“Want to stay for dinner?” Alana asked after Randidly had been thinking in silence for several seconds. She gestured toward the cooler next to Hank’s stowed rod. The lid was slightly open, as though Hank had forgotten to close it. “Hank’s been fishing all day-”

“Ah, well. I was… practicin’ jus usin’ the rod…” Hank mumbled. “My harvest… it’s a mite slim for three people…”

Randidly shook his head with a smile on his face. “No, I think I should get back to training. But thank you. You’ve given me a lot to think about-”

The world around them buzzed even through the curtains of rain around them. And then a notification appeared, flickering in and out of being in front of their eyes. Randidly’s emerald eyes narrowed.

Congratulations, people of New Earth! At long last, a Seventh Zone has passed through its Raid Dungeon and arrived. As such, Earth now has- destroyed countless worlds such as yours.

ERROR, SYSTEM-

Warning-

Before the Calamities begin- cleared all the obstacles in front of it! Currently, New Earth is only a step away- This name will be New Earth’s Officially recognized name in the future-

WARNING!

Failure to- please locate the Runic Tablet and choose an official Nexus name for New Earth -from becoming an official world of the Seventh Cohort- an increased chance to develop Skills of a higher Rarity!

The individual who names New Earth will receive- but beware you don’t bite off more than you can chew. The Calamities have- in addition to earning a great deal of prestige!

Good Luck- Warning, space around New Earth is unstable. Some minor discrepancies-a Tier 1 citizenship coin-

Please contact your nearest Village Spirit.

“Goddamnit,” Randidly swore quietly after rereading the message several times to make sense of it. It looked like exploring his ability to house his images inside of his body, and to let that image energy gradually refine his body’s state further, would need to wait until he figured out how this Nether attack had fucked up his world.

More than that… Randidly gritted his teeth. If the Calamities are going to be here soon… I’ll need to start to be more careful with the Order Ducis’ actions. My image can’t be related to the image that the Earth uses to pass the Second Calamity…

*****

Octavius Shrike had arrived early to the meeting, but not early enough, it seemed. Several figures were already seated in crystal chairs when he walked into the gleaming and shining room. A door of obsidian slid soundlessly to the side and gave him entry to the location of the sudden meeting.

Every object and piece of furniture in the Shining Palace was made of crystal. The crystals were unique, however, in that they responded very directly to the Aether of the beings who touched them. So as Octavius looked around, it was very easy to identify the various individuals in this strictly unofficial meeting.

Considering the by-laws of the Nexus Council, the current situation on Earth didn’t absolutely require that the Nexus Council hold an emergency meeting. In the eyes of the Nexus, ‘a strategic resource’ hadn’t yet been lost to the Nether attack. But no one was going to claim that this wasn’t important. Or disturbing.

This was the first attack the Nexus had suffered in a long time. Which was dangerous… but also an opportunity, of a sort. For those patient forces that had been in an extended stalemate for the last millennium, they were ready to use this opportunity to break the uneasy peace of the Nexus. Someone would take the fall for this.

There were six crystal chairs in the long room two to the left, two to the right, and one on each end, capping things off. There was no table, so each chair could see the other figures perfectly. Octavius lowered his gaze as he crossed the room to his own seat. Truthfully, he didn’t deserve to be in this room. But as the Overseer of the Seventh Cohort, all of the truly powerful figures in the room would open themselves up to scrutiny if he wasn’t present for the discussion of the attack under his jurisdiction. So, almost against his will, he came when called.

As was tradition, the seat furthest from the door was left open, should a chosen representative of the System show up. Compared to the four beings already here, the individuals who could claim to be powerful enough to sit in that seat were few and far between. But they carefully observed the tradition. Now was exactly the wrong time to show any unusual behavior.

Octavius sat to the immediate left of the vacant seat, in one of the two chairs to the right. Opposite him was the leader of the Xyrt Brigade, a woman who hid in a thick black cloak that bunched and lay on top of itself like rolls of fat rather than any sort of normal garment. The crystal chair beneath seamed to be composed of needles and bones, an elaborate construct that shouldn’t quite manage to support her weight.

Octavius only glanced at the chair for a second, but already his head began to throb. The casual power of her image was horrifying. With practiced ease, the woman cleared her throat. “I believe it’s time we began.”

For a few moments, there was silence. Then, Divvius Swacc, who sat to Octavius’ left and represented the ‘civilian’ population in the Nexus, nodded slowly. Divvius was a tall, willowing humanoid whose body was composed entirely of small maggots, writhing and tumbling down and slowly oozing back up his figure. He was a hive of constant motion. The crystal chair beneath him resembled the corpse of a dragon, slowly been digested from the inside. “Seconded. Let us begin.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Immediately, the man opposite Divvius Swacc leaned forward. He was the leader of military high command, having influence over every frontline against the Nexus. Obviously, that included the frontline that had just been overwhelmed… and the one that Randidly had been sent to, which had been attacked by a Nether King and then allowed the defeated Nether King to escape. “Vanity, where is the Xyrt Brigade? We must move quickly to address this threat.”

The Highest Commander’s breathing was heavy out his thick snout and around his long tusks. He was more bore than humanoid, his prodigious muscles locked in place by his heavy armor. Underneath him, his crystal chair shifted to become earthy and… hairy. Like a primordial beast of dirt and flesh.

The Highest Commander and the Leader of the Xyrt Brigade glared at each other. Octavius couldn’t see the Xyrt Brigade Leader’s eyes, but her poisonous hatred was clear. The two had been at each other’s throats for five hundred years. The Highest Commander had been sniffing after the opportunity to send his subordinates on missions that weren’t just short patrols. The Leader of the Xyrt Brigade didn’t understand why so much Aether had to be sent to the frontlines each year.

Each thought the other was at fault for their current predicament.

Both the figure at the far end of the table, opposite the empty chair, and Divvius Swacc remained silent after the Highest Commander spoke. They were content to allow the two military representatives to hash out their differences before they made their own moves.

The head of the Xyrt Brigade shifted, her gaze finally leaving the Highest Commander. Her sneer was clear in her voice. “Do you think this will be the only attack at comes? Besides, the System is powerful enough to resist one Nether Horde. No, I do believe… the Xyrt Brigade won’t be moving to help this… Earth. We are best served keeping our most powerful force prepared for the true strike of the enemy.”

Slowly, Octavius’ face shifted into a look of horror. Why hadn’t it occurred to him that the Xyrt Brigade would simply abandon Earth to avoid the Aether expense it had assumed it would swiftly be rid of…?

Of course, the Highest Commander shared Octavius’s feelings, albeit for different reasons. He slammed his fists together with enough force that Octavius’s bones vibrated. “So you admit it! You are going to ignore the directives once more?!? At the next Nexus Council, I will strip you of everything-”

“You fool. Think about the bigger picture.” The Xyrt Brigade Leader shifted slightly, ripples jiggling out across her fleshy cloak. Octavius wondered if she was sitting inside of the skin of a larger monster that she had killed. “It is because I value the directives that I’m taking this course of action. The Seventh Cohort is less important than the System framework that allows us to create additional Cohorts. Or do you fail to understand what will happen to the Nexus if we cannot create additional Cohorts…?”

“You…!” The Highest Commander hissed, but even though his heavy breathing revealed his fury, he had to be careful about what he was about to say. Words had meaning here; what he said would be remembered and used against him. Speaking casually was akin to creating an ideological opening. At this tier of power, those weaknesses were what his rivals were waiting for.

Everyone in the room understood that the Nexus needed more fresh images every day in order to keep going. Losing the ability to create additional Cohorts would mean the Nexus itself would soon collapse from the weight of its own existence. The Highest Commander couldn’t claim otherwise. And using the words to argue she was wrong would make this a complicated affair.

Octavius could barely move. He didn’t like to admit it, but the ripples of power from everyone’s images were enough to wipe him out of existence. Even if he wanted to share an opinion, he knew it would not be accepted here. He was just a decoration in this room.

Divvius stirred, sending a waterfall of maggots off of his chair and onto the floor as he raised his arm. Octavius tried not to stare as they crawled up the chair to rejoin their fellows. “So… we cannot afford to rescue the Earth? Is that what you are claiming, Vanity?”

The Leader of the Xyrt Brigade nodded, radiating annoyance that Divvius had used her nickname. Also likely because she was forced to take a firm stance. But compared to when the Highest Commander had said it, the Leader of the Xyrt Brigade was now willing to accept the slight. Especially because it seemed like the business tycoon of the Swacc Family was moving to support her.

Finally, the last figure at the table spoke. Her tone was clear and lovely. “Does no one else care for the potential that the people of Earth possess?”

Solomon Rex deserved to be sitting in the chair by right, but he took every opportunity to slight the other forces within the Nexus. So in the chair belonging to him sat his daughter, Neshamah Rex, with her legs curled up under her like she was at a family dinner rather than a meeting that discussed the fate of a world.

She was, in a word, beautiful. Her hair was emerald and it cascaded down the chair around her to the floor. Her skin was robin’s egg blue. She was humanoid, with a constant smile as she looked at the other individuals seated at the table, as though everything was a joke.

There was a moment of tense silence as the other three powerful individuals considered whether to agree with her or to speak out against her. Honestly, for these powerful figures, dealing with Neshamah was exhausting. Because pining her down with words ignored the true threat, her father. Engaging her at all was just speaking unnecessarily.

Octavius could only look at her and wonder whether she knew what she was doing by intruding in this issue that had been about to be settled. Of course, Octavius was thankful that she had, considering his arrangement with Randidly Ghosthound, but still…

And then he nearly jumped out of his skin as Neshamah’s bright red eyes met Octavius’ and she winked at him.

Finally, the Leader of the Xyrt Brigade seemed to sigh and shook her head. Apparently she decided to take Neshamah’s words seriously. “...it is truly a promising planet. But we cannot-”

There was the noise of the Leader of the Xyrt Brigade choking and the whole room froze. Octavius had still been peaking at Neshamah, so he read the genuine shock and horror in her stunning features as she looked directly across the space toward the empty chair. His skin tingling, Octavius slowly turned and looked at the figure that had appeared at the head of the meeting.

“Ah… broken so easily…”

A figure sat in the reserved spot. His limbs were long and muscled. He wore a simple white robe and had reached out a hand to touch the shoulder of the Leader of the Xyrt Brigade. And as Octavius’ vision pivoted, he watched every atom of that powerful woman crack and disintegrate to dust. Soon, the chair opposite Octavius was empty.

The figure continued to speak. “The Earth… so familiar… but her memories were gone… I think I’m forgetting… who led me to her…?”

Each word was a hammer against Octavius’ brain. Being so close to the head of the table, he could hardly breathe. In his mind, there was no doubt who this individual was: Elhume, the man who had stood on the Pinnacle.

“Anyway… I didn’t wish this… but another can take her place…” His gaze went around the table. There was a fuzziness to Elhume’s face, as though he had purposefully drawn a veil across his vision. But even so, when Octavius felt that gaze he felt his Class groan and crack beneath that scrutiny. “Protect the Earth. This… bothers me. And I was just… if I could just find…”

Slowly, the mumbles trailed off. And then Elhume disappeared from his seat at the table.