Randidly didnÆt bother to hide his smile this time if Devick was willing to admit weakness it was as much as acknowledging she would accept his offer He extended his hand The Actus SupremÆs consciousness spat out a few rust colored sparks but then curled down around his fingers
I will make you regret this She whispered
We all hope we will live long enough to be preoccupied with regrets He countered
He pivoted and looked up at the darkness looming above them radiating waves of distortion as the people of the Alpha Cosmos prevented the weight from falling for a bit longer Alright letÆs finish this
Randidly Ghosthound no longer had a true physical body but he went through the motions of inhaling a slow breath He raised his fingers For five entire seconds sensing the rippling distortions in the Nexus he was entirely still
In his core the Alchemist examined all the elements he had gathered Broken fragments of a mirror from PanguÆs Asymptote Acri which Randidly had pulled into his Soulspace to prepare for one more trick His vibrating Nether Core as it housed a half formed Eternity event either to be frozen and forged into a Samsara or expended to create an Aspect His three images all morphing in more and more ways as Truth became more of an afterthought replaced by perseverance and opinion His Vessel constantly being reinforced by the accumulation of VPs His MuseÆs Reverie which had grown over his preparations to sit at 6 of 8
He looked over at Pine Are you ready Once it begins we wonÆt get another shot
As though to punctuate the sentiment space near the darkness cracked open A freezing cold suction pulled and pulled apparent even from across the vast chamber the presence of the NexusÆs darkness tearing a hole through to the void The fabric of the Nexus began to fray and tearù the Vessel of this universe had borne too much abuse for too long
Soon the hammer would fall After Elhume and Fiero knocked away the protections the Nexus would tear itself in half
PineÆs glassy eyes reflected that truth as he stared at Randidly Yet despite the worsening tears he didnÆt say anything to hurry the universe seed His images swirled within him Nether roared through his veins His body hummed with the outflows of energy He watched Pine
Are you sure this is worth it Pine whispered Even as he meant IÆm not sure Æ
He could sense their hunger and their chill eyes They clearly knew how close they were to breaking through to the real world and had been whipped into such a bloodlust they no longer cared how much damage they would inflict by indulging in that hunger Any sympathy was erased by overwhelming need With greedy fingers they reached out and began to claw at him thousands of wan specters manifesting in the few meters around Randidly
In the end however the restrictions were a problem that could be overcome with brute force And rather easily considering RandidlyÆs body He shook his head slightly at their hubris
Congratulations Your Skill Absolute Insight of the Smoldering Abyss has grown to Level 1742
Congratulations Your Skill Homunculi Pursues Perfection has grown to Level 1950
He stepped not bothering to restrain his raw physicality The same dense darkness that ripped its way through the Nexus tore like wax paper The spectators evaporated like candles on a birthday cake in front of an enthusiastic child Randidly blurred up through the strange workshop of Pangu into that reflected little cabin created by Pine down the staircase into the abyss and found the calcified exoskeleton Pine had left at the bottom
He raised his hand Not sure if youÆd be as willing to help if you understood the extent of my planning
Congratulations Your Skill Alpha DragonÆs Fell Smite has grown to Level 1701
He decapitated the crouched form plucking up PineÆs head Randidly examined the piece he had obtained a chunk of PineÆs actual body and made a face this monstrous lizard form was hideous
If Randidly did say so himself Pine looked quite a bit more handsome as a ghostly hound Definitely that should be the default in the future
But this was the last piece he needed for his grand gamble his final trick Randidly rolled his shoulders and wondered if he could pull this off
Especially because the true threat to him was completely unknown
Okay He released a breath One step at a time Neveah can handle the process in here Pine will hopefully manage the last coupling and I
He envisioned the grand stage for his final trick He released a vague half formed pulse of Nether hoping he would be enough
Despite having mentally prepared himself Randidly couldnÆt help but gulp The plan was relatively simple the Vessel of the Nexus could no longer support both the darkness and the Nexus proper So they needed to be bourne by a new Vessel his
However he didnÆt want to directly merge both the darkness and Nexus into the Alpha Cosmos Not only did Randidly worry about the massive burden on his psyche but he also wanted to methodically untangle the System from those portions before the connections became permanent The inevitable connection required a lot of work from his Pantheon who were already overworked with the exploding population of the Alpha Cosmos
So he would engage in a delaying tactic he would accept the darkness and Nexus into his Vessel but would use momentum and balancing putting the two new arrivals and the Alpha Cosmos into orbit of each other to host them without mixing them At least until the problems could be resolved
However in order to truly reach and move the Nexus and the darkness into position
Randidly Ghosthound would need to stretch wider than them to allow the positioning to occur For his final trick he needed to go outside the Nexus
And prevent any insidious vultures from swooping in while the isolated universe was at its most vulnerable
He flared his images He blinked back the lightheadedness as so much energy burned through his veins and fueled the working His mind was overworked his Vessel stretched in so many directions But he gritted his teeth and focused
His palms tingled All the preparations all the sweat all the struggles it all was for this He took out the remnants pieces from PanguÆs Asymptote and stabbed them through the flesh head he had taken from PineÆs decapitated cast offs When he looked at the streaks of white goo and black ichor on the pieces he couldnÆt help but grimace
Distasteful but it was an insurance policy just in case RandidlyÆs worst fears were confirmed
With a graceful bit of sleight of hand he stuffed those shattered mirrored shards in the waistband of his pants for easy access He stepped forward and slipped out through the cracks of the Nexus and into the wider multiverse
Chapter 2456
Randidly Ghosthound left the Nexus
Congratulations For pushing yourself beyond the edges of your Universe +1 MuseÆs Reverie MuseÆs Reverie 7/8
His first impression of the environment was frigid chaos He blinked as waves of colors gravitational and temporal forces hit him The conflicting currents slammed against him powerful enough to tear a lesser individual to shreds Probably no one under 1000 in Vitality and Endurance would be able to survive not while the absence of dimensional fabric meant that images were restricted
Yet obviously it was less a torturous way to dive for Randidly Ghosthound and more like diving into freezing water
His skin prickled at the cold bit of entropy as he passed through the gaps between isolated spaces His powerful senses pinged outward and he abruptly wished he had pulled back on his curiosity the folded dimension of cracks and spaces through which he now cracked possessed depth on a scale that left Randidly alarmed Like just peeking too deeply would overbalance him and he would be pulled down into the abyss tumbling forever and ever unmoored and lost
And then he finally finished passing through the dimension of crooked thresholds finding a veritable sea of foreign images that washed against him He straightened subconsciously but felt an instant sense of relief as he felt the firmness of the ground beneath his feet