Chapter 2386

Chapter 2386

...is it possible to leverage your assistance further? Don Beigon asked, sitting in the middle of a grand formation built on the edge of the cliff. Waves of copper-colored water crashed below, sending glittering spray up into the slow golden rotation of energy around his person. Nearby, several powerful figures from the Nether Lattice floated and considered, while adding a pittance of their shared significance to the working. In the distance, the Dons subordinates and former debtors called to join the Nether Lattice mingled freely.

It had almost become a small festival. The excitement and powerful images added weight to the air. Many lingered over curiosity over how Elhume would deal with this blatant transgression, growing ever more curious as the distant disturbance in the Nexus continued to delay the predicted hammer blow. Of course, they also remained far enough away from the action they would be able to escape sudden retribution.

Upon his request, the Nether Lattice representatives took their sweet time conferring with each other to weigh the options. Knowing this would happen, the Don closed his eyes; time was a precious commodity to him right now, although he needed to be extremely precise in its allotment.

His image wavered and swelled, before adjusting its shape and slimming back down to a more condensed shape. He felt a low through through his entire being, as he tried to perfect his image that would become a Truth. Once he reached the proper volume, the volume of the Pinnacle for his image note, he would not be able to make adjustments. The process couldnt be interrupted.

His emotions twisted and writhed; each exerted individual influence on the final note. His deep well of vengeance, his methodical patience, his brutally exacting intellect, the complex gears and flywheels of his internal sense of debt.

He felt a grand machine becoming clearer and clearer in his mind, possessing none of the vagaries of ephemeral karma. No, the Truth he would embody would be an empirical truth. Connections, brushes, and touches wouldnt be so poisonous. His would be a moment of clean delineation.

Of fucking payment for which he was long owed. A reckoning that would attribute culpability where it was due.

It is possible, The humanoid hawk that had hemmed and hawed in the negotiations now acted as though this agreement was the pinnacle of generosity. However, you must understand, we take on a great deal of risk in this manner. Despite all your preparations, have others failed to at least gather this much support? After all, if Elhume were to intervene before you have repaid our significance

The Don bowed his head as though giving this pile of horseshit his due consideration. Instead, he simply followed the notes of his personal truth toward their inevitable conclusion. The nobs of his emotion slowly slid into alignment. He would generate a reordering of this Nexus. A new order where power could not elude justice.

...I do have certain rare resources, gathered over the course of my business operations for the past few centuries. Secret vaults. I am willing to provide their locations, as collateral for your continued faith. He finally said. He looked around at his allies. He witnessed the poorly disguised greed in their eyes.

The Nether Lattice representatives nodded solemnly. The amount of support they offered increased. The trickle of significance became a healthy stream. His left hand gripped the armrest with just a pound of force less than would be required to snap it; For now, this meager increase would be enough. His foundation empowered its shape and structure, pushing him upward.

Irritation surged in the Dons chest, both threatening to cause him to break his character and also lose the thread of his truth. In the end, this was a distracting farce and he couldnt wait until he could put it behind him.

He followed the flow of golden radiance above him, to the place where his foundation, the available moment, and his rising image led him. A swirling portal opened, a direct Path to the Pinnacle. However, the Don made no move to take this doorway.

He honed his image. He strengthened his foundation. Across the Nexus, his agents activated secondary rituals to give him a better grip on the moment.

The portal to the Path to the Pinnacle wiggled and shifted. The crossing-over point to this trap gauntlet created by Elhume adjusted to his higher attainment. Gradually, the grand working created by the Don drilled upward, giving him access to a higher point along the dangerous gauntlet guarding the Pinnacle.

He thought we would win, despite all that. Despite all the reasons why most said we wouldnt be able to manage it. Alana coughed a bit, sucked in her stomach, and took her spear stance. Small wisps of golden-orange light slithered away from her skin. She could feel her image, her faith, percolating through and settling within that dense core of Nether in her chest.

How? Lady Iellaya chuckled as she looked Alana up and down.

Alana shrugged, unwilling to admit she also didnt understand. Instead, she focused all her attention on her next move-- her current five Revelations wouldnt cut it. After such a long break it was time to open her soul and discover a Sixth Revelation-

The place in her chest where faith and Nether mixed shook slightly. Alana was disconcerted; the shudder seemed to indicate creating another Revelation was the wrong choice.

Another section of the Military High Command facade collapsed as two more bodies blasted out. A group of three grim-faced soldiers walked out after, just as Heiffal coughed and writhed, rolling off of Charlotte Wick, who he had protected with his body.

Large spatters of blood bloomed on those stretches of ground they had rolled across before their momentum had been expended.

Heiffal! Alana gasped out the words. Charlotte released an inarticulate roar as she managed to get her bearings. The ground beneath their feet writhed and seethed as her Primal Force roused it into action. Waves of natural energy filled the air. The warm smell of freshly turned loam filled the air.

It was an empowered and inherited image, one passed down from the Ghosthound.

The three soldiers smirked. They unleashed blasts of their sharpened images. In concert, the three ripped through and obliterated Charlotte Wicks defenses. All the natural vibrancy she conjured barely held off the offensive for a second. And in the next instant, Heiffal came roaring onto the scene.

Drops of blood dribbled out from his numerous wounds. Alana could tell he was a firm shove away from folding over like a rotten tree trunk. But in the face of those refined images from the Actus Suprems personal forces, Heiffal didnt hesitate for a second. His image was rough, but it surged dramatically from the depths of his body. It was a profoundly selfish image, one that refused to concede.

Despite its faults, it possessed a foundation that an inherited image couldnt rival. The Nether in Alanas body began to rotate.

His resistance flickered but didnt wholly falter. For a second he held back the attack, giving time for Charlotte to reposition, bring her furry around swinging around Heiffals waist, and then yanking both of them to safety.

The concentrated image blast from the trio shot forward, ripping up a trough of marble ground. Alana felt her Nether begin to settle into a new pattern. Her ribcage continued to release twinges of pain, but she knew what she had to do.

As I pointed out, you were abandoned, Lady Iellaya said. She took a step forward. Her Feathered Serpents tail lashed back and forth. If you surrender now, we will be willing to spare the lives of your soldiers.

It cant be about him all the time, Alana whispered to herself. Her orange-golden motes of holiness began to flash and pulse. We we need to begin to take full responsibility. The paths have been opened. And now

Now we walk. Alanas eyes shifted to Heiffal, coughing through lips wet with blood. Her pupils dilated. The Skill crystalized inside her chest. The First Parable: A Hopeless Soldier.