Chapter 58: Glory to Chaos
A Level 1 can do all this? Emma watched, gobsmacked at the train wreck playing out before her eyes, her invisible form floating higher into the sky as if to better impress upon her the gravity of the situation.
Her younger counterpart was completely hidden from view, submerged within a slowly growing sphere of darkness that pulsed in tune with her heartbeat. Both her friends and the dealer alike still existed only in name; faint spectres hovering about the twisted remnants of their bodies, reformed into flesh portals from which an endless tide of demons emerged. They were weaker than the wolves Felix preferred, Emma thought, but much smaller and faster; screeching, deformed things lacking anything in the form of discipline that attacked and killed anything they found, filling the air with terrified screams.
[Certain classes are restricted for a reason; locked behind very specific activation conditions and even additional fail-safes beyond that. Do you know how rare it is, for someone yet to reach puberty, with Willpower of all things being their dominant trait, to indulge in toxic substances to the point of severe hallucination? It's not the most common combination, in this land or any other, and even then the Class unlock would have met a hard stop had you not been of my blood. The stars aligned this day, and their omens were ill.]
Is your bloodline a prerequisite for Chaos magic then? Emma wondered. Some secret inherited magic?
[No. There's no inheritance here, only the acknowledgement that despite its immense danger to the wielder and everyone else in the vicinity. It's the only form of magic that is both readily accessible during a mana drought whilst also able to disrupt causality on a large scale; something that is absolutely necessary if you want to pick a fight with the Queen of Hours. If time were allowed to flow unhindered, she could have erased me in a microsecond, so I had to prepare the ground, and make sure we only met on unhallowed ground.
I wasn't the first to wield Chaos against Order, nor will I be the last. I was the best at it though, good enough to earn the name Anathema, one that none have dared to contest even centuries after my death; the weak because of my reputation, and the strong because they know death isn't always final at our level. But no; there's no shortcut that enables acclimation to Chaos, left unaided you'd have died within the day.]
Why even add such a dangerous class to the System? Emma retorted. I understand it was useful for you, but couldn't this bit of magic have been left hidden in a dusty tome somewhere?
[If only. This is far from anything you'll be able to do in the near future, but keep this in mind regardless. If you want to embody a Concept; to transcend mortality and become a fundamental aspect of the world, you must do so absolutely. There's no picking and choosing pieces of yourself to present to the collective unconscious; absolutely not! Doing such a thing would cause contradictions of self; a crisis of faith or a heart demon, all the same concept to different branches of thought. Regardless of what you call it, such mental barriers are dangerous to the extreme, and always fatal during ascension unless you quench them beforehand.
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The System is not just a toy; it is my Magnum Opus, the consolidation of my entire body of magic, learned over the centuries and beyond through my sight. It is the universal conceit that numbers are important, that there is value and power and insight in seeing them go up. It is the belief that knowledge should be sought, and valued, and spread for the benefit of all. I am the System, and it is myself absolutely. Even one deviation; a single missing page or one muffled incantation, would have brought the entire edifice crumbling down around me in an avalanche of lies, and then I'd be dead in truth. But enough about me; today is your memory to explore, not mine.]
Taking her ancestor's dismissal for what it was, Emma returned her attention to the scene of chaos in front of her. The corruption had spread to her school by now, an unending tide of limbs and maws and tendrils that consumed everything within reach. A teacher was swallowed whole, dragged out of the cubicle he'd tried to hide in. Terrified commuters had car windows smashed and doors torn open, the demons not averse to some canned food. Everywhere Emma looked, only death and devastation could be seen.
[So much can happen in five short minutes. This is why mental health is a priority for any magical organisation that lasts a decade or more. It just takes one bad day; Chaos magic is rare, but far from unknown, and protection is always minutes away when seconds decide your life or death.]
"What the actual fuck is this?" A familiar voice drew Emma's attention; one previously identified as Paradox.
She certainly fits the theme, Emma nodded approvingly at the young girl, wearing a pure white robe adorned with dozens of small timepieces, all their hands each moving at different intervals. Her head bore a beret, customised for the inclusion of an hourglass; rotating in its best impression of a propeller whilst doing so such that not a single grain of sand moved between spins.
[Paradox, Queen of Hours - Level ∞]
"An actual incursion, five decades into the drought? Where's the mana for this coming from? No, wait, this isn't natural at all, this is the System's doing."
Turning to face Emma directly, Paradox pointed a finger at her face with a scowl.
"Anathema! Control your damn kids! I shouldn't wake up to klaxons ringing because your helspawn decided to get blitzed. Make sure she lives to visit me next decade, so I don't waste any effort saving her here!"
[Will do.]
"Hmph, see that you do." Paradox pouted at the easy acquiescence, looking like she'd wanted to argue for the sake of it before shaking her head. "A weak memory block so Marcus can lift it once Emma's ready; erasure for everyone else and a poisoned bottle of wine to Overmind for palming this off on me. Fine, I can work with that. Time reversal."
The memory ended.