Don Beigon felt uneasy, looking at the wreckage of the platform. Beyond the smoking ground, the glittering nebula continued to spin, regardless of the mounting difficulties of the assent. All the carefully streamlined transactions that should have led to his vengeance… began to come up short.

He needed an edge. Badly.

Fighting through the constant assault of the shades on the Path of the Pinnacle had been difficult, but well within his expectations. Despite the slightly wondrous and astral backdrop of the Path, each specter reproduced here was a talented warrior that had an image potent enough to leave a lasting mark on the Nexus. Despite that, with superior numbers, they forced their way forward without much difficulty.

Until they arrived at the first of the real challenges; the first of the three Guardians left on the Path of the Pinnacle by Elhume. The three seals that prevented anyone in the history of the Nexus from reaching the summit of this Path.

Their first opponent was a massive brontosaurus skeleton, its solid image of history vitality resisting all their initial attacks. Only after his personal warriors had started slowing and the Nether Lattice individuals became involved were they able to tear through the Guardian’s defenses and crack open its resilient image. And unfortunately, not without a cost.

“Report,” Don Beigon rumbled, already hating the amount of blood on the ground.

The head of his elite soldiers bowed. “A thousand apologies, sir. One of our number died in the fight. To our great shame, three others bear significant injuries. They will likely recover by the time we reach the next Guardian, but for now, our fighting strength is depleted by 25%.”

While the Don gritted his teeth, the hawk humanoid added her thoughts. “No injuries here, but if we must face any more opponents like this-”

“You will not make it to the Pinnacle, challengers.”

Despite their recent victory, all of the present individuals twitched; even Don Beigon twisted around in his bamboo seat toward the source of the noise. Because the voice that spoke was the rumbling tones of the first Guardian. There, sitting in the shattered remnants of his thick bones, the brontosaurus head sat propped up on a stone. A thick crack ran through its forehead, where the hawk humanoid had driven her pick, but small red flames burned in its eyes as it considered them. “None make it to the Pinnacle, no matter how many hopeless souls follow this Path.”

“Stubborn bastard,” The hawk humanoid hissed and hefted her weapon up again. “I’ll make sure to end you entirely, this time.”

But as she stepped forward, the Don raised a hand and stopped her. Suddenly, he saw a method to balance some of the equations stalled out in his head. “Wait. You, Guardian. Let us make a deal. If you will assist us in our quest to reach the Pinnacle, I shall grant you your freedom from this place.”

“An impossible task,” The Guardian head snorted, its weak and depleted image flickering just from their presences.

“A pointless risk,” The humanoid hawk frowned at the Don. “After fighting this bastard for so long, how are we supposed to trust it?”

“I have my methods for making sure those with which I make deals follow through with their end of the bargain. And besides…. Do you see this?” Don Beigon gestured casually to the far end of the shattered platform. Waiting there was a door of black wicker, a spinning nebula of darkness that threw off tendrils of Nether that briefly obscured the path forward. “Proceeding through brute force is possible, but I would prefer the gates just swing open.”

“The gates open for the worthy,” The skull head rumbled, but the Don controlled his expression at the tenor of the guardian’s voice. The Don’s instincts had been honed over hundreds of years. He could feel the note of yearning at the base of those words.

Now all that remained was the task at which he was the most skilled: making a deal.

*****

Randidly kept his back straight. His images burned, resonating with the depth and resilience of his vessel. Even as every second saw Pine drifting closer to ripping its way through the Nexus, Randidly’s World Tree would hold up the sky. His aspect of a reincarnated Nyx wove a cloak of pure darkness that kept away Pine’s insatiable hunger for significance. The Siren of the Inhospitable Depths sang a song to cover up the constant screaming of this corpse threatening to destroy them all.

“You play a dangerous game, Randidly Ghosthound.” Solomon Rex warned Currents of significance coiled around them all, arriving and being drank away by Pine in an instant. “You will doom us all if you continue to act without any sense of responsibility.”

Randidly stretched out a hand. He pulled the Vulpis Squad to safety within the Alpha Cosmos. He exchanged a long glance with Edraine, wondering at the vicissitudes of life that this version of Vualla had chosen his side when the other had not. She, too, he pulled within himself so she wouldn’t need to face the coming storm.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He reached out and grasped the floating orb of Grand Fates as well, carefully storing them within his Soulspace until he could figure out what to do with them. Better to protect them than just allowing them to tumble down into Pine’s maw. He wove Nether Rituals like a cage around them, very aware of those horrid tendrils of Devick’s madness that seemed to be thriving amongst them.

Then Randidly looked at Solomon once again. He could feel his Nether Core continuing to rev. He had reached Level 100, but he was just short of the significance density he wanted for his final transformation. But soon, he would create a Grand Fate woven together with a Penance. “I really think we’ve passed the point of talking.”

Fiero cackled. “Solomon simply fears another will again take away all he’s hoped-”

“Silence.” The grey-eyed humanoid rounded on Fiero with a sharp expression, which just earned another cackle from the Vulpine. But despite the tension between the two of them, they both pivoted back to face Randidly. “Fine then. We squabble while our end creeps closer. Prepare yourself, Randidly Ghosthound, Nether King Hungry Eye, a former human now practically dissolving within the substance of his own Legend. To subdue you quickly, to make sure you have not doomed the Nexus, we cannot afford the luxury of being gentle.”

What a self-righteous prick. Randidly’s eyes narrowed.

Following his one last soliloquy, Solomon Rex spread his arms wide. The image reverberations he mobilized were nothing compared to the constant grinding unleashed by Pine descending from the sky (whose presence resembled a crashing plane on which they were simultaneously passengers and impact point) but it did make Randidly wary. This being had existed and honed his trade in a place of infinite time. And also-

The ground parted. Out of the opening, a steaming and familiar figure drifted upward. The true body of Elhume opened its eyes and revealed a brief, pure note of truth in its image. Randidly couldn’t help but smile at the naked challenge.

“Show me the Pinnacle, you two.” Randidly laughed. “And then I’ll show you what lays beyond it.”

“Hubris.” Solomon grimaced. His form turned ephemeral. Randidly practically saw his consciousness and image jump out of his new form and back into his old one. Meanwhile, Fiero crouched down with his gaunt and skeletal form and dashed sideways, circling him.

Yggdrasil, the Dread Homunculus, and the Songstress of Absence stirred in his chest. His emotional sea filled with choppy waves. More and more Nether howled through his veins, his Nether Core refined liquid Aether, the two energies ran counter to one another at such speed his body came alight from the inside out.

He burned. He was a Legend, shining out through the flesh that housed him.

Congratulations! Your Skill Arch Heretic’s Thaumaturgy (P) has grown to Level 1303!

The ancient body of Elhume came first with huge bounding steps. Randidly could feel the momentum Solomon produced, the force wielded as he arrived before Randidly and planted a foot with his arm raised. The note of truth grew louder. The ancient monster threw a punch; he attempted his original image. But-

Randidly tilted his head to the side at the clumsy application of that powerful truth. You are Elhume no longer. Strong you may be… but you aren’t whole enough to stop me.

Randidly exploded forward with just as much momentum, his whole self concentrating down to Acri and a focused thrust. Fist and spearhead met together, the two images ramming directly against one another with such force that pieces cracked and fractured off from the main portion. Reflexively, Randidly reached out to gather all that ambient kinetic force and create his storm, but he arrived a hair too late.

Already, Pine licked up the image pieces and left them standing in an almost inert position.

Almost inert, because the space between Solomon Rex and Elhume meant that the image force wasn’t as perfect. That, and whatever this being possessed. It wasn’t Primordial Nether Juju, and the quantity of his Stat wasn’t nearly as high.

From the blow, Elhume stumbled backward.

Randidly’s Nether Core spun faster and faster, the movement of the translucent energy almost invisible. But a strange gleam came over the inner emerald gem. A rumble spread out through Randidly’s entire body; he felt a transformation coming. He felt a thin whistle of more meaning, flowing out from the depths of his Nether Core, originating in the door to the Sea of Statues.

From the place that birthed Momentos of Eternity. A dangerous place of power, available to those with refined Nether Cores.

Randidly followed up on the stumbling Elhume with a hook to the gut, his first wreathed in grey flames. His knuckles slammed against his target and Elhume’s ribs popped. Randildy’s jaw clenched and Elhume looked at him with eyes filled with violet light. He could almost see through to the gradual image readjustment happening. That first blow had been clumsy, but in the future, he would wield all that power with a bit more of a bite. This would be his main opportunity to inflict easy damage.

He unleashed a pulse of Nether, ravaging his opponent’s note of truth as much as he could.

But as Randidly knew would happen, Fiero stepped forward once he was engaged with the Elhume/Solomon hybrid. He raised his thing fingers. “The Ninth Fist-”

For a second, Randidly felt his mind jolt to a halt. The conception of a Ninth Fist didn’t compute; was this what his opponents experienced, what he had to struggle against in his fight against Devick? A move developed on the fly?

Fiero raised an open hand. Randidly’s eyes widened in recognition. No, of course Fiero didn’t just make this up. It was never Eight Fists. It was Nine Tails, pretending to be fists. And this whole time, the Ninth Fist-

“Mine.” Fiero growled, reaching out and attempting to take Randidly’s body like he had taken Elhume’s for so long.

Randidly’s eyes blazed; he had been waiting for this moment. His smile spread wide. “The First Authority: Seize.”

Significance geysered up out of his Nether Core as he finally unleashed the power granted to him by his Authorities. The nova of Nether seething around his body was enough to push back Pine’s power, for a time.