Chapter 2384 (Patreon)

ToC: https://www.patreon.com/posts/23899958

Alright, back and raring to go! For those asking about the laptop, it was some cheap lenovo my grandma bought me when I graduated law school in... 2016? So its time had come.

Imagine, a backlit keyboard for typing at night! What luxury.

Randidly Ghosthound stared for several long seconds at Lady Iellaya’s hand after she offered a path to collaborating with the Actus Suprem. Fury curdled in his gut, but Randidly didn’t indulge it completely.

On the one hand, he felt guilty he hadn’t reached out to their cabal, contacting Edraine and Lady Iellaya when he joined the Upper Sonora Society and barged into the crystal prison of Elhume’s true body. But he hadn’t much choice; Actus Suprem’s actions hadn’t left him much time to hesitate. With a tragedy happening right before his eyes, he had moved to stop it.

The Dread Homunculus hissed in Randidly’s Soulspace. Now that same vicious Actus Suprem extended her hand, looking to twist the knife in the controlling powers to extract more benefit for herself. In a way, Devick’s frantic efforts to gather Grand Fates made sense. It gave her better leverage. Yet the second hammer blow-

Congratulations! Your Skill Ghosthound’s Cloak of a Thousand Light Horizons (GD) has grown to Level 1150!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Ghosthound’s Cloak of a Thousand Light Horizons (GD) has grown to Level 1193!

Randidly grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. Every second, the pressure of Pine increased. Calling it pressure, however, was misleading. Because it was a vast absence that slunk closer to the Nexus and gradually demonstrated its destructive impulses. Already, its consumptive drool seeped down and began to corrode the Aether structures holding the Nexus in place. Even for his Vulpis Squad, an unprepared glance proved deadly. Even for him, who had slaughtered a few dozen husks in their escape and grown to Level 99, Randidly felt constant tugs at his significance.

He shivered slightly. This is why Solomon didn’t try to press the issue of me agreeing to stabilize Pine. Because once his body was liberated, it became inevitable that something be done. Otherwise, the entire Nexus would collapse beneath Pine’s weight. That fuck.

Congratulations! Your Skill Ghosthound’s Cloak of a Thousand Light Horizons (GD) has grown to Level 1197!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nyx’s Successor Births Fate (GD) has grown to Level 1109!

“Do we have time to hesitate?” Lady Iellaya urged. She gestured up at the sky with the hand she hadn’t offered. Her feathers were pressed flat against her arm, winds edged with dangerous energies swirling around them. “Elhume will throw reinforce the TIer III Nexus citizenship area, essentially trapping all that dangerous energy here for the time being. While he’s busy stabilizing the Nexus, you should meet with the Actus Suprem and at least understand what she’s offering. It’s the only logical course of action.”

Randidly lifted his head slowly. “Lady Iellaya, she’s everything we’ve fought against in the Nexus. She did not create this System like- like Elhume did, but she benefits from it. She enjoys the pain it inflicts.”

Lady Iellaya twisted her lips. “Morals are the privilege of the powerful. Until we assume a more controlling position in the Nexus-”

“Haven’t I proven that I have the power? And its not just me: The Upper Sonora Society has a plan that will hamstring the Nexus. We don’t need to associate with Devick in order to wield this influence. And I’m sure you know even better than I.” Randidly examined Lady Iellaya closely, opening up his energy halo vision. He saw the thin and insidious tendrils of rust madness, happily swimming in Lady Iellaya’s soul. “...all the Actus Suprem touches is… affected.”

“Marred, you mean. Tainted.” Lady Iellaya’s smile fell away. But what remained on her face was pure determination. “But Randidly, while you have indeed gathered the capability, do you really think the Upper Sonora Society will be able to accomplish anything without your backing? Let me tell you exactly what will happen when they enact their grand ritual: Elhume will immediately cut off all outflows of Aether in the Nexus.”

“No, he-” Randidly blinked. Because he realized that yes, that was exactly what would happen. The Upper Sonora Society relied on the overlay System to convey their offer to the citizens of the Nexus. And when people accepted the offer to become Patrons, they would essentially strangle the Nexus’s energy distribution System by shifting their images away from the main branches where their ideas could be harvested. But why would Fiero let that happen? Better for him to starve out all of the troublemakers, preventing them from becoming Patrons.

The Nexus was fraying apart at the seams already and this would worsen it. But it would at least give him a fresh start, to open up new Cohorts clean of any lingering elements and start the cycle of blood sacrifice all over again.

“Tell me what else the Actus Suprem predicted,” Randidly said, even as his cloak trembled underneath the onslaught of energies. Lady Iellaya was right, he didn’t have time for this. But for all that he felt closer than ever to the harmonious sensation of the Pinnacle, his instincts whispered that he needed to exercise caution.

He had power, but he climbed to this power through Alchemy. And he still didn’t quite understand all the rare elements present at this top level of the Nexus. As an Alchemist, he felt an itch between his shoulder blades he couldn’t yet scratch.

“...Fine. I’ll explain as best I can. Sometimes, it’s difficult to translate the words of the Actus Suprem. Honestly, the strangest of her assertions was that you would force Elhume to acknowledge you. After that, she sensed the crystal mountain range was actually a weakness of Elhume’s. The conflict between you would strike at the weakness and threaten to topple the entire Nexus without you lifting a finger. And because, I’m quoting now, ‘that whiny Don has the worst sense of self-entitlement I’ve ever seen’ he will attempt to reach the Pinnacle during the chaos. And Elhume will come to you and request that you set aside your differences to prevent this from happening.”

“Why would I care about the Don reaching the Pinnacle?” Randidly frowned. Pine’s hunger loomed closer. The discomfort gave Randidly quite a bit of empathy for the Nether people in the memory, who had experienced his image and heralded him as Nether King Hungry Eye.

But the earlier form of the Songstress of Absence was a minnow compared to Pine. She possessed consciousness— the only core trait of Pine that Randidly could sense was inevitability. Even the faint shimmer of the universal soul which helped him in the memory had been buried.

Congratulations! Your Skill Ghosthound’s Cloak of a Thousand Light Horizons (GD) has grown to Level 1204!

“Not that our Elhume has ever been generous with sharing power, but the Actus Suprem had a pet theory about this. And I think our current situation proves it was the correct assumption.” Lady Iellaya leaned forward. “Our Actus Suprem has a nose for weaknesses like I’ve never seen. And she seemed to think that it wasn’t the prospect of someone reaching the Pinnacle by itself that filled Elhume with fear…but the prospect of someone weak doing so. Because… let’s take any singular moment and consider its composition as you ascend to control it. Right now, for instance. If you were in total control of this moment… what would be your dominant impression of the Nexus?”

The tumblers of Randidly’s mind began rotating into alignment. He straightened and looked up to the sky. He thought about the way Fiero had said the words truth and vessel. How disdainful Fiero had been about Randidly’s attacks on his body. How shocked he had been when he used raw force to pierce through that different arrangement of energy.

“Any individual who seizes a moment will need to reckon… with Pine.” Randidly whispered as he saw the devouring force distorting his cloak of darkness. “Pine has become a truth. A fundamental truth about existence inside the Nexus. A truth that, more than anything, wants a vessel to consume. And an individual who makes it to the Pinnacle needs enough power to withstand its attention.”

After he said those words, Randidly felt Neveah’s consciousness flow into him. She buzzed against his exhaustion, a shot of psychic caffeine. I’ve gone through the materials Solomon provided. But also… those ten patterns that Yystrix left for us, I discovered a Nether array hidden within it. There’s a portion in the middle where they all connect. It’s… god, Randidly, now that I can see the artistry and goal, I really am awestruck. Okay, so from everything we’ve heard from Fiero, the real process of occupying the ‘Pinnacle’ is the genesis of this ‘truth’. And in the protracted transitionary stage, the very presence of truth creates a ‘vessel’ which can broadly be considered reinforcing your existence by association with truth.

Yystrix’s patterns get a bit esoteric and for the longest time, I wasn’t able to piece together the connections. Too many organic shapes without guidance. BUT based on the rambling journals Solomon provided and Devick’s theory, not all moments are created equal. Not all truths possess the same oomph, but maybe they reinforce the vessel at the same rate. That’s the trick! Variable potencies that generate a vessel at a fixed rate. Likely with a Truth already present in your universe, one you would need to wrestle with and survive in order for your ‘vessel’ to catch up and grant you control over a moment.

Lady Iellaya smiled, talking about the danger of Pine lurking at the Pinnacle. “So you see it. And if an individual attempts to reach the Pinnacle and fails, the shadow cast by Pine’s corpse will grow larger. We all will need to reckon with that weight. The Actus Suprem might use blunt tools, but all her efforts are for the betterment of the Nexus. At least in terms of practicality, she can be trusted. Elhume’s weakness is our opportunity.”

Neveah’s excitement cut back across his physical conversation as her fervor built. But what if you didn’t need to wait for a vessel to form? What if you could wrestle control of a moment… without committing to a Truth?

Congratulations! Your Skill Ghosthound’s Cloak of a Thousand Lightless Horizon has grown to Level 1214!

Another wave of corrosion radiated down from the sky. Randidly adjusted his feet and released a slow breath. He raised an eyebrow, trying not to let Neveah’s chaotic mix of realization and excitement leak to show on his features. “Let’s talk then, about the blunt tools of the Actus Suprem. There is no functional difference between what she is willing to do to achieve her goals and what Elhume has done to maintain his dominance for so long. She might behave now, but will she continue to do the same when we don’t have a common foe?”

Lady Iellaya shrugged. “Will you not be there to check her?”

“Maybe I’m not being clear,” Randidly felt a muscle along his jaw twitch. He leaned forward, allowing some of his strain, some of the wild tongues of hunger lashing down against his defensive image. He let the Songstress of Absence leak into his pupils and the Dread Homunculus into his voice. “Why do I need her now?”

Neveah’s babble continued. This is a jump, but what if the concrete process of the Pinnacle Truth is forming your version of the world? That you become a vessel to a Truth, that you hold a world. So the legacy left to you by Yystrix-

Randidly features froze. He felt a tingle up across his skin as he began to see the shape that left Neveah practically frothing with anticipation. Yystrix gave me all the tools to reverse engineer a vessel. So if I wanted… I could handle as much strain as I need upon reaching the Pinnacle. Without even a Truth I wanted to force upon the world. But is there any meaning in doing that?

There’s also the matter of this core ritual, Randidly. Suddenly, Neveah’s enthusiasm dried up. It should excavate compressed significance. She didn’t just want you to handle the problem… she probably wanted you to save her son.

All the geniality fell away from Lady Iellaya, after Randidly laid bare his antagonism, not even noticing his internal realizations. “Humph. You remain infuriatingly sure of your capability. Let me assure you, the Actus Suprem does not have infinite patience-”

“What happened, Iellaya?” Randidly countered, unwilling to waste more time. The Alchemist in him was whispering; he only needed a few more key ingredients to see the scope of his largest experiment yet. “When did you decide to side with the bullies?”

Lady Iellaya offered a joyless smile. She manifested her image, the massive feathered serpent screaming and spreading its wings. But in addition to its sleek feathers and massive wingspan, its body was riddled with a network of enflamed crimson veins. Its eyes bulged with a horrible, barely suppressed pain.

“I guess I started to understand her point of view.” Lady Iellaya whispered, her voice husky with madness. “As we stated earlier… even the brush of the Actus Suprem can be… poisonous.”