Randidly sat and meditated on the hollowed-out remnants of a destroyed moon. He remained completely drained after the fight and escape over the past hour, but he didn’t want to miss the chance to examine this memory while it was fresh.

His Nether Core spun in his chest, steadily deepening his significance. Again and again, he pictured that smirking face of the Nether King. Occasionally his focus drifted down to that floating orb that he sensed would be his next Fatepiece, but mostly Randidly’s attention fixated on the Crown the Nether King wore.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 360!

Even in his memory, a complex and layered pattern gleamed beneath the surface of that starlight-wrought object. He continued to stare at it, feeling like he was only a single step away from understanding the principles on which it functioned. The walls of his current understanding of Nether trembled at the proximity to this new insight.

And once Randidly took that step, he would be able to weaponize up his experience with Nether both to empower his Nether Weight with the patterns in the Rex book but also create a Nether Penance of his very own. His gaze buzzed with intensity. So long as he could glean some order to the energy of memory and connection...

Yet Randidly could only grimace and allow his focus to fade, lest he aggravate the heavy layer of mental exhaustion he still carried from the battlefield. Fighting against Shal’s squad and then Techetadore was bad enough, but then he expended everything he hed to assist Lady Iellaya in screening their forces against the wave of light, heat, and collapsing images that boomed outward as the solar array exploded. That effort had drained his reserves to nothing.

Hopefully, I won’t end up creating a Penanceset, Randidly rubbed his eyes with the butt of his palm and then stood. I’m not sure that I have the time to gather six more items.

Lady Iellaya flew down to the cracked surface of the moon and then decelerated for a graceful landing. Black feathers fluttered around her, tumbling through the atmosphere-less space. The other surviving soldiers of Military High Command stirred at her approach. They stood and began to gather in their official designations. All of the Elite Squad had made it, as they had been closest to Randidly and Lady Iellaya when everything began to collapse, but perhaps only half of the others lived.

Despite the fact that she probably had handled the lion’s share of the work, Lady Iellaya looked fresh and sharp as she glanced around at the tired assembly. “Orders finally came down. We need to move fast, because the Nexus Ways are going to be deactivated in fifteen minutes. Most of you will come with me to scour the area for any clues on the particulars of the unknown Pinnacle Seekers who fought here. Ghosthound and the Vulpis Squad, you will be heading to talk with other Pinnacle Seeker groups to find out if they know anything. You are authorized to use as much force as necessary to get the answers you need.”

Randidly felt his frown tighten and sent a message to Lady Iellaya. So they want us to poke around and cause a fuss, huh?

And hopefully, get yourself killed while doing it. Keep them from having to reward you for another noteworthy performance under pressure. Lady Iellaya gave Randidly a meaningful look before she began giving orders to the other squads. Be careful. Commandant Swacc informed me that you would need to request reinforcements from him directly if you needed them. I doubt he would delay sending troops, considering the circumstances, but he will definitely antagonize you if you show weakness.

Randidly didn’t bother to respond to that. As his focus was dulled, ancillary thoughts slipped past his mental wall and prodded at the edges of his mind. A small movie repeatedly showed him the broken way that Shal had admitted his defeat and turned away without any bit of fire. On the other hand, small speculations about the sadistic machinations of Helen’s murderer set his teeth on edge..

For now, he tried to push it out of his mind and focus on the task at hand. One step at a time.

Randidly slapped his cheeks to get his mind on track. Right now he would be essentially canvasing for clues. Sulfur, which still was stretched across his left arm, hummed in encouragement. DiOrtho and Raymund walked over to stand next to Randidly, with the Vulpine man looking quite haunted. Before talking about their current plans, Randidly reached out and put a hand on his subordinate’s shoulder. “Sorry we couldn’t get Techetadore back. You say something was controlling him…?”

Raymund blinked several times. “I’m not sure now. The energy was so chaotic… but definitely a foreign influence lay across his body and when I stole it, he began to scream. Next time I will be more prepared.”

“We all will,” The ram demon said quietly. The rest of the Vulpis Squad had gathered around and nodded in agreement.

Influence +79!

Meanwhile, Randidly composed a message and sent it to the Frost Matriarch. His orders were probably purposefully broad; Lady Iellaya had given him the common locations of several powerful Pinnacle Seekers, but walking into the base after such a widespread military mobilization was not the way to make friends. Likely they would be even more hostile when the Nexus Ways were deactivated and everyone realized that they were essentially stuck where they currently were. So he reached out to the Pinnacle Seeker with which he had the closest relationship.

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If you wish to come, you should hurry, was the ambiguous response that he received. After frowning at the words for a few seconds, he had signaled for the Vulpis Squad to gather around. His mind buzzed with all the responsibilities and actions he wished he could be doing now, as opposed to these random interrogations. But something about that reply seemed to suggest that heading to speak with the Frost Matriarch would be fruitful.

Randidly pulled out his Philosopher’s Key and opened a portal to the space outside of the Frost Matriarch’s frost world. The Vulpis Squads marched forward quickly through the opening. When they got on the other side, Vizzeret Clamman sneezed and several others shivered; even off the surface of the planet, the image of cold seeped into one’s bones.

“Stay here,” Randidly said to the chilly group. Then he floated rapidly downward through the frosted atmosphere and toward the ice palace. Unlike his previous visits, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of wind. The approach was oddly quiet. He hesitated a bit on the threshold of the frosted, ice-cicle bedecked gates due to the lack of guards, but ultimately pushed forward. Already, he mobilized his Nether Core as he moved through the massive halls.

Can you sense anything? Randidly asked his images. But both the Grey Creature and the Stillborn Phoenix responded in the negative. Which did reassure him that he wouldn’t be ambushed, but didn’t help his growing lack of familiarity with a location he had previously visited.

Randidly’s skin tingled along his shoulders and right arm. On his previous stay at the ice palace, he had been somewhat thrown by the lack of individuals in the base of such a powerful Pinnacle Seeker. Yet the current demesne of the Frost Matriarch now seemed completely abandoned. Yggdrasil did its best to rejuvenate his mental potency as he walked in the middle of these frigid spaces, but there simply wasn’t enough time.

Randidly pressed his hands against the wide doors into the reception hall and pushed them open. To his surprise, the first thing he noticed was the grinning face of Don Beigon, wheeling himself around to face Randidly. “Well, what a treat! Mr. Ghosthound, exactly the sort of bright-eyed and firm moraled young man that anyone would want arriving in during their darkest hour. But say, pal, how about you just turn around and pretend that you didn’t see me here, huh? Maybe even forget about the whole thing.”

Don Beigon’s powerful transactional image spiraled together into a tight clump around his body. Behind him, Randidly saw the Frost Matriarch sitting ramrod straight in her transparent-as-glass throne, with a pained expression on her face. Her wrists and ankles were bound with scarlet thread. Then the interlocking loops of the Don’s image rushed forward, spinning around Randidly and squeezing-

-and passing right through him without finding any purchase. Randidly licked his lips and had to force down the flames of Nether Weight that he had reflexively deployed and had ultimately been useless against the image.

Useless partially because whatever the Don had done had missed, but Randidly’s heart was racing.

Still, it was the Don who was truly surprised by the result. His dramatic facade crumbled away and he tilted his head to the side to regard Randidly quizzically. “You had the self-control to resist looking into the information packet, eh? Well, I suppose only a short amount of time has passed. No hard feeling, trying to call in a favor you don’t yet owe me, eh? I still think it’s for the best for you to leave before you learn too much about what is happening here. If you involve yourself, I cannot be held responsible for the consequences.”

Randidly cleared his throat as his eyes slid to the form of the Frost Matriarch. Octavius had explained that this last year had been the most chaotic in several cohort’s worths of time, but he didn’t really understand until now; now that different organizations were taking action, everyone prepared to take advantage of the chaos to address their long-held grudges.

It was a long shot, but hopefully, his presence in an official capacity would make the Don behave more reasonably. “I’m here as a representative of Military High Command-” Don Beigon sighed and raised a hand to his forehead, but Randidly ignored him and continued speaking. “-to investigate the recent actions of several PInnacle Seekers who appeared to have conspired to allow the Nether King to return from the Path to the Pinnacle. Frost Matriarch, do you have any information regarding this matter?”

The Frost Matriarch looked at Randidly Ghosthound for a long moment, her eyes possessing some limpid tenderness that struck him, despite the tense circumstances. Perhaps it was that same foggy mental exhaustion that allowed his mind to drift to fruitless lingering subjects, but her tenderness took him by surprise.

Maybe this situation is more dangerous than I thought.

Inwardly, Randidly was marshaling his Nether Core as best as he could, preparing to assist the Frost Matriarch in escaping the clutches of Don Beigon. Looking at the thin threads that the Don had woven around the Frost Matriarch, it was clear she owed him something. Perhaps that something was even related to Claudette.

However, even from his brief interactions, Randidly knew that the balance of the Don’s image was tenuous. As long as he could upset the restraints, with the Frost Matriarch’s power and his durable body-

“Yes, I have plenty of information. The Dusk Jackal, the Wanderer, Wind Scythe… these Pinnacle Seekers are all ones who I helped refine their images in the past.” The Frost Matriarch’s words echoed out in the wide hall. “Of course they came to me for a consultation before making such an aggressive move like attacking the Swacc Family. And when the Dusk Jackal privately expressed to me his hesitation to work with a Nether Gatekeeper on this plot, I reassured him that the individual would be trustworthy. If nothing else, you can always rely on a Nether soldier to be loyal to their superior.”

Randidly looked blankly at the Frost Matriarch. He felt very, very tired. Had he misheard...?

Don Beigon shrugged and affixed an insufferable expression to his face. “I tried to warn you away boy. Alas… even if my honeyed tongue carries enough wisdom to drown a youngling such as yourself, will you listen? Nay, your pride blinds you. No wonder you and my daughter have developed such an amicable relationship…”

A shudder ran through the fabric of the Nexus. Randidly’s mind distantly recognized that the Nexus Ways had been deactivated, even as he slowly absorbed the Frost Matriarch’s words.

“Right on time,” Don Beigon said with a grin. “Little known fact, the Nexus Ways actually support the System’s messaging functionality. So right now, it’s just us three. Intimate, right?”