The Don filed that information away He checked in on the group After a few minutes he forced them to move with a small speech about how close they were In truth he simply could not waste too much more time here It was difficult to know what occurred outside of the Path to the Pinnacle isolated in this place within the spinning walls of the nebula Yet any moment now Elhume could tear a hole in the walls and crash their party
Before that happened the Don wanted to climb as high as possible That way his leverage would be better
As they proceeded forward much of the DonÆs last wisp of optimism vanished Even the nebula glittering around the tiled road began to grow dark and ominous Clouds of cosmic dust crackled with electrical discharge The number of tiles slowly dwindled as they continued to climb as the Path to the Pinnacle thinned By the time they reached the next platform two individuals could barely walk abreast
And upon that platform the eight armed alabaster statue waited for the group with her weapons raised
Can you really overcome this foe Even the skull of the first guardian seemed afraid its eyes smoldering uncertainly
Don Beigon didnÆt bother to answer at this point they were beyond talking about the hurdles in front of them Instead he pointed His remaining elites glided forward into position their images sparkling with emotional intensity The remaining members of the Nether Lattice followed sluggishly behind them
Those eight arms shifted brandishing the powerful and heavy weapons Beyond those the smaller and more deadly attacks waited
The hawk humanoid hovered at the DonÆs elbow Nervousness radiated off of her body Based on those image reverberations we need a plan to overcome this foe if we just charge forward it seems inevitable that we sustain more losses
This is the final guardian Don Beigon nodded slowly We must charge
Finally the veneer of panic fell away and the hawk humanoid scowled at him You fool So what if this is the final hurdle We are not a resource you can spend to advance your own cause The debts you owe to us are deep Honestly I am no longer even sure you will ever be able to repay the significance you have borrowed Even if the whole of the Nexus falls into the palm of your hand
Perhaps you are correct Don Beigon mused He flicked a wrist and produced a worn photo of Diane Her expression was almost haughty standing next to a much younger version of Don Beigon She was so bold and fearless even just as memory With just those eyes those same eyes he fell in love with she seemed to be challenging the entire universe to stand in her path She had absolute confidence she would come out on top
In the depths of his heart the Don was almost glad he wasnÆt there when she was killed An even more vital fire in him would have gone out to know whether her spirit had broken when she realized she was about to die
Don Beigon closed his eyes Some debts can never be repaid And yet Perhaps in the right circumstances The engraving on the back of the picture activated DianeÆs special formula began to move White flames ate away at the photograph DianeÆs lovely face warped and vanished The Don began gritting his teeth Perhaps I can finally achieve a Reversal of Fortunes
His entire inner world a carefully measured emporium of debts and favors turned itself inside out
Chapter 2404
The Don had a moment of suspended anxiety as he activated the Skill Reversal of Fortunes
Even now this ability he had inherited from his wild wife felt unnatural He had built an identity by creating solid and reliable rules for business deals Actions had consequences prices would be paid no matter how the value needed to be extracted
His inner world was delicate and responsive And this treated it like a snow globe shaking it all up to see the bits and pieces flutter around in a wild storm
Diane Beigon laughed at his meticulous arrangements and measurements She enjoyed rigid systems but only because it let her manipulate the expectations of others and then take advantage of them in one fell swoop Not that she didnÆt value long term relationships but she pointed out in the cutthroat environment of the Nexus one often didnÆt have more than a few valuable interactions with another party The universe was vast
If they had the opportunity to vault up in power they needed to take it And losers could always be eliminated provided the deal cut them deeply enough
Her attitude had led to their rapid early assent and then caused her to be killed when she had gone behind his back and tried to pull one of her stunts against Elhume But there was a certain poetic justice to this moment that the Don now used the same wildness to serve her long awaited vengeance
The Skill activated Don Beigon could feel all of the weight of owing reversing All the ways he had beggared himself called in every favor in preparation for this day now became deep wells of debt that he could call upon For all that the Skill created chaos once it engaged it acted quickly He felt especially gleeful to yank with as much force as he could manage on the sudden debt that Randidly Ghosthound owed him
Do not interfere with a father who knows what is best for his daughter Don BeigonÆs eyes flashed You might have protected her for now but my methods bah you cannot understand what I intended
The individuals here felt the shift as well The seven remaining members of the Nether Lattice froze as the sensations percolated through their bodies Don Beigon ascended quickly through the Nether Lattice now sitting atop it He instantly sucked away all the significance from their bodies and concentrated it within himself And then he called in their debt and forcibly compelled them to attack the final guardian
DON The Hawk humanoid shrieked as her legs stuttered forward to join the fight The debt moved her body even if her mind was unwilling
Sitting on top of one of the corners of the DonÆs wheelchair back the skull let out a fearful groan Even with them this will not be enough
Don Beigon nodded grimly he didnÆt like their current odds His elites moved with all the swiftness he had drilled into them with long years fo training Their images slid atop one another hammering at this guardian But the Guardian had eight powerful weapons that mingled freely The glaive ripped sideways quelling the air The ax chopped down severing images in the middle of their explosive force Blasts of Nether were knocked to the side by a mirrored shield opening up space for the saber to cut downward
Right as the Don began to consider his other options he felt the connection from Randidly Ghosthound beginning to burn
First came a wave of significance The energy was so dense that its arrival forced a gasp out of Don Beigon Already he felt himself being damaged by hosting this repayment In terms of quantity Randidly Ghosthound had sent over maybe a tenth of the significance that the Don had just extracted from the Nether Lattice
Yet in terms of quality it was a volcanic eruption compared to a campfire It seared his veins threatening to burn its way out of him before he could utilize it
You bastard Anger surged through the DonÆs body but it wasnÆt nearly enough to chagrin this significance Did you beggar yourself in order to harm me like this What the hell is this significance
Behind him the skull released a low chuckle That energy heh what quick growth
Don BeigonÆs chest grew agonizing holding that significance within him it was so overwhelming that his image couldnÆt restrain it Despite the clumsiness of the expression Don Beigon had no choice but to raise a hand and unleash the caustic wave of significance as liquid blast just to get it out of his body To his surprise the energy came out fizzing and clear like a carbonated beverage
One of his subordinates let out a sigh as the arm with a needle brushed against his chest and stopped his heart The body collapsed without a sound The image of the statue blazed Don Beigon gritted his teeth I cannot stop now not with how close I am So long as I am decisive I should be able to contain the Actus SupremÆs influence