In front of him, Neveah burned through all her emotional force and Willpower, hammering back the convoy of books in a surge of power. In terms of ferocity and violence, even Randidly felt a bit taken aback as flecks of spit flew from the mouth of the newly evolved Tiamat. She held nothing back.

The image manifestation warped space as it physically bludgeoned back a storm of time. While lacking in shape, emotion granted her power.

Because when Randidly looked into the wild eyes of the image, what he saw was Neveah’s grief. Her pain from so long watching him toss his body in front of threats, of stepping up in the face of impossible monsters, fighting and struggling to create the glimmer of a miracle, while so many people relied upon him to do so, over and over again. Of being forced to observe blood leaking from his wounds and tears leaking from his eyes.

For all the long nights Neveah waited for whether or not Randidly would finally make a mistake and crumple, Tiamat radiated power. She blazed and unleashed all the pent-up dread that his Soulbound partner had been forced to bear.

She howled without restraint. The temporal convoy sputtered and stalled out. The sharp edge of her sincerity dominated at the height of her fever pitch. A moon whipped around but Tiamat flexed a wing to deflect it. Her claws carved the opportunity Randidly had been waiting for.

Within the inner sanctum, the carefully crafted frame of Engravings hummed in satisfaction. He nudged a few lines into place, replaced a few inefficient patterns, and felt the whole begin to breathe like an organism. The deep pool of significance swirled slightly, but Randidly concentrated his attention on the deepest drop at the bottom of the pool, which began to form a translucent orb.

He spoke to his Nether Core, still hesitant about the incompatibility. Is this choice really not enough for a Penance? To spend the rest of my days healing the deep wounds of time underneath the Nexus?

The spinning core wobbled out a clear and emphatic answer; it was not enough. His significance even gave a sympathetic twinge. Randidly’s expression tightened. His mind fluttered through a series of other options. He thought of other meanings his Penance’s could move through, ways he could become a better variation of himself. Or ways he could prove his value to the Alpha Cosmos. Ways that Randidly could even make up for all the sins he had committed in the eyes of Neveah, so long ignoring his own happiness in order to try and create a future for his followers.

But he reached and found only half-formed ideas. Ahead of him, the temporal convoy began to force back Neveah’s desperate assault. Randidly’s brain whirled, searching for an answer to this question-

A loud clap echoed out from the confrontation between Yggdrasil and its tome— after being forced shut, the book began to disintegrate. Yggdrasil instantly released a rustling sound of pure pleasure as it could blossom without any opposition. Then its roots and branches snaked out away from where it had endured the passage of time and began to wrap and pull at the convoy of tomes that threatened Tiamat. The gnarled protrusions wrapped until the attack seemed to be encased in a wicker ball. The World Tree began to pull, lowering the momentum further.

Tiamat lashed out with renewed vigor. For a little while longer, Randidly had the opportunity to consider his Penance. So he considered, flitting quickly from one idea to another.

Several seconds passed, just with the sound of his Nether Core serving as an anchoring for his psyche. His face tingled from the reverberating impacts between Tiamat and book convoy. But despite the passage of time, he could not find an answer. What price could he pay, when he wasn’t sure why the prepared price hadn’t been accepted? Was his offering too much? Too little?

Based on the fact that Solomon Rex gave up a portion of his experienced time with a Penance… could it even be too much of a price paid? Randidly’s Nether Core didn’t seem to agree with that, so he could only purse his lips. But then again, Solomon Rex is the husk left over after Elhume had given up his past. So perhaps.. The price of also surrendering a portion of his present could be considered extremely steep…

For me… what is the price that I could pay? What is my particular weakness?

He almost chuckled. He spared a nervous glance for Tiamat’s back, wings flapping and grey veil fluttering. Heh, good thing she’s too distracted to notice my thoughts right now. Because my instinct… is just to give up more of my own humanity. Haaah. But honestly, how much more do I have to give?

Would I still be able to utilize this Nether Core if all the foundations for my Authorities were worn away? A counterproductive measure.

Yet soon Neveah’s emotional intensity began to wane. The wicker barrier around the four tomes began to groan. The moons rotating around the fluttering books avoided direct conflict with Tiamat and instead smashed apart the critical bindings that restrained it. The temporal maelstrom began to grind its way forward once more.

Randidly felt one of those moments of utmost clarity as he realized his time had run out. The swirling moons slowed to a crawl. Despite all the ways his attention had been split, the whole of his awareness settled back into allignment. He looked around at all his preparations, feeling so inadequate in his understanding of Penances.

He needed more time.

He wouldn’t get it.

Randidly Ghosthound made a decision driven by the stubbornness that had served him so well for so long; he would follow his original gut and try to make the Penance his Nether Core rejected so vehemently. If nothing else, perhaps the source of the difficulty would become clear. He could scrap the whole construction and do better next time.

He would be in motion. Because standing still in the face of this hurtling Eternity right now is how he would lose. And his selected, half-formed Grand Fate roared in his chest, briefly lulled but still gathering up a horrible momentum from the different notes of Truth he had obtained. The Pinnacle waited just around the corner. He would not be able to maintain this for long.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

So Randidly began to pull deep currents of significance around into a tight ball. He dumped his emotions into the Nether Ritual that rose from his chest, ignoring the small stutters from his Nether Core as he squeezed and twisted the connections into place. He felt the power of his Penances, the potential of his Vessel, the intensity of his emotion. He forced his existence to relax as he laid the foundation for a potent restriction to run through the foundation of Randidly Ghosthound.

He cut off his awareness of the impending temporal storm, trusting Neveah and his images to keep him safe for a few seconds longer. He only moved through the powerful waves of translucent significance within his body, studded with more and more glimmers of light. He took the deepening connections he created with Yggdrasil maturing and digging in its roots into the universe and drew from them life. Randidly Ghosthound touched the whole of the Nexus and the Alpha Cosmos. He did not need to breathe, but he could tingle in unison with existence. He saw his Path forward, via this Penance: would be the foundation of these connected universes by weaving their underlying fabric. The temporal wounds inflicted by the actions of Laplace and the construction of Dungeons would be the project to which he dedicated as much of his existence as necessary.

The flawed rotation of his Nether Core grew more erratic.

Randidly felt his forehead crease, but also noticed a reaction from his significance. More and more significance swirled together, creating an egg in the middle of his Nether Ritual. His Nether Core might not like it, but he was having an effect. Perhaps this attempt would create the Penance he needed to feature in the carefully crafted Engraving frame. So Randidly gritted his teeth and pushed past the discomfort and continued to fuel the process.

His Nether shivered and began to writhe underneath his focused efforts. His Nether Core wobbled, but now seemed more hesitant in its rejections; the sensation around the condensing egg was mixed. He pushed harder. Translucent Nether flooded forward to strengthen the transition.

Finally, a pure note of joy emerged in his chest, managing to eclipse even the seething harmony of Truths that he housed. His hands began to tremble; Randidly felt like he was brushing up a deeper pattern. One he couldn’t quite yet grasp, but as his Nether Ritual developed, he could barely trace its edges with its awareness.

The whole of Randidly’s Sanctum began to rumble. The Engraving frame flickered, recognizing what it would soon house.. The deep pool began to buzz with constant ripples as the movement of Nether became increasingly violent.

Perhaps it really is scope, Randidly thought, riding this high. He clenched his hands, even as his left just barely began to heal. Then not just this universe, but all others I encounter. I will endeavor to heal the wounds to time that have been inflicted by these Eternities. No matter where I go, I will heal the fabric of existence back to its original state-

Suddenly, the Nether Ritual he had been constructing concentrated in a minute area, becoming a gleaming pinprick. Randidly’s Nether Core halted in its rotations as though someone had thrown the emergency break— Nether sloshing through his body as the momentum abruptly vanished. The sensation was akin to having the breath knocked out of him, while he still needed to breathe. Not painful, exactly, but his body hummed with wrongness.

The joy faded, vanishing into the gleaming pinprick. An egg, one much brighter but less reassuring than the Egg of Depression he had incubated for so long.

…guess it’s still a failure, Randidly felt frustrated as he looked at the pinprick of condensed significance, but didn’t let it affect him for too long. He didn’t have time for regrets. And there were lessons to learn. Definitely, the potential is here. Perhaps it’s just the shape that’s insufficient.

After teetering for a second, the pinprick Nether Ritual began to drift toward the frame of Aether. The kaleidoscopic patterns along the Engraving flashed more quickly from one shade to another. Randidly’s attention sharpened. He couldn’t pull from his normal images as they continued to defend his body, but he mobilized his Accord of Three Moiraes and an Alchemist. He tugged all the distorted and torn space with Lethal Tide of Izanami and constructed a blade.

He raised his weapon, prepared to sever a false Penance.

Congratulations! Your Skill Lethal Tide of Izanami (GD) has grown to Level 1172!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Lethal Tide of Izanami (GD) has grown to Level 1245!

He folded all that dangerous kinetic energy and shredded space, over and over again, layering the blade until became a truth all on its own. Then, before the Penance he had failed to create could settle into the created frame, Randidly slashed with all of his power.

After that, several events happened in quick succession.

First, Randidly’s folded blade whispered down and impacted the pinprick. The pinprick cracked… but wasn’t cut in half as he had expected— it seemed the false Penance was more powerful than he had given it credit for.

Second, the strike that wounded but didn’t break the target sent it careening sideways with a spreading series of cracks.

Third, Randidly heard a scream and rustle of warning. Both the World Tree and the Songstress of Absence reached out to help him, but couldn’t directly intervene. Adrenaline spiked through his non-body, a memory of physicality.

Fourth, he felt a sharp blossom of agony from Neveah’s psyche. Her consciousness flickered.

Reeling from all the rapid developments, Randidly turned his focus outward, just as the convoy of tomes slammed into him and compressed his body against Pine’s final barrier.

Which is why Randidly missed the fifth development until the notifications began to flood his vision.

Recalculating… Pantheon Intervention. Warning-

The process of a Grand Fate cannot be halted by outside forces!

Congratulations, you have chosen the Grand Fate: Temporal Thaumaturgy Mends Eternity! For the rest of your existence, you will be bound to notice and address wounds to the fabric of time in the surrounding universes. Although you may put off these tasks for a short while, the longer you do so, the more you will suffer from this inaction. Due to the nature of your selected Grand Fate, you will not be drawing power from the Nexus at large; benefits will be minor, mostly relating to temporal Skills and your abilities as an Alchemist.

Every 10 Levels in your Grand Fate, gain +1 Privilege of the Half-Shallah and +1 Free Stat.

Randidly’s eyes bulged. For a few seconds, he couldn’t quite understand what he was seeing. I… chose my Grand Fate, but-

His awareness snapped back to his Sanctum. He discovered that his strike had not only wounded the pinpoint Nether Ritual, but also sent it careening sideways. Instead of settling down into the frame of Aether… it had been almost spiked into the pool of Nether.

The Path leads ever onward, Randidly Ghosthound. Good luck.

Once in the pool, the pinprick had cracked further, almost opening along the fracture. Dangerous, jagged bolts of Nether snapped out, building a framework within the pool of Nether. New patterns shredded the flows of significance in the pool and left bits of Nether fluttering around like confetti. Randidly blinked several times, his mind frazzled. A pulse ran through his Sanctum. But… if this has become my Grand Fate… what the hell do I do with all these Truths-

Because his awareness had gone inward, he missed the next development as well. A particularly vigorous shove from Laplace forced Tiamat back into his body. And then in a massive display of force from the Eternity, all of them drilled through the final barrier of Pine’s corpse.