With a sigh the key slid into a lock that felt perfectly mundane to Randidly But he knew he was on the right track when the fundamental fabric of space and time around him stilled The corner of his mouth twisted upward He turned the key
The door cracked open in a starburst of significance and brilliant energy
Chapter 2450
The final barrier melted away At the same time a resonance began to emerge with Randidly as the core
Randidly felt the confusion and fear immediately from Laplace curdling the air and weakening its world state image that had so damaged time His own Grand Fate gleefully pounced forward and began to rapidly establish its dominance in the unprotected environment Yet Randidly stood still as the barrier in front of him disintegrated into a million glittering pieces leaving the animating shape of Laplace exposed
The resonance felt strange
Congratulations Your Grand Fate Temporal Thaumaturgy Mends Eternity has grown to Level 1392
Congratulations Your Nether Penance Empty Vessel Fosakes the Path has grown to Level 1392
I will slaughter you all Laplace screeched all of its grim self possession evaporating in the face of a genuine threat Yet with the opening its rigid temporal weapons swiftly became unwound The Eternity suddenly seemed too weak so vulnerable
All that remained was the decisive strike Yet Randidly felt TiamatÆs hand on his shoulder and understood the intention of his image He felt a similar trembling from his Nether Core giving him the same warning His eyes glowed as he suddenly saw how to move forward was to return to a Path
Even though Randidly could step forward through the widening door he lingered at the edge He slowly drew the AlchemistÆs Passport back and stored it away Energies lashed back and forth wrapping the two in a sea of chaotic collisions Yet RandidlyÆs mind remained fixed on calculations The Alchemist began to laugh
This is a Pinnacle Event or the closest I will come to one I created the shape even if not all the details are right Randidly felt the rich energy that the step would bring him transgressing the boundary would eliminate the last fragment of LaplaceÆs defense and allow Randidly to unmake this Eternity even if it would probably be a slow and agonizing process for Laplace to actually die The resonance urged him forward
He could reach the Pinnacle by following that feeling just like so many before him And then he would be presented with the choice the one explained so authoritatively by Nyx As she said he could not have it both ways He would either step through the threshold or become the Threshold
That is your way not mine Randidly said quietly Powerful forces howled around him in a churning maelstrom of force I do not need your Paths
He did not step forward across the Threshold He did not step forward and birth a universe from the slow death of Laplace honestly Randidly had enough trouble with supporting universes as it was Instead he smiled
we deserve better than this fighting Even you Laplace So the blow I strike will be the blow youÆve always asked for with every action youÆve taken Randidly enunciated every word his voice humming down to somewhere deep in the underlying fabric of the universe And as he spoke his intent became more and more clear You have played with the flow of time YouÆve unhitched the narrative connections that add context to life and gleefully too So this is your Ghasthund Laplace may it be all youÆve always pursued I might be blind to Truth but you are numb to Weight
Without a barrier the words could move forward and touch the deepest aspects of Laplace Just like that the universe shifted
She released a breath Next to her the monkey popped and became
Devick blinked at the new form Then she slapped her hands across her mouth in order to cover up a blooming grin YouÆve got to be fucking kidding me
Because Pine had transformed into a partially translucent grey furred spectral puppy It looked up at her with wide eyes its oversized ears flopping adorably across its face as he considered her What is he doing now How will he destroy all that darkness
What am I a fucking mind reader Devick glanced again at Randidly Although if I could read minds hehehe I wonder if sometimes he takes peeks at me when he thinks IÆm not looking or thinks ahem ahem stay focused Celebrations and post climax climaxes can wait a bit Randidly right now
The ghost hound next to her continued to look at Devick with absolute trust so she really examined Randidly and tried to figure out his intentions She saw his expanding Nether Ritual She felt the fact that his tension hadnÆt diminished even as Laplace had been neutralized rolling around helplessly in front of Randidly
Devick nodded slowly I donÆt think he will destroy all that darkness Just like he left Laplace alive After all thatÆs the subconscious of the Nexus All of the dead souls and discarded images You canÆt just cut that away
If we do not it will smother us It has become too large too onerous Pine said quietly It is proof of all of our failings That part is better off cut away and slaughtered
Randidly appeared between them You cannot just ignore or force away your failures Otherwise well You end up like Elhume
A bleak expression crossed the puppyÆs face but it shook its head after a few moments It watched Randidly whose hands still threw out complex patterns of Nether Pine said What is your intention
To bring the Nexus into alignment To prevent it from collapsing under the accumulated weight from earlier mismanagement Randidly grimaced It will not be easy That weight honestly the negativity is insane I guess its still hard for me to conceptualize the grudge that can build over three thousand years of fighting and killing But I think itÆs possible
Is this Nexus worth saving Simply move the individuals to your Alpha Cosmos Randidly Ghosthound Allow this place this body to collapse None will mind the switch and you will achieve a fresh start
Randidly looked at Pine pausing in his work Beginning with just a small movement he shook his head No I donÆt think so This universe is worth saving
You are worth saving RandidlyÆs eyes said to the ghost hound hand sitting in front of him
The dog sat absolutely still But Devick could tell from its downcast gaze it did not believe him
Chapter 2451
What Pine remembered most clearly from those early days of his existence was the hunger
Hunger that scraped to release to vocalize Hunger that would cut off slivers of his insides so demanding it consumed him simply to house it
His first massive cry which he later learned had been enough to split open the fabric of space had been a plea for sustenance The second cry had come only a moment later cradled in the arms of Yystrix and Elhume fueled by panic as he belated realized that the act of crying required energy
Every act only deepened his hunger
So he boomed out a second even as an existential dread had risen in PineÆs barely formed consciousness
One detail was abundantly clear even to Pine as a child the food he wished for did not abundantly exist in the multiverse At least not here He was a broken existence one not meant to live for long
But Pine was like every other living being he came equipped from birth with a powerful urge to survive So when Elhume used the echoing cries of Pine to create an isolated universe he did not resist He even allowed his fatherÆs experimentations to determine the sort of energy his physiology naturally craved He watched as the father built a grand working to process the energy Pine released and returned it to him in a partially consumable state It was not a simple process and his father would stay up late most nights cursing and scratching his head
Those were the happiest times despite the horrifying newness of it all His father and mother built him a small home a little cabin in an isolated pocket of the dimension His mother carried him around propped up on her hip and whispered stories that had been passed down from generation to generation