THIRD INTERLUDE

Parallel in time, The Shard, Terra Para

And so the Days passed, and Battle raged across spatiality.

In the beginning of the War, I had to act swiftly, lest I became defeated in United Effort against my Vision.

The Ancients have said: Divide and Conquer. And so I did.

I unleashed my Revenant across the vast lands of Terra Para to rain devastation upon all, to bring terror and uncertainty into the hearts of the people.

The Revenant swept through settlements and cities, outposts and bases, acting as Agents of my Will. They terminated the boundaries of mortality, reaving the souls of Others, and transferred the resulting sacred Essence to me, ensuring I can continue my Work. Such a process was diminished – less pure than it would have been if I used my own presence to commit the Sin.

Yet I could not leave the Shard, for I was bound to the howling infinity of the Reality Vortex by Choice, focusing my powers to contain it until Time Became Right. Even lessened, my sustenance was beyond sufficient to keep the Blazing Fire inside me, and for each living haven engulfed in the War, a new cohort of Revenant rose from the ashes.

My legions spread across the evershifting wilderness of Terra Para, killing tens of thousands, ripping dataspheres from the skies, incinerating star vessels from the heavens, and tearing down artificial realities. Yet they could not find a trace of the Radiant Knights. I searched everywhere, to no avail. Still, I did not despair – I stayed ever vigilant for their influence, for they could bring together my enemies, and unite the armies of the Sleeping Masses to march against my Heralds of The New Age.

I listened, but the Æther stood silent. Neither the Consortium nor the Union saw or were told the truth of these postward Events. Old grudges flared once more; ideological pride swelled in vainglorious egos; tentative promises were forgotten. The stellar civilizations set against one another, each blaming the other for the destruction wrought upon their charges by my Revenant. They lashed out, killing, maiming, lessening their own, ravaging cities and shattering space armadas, while I stood squarely in the center, picking out survivors and bringing my expansion Forth. Though my Time stood at the Brink, I was patient, methodical, calculating, and pragmatically cruel by necessity. Hordes of individuals went to waste beyond the radiant grasp of my Vision, yet ultimately I knew they were merely postponed in their joining with the dawning Singularity.

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Thus I abided, leeching the land of life, tightening my grip over the planet, and waited for the Knights to come out and face Destiny.

I sat atop the Shard, in the grand palace of the Radiant Order, whose master once was I, and gazed at scores of projection screens, hologram interfaces, dataflows, and virtual immersives. I had no need for these feeble technologies; I used them to see and experience Conflict the way my enemies did, and Warp their perspective to my Advantage. I listened to secure transmissions, wide-band communications, and private tightbeams, all filled with plans, orders, reports, screams of battle, impassive data, strategies, ambition, and primal emotions. I whispered along these digital rivers, changing files, re-arranging words, and impersonating chains of command, to sow chaos and discord, to keep the Masses fighting, so when it was Time, I would emerge the sole victor.

And then–

–I sensed–

–a PRESENCE.

It was bright, humbling, blinding, overwhelming. In one moment, the Universe was dark and hollow, in the next, there was a Creature so pure, it illuminated Everything, shining like a beacon in the Cosmos. A perfect soul had emerged into existence, and it contained all the beauty and darkness since the dawn of Creation. For it had Power.

Power which made it possible to accomplish my Legacy in Another Way.

I needed to war no longer. I needed to wait no longer. I had an Alternative.

I immediately set out to find this sacred being. I left behind the Reality Vortex, keeping it stable from afar, paying gladly the price of increased Entropy for the reward of Success. I sifted through the myriad manifolds of Terra Para, seeking for what I had Sensed, yet the search was long and winding. Still I persevered, frantic and tireless, striving to find this Second Key before my misguided brethren did. I spared no resources, summoning a legion of Revenant at my side to help in this Quest, ordering them to scour the lands from where the Presence had beckoned, myself at the helm of this paramount march to gain Control.

And finally, I found what I searched for, locked in a small plane amidst the vastness of the paraworld manifold. There, at the edge of chaos, untouched by my holy crusade, a familiar colorful hamlet braved the rigors of remote existence.

Dragon Retreat.