Neveah’s chest felt tight. She stood over the pulsing core formation of Yystrix's final gift, following the patterns with her eyes. Too many elements vied for her attention at once. She needed to handle ten thousand problems, which made even nine hundred arms feel overwhelmed. This, she reflected, was probably how Randidly felt all of the time.

This was why, from individual perspectives, he seemed to be doing a poor job of running the Alpha Cosmos. Because inevitably, details slipped through the cracks when you worked on the scale of universes.

On the one hand, she could feel a rising storm amongst Randidly’s, and therefore also her own, Nether. Some of the energy needed to be smoothed out, less it began to affect weaker Nether warriors. Enmya performed the first of the six ritual actions required of him and Devick accepted the first layer of the Phaea. As far as Neveah could tell, the process would be like adding extra lanes to the highway on which Randidly’s Nether had been running.

Already, his Nether Core had transformed into a cloudy bubble. As the prodigious amount of Nether he contained could flow more smoothly, that cloudiness would clear. She wondered what would be waiting in the middle.

That’s the scariest part of this, Neveah reflected, clenching her fist so her fingers didn’t tremble. Randidly has become so strong… but he can still grow stronger, can’t he? Her image quivered. To many, we will soon become the original fear. Upon our backs will all the failings of the world be pinned.

Sin-eater, scapegoat, punchline. The Legend continues to grow…

Beyond that, Neveah had to cope with the increasingly worried demands for information from the denizens of the Alpha Cosmos. She knew that Tatiana and Naffur were handling even more communications, but everyone in the Alpha Cosmos was aware Randidly engaged in a meaningful clash in the wider Nexus. The echoes frothed the seas and swirled the clouds. Vast electromagnetic storm fronts swept into civilized areas from the wild lands.

Worst of all was the rare breed of Chimera, now morphed further to become Homunculi, that Randidly’s image released upon the world. The excitement of these powerups, of the violence, had sent them into a frenzy. Donnyton had mobilized almost all of their active squads to seek out and subdue them before nonClassers were hurt.

Finally-

Neveah’s eyes dropped once again to the pattern in front of her. Her intuition for Nether lagged behind Randidly’s, but the broad strokes were the creation of a massive vacuum that would counteract the warping power of Pine’s gathered significance. A vacuum attached to an iron that would somehow flatten out some of the deviations transforming Pine into a monster. At least, it would do so if fueled with enough significance.

Yet the longer she looked, the more worried Neveah became. Because she and Randidly had been taught lessons over and over again about the hooks that came along with the gifts given by Yystrix. She might have provided all the assorted Engravings here for their betterment, but finding this final little twist hidden in the middle seemed to vindicate a more selfish impression of Yystrix. At the same time-

The working sat alone, inert. It had been carved into the ground, but it would need to be traced with Nether in order to create an actual effect. It only represented a possibility, one they possessed full control over.

Neveah rubbed the flesh of her upper arms. She had spent so much time in this room over the past few years, familiarizing and reviewing all the patterns present. With her research in such a rich repository of ancient and complex Engravings, she felt confident she had become one of the foremost experts in the Nexus, without peer in the Alpha Cosmos. Yet it was a profoundly isolating experience, to reach such heights. She didn’t like to admit it, but she had spent more than a little time imagining what it would have been like, just to converse and to exist with Yystrix.

Aside from Randidly and a few dear friends, Neveah’s relationship with Yystrix through these Engravings might be one of the most important of her life.

Neveah looked again at the pattern, honed for a particular purpose, only possible to be fueled by a being who could almost rival Pine in significance. She rubbed her arms again. She leaned back and looked up toward the sky.

After squeezing her eyes shut for several seconds, she leaned forward and continued to study the pattern. All she could do right now was at least figure out how the Nether Ritual would work. The decision of what to do with that knowledge… Neveah felt genuine relief she could leave that up to Randidly.

*****

For several long seconds, Randidly and Lady Iellaya stared at each other. Their images flared and clashed, the raw edges leaving surprisingly deep gouges against one another. Whether it was her own improvement or the fuel of Devick’s madness, Iellaya had grown strong.

Of course, it only took a few seconds for Randidly to begin forcing her image back. Even without his raw Stat totals, the fabric of his Aether could no longer be rivaled by any but the most powerful in the Nexus.

Congratulations! Your Skill The First Tree Suffers Only Fealty (P) has grown to Level 1072!

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Congratulations! Your Skill The First Tree Suffers Only Fealty (P) has grown to Level 1101!

Lady Iellaya pursed her lips as she allowed his image to spread and dominate the environment… and also face most of the warping influence of Pine. “I do not wish to resort to threats. Elhume now moves to restrain Pine’s excesses. If we miss this opportunity, it will be too late to change our minds. And I am under orders to attack and bleed your troops as much as possible, should you refuse a meeting. The Actus Suprem… is aware of the softness of your heart.”

Behind him, Randidly could hear the soft groan as Heiffal tightened his fingers across the rotting flesh of his left side, to prevent any more corroded blood from seeping out of the wound.

“I’ll meet with her,” Randidly glanced up at the sky. The harmonious note in his chest the seeds of a truth. Solomon’s machinations, although now he seemed to be making himself scarce, without flaunting the body he had pilfered back from Fiero. The changes in his Nether. The possibility of a Vessel without a truth, provided by a woman worrying about her cosmic miracle of a son. The elements had begun to reveal themselves. But Devick would always be a dangerous variable if he let her act independently.

The edges of this isolated layer of the Nexus was being reinforced by Fiero, but the rumbles from the liberation of Elhume’s body had long since ceased. Below the weight of Pine’s darkness, this portion of the Nexus had almost become peaceful. “So long as you give your word that no harm will come to my subordinates.”

“Of course, you have it. I have not forgotten our long association, Randidly Ghosthound. At least this, I can do for you.” Lady Iellaya bowed.

As the pressure from Pine continued to ease, Randidly gestured sharply. He followed up with several invigorating pulses from Yggdrasil, offering some of the raw leftover energy from his and Lady Iellaya’s image clashes to his subordinates. It was too dangerous for his images to interfere directly with the wounded flex, but he could at least provide some spare fuel.

However, he made sure to meet the eyes of Raymund, Charlotte, and Alana. From their almost blank expressions, Randidly could tell they understood him.

Lady Iellaya produced an intricately detail cube. A few expert presses of the different faces opened up a swirling tunnel of rust-colored energy. Randidly blinked slowly as he witnessed its activation; obviously, the process was more like punching a hole directly through space and sustaining the opening by heavy chains of madness, but the Actus Suprem had clearly derived the method from observing his Alchemist’s Passport.

Well, her awareness and adaptability were always her most ominous qualities…

Out of wariness for even the smallest pinch of Devick’s energy, Randidly maintained his Cloak of a Thousand Lightless Horizons as he walked forward through the tunnel. His heartbeat quickened as he felt little prickling nudges from the rust-colored force as they proceeded behind Lady Iellaya and her elite troops. Randidly felt his Nether Core humming in an unusual manner, more and more Nether surging along his limbs. He coated his skin with it, trusting his energy to annihilate any foreign forces.

When they exited the portal, they stood in a familiar location: the grand ballroom of Nexus Military High Command. Randidly shook his head slightly. At one point, he had come here and been overwhelmed by the power possessed by these figures. Their factions and alliances had been opaque to him, before his association with Commandant Wick. He had come to compete in the dance of the Master’s pattern. He had won and earned himself the opportunity he needed. And now-

Now, everything had changed. The ballroom was empty. Trash and debris formed small drifts in the corner. The complex marble patterns of the floor were split by a massive fissure. The chandeliers had been taken down and in their place floated dozens of stone half arcs, pivoting and swirling to corral the raw energy of the Grand Fates that the Actus Suprem had been able to drag out of her victim’s souls.

However, what made Randidly’s mouth twitch in a gesture of exasperation, familiarity, and near disgust was when his eyes landed upon the figure of Actus Suprem herself. She used the chaos of the crystal Aether collapse to execute a costume change? Your flair for the dramatic is still aggravatingly consistent.

Taking off the regalia of her Nexus position and wearing a simple cotton dress… tch, she’s making fun of the other Devick, isn’t she? How petty.

Lady Iellaya gestured to several engraved pillars in a circle around the central portion of the ballroom. “The Actus Suprem recommends your subordinates do not pass across that dividing line.”

Charlotte Wick’s eyes blazed, but Raymund Ballast understood his role much more intimately. “Sir, I believe we should at least send a small guard detail-”

“No, remain here at ease. I’ll handle our Actus Suprem.” Randidly shook his head and walked forward. Immediately when he passed through the barrier created by the pillars, the air behind him turned milky. His much more attuned spatial sense let him feel the grip of the teleportation formation hidden in the carefully curated cracks on the ground, but Randidly let it happen.

His First Authority flexed and whined about how easily it could quash this interference, but Randidly needed another conversation with Devick. Not because he wanted to negotiate, he had gotten a full understanding of her attitude earlier during their talk, but because now he had a better idea of how history’s momentum had begun to flow.

However those thoughts were driven from his head as his skin prickled as he felt the energies settle and he found himself in another familiar ballroom. This one was just as empty as the previous one but much more alarming to have been chosen by this Devick. Because this ballroom was the ballroom of Devick’s past. This had been the place in the memory where Randidly had encountered Devick for the first time, in the city owned by Devick’s adoptive father, before he had tried to trade her in order to protect his city.

In oppressive silence, Randidly walked up the stairs to the upper level of the ballroom. He passed down the hall, exactly as he had the first time in the memory, accompanied only by his footsteps. And when he reached that balcony where Devick had waited for him, the Actus Suprem stood, gesturing softly and manipulating the stolen Grand Fates.

“Should I be worried that you separated me from my subordinates? Lady Iellaya gave her word they would not come to harm.”

“Of course not. If anything, I’m doing your subordinates a favor,” Devick looked up from her efforts and flashed a winning smile. “Just doing some light recruiting. After all the tough fights you’ve put your people through, I just figured they might consider following me for a bit.”

Randidly’s jaw clenched, but he had expected it; his earlier ‘at ease’ had been a signal for them to prepare for immediate combat. He tried to ignore the Actus Suprem’s eyelash-batting greeting and looked up at the mass of pain and loss she had rolled together.