Now those childhood fancies made him sniff in disdain be one of the armored thugs of Cerulean The prospect was hilarious No Don Beigon would rule a city Someday he would have fellows like Fatia Cerulean begging for his favor He would gather enough money and influence in order to own an entire world
At the moment such dreams seemed very far away The wind off the badlands blew dirt into his face that no amount of spitting could keep out of his mouth When he clenched his jaw he simply had to accept the grinding crackle of sand granules between his teeth
Colonel Matteo frowned at Beignon The two stood on the Western wall of Homewell looking out over the leafy slum The day had not gone how both of them had expected You said you could compel them to accept
Beigon shook his head so vigorously his cheeks flapped I told you that if they took the gifts I could make sure they agreed to more than the gifts Yet you provided them with such a pittance they felt no need to say yes Cornmeal really When is the last time you ate cornmeal Colonel
We commonly send cornmeal to the slums They often weep tears of joy at the sight The ColonelÆs fingers tightened against the stone castellation Beigon pursed his lips but said nothing But turned and looked out to the West of Homewell By now the Lifeseal had regenerated through the damage it suffered three days ago and began to spread back across the whole of the area For the sort of experiments they wanted to attempt they needed to begin now before the Nether in the environment increased to dangerous levels
The damned greenery that now infested the slums meant that it was difficult to get a read on what was happening out there Cheerful ferns waved back and forth completely masking the movements of the people of the slums Half the time the messenger they sent into the slums couldnÆt even find anyone to speak with
Some of the Turtlelines actually approved of the shift many pointed out how much more habitable the city appeared to travelers and merchants surrounded by greenery rather than the dirty looking poor Obviously those industries were much restricted right now but these plants would remain assuming they survived the war
Beigon believed those who expressed such opinions were quite short sighted
Do we even know how many survived the attack Beigon tried to speak lightly but some of the tension in his chest leaked into his voice Frustrated at being at stumbling now in the midst of a war that was the perfect opportunity to prove his worth was beginning to irk him
He had expended so much effort to hitch his wagon to the Master considering the chaotic times and his very focused skillset And as he had hoped the Master had managed to catch the attention of several important people including the stewards of the Lifeseal
Yet now even the fucking Homids had the gall to get in his way
There canÆt have been that many in fighting shape Casualties were heavy The Colonel replied but he didnÆt seem sure Most of those remaining should be women and children but honestly weÆve seen less of them than ever Perhaps the Nether truly butchered them
Beigon shook himself and turned away Well IÆm going to head down and investigate We need to know what we are dealing with
After getting a general idea of the state of the Alpha Cosmos Neveah would have continued to refine her search discovering more concrete details for all of RandidlyÆs sub Classes which had become practically irrelevant with all the passage of time Yet she paused sensing that Randidly had come out of his Visage of Obsession coma
Immediately she withdrew from the Alpha Cosmos and went to the hole in the ground in the badlands He released a certain sort of surety that meant he had cobbled together enough of a plan it was worth talking to him and perhaps dissuading him from its most aggressive indulgences
When he popped out of the hole she almost groaned his eyes danced and his grin was wide and cheery He pushed his raven black hair back from his forehead and cracked his neck She sighed I can always tell when you have a bad idea You practically sparkle
IÆd consider it more of a dramatic radiance Randidly said with a sly smile He shuffled his shoulders in preparation and then performed an elaborate bow But I come before you having discovered the fool proof method by which I will solve all of my problems at once
It sounds simple and not at all reckless Neveah deadpanned A dream come true
Her tone earned a snort out of Randidly but he continued without comment The idea of the Moiraes which I believe to be a useful one is to use use the imperative Deganawidah laid on me barring alchemic success as a trampoline to jump to even greater heights in the fallout If I can get my Skill Levels in time I will define Ghasthund right before the end and add some extra bite to the final result But it was the process of getting there that left me slightly mixed up How exactly would I fail What would I be failing How would those results benefit me going forward But I think IÆve worked out all the details
Neveah folded her hands in front of her waiting
Randidly held up three fingers Three attempts Three failures In the process more and more chaotic energy will be generated First I will attempt to use Aether and Nether to create a small a minutely small isolated universe And then I will fold a bit of space in the memory on top of the isolated universe and superimpose them Two different points will be one if just for a moment
NeveahÆs gaze flickered as she followed his train of thought you might fail to connect the points but youÆll use the force and intensity of the attempt to handle the wound on the Stillborn Phoenix
RandidlyÆs grin was positively wicked Essentially yes Although I think all three attempts will strengthen the Stillborn Phoenix HasnÆt DeganawidahÆs voice become the universe shouting no at my attempts to surpass the possible Then for the second attempt with a bit of momentum built up from the first failureÆ we do exactly what we have been told we cannot do we attempt to recreate the PhilosopherÆs Stone A failure here will help me recharacterize the whole of my Fate Refocus myself from one type of alchemy to another
Neveah raised her hand and massage the bridge of her nose Please donÆt use the pronoun we to try and imply we are on the same page about this
Again Randidly was not swayed by her lack of enthusiasm Finally we use all of the energy both from the repeated failures and from the conflict between Deganawidah and Cerulean to attempt something truly ambitious
Ah now we have finally arrived at the reckless portion
and we try and recreate one of the moments of the Pinnacle
Neveah stilled On top of everything else you want to try and reach the Pinnacle Have you thought this through at all Even through the memory I suspect the modern Elhume would notice
No Randidly interrupted with a shake of the head I considered that but you are right I donÆt think we have the resources to manage it especially on short notice Instead we go after the moment of a Pinnacle We forcefully trigger it Normally that would be impossible too but we are in the memory And how else does this memory end but Elhume ascending and reaching the Pinnacle We either crack open the memory and reveal that perfect moment or rebound and fail but still
A Pinnacle failure possesses so much substance and Aether of the highest caliber your Class can easily be reinvigorated Neveah whispered finally seeing the pattern in the madness More than reinvigorated completely advanced Sharpened to the point that it no longer becomes an afterthought
Randidly smiled “And I become a spear aimed right at the System’s heart when I return to the main universe “
Chapter 2262
DevickÆs shoulders heaved with exertion Her lips twisted into a crooked smile but even she knew how brittle the expression must look The Nether Warrior in front of her thrashed and twisted dark ichor spurting out of its wounds Its spiked carapace gouged out a deep trough in the flesh of her left arm as she pinned it to the ground panting and waiting for it to die with her scimitar buried in its chest She couldnÆt remember the last time her inhales werenÆt desperate wheezes The choker made for her by Nether King Hungry Eye felt warm around her neck