Chapter 212 Capacity for Evil (2/2)
”You have no idea what that is, do you?”
”Nope!”
”... haaah... how the hell did you even survive up until this point?” she lamented for a moment before explaining. ”Usually, when people are crossing into the Realm of the Exalted, the only requirement is pretty much just to externalize your own Will -- it doesn't even matter to what degree. It can even be by sheer luck, it still wouldn't matter. However, there were some people throughout the history that had gone well beyond that, which is why the crossing is now divided into three 'variations' -- the ordinary one, upon which you become an Exalted, the version in which you actually gain control over a sliver of your Will like you already do whereupon you become Chosen Exalted, and the one you're attempting -- to condense the Will into a corporeal object and stuff it into your Soul to nourish, after which you become the Exalted Soul.”
”... what are the differences?” Lino asked.
”The higher up the Realms you go, the more important does the Will become,” Hannah explained. ”Think of it as... hmm... right, a projection of yourself; for instance, the reason why most people can't go against those of much higher Realms like you can has very little to do with Qi, actually, as it's all relative in the end -- a great part of it is due to Will. They feel suffocated by just even contemplating the fight, let alone engaging in it. Aah... it's really difficult to explain. Even I don't get it completely.”
”What Level are you anyway?” Lino asked, curious as he whipped out two gourds of wine and handed one over to her.
”1491.”
”... fuck off.”
”I'm serious, ha ha ha,” she laughed freely, seeing his distorted expression. ”After all, I've been repeatedly cultivating since I was like 13-14 years old, and with all the resources my Sect shoved into me believing I was cultivating their Art, well... it'd be embarrassing if I didn't reach the Level I did.”
”... seriously, fuck this shit.” Lino sighed in defeat, taking a sip of now embittered wine. ”First Ella, now you... in comparison, I really come off as an untalented hack.”
”Ha ha, don't feel that bad about it. Every Empyrean ever pretty much always lagged behind the rest, it isn't anything unusual. The reason Empyreans have always terrified everyone isn't even because they were super strong; it was usually because they were the bitch of the highest order to kill. For instance, if you wore this armor, I'm fairly confident that I'd stand absolutely no chance of killing you. Your regeneration is practically fucking out of this world.”
”Yeah, yeah, thanks for comforting me,” Lino chuckled. ”Oh, right, what's your title?”
”Officially?” she smirked. ”Exalted Queen of Life.”
”... wow, that's lame.”
”Yup.” she nodded in agreement. ”But, my actual title is pretty cool I think.”
”Oh?”
”Elysian Crucible.”
”... yeah, that's pretty cool.” Lino nodded. ”Wait, does anyone even know your actual Level?”
”... nope.” she said, somewhat bashful. ”You're the first.”
”Well, what a high-grade honor this is.”
”Are you making fun of me?”
”I wouldn't dare.”
”Asshole.” she snorted.
”Ah, anyway, you'll be the one taking the vanguard role now.”
”Yeah, sure. Of course I will.”
”... I sense sarcasm.”
”And you sense correctly!” she exclaimed with an innocent smile. ”Besides, do you really think we'll be fighting anything directly? We'd be flattened before we even knew we were fighting in the first place. The first priority is to try and put the Prime to sleep.”
”Any idea on how we're going to achieve that?”
”Nope!”
”You're awfully cheery for someone who's about to walk into the disaster far greater than the Devil's Invasion.” Lino shrugged.
”Well, Astrum explained that the circumstances aren't that dire. Didn't Ataxia explain anything to you?”
”... hey, asshole. Mind explaining why you didn't explain anything to me?” Lino angrily roared as Hannah did her best to withhold laughter.
”... I was merely pondering over how far you'll go before asking for some answers.” the Writ replied shortly after, causing a twitch in Lino's lips.
”... a-alright... so... how about you provide some answers, then.”
”As I'm sure the Elysian already knows,” the Writ voiced out through Lino's lips. ”Umbra is a Prime of Illusions, Shadows, Darkness, Misdirection and such. She has little to no direct battle strength, but breaking her defenses in a direct confrontation is simply impossible for you two at the moment. She works through corrupting any sentient beings, who serve as her hosts and further spread her influence. As she has awakened just recently, she's still technically in a half-asleep state and is functioning purely on instincts which is why her expansion will be very limited.”
”...” the Writ grew silent for a moment to let Lino process everything.
”If she's allowed to awaken fully and enter the rapid-expansion mode, she would make the entire Continent her domain within a single day. The drawback, however, to such strength is that it's necessary for her to expand all the time, since if she doesn't her influence withers. The best way to fight her is to use her period of being in the half-sleeping state to evacuate every form of life -- or to kill every form of life -- as far away from her as possible, and then to roam around her domain and prevent her agents from slipping past.”
”...” noticing Lino's strange gleam, Hannah's heart suddenly shuddered as she had a bad premonition. ”W-what are you thinking?” she asked fearfully.
”He... he... he he he he...” a chuckle bordering between maniacal and outright evil escaped Lino's lips as his face scrounged into the most menacing grin Hannah had ever seen. ”We gon' light up the world Hannah, ha ha ha ha, we're gonna light up the fucking world!!” and thus began Hannah's daily struggles to understand what Lino meant, though even her wildest imagination would come to disappoint her eventually.