“To you, a dictation amongst cosmos and amongst greater space, servant of I, Kreutz, calling upon the arrogance of thy role, Miracle.”
Wonder turned his head to greet the physical manifestation of the shell housing the Great Kreutz, servant of Sirius Aethfell, and within the shroud, a piece of his own shell, there would be a smile had Master the face. “Orate, then, harangue to this unworthy shell.”
Kreutz stepped forward as they overlooked one of the remaining Four Pillars that held the Ordo Outbreak Barrier: Creekwood. And so spoke the Caller, “Attrition is the scourge of mortal-flesh. Mortal-flesh winter-frozen and bone-starved. Cycles pass and flesh of the mind’s eye withers, so had Ordo after the ordinance plaguing the rising borough. You, Wonder of the Miracles, bleed the city's heart and slumber deeply to stardom.
“As machinations degreed. Stardust befell our Watcher and our Cutter, so caution is given to the Miracle.”
“Irrelevant of status in this shell, the completion of machinations will drain this capital. Within cycles, fates shall be determined. Victory or defeat, one will remain. So decreed I, Wonder of Miracles,” promised the Comet.
Pereyra and Tewfik had perished for underestimating the initial flame that this humanity possessed, but now that flame withered into whispers of its former momentous intensity, this attack will snuff the remaining embers into a death. A death that could not be heard in the expanse of the empty universe.
By using the very Pillars against them.
Once successful, Ordo will be weak even if they managed to thwart the Miracle completely.
Even if they subjugate him.
The Forger and the Caller will destroy them, ruin them, and the Barrier will fall.
~~~
Leaving Grendel Arsenal, the Baptists said their temporary farewells to the Martials. Well, to the Vice Guild Master and Blackviper. The Journeys were too busy with their own things: Alma continued to reduce his deskload of tasks, Catalyst was obviously working with a mentalist to extract Fragment Carn’s memories from his physical cosmic-infected brain, Yatsar and Thunderstrike Hammer were in the last stages of completing their superweapon, and Shinzo had been called across the city to assist Master Jin Junjie.
So yes, that did leave only Jin Tiehan and Blackviper for a quick farewell. The two gave the strike force their best wishes and encouraged them for providence during this time.
Because it was day nine of the Ordo Disaster.
Working inside military bases, or well-fortified compounds in general, were a poor representation of the city. These locations had the most supplies—relatively—in order to support the manpower present; outside the guarded perimeter however was an apocalyptic sight found only in TV shows and movies.
They hitched a ride on a convoy to the Encampment located in the heart of Vesper and were shocked as they left. Yesterday, Alba and the Alumnus prepared for Operation Wolf Prowl, so that meant the night before (of day seven) was when the OBDs had splintered Dawns. So two days, give or take a few hours. A majority of places had no electricity now. No running water or heaters in the chilly beginnings of spring.
A lot more people were roaming the streets, watching as the convoy truck along to their destination as bodies were pushed against the curbs. Unlike the Tormented Flesh, whose bodies were torn and rotten and beyond dead—a majority of the dead were pale and purple and blue, suffocated and crushed from the initial panic of the OBD attack.
It became clear why there were so many wanderers when the convoy passed tatters of refugee centers blown apart by OBDs, and skeleton crews had to protect these sites. Sometimes small but sometimes so large that they’d need triple the men to do it. Not enough to defend against any attacks. Not enough to quell any discontentment amongst the civilians. Many remained, however, but were sheet-pale and depressed, staying out of necessity. Not of trust or gratitude. The contract had been broken, here.
Seraph was right. They no longer had fourteen days left. They had much, much less than that. Dawns had, what? Maybe thirty hours? A little more if you felt optimistic, a little less if you felt pessimistic. It’ll be the first borough to collapse, then the rest will fall like an anarchist’s wet dream.
Only here, it wouldn’t be like the disaster movies where destruction was spectacle.
Leaving Dawns and into Vesper, the borough here was obviously in a much better state. It wasn’t hit by the Tormented Flesh nor was the site of Operation Scorcher and experienced the intensity of the OBDs. But its state was a lighter version of its brethren, more of the same dreary and miserable mess, drenched in a darkness where no one had seen the sun in days.
That, as the Baptists observed in the people, were taking a mental weight on them. Everyone.
A reminder of the bitter reality after the success of Operation Wolf Prowl. And a promised future if they failed to defeat the Kreutz Sungrazers.
Ordo was losing this battle through attrition. They were only as strong as their weakest link, after all. And that link were the untrained civilians who did not ask to be in this war.
If Ordo falls and the Outbreak Barrier with it, then there’d be no telling if the world could combat the Sungrazers and their swarm of monster-fiends.
***
When you approached the Encampment’s high walls built out of steel and reinforced concrete, the first thing you’d notice were the guettes placed at regular intervals. Each manned with watchmen—sometimes soldiers, sometimes Slayers—all armed with rifles and ranged weapons that could split a man in half. It’d be like driving into a supermax prison with this much security and you wouldn’t be wrong.
It got worse from there as patrols were heightened, put on the double as some patrolmen passed office buildings where plaster was peeling off. These patrolmen were Slayers or soldiers, or the Encampment's own specialized police equipped with heavy armor and thick weaponry. Armed to the teeth like they were guarding a dystopian government.
Even mechanized troops (robots) aided the patrols, something straight out of a sci-fi novel: bipedal mechs the size of two men on top of each other, large killer drones as thick as a flock, and robot dogs that could chomp through steel.
Normally there wouldn’t be as much security but an outbreak called for drastic measures.
In the distance, the tallest structure was seen pumping golden energy into the sky: the Centerpiece. It was basically a miniature Pillar but for the Encampment, projecting a magical barrier around the perimeter, active at all times and had several redundancies built in to ensure it’ll never fail.
Somewhere near the Centerpiece was Primordial Zero, or the topside housing leading to the secure bunkers down below.
The Encampment was a town within the megacity, basically the Washington D.C. in Ordo. It was the nervous system of Ordo’s political center. Headquarters to just about most of the departments and the military—or in other words, the gears that turned the city-state. Outside the walls were the important buildings that everybody knew and cared about: the capitol building and the legislative bodies and the courts, and that was all Alexander could remember.
He was American after all. He was here as a student.
Over forty thousand worked here, a good fraction lived here, and of them, a majority were important in keeping Ordo’s heart beating. According to Sage and Firebrand, there was an OBD scare a few streets down but it was just the one incident. Had the Encampment been located in Dawns instead of Vesper, then “the entire place wouldn’t exist anymore” as Firebrand had put it.
For the artisan herself, her current hideout was the House of Engineers, a rectangular warehouse-like structure and an open lot at the back where government-hired artisans perform research. Alexander didn’t know which department or agency it belonged to but Ordoian government affairs were beyond him.
Entering House of Engineers was pretty much entering a warehouse actually—the appearance matched purpose—where designated areas were drawn with colored lines and at least a couple hundred people were dashing across the aisles in a very unorderly manner.
And passing partitioned workshops and labs and research stations, there was Sage’s castle: an operation commands center for Seraph’s immediate pleasure, entrusted by her Artisan Officer and multiple artisan teams from Angels. Located here instead of a guild-owned space due to its close proximity to key people and locations.
The ground floor had the center itself while above them on the mezzanine were the machinery and workshops, not too dissimilar to the Journeys’ back in Grendel.
A distortion sphere concealed the meeting taking place in a back corner of the mezzanine, erected from a contraption. A private communication bubble to prevent any eavesdroppers.
“Anything?” Sage asked Alexander as he was hooked up to a chair feeling like a lab rat in a horror flick. Attached to his arms were tubes and needles that pumped concentrated mana into his veins.
The same test that Althea took with Alma, when she had discovered she possessed a positive condition: the [Sovereign Spirit Beast Physique].
Alexander shook his head, feeling woozy like he just came out of a dental surgery. “Not this time. How many more variations do we got?”
Sage shrugged her shoulders, frustrated as hell, running a hand through her swirled black-and-green hair. “Sage doesn’t know! She tried the Angel variation, the outdated variations for the other Big Fours, western systems variation A, variation B, she’s running out of general tests to perform without hitting into the specifics.”
“Which means there’s no chance?” Leona followed along to the artisan’s reasoning, taking worried glances at her partner and seeing him so miserable and pale. “It’s strange. Alma was convinced that Alexander had a positive condition since Thea got one.”
“That’s ‘cuz Althea got a normal condition,” said Sage before pausing. “Supremely normal condition that we found before. And since we’re going off of the Previous Earth’s records, Snowglobe was the only EX-Slayer in existence.”
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“So we’re making the System search for something it has never found before, am I getting that right?” concluded Alexander and Sage approved with a hum, continuing to scroll through her laptop and a bunch of glowing vials. “I guess that makes sense. We’ve already taken the systemic potential analysis test…”
That, unlike the general systemic constitution test, was exactly that: the test measured a Slayer’s potential which may or may not give more specific results than what the System itself analyzed. It was actually the same test that Seraph and Sage wanted Alexander to take before the outbreak happened.
Knowing he was the destined EX-Rank Slayer, they wanted to figure out a way to detect prior signs of a Second Emergence in a candidate before, well, the emergence. The only thing these candidates had in common was the fact that their initial Growth Potential was commonly below the average median and they needed a near-death experience or a very stressful event for it to activate.
The latter was useless for research purposes and the former said more about hindsight than anything. IQ, general ability, competence—all these things were shown to have a positive correlation with one’s potential. Obviously, no one would take Alexander seriously if he told everybody that his Growth Potential was in the D-Ranks right now—if they did, they’d assume he was a candidate.
Because again, the fact was obvious after the candidate showcased a natural higher ability than what their Growth Potential would suggest.
But Sage couldn’t find any significant signs or indicators. At least not in these horrible conditions and with a pisspoor set-up.
“So…” Leona bit her lip, “...since the general constitution and potential analysis test failed, then this might imply something else entirely.”
Sage raised her head, suddenly interested in her thoughts.
“Maybe just like everything else: a Second Emergence is given by the System. Don’t you remember what happened in Scorcher, Alex? With Archknell?”
Alexander lowered his head in a numbing grief. “Yeah, I think I do. It’s the…” He thought hard on the details. “It’s the Valiant Supplementary Powers protocol, when the System recognized the existence of cosmic entities. Archknell had received it during his last stand, becoming the second SSS-Rank Slayer in existence.”
And it implied other things: the Slayer System had established protocols when the Natural Order was disturbed by beings such as the Kreutz Sungrazers. But it hadn’t activated before—when the Comets took on “earthly” forms to avoid its eye. This theory was proven when the Cosmic Beasts had earthly flesh within them, again to avoid catching the System’s attention. So whenever a Sungrazer revealed its true form, then they were playing for keeps.
Leona nodded, smiling at Alexander like how a teacher would. “That’s right. If we infer what happened, then the conditions to qualify for the Valiant Supplementary Powers protocol could be this: one, a significant threat must appear; two, you’re a Slayer fighting said threat; and three, you’re on your last legs.
“What we consider to be a ‘Second Emergence’ might be one of these protocols that the Slayer System has. It doesn’t have any signs because it’s meant to appear in special circumstances and given as needed.”
“But there’s one flaw in your theory,” Alexander pointed out, “I have a D-Rank GP. I think everyone can agree that, ignoring the Previous Earth, I’m definitely a candidate. That’s a sign and a half right there only because we know through hindsight. But biologically, we’re empty.”
“Yet!” Sage insisted.
“Yet,” joined Alexander before waving a hand sarcastically. “It’s like we got a murder case and we know who did it, but we’re shit out of evidence.”
Leona sighed, rubbing her eyes. “You’re right. There’s something we’re missing. Let’s call the cosmologist in our team, he’ll know something.”
Sage raised a hand. “Wait, did ya tell anyone else about this? The PE stuff and Helodrake?”
They both shook their heads and Alexander said, “Nope, we’ll just talk to Problem about the System and nothing more.”
She gave a thumbs-up and Alexander ringed up Problem.
He answered within seconds, “What is it? I’m busy with cataloging Devoy’s abilities with the angel and devil on my shoulders. They're arguing.”
“We need to borrow you for a second—more than a second, I guess. Us three in the House need your insight about the Slayer System and the Second Emergence.”
An interested hum came from the ritualist. “Oh, so that’s what you’re doing. I can’t say I’m surprised that you’re trying to unlock your true potential.”
Alexander chuckled, nodding. “Yeah, you figured?” Briefly he mouthed “Hindsight!” to Leona who stuck out her tongue in response. “Anyway, let me give you a summary of what we did so far…”
He explained what tests were performed and how all of them went bust, before moving onto what Leona had theorized with the Valiant Supplementary Powers protocol and applied the same thinking to the Second Emergence.
Problem took ten seconds for himself to digest the information and concluded, “Ahn might be onto something but we need to make one major clarification first. Conqueror, you mentioned that ‘once the System registered the Natural Order was being threatened, it activated the protocol,’ correct?”
“I did.”
“You’re wrong,” Problem bluntly stated. “To explain the nature of the Slayer System, we need to go into baseline cosmology theory. So please, relax and drink some water because I will talk your ears off and you’ll wish you were dead. This also means you should save your questions until the end.
“To begin, we need to discuss the mother and chaos theory which concerns itself about universe formation. We can debate the hows and whys and the variations and opinions forever, but what you need to know is this: there are two primordial forces at play, existing beyond the third dimension where humanity’s comprehension cannot reach. That is the Mother and Chaos.
“The Mother is the ‘order’ or ‘life principle’ of a given universe—you may have heard of the term ‘Earthwill’. They’re different terms but for the purposes of this discussion, they can mean the same thing. Its binary opposite is Chaos, the ‘entropy’ or 'decay principle’ of a given universe.
“Chaos, obviously, is the natural decomposition process of a given universe—not inherently destructive so keep that nuance in mind—and the Mother wants the universe to survive as long as possible. This struggle is reflected into our natural laws. To make a gross summarization: Chaos gives us the obstacles and the Mother gives us the tools. Their conflict is the primary cause of our phenomena: magic, technology, anything and everything. They're the first link of the chain of causality, and every battle is different and dynamic. These differences and dynamism are the different phenomena we observe in other worlds, and sometimes throughout our own history and other planets in our universe, if we’re lucky to study them.
“If you’re having trouble understanding then let’s take the Fayers’ homeworld for example. They had magical and mythological creatures then went extinct when humanity emerged; hybrids came as a result, giving cause to the existence of Scions. Blackviper’s homeworld has technology and cyberware far beyond our time. Silverhonor’s homeworld has, well, I don’t know so I’ll use Elysian Fourteen instead: she is the only one who can use her mecha, HERO, due to the technological advances her world had made.
“Or how our world was before the Slayer System arrived: we had physics and chemistry and biology, the natural philosophies that allowed us to survive throughout the millennia. Mother and Chaos create the genres to our stories.”
Alexander swallowed the information bitterly; it was easy to understand but he could sense the overwhelming depth of cosmology thought. “Amuse me for a second: what fills in the blanks?”
Problem paused. “We don’t have the time.”
“I believe you.”
“Anyway, this battle is isolated. Intra-universal: meaning, it’s contained to one universe and one universe only. When that bubble is pierced, however, the battle becomes inter-universal and Chaos gains strength. To be specific, a theoretically infinite amount of strength parallel to the infinite possibilities of the multiverse. So how does the Mother fight an infinite Chaos? By adopting an infinite child: the Slayer System.
“The Slayer System is the phenomena that the Mother—the Earthwill—has given us to combat the threats lurking within the multiverse. It gives us powers, a [Bestiary] to catalog our findings, skills and titles and [Honors] so we can improve and innovate. That is the Will of the Earth: the desire to survive, so humanity must survive.
“Thus, think of the Mother-slash-Earthwill as the administrators of the System, so it’s factually false to ignorantly state that the Mother and the Slayer System are the same thing. They are not. And like similar moderation systems, the administrator only intervenes in select situations, such as detecting a threat to the Natural Order and sending a request to the Slayer System as a result.”
Leona added, “The Valiant Supplementary Powers.”
“Correct.”
“Then about about a Second Emergence? What causes the Mother—or the Earthwill, I don’t know—to grant one?”
“Well, don’t assume that the only trigger is when the Natural Order is threatened or the Earthwill pushes a button. I suspect that these operating procedures range from mundane things such as calculating the amount of standards to give, and what we’ve already seen in Scorcher. Let’s assume a Second Emergence is among them; I don’t know if it’s a procedure performed solely by the System or a personal request made by the Earthwill, or there's some automation in the process.”
Alexander rubbed his head, his arm still stuck with needles and tubes. Then, he snapped his fingers a couple of times. “But there’s a problem with that. The same problem I brought up with Leona: I’m a D-Rank.”
“What’s the problem, then?”
Biting down the urge to say “You’re the Problem!”, Alexander elaborated, “We know I’m a candidate but there’s no biological proof to prove that.”
“Circumstantial evidence. There’s an indirect sign pointing to that conclusion so you’re trying to follow it to no avail.”
“Yup.”
“Well, what if you invert that line of thinking? Seeing as the ‘sign’ led you nowhere, then perhaps it’s not meant for you but for the System.”
The simple yet revolutionary suggestion made Alexander stop in his tracks, now genuinely considering that possibility. If that was the case, then that had so many implications.
“What are you thinking?” he asked Problem.
“You're not supposed to know. You’re unable to find a biological marker because there isn’t one. Instead, the marker exists within the System itself wherever it stores that information. Yet it’s impossible to verify that because it would literally mean hacking into the Slayer System and by extension, the universe. Thus, it’s impossible to induce a Second Emergence because there is nothing for you to induce.”
So basically what Leona said at the beginning: it did not have any signs because it was only meant to appear in special circumstances, given only by the System.
Sage’s head crashed into her desk.
Problem chimed, “What was that?”
Leona softly sighed and shook her head, disappointed in the outcome. “Sage died. So I’m right, then? It’s mostly System-side?”
“Appears to be. But everything we discussed is theory and conjecture. We are missing several key pieces of information, and as a result, our reasoning could be misguided tremendously. In my personal opinion, I believe we’re on the road still. Like the Valiant Supplementary Powers protocol, I’m certain that the Earthwill has a part to play in a Second Emergence. It could be the reason why you’re born with a low GP. But we do not have the knowledge nor the means to trigger one artificially.”
“Alright, then let’s hang up the towel then.” Alexander gestured to Leona who helped him take off the needles and tubes. After which he peeked at the bite-marks and shivered, made him look like a drug addict. “Thanks for your input, Problem.”
“Mhm. Anything else before I’m hanging up? I have to babysit grown adults.”
Alexander shook his head although Problem wouldn’t see that. “Not me.” Leona had nothing to say either, so he turned to Sage.
Sage was still ‘resting’ her head on her desk and yelled something in Japanese.
Problem retorted in Japanese too.
“What did you two say?” asked Alexander, eyes flat.
“We wished for our mutual safety,” he snarked before ending the call.
A soft curse instinctively loosed from Alexander’s lips as he rubbed the side of his head. “Sage, want us to give you some space?”
“Yeah,” she mumbled into the desk.
Everybody got excited for nothing.