LoRG 5

Congratulations Your Skill Malice Hare of the Crimson Foot and Barbed Heart has grown to Level 391

Congratulations Your Skill Malice Hare of the Crimson Foot and Barbed Heart has grown to Level 429

Congratulations Your Skill Malice Hare of the Crimson Foot and Barbed Heart has grown to Level 430

I have not met Nether King Hungry Eye but certainly his brutality is widely acknowledged Anyway be ready We will not have much time for training once we reach the city The Nether Army nears as we speak The Squad LeaderÆs even expression didnÆt waver she did not express her disappointment But she moved smoothly away with twitching Vandla in her wake

A heavy lidded Devick felt the strange covering of her Grand Fate casting its gaze at her practically buzzing with the promise that she wouldnÆt be able to suppress it like this for forever A smile danced across her lips as she looked toward the horizon Her body felt vast unexplored and wild primordial and dangerous even while she gave her emotions time to cool

Her heart began to quicken She still felt those same feelings of inadequacy she had only run away a few days ago Yet now she headed right back toward Homewell

Toward a war the largest war ever conceived But also back toward Nether King Hungry Eye Toward the reason she felt so inadequate

Did you think of me while I was gone Devick wondered She pinched the flesh of her arm annoyed that the prospect of seeing him again gave her such a rush even though her mosquito brain had been in his presence and surly just last week

She smiled all the way back to Homewell

Chapter 2268

Randidly sat in a meditative position with his eyes closed With the window for his confrontation approaching he tried to squeeze every ounce of productivity he could out of the day Aside from a few half hour naps he took to replenish his mental energy he constantly honed himself

At dawn and dusk he manifested the World Tree When the light turned thin as it peaked over the horizon he created a giant spectral projection His veins burned emerald in his body He focused on Dawn Opens the Sky and Reality Stirs and Darkness Wither the Horizon and the Waiting Carrion Grins which were two Skills he intended to push up to Level 1000 to accomplish his 25th Mille

Light waxing and waning He intently watched each progression of radiance fixing the details in his mind to capture the details later while unleashing his Skills Most of the force of his images came from corralling the proper emotional notes but his powerful emotions also needed the proper vehicle to shine

During the day he created an onerous physical suppression system which the Dread Homunculus could handle with ease His muscles glistened with sweat as he worked his way through spear forms Sulfur and Acri humming with pleasure While the solid foundations of his body endured the strain and HomunculuiÆs Monstrous Tenacity ticked up he mentally prowled the limits of what was possible for him to accomplish seeking an answer to solving all his problems

He would advance grabbing any tools he could find to carve a Path forward To refocus his Fateset To rejuvenate the Egg of Depression To heal his Class

To make Deganawidah and the universe pay for refusing to permit the impossible

To tear down the System and erect a framework not so predicated on death and oppression

In the dark of the night RandidlyÆs attention turned to the Stillborn Phoenix almost entirely The wounded event horizon howled and wheezed when he conjured it still somewhat limping after sensing what it could be and them being undercut in the transition Randidly didnÆt mind its weakness as he manipulated gravitational fields He manifested the image through the ache causing even darkness to turn runny and insubstantial before the pull of the abyss which constituted its body

The eye of the Stillborn Phoenix opened warping all that had the misfortune to fall within its purview Part of it was the hunger that animated all of the Stillborn PhoenixÆs actions but whether he had intended it or not Deganawidah had drawn a stark line with his attempt to hurt Randidly The universe shivered in the presence of that wide eye sensing that lurking beyond it was a possibility it was unwilling to stomach

RandidlyÆs lip curled up to feel the rejection The less you want it the more you fear it the more impossible it will be to escape it

Congratulations Your Skill the Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe has grown to Level 971

Congratulations Your Skill Diffracted Corruption of the Avaricious Impossibility has grown to Level 981

Congratulations Your Skill the Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe has grown to Level 988

Occasionally over those frantic days he met again with Lowanna after his near impossible request to find a unifying pattern They didnÆt speak of it instead focusing on the movement of Nether between them

Despite her ominous words on their previous meeting Lowanna would continue to field large currents of Nether when they clashed By the beads of sweat that dotted her brow by the end of their sessions she had pushed her limits as far as they would go And each day she smashed his resistance to pieces even as he began to incorporate more organically the lessons he had learned from others

Randidly had assumed he would rapidly narrow the distance between their masteries of Nether but he had thoroughly underestimated the depth of her experience Each conflict she would shift her methodology once creating choppy waves of frigid Nether other times unleashing pattern spears that sizzled through his defenses In the breadth of Nether she wielded he could almost hear her constantly reminding him there would be no convenient answer no methodology to address Nether

Yet he refused to give up hope He advanced trusting an answer would present itself

I already have done this Don Beigon chuckled And IÆm surprised I need to be the one to tell you this but peace has a price And these people are too poor to pay

Randidly smiled a wicked smile and floated his consciousness down to CharlotteÆs shoulder The Moiraes leaned forward with him flexing their hands in anticipation Randidly could see the shape of something here

If the people of Alpha Cosmos wanted to strike a bargain and warp the world Randidly Ghosthound would always answer

Significance spun through his body his efforts and his instincts working together on information his conscious mind hadnÆt quite yet fathomed His Nether Core began to pulse falling into a particular sort of rhythm in its rotations Fast fast and then slow Nether of a particular consistency began to spin through his body

A Nether for the particular individual he was or was becoming

Charlotte stiffened at his presence before relaxing as the brilliant energy roots of Yggdrasil sunk into her Primal Ground image Randidly chuckled softly DonÆt worry I can foot the bill for these people You are right they deserve safe zones in which to exist We just might need to become a bit creative to give it to them

What do I need to do Charlotte replied immediately Most of her image turned itself over to him offering him the humming life of her bacteria She completely opened herself up to his influence

RandidlyÆs lips twitched even from afar Sensing the constant wiggling and oozing of the miniature organisms across CharlotteÆs whole understanding was a bit uncomfortable at first You would grow used to the constant awareness after a while he was sure but the first brush left him slightly uncomfortable

Still he took the power offered to him The conversion of energy through his body accelerated his Nether Core finding its chosen pattern He felt a flush of fondness through him sensing her pure emotions So he brushed her lightly again you just need to continue being my Knight These people are worth defending

Randidly cracked his knuckles and raised his hands He reached out for the super vine that had been created when Yggdrasil the history of the Homid people and the Lifeseal brushed up against one another His eyes were bright emerald discs more lime paint than natural pigments as power coursed through him He used his body all the Stats improved beyond the limits of the System to corral and soften the energy

In his body the lava could rage freely smashing against his muscles and skin and finding no purchase The new Nether refined in the particular pattern acted as strainer withstanding the violence and seeping out the pure life And after a few minutes relaxing and warm hot springs of energy could traverse his body and blossom through the slums and nourish the transition The energy formed protective bubbles around the population so faint they probably didnÆt even notice as they paused in their basket weaving and berry picking to frown at the strange ripple that went through the whole vine

Congratulations Your Skill the Aureate Arteries of Yggdrasil has grown to Level 940

The ground began to tremble The universe growled and RandidlyÆs Fatepieces released unwilling twinges Randidly couldnÆt help but roll his eyes His Nether Core hummed fast fast slow HavenÆt you been with me from the beginning YouÆve forgotten who I am if this is enough to surprise you IÆm going to be the one to tear it all down

The roots of the vines thickened in the ground growing strong and sure Don Beigon paled sensing the shift in energies However he clearly misinterpreted the source You would consider destroying all this just to spite me Truly you are a more bitter female than I

HeÆs not destroying it Charlotte Wick replied with wonder in her voice Then she laughed Really Ghosthound You are such a creature of habit

The ground began to truly shake now as the vineÆs consciousness came alive guided by the gentle hand of Yggdrasil The roots flexed again once and then twice testing the power they could wield And then with a groan they pushed until the entire vine slum stood up the usually drooping fronds scooping down into the ground and taking two meters of dirt with them as well so the dug out dwellings werenÆt partially left behind

While Don Beigon goggled at the display the slum began to march West and South creating some distance between itself and Homewell

Considering its presence at the edge of the Badlands it couldnÆt move entirely to safety But at the very least the people of the slums would be given a chance to develop without being squeezed dry by Don Beigon

Chapter 2269

Moish nudged Raddeus with his knee as the two departed the guardhouse So is your wife

You cannot come over for dinner Raddeus scowled over his shoulder and loped ahead of his superior officer He used his feet to rub his eyes This is getting out of hand Look I obviously appreciate everything youÆve done for me And the restructuring of the neighborhood has helped so many people

We do the best we can Moish said firmly unwilling to savor the relative peace of the last week Not with the Nether host marching toward Homewell

Behind them their captain complained loudly of the bitter smell of the vine berries a common new refrain as baking swelled in the slums and smoke drifted over HomewellÆs walls but these were the same individuals who surreptitiously hired others to head out and by some berry turnovers But by now Raddeus didnÆt even twitch as they walked past the snide complainers he had learned that the best revenge is surviving well

Even setting aside you straining our hospitality

Your wife is such an excellent cook Moish smacked his lips together And she keeps inviting me back

Because you loiter outside Besides my wife wonÆt be home in time to cook dinner And itÆs your fault The job you helped her get routinely keeps her after hours to help with the cleanup Raddeus grumbled but he slowed down and allowed Moish to keep abreast with him Honestly with schools closed down we are barely managing

ItÆs a good job And working for the trade emporium even just as a banquet hall staffer will open doors Moish pointed out When Dattylan wants to go to school in Homewell

Why bother with a place in Homewell considering Turtleline attitudes Conditions are improving so quickly in our neighborhood I bet within a year we will have a school that is just as good as theirs Raddeus growled At that moment a pair of Lizakh soldiers rounded the corner heading in the opposite direction as them one pair of slum warriors heading to help with Homewell guard shifts while the other went home They exchanged nods even while a Turtleline woman clearly coming back from the slums sniffed and crossed to the other side of the street to avoid passing either pair

Moish raised a foot and scratched his forehead He didnÆt know how to explain that while yes conditions were improving there was no way the teaching environment would be as good in the slums as in the city The difference in money meant that the teachers

A rumble brought both of their attentions sharply up Out through the West gate of Mallon they could only see a sudden rush of dust From the wall above them a cry of alarm was raised They could feel the ground rumbling through their knuckles Moish and Raddeus both broke out into a gallop crossing thirty meters to the gate as quickly as they could If the Nether attack had come early all of the carefully maintained peace would be taken

MoishÆs heart clenched The two careened forward narrowly missing a panicking civilian coming the other way They skittered to a stop their eyes widening at the sight that awaited them Thaddeus blinked several times trying to make sense of what they were seeing What the hell

The dust slowly cleared making the truth more obvious In front of them was a wide and roughly dug hole And the slums the vines and all their homes seemed to have inexplicably stood up and wandered off away from Homewell They watched its hunched movements for five minutes until it shuddered and settled itself back down about three kilometers away from its original position

Raddeus clearly couldnÆt compute the shift This is

MoishÆs tension eased He chuckled going to make the commute to work much more obnoxious But also at least Turtlelines wonÆt be able to slip out into the slums and buy our baked goods without people noticing any longer No more teenagers throwing shit off the walls at people in the slums either

Neighborhoods canÆt just move Raddeus gestured widely But his eyes were vacant the proof of his mistake right in front of his face

Moish patted his shoulder Just because youÆve never seen it before doesnÆt mean it canÆt happen But now letÆs hurry to see if anyone needs help even if it just moved there was probably damage

The downside was Randidly had to quickly cease his efforts allowing his Second Authority to dissipate His Nether Core had begun to whine and his head pounded for all that Deganawidah kept the world in place Randidly still couldnÆt handle the powerful Authority for too long But he knew it would be worth it to include both his newly patterned Nether and scraps of his emotion in the Nether Rituals

These would be prayers for alchemy to sweep through the world and create a miracle He made them without having a method in mind just needing to have a powerful Nether weapon prepared

He glanced around with todayÆs efforts he had probably gotten halfway to the point he wanted He would need to buckle down for the next two days to finish in time After this thought he allowed himself one of his brief naps He lay down and allowed his mind to drift

But exactly thirty minutes later his eyes snapped open He had work to do

He relaxed as much as he could and ignored the developments in significance Instead he began cataloging the Aether of the memory Once he had realized the trick of borrowing the desires of Pine to help leverage his will he had stumbled across another fruitful avenue of consideration the System

The Overlay System hadnÆt been created yet in the Second Cohort meaning its underpinnings mostly passed without anyone noticing but it remained a central force in the shape of interactions Randidly hummed to himself trying to borrow DeganawidahÆs effortless ability to clear away the noise and see the core

Because there was one core mechanism in particular that he wanted to utilize

Congratulations Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways has grown to Level 971

unfortunately while the idea seemed like a revelation when he had it discovering the active portions of the Nexus proved to be more difficult

Any insight Randidly asked Neveah after several fruitless hours

As RandidlyÆs plans had solidified and begun to have a more productive shape gradually the amount of negativity and fear his Soulbound companion radiated began to decrease So he felt rather cheered when she sent him an exact impression of the shape of the Aether construct he was looking for

Randidly pulled back and expanded his senses reaching and reaching his awareness rushing out across the massive planet on which the Second Cohort occurred Further and further until his senses began to grow fuzzy stretching past the hazy limits of the planet’s atmosphere into the space around it

No life existed off the surface of the superplanet The universe around the Nexus was empty It simply served as a backdrop for the main event

With a headache brewing Randidly stretched his awareness out to the far reaches and then turned it inward The Aether constructs had been inserted into the essence of the Nexus with a less sophisticated method than the citizenship but based on a similar methodology The functioning portions of the Nexus were invisible unless you were looking from the proper direction

A glittering wonderland of complex Aether cogs searing energy bindings and vast systems to create and distribute energy and collect ideas briefly stopped Randidly dead Ferris wheels of gold and crimson rotated slowly motes of blinding light flaking out from the edges A huge river of information flowed through a complex series of maze like pathways the absorption and redistribution of image shapes throughout the universe The whole arrangement seemed to breathe as he watched pulsing with vitality He had sensed the presence of these workings for most of the last ten years of his life But now with the overlay System stripped bare he could see the pure genius of the arrangement

He bit his lip CanÆt waste too much time admiring I have a job to do

RandidlyÆs senses hunted through all the energy taking mental pictures for Neveah but seeking his quarry And after about fifteen minutes he found it A smile stretched across his face He rubbed his hands together smug with satisfaction Well what have we here

Randidly gazed down at the complex mechanisms of the Nether that would open it up and gulp down a new Cohort

Chapter 2270

Tomorrow Elhume confirmed looking around at the three individuals he had gathered to help with the creation of humanity as well as the Prophet who constantly lingered around The group didnÆt have the sort of professionalism he would have wished but it would have to do At the very least he trusted the Patron of the Deep and the Patron of the Borrowed With their efforts they could cover up for the disturbingly young looking Engraving expert the Patron of the Deep had invited

The strangerÆs ability to incorporate both Aether and Nether together would be a nice touch but it didnÆt make Elhume any less wary

The Patron of the Deep frowned The drawback of his prodigious talent was that he possessed opinions on everything And needed to share those opinions lest they swell his body until it popped Should we truly attempt something so momentous while the Nether forces siege our far shores Perhaps remaining in reserve to reinforce

We need to act at that exact moment while hostile parties will be distracted ElhumeÆs eyes flicked to the Prophet who had put forth this plan in the first place but ultimately agreed it was the most expedient

That impression remained in him even now Yet he felt like he had begun to drift The space around his thoughts crackled with static electricity seeming to imply that if he touched them or tried to alter them he would be shocked After a strange moment of disembodiment where Elhume felt unmoored from what he had just been saying he clenched his teeth and continued to speak The working we do will attract a great deal of attention and require us not to be disturbed This is the best chance

But the casualties without our presence The Patron of the Deep saw the logic in what Elhume said yet remained uneasy His body hummed with his tension

ElhumeÆs strange premonition that the buoyant Patron of the Deep would soon pop strengthened His untouched thoughts crackled surly yet demanding attention He did his best to ignore those distractions even as the back of his neck began to prickle We fight for the soul of the isolated universe If we allow Pine to die what does it matter who wins the war All with sink into the absence he leaves behind

The Patron of the Deep bit his lip and warred internally for several seconds Elhume felt a vein in his temple throb He needed the Patron of the Deep not just for his particular flair in creation but for insurance To be sure after simply following the damnable advice of the Prophet and seeing the solutions they brought seem diminutive next to the problems that kept cropping up

The static in ElhumeÆs head buzzed He looked at the Patron of the Deep like a cut of meat rather than a friend and confidant A soap bubble on the surface a bath

The Patron of the Deep sighed The fat of his neck jiggled Perhaps you are correct Dramatic epochs inevitably populate themselves with cutting choices The universe seeks to teach the unfortunate mundanes that you cannot have it both ways So it falls until our responsible shoulders to make the proper determination

When the Origin Beast had finished with his poetic waxing the group got down to brass tax discussing the humanity they would be creating The shape the capabilities and inevitably the costs they would pay in order to in the words of the Patron of the Deep draw forth the raw clay of potential from the etherÆ

Despite the continued crackling emptiness of ElhumeÆs head he felt good about the process The young Engraver brought by the Patron of the Deep surpassed his expectations almost instantly providing creative solutions His style was unique but the competency he demonstrated quickly rid Elhume of the flash of doubt and confusion he had felt when the man had arrived

After they finished the Patron of the Deep drifted off with the unfortunate Engraver in his wake refusing to cease gushing about how great humanity could become with the proper guidance The Patron of the Borrowed nodded and departed as well Which left Elhume alone with the Prophet

He pressed his lips together We cannot simply stave off another problem Pine cannot survive at this rate I believe the inclusion of certain restrictions will serve us well

The ProphetÆs disgusting bulging eye on his chin glimmered with poorly concealed glee The proper bindings written into the essence of humanity with ensure

Not bindings Elhume shook his head curiously numb with the constant static of vacated thoughts but sure He might have compromised so much of his position but creating a race with designed fail safes he could use to control still struck him as being monstrous More monstrous than he wanted to be but perhaps locks Three of them in the frame of humanity keeping their true potential hidden within the labyrinth of their vast depths And we create a very simple series of directions we give to them So while they are unknowingly following the proper procedures to provide the raw stories to Pine they would unlock these bindings naturally Without understanding we are the architects of their growth

Randidly nodded his weary agreement still in awe of what Neveah had done still feeling the effects of the effort he had poured into it The genius was in the light pulses from each individual heart shape they occurred at regular intervals but the different flashes of light were on slightly staggered times So over time different heart patterns would activate in unison leading to a completely different whole

And that wasnÆt even talking about the Nether Ritual Randidly had used the Hollow Needle to sew into the fabric of the heart A shadowy sort of working that could only exist in the flawless heart’s flaws

Padraic took the heart with delicate fingers His eyes flicked back and forth cataloging its shape its light the beauty of its lines the vast complexity of the twinkling working IÆve been struggling to produce this exactly A way to plant a seed of potential within the core of the race We can offer them energy surely but without structure channels through which the energy can flow

Abruptly Padraic frowned He looked more closely at the heart

RandidlyÆs lips twitch as he observed Padraic with fondness YouÆve truly grown into your own havenÆt you

itÆs well fragile isnÆt the right word Padraic chewed on his lip as he flipped the Engraving over checking the back as though there would be an answer hidden there I guess it would be more accurate to say that this heart can destroy itself I wouldnÆt collapse from external forces not from being squeezed or strained But the heart will crash into a barrier and shatter of its own volition It is written into its nature To rush headlong with enough power to destroy itself

On itself it might inflict flaws Or rather it cannot help but shatter the perfection Randidly nodded in agreement He glanced around before he spoke spreading out his Cloak of Utter Night more heavily around their position The longer this meeting lasted the riskier it became But isnÆt that the nature of hearts They are so easily broken

Congratulations Your Skill the Cloak of Utter Night has grown to Level 1021

Well yes but this isnÆt really a heart even if you designed it to look like one Randidly could practically see the calculations rising from Padraic’s head drifting in the air before the hurtling momentum of his intelligence moved on to other problems His words sped up half in excitement and half in worry This is potential is also too small a word Its a shape Half of the image which will become the race of humanity The problem well I canÆt imagine what would trigger the heart to break itself ItÆs so unpredictable Living beings are unpredictable Perhaps once they live and breathe a sufficiently strong emotional trauma could shatter their shape into pieces

And give these humans a genuine chance to become anything Randidly said gently Or nothing yes But Padraic you cannot provide only positive shapes for this new race you are creating They need to be exposed to the negative too Because itÆs the choice between one Path and another that becomes our most defining characteristic

Padraic just stared at Randidly

If it makes you feel better Randidly continued I suspect the heart will be broken from the beginning I do not think the genesis of humanity was planned by unselfish hands So I ask you this favor Both for me and for humanity They might shatter but despite the pain then every road will be open for them to choose

Padraic continued to stare but all the calculations ceased Randidly watched him wondering what he was thinking about Some of the nagging doubts of which there had been a slew since he had begun trying to corral possibility into the sort of situations he needed swarmed around him in that silence If this connection fell through

Randidly felt the slender thread of Nether binding Padraic to him If that couldnÆt support the weight of the ask

A favor Padraic whispered finally breaking the silence He pocketed the pulsing heart and turned away A heavy favor But I do understand how it could be an insurance policy for this yet born humanity And to that I cannot possibly say no They would be my legacy I wish them only the best

He began walking away but then paused once more to look over his shoulder You appear at the strangest times in my life Nether King Hungry Eye Sometimes I wonder if you are real at all or just a character plucked out of a fairy tale

Randidly stiffened Not because he felt insulted but because he had a burst of unexpected inspiration

Chapter 2271

We need to rearrange the order for the attempts on the possible Randidly said to Neveah dreading her reaction but still barging into her cabin anyway Especially with so little time to prepare

Randidly paused He had just swung open the door to her small cabin to find her as usual sitting and sipping tea at her hand carved wooden table Opposite her was Charlotte Wick with a half finished cup of tea of her own Immediately Charlotte leapt to her feet and gave Randidly a low bow

Randidly felt a twinge of embarrassment he had been so wrapped up in his excitement over the realization that he hadnÆt looked too closely at the occupants of the cottage Obviously the bear woman was on his side so his instincts hadnÆt pinged him to correct his impression He offered Charlotte a nod clearing his throat and refocusing his thoughts Charlotte great job with protecting the slum If you hadnÆt been there with the idea IÆm not sure sinking the image into the area would have been as easy How are the people reacting to the change

Well enough A lot of complaining but most of it with smiles on their faces A small smile broke out on CharlotteÆs face at the thought warming her whole countenance Randidly still couldnÆt believe this woman was related to Commandant Wick but he supposed that man had been more constructed toy due to the malicious interference of another

Charlotte shook her head a helpless smile still in place Due to the extra distance the biggest problem is those people who need to work in Homewell But a few enterprising Lizakh have captured some of the ostriches and are trying to domesticate them for riding For now

Charlotte blinked and glanced around Perhaps she sensed the frosty air radiating off of RandidlyÆs Soulbound companion Well IÆm sure you don’t care about these minor details I must be going Thank you as always Neveah

Charlotte bowed to Randidly again as she rushed out of the cabin leaving Randidly and Neveah alone with an uncomfortable conversation looming before them

Neveah took a long sip of her tea her eyes mild Which of course was her most cutting method of expressing displeasure Ah So a day before one of the most complex plots IÆve had the misfortune to be associated with to take advantage of the wild forces of history and extract copious amounts of benefits for ourselves we are just going to change everything up How delightful Do we have time to throw a small soiree or do we need to jump right to work Too bad we donÆt have a whiteboard detailing our plans so we could just erase everything and play it all by ear What a thrill

Randidly winced but his Nether Core sang with the truth that this was the correct move Not erasing everything but I think my priorities were out of order I wanted to start with the superposition attempt to heal the Stillborn Phoenix Primarily so I would have all of my images for the later attempts believing the resistance would be higher and I would need to fight to get my way But while thatÆs probably true that shouldnÆt come first I need to reorient my Fateset before anything else And I donÆt think there is a better way than to interfere in the creation of Humanity The Philosopher’s Stone idea is still a good one

Because thatÆs what you are Neveah took another long sip of tea An Alchemist But your materials are not elements and energy you work with images and life itself You will transfigure possibilities to create a future of freedom From there with your Fateset more closely arranged you can challenge the broader impossibilities

Randidly could only scratch his cheek To have her not on his side hurt although he didnÆt want to show that Now you almost seem sarcastic when you say those things but thatÆs exactly correct I want to be an Alchemist with Aether and Nether

Finally Neveah set down her cup and glared at him Fear radiated off of her in dense waves the specter of Tiamat looming in the room The whole of your being is not just a solution Randidly Ghosthound You are a fucking person

Suddenly NeveahÆs resistance to his plan clicked together The small emotional notes brushing up against him spun together to create a clear picture His eyes widened You you arenÆt afraid that IÆll fail at all You are afraid IÆll succeed And that the process will make me something less than I am now

Neveah let out a tired laugh as she got to her feet She stepped with all of the overwhelming physical prowess they shared and in the next instant she slammed into his chest her arms wrapping around his body

If he died during his efforts to protect them

His eyes began to close but NeveahÆs fingers shifted to his biceps and tightened She whispered DonÆt you dare look away until the end

So Randidly kept his eyes open He kept looking at the pieces of others wove into the fabric of his body

He saw the various races from the Danger Zones and the worlds brought by Nemesai the people still suspicious still trying to adapt to the Alpha Cosmos still fearful and paranoid of retribution And even more isolated were the remnant experiments of Father Karman humans transplanted into the body of monsters He saw the battle in his subconscious between excluding these beastsÆ or simply accepting them as people

Deep deep within him Randidly saw an old memory of him going into a memory and meeting a race of feathered beings within a Dungeon and killing them for convenience And the deep wound it had left on his psyche even now prodding the most recalcitrant denizens of the Alpha Cosmos demanding they pause in their lives and show empathy to strange beings

They all struggled underneath the yoke of the same System after all

He saw the half dozen races he had created over the course of his budding growth on Expira most of them accidentally How they revered him even now even in his absence How they listened to the gossip of the day retold the same stories about him speculated what new wonders he attempted now He saw the hyper intelligent crabs living along the bottom of the Great Sea he saw his Lancers of the Baleful Crusade he saw his Soulseeds and how they would all be hollowed out by his passage

And weirdly at the end of these truths he saw Devick Young bright laughing her crimson hair cascading down her back He saw with absolute clarity how his absence would break her corrupt her warp her with rage anguish and pain until she became the same twisted version of herself in the future

The same monster that bound innocent talented souls together until she found a broken pet capable enough to earn the term sonÆ

Why include her at all Randidly whispered She isnÆt

At the end of this attempt are you not going to try to take all of them back to the Nexus Neveah countered She pursed her lips You always drag along to safety those cursed with a bad lot in life Randidly Ghosthound I know you And she well She is the most complex to bring Maybe thatÆs why your thoughts often drift to her

Their gazes held for several seconds a different sort of pressure passing between them After an even shorter amount of time Randidly looked away But Neveah did not push the issue simply shaking her head and moving on to the next subject

So humanity first Neveah remarked

Randidly nodded slowly Humanity first Because isnÆt that what IÆm trying to do Remake myself What better place to start than the origin of the species

Chapter 2272

The Patron of Feathers trembled as she tried to organize her thoughts She had come here because she had nowhere else to turn yet she still felt like a failure

Everything had developed too quickly the situation had spun so far out of control so rapidly that she had been left with little choice but to latch onto her father and his legacy but she was a piggy bank and her thoughts and worries were the coins in the hand of a curious youth jangling and clanging and bouncing off her interior as circumstances shook her about

She squeezed her hands together and forced a small smile For a moment she had forgotten she wasnÆt alone Her thoughts had been hoodwinking her like that quite often these last few days IÆm sorry This shouldnÆt I shouldnÆt come here to talk about my woes Just with the Nexus going as it is

You were right to come here The other woman sighed Between them sat an ornate gameboard with hand carved horn pieces Due to the Patron of Feathers’ long trains of thought the game had stalled out The woman reached out and toyed with the crowned figure at the center of the rest Her smile was brittle Despite our differences the Nexus remains everything to me A constant reminder of my failures We just disagreed on how to proceed ItÆs easier if I simply remain here and let him choose what happens now

The Patron of Feathers nodded I understand I just wanted to ask you for some help My father well IÆm happy we have reached an equilibrium But now he wants me he has discovered a way to create a weapon of time However to form it two individuals are needed experiencing time at different speeds maintaining a tenuous connection Because of our harmonious blood no one is better suited But I the costs are high

The womanÆs smile twisted upward And no one has more experience with complex familial relationships than me right

The Patron of Feathers flushed I didnÆt mean

She blinked and looked around She suddenly stood alone on a dried creekbed before a heap of stone Several withered roots peaked out through the dark crevices Her feathers tingled She pivoted on her heel her mind still reeling from the abrupt sense of deprivation HadnÆt she just been talking And now why

The Patron of Feathers paused But who had she been talking with

Her pupils dilated as she reached several times and found nothing All those horrid whispered fears and repressed tensions from her childhood surged back to the fore crawling up her ankles and her lower back with sharp fingers She squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her fist she looked down in surprise to find an object in her left hand

She held a small coin glittering even in the shadows of the creekbed A sharp pain cracked across her brow sudden and unexpected but in the next moment the discomfort had vanished She felt light headed Her hand squeezed the coin feeling the pulse of a strange Engraving on its surface She could almost hear a voice whispering to her telling her that so long as she had the coin with her the price she would need to pay in the Dungeon would be blunted Yet she felt bewildered by where that knowledge had come from

And again who had she just been talking to

The Patron of Feathers stood in that creekbed for another fifteen minutes alternating periods of frantic thoughts with bouts of shaking She wondered whether like many of the chosen experimenters for her father’s trials the altered experience of time had left her with certain mental hiccups that had begun to manifest Yet the coin remained in her hand Whatever had or hadnÆt happened had resulted in the coin

So didnÆt that prove whatever she couldnÆt recall had happened

Eventually she moved worried her anxieties and uncertainties had become a swamp in that creek bed and the longer she remained the deeper she sunk into their cloying rot When she arrived at the Westrisser compound her father waited for her with his hands folded in front of him and his wings folded behind

Quickly a chilling realization tightened around her heart He had always known she would acquiesce to his request

Again her heart pulsed with a heat she didnÆt study closely enough to understand So many thoughts were tangled together she couldnÆt be bothered to cut them apart But before she sat down and began to create the Engraving necessary for her fatherÆs great experiment she did quietly eat the pie

With her hands digging her fingers into the sweet goop and shoveling it into her mouth When she finished she looked at all the diagrams her father had given her

The theory might be complex with the Dungeon requiring special anchoring and an elaborate energy shutting mechanism to avoid the spatial bridge between the two time bubbles from collapsing but the work the Patron of Feathers would be doing was extremely simple

It required her to exercise her image but it was just as mundane as hand winding a crank Which she would be required to do for

An indeterminate amount of time she would need to judge by examining the stored power Her father had provided written descriptions of temporal anomalies he suspected would begin to appear once she had reached certain requisite tiers of time compression but those were just hypotheses The real experimentation would have to be done by feel

She was the only one he trusted to do this

Choking back a sob the Patron of Feathers wiped the remnant pie from her mouth and cleared off the table She took out the diagrams given to her by her fathers and painstakingly drew out the Engravings Whorls and traced gears to grip time and force it into the shape that Faelmac Westrisser had so long dreamed

The Patron of Feathers had worked up a light sweat by the time she finished her preparations but otherwise felt fine She looked around at the grey walls inspecting her current situation one more time She had missed no details on her first examination The area was grim and tightly shuttered against all distractions

She looked down at the messy remnants of the pie in the pan She scowled and stored it away pulling out a jug of water and taking a sip Then after she produced a comfortable chair from the same interspatial bracelet she began to wind

It took about an hour of winding for the coin to begin to twinkle and warm The Patron of Feathers paused in her labor and pulled out the coin Suddenly she heard a half remembered voice in her ear You are right to be afraid your enemy in such circumstances is loneliness and an idle mind I cannot help with either directly but you can trick yourself with this coin to help pass the time

As the coin activated the Patron of Feathers could feel her image continue its toil with the weapon but her mind began to drift She skated through fluffy pink clouds of warm emotion and arrived at a familiar scene She was young slender and bright carrying a heavy darkness from the constant scolding of her father She could not act could not alter the course but she could watch her own life flow past her from beginning to end

Her childhood passed relatively quickly considering how tortured it was How stifled Frigite had felt by her father and by the absence left by her deceased mother

But one day while heading to the market to fetch a certain herb he wished she saw two young adults bold and confident arguing over how they were going to break into the Westrisser compound She had frozen and stared at them until they had noticed her

They were Elhume and Yystrix the two individuals who altered the course of her destiny

After meeting them on that day Frigite Westrisser would someday become the first of the Patrons the Patron of Feathers

Chapter 2273

Randidly Ghosthound studied the roaring tide of Nether above Homewell and tried to guess the amount of time he had remaining The computational allowances given to him by the Dread Homunculus rapidly approached their limits He narrowed his eyes and chewed on his lip From what he could tell all of his preparations would come to a head in a little less than six hours

Randidly hoped he could make sure all the preparations by the other factions would be foiled but he would settle just on his own succeeding

Right after lunch Randidly muttered not bothering to suppress a massive yawn

The sun hauled itself up above the horizon weighty and blazing Randidly went through his mental checklist trying to catch any detail he had missed He sent a confirmation to Nathan making sure that he would have the pieces necessary for the first layer of this plan The creation of humanity refocusing his Fateset and the PhilosopherÆs Stone would be his first step and he needed to make sure everything was in place

His thoughts continued swimming through the current of problems flowing around him Reaching out to Lowanna for another piece could wait until later although both Nathan and Lowanna had been set a difficult task Randidly had no idea about how the Nether Arbiter could succeed At least with Nathan he had been able to give some guidance

The PhilosopherÆs Stone served as an effective mental anchor after all

Randidly turned to the North where he could sense Lowanna continuing to meditate Ripples ran throughout the massive sea of her Nether where Deganawidah seemed to drag a vast tide in his wake the Nether Arbiter sat atop a bottomless well of power Those small ripples bounced up and down through her potential hinting at the shape of her potency

It made even the Dread Homunculus wary to feel the hints of her movements Which was why he had decided to offer up a silent prayer and trust her when he could find no other answer to his problem

Still he could tell from the movement of significance that going to her now would deplete the momentum of history swirling around her with no benefit So Randidly straightened and stretched His muscles were warm and he felt ready to move Close but not quite ready LetÆs grind a few more Skill Levels

He started with Yggdrasil allowing the vast canopy to manifest above him although keeping the image invisible so as not to pointlessly disturb the Turtleline leadership of Homewell already buzzing from the tide of Nether Warriors only a few hours out from their borders If any of the residents were to look up toward the rays of the dawn they would see a massive glimmering specter a place where light met the invisible leaves of the World Tree Those points of impact sent out starbursts of color refracted into blues and greens and oranges a radiant haze of beauty that would take their breath away

Randidly leaned closer to the ambiance sewing beauty and wonder into every inch

Congratulations Your Skill Dawn Opens the Sky and Reality Stirs has grown to Level 939

Congratulations Your Skill Dawn Opens the Sky and Reality Stirs has grown to Level 940

A nova of heat and light began to form around his image as Randidly concentrated on capturing the metaphysical aspect of dawnÆs arrival Just like the sun rising over the horizon the treeÆs growth revolutionized the landscape For many dawn signaled the start of the day the first victory over night It was rebirth and return it was warmth and light

Light very literally cracked open the opacity of darkness opening up the visual world from the shadowy realm of nightmares to the clarity of the day Randidly hummed and sculpted the impression he felt based on the warm touch of the sun against his skin A halo began to form around the World Tree borrowed from the Stillborn Phoenix

In this incarnation Yggdrasil possessed an event horizon all its own the edge of the life spring it possessed It gave and gave to the world first in the form of its pure light second in its warm sap and energy The tree woke and the world organized itself into certain positive patterns

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 1021

Congratulations Your Skill Dawn Opens the Sky and Reality Stirs has grown to Level 952

The sun crept higher its rays warming from pale white to yellow oranges The impression around Yggdrasil pivoted from the flow from a cool spring to the surging force of a volcano The nova intensified Yet as Randidly felt his focus for the image sharpening he also felt that he had reached the apex of his Skill gain momentum for the day Already the glory of dawn began to wane And while he had gained some Skill Levels it wouldnÆt be enough to cross the gap to a Mille

He pressed his lips together Well a tiny bit of cheating isnÆt so bad Yggdrasil

As Neveah repeatedly emphasized to him he was just a man

Unable to find any problems in the Nether he returned to his training This time he brought out the Stillborn Phoenix A harsh week of training had ironed out the discomfort in the image activation although it remained straddling two truths about itself Randidly kicked himself off the ground and shot up into the clear sky He flicked his wrists sideways and then drew a circle with his two hands in the air

A split second later the sky howled and screamed as the Hungry Eye opened and took a large bite out of existence

Congratulations Your Skill Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe has grown to Level 989

Congratulations Your Skill Diffracted Corruption from an Avaricious Impossibility has grown to Level 982

A chill wind whipped and whined in the immediate vicinity before that too was gobbled down by the Stillborn Phoenix The image wavered for a second before surging forth with enough inky darkness to suspend Randidly in a sphere of oblivion His skin tingled and the sweat that covered him vanished sucked away into the void He could hear the low growl of avarice against his ear and the hum of an empty stomach

If someone had glanced South from Homewell they could have looked up and seen a black sun gnawing at one corner of the sky while its bright twin rose opposite In the darkness RandidlyÆs eyelids fluttered and closed When he opened them his eyes burned with revelation energy allowing him to see existence from the perspective of a being cast out locked away and told it could not exist

Congratulations Your Skill Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold has grown to Level 992

Congratulations Your Skill Diffracted Corruption from an Avaricious Impossibility has grown to Level 987

A smile stretched across his face showing the teeth of a confident predator He saw it the pulse of life the strange contours of the reality he had always inhabited the flash of colors and above all the chaos The specter of the Stillborn Phoenix prowled at the edge of the event horizon that crepuscular threshold hungry and vicious and separated and furious

Randidly GhosthoundÆs emotional sea surged and swelled with the need of the Stillborn Phoenix All that force and intensity whirred its way through the image rushed around the edges and watched reality dripping away like the event horizon was a drain then spun back into the body of the Egg of Depression From beyond the beast stirred

The next instant all the force it threw all the force it possessed against the boundary

To Randidly it felt like a humming But a blast of kinetic force exploded from his dark sun The ground cracked and shattered and the explosion triggered a dust storm that swept outward He watched with black purple energy dancing in his eyes as the dust storm swept up upon a migrating herd of ostriches and sent the unfortunate beasts tumbling through the air

Congratulations Your Skill Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold has grown to Level 998

Congratulations Your Skill Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart has grown to Level 939

With all its fury the Stillborn Phoenix knocked on the door to reality several more times before it was satisfied

Congratulations Your Skill Diffracted Corruption from an Avaricious Impossibility has grown to Level 1001

Congratulations Your Skill Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe has grown to Level 1003

Congratulations Your Skill Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold has grown to Level 1000

Randidly floated back to the ground ThatÆs up to 20 Milles With quite a few right at the cusp With three exhausting attempts to accomplish the impossible looming before me Right on schedule

Chapter 2274

Over the past few weeks the way that the Nether Heralds and potent Tier 6 and 7 Nether Warriors looked at Enmya had changed Their eyes flicked lower their postures no longer straightened by respect their faces tight and tense When he gave orders there was a steadily widening delay between understanding and action

Still Enmya led them marching across the countryside toward his goal The army stretched behind him like a massive snake Although he had lost many other things he still remained the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil In terms of manipulating Nether none here could rival him The heavy weight of their expectations constricted his windpipe but it did allow him to drag them like the bloated tail they were

Part of the migration of loyalty was due to the loss to Nether King Hungry Eye That loomed heavily in all their thoughts Enmya could tell as he churned his legs forward leading the army on his mad dash west Because not only had he lost but because Lowanna had given the order to leave Nether King Hungry Eye alone after a fashion He had failed doubly It made EnmyaÆs jaw clench with bitterness the fickleness of the people

Without him knowing it he had been made into a sin eater

Despite the Nether ArbiterÆs order they had nipped at his heels willingly supported him in his crusade against this aberrant being Nether King Hungry Eye Because they had resented the freedom feared the escape from the carefully constructed structure of Phaea And when he had failed their feelings turned Suddenly they whispered behind their hands accusing him of perverting the orders of the Nether Arbiter of letting her remain captured where ever she might be

The scope of the failure devoured their own hateful thoughts Now they could point the figure denying their participation It had been him Enmya had done it One more burden for him to carry

So Enmya walked and walked until one day a little before noon he arrived on a hill and looked down to see the flat and dusty plains of the Badlands In the distance the shimmering bubble of HomewellÆs Lifeseal pulsed with energy Almost immediately one of the central Nether Warriros overseeing the Forward Teams appeared by his side and surveyed the view

The Nether Warrior gestured to the left Southeast of their position Due to the others lollygagging we arrived just a bit too late to cut off Homewell from reinforcements Cheh lazy bastards We broke them before but CeruleanÆs main force recovered and arrived but hours ago Whatever those damn Fates do itÆs working They camp just there ready to reinforce the city if we attempt to pincer it with DeganawidahÆs host

Enmya grunted and sniffed the air His instincts whispered he was close to her although he couldnÆt quite figure out where to go from here

The Nether Warrior folded his armored limbs across his chest and clicked his mandibles together Shall we prepare for the assault I cannot imagine that Deganawidah would wait much longer Heh and little do they know but his focus is entirely on that fool Cerulean he will ignore Homewell entirely until he has finished his vengeance for his student The army will probably buckle before the cityÆs defenders have even spilled a single drop of blood

Prepare the Warriors Enmya whispered His lips were strangely dry He took a few steps forward and then cleared his throat Wait here for my signal I wish to get a sense for the enemy

I can gather The Nether Warrior began but Enmya already moved slipping well away from his subordinateÆs awareness

Enmya streaked over the hills his heart pounding in his chest He heard the familiar rustle her shift heard the delicate clinking of her immaculate manacles as she poured tea into a cup felt the rhythmic echoes of her steps thundering through the ground with all the force of the energy she carried Enmya couldnÆt be sure of where but Lowanna the Nether Arbiter was here

He whipped around and began to rush directly toward Homewell His eyes crinkled in fury So the bastard Turtlelines had been the ones who

His gait slowed until he stopped His certainty vanished just as quickly as it had arrived Wind blew large grains of dirt that bit at his ankles as it flowed past Lowanna was not in this direction He sucked on his teeth annoyed with himself and frustrated And oh oh so tired Enmya pivoted slowly and began stumbling across the rolling hills

IÆve Enmya jumped with enough force to sunder the hill behind him He crashed into the space next to the garden careful not to ruin the places Lowanna had cultivated His heart pounded as he stumbled the last few steps and stood in front of him You I thought that maybe I couldnÆt

I know It was hard on you I didnÆt leave any word I sent you away knowing what would happen that day I thought I would be saving you from what was to come I thought I knew everything That fate would flow downhill until my death and that my choice that day would spare you most of the suffering Spare our people Lowanna reached out and brushed a finger across his cheekbones She shook her head But I was wrong I canÆt read the future I can only convince myself I could So So IÆm sorry IÆll be honest with you from now on

Her familiar presence the pulse of her Nether now somehow even more overwhelming than it had been previously relaxed some deep tension in EnmyaÆs body He smiled at her forgiving her just glad she had returned to him His emotions remained chaos but he tried to focus forward Well your presence changes things This war with Aether there is no longer even a chance of our loss We can crush them all for the crimes they committed for the slaughter of our history The Aether people

ThereÆs something else Enmya Lowanna interrupted I will not fight You know I cannot risk it But besides that there is a more important issue than revenge

What can be more important than the loss of our past Enmya gasped Just as he tried to create a new channel for his negative emotions she shattered it

Lowanna pressed her lips together Our peopleÆs future Enmya This everything we see around us is a powerful projection Done by a being who has reached the Aether Pinnacle and captured a moment We are the echo of that moment hurtling toward our curtain call But beyond that moment well I am not familiar with the details but our people are butchered in the wars to come I want to help Nether King Hungry Eye revive

What ThatÆs impossible We will not be butchered Enmya gestured around Do you see the host we have assembled Although the old factions will need to be taught a lesson the forces we have gathered cannot be rivaled We march under a single banner full of righteous vengeance The Aetherlands will collapse into a memory

They will not Enmya could see Lowanna squeeze her hands into fists I know this I have been shown this Nether King Hungry Eye explained the essence of this place and after some investigations

Nether King Hungry Eye EnmyaÆs eyes widened Suddenly he understood He looked Lowanna up and down nearly disbelieving Now that he knew what to look for he could feel the strange dark haired manÆs essence all over this place His eyes narrowed He is the one who took you

No Enmya

I cannot believe He clenched his jaw unable to comprehend the whirlpool of aggravation and certainty he felt His head pounded I didnÆt see it before That this whole time Nether King Hungry Eye has been intent on perverting the structure of the Netherlands And you have allowed him to I had assumed did you even care when Wyndaos burned When the children were slaughtered and left to rot amongst the silver sands

Enmya listen to me Lowanna reached out against but Enmya took a reeling step back still trying to process Her eyes crinkled at the edges as she slowly lowered her hands Our Nether the figurehead of the Arbiter all of it was designed to trap us We cannot continue like this All our power our creative spirit is locked

That has always been your problem Lowanna Enmya gritted his teeth You have seen naught but the shackles in the bonds between us But the grace and restraint the discipline and temperance you wield why can you not understand the only prison in which you sit is your own mind

Lowanna stilled She raised her head and looked at Enmya with hollow eyes And what you have never understood oh great Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil is that it takes more than enduring hunger to live

She spun on her heel graceful and lovely even as his stomach dropped out of him He watched her for several seconds before he cleared his throat So you run Only hours before the greatest battle of the age

The legacy I leave behind will not be a bloody tally during battle When Lowanna spoke her voice thrummed with so much vast Nether Enmya flinched and took a step back She glided away vicious and intent If nothing else I will find the words to say one true thing about the Nether people although it might damn us all for me to succeed

Chapter 2275

Fatia Cerulean sat in his tent feeling the ire of Deganawidah settle on him prickling against his skin like a heavy blanket of steel wool even from across the plains through Homewell sitting between them It set his teeth on edge making him want to rip into flesh to sate his anxious energy but Fatia couldnÆt help but respect Deganawidah this was a foe that would not be distracted from his quarry

He would hunt until his foe was dead or he was

The lack of a similar antagonism toward Nether King Hungry Eye made Fatia slightly wary but there were so many strong presences in the area that it became difficult to parse apart their motivations Collusion seemed unlikely but it didnÆt mean it was impossible Even Nether King Hungry EyeÆs location had become blurry recently but the Raptor Construct didnÆt worry about that

Nether King Hungry Eye had a good nose he wouldnÆt miss the bloodbath rushing toward them all It was just a matter of what cut of meat the dark haired man was eyeing up

However it was neither of those twinges that truly had his hackles up No the problem was the tingling sense of his Grand Fate as of late The speed with which he had been gaining Levels noticeably decreased over the last few days Just slightly but with the threat of Deganawidah looming over him Fatia Cerulean wanted ever Level he could earn

He was jealous of the experience being absorbed by his Grand Fate

In retrospect the culprit was obvious While the mundane Fates gathered the natural narrative shape you released into the Nexus while Leveling up your Class Grand Fates fed on the ambient energy already present in the world And already Fatia could feel just a slight decrease in the total amount of feed to go around

He closed his eyes adding one more goal to the dayÆs activities Now he felt satisfied he had carefully controlled access to Grand Fates If he wanted to eliminate the competition the list was relatively small

Randidly sat with his legs crossed staring up at the sky

At this point the forces above became less a comprehensible series of forces and more a knot of fate tightening and tightening as all the different events they precipitated began to arrive They teetered on the edge of a precipice about to tumble down into the darkness The conflux of forces was a thousand times larger than the largest waterfall on the planet a hundred rivers swirling and frothing together

Just a single misstep and all the carefully laid plans would disintegrate Looking at the looming forces Randidly had quite a bit of sympathy for Neveah No wonder she felt so anxious she was ready to pull her hair out

Randidly checked the position of the sky again The sun sat directly overhead obscuring the pulsing energy of Pine that hovered over them all Small trickles of sweat ran down his back as the sun baked the area around Homewell today there was not a cloud in the sky masking its sapphire expanse A chaotic cataclysm of Nether might rumble and march but not a single stormcloud

Randidly looked left and right at the armies crouching in various positions around the countryside He could practically feel the soldiers pepping themselves up strapping on their armor sharpening their weapons and images Hatred raged between the two forces as Fatia CeruleanÆs host glared daggers at the soldiers brought by Enmya and Deganawidah Meanwhile the Turtlelines continued their cautious preparations from within their Lifeseal preparing tricks of their own for the battle

But in the end there is very little IÆll do for the actual battle here Randidly pressed his lips together His eyes flicked sideways to the middle of CeruleanÆs host even their picket lines were manned by soldiers in the ostentatious azure armor it made Randidly roll his eyes But in the middle he could feel the methodical desperation of Fatia Cerulean In the end all that really matters is that Fatia survives until my third impossible attempt

Closing his eyes Randidly allowed his awareness to sink down amongst them In the end he had created eighty of these workings hoping it would be enough to move the needle The seeds of offering pulses in the ground radiating out from his stone circle fireflies of darkness brushing up against his awareness

Randidly opened his eyes ItÆs going to be soon Is there anything else I need

The ground around him pulsed with Nether reacting to his urgency He had labored here for so long with plans that ran in direct opposition to the meaning carved into his Class by Deganawidah that the environment began to take an ethereal quality Solids seemed just a whim away from becoming fleeting and insubstantial The breezes ran around the stones and whispered to each other partially in awe and partially disapproving

Of course the effect was exacerbated by the Stillborn Phoenix spreading its alien wings and gazing with its covetous eye here

RandidlyÆs eyes burned And this taint of impossibility is exactly why this cleaning house comes none too soon

He pivoted on his heel and gazed East With the impending arrival of the moment of fate it became more difficult to see the details The trees rose up and hid the rest of the ominous forest ahead of him Yet it was a long and lazy grin that spread across RandidlyÆs face as he looked up at the clear blue sky His blood began to heat in his veins sensing the impending edge of the chaos

To the East humanity was about to be conceived Two armies morphed from vigilance to bloodlust

And as though it had been summoned by his readiness the sky immediately transformed In the distance he could feel the rumbles in the ground as forces began to wheel and move into formation but he had more pressing concerns The clear blue vanished A wind screamed across the sky sweeping along with it heavy grey clouds As they rumbled and rolled over his position the shapes of the cloud began to warp into blunt features faces with gaping mouths

The faces curled around surrounding his work area and beginning to vomit huge

RandidlyÆs skin began to crawl and he narrowed his eyes His Nether thrummed through his veins suddenly detecting an undercurrent of danger in the environment He released a pulse of pure significance a questing askance to existence His features hardened into a stony glower His next pulse carried enough brutal force to carve up the ground around him forcing back dirt and revealing the crackling Nether Ritual that had been woven around him

How could I have missed this RandidlyÆs skin tingled But already he knew the answer His attention had been directed elsewhere planning his impossible attempts Besides the Nether Ritual wasnÆt harmful a third pulse of roaring grey flames melted it to nothing It had just been designed to hide certain individuals from his notice

Nether King Hungry Eye A familiar voice rumbled Randidly looked up and saw the familiar gaunt face of Bleak Sky glaring down at him Two lesser Nether Kings floated by his side although they were more powerful than the previous subordinates Bleak Sky came with He sneered down at Randidly Did you think your constant mucking about with Nether Rituals wasnÆt noticed Whatever you are attempting we will stop it

Randidly swayed On the first step already an impediment appeared In the East Randidly could feel the preparations to create humanity beginning He needed to move now

Yet a lazy grin stretched across his face The languid familiar warmth of strife came through his body More than anything else his time with the System had taught him how to handle exactly these situations His Nether Core rotated his heart beat his smile widened Very deliberately he cracked his knuckles

All according to plan Randidly said breezily He grinned up at the three Nether Kings Earning Skill Levels is so much easier with partners

Chapter 2276

Your resistance just demonstrates foolishness Nether King Bleak Sky snorted literally looking down on Randidly His horrid cloud heads released huge gouts of water vapor and tainted significance from their mouths gradually adjusting the environment Randidly stood and looked up without fear

The first step then

Energy began to spin around their position in a wide cyclone The two side Nether Kings one resembling and arch demon with two serrated horns and red skin while the other appeared to be some sort of merperson wove together a wider Nether Ritual aimed at keeping Randidly boxed into a single location Their working lacked sophistication but its simplicity would make it more difficult to foil with just a clever twist of energy

RandidlyÆs smile sharpened but he didnÆt bother to fight against the Nether released by all three of the Nether Kings His emerald eyes glittered as he followed the flows of energy The sky seethed with friction between different threads of fate The rush of energy seemed a single variable away from igniting into a vast conflagration

With a subtle gesture Randidly pulled his carefully wrought Nether orbs into his Soulspace they werenÆt necessary not yet Across the second Cohort Randidly could feel Elhume making his own preparations to create humanity

So not only did he need to break through this trio he had a time limit to do it

Congratulations Your Skill Motif of Unimagined Tolls has grown to Level 1037

Congratulations Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir has grown to Level 1120

Bleak Sky you are looking much better Randidly rolled his shoulders practically trembling with anticipation for the conflict All the details Randidly had been trying to juggle fell away For now he just needed to win Did you make a full recovery Looked a bit hollowed out last time Fatia Cerulean certainly got the best of you

As Bleak Sky scowled RandidlyÆs ears quirked the Nether army had been marching toward Homewell but now CeruleanÆs army began to shift to meet them Fatia hid in the center of his army as they stalked forward Some Engraving activated in the middle of Homewell strengthening the TurtlelineÆs defensive Lifeseal All the minute reverberations came to him through the ground up through the soles of his feet

Already he began pulling together kinetic energy No such thing as too much not with this many dangerous foes lurking around

This time you will not be able to flee The arch demon spoke up You false Nether King

Am I only the false Nether King Randidly verbalized his true curiosity He narrowed his eyes and tried to feel the flow of energy around Bleak Sky but he was unable to discern how his Nether Core seemed functioned You became an Apostate King did you not Bleak Sky Your Phaea has been severed

Above him Bleak Sky didnÆt even bother to respond to the question He chopped down with his hand Ominous Squall

A dense blade of Nether cut down toward Randidly but he had already stepped forward and slipped past the projectile The ground cracked and shook from the impact Bleak Sky might be an Apostate King but his Nether felt just as oppressive as it did previously Yet his opponentÆs strength only made RandidlyÆs blood warm more quickly A sharp gesture from the merperson produced chains of Nether to tighten across RandidlyÆs shoulders but he ignored them

His images hummed with anticipation The Egg of Depression rocked back and forth The canopy of the World Tree rustled The Dread Homunculus drank deeply of RandidlyÆs emotional sea and then wiped its mouth with a wicked claw

His opponents werenÆt idle The chains tightened trying to bite into his flesh but the Cloak of Utter Night meant they couldnÆt get a solid grasp on him The Arch demon Nether King appeared in front of Randidly a confident smile on his face You blind lemming I heard you consider yourself something of a brawling

Time to begin

Sulfur cracked the Arch demonÆs head back with a sharp left straight Force poured through his joints corralled and unleashed with enough power to shatter a mountain Randidly kicked off the air to accelerate upward but the merperson clapped their slimy hands together Authority Jealous Depths

Abruptly RandidlyÆs ears popped The chains of Nether that Randidly had been rather casually ripping his way through on the ascent tightened And then multiplied A dozen manifested in the space around him and tightened across his body His body wrenched to a stop leaving him scowling

Congratulations Your Skill Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart has grown to Level 950

Congratulations Your Skill the Wrathful Calamity Rends has grown to Level 939

Bleak SkyÆs attack was condensed wind and ill will a grey fuzzy crescent cutting down toward RandidlyÆs position RandidlyÆs attack was absence and desperation a rough edges black void burning across the retina as space collapsed He showed his teeth in a joyless smile even his slashes now had that element of endeavor reaching for the impossible He felt the uphill battle against the universe as he felt another twinge of disapproval from DeganawidahÆs imperative left within his Fateset

And yet on impact RandidlyÆs Rend shattered the Ominous Squall

With deliberate malice Randidly stomped on the Arch DemonÆs face and shot up to his next foe on the way to face the fearsome Nether King He gathered an orb of gravity and corruption in his left hand unleashing a blast of absence directly in the merpersonÆs face as he shot past His Authority might be potent but his face was wan and pale Which just left Bleak Sky still floating above and watching with disinterest as Randidly approached

Your lack of purity muddies expectations I give you that Bleak Sky nodded Yet if you drink from too many sources you inevitably pollute yourself You have grown abruptly strong just like other Aether filth Yet the Nether has been aware of these Fates And has made preparations Definitely it is worth expending one of these upon you

Bleak Sky flicked his wrist and produced a scroll It flipped out to between the two of them then exploded in a nova of violet light Randidly wove a shield of Nether around his body and also conjured the Cloak of Utter Night across his shoulders Yet when the energy arrived it almost ignored both of those barriers squeezing past and targeting his Fateset

Randidly lurched to a stop as he felt a burning force sear through and begin to burn away parts of his Fateset The pain felt so familiar although it was a different portion of him targeted it brought him viscerally back to his second visit to Tellus where he had been submerged in an ever deepening pool of lava to avoid the image of the sun For a split second he couldnÆt breathe

Warning bells rang in his ears as his Fateset began to rumble He desperately reached into his Soulspace to find the Fatepieces They were being stripped of their bindings taking them from a unified identity to just tools

Although it continued to be horribly painful Randidly blinked Then he began to laugh It makes sense Nether would know to attack Fates like this However heh arenÆt you just clearing the path to make it much easier for my first attempt DonÆt mind if I do

The restriction on the impossible left by Deganawidah was so overwhelming it simply ignored the cleansing blasts But everything else the context of his Fatepieces the arrangement the history of each the small leanings that had begun to develop and affect the Paradox of the Alchemist all of that was scraped away

After a few seconds of fiery scourings the violet light receded Randidly floated opposite Nether King Bleak Sky the ancient being looking him up and down Something in his countenance must have revealed his satisfaction because the Nether King’s face darkened Desolate Horizon

The hanging cloud faces were obliterated by the smashing pressure brought down by Bleak SkyÆs powerful Domain Everything was flattened by the pressure Randidly felt almost suffocated by the force of Nether squeezing around his body Compared to his merperson companion Bleak SkyÆs Nether possessed an absolute discipline that made it much more forceful In this the Nether King benefited from his age

Yet feeling the technique for the second time Randidly could tell Bleak Sky still bore wounds from whatever he had released on Fatia Cerulean Or becoming an Apostate King had a steep cost that lingered The pressure didnÆt feel quite as absolute as it had on their first meeting Not only had Randidly grown since the previous encounter but Bleak Sky had weakened just slightly

Not enough Randidly said softly His eyes glittered and he raised his hands in supplication toward the sky All the gathered kinetic force from his earlier movements churned around him the beginning of his maelstrom Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe The ChimeraÆs Suffocating Rebuke Dawn Opens the Sky and Reality Stirs

From within RandidlyÆs heart a single seed sprouted The manifestation of the World Tree sent up slender green shoots and split open the horizon

Congratulations Your Skill Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe has grown to Level 1007

Congratulations Your Skill ChimeraÆs Suffocating Rebuke has grown to Level 1001

Congratulations Your Skill Dawn Opens the Sky and Reality Stirs has grown to Level 993

Chapter 2277

Elhume glanced around at the figures gathered around the dais He felt torn between desperation to begin assisting his son and worry that even this attempt would just create more problems

Perhaps due to that conflict his voice came out much rougher than he expected Is everyone prepared We will not have another chance

Is naught lifeÆs idiosyncrasy part of its irresistible charm The Patron of the Deep observed Without singularity we become routine Empathy becomes moot between stock copies Which is why the creation of this race with such potential ah it effervesces a wild certainty of purpose does it not It may seem like a single step but with our efforts the future may blossom

ElhumeÆs face twitched but he didnÆt bother to respond Pouring his energy into the attempt had lessened the buzz of static in his mind toil centered him and removed the strange interference All the personnel they needed were present along with some observers Himself The Patron of the Deep The talented Engraver who could also utilize Nether Padraic The Prophet and loitering in the darkness at the far end the Scythe

Padraic young and looking suitably nervous nodded when Elhume glanced at him Elhume spared a moment to eye the Cult of the Savior individuals then refocused on the ground between them The project was all that was important right now Elhume had painstakingly carved a general body shape into the stone dais between them a mold into which they would pour everything else

Above the grey rock several sigils of pure energy rippled in the air The color shifted through a rainbow kaleidoscope the curving lines moving from pink to aqua and back to tangerine These were more ephemeral aspects of the humanity Elhume tried to impart onto them a series of generalized blessings Of possibilities and vague philosophical shapes to thrive within their minds They glittered like garish jewels prepared to be added into the mix

Elhume release a low breath when nothing appeared amiss glad he had been able to iron out the details Hidden within those blessingsÆ were the three locks he would place on humanity Not that he particularly minded if Padraic or the Patron of the Deep understood the insurance policy Elhume made but with the philosophies disassembled it was difficult to see how they would snap into place when all the benefits were added at the same time

But I suppose thatÆs people Unknowable when viewing the disparate elements in isolation

Elhume looked sideways at the young Engraver A sliver of doubt remained in his heart Everyone had a role Elhume would shape and oversee the Patron of the Deep would provide the raw essence of life and Padraic would need to create a conduit to handle that power If the Engraver had not succeeded he would need to rely on the ProphetÆs backup plan Please letÆs see this heartÆ you have been working on

Padraic nodded and cupped his palms together Out of his two hands rose a pulsing working of Aether and Nether all spider silk and dew drops The connections were ornate and delicate the edges fluttered like butterfly wings catching an invisible wind From just a look it was clear this work had taken a great degree of care and effort Suddenly the dark bags underneath PadraicÆs eyes made sense

While studying the heart Elhume and the Patron of the Deep came to the same conclusion at the same time ElhumeÆs pupils dilated The Patron of the Deep gasped This core would enable humanity to manipulate both Aether and Nether freely

Elhume struggled to conceptualize what this would mean Would adding Nether into the mix help expedite the process of creating essence to sustain Pine For a brief moment he considered Nether King Hungry Eye the only being who seemed to possess this ability Certainly the potential of humanity would grow but

this is dangerous The Prophet whispered his bulging chin eye narrowed at the heart

In the end Elhume found himself agreeing His eyes raked across the arrangement again seeking any elements he had misinterpreted The core area of the heart was a work of genius a layered integration of variants that essentially guaranteed the image potential that Elhume had sought However the problem became the wings they existed in a duology opposite one another with entirely different designs One with rigid passages to gather Aether while the other had been whimsically drawn with whorls to incorporate Nether Both energies could flow to the core area and produce a reaction

Truly a marvelous feat Can you feel the breadth of space below us the rich darkness awaiting our illumination To create such a race Even my sophisticated imagination trembles at the sundry potential Already the Patron of the DeepÆs body jiggled with excitement

A rumbling shift in the knot of significance hanging over them made him look sideways Randidly had overcome this trial none too soon because in the distance he felt the first rumblings of the ritual to create humanity

A flicker of movement brought his attention whipping around Although he still seemed oddly hollow Nether King Bleak Sky had ascended to stand opposite Randidly in the sky Do you know why I hate people like you Hungry Eye

Because IÆm different Randidly didnÆt even need to think meeting the gaze of this resentful Nether King the words stuffed themselves into his mouth

Bleak Sky nodded his brows heavy Because you are different you delight in the transgression of bounds Because you have lived a blessed existence where that difference was never questioned never challenged never punished Because although I can see you and know you completely you will never appreciate the suffering I have endured in order to protect the future of the Nether People You cannot know the depths of my toil and how painful it is to watch you flippantly upend the status quo

That same frosted poisonous spike of exhaustion sunk into the edge of RandidlyÆs heart prepared to slip forward in a moment of weakness and completely impale him It was the price of failure looming over him constantly He lifted his chin and frowned You might be right that I donÆt understand you But that doesnÆt mean you comprehend me I take no joy in being different I simply donÆt think the structures you work to build are very valuable

Bleak Sky considered that the two floating opposite one another as the three armies crashed into each other below EnmyaÆs army began to stir preparing to enter the fray as well In the end Bleak Sky just snorted He raised a hand and pressed it against his chest Instantly his Nether Core began to accelerate in its rotations The speed rapidly shot upward so that whisps of uncontrollable Nether spat out from his torso

Randidly felt a mix of sadness and wariness because now he could see the chunk taken out of Bleak SkyÆs Nether Core The rotation fluttered and sputtered seemingly just one wrong spin away from popping off of its axis and collapsing into a ball of self destructing energy He wasnÆt sure what damage a collapsing Nether Core could cause

Bleak Sky showed his teeth You can sense it yes Transforming into an Apostate King cannot be reversed only delayed I do not have long for this world Yet in that time let us see if I cannot educate you in the prowess of a Bleak Sky Authority Forlorn Rain

Bleak SkyÆs Nether Core buzzed and sputtered yet continued to stubbornly accelerate It began to tug at Nether in the environment desperate to stabilize its wild rotations Randidly stiffened at the activation of the Authority because a pure and irresistible imperative pulsed out of the opposing Nether King even in this weakened state Randidly wasnÆt sure he could have used his Authority to counter his foes

Grey clouds knitted themselves into existence overhead and a cool rain began to fall It tingled against RandidlyÆs skin yet he couldnÆt sense any other difference in the environment He warily watched Bleak Sky whose Nether Core careened toward self destruction

A thousand thousand drops fell across the surrounding space splattering against armor and exploding against dirt and stone A low rustle rose a humming soundscape instantly generated by the influence of Bleak Sky

Truth be told I am different from my peers as well Bleak Sky grunted Allow me to show you what has always been considered a failed Authority Updraft

Randidly blinked Bleak Sky had vanished at the world The rain fell around him tiny bits of regret and sadness from the Nether KingÆs Core made manifest in the world The drops spun around Randidly and made mud out of the ground under the feet of the marching armies He pivoted slowly rapidly gathering kinetic energy and the chaotic by product as Nether and Aether slammed into each other But where

Downcrash

And suddenly Bleak Sky returned soundlessly aside from that breathy word all unhinged Nether Core momentum and his arms merged together into a giant black greatsword raised overhead

Chapter 2278

Bleak Sky manifested in an explosion of caustic Nether sweeping down to try and freeze Randidly for just a split second And from the brief stalling of his Nether Core in response to the attack it almost succeeded

But Sulfur responded instinctively a vicious moment of frenzied twisting to bring the arm around above RandidlyÆs head right before the hammer blow fell The impact made the marrow in RandidlyÆs bone ache and to his surprise he felt his collarbone fracture

Congratulations Your Skill Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil has grown to Level 967

The force was overwhelming enough to spike him Randidly shot down through the air even as the impact activated SulfurÆs Combat Furnace Unique ability and suffused his body with heat With a vicious twist he righted himself and slammed into a conjured plane of gravity His chest heaving he raised his head and looked up at Bleak Sky floating above his hands morphed together into that elongated blunt instrument

An Authority can be considered a Nether KingÆs signature move Bleak Sky said even while RandidlyÆs shoulder ached and shifted back into alignment A decisive blow yes but not a debilitating one You can understand its role implicity just from the name an Authority In this area the Nether King has no peer Yet I believed I could do more with the concept of Authorities I didnÆt want a single area where I could thrive but a weapon I could wield against any foe And so I waited to condense my Authority believing I could prove them all wrong Overturn the common understanding to create something perfect What I eventually created was Forlorn Rain

The air around them remained soft and blurred by the constant water droplets tumbling down from the sky above The spatter of water on the ground in the distance made the conversation oddly intimate RandidlyÆs black robe began to cling to his body as it grew sodden

It wonÆt be enough to beat me Randidly said with certainty having completely recovered from the attack He glanced East and saw the churning significance that meant humanity was being woven together He then looked below him and saw the vanguard of DeganawidahÆs host raise their weapons and roar CeruleanÆs defenders crouched ready to receive their charge He focused back on Bleak Sky

The ancient Nether King shrugged Randidly had difficulty reading the expression on his face We shall see Updraft

Just like that he was gone again Randidly couldnÆt help but feel a shiver of shock Although he had known what was coming even his fine tuned senses lost their grasp on his opponent The soft drifting sheets of rain tingled against his skin using the multitudes of their folds to allow Bleak Sky to slip away

While Bleak Sky was in this other state the rain seemed to press closer Or perhaps it was a strange echo of loneliness pulling the rain closer causing drops to congregate and drip off the tip of his nose The noise rose to the rustle and pluck of water against orchard leaves almost more violent than the reality of the precipitation Until

This time Randidly surged into motion in response to the word producing Acri and thrusting his spear upward in a focused effort to counter the swing of the greatsword Bleak Sky didnÆt even flinch a collapsing ridge of momentum rushing down toward Randidly with glassy eyes

Congratulations Your Skill From the Chaotic Sea Abrupt Reverberation has grown to 890

Congratulations Your Skill From the Chaotic Sea Abrupt Reverberation has grown to 901

Again Bleak SkyÆs speed caught Randidly by surprise even with his powerful physique he was a blink behind He could only settle for using his spear to alter the arcing course of his foeÆs weapon swing causing the greatsword to slam into this shoulder rather than striking him in the collarbone again The heavy splash of Nether swept through him again disturbing the rotation of his Nether Core Again Randidly winced as he felt his bones fracture

But this time while he was spiked downward he didnÆt miss the nova of kinetic force created by the impact All that energy was deftly gathered and spun together about Randidly into a cloak of storm Not only could he store it up for later but the energy also acted as a strange sort of parachute diffusing and softening the abrupt motions

By the time Randidly had stopped his descent and kicked back off a plane of gravity to close the distance Bleak Sky shook his head His skin had started to become slick with rain You will break down eventually Updraft

Barely a sliver of time had passed where the rain was allowed to fall in peace before Bleak Sky returned like a massive black guillotine catching Randidly in his transition But now wreathed in a storm of force and his body burning with SulfurÆs Combat Furnace activation he narrowed his eyes and whipped Acri around to impale the blurred comet of Bleak Sky

Congratulations Your Skill (Fusion Domain) HelenÆs Sea Cradle of Unlikely Lives has grown to Level 1129

Bleak Sky barred his teeth the strain clear on his face now Being soaked with rain made him seem almost fake a wax figurine left too long near the fire and starting to run From the glitter in his eyes it was clear he had run out of reserves Updraft

Updraft

Downcrash

Vacating Breeze

Break Randidly interrupted the injuries in his body healing at a rapid pace With each of the previous rapid impacts the storm of force around him had multiplied until it spanned a huge area an almost cityÆs worth of furious winds and dangerous kinetic momentum All this lined with RandidlyÆs Nether had gradually grown inoculated against Bleak SkyÆs Nether in each collision

Now in the whole of the area RandidlyÆs storm covered that kinetic energy forced the Nether into the weave of Bleak SkyÆs Authority The Forlorn Rain tore and left the sky grey but dry The clouds whimpered and vanished

Bleak Sky hung in place looking gaunt and haggard Randidly carefully gathered the kinetic force he could scavenge back through his body Then he considered the fragile figure hanging opposite him in the air even as his hands morphed back from a weapon to just skeletally thin fingers Randidly felt a twinge of regret he had fought this depleted version of Bleak Sky the one who had unleashed that powerful part of himself to try and kill Cerulean outright

Strangely Randidly found himself speaking He almost couldnÆt stand what a let down this confrontation had been A lot of his vicious resolve to challenge the universe ebbed as he faced off against this Nether King who had obviously been beaten down by existence inside the Nexus It was a powerful Authority

Immediately he regretted the words Bleak Sky looked up at him with hollow eyes The response was clear on the Nether KingÆs face even if he didnÆt vocalize it if the Authority had been truly powerful you would have died

Randidly bowed his head Bleak SkyÆs Nether Core sputtered and spun unable to maintain its speed unable to accelerate Nether leaking out in every direction It would not be long until he died Some part of Randidly wanted to remain out of respect for this rigidly disciplined figure but another part knew Bleak Sky would hate him for it to be witnessed at his weakest

And also he was needed elsewhere

You did well Randidly said as he turned away

DonÆt pity me Bleak Sky hissed but it lacked any real bite He just sounded like an exhausted old man

Suddenly Randidly realized why Bleak Sky so wrenched at his heart he reminded him of Shal And with that all the fire and fury returned to him His emerald eyes burned as he glanced briefly up at Pine hanging over them all

Randidly produced his AlchemistÆs Passport and opened a portal through space not a moment too soon He forced his regret and strange wonder about whether he would have a similar end to the side instead considering his first real goal the first attempt of three impossible tasks to create the PhilosopherÆs Stone

As he appeared in the cave system outside of the Cult of the SaviorÆs base he allowed himself to focus on the specifics Because while the generalized PhilosopherÆs Stone of legend would allow him eternal life and to turn lead into gold those were not very useful abilities with the advent of the System

No Randidly Ghosthound with NathanÆs help was going to create a very specific sort of miracle One that would be infinitely valuable within the confines of the System and would benefit his Alpha Cosmos It would refocus his Fateset as well toward an Alchemist to pervert and twist the effects of the System as well which was the true goal of the attempt

He would create a stone that when touched would give you any Class you could imagine

Chapter 2279

Devick felt a few beads of sweat dripping down her lower back and wished she had a spare moment to wipe them away Or at least swat at the back of her leather armor smushing them and soaking them into her equipment Those drops somehow managed to keep hiding there even as she twisted back and forth stubbornly clinging to the soft near invisible hairs that grew along her spine

Alas too busy doing the devilÆs work She clicked her tongue in mock distaste even as she rode the low thrill of panic which had swept her away since the two armies had met Her wrists and ankles ached and she had a shallow cut across the side of her neck weeping a few drops of blood

Her ears had become almost useless The shouts of pain and the roars of challenge buzzed through the air mixing with the sound of weapons slamming into one another until the vibrations became confusion incarnate It was only her overload panting of her body struggling to keep up with her demands the gasping heaves echoing in her ears that kept her grounded in the moment

She skittered sideways to avoid a lashing strike from a Nether Warriors tail grabbed the impotently extended tip then pulled it out across her body to cushion the blow from a flail swung at her by a bona fide Nether Gatekeeper an animate suit of obsidian armor with flames leaking out its joints

The weapon tore through the Nether WarriorÆs body without much resistance and knocked Devick sprawling but the impediment was enough she didnÆt lose her arm by taking the hit She yelped and rolled sideways her armor acquiring another layer of mud stinking mud By the time she had popped up to her feet a bestial new Nether Warrior whipped around with a growl and raised his hatchets to strike

Devick crouched down leaned forward and briefly became Malice incarnate all claw and ill will The wicked hare did not appreciate this sort of disrespect Her hands were edged with crimson claws of hatred allowing her to hamstring the Nether Warrior as she streaked past him And not a moment too soon because that obsidian flail smashed into the ground where she had just been crouched with the wet squelch of a rotten ribcage being smashed open

Congratulations Your Skill Malice Hare of the Crimson Foot and Barbed Heart has grown to Level 501

She righted herself while releasing another a heaving exhale that sounded like the expulsion of gaseous vomit those drops of sweat trembling on her back with fear Around her violence raged in every direction Nether Warriors and Nether Gatekeepers came forth in an unending tide cut down almost as fast as they arrived by CeruleanÆs elite troops but not quite Every second they had to retreat Devick pushed a few errant strands of crimson hair out of her eyes and almost tripped over the headless corpse of a body wearing sapphire armor Her eyes fixated on the Nether Gatekeeper still stalking toward her still leaking tongues of flame and acrid smoke out through its joints

Devick grimaced as she sucked in an equally massive breath Fuck I guess itÆs too much to ask the armor to show a bit of biological weakness Truce you whiny bitch

The last mental phrase was extended toward her Grand Fate which had been pouting through most of the battle After a lingering moment of hesitation it nodded very willing to try and survive this ordeal

Yet before Malice and MaverickÆs Barbaric Imperative could begin to work hand in hand her senses tingled in an entirely different warning She looked up suddenly with much more dire concerns than the baleful suit of armor chasing her across the field of violence

The Nether forces paused as well a half beat behind Devick not as keyed to threats as she was but still more capable of sensing shifts in the energy of connection For another full second CeruleanÆs guards fought with furious intensity before a cold wind swept across the battlefield and smothered most of their movements

The rain had mostly stopped by now but a shiver ran through the battlefield

In the present Randidly moved through the Cult of the Savior base with the Cloak of Utter Night wrapped tightly around his frame Various layers of rather clever Engraving guarded the outer reaches of the facility but the combination of folding perspective and the CloakÆs defensive abilities meant Randidly could proceed further without worry

The skin of his arm tingled as significance flowed past him The shaping of humanity had begun He could feel ElhumeÆs intensity even from afar The single minded void edged focus of Elhume had strengthened even from the last time Randidly had encountered him Yet simply pausing and listening was enough to determine that he still had some time

The heart he had woven for Padraic hadnÆt fractured yet which meant it hadnÆt yet been constricted by the three locks on humanity

As Randidly approached the core facility where the ritual was occurring the defenses grew more tightly woven He had to pause for longer because he was worried about more than the boundaries themselves but also the shadowy figure of the ScytheÆ who seemed so adept at noticing when Randidly wasnÆt disciplined with his attention

Halfway through slipping through the final barrier his gaze flickered as he sensed the significance in the environment abruptly deepening The accumulation of Nether happened so quickly that space and time turned sticky creating friction as they rubbed up against one another A ghost of a smile danced across his face ThatÆs my cue

Randidly had kept all the leftover force rushing through his veins building up momentum With the timing of his arrival perfectly arranged he didnÆt need to bother with subterfuge any longer He raised his hand and unleashed it all setting off a veritable bomb in the middle of the defensive structure

The Engravings flashed bright and then shattered The cave wall in front of Randidly buckled and collapsed letting him breeze forward into the wide ritual spot In the center of the cavern a rainbow whirlwind of energy spun down into a humanoid clay form imprinting values and philosophies into the new species The air stunk like a spring day right after dawn practically drowning in life energy

In the center of that whirlwind the disparate pieces had come together around the heart and begun to squeeze a hairline crack now ran through the energy processing formation at the core of humanity spitting out dangerous sparks And those sparks didnÆt just dissipate but skittered across the heart their heat warping the lines of potential further

RandidlyÆs pupils dilated as he noticed the situation in the room On instinct his hand shot up forming into a claw The First Authority Seize

ElhumeÆs body moving through his polished punching form wrenched to a stop across the cavern His fist was only a few inches from the Patron of the Deep who sweated and panicked just looking at the man he had followed for years In that unhesitating fist he saw the end of his life

Randidly felt exhaustion suffuse his body at the instinctual activation of the Authority and felt a little bit of regret He should not have spent his Nether like this but the unexpectedness of the scene when he entered the cavern had caught him off guard Why was Elhume trying to kill the Patron of the Deep But he let the reckless madness take him grinning and shouting across the ritual Patron of the Deep we really need to stop meeting like this

Nether King Hungry Eye Elhume fumed ripping his way out of the grip of Randidly’s Authority and glaring over at him “You are not welcome here “

Yet the real threat came from behind Randidly felt tingles up and down his spine as the horrid create Scythe appeared in his shadow The thing raised its weapon Heh Gotcha rat

Chapter 2280

The Prophet felt a flash of triumph seeing Scythe manifest in the shadow of Nether King Hungry Eye The positioning was perfect It didnÆt have any proof of the feeling but with the consequences riding on the creation of humanity both for Elhume and for the plans laid out in the CultÆs Prophecy there was a general consensus Nether King Hungry Eye would show up and try and pilfer some of the spoils

They called him Hungry Eye for a reason after all The bastard had a stomach ambitious enough to try and digest even the Nexus itself

The executioner bathed in the light of El Kedec needed only to inflict the slightest cut with the blade and the powerful physical body of the Nether King would be rendered moot Those struck by the Scythe would experience a vicious mental cleansing which was impossible to prepare for and most often fatal

Still the ScytheÆs looming attack on Hungry Eye didnÆt relieve the tension in the ProphetÆs chest his mind kept turning over the events of the previous few minutes trying to understand the strange words uttered by Elhume and the ProphetÆs own illogical agreement

There had been the strangest stutter And although they had not returned to reality skipping across the moment of other left the Prophet troubled

A few minutes before the process of creating Humanity had been well underway The boy Padraic had stabilized the outer ritual and the Patron of the Deep provided a font of life allowing Elhume to handle the details of the creation And despite the fact the man crackled with emptiness he had an eye for detail that couldnÆt be matched Ultimately his whole image pivoted on precision While a series of crackling energy fireworks exploded around the edges of the working the disparate elements they had refined were brought into alignment within the prepared clay body

Sweat dripped down ElhumeÆs brow as he pulled and twisted lowered and locked creating the cohesive soul of the population The Prophet had leaned forward his eye bulging to catch every image being neatly sewn together into the essence of humans Already the heart provided by Padraic began to pulse and flare in the core The depths of potential that working possess astounded the Prophet it made a mental note to keep track of Padraic in the future if he was capable of this sort of work

The Prophecy had glossed over him so it seemed likely that he would soon die in the coming war between Aether and Nether In the ProphetÆs opinion this was for the best Talented individuals were always variables that would need to be neutralized Doubly so because Padraic had a casual acquaintance with Nether King Hungry Eye

A brilliant holistic halo of light had begun to form around the clay body as ElhumeÆs efforts began to be rewarded Humanity the whole spiritual existence began to condense Steam wafted up from the heart as the amount of life energy flowing through its confines doubled and then increased by tenfold Yet the heart handled it all more and more brilliant lines of possibility stretching out

To stand on the cusp of history Still a blazing sun of life energy the Patron of the Deep sighed with obvious pleasure Although he must be strained by providing energy his eyes remained bright and enthusiastic I have encountered no greater sensation

Then circumstances had twitched and shoved the group down a different a darker path

The problem came from PadraicÆs heart The Prophet saw the careful restrictions Elhume had laid throughout humanity go into effect they squeezed at the edge of the receptacle of potential just enough pressure to shut some of the outer lines of possibilities However Padraic hadnÆt accounted for such a development when he had woven the heart The pressure along the outer edges of the heart built up the whole working beginning to tremble And then the strained outer lines of potential collapsed inward destroying nearby energy flows and creating strange deviant twisted arrangements of energy that cut across several of the previously parallel but separate possibilities

A strange resonant note like the yearning call of a lonely whale hummed out as discharged energy seeped into the clay body

Rapidly the situation in the heart began to deteriorate The deviant flows of energy swelled taking over more space Nearby flows needed to shrink to compensate it The destabilization slowed but the pressure of this monstrous new energy flow kept twisting and leaning toward the center of the heart And if it reached the middle

PadraicÆs face had been white as he watched the growing error I IÆm so sorry I didnÆt know

To his credit the Patron of the Deep understood what the other meant almost immediately He paled his massive body quivering You you wish for me to surrender my existence for the sake of this unborn race To bleed upon their altar to expiration never to witness the fruits of my labor

Surely there would be no greater honor you could experience Elhume spat out the words with a fair coating of sarcasm The presence of void in his image billowed out in the enclosed space of the room sucking away some of the life energy and nearly all of the air

I I The Patron of the Deep had wavered The ProphetÆs eyes glittered in those moments his worries from the past month falling away Warm and comforting life suffused his whole beingù As the Prophecy had stated due to the decline of his race his desire for greatness and permanence his relationship with Elhume and also due to his current situation the Patron of the Deep would acquiesce

Despite the strangeness of this space the Prophecy would not fail

When the Patron of the Deep glowered and lifted his chin the Prophet felt its heart seize His doubts came surging back frigid stabs that ripped through his faith in El Kedec As he suspected Nether King Hungry Eye had interfered in this as well I refuse Elhume I have my own life

Your wounds will soon claim you anyway Why not accomplish something great before your demise ElhumeÆs voice softened but did not relent

For a split second the Prophet knew those words would sway the Origin Beast The Patron of the Deep had such deep wounds it was a surprise he had lived this long

The Patron of the Deep blinked Wounds What wounds My sorrows might be prodigious but I would hardly

Both the Prophet and Elhume lurched Looking at the fist user the Prophet could see that he had been similarly certain that the Patron of the Deep had been quite wounded on the cusp of death Yet suddenly that conclusion dissipated like a mirage leaving both of them wondering why they had jumped to that conclusion

This is proof A burning excitement surged through the Prophet tinged with relief Hungry Eye is definitively interfering the Prophecy Our actions have consequences We have been forced away from grace

Elhume came to a different conclusion His eyes had firmed He had tightened his hands into fists He took a strong step and crossed the distance to the Patron of the Deep His image flared but concentrated just around his hand so as not to ruin the already unstable working His intentions were clear if you didnÆt have the wounds now he would just inflict them with one of his vicious punches

In that strained moment the wall had exploded as Hungry Eye entered the tableau Energy howled and seethed the situation rapidly worsening And then with an admirable display of Nether power he stopped ElhumeÆs punch from across the room The Prophet also didnÆt miss the way the effort flared and stalled the sundering of humanityÆs clay body briefly giving them time to right the ship

Yet the Nether King had also opened himself up allowing Scythe to slip into his shadow

Finally The Prophet leered but he saw something truly unbelievable as the Nether King should have been struck down

Scythe standing in Hungry EyeÆs shadow with his weapon raised paused and shivered Driven by fear he peered over his own shoulder into the face of a new darkness

Standing there an even larger monster appeared all smiles and teeth The carrion thing of dusk and dolorous hunger reached out and Scythe flinched

Chapter 2281

RandidlyÆs skin crawled as the enemy appeared behind him but he didnÆt panic Bits of shattered stone still tumbled through the air from his dramatic arrival and already he needed to clear this hurdle While that strange watcher of the Cult of the Savior appeared behind him he pulled deeply from his emotional sea and unleashed three of his images in tandem Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe NyxÆs Successor Births Fate

Darkness Withers the Sky and the Waiting Carrion Grins

Congratulations Your Skill Darkness Withers the Horizon and the Waiting Carrion Grins has grown to Level 976

Congratulations Your Skill Darkness Withers the Horizon and the Waiting Carrion Grins has grown to Level 988

Congratulations NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 1030

A horrid chimera manifested in the space behind the attacker armed with the hungry and insidious gaze of the Stillborn Phoenix the cataclysmic promise of NyxÆs whisper and the viciousness and bloodthirstiness of the beast that lurked in the canopy of the World Tree The watcher shivered and jerked sideways and Randidly offered a predatory smile over his shoulder

The being twisted trying to slip in between the fabric of the shadow and the ground vanishing into the veins of the base But the carrion being crowed its amusement as it shuffled forward all feathers and the smell of rot It reached out with taloned hands and tore into the flesh of the Cult of the SaviorÆs assassin

Congratulations Your Skill Darkness Withers the Horizon and the Waiting Carrion Grins has grown to Level 989

At the last moment it seemed to realize the being couldnÆt escape the haunt of Yggdrasil easily To its credit it then acted decisively It wheeled around and raised its curved scythe determined to strike a vicious retaliatory blow Although Randidly wouldnÆt describe the effect as luminous the strange energy it gathered around its weapon did resemble light A milky pale light that he had only seen coming as wisps over the horizon before pure light arrived to burn the pretenders away

The fingers of the carrion wriggled and sank more deeply into the target leading to that light faltering just as soon as it had come Yet it swung a vicious weapon at RandidlyÆs back despite its deepening wounds

Randidly smirked You are going to regret lashing out while wounded Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil Diffracted Corruption of the Avaricious Impossibility Cloak of Utter Night

The base layer was his body refined with new anchors and polished flesh to be impossibly durable Then came a layer of pure corruption the shroud of the Stillborn PhoenixÆs event horizon which could warp time space and energy And finally Randidly wrapped himself in the inky inviolability of the deep night

When the scythe with its weakening light sunk into those defenses it barely managed to cut through the thick substance of night In the face of the distorted layer of corruption it could advance no further

Congratulations Your Skill Darkness Withers the Horizon and the Waiting Carrion Grins has grown to Level 990

Randidly lowered himself into a three point stance the toes of each foot and the knuckles of his left arm pressing against the ground He used the other hand to reach down and squeeze the harpoon spear version of Acri wrapped around his waist The weapon trilled understanding his intentions immediately

Both Elhume and the Prophet stopped speaking looking with alarm at the sudden shift

From the Alpha Cosmos the other two pieces of the transformed Acri emerged The heavy spearhead the glittering blade as large as a gravestone cracked the reinforced ground with its weight The articulate thorny tentacleÆd Thorn imitation rolled and climbed up wrapping its base tightly around RandidlyÆs waist Then its long appendages began weaving themselves together into a resilient massive single cord

Every muscle in RandidlyÆs body burned with excitement violence and anticipation He had practiced this form before but never had the opportunity to use it against a genuine foe But now he wanted to strike decisively especially against Elhume He needed overwhelming physical force

A blow so decisive the fist user would be cowed At least for a little while after such a loss his image wouldnÆt be a threat to Randidly

While the vine body finished weaving itself into a tail Randidly unleashed his image physicalizations This display placed quite a bit of strain on the Stillborn Phoenix but it bore it well enough as it condensed in the hole in SulfurÆs palm his left hand transforming into an event horizon

RandidlyÆs back arched and then flexed He gritted his teeth in displeasure as gnarled sharpened roots forced themselves out of the thick muscles of his back bare branches stretching wider and wider into a horrid approximation of wings Shadows flickered along their length the currently well fed carrion skittering happily back and forth

His body became the Dread Homunculus all intensity and armored joints a being designed to shatter the limit of the possible His skin darkened into an armored substance glistening and deadly in the dark red flashing coming from the humanity ritual

As he remained crouched there his three images singing together Acri used the massive appendage to pick up the third of his three pieces the massive spearhead The Dread Homunculus looked forward with focused eyes one of its hands a swirling blank oblivion Vicious looking roots stretched out from his back into the vague approximation of featherless wings

And a massive scorpionÆs tail swayed above his head This was his most monstrous form all his transgressions made physical

A split second before Randidly moved Elhume seemed to finally realize how serious a situation it had become You mean to

When Randidly moved the ground shattered His left hand led his back the event horizon shredding through the intervening space to assist in his deceptively immediate acceleration He didn’t pull any emotional affect from his emotional sea because his whole being focused on the channeling of energy He was image physicalizations and momentum nothing more Neveah had to reach through him keeping his storm of kinetic force in the proper rotation nudging the energies swirling around that clay body in order to avoid it all collapsing

Opposite him Elhume straightened He had just enough time to pull back a fist and throw it forward his image of the void flaring and expanding into a destructive squall He trusted Randidly too much he didnÆt hold anything back

RandidlyÆs scorpion tail the massive Acri portion shooting forward ghosted out to meet the punch There wasnÆt a collision just a vicious severing

ElhumeÆs right arm tumbled through the air and bounced off the ground Blood leaked out of the torn flesh and dribbled across the clay body of humanity

Chapter 2282

Even Randidly felt a thrill of shock as his bare feet skidded across the ground behind Elhume his toes curling to carve up little trenches of dirt and disperse his momentum He had enough speed after the impact to have careened forward destroying his way through the entire base ElhumeÆs arm tumbled end over end in his wake spattering blood across the clay figure and then rolling to a stop

Randidly turned around releasing a steaming breath His eyes glittered and his hands tingled It had almost been too easy becoming the unstoppable monster His body his Nether and his Aether physicalizations all came into alignment The density and weight of the massive Acri spearhead served as the perfect blade to cleave apart any obstacle in front of him Randidly couldnÆt be sure from just a single utilization but with how tightly bound all his power had been in the movement perhaps this form would even be able to withstand the tide of Nether dragged around by Deganawidah

He would slice his way through giving himself enough of an opening to land a blow But that was for later

ElhumeÆs image contracted rapidly around him all the concentrated force he had gathered sheered in half and rapidly turning into pure blasts of force All this Randidly seized and pulled into his storm of kinetic force churning around the room A maelstrom hovered ever closer above the sparking embryo of humanity their rotations quickly coming into alignment

Randidly shook himself focusing back on the moment He straightened the scorpion tail lowering itself to the ground to keep him balanced flicking fitfully back and forth His Nether Core pumped another solid flow of significance through his veins steadying him readying him for another pass

If necessary

Elhume took another step backward obviously very thrown by how totally he had lost in the brief clash He was turning just as RandidlyÆs event horizon housing hand grabbed him by the front of his robe Randidly briefly allowed the Stillborn Phoenix to flare devouring the remnants of ElhumeÆs image and emotions before that righteous fury could come roaring back before the misguided belief that Randidly would threaten Pine would come roaring back

Well Randidly admitted privately I do have a rather dangerous gamble to make on the subject of Pine But that will come later

He did not spare Elhume at all just sucking away anything he could slurp up with the image The last embers of resistance disappeared past the edge of the event horizon

Congratulations Your Skill Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe has grown to Level 1010

With a sharp twist Randidly whipped Elhume across the battlefield in the direction of the Patron of the Borrowed The Vulpine had largely just been staring at the confrontation but managed to get his arms up in time to catch ElhumeÆs body

Randidly felt a strange sense of unease and sent one more glance over at the crumpled form of Elhume When the Hungry Eye had turned on Elhume it had pulled from his depths and found surprisingly little Was that because he managed to resist the pull Or was he truly that hollowed out at the moment

He pursed his lips as he turned to face the Prophet So many small details demanded his attention but the large issues were more pressing And you Do you need a demonstration

You are a sociopath Nether King Hungry Eye The Prophet said primly folding its fat fingers together in front of it Yet the eye bulged and its two mouths appeared to be resisting the urge to smile There was a noticeable glee radiating out of its person Perhaps he enjoyed Elhume being put in his place Which I suppose shouldnÆt come as a surprise You informed us the entire time didnÆt you You are a Nether King

Err pardon the intrusion The Patron of the Deep spoke up back by the hole Randidly had blasted to enter the chamber Yet his eyes remained fixed on the blood which had soaked into the clay body leaving not even a trace of it behind Antagonism and dramatic entrances aside I do hope you would consider lending your aid to fix the receptacle of new life actually why have you intervened Hungry Eye Elhume

The Origin Beast stopped eyes bulging as though the name carried with it the memory of the attack and it lodged itself in his throat while passing through Across on the other side of the room the Patron of the Borrowed cast around a nervous eye holding Elhume For his part Elhume remained still his image continuing to contract from the impact That sensation of the void crackled around him dense layers of static resembling the pins of a hedgehog Yet to RandidlyÆs relief the Vulpine twisted his mouth and carried Elhume out of the room

Whatever Elhume built toward at the moment it wouldnÆt matter for a bit And what came next was relatively delicate

Randidly took another glance at the Prophet who seemed to be measuring him with that same inexplicable fervor Based on the ProphetÆs continued confidence all the pieces were in place he was ready to create his PhilosopherÆs Stone

He spared a glance for his Nether Core measuring the significance within Gonna be a rough one from the start Hope you are prepared We wonÆt have much of a break even between attempts Not enough time

With an impatient growl Randidly gestured and ripped out all of the processes the philosophies the possibilities the potential that Elhume had poured into the clay body Almost immediately the skin began to blister and the deterioration worsened Padraic yelped and began drawing sigils in the air attempting to stabilize the now hollow form

The howling tempest of wind and energy worsened The Figures of the Prophet Padraic and the Patron of the Borrowed all blurred and flickered distorted as the environment became increasingly alien

Clicking his tongue Randidly pulled all that pilfered power and pressed it into the top of the half pearl The Engravings began to glow animated beyond simply producing light but beginning to warp underneath all the new influences being added

Randidly looked once more at the meager layer of significance around his Nether Core and winced Well itÆs not like there is any choice Advance The Second Authority Intangible Needle

His body seized briefly his Nether Core straining to keep up with his demands Yet Randidly gritted his teeth plucked the innocuous looking bone needle from the air and then began to sew all separate pieces together to create a ramshackle ladder to the boundary of the impossible

The small end of his funnel apparatus to the pearl the defenses and energy stabilization formations on the ground to the pearl to ground it further the Nether Ritual with its secret prayer all woven through the entire thing Then Randidly took the misbehaving Cleansing Net of the Cult of the Savior and wove it into the middle portion of the funnel

The Cleansing Net seemed confused by this development pausing in its destructive rampage to consider its circumstances Which gave Randidly just enough time to run through his mental checklist

Nathan had handled the vagueness problem All Randidly needed to do was provide the library and he will have created a threshold of infinite paths He smiled the nerves still there but now his heartbeat strengthened the march of his reckless excitement

Just as the Cleansing Net decided that this environment too should be seared out of existence Randidly sucked in a breath and reached through his Nether Core He found that seed that connection to the strange sea filled with the horrifying statues eternalized shapes seeking to spread their influence With a few quick movements of the Intangible Needle he sewed the wide portion of the funnel to that opening Then he acted the funnel and began to pull

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 1040

For a second nothing happened Then a thousand threads of meaning erupted from the opening happy to be liberated from the stillness of their stasis in the strange sea The Cleansing Net caught them all horrified and then furious at the sudden arrivals setting about to burn away all of these interlopersÆ resistance

In the next moment the number of shapes forcing their way through his Nether Core doubled RandidlyÆs face twisted in pain A few seconds later that doubling happened against more and more shapes flowing through into the world through Randidly until they all became a solid stampede uncountably numerous He felt the ground begin to shudder as the defense system tied to this base shifted into an even higher gear

Randidly had to force his eyes closed lest he would be blinded by the light bristling in the middle of his funnel Against the pressure of RandidlyÆs Authority it had been powerful Yet now it drew on something deeper perhaps even a fraction of the true light of El Kedec It seared and seared able to destroy almost all of the shapes as they passed through

As Neveah had pointed out several days ago the entirety of RandidlyÆs plan for today was based on a series of assumptions Assumptions so varied and lacking in observable proof it was difficult to judge which was going to be the most incorrect

But at this first leap at least Randidly had been right

Remnants of the shape drifted forward through the net burned and scorched until the insidious intelligence driving them from that strange sea had been depleted Randidly happily pulled the hollowed out shapes and fed them into the pearl His emerald eyes blazed reflecting the rising light of the PhilosopherÆs Stone he began to create

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 1058

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 1059

But this is just the beginning Randidly scanned the Pearl Gonna need a lot more shapes than that

Chapter 2283

After the first thrill of triumph realizing that the process would work came the slog of seeing it through to completion This as it turned out Randidly had vastly underestimated After only a minute his attention frayed and blood began to drip out of his nose

Warning Your body

Congratulations The working you have created

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 1075

Congratulations Your Skill the Severing Tide of Amenonuhoko has grown to Level 1050

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 1076

Pantheon intervention Due to your incredible on going accomplishment you have been rewarded a special Path You have unlocked the Vain Endeavours 0/5000 Path

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 1081

Randidly shoved away the notifications his mind already threatening to split underneath the onslaught of strain He slipped naturally into the mode of his Dread Homunculus image designed to handle these situations of infinite details but even then he had to continue into a pseudo Visage of Obsession state and shunt off all his distractions to stay afloat

His consciousness flicked up and down back and forth in the area of the funnel behind the blazing net He plucked up the cleansed shapes and fed them into the pearl The ones with lingering impulses he didnÆt like the look of he tossed back into the net

Dimly he could feel waves of fire radiating out from his body a remnant of the cataclysmic struggle between the shapes Randidly invited into the Nexus and the Cleansing Net Steam came out from his ears To his immense relief the defensive barrier around the pearl held through those first thirty seconds The horrid force and greed of the new arrivals burned away leaving only a growing number of possibilities which Randidly fed into the pearl

He couldnÆt spare any attention for what happened with the clay cradle of humanity but hoped Padraic could handle it He also began to suspect that even though his Nether Ritual supported the whole working it couldnÆt prevent degradation for long

Yet for now he worked as furiously and intently as he could manage

Randidly pulled his lips back more each second grimacing through the constant juggling of different energies cascading through his body His Nether Core whirled producing just enough Nether to maintain the connection between the Core and the funnel barely staying ahead of the dangerous friction as these shapes forced their way through him When he could spare some energy he pumped it into the fabric of the funnel hoping the dense Nether would act similar to a coolant

The last thing he needed would be for the funnel to burst for his body to become the battlefield between these ominous shapes and the cleansing net He knew he knew that this was exactly the sort of situation Neveah had been worried about him putting his life on the line pushing himself too far

Congratulations Health Mana and Stamina +1000 Your Skill GhosthoundÆs Proficiency has evolved into the GhosthoundÆs Ceaseless Toil All your abilities will be slightly boosted In addition the effect increases the more wild the attempt the more dire the circumstance Although many have urged you away from running these ruinous gauntlets it cannot be said that you havenÆt developed a knack for navigating the amorphous threshold between life and death

Congratulations Your Skill NyxÆs Successor Births Fate has grown to Level 1100

Randidly felt a slight easing on the strain against him even as he felt part of him detach from his frantic motion of pulling cleansed shapes into the pearl That detached part looked around in amusement at his circumstances where frenzied brain activity pushed him toward an internal temperature that would soon liquefy normal flesh Yet he couldnÆt dwell on it long he needed to pull the shapes and insert them into the pearl

A new pressure emerged in RandidlyÆs body coming from his Fateset As he broke through 50% of his rough goal feeding shapes into the brilliant pearl the restriction set by Deganawidah began to glow with disapproval

Another surging wave of shapes forced their way up through the Nether Core causing even the Stillborn PhoenixÆs hunger to flag The event horizon it had maintained began to shrink forced backward before the lapping waves of annihilation Randidly pondered the problem for several long seconds the situation worsening

In the end Randidly chuckled When have I become so domineering eh Giving some ground is inevitable Just slow the tide Hold your ground Make them regret accepting our invitation

The Stillborn Phoenix screamed its agreement but shrunk the size of its manifestation slightly The shapes began to build up but Randidly was at least gladdened to discover they fought against each other as much as they lashed out at the pieces he had assembled

At the same time Neveah fed energy back to Randidly while the destructive forces thrown off by his body channeling these shapes were dangerous there was nothing he repurposed faster than diffused force All that heat and radiation and destruction came roaring back tightening into a cyclone of fire right past the edges of the funnel reinforcing the working from breaking down

At about 60% of the shapes Randidly aimed to provide for the PhilosopherÆs StoneÆs library the funnel began buzzing with the strain of staying in place The flaming barrier came none too soon and now all these shapes wanted to force their way out Randidly leaned against the working to stabilize it against his body but that just ended up tearing through portions of the flesh on his torso His mind buzzing and his body aching he raised Sulfur and tightened his fingers around the funnel absorbing as much kinetic force as he could manage

At 70% RandidlyÆs body trembled almost constantly the grinding effort sinking into his very bones He looked his old friend exhaustion in the face and smiled Welcome Care to lend a hand

At what could have been 85% Randidly felt the strangest certainty fill himù he neared a threshold with the pearl in terms of the complexity of shapes he had assembled They rippled and fluttered approaching a critical mass This had been 85% but it was more accurately only a bit over 70% He needed more

The Stillborn Phoenix screeched The Dread Homunculus image physicalizations continued to settle across his body helping absorb the strain As quickly as it could Yggdrasil fed tendrils of golden energy into his starved and strained body

At an entirely new 80% threshold his consciousness blurred and blunted by the constant plucking and insertion of shapes Randidly faced an entirely new threat the Prophet attacked him The strike slammed into his back but the Cloak of Utter Night sprang into being and absorbed most of the first

What survived punched a hole in his chest and sent a gushing spray of blood out across the array space but the heat and the energy were so violent even his own blood sizzled and evaporated before it could land and stain the surface

Dimly Randidly felt the Patron of the Deep come to his side to protect him but couldnÆt spare the attention

He reached 90% and felt a grim sense of recognition The compounding effect of complexity continued within the library but it began to come at a cost DeganawidahÆs imperative howled in his chest thoroughly incensed Randidly forced his eyes open ignoring the bright lights and flames surging from the warped funnel still gripped in SulfurÆs fingers

In front of him a tremor ran through the pearl The PhilosopherÆs Stone neared its physical limits with so many shapes stuffed into it

Chapter 2284

Fatia Cerulean looked at the sky unable to comprehend the scope of what he witnessed rushing toward him

Over the past week he had polished his Grand Fates despite the annoyances of others taking those same resources He had reached the height of his power possessing a potency he had craved for so long He had even found time to hunt down a capable Nether King and add it to his trophies giving him access albeit much reduced to that strange power which Hungry Eye had denied him previously

His army had been armed with Fates and given ample opportunity to hone their capabilities His current base had been surrounded with the densest Engraving he could muster almost rivaling HomewellÆs lifeseal in power Even a gust of wind caused the shield to flare to life and force all invading particles back Cerulean kept his elites close prepared to ambush this haughty Nether fool when he came for vengeance

He stood at the height of his power wreathed in sapphire flames Opposite the promised doom approached

Ink seeped out from the edge of the horizon poisoning the sky Clouds expanded quickly becoming the first harbingers of a dark apocalypse Cerulean had heard soldiers whispering earlier in the week referring to Deganawidah as Thrice Drowned or the Black Tide Gazing up at the approach he finally understood the second name

And the Tide began to come in

Is this what my fear tastes like The Raptor Construct stood transfixed as he watched the spreading darkness the perfected personality now ruling the body running up against its own mortal foibles A strange haze filled his brain as emotions he believed to have buried began to crawl out of their graves their fingers pushing up through the dirt

Fatia clawed his teeth together If nothing else today is a point of data To prove if my methods were the right ones

The soldiers have held thus far against the Nether rabble but the appearance of Deganawidah appears to have invigorated their offensive One of CeruleanÆs aides frowned over toward the location where the two armies wrestled Flashes of light and brief snatches of impressions radiated out to create strange kaleidoscopes in the air If they canÆt hold our defensive Engraving will falter

DeganawidahÆs energy streaked forward faster than Cerulean would have believed Darkness tightened to become a battering ram and slammed against the glittering energy dome around the base The barrier shattered instantly

A dark comet releasing waves of iron dust rushed down through the sudden opening and shattered the ground only ten meters away from CeruleanÆs position With absolute poise Deganawidah himself straightened from the impact point His eyes blazed as he scanned the surrounding soldiers and focused on Cerulean

You would have done well to come to me for this lesson Deganawidah rumbled

Randidly had been biting his lip so hard it bled for so long that Yggdrasil actually complained because it had to divert a noticeable portion of energy to heal the wound/ prevent the lip from healing around his teeth

He forced himself to relax But that was just one task on a mountain of others

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 1052

Randidly maintained the array supporting the pearl He kept his body flush with Nether heavily lashing out at any animated shapes that tried to escape the confines of the funnel He fed focus and emotional force into the Stillborn Phoenix so it could handle half of the cleansing duty despite the fact that RandidlyÆs reserves were running dangerously low He supported his other images through NeveahÆs consciousness allowing her to maintain the storm of kinetic force in the room He plucked the cleansed shapes spat out of the tight end of the funnel now sometimes using the Dread Homunculus and the Cloak of Utter Night to smother small bits of remnant consciousness that survived the cleansing and fit them into the pearl

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 1054

He watched the pearl unable to blink staring directly into its blazing radiance mentally calculating its limits

He did his best not to consider his own

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 1059

Yggdrasil eased up its grip on the wide part of the funnel The shapes paused realizing they could escape behind them and did so the last hundreds of pieces that Randidly needed

And as they tried to reverse their course the hammer of his kinetic storm smashed them to bits stripping them of their dangerous parts leaving them gleaming and pure All the energy he had gathered over the past hour seared its way forward an irresistible river that the dense shapes might have resisted collectively but they had no chance of enduring as a rabble

In one massive collapse with the corridor of energy held steady by Yggdrasil Randidly eliminated at least one of the more dangerous variables with the same chaotic discharge they had created in their arrival

Congratulations Your Skill Motif of Unimagined Tolls has grown to Level 1040

Congratulations Your Skill Severing Tide of Amenonuhoko has grown to Level 1072

Congratulations Your Skill Motif of Unimagined Tolls has grown to Level 1060

Randidly felt almost entirely empty as the furious squalls began to fade numb from the constant struggle that now left him struck with a near overwhelming desire to simply collapse His vision swam and his limbs felt immobile Yet he gritted his teeth and activated the ever reliable Yggdrasil The World Tree Sips from Every Realm

Congratulations Your Skill the World Tree Sips from Every Realm has grown to Level 1030

This Skill Randidly aimed downward at the diminished remnants of the Cleansing Net and the rest of the defensive fortifications around the Cult of the SaviorÆs base A rush of energy flooded his body so he took an even deeper pull His world had narrowed to just his hands and the working and the pearl but now the blurry backdrop came into slight focus

Randidly couldnÆt help but notice that a strange image signature began to rise from the depths of the CultÆs base now that the defenses had been almost completely put offline He wished this stranger good luck and the good sense not to fuck with him right now

His jaw worked clarity returned by the vicious headache he had earned lingering and making prolonged concentration agony With a grunt he waved a hand The unused kinetic energy pulled itself together into a storm of energy once more going to support the sweating Padraic His Nether Core revved struggling to replace the significance he had spent so freely over the past few minutes

Cracking his neck Randidly began to insert the last wave of shapes into the pearl

Congratulations You have accomplished a significant achievement You have created the Near Perfect Boundless Nacre Congratulations For being the first individual from your Cohort to create a Pinnacle object you have been rewarded

Pantheon Intervention Congratulations For being the first individual from your Cohort to create a Pinnacle Object all Stats +100 In addition you have received two Breath of the Ghosthound

Breath of the Ghosthound A consumable item of immense worth only possible by gathering the toil will and essence of the bizarre Ghosthound the deific being who climbed from mortality to become three Moiraes By using this item you can upgrade the Rarity of any one Stats Skill or Item to the Ghosthound Deviation Rarity The exact nature of the shift will depend on the resonance between the object and the Ghosthound The activation of this item will produce a certain resonance that will draw the attention of those attuned to the Ghosthound

Warning Results will be unpredictable Although the Rarity will be boosted there is a minute chance the value of the target will be diminished

This time Randidly at least scanned through the notification A smile hovered across his lips as he saw the efforts of the Pantheon He might not interact directly with them very often but they were more than his subordinates they were him They formed the structure of his Alpha Cosmos Thanks guys I couldnÆt do this without you

However Randidly didnÆt miss the point of the first portion of the notification As far as the System was concerned he could do no more with the Pearl Which of course made Randidly Ghosthound grin like a wolf

Shape by shape he pushed it further His emerald eyes glittered in the light reflected from the dancing Engravings across its surface Both limbs blurred scything through the hundreds of shapes by the dozen Each split second saw more complexity of that shifting maze increase He reached his impression of 99% and kept going with each careful placement

Chapter 2285

RandidlyÆs chest felt like it was on fire His brain had heated to the point it felt almost cold numbing all his awareness A slight tremor had taken up residence in his hand

Yet he refused to stop

With twenty five shapes remaining until Randidly believed he would complete his Class PhilosopherÆs Stone the assembly became almost impossible He simply could not find any room to stuff the shapes into pearl without shattering it to pieces despite the fact that his instincts told him it could be done

Yet he had survived thus far by relying on his instincts He focused His impression of time slowed His headache hammered at him with heavier and heavier mallets The numbness spread He ignored it and continued to work

The first thing he did to find additional space was pull out the Codex Hexahedron and scan the pearl That came with painful hooks digging into his brainstem but he did immediately find above five more locations for the shapes

The inner space of the pearl fluttered like the wind playing with the pages of a pop up book As the display shifted Randidly saw into the rapid expansion of houses tunnels possibilities shapes truths and then those same thoroughfares of meaning fold back on themselves and close to reveal others

Those tantalizing hints he had sensed were so close to coalescing into substance

Yet no matter how he searched he could find no other possibilities Distantly he felt PadraicÆs concern rapidly edging toward panic He did not have an infinite time limit on this NeveahÆs consciousness brushed against his reassuring him she would monitor the clay body of humanity He needed his entire being focused on this

A groan escaped RandidlyÆs lips as he began to fold his perspective in the Nether manner peering deeply into the pearl to open and close it in unorthodox ways The small became large the large small the inside out and the secret unfolded to become blatant Just looking at it Randidly could see how powerful this Philosopher’s Stone would be when completed how much humanity would benefit how much everyone in his Alpha Cosmos would benefit

Even through the haze of pain and weariness he stilled at that awareness Because this object could be a gift for all the people who had followed him A legacy

Because Randidly knew that even if he managed to reach the end of his story to wrest control of the Nexus from Elhume and establish the Alpha Cosmos that wouldnÆt be the end of all stories His talks with Solomon Rex had made it clear that the Nexus would inevitably crash back into the main universe And these brushes with the Cult of the Savior even just within the memory taught him that dangerous foes would be waiting outside

Randidly might still be around at that time but he also might not This PhilosopherÆs Stone would let others pick up the torch

He had always felt vast gratitude to the people who supported him and his efforts to thank them always felt insufficient Yet as Randidly imagine the PhilosopherÆs Stone that was only a few shapes away from coming into being he saw a way to provide for them To repay all the trust placed in him

A change occurred in RandidlyÆs heart one that he wasnÆt sure heÆd been able to manage one he knew he would need for todayÆs efforts to be worth it but that he wasnÆt able to force For the first time Randidly felt the whole of his being shifting its focus he wanted this weapon for his people so badly he almost didnÆt care what he needed to do to accomplish it

The looming certainty of failure in his attempts drifted away from his mind He said a silent prayer of apology for the humanity within the memory Because he sure as hell would be willing to sacrifice them in order to arm his people with this

The folding perspective began to occur faster and faster Randidly twisted and wrenched found first three openings for shapes then four more He folded and folded seeking out those last spaces After an exhaustive amount of shifting and twisting he managed to find the space for two more

Randidly pulled back and looked at the pearl His neck tingled unpleasantly as though he had slept on it wrong for about a hundred years The pearl appeared to be almost constantly shivering as though it was cold The movement wasnÆt physical but a weird amount of superpositions manifesting and non manifesting so that it was sometimes larger sometimes smaller but always appearing in motion

Hurry Neveah whispered

Yet a chill ran up RandidlyÆs spine Because suddenly with an awful sort of instinctual certainty he understood what was happening His pupils dilated as he flicked through his various energy visions looking for the particular thread of what he sought

Randidly had created an item of total wholeness There was no absence no emptiness to any of it The combination of the Breath of the Ghosthound and his perspective folding had seen to that The pearl existed more real than anything else He had expected that to be the difficult part but that had been remarkably easy

because without that mundane absence within its substance as the ineffable force of time attempted to flow past it instead slammed against the pearl It had no natural channels through which to pass As soon as he suspected it he could see it suddenly grasping the basic flows of time around him due to the deviation caused by the pearl

Randidly felt the watchful presence of the imperative no longer as vindictive but tired tired just as he was Do you see Æ the imperative whispered I never was stopping you There are no antagonists in this little story of yours It is simply impossible Æ

One of the phrases used by Deganawidah had caught in RandidlyÆs brain and floated to the surface now Shape nor momentÆ Because those were the two absolutes a shape like the one Randidly had created now which couldnÆt survive the passage of time Or a pure moment the Pinnacle where the shape deteriorated and faded in the aftermath

Just before the next wave of time came slamming into the absolute Pearl he had created Randidly gritted his teeth The First Authority Seize

Randidly grabbed time and stilled it just in the area around the Pearl

In that manner he stood frozen the meager significance he had recovered rapidly draining out of his Nether Core Another subtle pulse of time flowed past and then another arrived and essentially emptied out all of his energy The force of time came inexorably lapping against his resistance wearing down RandidlyÆs resources He wracked his brain trying to understand what he could do He even opened up his Status Screen and looked through all his Skills hoping he had forgotten some solution

He clenched his jaw harder as though that would help Neveah fed him elaborate Engraving schemes that he dutifully carved into the broken ground around the pearl It would sustain it at least for a time when he could no longer hold back the waves of time

Weirdly Randidly felt his mind drifting as his fingers moved Back to those days when he had laid alone on his bed feeling powerless That sense of mute frustration of wanting to shout and cry and knowing you would receive nothing for your pain was a feeling he hated

Because that was the one joy of the System wasnÆt it That he would never have zero options to move forward That so long as he worked hard

Randidly released a sob his chest burning As it turned out that brief certainty about the long reaching implications of this objectÆs creation turned poisonous

When his Nether Core finally gave out and the Engravings flared to defiant life Randidly kneeled on the ground his posture slouched Yggdrasil pulled the last dregs of energy out of the Cult of the SaviorÆs defensive array When that proved to be insufficient to pump life back through Randidly it reached out further pulling energy out of the sky and into his body His Nether Core huffed wearily as it accelerated back up to speed

Congratulations Your Skill Infinite Incendiary Filaments of the Dove Moirae has grown to Level 1150

He flexed his fingers Some aspect of existence finally came into focus where time flowed with a pulsing inversion of light a line in his vision that glittered like a mirror angled to reflect the setting sun He watched it wash against NeveahÆs brilliant designs and rub them away bit by bit

Struck by a strange insight Randidly raised his gaze and looked up directly at Pine despite the danger He could feel through the confines of the memory the monstrous hole of the current Pine stirring as it scented a new source of sustenance to suck dry Yet he ignored that risk for a moment just to follow the pulse of time across PineÆs body

ThatÆs the genius of the Nexus of the whole System Randidly thought somewhere between incredulity and awe We are a suspended bubble created as time rubs away the perfect life that is Pine a genuine Shallah

He tore his gaze away his insights could wait His eyes were bloodshot as they locked back on the pearl ignoring the small cracks that had begun to form along its edges Now came the part Randidly did best struggling

Chapter 2286

Neveah manifested directly beside Randidly just as he squared his shoulders against the ineffable flow of time Partially because she wanted to support him partially because she wanted to protect him from any more outside interference but also because she had a hard time following his struggle

To her extreme annoyance a combination of RandidlyÆs deranged state and his deep intuition toward Nether allowed him to grasp the passage of time She could see his shoulders tense right before the impacts would come causing the furious humming of the pearl to still for just a moment a hair away from completely shattering

Despite her access to his senses she could only feel the strange energy obliquely With all the very flashy natural advantages Randidly had acquired for himself it was easy to miss the first and most important of his strengths

When faced with the unknown he didnÆt question He grasped the uncertainty and experimented until he found the natural grip for his hand so he could wield it

Which was why even without being pulled into a Dungeon by Yystrix Randidly Ghosthound would have thrived

Neveah pursed her lips looking toward the Prophet to her mind that creature would be the greatest threat Yet it simply drifted sideways its eye on its chin transfixed by RandidlyÆs furious and rough movements The Patron of the Deep drifted nearby while Padraic remained hunched over the clay body of humanity struggling to keep the last embers of possibility alight in its chest

A low groan escaped RandidlyÆs lips He shuddered his way through another lashing wave from the force of time Rippling spatial distortions appeared around his body ripping the skin off of his shoulder briefly compressing his chest cavity to a dangerous degree He snarled is way through the pressure his hands curled into claws around the pearl Despite that Neveah could see the substance of that precious nacre began to chip and fade

A little of its glitter seeped out of the flaws even if the miraculous heart remained intact But how much longer would that last

I cannot understand this The Prophet ventured bringing NeveahÆs attention back to the untrustworthy Cult of the Savior leader It cleared its throat when Neveah glared surprisingly docile Let me rephrase I can see the purpose of what he attempted just barely I can also see the immense value it generated the lessons that Nether King Hungry Eye learned by seizing an object beyond the precipice of possibility yet why The Prophet paused as Randidly growled his way through another assault from time why does Hungry Eye now attempt to maintain it Even with great preparation it would be impossible

You seem very sure of whatÆs possible Neveah countered

Each of the mouth sockets stuck out a fat tongue Peh I ask with no ulterior motive The air between us crackles with the poor compatibility between our two images a fight will never produce a winner I simply wish to understand while he makes himself vulnerable like this

At this point the Patron of the Deep spoke Perhaps you strange horror the concepts of beauty and generosity flourish within the depths of his Nether Core Many find philanthropy to be the most rewarding endeavor

The loud crack of the ground fracturing cut off his words Energy danced in the air around Randidly as he layered his person between the vicious forces of time and the rapidly destabilized shape he had managed to create in the pearl The pressure built making his silhouette seem impossibly real and vivid Already his skin had turned a very alarming grey His eyes were shut but just barely like a freshly made corpse

RandidlyÆs hands surged into an entirely different sort of motion For a few seconds Neveah didnÆt recognize the strange shapes he made Yet to her surprise he seemed to be pulling an old old trick of YystrixÆs the one she used to try and hide her base in the Raid Dungeon from the SystemÆs attention quite a long time ago

The sneers came back to the ProphetÆs face Barely thirty seconds he has managed to protect that pure object Now I understand that the operations of Nether possess some of their own backward charm but thirty seconds is not enough to create either history or connection

RandidlyÆs body contorted A visible crack twisted up and down the length of the pearl The glitter in one of SulfurÆs spikes brightened And after a second of trembling the shape in the interior remained cohesive and complete For a little bit longer at least Randidly Ghosthound kept this object from breaking

And now failure The ProphetÆs gaze sharpened From its expression it had its own goals for the energy freed up by the shattering of the Pearl With that in mind Neveah flicked her fingers and gathered all the radiating forcing into a storm based around RandidlyÆs body

For now all I can say is not yet Neveah replied lightly Her fingers blurred into motion creating defensive Engravings around Randidly Not to protect him she didnÆt trust her interference wouldnÆt get in his way because she couldnÆt replicate his anticipation of the waves of time but to make sure the benefit they had labored for would be only theirs

She sat and watched as Randidly continued to fight the waves of time to a stalemate even without any resources remaining to him His images had faded The Stillborn Phoenix had slunk back into the core of him Yggdrasil could barely manage to pull energy through his veins and the Dread Homunculus could barely keep him from passing out Yet his emotional sea surged with forceful denial

Even when nothing remained but the certainty of failure he did not cease his struggles He managed to squeeze a fistful of Nether out of somewhere and used it to attack the next temporal wave directly The cracks spiderwebbed out but the pearl didnÆt shatter When the next wave came Randidly raised his left arm

The temporal force he had absorbed those strange principles the Soulseed incorporated released in a chaotic blast For at least one more wave the Pearl remained

What a waste The Prophet said through two sets of gritted teeth eyeing her defensive arrays

Neveah smiled sweetly You know the trick with Nether is to never underestimate a connection Never to dismiss a precedent even if its an extremely remote one You might see all this energy expended for naught but should we succeed should these energies linger around long enough for us to use we will fuel humanity with these long moments of struggle

No matter what adversity humanity might face in its future its descendants will possess an atavistic certainty the impossible can be fought Because for forty two seconds Nether King Hungry Eye showed them how

The next temporal wave and then the next one arrived and Randidly forced his way through them all gritted teeth and refusal to concede NeveahÆs heart ached watching him Not for the physical pain he endured but for the heartbreak she knew would be coming In RandidlyÆs current actions she saw more of him as a child fist balled and eyes watery wishing life could have been different

At forty seven and a half seconds a temporal wave arrived and Randidly failed The Stone of Boundless Nacre shattered Randidly howled his throat raw grief and exhaustion exploding out of his body

In a way it was perfect Because that last ditch resistance let Neveah sweep through and pluck up the remnant shapes from the Pearl before they could be damaged While he collapsed in a much deserved nap she picked up the fragments of his failure all glittering edges and grief

NeveahÆs eyes blazed as she brought those forces around the clay body of humanity to make the universe regret its folly

Chapter 2287

Devick couldnÆt breathe for several seconds Her ears rang from the clash of battle all around her making it clear she couldnÆt linger in this state for too long A few inches from her face the light slowly died in the animated armorÆs visor the Nether beingÆs life seeped out of its form

Besides DevickÆs fingers twitched I donÆt fucking think Hungry Eye would have even blinked at work like this He would have just done it

Her body shuddering from the strain Devick pulled her fingers out of the armorÆs chest cavity She left long stretches of skin from those fingers in the fucking rust bucket due to the violence with which she had punctured its defenses Both her Grand Fate and Malice had faded to just a flicker inside of her body

Even she didnÆt want to admit how close that had come to turning out a different way

When she finally pulled all the way out and stumbled backward it was just in timeù a howling anthropomorphic hyena whipped and ax through the space she just vacated The metal edge of the weapon shrieked as it skidded along the armorÆs front so loud and so close that it cut through the general din of battle and deafened Devick in a whole new way

She swiped almost casually with her other hand Malice barred its teeth spent but not completely and she physically ripped through the neck of the Nether Warrior and tossed its scowling head to the side

Would have been karma to kick the bucket to a real minor character at this point Devick panted When obviously all this story is about me

A blazing azure comet exploded into the sky above her position this time crashing through the general chaos with light rather than sound The intense light briefly paused the frantic motion of the melee casting a glittering alien fresco of the entire fight Devick stared up at it her mind chugging through the possibilities

She cleared her throat arriving at the surprising yet undeniable one ThatÆs CeruleanÆs emergency beacon

By the time she had recognized the beacon for what it was dense waves of Nether swept up and smothered it While she was doing some mental calculations in her head arriving at a little over a minute having passed since Deganawidah had rushed across the battlefield and crashed at the position of his target twitchy Vendla appeared at her side Two long gashes crossed his chest but the blood had already dried Hurry chi We will be moving to assist Cerulean

Devick hadnÆt even opened her mouth to reply and he was gone In his place a Nether warrior with a severed arm staggered forward Its bloodshot eyes fixed on Devick and it lunged at her with its broken spear raised

For a brief moment she very seriously considered not dodging the attack She could twist slightly sideways and take a wound to the shoulder taking her out of the serious action but posing no true threat to her life Yet even as she considered ceasing this constant fighting the serious expression of Hungry Eye flashed in front of her Devick gritted her teeth No thatÆs exactly the problem isnÆt it YouÆve never taken a breath in your life And thatÆs why

Devick used her elbow to knock the weapon sideways She stooped down and plucked up a discarded dagger inserting it with a rush of caustic image into the throat of the Nether Warrior Stumbling forward Devick made her way toward CeruleanÆs base camp Overhead the sky became a brilliant green as the lifeseal around Homewell began to activate apparently forces within also moving to CeruleanÆs defense

ThatÆs why I canÆt stop chasing you DevickÆs heart beat fluttered For a few seconds she felt like stomping through the mud on a vicious battlefield wasnÆt such a bad thing So long as it brought her closer to Hungry Eye

Elhume let out a hissing breath and flicked his hands splashing water against the wall YystrixÆs expression softened as it always did when Elhume brought up their relationship with Pine their child who also functioned as the soul of the universe

Sometimes the Patron of Feathers loved how strangely open they were with her although it didnÆt make much sense Sometimes she wondered if the only reason she had been told was so they wouldnÆt need to sneak away to snipe at one another

Which was why when she noticed a glittering in the corner of her eyes she pivoted and looked glad for the distraction Her eyes widened as she witnessed several pale sinuous flows rising above the treeline Almost immediately her expression brightened

She spoke up quickly pointing out the window Look Dragons

Her current self watching the replayed memory wondered what would have happened if she hadnÆt been angled toward the window if she had instead gone over to help Yystrix with the bedding if only she could reach out and squeeze the throat of her past self shut preventing the words from slipping out

Perhaps also glad for a distraction Elhume and Yystrix came to the window Elhume seemed nonplused but YystrixÆs eyes sparkled with interest Spontaneous Sculpted Aether How strange I would think most of it would have expended itself by now

Huh Elhume scratched his cheek

Yystrix flashed him a sharp look as though dubious he really was the one who had reached the Pinnacle and managed to create this universe Essentially wild magic Sometimes an image springs to being fully formed without any justification A completely impossible display something manifesting from nothing Fits and starts from the universeÆs birth I believe It happens less and less as the organization solidifies Truly its a minor miracle that it occurred now

Very quickly both Elhume and Yystrix were gathering their things The plates were given a perfunctory wipe before being stuffed back into the bags The carefully laid out three sets of bedding were swept up in arms and stuffed into the small interspatial storage device they could afford The Patron of Feathers blinked We are going

Obviously Elhume flashed a smile LetÆs see what treasure is at the other end of the rainbow

The Patron of Feathers thought that he had been kidding They moved quickly hopping right out the window and speeding through the surrounding forest Only as she struggled to keep up with her older companions did she realized there was steel under his playful words they truly meant to investigate this Spontaneous Sculpted Aether and wanted to do it quickly The Patron of Feathers bit her lip thinking about the bitterness on Elhume’s face when he talked about being weak and all the moments that Yystrix couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze

They rushed out into a clearing being gently tousled by a dying wind The rapid manifestation of energy still lingered as glittering motes in the air drifting down over the scene like soft snow All three slowed and paused at the edges looking at the figure sitting with its legs crossed in the middle The Patron of Feathers gasped unable to believe how lovely and soft this creature’s fur seemed

“What is that ” She whispered

Yystrix tilted her head to the side ” an eight tailed fox “

Chapter 2288

After a brief period of total exhausted oblivion the pieces of Randidly drifted back together to form a coherent self

He floated up through the whole of his being touching onto every brick that had raised him up from that immature kid stuck in the Dungeon to the powerhouse he had become today He his awareness became fingers dragged across the shape of him felt the altered and enhanced anchors of his stats moved up through the tactile surfaces of his body and felt the way his images had forever altered his form

His veins had more in common with plants than animals His skin under the Dread Homunculus could pass for a high tech carbon composite and survive ludicrous amounts of force or heat And the Stillborn Phoenix there were now depths within RandidlyÆs body that didnÆt seem possible at all vast spaces and deep emptiness hinting at the fact a whole Alpha Cosmos had been tucked within him

He realigned gradually more and more of his consciousness recovering from the struggle that had drained him to the last drop

In his semi trance state Randidly drifted toward his Fateset Even now he didnÆt lose the thread of his purpose Because now he finally had the shapes and experience to heal the damage done to the core of the Fateset The effort had exhausted him but Randidly had pulled out all of his Fatepieces over those desperate forty ish seconds of defense

He had tried to hide the Pearl spatially by pushing it through an opening of the AlchemistÆs Passport He had attempted a similar subterfuge with the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night tricking the force of time into assaulting a memory rather than the real thing He had stripped superfluous thoughts away with the Visage of Obsession and had taken in as many details of time as his overloaded brain could stand with the Codex Hexahedron In a moment of desperation he had even activated the Hierarchy of Burden to its heights wreathing his body in the dangerous forces that were generated by the creation of a universe

None of his Fatepieces could keep out the subtle flows of time One by one they had all failed

Do you see Randidly spoke softly to his Fatepieces those damaged by Deganawidah and then seared clean by the strange working Bleak Sky had shown Impossibility was never the point It was all for them to protect the people of the Alpha Cosmos to give them a space to grow without fear of being harvested like wheat To break the rules was never the point yet some times we just have no other option

Gradually they shifted into a new alignment Randidly observed them for a while or tried to His attention came and went sharp sometimes and softened fluttering like a silk veil His recovery was gradual picking up only a little as he felt Nether once more beginning to circulate through his body in significant quantities In those few moments of actual coherence Randidly shifted slightly and looked for the notes of times flow

He could feel it still just barely mostly when he wasnÆt looking Mostly when he metaphorically leaned the slightest bit in the direction it came and he felt marginally supported He couldnÆt help but feel a wry sense of glee

What an unexpected consequence allowing me to just barely sense time Randidly mused His thoughts briefly sharpened into knives Now I wonder how IÆm going to leverage this

Then the coherence faded he still had quite a bit more healing to do Especially for his overtaxed brain

While Randidly floated he also noted the presence of DeganawidahÆs imperative lingering in his Fateset He watched it carefully but he could sense that the tenor of its presence amongst his Fateset had changed As he observed during the most demanding portion of the creation of the Pearl it wasnÆt fair to call it an imperative What it did was make Randidly aware of the impossibility present in reality His image and significance power could accomplish a lot but there were also barriers that existed beyond his limits

For now it lingered It became a central pillar around which the meaning of his other Fatepieces could gather and anchor themselves Randidly couldnÆt decide whether this would end up being a good thing or a bad one It just became one more element in the construction of his truth

After a few more minutes Randidly felt his eyelids stirring Not that all of his weariness had been healed but the worst was gone he would be able to function normally and his obsessively pragmatic images now pushed him back to wakefulness He floated up rising through the unconscious thoughts and popping back into his body

With a groan he sat up He sat at the bottom of a crater of broken stone the glittering physical remnants of the pearl pummeled to the point all that remained was powder Most of the ambient energy in the chamber had vanished either seeping out of the broken walls or absorbed into the working The Prophet had vanished but Neveah the Patron of the Deep and Padraic hunched over the clay body of humanity in the center of the room not even noticing his return to consciousness

His lip quirked up What did I expect This is the homecoming a failure receives

He meant it as a joke but the words drew fresh blood from his wounded and disappointed ego Gritting his teeth he pushed himself up and rubbed the bridge of his nose If this new Stat DeityÆs Ruthless Cerebral Scope was doing anything Randidly certainly didnÆt feel it He had a headache like a trumpeting troop of elephants were practicing line dancing across his cerebral cortex

Still the continued lack of response from the three remaining companions made Randidly force his mind to refocus When he fixated on them he did finally feel a little bit of extra mental force brought to bear Neveah had done an excellent job of filling in when he had gone unconscious (Randidly made a mental note that it was quite the oversight that he had expected to expend himself almost totally to create the Pearl and then help assemble humanity) gathering up all the scraps of power and meaning and fitting them together into the body Yet even he could see there would be problems with just a glance

Even broken and shattered the bits of perfection were too powerful to be housed in the framework Elhume had made for humanity

DonÆt be a fool Neveah snapped

My reserves are boundless My overflowing lust for life can be used to cushion the body preventing further degradation The Patron of the Deep announced with a dramatic flourish

Padraic just squatted and sweated We really need to do something now

With a light step Randidly ghosted forward and appeared at NeveahÆs side He touched her lightly on the shoulder Here I can handle this

The look of pure relief on NeveahÆs face as anxiety melted into trust nearly broke his heart He looked away quickly having difficulty meeting such trusting eyes after he had thrown everything he had into the Pearl and failed

Yet this Randidly could handle He reached out and tapped a finger against the clay chest of humanity The body cracked open faster than Padraic and the Patron of the Deep could heal it meaning it looked like several mouths were opening and then closing across its surface every moment The power of broken perfection stalked back and forth through the body lashing out at the internal framework Elhume had created

It was a close thing The power was just barely too much to handle To counteract that Neveah and the Patron of the Deep had obviously expended a lot of effort to try to strengthen the foundations However that didnÆt give an outlet to all this listless power Which meant more and more tension would be built up inside humanity

Obviously this was not ideal Randidly smiled because already he knew the solution

Rather than strengthening the foundation he pulled out tiny breezes of Nether and began to very purposefully erode key portions of the anchors He didnÆt damage or alter the shape or the meaning of humanity but began to just barely undermine the twelve Nexus Stats

Chapter 2289

Randidly narrowed his eyes as he worked inside the clay edged structure of humanity Already this small amount of effort had doubled the agony of his headache Apparently the pounding glee of the elephants had echoed out loud enough that all the neighbors had come to join them A real party was kicking off with no end in sight Yet as always he couldnÆt afford to be distracted

He pushed away all information except for the anchors at the base of humanity The key would be keeping all the weakening equal And making sure only one of the weaknesses would break in a very controlled way with the internal force completely spent with a single breakage

If the whole apparatus shattered the results wouldnÆt be pretty

Congratulations Your Skill Infinite Incendiary Filaments of the Dove Moirae has grown to Level 1155

Congratulations Your Skill Infinite Incendiary Filaments of the Dove Moirae has grown to Level 1156

The flows of energy burned in the gaze of Randidly Ghosthound as he measured and calculated A primal intuition he had built from long meddling with esoteric and strange energies guided his hand When finally he leaned back the expression on his face was one of pure satisfaction no longer did the clay body have mouths opening back and forth across its surface it just shook with the barely contained power within

Neveah let out a low whistle of appreciation as she rapidly appraised his efforts A single Stat anchor might break with the foundations adjusted like that But the way you have the energy flowingù all that will accomplish is causing one of the personÆs Stats to evolve

Or degenerate Randidly admitted He reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to relax away some of the tension As far as I can tell both are possible It will just be a different base Stat Still the energy and meaning crammed into this humanity mean it will have quite a bit higher base Stats the occur and more potential than it might have had Definitely a success

For a long moment all of them just stood and looked at the humming body A few pieces of the wall he had shattered to enter into the room collapsed into a pile of rubble The nearby ground steamed away the remaining heat from the brief conflict When no one stepped forward Randidly felt awkward enough to clear his throat so now what How do we finish off the process

Ah Oh we just need to christen the body and activate the base ritual Padraic looked around He coughed several times IÆll get to work carving it again The base ritual a simple thing we made a grand floor arrangement to add to the weight of the moment but I always figured it was an unnecessary bit of opulence I can

How dare you The Origin Beast tilted his head back and glowered down his nose at Padraic A proper and true cradle you suggest is opulence Nay a nascent race deserves more than the hasty scrawl of a sweaty little cretin to usher forth its meteoric rise The genesis is the launching pad for success in all future endeavors To that end we should dedicate weeks at the very least to erecting a monolithic foundation

Ideally we would do just that Create a worthy launching pad But we donÆt have time now Randidly interrupted He reached out and put a hand on the Origin BeastÆs shoulder Your point about creating a platform for future success is a good one but have we not been fighting and struggling for so long to reach this point Consider your own actions the lessons youÆve learned the foes youÆve managed to overcome DonÆt think quite so literally about what can contribute significantly to the process Surely all the effort youÆve expended should create a most impressive humanity Let alone our minor assistance

Just as Randidly had expected the Patron of the DeepÆs eyes began to sparkle truly it didnÆt require much to cause his self importance to inflate to a size even larger than his body Randidly cleared his throat calling the Origin BeastÆs attention back to the present He spoke while trying to ignore the continued discomfort of his headache YouÆll be in charge of handling the details but I need a bit of assistance Deganawidah still moves against Aether forces and I need to be there to help But in this stateù Randidly gestured to his body still trembling minutely The elephants had ignored his pleas to tone it down I will be of no help to anyone So please can you find it in your heart to produce just a little bit more life energy

The Patron of the Deep hesitated His pale cheeks hinted at his own private struggle albeit one less debilitating than what Randidly had gone through Well IÆm not quite sure it makes sense to deplete my reserves just prior to me taking the helm of this endeavor

I canÆt do this without you Randidly announced Privately he admitted to himself he didnÆt know whether he could do it with the Origin Beast the failure of the first attempt had left a wound on his heart he didnÆt know how to address

What cost would come to the second impossible attempt Would he really be able to throw himself completely into a foolÆs errand without any hesitation Especially because he originally envisioned the attempt as healing the Stillborn Phoenix

Congratulations Your Skill The Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe has grown to Level 1037

In the end Randidly closed the eye of his own volition The manifestation of that Hungry Eye began to fade after a few seconds of stubbornly hanging in the air Not because he had been sated No the sudden lack of energy flowing into his body only made it plainer that he had interrupted the process too early Optimistically Randidly estimated he had refilled his reserves to half However a glance at the sagging body of the Patron gave you all the information you needed regarding the sustainability of this method

IÆm not sure I should be impressed by the Patron of the Deep for giving up that much energy or intimidated by my own reserves Randidly looked at the Origin Beast with genuine empathy The beingÆs habit of talking down to anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby made it difficult to remember but he possessed a truly generous soul And today Randidly had asked a lot from him

He cleared his throat feeling bad even as he did it He turned away so he couldnÆt see any despair or exhaustion that might cross the Patron of the DeepÆs face Truly thank you I couldnÆt have managed this without that boost IÆm err I feel completely revitalized IÆll leave the matter of humanityÆs founding cradle to you Now Neveah if I could just talk to you for a moment

Padraic supported the Patron of the Deep and the two tottered outside Neveah glanced after them her lips quirking I appreciate you exhausting him but Randidly you canÆt seriously be thinking of proceeding in this state Take a half hour to nap Otherwise

You know I donÆt have time for that Randidly flashed a grin apparently having recovered enough that the expression came naturally when he considered reckless choices Deganawidah might have already crushed the Aether resistance and my second attempt will be so much harder without an area of mixed and violent Aether and Nether

Neveah sighed but she knew Randidly well enough not to argue So WhatÆs the plan for this one

IÆm starting to have some second thoughts about this one but I plan to make a new Cohort Inside the memory all that useful mechanisms are still sitting there without anyone guarding them The Stillborn Phoenix needs to find its true shape and I think this is the perfect opportunity RandidlyÆs grin widened as something predatory woke in him He had to force that enthusiasm back as his mind ran through the processes to do so Quite a bit less fraught and chaotic than creating an impossible object donÆt you think Ah but it will take a bit of time and leave me vulnerable to certain individuals

Deganawidah you mean Neveah frowned Do you think he will notice

Definitely The question is whether he will try to stop me Randidly couldnÆt help but chuckle although part of that was nerves Man when he gathers all that Nether together the depths of his power

Randidly froze His pupils dilated Because suddenly he saw it

An epiphany Neveah sounded bored

The impossible taskù its character didnÆt feel right Because I had planned to perfect the Stillborn Phoenix but that is a selfish goal separate from the pattern I started with the PhilosopherÆs Stone and unintended consequences Randidly began to pace back and forth his eyes alight with excitement Besides is healing the Stillborn Phoenix no matter how impossible of an image it is truly impossible No the activities were right but just in the wrong order And with the wrong focus Yes thatÆs perfect Ha I canÆt believe I missed it

Neveah gave him a long look at the very least I hope this means the foolish idea of doing your ritual in front of Deganawidah has been tossed out

Of course Randidly nodded very seriously I just need to fight Deganawidah first

Neveah threw her hands up into the air in disgust

Chapter 2290

Faelmac Westrisser squatted over the grand array he had created watching time twist and layer itself into a tight spiral The dagger that sat in the middle of the array rattled back and forth almost like it knew its fate and attempted to avoid being any more afflicted with the poisonous embrace of time

Soon Westrisser whispered His wings fluttered softly Even from afar he could feel the horrifying violence of the clash between Aether and Nether forces to the South They needed this weapon

But genius could not be hurried And no matter how much excitement bubbled in the feathered serpentÆs chest for finally having proof his theories were correct he could not get ahead of himself Before results came the toil

Soon He said again his eyes lifting from the dagger and going to the portal into the Dungeon At this moment he wondered how long his daughter had experienced Longer than any other had attempted while maintaining their sanity

He had never felt more proud of his daughter

RandidlyÆs feet touched down on the ground to the North of Homewell where Neveah had erected her quaint little cottage He glanced around Just looking the area still seemed peaceful Her small garden hadnÆt been disturbed Towels and dresses had been left hanging on the clotheslines fluttering in the disturbed air One window was still propped open

Any minute it seemed like she would return and the idyllic lifestyle here would resume

The only hints of the apocalypse on the horizon was the soft rumbles Randidly could feel through the soles of his feet and the way battle dyed the sky orange red with those violent hues dripping and tainting the ambiance

He sucked in a deep breath He could feel his new DeityÆs Ruthless Cerebral Scope beginning to show some of its benefits as a part of his attention split off from the current task and began gathering up threads of kinetic force pointlessly decaying in the atmosphere Yggdrasil took that energy and processed it feeding it into the parched expanse of RandidlyÆs body And it was a testament to the rich energy the Patron of the Deep released that the energy felt cheap and oily as it seeped into him

Every bit counts right now Randidly hummed to himself as he walked around the back of the cabin

Congratulations Your Skill Aureate Arteries of Yggdrasil has grown 959

Congratulations Your Skill Aureate Arteries of Yggdrasil has grown 970

Congratulations Your Skill Aureate Arteries of Yggdrasil has grown 971

Behind NeveahÆs quaint little setup with its windows humming with the distant collisions the Nether Arbiter sat in a lotus position and stared into the middle distance Randidly slowed as he walked up not wanting to disturb her The sky above popped and fizzled their location just far enough away from the danger to feel like all the hints of doom were just ash drifting down from a dazzling fireworks show

Neveah would be infinitely more suited to this task but he also needed humanity to be created even in the memory He suspected the echoing implications would reach into the Alpha Cosmos especially considering his heavy hand in the process Due to the alterations he had made humans should have an easier time evolving Stats going forward That was a benefit worth a little extra effort now

Besides his new theory for the Stillborn Phoenix and his ability to help others transform themselves gave him a little bit of extra leeway With the clouds of his own worries cleared he could show some empathy for Lowanna

Although they might be abstract Randidly began slowly And often they end up being a constant strain on our attention and energy we canÆt afford to let go of our core motivations I know better than anyone else how easy it is to lose yourself in the motions and sensations of action But action without structure becomes chaos

Life is chaos she countered Sure Nether bonds and Aether shape provide some amount of structure but that is on a small scale Those tiny little arrangements tumble through the universe without affixing themselves to anything lasting

I believe life is perspective Randidly rubbed his chin To his surprise he found himself drawing some sort of mental sustenance from the conversation His psyche bloomed his full mental capabilities coming back into focus So he allowed his thoughts to unspool without hurrying them As much as I rue the day that the Nexus arrived on my worldù millions of people died in the first hour probably trillions over the next month I canÆt help but appreciate it I was lost in my life But underpinning all the violence and exploitation of the System is a simple truth belief can alter the world Once you begin to see the changes and shifts as following a grand pattern it is

You cannot expect me to believe that once you chose to follow this so called patternÆ you were never again surprised

Randidly leaned back Sometimes life catches me by surprise But just because I donÆt totally understand the pattern doesnÆt mean it doesnÆt exist

YouÆll spend your entire life chasing an impossible answer if you choose this Path Lowanna whispered with narrowed eyes “An unknowable answer “

Randidly shrugged Maybe ThatÆs why people push for the PInnacle yea And the Nether equivalent Or at least I assume so for that brief moment you force the pattern youÆve always chased into existence And remnants of that achievement linger even when you cease to be

For a brief moment Randidly thought her tension would prevent Lowanna from seeing the method he had been trying to nudge her toward from the moment he had asked her about the unifying principle of Nether She opened her mouth showing a vicious antagonism like she wanted to bite his answer in half but then she paused Her eyes widened

She gave him a very long look as though finally able to see the whole of him She measured him carefully you are a dangerous person Nether King Hungry Eye Do youù no you probably donÆt even know our history The stigma on what you imagine is very clear It is forbidden

And now any bond but Phaea is forbidden There are always reasons Lowanna Often good ones And I know that taboo might not be the same as this one But I just wanted you to start seeing what IÆm seeing If not a pattern on a grand scale one we are desperately clinging to in the immediate vicinity Randidly stood and brushed off his legs But I believe we were speaking about life No matter how much we wish for it to pause and give us time to find the proper answers it does not

It will leave us behind Lowanna nodded in begrudging agreement She gave him another glance quite like the first measuring him trying to ascertain his goals the longer I know you the more I wonder if it would be for the best if one such as you were left behind Your ideas are dangerous Your perspective is transformative

Randidly was surprised by the thrill of pleasure that ran through his Fateset His three Moiraes cackled with glee His certainty about his second impossible attempt sharpened into focus He struggled and couldnÆt prevent a smile from breaking out So IÆve been told But the trick is I could never have done most of this alone ItÆs the people that choose to believe me to see the world how I see it that makes the difference

Exactly Lowanna grunted You are seductive in front of a crowd Not because you are trying to be convincing but because you believe You are right about the System IÆll admit I just think well The fact you have such pure belief is dangerous But good luck Nether Eye I need to think for a bit

Randidly smiled and turned away Already his mind raced ahead to the true thrust of the second impossible attempt He was going to do what Elhume could not He was going to make the memory real

Chapter 2291

Only five minutes over the allotted work time the Patron of the Deep finished creating an ornate pattern on a stretch of stone next to the Cult of the SaviorÆs base He complained constantly but worked at a rapid clip Neveah felt annoyed but couldnÆt really fault him for it

She had witnessed Randidly draining the Origin Beast almost dry The fact he was functional was honestly impressive

When the clay receptacle was placed in the middle the Patron of the DeepÆs work came alive Even flourish and elaborate structure now seemed necessary two strong hands to cradle all the power of humanity Dancing swirls of energy spread out the act of genesis from a centralized point and made it a larger more cinematic experience Neveah privately believed that Randidly was probably right this could have been done quickly but she couldnÆt deny the beauty and wonder she felt as she looked around at the glittering motes of possibility

And Neveah supposed that is the point Just like RandidlyÆs forty seven seconds of resistance matter so too does my feeling of awe and admiration when I christen the new race have meaning The whole of the energy we poured into it matters

She gathered the energy standing over the glittering body of humanity and glanced sideways at Padraic for confirmation He shrugged Yes I believe this is it All you need to do is formally announce the new race and wish them into existence IÆve read texts

Do not forget a heartfelt wish for their success and longevity The Patron of the Deep who had collapsed at the edge of the ritual space pushed himself up onto an elbow and wagged a finger Even now he could sound condescending Truly if the depth of your emotion isnÆt sufficient a curse of a sort will follow this race for the whole

Understood Neveah said stepping forward To her surprise she found herself raising her hands like a conductor She gestured broadly and to her surprise the swirling energy within the area began to follow the movements Flexing her fingers she made more detailed gestures gathering and swirling all that possibility together

The patterns had already been laid out for her She moved and gestured and the energy knew what to do Light and beauty spiraled up potential condensed into a tight core all their efforts came to a head The air thickened and hummed as though the universe found this development pleasing

I name you Humanity Neveah said simply even while the power of this moment mussed with her hair For your creator and for the potential you possess