Chapter 324 - Truth about the Veil (Patreon)

“Master?”

“Yes, Vega?”

“Now we are more similar!” my minion smiles at me.

Her left eye was replaced by my duplicate's, and he now sits nearby, his eyelids closed, using the passive to recreate it and heal the wound.

Meanwhile, both of Vega's eyes are still red. Even after the duplicate gave her his gray eye, it stayed like that only shortly, and then it turned back to Vega’s beautiful red. There is only a hint of golden circle around the pupil.

I wonder if it's because of her demon heritage or because it's the eye of the duplicate. Either way, after examining it, it seems to be working. Vega now possesses a weakened version of Mana Wavelength Iris.

Even if it's not as strong as mine, it should help her in the future, and if their plan works, it should carry the duplicate out of the tutorial.

Right now, the duplicate keeps using [Tether] to stay connected to the eye, which bears a lot of inscriptions deep inside. Even though the personality imprint is imperfect, it's something used as a base in hopes for the intent to help finish it.

His best hope is to go to Vega’s world and then, one day when she becomes stronger, find someone who could restore his body from the eye. He also holds a high-quality mana stone with my attempts at a personality imprint. A slightly improved version of what I left with Myrra on the 4th floor.

We don’t know if it works and, if yes, how it will react to this floor having multiple instances, one for each attendee. But it doesn’t hurt to try.

Creating a big barrier around our group, I turn to Irvin, the man who was used as a food supply, “I wanted to ask before, but what exactly happened with the Veil?”

“Why do you think I would know or be willing to tell it to people as crazy as you and your duplicate? Do you even realize how big a risk it was for that little girl?”

Vega doesn’t seem to like what he is saying, so I answer before she can, “I had hoped the Armorer would know more, but it seems he used to hold a low position before, so he doesn't know much. You, on the other side, are a quite high-level healer, and I have learned that healers are very, very sought after.”

Even though he seems better than when I freed him, there is some wildness to him. He even twitches every time he sees a sharp blade or an item reminding him of a collar. 

“Does it all even matter? Just curse the people responsible; they do not deserve more.”

Instead of an answer, I just keep waiting and looking at him.

At some point, his daughter, who looks older than him, starts cursing at me to leave him alone, and he gives her a soft, loving look. The expression of a father looking at his young daughter doing something cute.

“It's fine, thanks for worrying, my dear,” he says shortly and caresses her gray hair.

When he turns to me, his expression becomes serious again, “All of us thought the Veil was something the Enchanter Guild created on their own. They did have similar creations before, even some capable of defending an entire city, but an entire planet? It was something else.”

Even the position he sits in didn't change much, his feet up on the chair and knees pulled to his chest, the same as when I found him.

In contrast, his voice is calm, as he remembers, “I used to work in the main headquarters of the Enchanter Guild. You might think I was highly positioned, but even with my level, I was just a lower level personel. They were just that powerful. It doesn't matter what, but they always had to have the best, so obviously, they cooperated with the leader of the Mending Guild.” He laughs shortly.

“I saw her healing once. She just entered the room, and all of the family members of one high-positioned member of the Enchanter Guild immediately turned ten to twenty years younger. That one second paid for a new Skyhold Bastion for her. Can you imagine that?”

Taking a short pause, he continues, “She died one of the first. The Veil went after healers, leaders, and people with access to our defensive systems. At first, we thought it was the enemy that got into the Veil and used it against us. Then we thought it was a traitor, a rogue Champion using the opportunity. Some blamed our Absolute, but if he wished to, he could take over our planet even without the Veil.”

“Are Absolutes that powerful in comparison to others?” I ask.

“They are called Absolutes; how could they not be powerful?

The duplicate also jumps in, “Okay, so what caused the Veil to go rogue, and how the hell did the Absolute die if he was so powerful?”

Irvin glances at him and then at his own hands, “The Veil was never the creation of the Enchanter Guild. I still remember Champion Niall screaming at the remaining leaders of the Enchanter Guild before she evaporated them into nothingness. The Enchanter Guild either bought or found an egg of a powerful divine beast. It was passed inside the guild for decades, and then when it hatched, they took care of it and experimented on it. The beast possessed a domain type skill they had never seen before and an extraordinarily powerful mind.”

From this point, it's not hard to guess what happened, but I still listen to him and everyone else as well. His daughter, Vega, the duplicate, and even Nina, who somehow ended up here with us.

In a solemn voice, Irvin recounts what happened, “They experimented on the beast. They made it stronger and used its skills. I don't know the details, but you can imagine that it wasn't so simple. In the end, only the brain and heart of the beast remained, kept in the biggest Skyhold Bastion that ever existed. Surrounded by enchantments powerful enough to slow down an Absolute. Surrounded by the most powerful members of the Enchanter Guild. They even had one Champion hired to work for them only and multiple Champion candidates. There they combined enchantments, metals, mana stones, and flesh of the beast to create an abomination that shouldn't have existed. And they used it as the core of the Veil.”

“Did your Absolute not notice it?” the duplicate asks.

“I don't know. He either did not notice, did not care, or worked with them before it got out of control. Either of these options can be seen as a failure on his part.”

Irvin continues, “Champion Niall said that the beast contacted the planet that is in pairing with us. Desperate to be freed even in such a state, and the other planet losing the fight, incapable of dealing with our Absolute. And so they cooperated. Both sides struck at once, and on that day, our Absolute fell. Before he died he took down the Skyhold Bastion where they held the beast with him. He died, he also mortally wounded their Absolute, damaged the Veil, and destroyed an entire continent up north, which became a wasteland. There, his body lies.”

Congratulations, you have completed a side quest.

Reward: 5000 shards

Listening to what Irvin says, I can only feel awe at the man who used to be this planet's Absolute. He might have failed to contain the Veil for some reason, but even then, he didn't take it lying down.

Destroying a continent? Damaging the Veil? Mortally wounding the enemy Absolute? All of it after being surprised and betrayed?

What a terrifying being.

I wonder how he compares to Lissandra in her full power. Or to the Saint who was thousands of years dead on the 3rd floor, yet even her body was enough to spread Decay that wiped out most of the life on the planet.

“How was your Absolute called?” I ask.

“Tassian. He didn't belong to any noble family nor became a disciple of any Champion. Through his own power, he got to that rank of a Champion and then even further,” Irvin talks with clear admiration in his voice.

“Our previous Absolute gave up his title and passed it to Tassian without even trying to defend it. That's how powerful Tassian was even as a Champion.”

“Can't there be two Absolutes at once?” I wonder about that. A long time ago, on the second floor, I heard about there being two Absolutes, with Lissandra killing one.

“Every planet can have only one Absolute; that's the fact,” Irvin says confidently.

Was I wrong? Did it talk about Lissandra killing an invader Absolute, or is there something Irvin doesn't know? It could be an Absolute candidate trying to take the spot from her also.

Deciding to try system censorship, I ask, “How does one become an Absolute, what it means, and are there any advantages or changes?”

As expected, then I watch as blank expressions appear on the faces of every native, and Vega confusedly looks at them. I gesture to her to ignore it for now.

Then I change the frequency of the resonating field that I keep around me to counter the Armorer's attempts. It's getting more and more annoying, and at this point, he must have realized that I know.

But I still hold myself back; I'd rather spend the remaining day of this floor training Vega and practicing rather than flying the Bastion. And even now, this place is safer than the outside world.

 ***

A few days remain, and in the simple room, only Vega, me, and the duplicate are.

Keeping a black orb floating near me, I observe as Vega once again says to the duplicate how powerful her heart will become. After getting his eye that will slowly awaken with time, she is much more friendly towards him. Him looking the same as me probably also helps.

I can't not notice that the duplicate seems happy about it. Little minion is just that lovable. She is smug, she is bratty at times, and she is getting more rebellious as she spends more time with us. But in the end, it's still the minion.

Minion is cold to other people, she always keeps an eye on the exits of the room and keeps up her senses looking for any attack, and her barrier is always close to being activated. Other than me or the duplicate, she doesn't let anyone touch her too.

Only once in a while, her curious and cheery personality shines through, allowing others to see it.

On purpose, I do not listen to what they talk about. I use my skills to filter that out and instead keep the barrier around us.

It's already been a few days since we saw the Armorer and the Butler.

The shield around the Bastion is under constant barrage, and Veil Guardians appear multiple times a day, having to be dealt with by either me or the duplicate. The core also starts having less and less mana. At this rate, it won't last much longer.

Leaving for a few hours at a time, me and the duplicate made all the preparations needed. I have gained all I could from this floor, and I won't be too greedy for more. Keeping Vega alive is the most important.

I watch as Vega hugs the duplicate with tears in her eyes. She says something while crying and the duplicate smiles at her.

It's extremely weird to see myself smiling that way, and unlike other people, it's harder to read. Is it a happy smile? Sad smile? Fake smile?

The duplicate also says something, and Vega squeezes him harder, right after giving a little peck on his cheek, and the expression that appears now is easy to read. Sheer surprise, but a pleasant one.

He ruffles her hair and pinches her tiny nose, then he looks at me.

When I nod, he extremely carefully teleports with Vega outside of the Bastion, and I resonate with his mana, allowing him to pass through the Bastion´s barrier. He disappears to hide Vega in the safe place we have prepared.

Then I activate my trait, and keeping the black orb near me, I teleport to the room where the Armorer is hiding.

Immediately, dozens of powerful attacks turn against me, the pressure from the Bastion, shockwaves, mana attacks, physical attacks, all of it enough to kill a Veil Guardian immediately.

The black orb absorbs all the mana attacks thrown at me, and I block the physical ones with multiple layered spherical barriers I have prepared.

Then, before the attacks can continue, my disrupting wave, much stronger thanks to my eyes reading the frequencies, disrupts the mana in the room.

The extremely thin Armorer sits near the core, with multiple tubes connecting his body to the core and inscriptions all over.

“I just needed a few more minutes,” he hisses at me in his quiet voice.

“I know.”

After that, I use a voidsteel slicer and cut off his head, the blade strengthened by my skill cutting through his attempts at defense.

The notification about the kill rings, and satisfied with that, I teleport outside of the room where the Housekeeper leans against the wall.

We just exchange a glance, there are no words said, but the understanding comes through.

For the last time, I observe Irvin, who is together with his daughter, both of them finding joy in each other's company. I observe Nina, who probably hates me more than anyone else in the world, training even as the Bastion faces more and more attacks while trying to escape to the safer north.

The Butler in his room detects my probing and shields against it. Yet, I still notice that he was standing in front of the mirror observing his growing mustache. Even then, his clothes are in a rough state as the man barely has any time to rest, helping anyone he can. He is a kind man.

And the Gardener, deep in his garden, taking over the Bastion's defenses that this time open up to me, no threat from them at all.

Such a weird bunch of people I have met on this floor.

I teleport outside and fly for a while at the highest speed. It takes a bit, but in the end, I stop and land on top of the skyscraper of the ruined city I visited first, together with a poisoned Vega looking for a healer. There we found the granny, who is now with her father.

There my duplicate waits for me, his mana surrounding his body and waves of it crashing against me.

No words are needed between us. He has his own plan, but I will give him the opportunity to defeat me and try to take over my body and rewrite my mind.

I owe him that much. I shouldn't have done that with a mirror and put him in this situation; it's my fault and I'm sorry.

So let's fight and give it our best.

He activates orbs he placed all over the city, and dozens of buildings immediately start crashing down in deafening explosions, at the same time, he reaches to absorb the kinetic energy of all that falling material.

I reach towards the Veil and touch it. The Veil is more visible than ever, even without mana. Upon detecting my touch, ten presences appear almost immediately. Ten Veil Guardians reacting to my touch and rushing towards us.

The duplicate attacks me, our mana clashes and the air reverberates.

***

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