Neveah bit her lip, looking at Devick and then feeling through her connection to Randidly, as he immediately engaged in violence outside of the Sonara. Despite her relative distance from the conflict, her core thrummed with tension. “Are you sure? There are other ways of training. This isn’t… a healthy method.”

They had known violence would be waiting for them outside of the memory, but no one had suspected the goddamn Xyrt Brigade would be waiting to pounce when he left. Devick’s staying to be ready to assist wasn’t necessary per se, but she was the one person around whom Randidly could relax a bit. As such, Neveah felt reluctant to allow her to isolate herself for training.

Especially training of this sort. One that took a butcher’s knife to the cerebellum.

“Isn’t this a method utilized by Hungry Eye? One of his Fatepieces you said?” Devick’s eyes glittered as she looked down at the spiral staircase, leading down through the grey moonrocks into the shadowy emptiness below. It was a cold and lifeless hole drilled down with no amenities. The mad woman had heard Neveah mention this method in passing and had since become obsessed with it. “Heh, if Randidly managed to extract tangible benefits from this sort of place, what the hell will I obtain? I think we both know that even he can’t rival me when it comes to unreasonableness hehehe… and then when I come back on his level- well, it’s pointless to compete physically, but if my image has a small advantage…. Mmm…”

Neveah raised a hand and massaged the bridge of her nose. They stood underneath the shifting aurora of the sea of dreams, its light flashing garish shadows around their persons. “Staying in this place for that long… is not advisable.”

Devick waved a hand. “I appreciate the advice, but I think I’ll have difficulty not even trying it, now that I know it exists.”

Which is exactly the problem. Neveah sighed. She looked again up, sensing Randidly’s movements; based on Neveah’s understanding of him, he would soon crush Vualla and at least establish a peaceful beachhead. Luckily, Elhume remained curiously absent. They likely had some leeway to indulge.

Neveah hadn’t even intended this strange approximation to ever be used. It had been an experiment, based on her insights as she continued to decrypt the complex Engraving patterns left to her and Randidly by Yystrix. It was her own contribution to Randidly’s identity as an alchemist. That portion in particular was a half-finished theorem, speaking of the possibility of manifesting all effects in the galaxy through the use of Engraving. A method of converting all energies, back and forth, into shape, emotion, significance meaning… all of it.

So Neveah tried to capture the Hierarchy of Obsession. It’s gradual process of activation made it seem the most appropriate. And now gave her a headache.

She hid it on the dark side of the moon and pulled the remnant energies of the Sea of Dreams across the entrance, to hide it further. Neveah had felt a great deal of satisfaction when she had succeeded. And she had comforted herself with the knowledge that no one but Randidly would be foolish enough to engage in this sort of training method.

Tsk, is this how Randidly feels when he looks at Devick? Helpless yet unable to dislike her for the enthusiastic choices…? Also, now that I really think about it… won’t quite a few of his subordinates be more than willing to carve away portions of their psyche to improve themselves?

…I need to move this to a more secure location… especially now that the ring of the Nether people encircles everything…

Neveah felt rather miserable as she looked down into the hole’s depths. She had even added a time dilation effect, trying to capture at least a fragment of the Engravings that the Westrisser’s had pioneered. Which made this the perfect pressure cooker for rapid advancement.

Neveah forced herself to relax. Because her image was the mother of fear, she knew how insidious a force it could be. “...I’ll observe from outside. Considering the time difference, I will intervene if you linger for longer than ten minutes. I’ll throw a fishing lure down there with a photo of young and innocent Randidly.”

“Give me at least an hour,” Devick scowled, obviously suppressing the bit of excitement she felt at the offer of younger Randidly photos. Neveah felt annoyed, but the focus at least demonstrated Devick wouldn’t just go insane down in the experiment. The other woman raised her arm and flexed, her supple limbs showing very little muscle. “I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

“No, if you were injured, Randidly-” Neveah licked her lips.

At the very least, Devick has the presence of mind to look embarrassed. For several seconds, the two women look at one another. Eventually, Devick coughed into her hand. “Alright… how about two hours?”

A vein throbbed in Neveah’s forehead. Really, the time limit went up? Gah, why do I even bother—

“A half-hour,” Neveah stepped forward and shoved Devick. The other woman stumbled backward, teetering on the edge and windmilling her arms. Her eyes widened in shock. Neveah grinned as the other woman began to fall. “And if you are even a second late… I’ll drag you out of there by force. Hopefully you won’t be in the middle of any life-changing insights~”

Cackling, Devcik leaned back and turned her fall into a graceful swan dive into darkness.

*****

“I wish none of them had happened.”

A split second before his Fatepiece activated, Randidly flushed with recognition of what was about to occur. The ripples spreading out through his Nether told him all he needed to know. He wasn’t sure exactly how it would be possible, and what the effects would be, but he could feel its vague shape.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

They were close enough to kiss if either of them had such a desire. As it was, he spoke quickly to try and stop this development. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, Vualla.”

Vualla favored him with a look of utter contempt. Her face remained gaunt, demonstrating how much strain she was under. The bruised skin under her eyes seemed especially unhealthy from such a small distance. “When have I ever not meant what I said, Ghosthound? Truly, our bond has withered to naught. I am filled with regret.”

The Keystone of the First Ghasthund flashed with light. The orb manifested in front of Randidly. The playfulness of its hue hinted at something like amusement. He could only sigh as he looked at Vualla, accepting that this was her choice to make.

He might be an individual that could wrestle with the flow of time itself and change fate, but only with a willing participant. That was the whole moral spine of his rebellion against Elhume. So when his Fatepiece gave Vualla the tools to dig herself into a deeper hole, he simply observed.

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Keystone of the First Ghasthund has grown to Level 91!

…

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Keystone of the First Ghasthund has grown to Level 97!

Mental energy drained rapidly out Randidly’s body and flooded into the Fatepiece as its light grew brighter and brighter. Even with his vast amount of attention and focus, Randidly felt the surroundings growing hazy. He couldn’t help but tight his grip on Acri as the Fatepiece pulled in more power than he had ever seen, and the next closest demonstration wasn’t even close. Rather than a Fatepiece, the energy now spiraling around the orb resembled the flood of significance churned through his Nether Core.

A whole new halo of energy arose from the Fatepiece, eclipsing those others nearby and layering itself upon the energy released by Vualla. It was a gorgeous frozen masterpiece, with all the austere purity and unique complexity of an enlarged snowflake.

Vualla’s eyes widened in alarm as the new energy wrapped around her body, but already the new halo interfered with her perception of time. Just as once individuals made the request, they couldn’t help but be drawn backward, Vualla had made a conscious decision and refused to back down. Unless she flinched, the effect would continue.

She built a Ghasthund with her own hands, she mortared and sculpted the walls of her hell, and Randidly’s Fatepiece delighted in it. Around them, the others on the battlefield appeared frozen, unable to perceive the echoing changes.

The new energy swept forward and layered itself upon Vualla. Randidly could feel the complex significance stretching between the two of them, resulting from their shared dream for the Nexus. Upon exactly those connections, ones that had been pivotal in aiming Randidly’s early ambitions, the energy brushed a light finger.

Despite the ominous situation, Vualla didn’t flinch. She didn’t even blink.

Drawing its influence from the Moirae’s in Randidly’s person, those gentle fingers became a harsh pair of scissors. One by one, the threads were snipped.

As those moments were erased, or at least their significance robbed and their history obliterated, Randidly and Vualla looked at one another and began to change. Her eyes widened with alarm, feeling the damage to both of their significance, even if she didn’t understand as intimately how horrible a fate this would be. Randidly watched her, cut by cut, as the bags under her eyes deepened. The small amount of flesh on her face vanished, revealing the harsh lines of her skull.

Her image faltered and twisted, becoming destruction poisoned with bitterness and sour notes. Small swirls of energy grew off the edges of her destruction, ripping and tearing in addition to the core of annihilation.

“What changed?” Randidly whispered, barely able to force out his words while the Fatepiece remained active. He could feel ripples through his own significance, but mostly it fed into a well of grief solidifying in his chest.

Vualla, perhaps finally understanding the gravity of what occurred, released a hollow laugh. Her breath smelled sour. “Are you really… do you not remember our promise? We did not hold the lofty aspirations that now fuel you, Randidly. Ours was a much more base craving. We promised to destroy the Nexus.

“I did not change at all. Despite experiencing immense amounts of dilated time since our last conversation… my focus hasn’t wavered at all. You have changed Randidly. So don’t you dare look at me with betrayal- grk!”

Additional severings squeezed the last few words off and covered her face with a pained expression. Randidly released a breath. “Even if that’s true, you are aiding Elhume-”

“Who plans to destroy the Nexus and abandon his son,” Vualla countered just as quickly. The sharp lines on her face deepened. Even the memory of their connections faded, revealing what she would have become if they had not met. She looked sculpted, a monstrous harpy, the luscious mane of blue hair shorn away to reveal irritated skin and the harsh bulge of bone. “Although he also built this horrible place… he plans to end that. Should he betray that expectation, I will kill him. But so long as I sense his authenticity…”

Another pulse of light erupted from the Fatepiece. In one fell swoop, all the lingering connections between the two of them were shattered. Still, Randidly frowned. Because as he looked at this twisted, suppressed, and bitter version of Vualla, he realized that she was right. They had bonded over destruction.

And now he had reached a height where he saw another path, one that wasn’t so tainted by violence. He had pivoted. Perhaps that was why his mind had turned to her so infrequently.

The effect of the Fatepiece fell away, leaving the two once more freed to move. Xyrt Brigade members and warriors from the Upper Sonara Society unleashed attacks. Waves of sound and force buffeted the two, splitting them apart. While looking at one another, both drifted backward, allowing the distance to be created.

Randidly made one more attempt. “Destruction-”

“Was always my choice,” Vualla interrupted. She spread her arms wide. Her new image flickered and swam around her hands. “A choice I will keep making… until I succeed or fail.”

He looked at her, remembering his own fury at the System. Yet now he cradled a world in his body. He had a responsibility to all those souls he supported. Her eyes flashed, her lip curled. He had dealt with the heavy negative subconscious of the Alpha Cosmos, yet looking at Vualla twisted and poisoned form, he felt a headache brewing.

In the end, it might have been possible to convince her. To show her how short-sighted her path was. But already, Randidly knew that it would require time and effort to sway her pride, especially after he had very clearly forgotten her.

In the grand scheme of the conflict with Elhume… she wasn’t worth the time.

He took a fighting stance. Opposite him, with fresh currents of energy swirling back to empower her dragon, she did the same.

At the same time, they launched themselves forward. Her image had shifted as the bonds between them had been eliminated, demonstrating the support that he had provided for her. Now her destruction ate at the space around her, a self-destructive thing. Yet in its short-sightedness, the image could wield immense power— Randidly’s emerald eyes blazed as he moved to meet it.

In the ninth collision between them, Randidly shattered Vualla’s wrist and drove Acri threw her stomach.