[MA] 368. From The Shadows (Patreon)

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Shen appeared so far above the city-sized mobile fortresses that they looked like grains of sand. Before and further above him stood two A-ranks.

One was the expected Acting General, a dragon so huge Shen felt space twist to make him look smaller. Yet, every single scale of his was still at least ten times as wide as Shen was tall. Long Hei's body was darker than black, his scales absorbing all light and senses that touched it, creating the illusion of a living hole. Still, some magic was afloat, as Shen could see the dragon for what it was.

The other A-rank was a cthulhu that appeared slightly taller than Shen. Spatial manipulation also kept it that size, but it evidently was better at it than the dragon. It held the golden chains that disappeared inside Long Hei's abyssal body.

Shen had likely stared a little too much at the chain because the Acting General first gave him a lesson on a subject Shen had always been curious about but never found anyone willing to teach or any place with the information: the Abyss. Not that he had searched too hard. He wasn't curious enough to waste resources to figure it out.

"You can find the Abyss in every single universe throughout the multiverse," the thunderous voice said, though the dragon didn't move its massive jaw. The thunder was "quieter" than before but still shook Shen's entire body and soul. Fortunately, Long Hei's following words came from a deep male voice. A tired one. "It's the very same Abyss, ignoring the Laws of Spacetime to exist in multiple places at once. Not different entrances; the Abyss itself is in each universe. Every abyssal creature can reach any universe they want by traversing the Abyss... As long as they survive it. If I told you what's in there, you would die. I can protect my life if I break the Abyssal Taboo, but only an S-rank could also shield you. If you ever get the opportunity, ask an S-rank about it. For now, suffice to say that as far as I know, no non-Abyss-related C-rank has ever returned from the Abyss, so I don't recommend visiting."

That didn't explain why the chain was inside the dragon's body. Long Hei wasn't finished, though.

"Every abyssal being is unique in its own way. We abyssal dragons believe our trait to be the most interesting among the Abyss's denizens. We are made of the Abyss itself. Each of our scales is a single-use treasure that allows us to instantly enter the Abyss no matter where we are. It can also be used to deny any attack up to A-rank. The scales regenerate slowly, one every thousand standard years, but they are still a cheat-like tool. Mostly. This little chain and similar S-rank relics can sadly prevent my ability from working." He gestured with his head to the cthulhu, and it looked like Reality shivered at the massive being's simple movement. That explained why it was talking without moving its jaws. "The downside for my captors is that someone must hold the leash, but it's not like the Primordial Bridge's hunting dogs have anything more important to do."

Shen could think of at least one Calamity where an extra A-rank would be welcome, not to mention the incoming Void Tide, but he decided it wasn't wise to expose that line of thought to two A-ranks.

"I see, General," he replied.

Long Hei sighed, and massive Tears appeared in Reality, revealing the Void beyond. It made Shen wonder whether the Void and the Abyss were related. Like the Abyss, the same nothingness was always out there, wasn't it?

The dragon healed Space with his Realization and said, "Brigade Commander Shen, I brought you here to clarify a few things. First and foremost, you must not use your Absolute Horizon anywhere. Ever. Not unless you can kill all witnesses or get so far from the Alliance that pursuing you would require so much time and resources that even a mythical race would consider it too much of a hassle."

Shen frowned. What was the dragon even talking about? The only thing he knew that could be called Absolute Horizon and required him to activate his domain—which Long Hei had stopped Shen from activating—would be his True Realm.

But why was he being forbidden from using it? Was it also a Taboo, capital T, like the Abyssal Taboo? Would it cause him to magically die somehow?

Long Hei continued, "Your aura-based Aural Realm is different enough from the domain-based Absolute Horizon..." That confirmed Shen's suspicion; his True Realm was officially called an Absolute Horizon. "...that the infernals are willing to deal with it quietly. For now. Alas, they wouldn't allow an open display of their racial move. And no, I can't tell you more than that because it involves mythical races' business. Even saying this much is already stretching the boundaries. Do not activate the Absolute Horizon. That's an order. Not even to survive. It's better to die than be made an example of when the infernals come for you. They know how to inflict non-lethal physical pain like no other."

Shen wasn't surprised the General knew what had happened in the vault, but he was astonished that his True Realm was remarkable enough that a mythical race would kill him for it. He was also very upset they would dare to claim exclusivity for an ability that was evidently not related to their race.

"Is that legal, General?"

Long Hei sighed again, but this time, Spacetime "merely" shook; it formed no Tears. "Unfortunately, yes. The mythical races have many privileges. I wouldn't say the infernals fear the backlash from overtly killing you, but they certainly don't want to upset the powers behind you based on just your Aural Realm. That would change if you used the Absolute Horizon public. The ones who care about you would have to let it go."

Shen's frown deepened. "Powers behind me, General?"

As far as Shen knew, only the drow would care a little if something happened to him. Perhaps the Immortal Emperor's Karma would affect him if Shen, whom the man owed, got killed. That was it, far from enough to make a mythical race anxious.

"I wouldn't upset them by disclosing their identities, but know that one of them, who was directly involved in sending you into that vault against my wishes, agreed to hide what happened there from the infernals. Together, we managed to convince the System Administrator to stop the system from forwarding your use of the Absolute Horizon to them. They are still unaware of your ability. Keep it that way. If not out of self-preservation, as gratitude for the work involved in keeping you alive."

Shen assumed the System Administrator was also the S-rank who blocked his memories. She had visited Samir to discuss matters with Long Hei and the other power who backed Shen and took the opportunity to get some work done in the vicinity.

Or, more precisely, not the other power backing Shen but the other asshole manipulating Shen from the shadows.

Knowing his close call in the vault was by design, that he lost the opportunity to grow by himself without his domain, upset him as much as becoming aware that the System Administrator had touched him. He was still irate at her for what she had done to Liya. She was very high on his list of people to seek out and demand an apology when he was strong enough.

Shen suddenly felt considerably less agreeable towards Long Hei. He had always suspected that the dragon was doing shady things, but this confirmed it. After his recent episode with Imperia, he was even less tolerant about such things.

The dragon wasn't done. "To be honest, after some recent events, I believe another of your backers would've protected you anyway. I didn't know they were backing you, but they shook the Alliance by capturing some rather elusive big fish. Word of how they did it got out, and it involves using you as bait. Many would say they owe you for how they used you. They would have to at least offer you a way out of the consequences of their manipulation. If they didn't, they would go against one of their core tenets, non-interference except in exceptional cases."

That was way too cryptic for Shen to understand... Until he felt a pull.

His very body seemed to be tugging at his mind towards the cthulhu. It felt natural, like a commoner's brain randomly triggering a physical signal, but Shen's True Self allowed him to know it was deliberate.

He had no idea what was happening, which scared the seven hells out of him.

He didn't feel anything with his senses. There was no Realization at play that he could tell, so someone was doing it to him in an unknown way. His instinct was to use his Absolute Horizon to find the source of the feeling, but he would certainly not do it before the dragon after the recent command.

Shen put the matter for later consideration. He looked at what the signal was pointing instead. Most likely, that was Long Hei telling Shen the cthulhus, or the Primordial Brigade behind them, were the ones who had manipulated him and owed him.

The dragon had also claimed the manipulation put Shen on a crash course against the infernals, and it sort of made sense. Shen couldn't have developed his Absolute Horizon without the Realization Impartation that boosted his willpower. Many other coincidences also happened to ensure his Absolute Horizon came to be, including the one that bothered Shen the most: being placed under Captain Abbav, who knew the supposedly incredibly secret Will-Path Merging Ritual.

Maybe they hadn't been coincidences, after all.

Shen hid his anger toward the two manipulators before him deep within himself. Nothing good would come from antagonizing them.

Unfortunately, either his attempt to hide his feelings failed, or Long Hei could also use his strange body-manipulating ability to detect Shen's emotions. The dragon said, "Don't look at me like that. I have nothing but your best interests at heart. Even in the instances I don't particularly care about your individual well-being, I would at most ignore you, not move against you in any way or form. The ploy to manipulate you into becoming the infernals' enemy wasn't known to me until recently, and I would've been against it if asked."

That was a lot of sophistry that said nothing useful. One of the things Liya had taught Shen, and he agreed with, was not to trust anyone who admitted to having manipulated you. If they did it once, they could easily do it again. Even if he and Liya had ever become a thing, he would always have kept that on the back of his mind.

That lack of trust in Long Hei made this dialogue almost impossible. Who knows? Maybe the dragon was lying about everything, and no one cared about a little C-rank in one corner of the incomprehensibly vast Multiverse Alliance.

Perhaps sensing Shen's feelings, Long Hei sighed once more and added, "I suppose it's time to reveal the big secret. The infernals aren't the only mythical race who hunt anyone who touches on certain things they claim to be theirs. The dragons also hunt anyone with dragon genes. Dragon genes are special in some ways. Yet, we can share them if we follow some rules. I allowed humanity to be given my genes when the Grand Senator was attempting to heal your soul."

The last sentence struck Shen like a lightning bolt. He recalled his father telling him the Immortal Emperor had changed all of humanity when attempting something to heal Shen because changing only him would place a target on him. Shen could guess that a random dragon could hunt a single person who had been legally given dragon genes out of spite, but erasing an entire race would lead to more significant consequences.

So that's how Long Hei could tug Shen's body. Shen had the dragon's genes inside himself, which could be used in unknown ways. Or maybe it was an undisclosed ability because the dragon's body was made of—

Then, Shen had to use all his willpower to keep himself from widening his eyes.

That's why the dragon had started talking about the Abyss! Supposedly, no non-Abyss-related C-rank could survive the Abyss, but Shen was somehow related to it if he had an abyssal dragon's genes, wasn't he? He doubted that was enough to have any special Abyss-related abilities, but it might just give him a way out.

A way out in case he displayed the Absolute Horizon to survive and had to escape the Alliance. Or if he wanted to flee the death sentence that was SpecOps.

Wait a minute, SpecOps!

Long Hei had said a power backing Shen had been directly involved in sending him to the vault against Long Hei's wishes. Shen's report had caused no one to be punished as far as he knew. He had assumed that power that a Node's Acting General couldn't do anything about would be S-rank and could think of absolutely no S-rank that would be minimally interested in scheming against him. They could all just kill him and be done with it. If the infernals weren't doing that because of the Aural Realm, either they had no S-ranks or were already entangled in enough messes to want to avoid another.

But SpecOps also had a lot of sway in the military. Shen didn't know how much, precisely how they operated, or the high-rank rules related to SpecOps, but they might be able to mess with a future member before he was officially introduced.

Did Lieutenant Specialist Taeral Miavalur want to leave Shen's presence because SpecOps had thrown him in the vault and the Lieutenant knew it and was afraid of Shen's reaction if he found out? That sounded unlikely but possible. It depended on how SpecOps did things, Miavalur's position in SpecOps, and how vast his information network was. That did not, however, explain why the high elf had turned his eyes away when Shen killed the drow. Miavalur's anxiety was more likely related to that, but now Shen wondered if it was because of both.

The dragon hadn't stopped talking, though he turned the conversation in another direction. "Imperia's Grand Senator, a former dear friend, knows me too well. While I wouldn't seek revenge for any murdered human, I also wouldn't work against those with my genes if they are honorable enough. I'll even try to help if it's not too inconvenient for me, like the chat with the System Administrator when another force was assisting me. That said, consider keeping the infernals in the dark the second-last favor you'll gain from me. The last one will be to let you decide whether to take Xia Liling into your Exemplary Brigade. I suggest you do."

Before Shen could consider the implications of those words, the dragon subverted all expectations about where this talk was going. "What do you know about how your father met your mother?" Long Hei asked. "And what do you recall about Imperia's marriage customs and why they are like that?"

Wait, what?

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