But only a portion could be viewed at once Only a small amount of the changes would be noticed and without the broader picture it was easy to miss the Monarch of Karma influencing what the new Nexus would become
After absorbing the concept of time from the Alpha Cosmos Randidly didnÆt stop there he wouldnÆt feel confident in his challenge against Laplace without additional weapons He used another Reverie point to specifically activate the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night He swam into his own past and pulled from his earlier image wanting another piece to use to bind Laplace
From the humming crystal memories within the Dreamcatcher Randidly pulled out the perfectly preserved image of his early Spear Phantom Skillset Idiosyncratic Cut
His fingers were gentle tracing its shape He held the long arm of a clock buzzing with the sharp report of passing time
Despite his reassurances Sulfur rumbled again This time Randidly laughed He reached over and squeeze his left bicep affectionately with his right hand DonÆt worry buddy just because of this you donÆt need to stop being my left arm Honestly IÆm not sure I could go back WouldnÆt I be helpless without your help My original left hook had nowhere near the jaw crushing power you have
As Sulfur hummed in pleased agreement the Hierarchy of Burden activated The horrific forces sliced downward toward RandidlyÆs left shoulder targeting not SulfurÆs physical form but the underpinning spiritual body
In the past RandidlyÆs left arm had been severed fighting Aegiant That conflict was one of the most harrowing moments of his life as his opponent blazed with solar energy and turned more and more of the environment into lava Rather than trying to heal the wound after he had won the fight Randidly had used it as a way to bind the nascent Alpha Cosmos to him physically He had created his Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos Domain from the connection and begun his journey to creating a powerful Vessel by building a bridge between his Soulskill and his physical body
Since then Randidly had fought first with a constructed metal arm and then later incorporated Sulfur directly Later his Crossroads of the Alpha Cosmos had been woven into the fabric of Sulfur so the arm could support the Domain he had inherited from Helen And while his current actions unraveled the base of connections there were now so many bonds between himself and Sulfur that Randidly didnÆt worry this would harm the current arrangements
His target was that original bond that had made the Alpha Cosmos a part of his body The dense threads of Aether that had connected him to the Alpha Cosmos for so long For a human being ta spiritual binding between a body and a world was a necessary step but for a being more legend than physical existence it was superfluous
RandidlyÆs Grey MonarchÆs Authority wrapped around the sizzling radiation of the Hierarchy of Burden and sharpened it into a blade The edge narrowed until it was as thin and insubstantial as a breath of wind This wind slid into his shoulder and sculpted the joint With great care he cut into the deep significance between his bodyÆ and the Alpha Cosmos
Randidly remained still for the entire process He cut and cut pulling out more and more of the dense connection that had been maintained throughout his adventures from fighting against Aegiant and barely able to survive to standing at the heights of the Nexus now
As he pulled more and more of this valuable threadÆ out from his body RandidlyÆs jaw began to clench The material grew heavier and heavier unwilling to be taken out of his spiritual body And that wasnÆt even recognizing the growing agony It felt like he was scraping out his body marrow and leaving his skeleton hollow A chill settled through his existence one that caused some small disturbances in the rotation of his Nether Core
He pulled and pulled extracting more and more thread The cold seeped into his bones It went down his arms into his ribcage and hips As the Hierarchy continued to crackle and he cut deeper and deeper into the bond Randidly could feel the looming presence of his own insubstantiality grow He felt a hint of regret he hadnÆt expected how much this spiritual connection to the Alpha Cosmos had grounded him Yet he also did not stop
There came a point when Randidly sensed that he might have extracted enough valuable thread from his connection It burned with power in his hands a material forged of universe spanning bridges He would be able to refine the raw materials he created into an almost infinite amount of thread containing aspects of both Aether and Nether No matter how many wounds crisscrossed the fabric of time this would be enough to utilize Yet he continued to draw out this valuable grounding allowing the cold and lack of substance to seep through his entire being His spine felt like a totem of ice now radiating out a vicious stillness
Tasks should not be left half done Randidly thought with a certain grimness The coldness flowed through his body creeping into a stubborn smile Besides I said earlier my second miracle of the day was discarding my reality And it might have appeared like I had done so but so long as this connection lingered that final bit of foundation would have remained For my final miracle I need the accomplishment to be resounding
ItÆs almost lucky I chose this Path and can eliminate this lingering tether to reality Just what will it feel like to truly become without any substance
Randidly cut His Hierarchy of Burden steadily weakened as the one point of MuseÆs Reverie faded but he was almost finished He gave a sharp tug ripping away almost all of the remnant connection between himself and the Alpha Cosmos Finally there was just a bit of winnowed tendon connecting to RandidlyÆs heart
He pressed his lips together He gripped and yanked with all his Primordial Nether Juju The last connection broke
Two things happened simultaneously All the chill in his body spiked almost freezing his thoughts and internal space At the same time his Nether Core began to roar and spin galvanizing his images into action
For several seconds Randidly couldnÆt breath But it wasnÆt like he needed to any longer
Chapter 2417
Shal thrust his spear forward cutting through the waves of dangerous radiation Energy splashed outward in every direction The spearhead began to sizzle and melt but his image was sharp enough that he could cut through the dangerous environment and take another step forward
He didnÆt even have enough time to suck in a breath before the next wave of energy came He could only grip his teeth and unleash another spear thrust He ignored the growing ache in his knees and attacked
Shal had abandoned one of his most important connections in the pursuit of power He had also given up on the image that had allowed him to overcome the Second Calamity of his home world He had discarded everything desperately clawing his way to the Pinnacle and it had backfired Now he had only a new image He tempered on the fly
And the knowledge that a single mistake now would doom him
But he also had a crazed dedication to continue to advance despite his weakness After talking for so long with the Monarch of Karma all his emotions had settled He had a brief moment of clarity Despite the mistakes he had made in the past despite severing the relationship Shal did not want to walk away He arrived at the decision and it lit a fire in his chest He burned with his resolve
Despite the danger he stalked toward the core danger of the Nexus creating just enough of an opening for his feet A single failure meant he would be annihilated But despite the danger Shal felt at peace for the first time in a long time
But it was very easy to feel at peace with such a constant source of distraction
His muscles ached and his consciousness began to blur at the edges He had spent so much effort and he only reached the edge of the danger zone the air filled with cracking significance and time that would gladly devour him He could only fold his tension and apply it to the edge of his spear