆs face a beast designed to survive no matter the threats arrayed around him A pure horror that survives during the nightmare no matter how else it need exist When the brimstone and ash Grim Chimera finally accepted the role that Yystrix played in its life in its formation it could take another step forward With that acknowledgment came power One method of advancement was taking a long look at yourself without looking away Being able to see and accept your truth even if it is uncomfortable to you

Yet to shine the light into every dark cavity isnÆt the method that got us here Because the focus shifted from perspective to defined shape The darkness hummed Images are powerful in their detail true The Grey Creature is a form of great potency And yet

No longer does it hint at impossibility The alien horror vanished replaced by the cruel mother

Nether began to whirl more quickly around the Grey Creature Thick veins of significance branched off and sank into the depths connecting with the emerald eyes Randidly had possessed since the day he was born Sharpened and made almost magical by the System but whose rich color he had gotten from his parents

Yystrix her face warped into a vicious sneer demanding that Randidly submit to her

Shal his spirit broken and eyes empty bearing the Armaments of the Swacc Family

The heat within the Grey CreatureÆs body became pillars of white agony Its lips curled up as it flashed its teeth More and more of the shadowed possibilities of its form flaked away as incandescent nuggets all the fat seared off the bone by the bonfire of his determination He would advance no matter the cost

He did not fear the hungry maw of entropy waiting to drag him down to oblivion

More memories flickered across his consciousness Yystrix laying peacefully on her tomb The quiet tragedy of her existence simply wishing to escape from the all consuming obsession of her husband Having given up on the child she birthed with a Nether King feeling powerless and broken

Elhume chastened and desperate asking Nether King Hungry Eye for his help to save Pine The look of ugly shock on his face when Randidly had said no

The Grey CreatureÆs rage spread like a plague through the subconscious Distantly even sheered away with the focus of the Visage of Obsession it felt RandidlyÆs emotional sea begin to resonate with his desires Huge waves of indignation and fury smashed against the carefully constructed edges of the streamlined obsession consciousness

The Grey Creature felt its body grow numb the nerve endings of his arms back and chest all fried and flaked away In the expanse of the subconscious its body became a living hive with thousands of burning embers fluttering around it bobbing and weaving in constant motion Nether seethed and tightened creating a condensed core from which everything else came

When actual substance couldnÆt withstand the heat of its desire to advance it could only create a body of pure significance

However this alone isnÆt enough The Grey Creature blazed higher and higher its power rising its long cloak of scaled whispers spreading wider and wider with enough density and volume to smother even its own heat but wasnÆt satisfied It stirred stretching out blurred arms ending in claws and tearing at the subconscious

With a few deft rends a portal opened The Grey Creature didnÆt even worry for a second simply trusted its instincts and walked through To get here IÆve kept moving and survived However the threats I now face wonÆt simply vanish if I flee The dangers wonÆt dissipate or let me grow

And honestly there is only so much more growth that is possible

Moving into this new darkness felt like slipping into a placid lake on a moonless night The darkness felt cool and all consuming for several seconds before the Grey CreatureÆs body continued to release smoldering bits of ash to provide some illumination to the surroundings The Grey CreatureÆs lips curled again as it stood within the Alpha Cosmos and stared down at the dark side of the moon

If this is here then The Grey Creature looked up and grinned Above the bobbing and sloshing Sea of Dreams waited Part watercolor aurora borealis and part dense energy field stolen from the MasterÆs Mountain the vivid greens and harsh crimsons within the fickle depths seemed like an invitation

The Grey Creature walked forward and the Nether Core of Randidly Ghosthound began to churn out a vicious tide of Nether Woven darkness forged dreams molten desire alchemy and desperation My edges will be pitiless and my feet ephemeral No Path will bar me If my foes use the world against me I will target even the balance of this existence Hear my footsteps and weep universe I come into my dire inheritance

Your Nether Core is advancing Rotation has reached perfect equilibrium significance begins to gather The Second Authority of your Nether Core will soon condense

The being that had once been Grey Creature took three steps forward dragging a long cloak of whispering darkness behind it It smiled as it plunged into the waves of dense emotional energy and the whirling dark substance of its body began to boil

With your Authority

With all of your Authorities your Nether Core nears it next evolution Once you have chosen a Penance your Nether Core Rarity may advance to Pinnacle

Chapter 2202

Randidly Ghosthound meditated in a storm of Nether His hair fluttered lightly almost a flippant dismissal of the potent forces moving within his body

His Nether Core rattled and growled as it spun barely maintaining its equilibrium underneath the pressure Such was its speed as it whipped around and around His chest burned and his breath came out in huge gouts of steam Already Yggdrasil creaked and rustled as it reached out golden roots to help alleviate the pain of the transformation but Randidly shook his head and nudged its touch away

We canÆt intervene He sighed The Grey Creature has chosen to become something very dangerous and difficult to understand But he is cast from the same heavy iron as the rest of us We asked him to advance and now he proceeds

The rest of his words were lost in a haze of pain as the image body of the Grey Creature crashed through the edges of the Sea of Dreams Sensing the foreign entity within the waves of shimmering emotion the Sea of Dreams tightened like a fist around the interloper Such was the force of its rejection that the name The Grey CreatureÆ almost immediately eroded underneath the assault

The figure that remained was nameless Yet it did not dissipate underneath all that concentrated pressure It drew around its shoulders its cloak of hammered darkness and whispers laughing at the resistance Each gesture was an emphatic rejection of restrictions The cloak sizzled and rippled but the entire transformation so far had centered around refining this cloak It would not fold easily before foreign influence

His image took another step forward Realizing that simply frothing around the foreign entity wasnÆt enough the Sea of Dreams drew back and gathered its resources Its next rejections came in waves concentrated fronts of force The image didnÆt waver its emerald gaze luminous and pure Meanwhile Randidly gritted his teeth for the both of them

The first wave came with knives of sadness and depression sweeping around the image and seeking to drag it down into stillness and helplessness To afflict it with a horrid suffocating sag The surge of the Sea of Dreams turned turquoise and then darkened to midnight blue as it reared up to its full height

Yet when the wave crashed against the cloak of scaled oblivion it could find no purchase The image continued to glide forward its steps easy and confident Its monstrous glee swelled becoming a pulsing physical force The being seemed ancient and unstoppable a force of nature from before recorded history As the cloak of night rippled around the image brief glimpses of the imageÆs body could be seen Yet Randidly only became more confused while the Grey Creature had been moving toward a concrete form previously now all that remained was stitched together images of violence and smoldering ash

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 980

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 981

A battle raged across the hidden body of the image But witnessing the clash of smoldering remnants tooth and claws and desperation made Randidly realize that the image didnÆt intend for this battle within its body to end in a victory It would always be host to an unending struggle

RandidlyÆs Nether Core accelerated into dangerous territory generating a feeling quite like heartburn in his chest

The Sea of Dreams didnÆt miss the lack of response to its first concerted efforts so it came back with concentrated currents of yellow and mauve light These crashed against the cloak seeking to burn their way directly through the infernal cloak Even under direct assault the whispering scale cloak didnÆt flinch Its substance was night the dreaded final night inevitably creeping across the horizon and smothering all else

Lowanna handed the groaning woman a glass of water Newly promoted Unit Leader Devick flopped back and forth on her cot her hand pressing dramatically against her forehead Truly this wound Hah if I die please Anna try and remember me at my most beauteous Not this grizzled and war torn hunk of meat

Devick donÆt be modest You have always been the most vigorously barbaric and brutish fighter IÆve known Beauteous well LowannaÆs lips twitched She walked to the other side of the tent and picked up fresh bandages and a basin of clean water When she returned to DevickÆs side she cut open her bandages and inspected the wound Then she took a rag and began to clean the wound before reapplying her bandages Your hair is pretty enough I suppose once its fallen away from your glowering face

Devick tried her best not to glower in response and failed

Her fingers gently brushed away dirt and dried blood on DevickÆs side ignoring the disapproving glare All of LowannaÆs interactions with this strange Aether warrior had an edge of bitterness because all of her earned wounds and accolades came from killing LowannaÆs people But the more time she spent with her the harder it was to resent Devick

She fought to survive just like the rest of them And with more sporadic generosity than most

We fled into the Nexus to escape the worst horrors birthed by Aether Lowanna sighed Once here we grew in power and authority By the time we looked up we had become the dominant force enforcing our whims upon you Using the monsters we all fled as justification to solidify our grip To the point we became our own greatest threat and look how far weÆve fallen because of our own arrogance

A rap came at the door to the tent causing both women to look up Devick wiped away her huffing disappointment and straightened in her bed In a remarkable transformation she seemed to be a coalescing upper class scion all sophistication and good upbringing Enter

Right before the soldier walked into the tent Lowanna couldnÆt help herself She reached over and pinched DevickÆs stomach The other woman squawked like a kettle of boiling water as the sentry crossed the threshold and glanced around uncertainly Unit Leader do your wounds continue to bother you I had heard how caustic the Nether attacks can be but if even you are bedridden

A vein in DevickÆs temple throbbed but she kept her brittle smile in place No IÆll be fine in only a few hours But did you have something to report

Instantly the sentry went white His shoulders slumped and he nodded slowly Yes WeÆre to retreat WeÆve received word from Aether headquarters Earlier this week there was a great battle in the heartlands For three days they fought and carved out the flesh of the ground beneath them Apparently half of the forces on both sides are dead

Lowanna couldnÆt help but raise her manacle hands and press them against her chest Does it truly need to be this way

so we sweep up the remnants Devick grunted

The sentry sniffed It took a moment for Lowanna to see past her grief enough to see that the sentry had tears running down his stony cheeks No We move to reinforce the Aether Heartlands Lord Cerulean suffered a grievous wound If we donÆt move quickly all the Aether forces will collapse

Chapter 2203

Randidly watched and endured supporting his image as it ground away so much of itself to find its next form There were points in the long stretch of agony where he felt doubt about both the methods and the possible result But he suppressed those as quickly as they could arrive

His emotional sea churned constantly but he didnÆt want all that potency to affect the resulting shape He needed his new Grey Creature to be purely what it wanted to be

So he narrowed himself to just the slow passage of the cloak of darkness and the flickering specter that wore it across the chaotic aurora He would not flinch no matter the cost No matter how the waves of the Sea of Dreams shimmered and tightened around the imageÆs body no matter how it battered at the forged cloak of darkness No matter how dim the consciousness within the image became so long as it didnÆt completely collapse Randidly waited

Moments eventually arrived when the consciousness did shiver and then vanish underneath the constant emotional bludgeoning Yet always when his panicked senses dug through the ripples to find any trace of the effort he poured into it he would find the image still persisting still pushing its way through Gradually the disparate threads of its awareness flowed back together and ignited cognition Flame rekindled its unsteady gait resumed

RandidlyÆs gaze flickered after about three hours of repeated agony A moment of clarity reached him It does not seek to temper itself but just the opposite its adding flaws Or perhaps its better to say unpredictability by just mixing everything together Chaos will be soon housed within its form

Understanding the goal made the journey easier He simply rode the tides of pain never wavering in his vigil His support began little more than his awareness A solemn monolith in the distance almost severed from the consequences of what occurred below

Right up until the end he remained stoic But as the resistance thinned Randidly Ghosthound showed a wolfÆs smile

Almost twenty four hours after the baptism in the Sea of Dreams had begun an image walked out the other side For its first liberated step the image stumbled the sudden lack of resistance or pressure caught it by surprise Yet its barefoot slapped loudly against floating platform circling the sea of dreams It took a few half steps unsure of its footing But each movement dragged more of its expansive cloak of hammered midnight out into the ocean

Uneasy and fitful the Sea of Dreams retreated What remained standing there was mostly the cloak to be fair Those scales of darkness whispers and dreams the Grey Creature had spent so long refining had proven their worth The constant assault from the Sea of Dreams had melted their edges too until all those scales flowed together in a liquid y almost fabric

The whispers as the cloak touched the ground remained however

Within the depths of the cloak thick mists obscured any sort of definite features Specters occasionally reached out and adjusted the edge of the cloak pale hands or talons but they always faded quickly The only constant were the eyes it had inherited from Randidly

But its gifts donÆt come solely from me Randidly licked his lips as he felt the ripples drifting out from this new figure

When it had finally gathered itself and pulled its cloak more closely around its ephemeral body the new image raised its head Those emerald eyes burned as the image surveyed its liberated existence in front of it When it raised its head to laugh the echoes of a thousand specters laughed along with it an expanse of possibilities flickering around its body

IÆve advanced The image whispered

When he opened his eyes all the pieces merged back together and crystallized into their new form

Congratulations Your Skillset Kismet of the Evolving Creature has evolved into Dread Homunculus Nyx Reincarnated

Congratulations Your Skill Chimeric Impunity has combined with Maelstrom Entity Approaches and evolved into the Cloak of Utter Night Skill Level set at 950

The Cloak of Utter Night is one of the two regalia of the Primordial Goddess Nyx Mother of Titans Skill can only be used by Randidly Ghosthound who obtained the favor of Nyx by becoming the only self made Moirae within the whole of existence The essence of this darkness was born directly from untouched chaos and is the substance closest to the void All attacks passing through the Cloak of Utter Night will have their power greatly reduced All enemies who gaze too long at the Cloak of Utter Night are afflicted with weakness and fear Prolonged exposure will drive enemies mad The essence of utter night weakens the fabric of space making impossible movements possible for the user UserÆs movements will be slightly faster than they would otherwise be Effects increase with Skill Level

Incorporating elements of other images Due to resonance the Skill Wicked Waltz of Tartarus has been removed from the Stillborn Phoenix Skillset and become part of Dread Homunculus Nyx Reincarnated

Your Skill Wicked Waltz of Tartarus has combined with The Wandering Deity Demands to evolve into ErebusÆ Baleful Waltz Skill Level set at 980

When Erebus dances all of Tartarus rises to join him in his bleak steps However their insubstantial bodies possess not the weight to step His is a joyless and vast solitude They are ghosts drifting and nearly weightless He is a single individual but he contains multitudes of these specters The numerous shades do not serve him per se but are cursed to forever mimic Erebus even if they do not understand why they do so When the user strikes the infinite shades of Tartarus will surge in support Although each may be incredibly small the benefits of millions of such ghosts soon add up UserÆs attacks and defenses will overflow with brutal violence and power Effect increases with Skill Levels The amount of specters that will rise to imitate the userÆs movements increase with Skill Level

Continuing evolution

Congratulations Your Skill Grit of the Ascendant Bane has evolved into HumonculiÆs Monstrous Tenacity Skill Level will be maintained

The Homunculi are a group of artificial humanoids created in an attempt to scientifically harness the wonders of life In the case of the Dread Homunculus the attempt resulted in such success that a being which has no concept of the word death has been loosed upon existence Upon taking sufficient damage it is possible for portions fo the homunculusÆ body to break down or to shatter However the unholy energies of the rite that birthed this being leave a mark that will never fade Given enough time the resonance between the pieces will call them back together to reassemble the homunculus UserÆs resistance to all sorts of damage has greatly increased The bodyÆs ability to surpass its limits is increased The musculature of the user has been refined and optimized Effects increase with Skill Level

Continuing Evolution

Congratulations Your Skill the Grey Creature Glimpses Providence has combined with the Ashen Doors to Pandemonium Unlock and evolved to become NyxÆs Successor Births Fate Skill Level set at 990

Of the many accomplishments of the Primordial Goddess Nyx perhaps the greatest was her creation of the Three Fates the Moirae These three strummed the lives of all under their purview manipulating their life and death With the power of a self made Moirae user can briefly channel the spark that birthed fate and karma While holding onto that small fragment of divinity user has an unprecedented ability to recognize and handle information The past present and future are laid bare The user has a small ability to generate impossibilities by wielding that spark of power In addition Skill can be used passively to increase userÆs ability to handle information Effects greatly increase with Skill Level

Chapter 2204

The Prophet sat in front of a piece of paper watching the characters ripple across the page Each line buzzed like a honey covered stick being swarmed by ants The perfect history seen by the great one lay bare in front of him painstakingly recorded in its full glory A fraction of the wisdom and scope of the existence that being could witness The ProphetÆs eye flicked back and forth struggling to witness and appreciate the wisdom contained there

The Prophet hated himself looking at the map For searching time and time again for an answer within the lines But these developments were beyond the holy light of god

With a sigh the Prophet sat backward Two ugly frowns furrowed the top part of his head How strange Despite the influence of the Nether King the corruption of the Hierarchy of Finality has occurred once more Just more quickly than recorded

His eye went to the reports from spies regarding the battles within the Aetherlands The situation of the war is more complicated Without the original Cerulean assuming control of his body the construct Cerulean possessed too much confidence during the initial invasion He brought the full force of his landÆs might against the main host of the Nether Forces and met that Nether monster in the field The armies are both reduced to stragglers the location has turned grey and alien from energy radiation not unlike the NetherÆs Hollow plains

Instead of waiting at the seat of his power for the Nether host to arrive Cerulean now scurries back to lick his wounds His potential for resistance after his loss is unknown On the other hand much of the Nether threat has been depleted

Nearby a cowled Dedicant of the Cult of the Savior bowed slightly Will not he be just as amenable to our backup plan then If as you claim the Nether Arbiter never would have assisted us wonÆt we need to rely on that anyway No matter what route they take all matters align to our benefit The light shall spread

The inwardly directed anger flared again The Prophet teetered on a very dangerous decision It tapped a thick finger on the wooden table eyes moving from the truth to this ugly echo the will of El Kedec warped by the squirming mass of worms

All of this was sickening A mockery of true existence

let this nudge pass The Prophet grunted out the words barely believing what he said He directly deviated from the plan Unsure if he was dooming his soul to an eternity outside of his lordÆs light by refusing to follow the directives We cannot allow this interloper any more information than he has already received Let him weep at his own ignorance when he eventually discovers the web of preparations we have made for the light of the true savior to spread

As you say The Dedicant nodded There is one more thing The being Elhume believes he has found traces of the Nether Arbiter Should I dissuade him from continuing his pursuit We have continued to act worried about the state of Pine and his mental state deteriorates

No IÆve already informed the interloper of that plan If we can capture the Nether Arbiter we will play our parts The ProphetÆs eyes glittered as the characters before him continued to morph and switch

A single page containing a whole world The thought filled him with awe

So long as he stared at it he was able to ignore the growing revulsion he felt in his chest

Randidly leaned back feeling the image settle into his body after becoming strange and unnatural from its swim within the Sea of Dreams The cloak the burning eyes the infinite shades lurking within the imageÆs movements all these aspects filtered into RandidlyÆs body He didnÆt think often about the function of his Aether these days he spent much more time refining his Nether but all the Nether physicalizations that had taken shape by housing the Grey Creature began to change

His senses pulled him back to his body as all the information he could gather about the South came crashed against his already slightly strained brain For a second Randidly grimaced trying to parse apart the thick morass of impressions and consequences he could feel Yet then he felt a pulse from his new image The lantern like eyes of the Dread Homunculus brightened and caused the information to unravel and organize itself

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 991

The passive application of the Skill Randidly felt a flush of relief I had almost forgotten that was one of the main aims of the Grey CreatureÆs shift to help handle all the strain

With renewed purpose Randidly stared at the mess of lines and intersections and inflection points and saw He saw the dangerous reverberations still rippling outward from the place where the Nether Leader had clashed against Cerulean and come out ahead And now bitter cracks in the Aether forces spreading out to other fronts as their spiritual center had suffered grievous defeat

He saw too as to his West forces began to circulate around Devick of all people He bit his lip unable to understand how she had become the central point of a storm only slightly smaller than the upcoming conflict outside of Cerulean City

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 992

Congratulations Your Skill Motif of Unimagined Tolls has grown to Level 1021

A third nexus of significance began to form in the East Only the initial inklings of this one had formed the first notes of an overwhelming concerto but already Randidly could see this storm would become the largest of the three Randidly chewed on his lip Because the events were still slightly distant and relied heavily upon the two other storms of significance proceeding them he couldnÆt see the details

He couldnÆt tell if this would be the rise of the horrifying Duo requiring the Hierarchy of Karma to be used Or even if this was the plan of the Cult of the Savior to try and break into the Universe Core

He could see farther into the future than anyone else could ever hope to Yet as always it didnÆt feel like quite enough The patterns became chaos as he watched and the chaos revealed itself as being a pattern all along

He allowed all the details to percolate through him More than anything else Randidly saw how events were tumbling toward the death of Fatia Cerulean And how in a way that he couldnÆt quite understand that event would destabilize the memory beyond even his ability to reinforce Especially while his Nether Core attempted to cope with the sudden shift in emphasis of his third leg

Shit Randidly whispered He glanced West toward Devick then South toward Cerulean finally settling on the East

He blinked and turned sideways Neveah stood there a bemused smile on her face When she had his attention she wagged a finger at him You forget you’re not alone anymore DonÆt take all the responsibility onto yourself YouÆll need to handle the issues to the South but we can investigate both East and West However there is a slight problem

Randidly tilted his head to the side Neveah gestured sideways to the low hills around the platform As promised the Nether forces have passed us by However one Nether King has remained I suspect he is waiting for you

Chapter 2205

Randidly walked out across the rough edged hills to the shadowy figure standing and watching the training area with a few ideas in his mind for who could be waiting for him The air felt hot and still suddenly heavy without the animating force of his dome enlivening the area The one that made him the most expectant was a young version of the being who would become the last remaining Nether King who Randidly would eventually free

Perhaps its consciousness had managed to follow the subtle and not so subtle changes to the timeline and had something to say Obviously the Nether King did not feel the need to help Randidly without getting some benefit in return but he might nudge him in the right direction if developments were proceeding dangerously

As far as Randidly could tell they both had their sights set on Elhume A common enemy aligned them

Another part of Randidly resigned himself to a second confrontation with Nether King Bleak Sky That twisted Nether King seemed to possess enough spite to linger and wait for Randidly despite the spreading reach of the war between Aether and Nether By this point any injuries he had suffered had probably recovered

Superficial ones at least

Yet as Randidly settled five meters away from the figure his brow furrowed in confusion the Nether King waiting for his presence was neither of those two An unfamiliar figure with the leering head of a horse and a bulging hunchback twisted and spat to the side Its voice came out as a croak You are the one that is called Nether King Hungry Eye

Yes Can I help you with something RandidlyÆs senses tingled Ripples of separate cascading consequences congregated in the limbs of the figure The Dread Homunculus gathered and categorized the information without overheating his brain but the awareness was too new to understand the connections He couldnÆt quite recognize the patterns playing out in front of him yet

That depends The Nether King rumbled When it next opened its mouth to speak it instead began to cough It took a few seconds of hacking before it released another quivering wad of phlegm and continued Its eyes were red and bloodshot They call me Plague Rider I am a Nether King of honor and you made a deal with our forces So long as you concern yourself solely with small matters within this area we have no business together However should you ever feel the need to break your word and intervene in the war

Plague RiderÆs eyes narrowed even further The consequences squirmed into the Nether KingÆs limbs influencing every aspect of his body language You owe me a debt Nether King Hungry Eye On his first mission to earn achievement my great nephew didnÆt return After speaking the Nether Kings who came out to punish Malloon I learned he died by your hand

Randidly straightened slightly Within SulfurÆs new form in the depths of the Domain he had inherited from Helen the pure aspect of rot he had absorbed gave a small quiver of recognition He sucked in a breath and then released it

For a few seconds the silence stretched between them The Plague RiderÆs smirk widened showing wide flat teeth You arenÆt going to deny the allegations

I suspect it wonÆt make much difference to you I can see in your eyes the resolve to die Randidly felt his left hand twitch with another feeling directly in the palm The lingering mark of his exhaustion still present in his life He had fought and won over and over again finding himself very high up along his Path But that meant that every choice he made now had consequences

He walked forward but created counter currents with every step

Keh I appreciate you Nether King Hungry Eye No I envy you how you so boldly harken back to the old days before we all bent the knee to the Arbiter The Plague Rider spat again to the side The longer Randidly stood in front of the being the more he could smell decay and filth lingering about his body More than the feeble rotten garment that pulsing aura of degeneration covered him Yet the Nether have grown to our dominance through rigorous adherence to the system that governs us That has saved us from ourselves from the whims of Nether Warlords and the silences of Nether Priestesses You cannot be allowed to exist to weaken all we have created

The Plague Rider shrugged Across its bulky stomach its skin ripped An indeterminate black liquid dribbled out onto the stone ground Perhaps But now we will never know Now we must content ourselves with pondering endings and epilogues

Congratulations Your Skill HomunculusÆs Monstrous Tenacity has grown to Level 845

The two faced each other in silence for several seconds Moss formed on the ground around the Plague RiderÆs feet creeping outward from his quivering legs A few seconds later the moss turned wizened and twisted like puckered skin

Congratulations Your Skill HomunculusÆs Monstrous Tenacity has grown to Level 846

Congratulations Your Skill HomunculusÆs Monstrous Tenacity has grown to Level 860

So Randidly spoke slowly The pain in his chest due to the Nether Core remained constant but new aches sprung up across his limbs But meanwhile from the depths of a Cloak of Utter Night ten thousand phantasms snickered and chuckled Shall we fight

Oh child The fight has already begun And you have lost The Plague Rider shook his head almost sadly But you I can feel the density of your Nether And feel that you stand on the cusp of a new plateau with your significance Hah had the era been different I would have been proud to call one such as yourself Warlord But now you are a Nether King nothing more and you need to be removed

Randidly tried not to lose his temper at how little the Nether King in front of him understood the current situation It does not need to be like this Your story

Just as I always have I will determine the completion of my own story The Plague RiderÆs face creased in fury His mouth opened wider and wider those flat teeth that had been acting as a gate on his fetid breath allowing the noxious fumes to seep out The smell grew more nauseating Raise your weapon boy No matter how weakened you have become You need not die without a fight

With great care Randidly flicked his arm Acri in its new smaller form slithered and straightened to form a spear His body continued to complain but a mass of darkness smothered that sensation

Congratulations Your Skill HomunculusÆs Monstrous Tenacity has grown to Level 861

The homunculus had been built it feared not disease or time

Fine then Randidly glowered but already his face became a shadowy disc housing two emerald lanterns An impenetrable cloak of darkness settled around his body As he expanded his image his emotional sea stirred We fight

His new image leered forward eyes gleeful as it continued how to use this foolÆs death to advance

Chapter 2206

The Plague RiderÆs body rippled and tore as it settled into a combat stance Its overripe flesh popped and sagged although it didnÆt acknowledge its own bodyÆs steady collapse Opposite the certain Nether King Randidly held his spear loosely for a few seconds before waving a hand and having Acri slither back around his waist The Cloak of Utter Night across his body darkened until he seemed to be a walking silhouette a specter of death in the hills

He intended to test the Dread Homunculus with this enthusiastic training partner

Even if you beg for mercy I will not spare you The Plague Rider seemed thrown by the stowing of RandidlyÆs spear The Nether King hesitated but its significance continued to infect the air with sickness Eventually its eyes narrowed Too much has occurred to turn back now Our paths have been set

Randidly bowed his head no longer trying to dissuade the Nether King His own wild glee doubled and tripled the Dread Homunculus laughing and his emotional sea erupting in blazing flames The image details intensified across his body his thick Aether creating physicalizations for the new image beginning to form His body tingled and cramped accepting the shift He flexed both his hands savoring the pulsing sensation of power

Emotions seethed and twirled together forming the most intense resonance he had ever managed for a prolonged period of time And it felt like this was just the beginning

Plague Rider began walking slowly toward him The effect the Nether King had on the significance swirled around Randidly seeping into his body like wriggling fangs Yet the Dread Homunculus didnÆt even flinch His Cloak of Utter Night whispered as it condensed fully across his body leaving him with only his luminous eyes visible

Ponderously the Plague Rider raised his hand A yellowish liquid pulsed out of open sores on his fat palm quickly drying into crust along his wrist and forearm A green haze congregated around the limb If you donÆt act quickly

The Plague RiderÆs face contorted in shock as Randidly flickered forward the Cloak of Utter Night allowing him to sheer through space and arrive before his foe Randidly pivoted back and then whipped his left arm around in a hook But this Nether King had long inhabited the theaters of war it quickly clenched the raised hand and brought the blow hammering down to meet RandidlyÆs strike

Congratulations Your Skill Cloak of Utter Night has grown to Level 960

Congratulations Your Skill ErebusÆs Baleful Waltz has grown to Level 982

Within the folds of his obliterating and silky darkness Randidly felt the infinite specters stirring at his act of violence The fiery depths of his emotional sea reverberated with the movement waking hundreds of ghasts and ghouls that existed beneath the cover of oblivion The specters didnÆt even understand why they were just a thousand flimsy reflections of RandidlyÆs movements As he did they did

In the end almost twenty thousand specters flung their hazy limbs in an ugly approximation of RandidlyÆs strike All their differently sized limbs swung as best as they could reflecting the movement They werenÆt necessarily powerful on their own although each would likely have the power to have broken the jaw of a normal human But combined with SulfurÆs whirling momentum he felt immensely confident in the force he unleashed

The two blows slammed into each other a few pattering strikes from the specters arriving a bit too late Most of the physical force Sulfur directly absorbed but the significance contained within the Plague RiderÆs attack was more difficult to handle RandidlyÆs Nether Core groaned and accelerated seeming to resist outward attacks by hurtling itself more quickly toward a shredding collapse

A much smaller Plague Rider crashed and bounced back across the surrounding hills carving a new valley into existence with its passage Randidly watched the Nether King vigilantly for a few seconds then turned his focus inward A few of those plague shards had landed on his body With the overwhelming Cloak of Utter Night the Dread Homunculus wrapped each piece of corruption and squeezed it to oblivion

It only took a few seconds to rid himself of the worst of the pieces His Nether Core took the chance to accelerate threatening to burn a hole out of his chest with friction and float away but he ignored it for now As for the rest of this Nether KingÆs assault he would leave it in his body to fuel Skill growth

Randidly walked across the ground and found the limp form of the Plague Rider

With rheumy eyes the Nether King looked up at him When I die my entire line will wither Those that remain will not not have the fine control to equip the next generation Finally the plague will claim us all

Randidly stopped over the Nether King He slowly frowned the tight grip he held on his new image fading It took him a while to place the expression he saw on the Nether KingÆs face and when he did it only made him more confused you sound almost glad

Its strange is it not Plague Rider closed its eyes A pool of perhaps blood had begun to form around his collapsed and sagging form I have spent countless hours fighting to protect my family To hone my edge so we could continue and thrive And now now when I face the end Hah is it strange to be able to see how the world would be better without the small cruelties we represent

His instincts murmured indistinctly Nether continued to hover in a ring around the fallen Nether King despite his apparent frailty Randidly just observed the exaggerated and insubstantial flutter of consequences like light filtered through rippling water

And you you eliminated my influence so easily I had thought Well perhaps it is just no longer my era

For a while the Plague Rider continued to breathe Following the quiet lines of significance this being could wield Randidly remained during the Nether KingÆs extended expiry Now he knew what he was looking for he saw the trap The way pulling away would become a new sort of pattern the slightest adjustment to the world which would give the Plague Rider just a fraction of an opening The Dread Homunculus would invalidate most of it but it would be a lingering touch upon Randidly

He invoked it by talking about his line coming to an end Randidly felt the weight of history settling across their position To fail to witness that a moment of obvious significance can be wielded as a weapon Interesting

Despite the subtle attempt being made on his life Randidly licked his lips and felt nothing but excitement His Nether Core became even more enthusiastic in its self destruction buzzing and burning within him

For fifteen minutes they both waited locked together by the significance of the events At some point the dynamic began to shift The Plague RiderÆs coughs became more frequent Its body trembled with the exertion of holding on The smell became horrid and overwhelming to stay next to the dying Nether King was to breathe in rancid filth

Yet the Nether King had tried to create a subtle sort of Nether attack Randidly had never witnessed before a deft knot of energy that had seemed like nothing And now that Randidly had lingered the scales began to tip

When the Nether King finally died that edge would become his

Chapter 2207

Oh breakfast butler Devick called in a sing song voice Her playful tone carried even over the chatter of the other soldiers and the rustle of cloth and armor Ohh breakfast butler

Lowanna rolled her eyes and trotted up along the edges of the column The group made good time marching in a winding trail South They were one of a dozen small convoys that had split off from the Malloon theater heading down to reinforce Homewell now that the situation around Cerulean City had become murky Behind them they left a long path of trampled mud and in front of them lay turbid clouds

As she moved past a few armored and tusked Elephantine warriors Lowanna couldnÆt believe how jovial the whole crew seemed But she supposed that while the trickling news indicated that Aether forces were losing the war these individuals had seen only successes The broader picture couldnÆt overcome the reality of their small victories

She looked up at the horizon and shivered Based on what she could glean from the sky a much more dismal outlook awaited them in Homewell Her thoughts turned to the figure she knew orchestrated the whole offensive Enmya always moved methodically The dispersed forces the hope of the entrenched defenses present in Homewell the crumbling rest of the Aetherlands

Well Aether forces apparently are mustering up a surprising turnaround in the Northeast but all the refugees and forces still able are flooding down here into Turtleline lands A place known and established as a sanctuary Which puts all these lives in a convenient spot to hammer and eradicate

Lowanna interlaced her fingers and squeezed until blood couldnÆt flow into her digits Her vision swam as frustrated tears leaked out She felt so so far from what she had wanted I was supposed to be the culmination the story which would be told reverberating out into the main universe when the Nexus stabilized Even if this strange deviation allowed me to delay the fate I saw will anything change How could I have allowed this Did vanity leave me blind I might hold all the power in my hands

She went cold all at once forgetting about Devick entirely could it have been there was another layer to the plots of outside forces Because had we succeeded ripples of the Arbiter with bound hands would leak out into the homeland weakening the Nether

Breakfast Butler ThatÆs it for insubordination and lollygagging you are being demoted to breakfast drudge Devick arrived in a flutter of her lovely crimson hair eyes crinkled and gleaming But a lot of that cheer vanished as she took a closer look at Lowanna Are you alright Not that you ever are particularly cheery but your face has a particular element of drowned rodent My appetite is ruined

Lowanna tried her best to smile to respond to the clumsy attempt at comfort disguised as jostling humor Yet her lips simply trembled Fears became horrid realizations and her entire life seemed a manipulatable and petty thing toyed with by unknown forces When she raised her white knuckled hands to her face she found tears coursing down her cheeks

Lowanna you Devick took a step toward her

But another voice cut across Leader Nether Warriors on the horizon The highest a Tier 3 We donÆt have much time

Well shit Devick hissed She squinted at the horizon then seemed to remember the situation and looked over at Lowanna She looked so young even wrapped in armor and biting her lip so hard that it bled Lowanna felt how thin a veneer the girl had erected to be seen as an adult Eventually Devick looked away You need to get in the supply caravan We can speak more about this when we near Homewell

Numb and still crying Lowanna nodded She dutifully clambered into the rough wood of the wagon with the wounded or exhausted while around the rest of the column shouts and the clang of cold metal signaled their preparations She used her trembling hands to grab the handles of the door and pulled it closed A beastkin with a stump where his arm used to be sobbed quietly next to her I have so much power Yet lifting a finger would mean the death of millions

In the end IÆm just a voice Without an ear to listen I am nothing

The voices of the Aether soldiers called with new urgency when the Nether Warriors approached audible through the flimsy wooden shell of the wagon A Tier 3 Nether Warrior wasnÆt a powerhouse only a fraction of the force a Nether King could wield But this was the small column led by Devick She would need to personally stall out the leader of the opposition helplessly overmatched Lowanna closed her eyes and scanned the fickle waves of significance curling in the sky

In the end the interactions were too small for her to sense any details The war was so large that this one confrontation these two score of lives meant almost nothing And if another Nether patrol caught wind of the fighting and headed over to intercept

Lowanna kicked her When the first blow only elicited a snort Lowanna kicked with more force The elaborate tattoos covering her hands and wrists glowed bearing the slightest bit of the cost of her power Just enough so that the Arbiter could sip from the ocean within her without sucking away the lives of some unfortunate The blow lifted Devick off the ground and flung her several meters into the air She squawked and tumbled eventually landing in a crouch

She glared at Lowanna Lowanna raised an eyebrow the Nether Arbiter was not an individual you could dismiss easily And although Devick hadnÆt believed her when she introduced herself as such that didnÆt make the label any less true In terms of physical power there were few who could rival her

She had spent most of her life supporting a weight beyond the imagination of most individuals after all

Devick threw her hands up into the air What do you want me to say

The truth Lowanna shrugged

Devick tried another bristling glare Lowanna just folded her arms unmoved After a snort Devick moved back to slump next to the fire She rubbed her side for a few seconds before releasing a sigh I donÆt want to say it Because because IÆm so much more than a cliche than just being some woman who admires a man

Lowanna blinked in sudden understanding Her lips twitched but she managed to prevent herself from smiling You are an Aether being admiring a Nether King

Much more forbidden and therefore hot I know Devick muttered She shook her head and continued in a much more animated voice Hahh explaining doesnÆt really do the impression he left on me justice I only spent a short amount of time actually with Nether King Hungry Eye although we existed in each otherÆs periphery for several months but I can just see how he would react if you asked him a similar question If an impossible task loomed before him and you asked him why he was walking straight into the jaws of it

He would blink It would take a while for his mind to work its way from his certainty to your doubts Because this foe needed to be defeated Because no one but him could do it regardless of whether he was ready In his mind there was never any choice Or rather any other option Devick spoke more softly I could barely see him outside of Malloon when that strange Nether Ritual was about to fall and annihilate everything in the surrounding area He stood up and used his own hands to dismantle an event he didnÆt think should occur Both the awareness to recognize and the willpower to try

She looked down at her hands Crimson edged bolts of static spidered across her hands Agency I believe itÆs called Nether King Hungry Eye worked tirelessly from what I could glean from his training regimens until his decisions had weight

Lowanna frowned slightly But I think you are wrong about him His answer was power He took the capability he needed and shaped the world ThatÆs very different from the bravery you showed today

You havenÆt met him so you donÆt understand Devick smiled something raw and filled with admiration She beamed up at the sky I thought so at first too but I think its the opposite Nether King Hungry Eye started nudging the world and soon found himself powerful Have you ever seen a Nether King who can accomplish what he does To him it was always about influence Power came later just one more lever to pull But that doesnÆt mean its the only one in his arsenal

Significance suddenly pooled around Devick her wistful yearning becoming her pivot

But strangely Lowanna started to feel pulled up in it too Because she started to acknowledge that perhaps she wasnÆt as powerless as she had told herself

It is my least favorite part of my position The Nether Arbiter closed her eyes But I cannot deny that if it is my voice

There are millions of ears who would listen

Chapter 2208

After the woven trap of Nether finally faded and a surge of significance joined the roiling disaster that was his Nether Core Randidly began to prepare to study all three of the important events within the theater of war Since he and Neveah could only handle one each he decided to bring in some extra help

One which required a very concerted Nether Ritual straining his Nether Core And also to tug at the edges of the memory But Randidly had put a lot of hard work into both and he felt confident that they would survive the process

And he was right

Randidly and Neveah stood and watched the woman depart to accomplish her mission The memory stuttered around them bearing the echoes of bringing her here but the flickering felt small next to the constantly building agony of his own Nether Core The memory would survive although he became increasingly concerned that the problem within his Nether Core wouldnÆt resolve itself on its own

Even now you test her Neveah shook her head slightly

Randidly scratched his cheek IsnÆt it better to test than to ignore her

Neveah released a groan but she didnÆt disagree she had spent too much time with him to deny how true a statement that was Very quickly her expression turned serious again Be careful in the South You might be strong but Nether still possesses all the old tools to wield against you DonÆt take more damage than you need to

Randidly huffed out a chuckle and Neveah bristled That wasnÆt a joke We both know the way you can soak up attacks A walking abuse sponge

You be careful too Randidly shifted the topic as he glanced at her You can feel it too right The thing forming in the East ItÆs coming from nowhere and everywhere at once An influence we donÆt understand is at play Somehow its the whole of the region thatÆs going to become important The feeling I get when I look at the horizon in that direction

They both twisted and looked East The clouds had shifted last night leaving a briefly clear sky But hunched along the horizon in every direction were the puffed up forms of storms waiting to sweep through when Randidly didnÆt guide them around his position The direction of note didnÆt look different And weirdly Infinite Incendiary Filaments couldnÆt detect anything unusual the energy flows and quantity seemed mundane If anything the East possessed fewer powerhouses and therefore seemed relatively mundane

Yet Motif of Unimagined Tolls went haywire whenever he turned his attention in that direction Consequences were accumulating

Neveah stepped close to Randidly and wrapped her arms around him Her skin felt very warm Such was the Skill Level with her illusion that she felt in his arms like a human woman slight and nearly a foot shorter than Randidly When she pushed back she pouted DonÆt be so scowly I can take care of myself

Randidly bit his lip suppressing his memories of NeveahÆs agony back on Expira Those moments in the past when she had been overwhelmed with fear and emotionally distraught about the very real prospect of death He wanted her confidence to be true that she would be okay out helping the Sonara Or rather helping him who had grown emotionally attached to the people inside this memory

But as he watched Neveah step and launch herself across the sky Randidly admitted to himself that he wanted Neveah to be okay more than he believed it to be true

Still this was her battle to fight He could support her he was only a breath away always but she couldnÆt overcome this by relying on him

For a few minutes he simply stood and breathed One by one he cataloged the sensations across his body His left hand ached His chest burned A low wind hinted at the creeping presence of rain But then he shook himself he wouldnÆt waste time not now when the Second Cohort seemed to be tumbling toward a conclusion

Yggdrasil moved first a furious denial of a thousand emerald leaves rustling Golden roots snaked out of his body sliding into his Nether Core and then curling around him protectively Next came the horrid squawk of the Stillborn Phoenix who saw in the opening of the Nether Core itself and began to greedily drink down all this significance in this strange place to ease off the pressure Finally the Dread Homunculus arrived setting across RandidlyÆs body protectively

He felt himself change and stood straighter no longer was he a creature that could be threatened by these sorts of dangers His eyes blazed in the strange sea of significance And around his body condensed a cloak of utter night which held everything at bay

A tremor ran through the sea Randidly had just found his bearings and noticed a few strange floating shards of stone when he hurtled upward dragging his Nether Core and his images with him The fact the opening pulled along was great because he had no idea if heÆd be able to find his way back down into the depths of this strange place otherwise The significance parted unwillingly but the combined efforts of his three images kept him safe during his ascent The pressure rapidly decreased as he moved to more shallow areas but as he sped through the gloom he noticed strange tendrils of connection Translucent veins spread everywhere small patterns playing out across their subtle forms

He continued rising too quickly to get a good look but Randidly learned two things there were hundreds even thousands of different vein structures and most quickly degenerated when two touched each other They seemed poisonous to each other The only way they coexisted was when one pattern became subordinate to the other

Then Randidly broke through the surface of the sea The sudden lack of pressure made his skin tingle His eyes widened as he looked around What the hell

Above the sea of significance stood statues of various materials Some were marble some carved from wood some appeared to be flesh with blood leaking out from them The more Randidly looked the more confused he became Some were blurred in his vision a horrible headache inducing swirl that made his consequences vision go haywire He hurriedly backpedaled his awareness with several blinks

Some seemed completely alien idea forms or insectoid supersoldiers designed on a different plane of existence from the Nexus Others resembled Lovecraftian horrors RandidlyÆs vision darkening if he looked for too long As he looked away from those they lingered in his eyes for a few seconds like staring too long at a light Even worse were the repeated statues all pulsing with the same ugly patterns In fact now that he looked around over half of the statues were actually part of statue groups

Only when he carefully fixated on the statue directly in front of him was he able to recall why he came here Despite the protection of all his images Randidly began to sweat at what he saw Because the figure felt so familiar What the hell is

His thoughts came to an abrupt end as several things became obvious at once First he actually noticed the statue in front of him A figure in a voluminous cloak of pure darkness The figure sat on a common wooden stool The only details visible of the feature was the bottom of the face an expressive mouth hinting at a smile Then a hand of oily crystal with two fingers pinched around a pale needle The statue appeared to be sewing a human face

RandidlyÆs heart fluttered Between him and the statue one of those translucent veins stretched He felt a strange resonance he and this statue hummed in the same complicated cadence And once he had seen the first vein he saw a few others touching upon himself sinking into his images and Nether Cores

outside influence These are almost platonic ideals Or stories RandidlyÆs mind spun They possess both Aether and Nether but in an inert neat form And the amount of significance here Shit Those pieces floating where I entered this place in the depths of the sea Is this remnants of

The second increasingly apparent fact about his current existence derailed that thought All the surrounding statues seemed to shiver and pivot in his direction Randidly didnÆt see them move per se but every second he noticed different vein systems slinking into the area around him For the first time in a while he felt genuine fear They couldnÆt advance while he examined them but as his awareness rotated they seemed to creep closer and closer With the pressure of this place he couldnÆt look everywhere at once

The longer he lingered here the more those veins resembled fingers stretching toward his back And this time when he pivoted he froze The statue from which he had received the Cloak of Utter Night had straightened The shadows remained across the face but he had the distinct impression that it now looked at him

Its off hand had shifted so that it pointed to the needle it held pinched in its other hand The vein pattern between them pulsed sending an emotional message of reassurance And hope

Alright fine Randidly shivered unsure of what he had stumbled upon He looked and blessedly his Nether Core remained in the middle of his projection He looked at the statue in front of him at that unassuming needle During that brief moment of focus on the statue in front of him suddenly he felt completely surrounded translucent veins vibrating with their own frequencies pressing so close he could feel them all a droning hive of insidious influence

Gritting his metaphorical teeth Randidly looked at the needle Somehow he knew it wouldnÆt be enough just to grab the item The First Authority Seize

Then he hauled all of himself back through the small hole in his Nether Core

Chapter 2209

If Randidly thought that it was painful to swallow a planet while he had neared his interior spatial limit he was not prepared to force a needle to go through the imaginary hole in his Nether Core and be absorbed into his body

A lot of the sensations were the same the feeling of being filled to bursting the pressuring aches through his whole body the strange desperation of choking and being unable to do anything about it With his First Authority holding only to the offending piece of statue he just railroaded his body to flee before the encroaching reach of all those statues All that same potent Willpower he used to open up the door now crumpled himself into a ball and stuffed it through the exit

He slammed against a wall of himself as his Nether Core complained that the needle couldnÆt fit The AlchemistÆs Passport could work wonders with his awareness but his Nether Core noticed him trying to sneak in contraband RandidlyÆs eyes blazed He felt the possibilities laid out before him Somehow he knew it would be very bad to allow the hole in him to remain so swollen and open with all those veins reaching for him He needed to settle this quickly

His options were to abandon the needle from the statue or to rip a hole in his Nether Core Obviously neither of those were palatable

RandidlyÆs Nether Core seemed like a sun on the cusp of going supernova spinning so quickly it became luminous and fiery He looked decisively down at his SeizeÆd prize The Third Authority Intangible Burial You have no size

His Nether Core coughed and sputtered but he immediately felt the burden lighten He pulled as quickly as he dared everything squeezing through the imaginary hole in the Nether Core being refined by the process This time the size fit but the Weight of the needle continued to be a burden His Nether Core whined at the abrupt demands upon it Randidly pressed his lips together and just shoved

It only took a half second to force himself through but those moments left him agonized and nervous The needle carved a smoldering path through his psyche With his last bit of awareness he slammed closed whatever strange door he had made when he enlarged the opening in his Nether Core

He found himself on the hillside in the memory with the Upper Sonora the first sprinkles of rain hitting his face Notifications popped up in front of him

Congratulations You have condensed your Second Authority The Hollow Needle

Warning Unable to determine origin Foreign entity detected

Error cannot follow security protocols

Pantheon intervention Recalculating

The Hollow Needle A profoundly meaningful tool the second regalia of the Primordial Goddess Nyx With both user can channel some of her raw power into everyday activities Effect of this is currently unknown The Needle was used to sew together the Tapestry of the Sky as well as the Three Fates who oversaw the lives and deaths of all mortals Below the Pinnacle none can rival the particular power wielded by this needle With imagination it is possible to create any sort of future you desire

Oh err I well I mean my name

The guard standing on his knuckles came to the rescue of the flushing Colonel This is Colonel Domon Matteo A man of below average verbal ability but rigorous virtue and honor on the battlefield He has been tireless in the defense of Homewell And is in charge of the minor offensives to prevent a larger Nether Ritual from cracking us like an egg He welcomes you to Homewell

Devick smiled wickedly at the guard this individual she liked immediately And it was the strangest thing but the aura around him seemed vaguely familiar to her And what about you soldier Who might you be

A nobody The Homid proudly announced With delightful comedic timing another Homid individual loped his way out of the gate clutching a small pie in his arms He addresses his fellow animatedly Moish They were selling some of yesterdayÆs old pies for oh IÆm sorry Colonel I didnÆt mean to interrupt

No problem The Colonel said By this time his blush had crept up his pale skin until it reached the base of his blue grey hair He pivoted and smiled stiffly at Devick You have name too

It didnÆt sound like a question

HeÆs really not so bad Moish said apologetically Not usually

Devick waved a hand Well Moish the nobody let me ask you this what sort of individual are you Surely not the type with too tight a fist to share a slice of your stale pie with weary travelers here to reinforce the city

If you are free I can pie with you The words continued to tumble out of the ColonelÆs mouth with no oversight from a brain

Devick gave Moish a long look as though to say would you really leave me with this fool

The Homid scrunched up his face But in the end he relented And then relented again to give her a second piece of pie when Devick dramatically wheedled him over how horrendously hungry her assistant Lowanna was Lowanna rolled her eyes but remained silent as to where the pie was actually going to go

Devick waited until they went inside the city to eat half of LowannaÆs piece savoring the plundered treats And it was only once they had been settled by an aide that she realized that the blushing bumbling young man with blue hair wouldnÆt just be around but would be her commanding officer

Yup When they had set up in their new room Devick struck a pose with arms akimbo I guess I really will be the one who needs to save the day here

Chapter 2210

Randidly strode purposefully South the Cloak of Utter Night wrapped around his body to increase his speed He felt the slight uptick in efficacy of its space eating as he moved possessing both the Cloak and the Hollow Needle created a weird resonance as indicated by the notification from the Pantheon It didnÆt affect all of the Dread Homunculus just the Nyx related Skill Each step ripped through distance so that a mountain at the edge of the horizon found itself abruptly under his foot

With another step he was gone from the mountain range now standing at the edge of a placid lake But inside RandidlyÆs mind his thoughts whirled in a constant rotation he had so many new issues to consider An independent zone where icons of significance linger Not that it is actually within me but only connected through significance Then there is the influence of Nyx on this body although that effect should be diminished in the way the statue gave up the needle and allowed me to Seize Bah plus those translucent veins reaching for me once they became aware of my presence

Randidly shivered That impression I received from looking at the Statue of Nyx It purposefully gave me an opportunity to take this new Second Authority But why And why did all the other statues react when they noticed me If every Nether Core has within it a connection to that place well I doubt I would have been able to force my way through without the AlchemistÆs Passport I shouldnÆt have been able to go there

And most people wouldnÆt have been dumb enough to even try it Somewhere I bet Neveah is shaking her head

Almost frustrated with how much loomed before him Randidly paused and dragged a hand through his hair I didnÆt even have time to address all the distortions where the vein systems met or the fact the original position I entered that zone was surrounded by broken pieces of statue maybe the broken remnants of the statue that Pine would become

Or a statue representing the current Nexus

He huffed out a breath and took another step The mountains gave way to grasslands and sluggish rivers However there were networks among the different statues If each isolated universe becomes a statue in that area of significance then the actions of the Cult of the Savior begin to make more sense Trying to influence the Nexus isnÆt an isolated incident but part of a broader push to strengthen their ties to that place

What is the prize for that I wonder

However he quickly pushed those thoughts to the side He simply didnÆt know nearly enough to even hypothesize But also because Randidly had arrived at the edge of a vast scarred bowl of land that still had the smell of burnt flesh and iodine leaking up into the sky Image remnants and small whirlwinds of significance spun in and out of existence in the area The air felt heavy with the stench of blood

Randidly clenched both of his hands as he surveyed the impacted ground The dirt had been pressurized melted and also sundered This was where the leader of the Nether Horde had fought against Fatia Cerulean and won

As RandidlyÆs gaze wandered he found chunks of rotting flesh left in the shattered land The wind brushed lightly against the scent of death hanging over the area but couldnÆt get it to move And in this horrid place Randidly saw the fascinating dance of organic significance patterns evolving and mutating at a visible pace In a way similar to the otherworldly radiation released by the Stillborn Phoenix the violence of that battle would linger on the ground sinking deeper into the geography and nudging its environment in the future

The bones of an unconscious Nether Ritual had been carved into the soil Now it just needed time to solidify and grow

The significance of this place became a wound on the history of the Aetherlands from which Randidly could see vibrancy and meaning seeping The shape became less important as Nether triumphed over Aether He narrowed his eyes as he studied the currents in the sky in a very real way Aether and Nether were fighting for the soul of the Nexus likely the soul that would develop within Pine

All the while the Cult of the Savior waits in the background ready to swipe the prize Randidly bit his lip and tore his gaze away from the sky Although he wanted to linger for a bit longer and study the significance he felt the climax approaching in the South Soon the Nether forces would encircle Cerulean City and force a fight

Congratulations Your Skill Methodical Recalibration has grown to Level 396

Devick licked her lips Some part of her felt like what she was about to say was unreasonable but another part preened and danced embracing the impulse LetÆs climb out the back window into the alley Quick you go first

Are you serious Lowanna grumbled but she allowed herself to be dragged along When another knock came at the door the two had already hopped out into the shadowy lane between theirs and other military lodgings

Devick suppressed a giggle and moved on her tiptoes down the lane until they reached a main street of Homewell Although it was late Turtlelines continued to wander around in the area chattering about mundane nothings Very purposefully acting like the city wasnÆt under siege Only amongst them did that strange panic begin to ebb

You really hate art Lowanna complained But you know

An oppressive image settled over both of their shoulders DevickÆs hackles rose immediately and she spun around The Turtlelines that had been present in the area fell immediately silent in their conversations then hurried away with their heads lowered Lowanna made to follow but Devick shook her head minutely

Her instincts were sure this horrible specter was here for them

Congratulations Your Skill Methodical Recalibration has grown to Level 401

The figure walked with echoing footsteps down the lane With eyes narrowed Devick pulled out a flare and twisted off the top with enough force to ignite it However when she threw the item up into the air to attract attention from the city authorities the figure threw out a punch that obliterated the bright light of the flare A frown covered her face but she pulled out another flare without any hesitation The end of the tossed stick sputtered out sparks for another second before a second punch annihilated it

Her heart began to race Devick ground her teeth and pulled out a third flare Next to her LowannaÆs eyes widened heÆs here for me isnÆt he

Why would anyone care Devick snapped off her words realizing simultaneously that what she was about to say would come across as cruel and that the whole reason she had met Lowanna had been because a mysterious woman related to Nether King Hungry Eye had passed her off giving some vague story about escaping from pursuit DevickÆs face screwed up trying to take the measure of the figure walking purposefully toward them

When the figureÆs features resolved themselves Devick felt surprised to see that the individual seemed more exhausted than anything else He approached while absentmindedly rubbing his knuckles Give me the Nether Arbiter and this will be over quickly I mean neither of you any harm

DevickÆs eyes widened in surprise I know you You are the one they call Elhume correct You are a friend of Nether King Hungry Eye

For a second the figure Devick had glimpsed briefly at the Nether KingÆs farm faltered Yet then his gaze grew heavy we are acquainted But I would hesitate to call us anything more than that Now donÆt Elhume punched out again blasting the flare Devick had just lit to pieces only a short distance from her hand She blinked back tears from the concussive smack that hit her face With bloodshot eyes Elhume barred his teeth try that again IÆm not here to play around SheÆs coming with me with you alive or just as a pulped corpse in front of me

Chapter 2211

DevickÆs jaw ached from clenching as she faced off against Elhume and his fists All her instincts screamed for her to run but even that seemed impossible with his image clenching down across the street Every other individual had been repulsed by his image and left the two women alone in some corner of Homewell a city bottled up for a month The incident would likely be reported but how strong of a response team would they send for a minor disturbance like this And this man

He really could kill me Devick sucked in a breath tight against her teeth Her heartbeat began to quicken Her whole body pulsed with it tucked away instincts coming alive Only the choker around her neck seemed solid a weight grounding her in the face of this threat

Devick felt something strange beginning to stir within the Class she had received from the associates of Nether King Hungry Eye

Her frown rapidly dissipated and a positively dopey grin spread slowly across her face Her palms tingled and a very strange thought occurred to Devick Is this why Nether King Hungry Eye does it To feel so alive like this

Elhume took several more steps forward and Devick automatically stepped in front of her manacled companion and struck a fighting pose Elhume loosed a long breath through his nose His impatience wafted off of him If you do not step aside I will strike And how can you protect her she is the enemy

Finally the repeated label of Lowanna as the Nether Arbiter sank into DevickÆs mind even through the haze of adrenaline mania She briefly glanced over her shoulder trying to picture this calm and dutiful woman as the violent adversary as painted by so many of the rumors in the Aetherlands As the cruel hand that pointed toward cities and loosened the violent dogs of Nether to plunder Lowanna met her gaze with worried eyes Her hands were tightly clasped in front of her She seemed so stiff and fragile pale and vulnerable

In the end Devick straightened and resumed her antagonistic stance opposite Elhume without any regrets Because when she had met the other womanÆs eyes she had seen helplessness The sort of helplessness that reminded of Devick of her own life before she had met Nether King Hungry Eye

I protect her because sheÆs a friend Devick announced No matter what she might have been what matters is what she is now No matter her dubious taste in art

Elhume narrowed his eyes and smacked his fists together erasing DevickÆs attempt at levity His suffocating image exploded out of his body and almost made Devick stagger backward

You donÆt have to do this Lowanna pleaded over DevickÆs shoulder at Elhume

I really do The drawn expression returned to ElhumeÆs face Devick could almost see raw image power pumping through his arms and inflating his muscles until he buzzed with enough juice to throw a fist a knock down a building You have something I need very very badly to save my family Nether Arbiter If you will not agree to work with me I must rely on blunt instruments to compel you

I do not know what they have told you Lowanna responded quickly But your son is the Nexus What you seek is a threat to him He is growing into his own as we speak imprinting off of all the lives of all the people within him The actions and growth the wars and transformations all of those small steps comprise his journey For him to reach maturity and stabilize the Nexus that is an occasion worth celebrating

Elhume snarled You believe my son being erased is worthy of celebration

Erased is the wrong way to think about the transition After all has he ever been conscious like us flawed beings of Aether or Nether Pine can become the fabric supporting all of us Lowanna pleaded Devick remained frozen wondering what exactly these two were talking about You have experienced it have you not His glorious but constant expenditure of energy is exactly why the Shallah are mostly extinct in the wider universe They burn brightly but briefly Him becoming the universe is the way for his power and personality to remain as a constant force for good That is how a Shallah may love

You would have my son built around you like a house You would rest on him like he was furniture ElhumeÆs eyes burned A dead thing an object for you to use at your leisure All his other potential obliterated railroaded by the constant need No I will not allow it T/his chapter is updated by

The pillar collapsed with a single touch but the Nether Arbiter had vanished A new pillar sprung up next to the furred figure She smiled at Elhume I say again Take this opportunity to flee Otherwise you will be trapped here

You know nothing ElhumeÆs face became oddly blank And while emotion no longer animated his stiff features it continued to pulse and swell beneath his skin within the confines of his muscles If I utilize my full might for even a second all of you will be

Power blossomed around the furred womanÆs body Where both she and Elhume had been restricting their images she uncorked her ability A natural wave of life giving energy geysered up and spread its influence From it Devick could sense the deep blood and flesh of consumed bodies within the ground but also the pure force of life they would become This womanÆs image was one of growth and slow transitions in a beautiful cycle

Almost immediately alarms around Homewell began to sound

Oh you sneaky bitch Devick cackled

For several precious seconds ElhumeÆs eyes bulged he had assumed he had all the power Likely even better than DevickÆs limited senses could determine the new interloper was much much weaker than Elhume Obviously quite a bit more powerful than Devick but nowhere near enough to actually protect Lowanna As such he hadnÆt considered her an actual threat

Except she didnÆt need powerful enough to stop him Just powerful and foreign enough to grab the attention of someone who would

Suddenly all of ElhumeÆs vicious certainty snapped back into place His image blasted out from his body socking an unsuspecting Devick in the mouth and pummeling the muddy and layered aura of life the furred woman released He took a step forward a thunderous wrath shaking his limbs All he had to do was throw a punch and they would all break and die

Yet he hissed out a curse already powerful individuals had fixated on the confrontation and sped across the sky above Homewell to their position

I will never forget this Elhume hissed his eyes locked on the furred woman He stomped his foot and vanished several of the nearby houses partially collapsing into the street

As soon as he disappeared the furred woman keeled over sideways A still groggy Devick staggered uncertainty in her direction but Lowanna moved much more quickly going to her side and kneeling next to her Miss your arm oh god whatÆs happening to you

After a groan the woman spat to the side ItÆs not as bad as it looks IÆll heal up quickly Blocking that first attack took more than I want to admit I had to bluff my way forward so I replaced some of my damaged flesh with mud Heh IÆm glad it looked convincing

When Devick made it to the woman she drew back with a gasp almost the entire left side of the furred womanÆs torso turned to mud and crumbled away Soon it revealed a massive leaking wound of torn flesh than ran from her midsection up to the hollow of her shoulder

Who are you Devick whispered Above them several of HomewellÆs most powerful warriors moved to land A few streets over the shouts and marching of soldiers could be heard

The woman lifted her chin pride suffusing her expression The Knight of the Ghosthound reporting for duty wherever he calls

Chapter 2212

Charlotte Wick had a rough few months that led her to this point propping herself up with conjured lifemud and bluffing her way through a confrontation with Elhume

It had come after the most depressed and hollow stretch of her existence but that didnÆt make it any easier

Only begrudgingly the Ghosthound had acknowledged her request to be his Knight and immediately threw her to the dogs in this case the maniacal DiOrtho Vant Who due to CharlotteÆs desperate inclusion of HelenÆs bloody image inside her Primal Force had seen her image degenerate into a surge of bloody power in the final match of the Tournament in Expira and knew she couldnÆt survive like this

And VantÆs best strategy for helping her find her new image footing seemed torture and ridicule

What pissed Charlotte off even more was that it had worked Out of the GhosthoundÆs sight and with the talented Alana Donal as a sparring partner she had worked tirelessly dragging herself back to relevance

HelenÆs bloody power had seeped into the same image ground on which her Primal Force had died as she failed to find a shape to contain it For a few days her physical training sessions turned listless thinking she had broken all of her accumulation for nothing She had barely even heard VantÆs constant litany of insults so deeply she had sunk into her funk

She found herself deeper and deeper in the dirty slog of her life Where her dreams and greatest desires had withered and died With each motion seeming to earn her nothing

Yet to her surprise the more time she spent down in the mud the more she felt something shifting down under the surface in response to her efforts Some life seeped back into her limbs The exact shape still felt like a mystery to her but HelenÆs blood and the bones of her Primal Force had mixed together into a rising Hallowed Ground a heartbeat of the deceased underneath her feet grasping up through the mud

Once she had made this discovery her power rapidly returned Within a week she was incomparable to who she had been during the challenge tournament The raw power of her image only increased a small amount but the defense and pervasiveness of her Hallowed GroundÆs mud made even Vant rip out his hair in frustration

She felt confident she would become an able Knight of the Ghosthound

She could never be Helen but she could find her own purpose so long as she developed this power

So two months after her training began and about a month since Randidly had left for the Upper Sonora she felt like she was making progress That was when the entire Nexus shook People everywhere including the Rally Station on which Raymund Ballast trained the Vulpis Squad looked up and saw the sky breaking as the Sonara began to shatter

Usually only visible to those who had earned Tier 3 Citizenship the cataclysm broke down the barriers between the tiers Or perhaps more accurately the devastation knocked down the divider letting everyone witness the horrifying event

A bleak chrysanthemum of destruction blossomed above the Nexus Instantly all the factions with any power mobilized their troops to surround the collapsing building Military High Command rushed forward with all its force to monopolize the area although its maniacal Actus Suprem Devick was nowhere to be seen

It was hard to tell whether they rushed into place to assist anyone escaping the Sonara or capturing them but the tension was high as more and more of this suddenly visible tower began to crack and fall Almost simultaneously a request thrummed directly through CharlotteÆs existence pulling her to the GhosthoundÆs side After a quick report to Raymund Charlotte accepted

She had found herself pulled into a strange flat land with constant storms thundering overhead and a massive blazing ball of energy that was not a star hanging above them all The Ghosthound serious faced and focused had given her a short recap of several ominous facts she barely had time to acknowledge i e that they were inside an alternate timeline of the Second Cohort investigating what happened in the Nexus in the middle of the largest war between Aether and Nether that the universe had ever seen

Then he had pointed her to the Southwest where he asked her to go intervene in a vague event centering around Devick

As such you will be held here until he comes before this tribunal and accepts our justice The Turtleline on the right added a great deal more waspishly

Charlotte simply nodded her head amused at the thought of the Ghosthound accepting these peopleÆs justice I will pass the word along

Apparently agreement and acceptance had not been what these individuals had been expecting because the left Turtleline cleared her throat the central figure excused themselves for the moment and then had a heated discussion in the hall about whatever infernal trap this Nether Spy is weavingÆ Charlotte closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall behind her

She even began to doze because suddenly the three Turteline judges were back in the room The central one cleared his throat You will be placed in strict solitary confinement Due to the known guile of Nether Beings the Lifeseal shall be constantly active around your body You will not be able to escape do not even consider it And should you make any sort of attempt

The female Turtleline on the left laughed cruelly the noise heavy with implications But Charlotte didnÆt miss the fact that no one present actually vocalized the threat She suppressed a twitch of the mouth Well seems like they fear Randidly enough they wonÆt actually attack me unless they feel its necessary

Again a few more stammered threats and promises were said as Charlotte simply nodded and allowed herself to be led away Her body and image steadily recovered while her captorsÆ dithered before finally depositing her into a rather nice if small room in the deep catacombs beneath Homewell As promised Charlotte could feel the constant hum of the massive barrier around the city squeezing her cell Her small attainments with Nether were completely suppressed but she didnÆt mind that much

Well well A lifeseal CharlotteÆs eyes glittered Time to pull a page from the GhosthoundÆs playbook and milk these people for all they are worth

Fatia Cerulean lay in his opulent personal quarters propped up by silk and chick feather pillows His heavy talons massive skull and aura of blue fire seemed as hale and domineering as ever but a deeper inspection revealed cracks in his carefully constructed facade His image remained chaotic the lingering wounds from his battle continuing to tug at his awareness Focusing was a painful affair leaving Cerulean mostly to stare idly at the ceiling

His beloved army was in an even worse state When the balance had begun to turn against him in the horrid fight with his foe he was forced to rely on some of the experimental resonance images he had implanted in his trusted guard He had bought his passage out from that battlefield with the lives of his finest subordinates Cerulean now sat in his keep the dregs and cowards at the walls overmatched and outnumbered by the Nether Host marching toward his position

Word had spread and reinforcements would be coming but he knew that they wouldnÆt arrive quickly enough to matter Right now he was at his most vulnerable

Yet his original self remained within the isolated space of his trophies Not that Cerulean had faked his injuries but it would certainly simplify matters if he could eradicate this lingering threat and focus on that damned Nether Herald

I held back just slightly But he didnÆt just slightly defeat me Cerulean clacked his jaws together The motion was enough to earn him a headache However dire situations squeeze out potential Desperation will sharpen my insights so long as I have time

As though sensing the hope in CeruleanÆs thoughts a clatter of footsteps could be heard outside of his chamber A soldier knocked several times on the door Lord Cerulean We have the most recent report on the Nether army

Fatia Cerulean growled and pushed himself up off the cushions TheyÆve arrived

No sir They appear to have stopped and set up camp At first we didnÆt understand so we scouted especially heavily in the surrounding area As far as we can tell they are setting up an ambush For a force heading from the North

CeruleanÆs eyes glittered Some extra breathing room Intriguing The Nether Herald should know how dire my situation was what sort of prey is important enough to let a shot at me pass by

Chapter 2213

Step after step Randidly devoured the distance on his journey South Above the swirl of consequences goaded him forward hinting at a rapidly approaching event An event Randidly didnÆt quite understand and didnÆt quite have a good response to

He looked up always up tracing the bones of what would soon happen Yet within those subtle reverberations he found no clues about his own response As events tumbled toward the climax of the Second Cohort Randidly felt uneasy as he tried to grasp at what exactly was happening across the Nexus The war was too big and too unwieldy for him to follow it all

However he made more progress in other areas The Cloak of Utter Night gradually acclimated the right sort of emotional affect just from constant use on the journey A wistful yet firm grip on reality achieved the best result As though Randidly acknowledge reality and the influence it exerted on him but he refused to surrender that last shred of control that would allow it to completely affect him

Congratulations Your Skill Cloak of Utter Night has grown to Level 961

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 993

A tingle ran through the cloak a hint of the danger he rushed toward However Randidly ignored it after all he only needed to look up with his consequences vision to see the way the sky was crumpled and folded by the events about to occur

The entire memory seemed poised over a precipice and Randidly felt frustrated that he wasnÆt exactly sure what event would send them all over the edge Neveah hadnÆt yet discovered the source of the tension in the East but RandidlyÆs thoughts moved to CharlotteÆs brief report Elhume went after Devick Or attacked Devick while she was in the way The only explanation I can think of is he acted as a way to get back at me for not helping with the Arbiter kidnapping but

RandidlyÆs expression became stormy Well if he is lashing out now the result must not have been what he hoped for

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 994

This time when the notification came along with a meaningful twitch from the cloak Randidly took notice Especially because of how quickly two Levels arrived for such a high Level Skill while he was ostensibly just hurrying South He paused in his steps finding himself on the edge of a plateau and looking down at a large stretch of fertile lowlands that had been trampled to mud and hell by the passage of the Nether army This was likely the edge of CeruleanÆs domain A dense contour map arrayed itself in front of Randidly made of condensed Nether and consequences that flickered and twirled in the sky

A deliberate facade Randidly clicked his tongue in distaste Once he knew to look for the pattern he saw the way most of the dense confusion was artificial Either the Nether army possessed enough hardworking Nether Heralds they maintained an almost constant obscuring aura which Randidly couldnÆt quite rule out or he had a welcoming party waiting for him

Randidly grimaced Both the Stillborn Phoenix and the Dread Homunculus urged him to charge directly forward and breakthrough whatever waited for him but the part of him more aligned with Yggdrasil warned how foolish that would be

ItÆs been a while since IÆve felt my limits RandidlyÆs eyes blazed as he took another step and moved into the lowlands Within a few more steps the Nether pressed more tightly around his body and squeezed at him On the fourth step he felt the Nether Ritual snap into place around him rising and tugging at him with a domineering tide

Blunt methods will not always save you Nether King Hungry Eye The voice of Enmya rumbled out and his Nether Core separated Randidly blinked trying to follow the separation and segmentation of the Nether Core All the while the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil looked at Randidly with a smoldering gaze expelling more and more dense energy into the surroundings Existence is not an experience of fulfillment and justice To live and love is the choice to embrace the bleak and consistent disintegration of those aspects you have embraced To hold is to eventually lose

You have taken much from the world Soon those gifts will be confiscated

As the Nether from this ominous figure spread out to cover the area the rest of the Nether Warriors backed away giving him space The horrifying sense of density opened up as the segmented Nether Core continued to come apart Randidly watched the whole process in fascination at the way Enmya had created inorganic patterns and layered his Nether Core like a bricklayer assembling a house And now the house heaved itself out of its foundations and expanded deploying itself into an autonomous missile defense system

Orbs of Nether Weight flame popped into existence as the mechanisms of this beingÆs Nether Core began to settle into a new articulation Dense plates of flattened significance condensed in the air and began to rotate around Enmya with small spurts of flames of Nether Weight around their edges The consistent blasts of significance up from his person added a constant layering of new Nether More than ever the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil resembled a man who had become a veritable mountain of Nether

The chunks of significance that had separated soon wiggled and reshaped themselves into snake like symbols looping and twisting bits of history that radiated power Lines of burning black wicker floating in a purple haze More and more pieces popped off of Enmya the oppression of his Nether density vanishing but instead replaced with a horrible grinding as the pieces rotated around him

Most alarmingly RandidlyÆs Nether began to break down underneath the pressure from all these churning pieces Even his images began to shrink before this unfolding monstrosity The haze seemed outward turning the surrounding Nether Warriors into vague silhouettes Randidly gritted his teeth a realization hitting him as he looked at the black twists of the symbols as they continued to seeth this isnÆt just your Nether Core You hold pieces of others

These are the ghosts of our ancestors The Sovereign of the Breathless Vigils admitted His gaze flicked sideways to the Nether Herald who had said his name who now scowled toward the ground Most hate that I have liberated these from the tomb from which all black wicker springs They represent a different time in Nether history before the Arbiter was anointed And yet the scriptures of my people are very clear Certain actions are forbidden but mine are not These pieces cannot be born by Nether Warriors by Nether Kings nor Nether Heralds

Suddenly Randidly could see the sculpted remnants of ancient Nether Cores in these shifting symbols expanding and intensifying the influence of this being From his true Nether Core which seemed small and pale in comparison to the mountain of energy surrounding him Enmya released a signal that was picked up and intensified by each all in a unique way The ripples blasted out of each symbol in complex and conflicting patterns yet the individual symbols were arranged in such a way that by the time conflicting patterns reached each other they had been softened to the point they could slip past each other without any dangerous reactions

How Randidly released a breath genuinely admiring The gorgeous balance he witnessed was almost enough to distract him from the mountain of significance heaving itself off the ground and preparing to charge him

If anything the look of hollow pain deepened on EnmyaÆs features at the question My teacher has a defter hand than any to have ever walked across the surface of this world Now come Nether King Hungry Eye Receive your reckoning

A massive chunk of Nether history of its greatest warriors poets and leaders sang a song of destruction as the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil began to walk forward

Enmya moved slowly but carved his inevitability into the fabric of existence with every step

RandidlyÆs eyes glittered as he gathered his three images together His image physicalizations condensed across his body forming into a new formation as the Dread Homunculus became a part of his repertoire He wore a cloak of night revealing only his eyes From those emerald lines wriggling golden roots stretched outward suffusing the interior of the cloakÆs hood with brightness His left hand housed a portal to the abyss devouring light energy and even significance

When it comes to ghosts Deep within the shadows of his cloak Randidly barred his teeth The two Regalia of Nyx resonated with each other upping the efficacy of his images He stretched out his arm and Acri straightened into its new more compact form Specters flickered through each movement I donÆt think I will come up short

Chapter 2214

RandidlyÆs emotional sea rose in response to his need Emotions flooded through his body desperation fear anger hatred and a pure admiration for violence These spun together in a whirlwind like form eventually each emotion settling down and siphoning off to the image it most matched with

Enmya walked forward his symbols orbiting around his body like a black wicker posse protecting a celebrity Randidly moved to meet him spinning Acri feeling SulfurÆs Combat Furnace activate But even though RandidlyÆs body had been repeatedly reinforced with Nether his skin began to smolder and burn underneath the energy released by this strange being

The purple black mountain of Nether in front of him seem so high he felt like he should be able to see the Pinnacle from the top More rolled down the surface every second spewed out and intensifying the hurdle Now he just needed to carve a path

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 999

With narrowed eyes Randidly followed the flows of energy Compared to the dense and violent energy patterns coming out from the symbols the original note from EnmyaÆs own Nether Core felt much more manageable A smile crossed RandidlyÆs face as he squeezed his spear LetÆs check whether the blunt approach really wonÆt work

For the first time Randidly pulled his three images together in a single activation each shimmering with their emotional affect Each with a thick river of Nether flowing through them image and history working in tandem Cloak of Utter Night Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil Diffracted Corruption from an Avaricious Impossibility

The three images burned with power The combined activation missed slightly Randidly couldnÆt quite balance the aggressive new Dread Homunculus compared to the others But he had plenty of experience utilizing simultaneous activations and the attempt didnÆt fail So he rushed forward cloaked in darkness driven by the powerful physique of Yggdrasil To fight against the radiation of this strange Nether Apparatus Randidly released his tight grip on the corrupting power of the Stillborn Phoenix

He blazed with the invasive light of an alien animus shredding the nearby Nether simply with sheer incompatibility

The edges of the event horizon on his left hand trembled sending liquidized light rippling outward It was a mouth that wanted to curl into a gleeful smile while also hungrily sucking down as much as it could manage Strange chaotic ripples buzzed out from RandidlyÆs hand as he pounced into the edges of EnmyaÆs Nether mountain

He crashed against the edges earning a pounding headache as tight bands of significance wrapped around his body while simultaneously scratching at his psyche His radiation might have sheered through the new layers dripping down the mountain with every eruption but the dense energy around the black wicker symbols had more spin With a growl Randidly tore his way directly through the physical impediments and shoved his images forward But the pulsing effect of EnmyaÆs zone strengthened with each step

Even worse than the pain was the silence Randidly felt abruptly underwater after he forced his way into the layered Nether with only the buzzing chords of the symbols around him

You are a minor individual in a universe beyond your understanding EnmyaÆs vicious eyes closed briefly as his voice cut through the silence The signal from his Nether Core shifted The different sigils hanging in the air began to shift slightly most of them drifting in RandidlyÆs direction like the tips of icebergs poking out into existence dragging behind them huge masses of significance Chance has conspired to give you a poor understanding of your situation some tests are impossible that is simply life It is just a matter of how long you can live in ignorance before you limits are revealed

Randidly gritted his teeth He felt even the Cloak of Utter Night resonating with his Second Authority to possess power beyond understanding beginning to shrink back The Nether mountain was so dense such a solid edifice it simply endured RandidlyÆs images without response So he physically churned through the energy slashing with Acri and moving into the small flawed energy

Enmya studied him as he continued to stomp his way forward Likely I will spare you once your primitive Nether Core has been broken You can start again following a more enlightened path

Congratulations Your Skill the Cloak of Utter Night has grown to Level 975

Congratulations Your Skill Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil has grown to Level 936

Two three four five six waves of specters came into being struggling to follow his movements with their clumsy and misshapen limbs Opposite him EnmyaÆs eyes opened as though realizing Randidly hadnÆt simply capitulated and allowed the lesson to be delivered unto his body Almost simultaneously a bit more of those strange discordant notes pressed through RandidlyÆs defensive images and reached his Nether Core From within the core of his bleak mountain of energy the Sovereign wasnÆt idle

A silent vigil it might be but not a casual one

The light from the emerald blaze of RandidlyÆs gaze brightened He wants to bring my Nether Core into alignment Pull it into this fucking symphony and grind it to dust

Not that knowing would help Randidly stop it It just meant his resolve to shred this strange Nether Domain intensified Once his shifting movements had created eleven flailing waves of movements he refined each gesture into a series of repeated overlapping motions Standing under the Cloak of Utter Night he became a faceless force that waved a thousand arms grasped with ten thousand claws

Congratulations Your Skill Erebus Baleful Waltz has grown to Level 996

Congratulations Your Skill ErebusÆ Baleful Waltz has grown to Level 1001

He found the thin fault lines between consequences and lashed out Hallucinations of the Bloodless Heart Darkness Withers the Horizon and the Carrion Stirs The Wrathful Calamity Rends

His three images came together perfectly The dark specters of ErebusÆ Baleful Waltz were hallucinations but the Stillborn Phoenix armed them with need and the vicious blades of gravitational force Empowered by the image they surged like an army within his form aspects of darkness that touched and stilled EnmyaÆs core signal

Congratulations Your Skill Darkness Withers the Horizon and the Carrion Stirs has grown to Level 950

And once the churning waves of significance stilled those thousands of hateful hands could rend open the flaws

For a split second the heavy silence remained likely the oppressive reason Enmya had been called the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil crouching across the whole volume of his energy mountain But then the bubble popped Then Randidly heard the sounds of his own breath the buzzing presence of the sigils the mutter and whispers of the nearby Nether Warriors The working had been broken with this Nether Core not yet infected by whatever insidious energy Enmya wielded

Randidly pounced forward toward EnmyaÆs body he had rent apart the opponentÆs ability but all the sigils lingered in the air He didnÆt want to waste any more time His fingers tightened around AcriÆs shaft and he gathered his images for a thrust

Enmya shook his head almost sadly As expected you dig your own grave

RandidlyÆs skin crawled just as unpleasant a sensation as the caustic Nether gnawing at him Wrapped in a cloak of night he jittered sideways out of the way as a concentrated beam of Nether aimed to pierce his heart

His eyes fixated on one of the black wicker sigils which blazed with flames of Nether Weight now that the Nether Mountain had fractured around him It had been the first but soon the score of others in the surrounding space also began to shimmer with power Small seeds of Nether Blasts formed around the symbols as they drifted closer their harsh notes tearing at the air

Chapter 2215

The black wicker symbols gathered their foul energies but Randidly just laughed

With sound restored around him he felt incredibly light and potent His body ached from forcing his way forward through the Nether mountain but he could twitch now and vanish from his current position to another The Cloak of Utter Night wrapped reassuringly around his body making the possibility of harm even more remote

Still his defensive barrier didnÆt prevent him from half stepping several times in quick succession avoiding further blasts from the black wicker symbols They drifted closer making the possibility of dodging more fraught as their volleys came in tighter clusters

A glimmer of understanding emerged in Randidly as he scanned around ElhumeÆs future locked inside an entire mountain range of crystalized Aether Enmya is in the beginnings of a Nether equivalent Either power pushed to extremes without the other results in being just as restricted as you are empowered by the abilities you wield The damage they can create is massive but to activate them is unwieldy

However he couldnÆt consider that further Each moment without the Nether Mountain pressing on them the symbols began to move more quickly their harsh energies lashing out even more wildly in the air Their influences conflicted with each other but they didnÆt appear to notice They were locked in on RandidlyÆs position hunting him while the wolfman stood solemnly and watched

In the end Enmya was the problem Without him the rest would fall into place

Randidly spun Acri quickly and settled into a low stance weight balanced on the balls of his feet Tension hummed through the muscle fibers of his legs taut with readiness His eyes gleamed the thin golden tendrils stretching out like laugh lines around his gaze from the depths of the hood

In the brief moment of stillness the other half of the Dread Homunculus rose to the fore It was an artificial being created for its incredibly resilient body but also because of the computational power it wielded The successor of the primordial goddess of night who understood the universe deeply enough to weave the fates into existence A designed being able to channel the vast information available in an entire world

The image looked at the small hurdles arrayed in front of him and smirked

Six concentrated blasts of Nether shot toward RandidlyÆs back from various directions Perhaps even more dangerously several of the further away symbols released discordant vibrational notes to infect his Nether Core These traveled in the shadow of the damaging beams bouncing off of each other at unpredictable angles

RandidlyÆs smile stretched wider and wider The Dread Homunculus devoured the small details tracing the path of every threat aiming for his life He hopped quickly over the first few blasts paused to allow several notes to smash together in front of him and dissipate harmlessly then lowered his head and blasted forward

He flicked Acri left and right creating waves of specter attacks that he manipulated into alignment as he shot ahead Two beams attempting to stop his advance shattered when ten thousand strong attacks met in a single point right at their exact weakness All the information and more poured through RandidlyÆs sizzling mind fed to him through his many awareness The base of his spine began to burn even his reinforced nerves straining underneath the load

Congratulations Your Skill Motif of Unimagined Tolls has grown to Level 1025

Congratulations Your Skill Infinite Incendiary Filaments of the Dove Moirae has grown to Level 1135

His mouth twisted into a frown Perhaps the real threat were their infectious notes he felt his Nether Core thrumming and rotating constantly but the sensations were jumbled He probably wouldnÆt notice any damage to it until it was too late

The wolfman saw his hesitation and recalibration and rushed forward with claws raised However a smile broke out across his face This is likely a pretty effective method to smother Aether users nameless images lose their shape pretty quickly Nether Kings too whose Authorities are very specific and need to be heralded

He reached for his Nether Core He pierced his way all the way through the thick spools of energy and the amorphous clusters of his authorities so mixed up by this aura and reached the foundation His gaze flickered as he touched the first of his three base desires Grow

His images didnÆt just have names just like his Authorities didnÆt just have functions They had whole identities

Behind him a massive tree exploded into existence Branches thick with emerald leaves stretched up while golden roots drilled down a simultaneous expansion in every direction The manifestation gobbled up space within the echoing vigilÆ created by the wolfman The leaves attempted to rustle but the strange underwater quality had the effect of deepening it

The tree rumbled buzzing against his skin And his Skills might not be able to have specific names but there were aspects to the treeÆs growth that were undeniably regal Liberated of logic and boundaries its perfection grasped at all the black wicker symbols and held them briefly immobile

The tree demanded their fealty For a few seconds they couldnÆt help but capitulate

He smiled wickedly at the wolfman snapping his spear into a ready stance He thrust forward and the wolfman attempted the same deflecting swipe But he had already seen this and flicked the spear around cutting a long gash across the wolfmanÆs forearm In the strange immersion without names the blood seemed to burn ruby It almost looked alchemic

He laughed as he shifted two his second foundational desire Show me the impossible

The lonely desperate beast lurking in the abyss reached for the surface The blood dripping from the wolfmanÆs arm inflated rapidly into the form of an egg The wolfman looked at it with widening eyes incredulous

Normally such a display wouldnÆt be possible When names and boundaries existed with more vehemence there were limits to how images could work But the wolfman had chosen to blur those lines hoping to lead to a collapse into wild chaos Unfortunately for the wolfman he had chosen an opponent that thrived on chaos

The blood egg popped A being that didnÆt exist yawned through the brief void birthed for the first time

Now that it had grabbed existence it knew true hunger

Chapter 2216

The Prophet sat alone in the cave the luminous waters of the scrying pool releasing their soft blue light across his face and the walls behind him The surface remained entirely smooth yet the movement within the depths kept shifting the radiance His mouth eyes pressed their limits together in disappointment seeing how far they had fallen in the last week

Ever since the Prophet had made the decision to deviate purposefully from the pattern considering their inclusion in some sort of reproduction of reality he felt sickened He bore this responsibility And even if it was what he believed to be correct it didnÆt make it easier to accept spiritually Purposefully he walked outside of the light It seemed better to do so than volunteer more information than necessary to Nether King Hungry Eye But now as events continued to spiral completely beyond what had been ordained

This is the fickle world they would choose rather than embrace the light Chaos organized around narcissism

The pool flickered and began to dissipate footsteps in the distance caused the Prophet to lose his concentration Annoyed he pushed himself back and said prayers of contrition until the acolyte arrived

The figure bowed The Prophet could tell it was a being long serving in their base due to the horrid smell wafting off of his unwashed robe The Sovereign of the Breathless Vigils has ambushed Nether King Hungry Eye Agents are in the area but the clash is powerful enough that we cannot ascertain how events are developing

What is your game Nether King Hungry Eye The massive eye on the ProphetÆs face bulged torn between fury and confusion Why do you insist on sewing chaos at every turn Perhaps you are not the dangerous one but it is the figure you will report to when you leave this reproduction Perhaps they seek to understand how we respond to twists in the plan I cannot waver Not now

I have heard your report You may go Very quickly the Prophet snapped up out of his reverie He spoke sharply when the acolyte didnÆt immediately leave

Still the acolyte remained bowed and released his nausea inducing smell Tension was obvious in its hunched body when it spoke Prophet I do not wish to intrude but you understand how serious this situation is Without our intervention the secondary plan will not come to fruition The moment of opportunity will pass And with ElhumeÆs failure the primary plan although it is known the Arbiter would not concede to our demands does not have any hope of working Their mistakes will drag us down with them out of the light I do not wish for my immortal soul to be forsaken just

The Prophet pressed his eye closed and saw the acolyte’s death When he opened the eye so it was with the body collapsed and blood frothing from his open mouth His organs had twisted themselves to pieces with such force most of the mucous membrane all simultaneously tore

The Cult of the Savior preached absolute obedience It was good to see that remained true despite this individual’s unacceptable boldness

Although the Prophet understood why doubts would have wormed their way in despite the rigorous recruitment process After all he now led the flock away from the plan in the absence of a true source of light And he was mortal fallible Weak even Theoretically he might have been corrupted

A shadow detached itself from the wall The acolyte deserved a harsher death than that Prophet For daring to speak out of turn The shadow resolved itself into a leather skinned Elephantine its long tusks sparkling brass For a second its long tongue unrolled itself stretching even longer than its thick trunk Then it flashed back into its mouth after plucking up the slightest taste of blood However this attitude is not uncommon amongst the rabble The flock is not happy This is outside the plan and they understand nothing but fear and light

This is not the time spoken of in the plan We are in a recreation Scythe I have told you this The Prophet responded firmly

Scythe shrugged Their casual impudence is only going to get worse too Because the Nether didnÆt have as many quick victories as predicted some of the deeper territories within the Nether Lands are going to send forces to become involved in the wars Those that long resented the ArbiterÆs influence Unlike the prophecy the Aetherlands will not have time to develop slowly They need power now And if they find it the Universe Soul

You would endanger our eternal paradise in reality to show lipservice to the light in this reproduction The Prophet demanded Knowledge gleaned here is relevant to the outside world We must do our part to protect our secrets We all are aware this is a war To lose is to be forsaken

Again the ScytheÆs only response was to shrug as the details of its body began to fade Soon it was a long shadow on a stretch of wall spattered with blood The monster in the East is growing too fast And should it gain absolute control within this reproduction well I suspect it wonÆt have any difficulty climbing back into the universe The unknown threat we have encountered here is dangerous I suppose but the light saw this being The light arranged for it to be eliminated This is known

The heart beatÆ released the silence of death and emptiness all that the image had been trying to escape but couldnÆt It was the designation of a heart that didnÆt exist or at least not in the shape commonly associated with hearts

It was the silence of a pine forest shivering on a night without wind hoping not to attract the attention of a stalking predator

The howling resumed more and more pieces of the opponentÆs ability being devoured The seed of darkness stabilized and grew less hazy and liquid light as the image stabilized Another pulse of oppressive silence erased all other activity allowing the image to take more bites of the world Its presence bubbled and stretched as it reached out for a concrete shape It hissed and spat eyeing the body of the wolfman with envy

His chest ached from housing the shifting image from fueling its transformation for housing it while it so rapidly began to approach a version of itself prowling through existence capable of acting independently He wanted to continue his assault but simply swayed

The wolfmanÆs eyes narrowed Around the Nether being a dense storm of Nether arrayed itself into a particular pattern suppressing the efforts of the image However the breadth of the image continued to expand From its original foundation it now grasped and took from the world to build itself a new life

The heartbeat of silence pressed close eager to escape into reality Blurred shapes undulated around the edges of the growing darkness the shadow cast upon space before the image stepped through the threshold While his image continued to shoulder its way through the restrictive layers of Nether He dodged sideways to avoid a few half hearted blasts of concentrated Nether from the symbols As the image moved through the dangerous transition His ability to move returned

This time the beatÆ arrived like clouds falling from the sky like withering flower petals

The world stalled briefly as the imageÆs heartbeat grew stronger Even He felt stranged paused and stifled by the being beyond existence being birthed in between the two combatants Floating there partway through a movement they all seemed like the tableau of a snow globe before being shaken

Then motion and sound came slamming back more huge bites taken out of the name suppression the wolfman wielded The Nether being unleashed an echoing growl one that resonated with the low thrum the symbols continued to blast out Meanwhile around the condensation of the void two tiny ugly little blobs popped into existence They mimed surprise with the swirling formation beneath them then pretended to play trumpets heralding the approach of something truly vicious into the world

He tightened his grip on his spear and shot forward in a gap between two Nether blasts Finally he had recovered enough to aim to inflict some more damage Edging around the swelling presence of his image He aimed to strike while the wolfman busied himself with layering Nether

The silence came again the enormous weight of the swelling image freezing them all For fully two seconds nothing moved It was a silence that He even remembered when he escaped the Dungeon and returned to his planet It was the silence of seeing a world that looked similar to what you had known but with its peace ripped out and tossed off a cliff

The power was obvious But the image continued to devour more energy engorging itself He felt his heart sinking observing the way the image inflated with this small foothold If you keep just devouring and inflating yourself like this

Apparently the wolfman saw the same weakness as He did because just as He launched himself forward with his spear raised the Nether Ritual tightened into a noose around the amorphous shapes of the image and the two ugly little heralds All at once the Nether not yet devoured tightened into a garote

The image began to howl the desperate sound of an animal with its leg stuck in a trap The foothold wavered and collapsed Which left the image partially stuck between here and there so busy building up its heartbeat that it became nothing but a heartbeat It had transformed perhaps but remained tragically short of what it desired Pain and sorrow mixed within the image as it struggled and thrashed but the moment had already passed

He narrowed his eyes careening toward the distracted Wolfman and ran him through His other two images surged forward crashing into his foeÆs body

and suddenly Randidly Ghosthound was back his emerald eyes glittering only a few inches away from the scowling Enmya With an expression of Willpower he suppressed the pain in his Soulspace and gathered back the disappointed and agonized pieces of the Stillborn Phoenix back to himself

Randidly barred his teeth You really shouldnÆt have done that

Chapter 2217

Neveah had been standing at the edge of the Eastern lands for almost two hours when she felt the horrifying pressure of silence coming from Randidly Immediately she broke out in a cold sweat as it spread through her a sudden winter chill across her existence this is what she had feared for years

The day Randidly had finally pushed himself too far too fast and vanished His life so precious and bright had been extinguished

Neveah couldnÆt breathe not with the horrible constricting silence creeping through their bond chilling her blood seeping life out from her veins Without Randidly she

Yet then the feeling vanished and Neveah was left blinking and gasping The sudden shift sent tremors through her body For several seconds she simply sucked in long breaths settling into hyperventilation as her confusion did very little to address the rising tide of panic and long suppressed fear But very obviously Randidly was still fighting on the other side of their Soulbond if Neveah closed her eyes she could practically see him their perfect connection giving him so much awareness about his motions and brutal economy of attacks

Then the silence came again a horrifying oblivion where he didnÆt seem to exist at all An awareness she had possessed for so long she no longer noticed it had been erased Neveah was ready for the phenomenon this time and tried not to dig her nails too deeply into the palms of her hand as she waited Blessedly the feeling passed awareness of Randidly returned And now that she paid close attention to the transition the sensation of absence wasnÆt even an external force The Stillborn Phoenix itself caused his brief annihilation the image consuming or perhaps containing its host during moments of expansion

Well I donÆt love that Neveah bit her lip and released a nervous laugh and tried to focus her eyes forward on her own task The Stillborn Phoenix would continue its weirdness Better to find a distraction

The Eastern Lands glistened in front of her verdant stretches of jungle floating crystal spires and huge systems of sulfurous mustard gasses that rose when affected by the ambient energy of the crystal spires and slunk against the ground as they cooled They formed ugly yellow arches drifting before the fickle nudging of the wind The East was a place of jungle deep darkness and gorgeous refracted beams of light

Yet NeveahÆs instincts warned her about going too deep too quickly There didnÆt seem to be anything strange about the energy but she felt uneasy She had been creating a Nether Ritual and an Engraving to protect her when the strange sensation had arrived from Randidly

You can do this Neveah We are bounded Just like he possesses your understanding you possess his spine Her teeth continued to press against her lip until she drew blood She felt so so hot sweating out the extra panic that had exploded in her when she thought Randidly had vanished from her life Aftershocks from the Stillborn PhoenixÆs antics continued to wash against her Besides your image has evolved just like RandidlyÆs has And while you might only have a single image to work on that means yours had received much more direct attention You can do this

She repeated the thought several times until she believed it

Neveah was about to move forward when she felt the Stillborn Phoenix shatter Not totally the image hadnÆt been destroyed but the amount of damage was alarming And she also could sense it had gained something incredibly valuable from its newfound abilities to leech silence and motion and even the appearance of life briefly from existence However it was wounded beyond easy repair leaving Randidly with Yggdrasil and his new Dread Homunculus for his clash

Swearing Neveah spun around Randidly is going to keep fighting not considering how much of his image physicalizations are based on the Stillborn Phoenix or the now defunct Dread Chimera Against the Nether King that double edged sword might not be enough He needs me

RandidlyÆs body sang with the joy of being able to go all out and test his new capabilities against a dangerous foe Only a few inches away Enmya the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil glared at him over Acri lancing through his side The Wolfman flexed and tried to bring his hands around to strangle Randidly but he simply smirked and knocked the attempts to the side

With viridian coals for eyes Randidly gave Enmya a long look Their two Nether forces struggled against one another the massive spurts of Nether coming out of his foeÆs body once more beginning to add up in the environment after the Stillborn Phoenix had sucked so much away The heat in his gaze was the reply to EnmyaÆs words the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil was strong too

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 997

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 1001

But did you really think a little pain was enough to stop me RandidlyÆs Willpower surged through his body Despite the suffering of the Stillborn Phoenix the Dread Homunculus urged him forward His concerted focus broke down the small impediments around his Nether and sent his core spinning once more He grasped at the surrounding energy but the opponentÆs energy was too dense and his Nether Core didnÆt have the momentum to activate the First Authority Instead Randidly settled for skipping forward and smashing a roundhouse kick into EnmyaÆs broken arm The ground collapsed beneath him and the Nether leader was thrown backward

More invasive notes knifed toward his back but Randidly cast a contemptuous glance over his shoulder He raised Sulfur and caught the notes They might be an energy variation of Nether but they possessed a kinetic aspect as well As such the living arm could consume it

Another small spike of RandidlyÆs left arm began to glow as a portion of its abilities was absorbed

Such was the force of the kick that the wolfmanÆs body pierced out of the Nether haze they had maintained around their fight crashing into his subordinates Randidly followed with the immediate harshness of a bolt of lightning using momentum and energy to blast away any assistance from his allies

A glance around informed him they hadnÆt exactly been idle while the duel had occurred several massive Nether Rituals loomed around their location

The damage to his Soulspace intensified and Randidly felt himself sinking into the thought processes of the Visage of Obsession to avoid any mental slowdown he couldnÆt afford to be distracted right now He was surrounded by threats but there was also an opportunity here He couldnÆt miss this shot at Enmya

RandidlyÆs existence was damaged but alight with passion as he touched his limits and pushed beyond them Randidly gleefully prepared to charge forward but before he could move Yggdrasil stirred

It spoke with a voice of balance and nurturing to nudge him out of the streamlined awareness into which he had been about to settle The World Tree looked at the squirming Stillborn Phoenix the Unborn Duo which looked legitimately fearful and the vicious drive of the Dread Homunculus that had fixated on an outside target when the problem was within The hatched egg confused and twisted in on itself trying to settle back to its shape but unable to incorporate what had shifted

Every moment he lingered here more of its vital essence leaked out of the Stillborn Phoenix

His face turned grave Yes Randidly could likely inflict serious damage on the opposition leader right now But it would come with a steep cost

Chapter 2218

Randidly stood frozen needing to make a decision within the next split second Even with his hyperactive nerves the opposition grew stronger with every moment Those huge Nether Rituals created by the army around him began to hum with power Dense Nether continued to fountain up out of Enmya building itself back up in the area RandidlyÆs chest ached Behind him the Nether symbols crept closer

To his surprise the decision came easily Even the Dread Homunculus agreed without difficulty And once he had focused on making sure the Stillborn Phoenix had the chance to recover safely he saw the way forward

He blurred into motion all shadow and purpose A thousand specters unified in purpose if not in action They split off from him and threw themselves into the gears of the giant Nether Rituals slowing their activation

Congratulations Your Skill ErebusÆ Baleful Waltz has grown to Level 1005

Right before Randidly landed in front of the thrown Enmya he gestured deftly behind him The Cloak of Utter Night expanded becoming a small buzzing dome covering his back The Nether symbols were preparing another wave of attacks on his Nether Core but the fabric of primordial night fluttered in defiance

After experiencing the wave of attacks several times in a row Randidly sensed the trick and could activate his own Nether at the point of contact to resist the effect It wouldnÆt be completely effective but the combination of both would definitely reduce the damage these interlopers could accomplish

At least in the short term And hopefully that would be all he needed

His gaze flicked up where the huge Nether Rituals still loomed Actually perhaps these big lugs will be useful after all

He moved quickly but the army following the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil were some of the strongest warriors from the Nether Lands The huge pillars of Nether power pushed back the haze giving them clear sight lights on Randidly While most stood at the base of their Nether Rituals and continued to feed energy through others began to throw bolts of energy

Randidly dashed forward once more closing the distance between himself and Enmya ignoring the wave of shouts and blasts of Nether that came from the army A complex pattern tumbled in his vision guiding him forward Wind howled around him reminding him briefly of the continued agony he housed Thinking of the Stillborn Phoenix he felt the flush of genuine fear He corralled kinetic energy possibilities and all the power he had inherited from his first knight He tried something new something magical something alchemic The World Tree Suffers Only Fealty NyxÆs Successor Births Fate HelenÆs Sea Cradle of Unlikely Lives

Releasing a breath Randidly pulled the two absorbed aspects out of Sulfur The Domain hummed with power even while the resistance of the environment faltered due to YggdrasilÆs domineering display His eyes blazed with a godÆs insight He saw the shapes and pathways that led toward life Like a conductor before his perhaps hostage orchestra Randidly raised his hand He licked his lips

When his Cloak of Utter Night rejected the notes several times in a row the Nether Symbols reverted to blasts of pure energy They started punching their way through the barrier but it was too late Randidly flicked his wrist His Nether Core had sufficiently recovered The Second Authority the Hollow Needle

A pulse from his Nether Core and the needle was there in his hand long and pale and resonating with his Cloak of Utter Night He peered at the two aspects he pulled out of Sulfur the degenerative Authority he had taken from the Nether King outside of Malloon and the insidious influence of damaging notes He looked up and examined all the energy rushing toward him Aether and Nether splashed together in a chaotic goop around his body He saw Enmya only a short distance away gnashing his teeth and flinching like he was about to attack

Then all at once the world seemed to explode

Even Randidly who had seen and designed the effect was blasted off his feet by the rapid expansion of Nether He tumbled helplessly wind and dust and roaring energy blinding him to his surroundings for several seconds He heard distant screams and yelps but the entire area was chaos Then he scraped along the ground which gave him a sense of direction Stabbing Acri into the ground allowed him to get his bearings

He had taken the degenerative authority and combined it with the harsh invasive notes and also some of the insights Randidly had received by opening the door to the sea and statues on the other side of his Nether Core Not that he wanted to create a sickness but he wanted an opening to the encirclement around him So he had created a pattern that would rapidly cause the volume of Nether to swell at the cost of density The process would continue until the Nether in the environment was nothing more than a thin gas