Chapter 2145

Chapter 2145

The group left the city together and Randidly cast a long look over his shoulder as he passed through the gate and the bristling guards stationed there. More than movement, he cast around for a hint of emotion to give more context to the sudden cessation of hostilities. The lack of any other hints in the air honestly made him more uneasy; it seemed that the image of absence could be used in very sophisticated ways.

When he turned away, Randidly remained nervous and confused.

His gaze wandered up to the barrier around Malloon, which had just finished its slow healing of the hole the energy burst had punched in it. He also noticed, with some distaste, that the unleashed blast had grievously wounded his own weather-modulating Nether Ritual. He hadn’t targeted it in particular, but many of the Scrawled pieces that held it in place had been burnt away by its passage3. Now, the whole thing had begun to list sideways toward collapse. Considering how long it had been active, enough atmospheric pressure had built up that a massive superstorm would sweep through in the aftermath.

Malloon’s barrier would spare them the worst of it, but all the refugees on the ground would be hammered into the dirt. Wind and precipitation might be enough to flush all the people on his skyislands not locked down out, as well.

One more task to see to when he had time.

Randidly glanced sideways at Demetrius, who supported Jotem in their procession. Yggdrasil shifted, its emerald leaves rustling. A wave of life energy from the image wove itself together with Animation Nova to quicken the healing process. He slid a thread of energy into the Patron of the Deep as well, but the half Origin Beast suffered more in the confrontation. Jotem might not have received a direct blow from Westrisser, but he also was so much weaker.

He looked small and deflated as he was carried away, barely conscious of the world around him. Randidly’s jaw tightened.

When they had passed through the entirety of the camp outside Malloon, Randidly gestured slightly to Demetrius so the Nether Herald would take the wounded individual to recover on one of the skyislands.

In the meantime, he needed to talk more with Elhume and his group about what had happened.

The other Patrons showed up quickly, the Patron of the Blooms and the Patron of the Sun taking the Patron of the Deep and attempting to heal him. The Patron of the Abyss and Blades both crackled with tension, while Elhume simply looked down at his hands. The Patron of Feathers looked ill as she simply watched the developments, but Randidly also noticed that the Patron of Truth, Mae Myrna, also seemed strangely guilty.

He filed that information away and turned to Elhume. “What are we missing? I know that Westrisser doesn’t want to show weakness while Nether King Bleak Sky is waiting outside of his city, but considering his earlier attitude, it doesn’t make sense that he would just let us go here after we hurt his city.”

“...considering I have agreed to the bloodline ceremony, perhaps he doesn’t wish for me to back out,” The Patron of Feathers offered. But from her tone, she didn’t believe that to be the case.

Elhume’s eyes widened in shock and he shot her a glance; apparently, he hadn’t known about this development. But very quickly, he shook his head. His shoulders trembled, hinting at a barely controlled racing heart. “I doubt he even considered that. Cruelty is in his blood; you heard him proudly sneer he had been planning to eradicate the Origin Beast line. And shit, he had a chance to do it. That power he wielded- fuck! I hate feeling this weak.”

Randidly observed Elhume for several seconds. The humanoid bit his lips, trying to control his emotions. Of all the lessons he learned in the memory world, the strange one was how reckless Elhume seemed. How human, in this case meaning vulnerable. Randidly could see how fighting against established monsters while also searching for clues about his son had lit a fire underneath him. Yet it was the steadily rising thread of panic he felt in his behavior that made everything click.

“Should things come to blows, we will not be easily subdued,” The Patron of Blades whispered. His grey eyes promised violence.

“Aren’t we?” The Patron of the Sun countered. He raised his head from the Patron of the Deep’s wounded form and released an exhausted sigh. “We are mighty warriors true, but these are monsters. They have had years to hone their powers, two separate races’ worth of currency and rare materials to strengthen them. We might be right in our beliefs, but if we force this-”

“Enough,” Elhume growled. His eyes were bright and glassy, Randidly noted. “We might not be strong now, but we will be. And you know as well as I do, our plan will not work without the support of a majority of the Aether population.”

“When will we accumulate this mystical, promised strength?” The Patron of the Sun hissed back. “How? Even this damned Nether King could fight you to a standstill. No matter your pride, who you might have been outside of the Nexus, no matter what profound secrets you’ve seen-”

“I’m almost there,” Elhume’s expression hollowed out, leaving his features hungry and desperate. “Soon, as soon as I can get an image of a certain specificity- Pah, let’s not argue about this. You have a point, we still have some time to narrow the gap. But a more pressing issue has emerged. I have heard from the Cult of the Savior: the meeting location has been determined, just beyond the edge into Nether lands. Finally, we will get some answers from them. On our journey, we will spar heavily. We will grow.”

Some of the urgency of the conversation seeped out of the other Patrons, replaced by something closer to concern. The Patron of Blades cleared his throat. “This meeting... I understand you’ve always believed you sensed him still alive, but doesn’t the timing strike you as too convenient? We only have a few weeks until the trial; it will require all that time to get out to the Nether Lands and back. If you miss this grand event, they will send agents after us directly. They will denounce you.”

Elhume shook his head, yet he seemed less sure than stubborn. “This will just be an information exchange. It shouldn’t take much time.”

“But what if they want to move directly after the meeting?” The Patron of Blooms added, wrinkling her nose. “The Cult of the Savior should not be trusted. They may even be trying to cause you to miss the meeting.”

The breezy confidence came back to Elhume as he smiled and looked around at the group. “I’m not trying to say this will be easy. But after the Patron of the Deep heals, we will face that challenge together. We will find a way. We always have.”

Randidly frowned at Elhume’s current plans. He had been a bit worried things would develop like this; events dragging him away from Malloon. Not only did he now have enough PP to finish the next reward Path, but he was also close to several other Skills reaching a Mille. In addition to all that, he wanted to experiment with the repurposing of Nether Rituals to empower his attacks directly. If Randidly had some time to sit and train, he knew he would take another step forward in power.

The only question is whether Elhume’s right about this meeting just being an information one. He took a deep breath through his nose and took a deep pull of the surrounding significance. Very quickly, the answer came back: The threads were uninterested in Elhume’s journey. But weirdly enough-

Randidly glanced sideways at Mae Myrna, who still had a strange expression on her face. This whole time, she hadn’t really interjected at all. More significance pooled over her, and by association the Patron of Feathers, than the other group. The other Patrons exchanged sly grins at Elhume’s confident rallying of the team, but those two stood outside of the shift in attitude.

Randidly pursed his lips.

The Patron of Truth cleared her throat. “There is implicit danger in splitting up the group in any scenario, but... I’m in the middle of a training montage. I won’t be able to head out with you, Elhume, especially if this meeting is really just a time to exchange information. You should go on without me.”