Chapter 402 The Limits (1/2)
CHAPTER 402
THE LIMITS
A man clad entirely in black was silently sitting on his knees, observing the youth above him with the corners of his eyes. The youth sat with one leg crossed over another, leaned against his arm, the other one busy tapping against the armrest of the stone chair. In front of him, spanning nearly two meters across, fluttered a screen depicting speedy blurs and flashes of light that made it nearly impossible to discern anything.
Yet, despite that, the youth seemed to have reacted at every point of contention with one expression or another. There was a faint smile of amusement on his face throughout, only vanishing once the screen in front of him faded. Silence tapped over the two for a long while as the young man turned to his thoughts, his gaze dulling somewhat.
The black-clad man sat and waited patiently, never making a sound or even moving a muscle. It was nearly four hours later that the youth had finally come to, lowering his gaze to match the man's.
”... invite the Empyrean to see me.” the youth said.
”... Y-your Grace? Didn't... didn't the Empyrean lose?” the black-clad man asked, clearly shocked.
”Oh, yeah, he got smacked proper,” the youth chuckled. ”But, he hardly lost. He got played, at best.”
”... are... are we really going to go into open conflict with the Descent?”
”It was only a matter of time,” the youth shrugged. ”Besides, it won't be our conflict, anyway. We'll just sweep in for the easy pickings afterwards. Five years -- no, two... two years is all it will take. In two years, Great Descent will cease to exist.”
”Huh?!”
”We only need give the Empyrean the assisting hand for two years, giving him some space to breathe.”
”...”
”You think I'm overvaluing him, don't you?”
”I--”
”It's fine. Just say what's on your mind.”
”...” the black-clad man took a deep breath before replying. ”All our estimates certainly underrated the Empyrean severely -- but, he still fell under our general framework. He has failed to become a macro variable. If anything, he just confirmed that rumors of Two's weakening were hideously wrong.”
”... no, rumors of her weakening are correct.” the young man said, startling the black-clad figure. ”She relapsed, most-likely, and failed another Origin Awakening.”
”... h-how... how do You know?”
”Her last attack,” the young man said, smiling as he once again began tapping the armrest. ”Wasn't merely a warning -- it was a full-on effort to at the very least cripple, if not outright kill the Empyrean. However, he took it squarely... and survived. Not just survived but avoided any sort of a long-term injury. Now, even I would have to admit that if it were Two at her peak, she would have splattered him across the skyscape. So, she's definitely weakened.”
”...”
”But, not to the point a budding flower barely fourth decade into life should be able to contend against it. If I can throw out an estimate without judgment... I'd wager that the Empyrean's Vitality at the moment of impact breached sixty million.”
”W-what?!!” the black-clad man cried out, shooting up to his feet. ”T-hat's impossible!! Th-that... that would put him near the very top!”
”... I know,” the youth nodded, sighing. ”And, though in my heart I wish to attribute his survival to luck or some item or another, it's true. I imagine most of it comes from the bonuses of his items, but even still, it would mean that his base Vitality is around ten million, and I garner he could hit a hundred million if he truly went all out. There are perhaps only two beings with the capacity to deal that much damage in a single blow.”
”...” the black-clad man fell to his knees once more, his shoulders slumped. ”I've still much to learn...”
”Don't chastise yourself,” the youth chuckled. ”I'm merely making assumptions with some basic calculations. The Empyrean's growth is not unprecedented,” the youth added somberly. ”If anything, he only really hits the 'upper talents' category. Eldon, by the twenty-fifth year of being an Empyrean, had already undergone his Origin Awakening. Eve, had she lived longer, would have undergone hers in at most twenty. Even outside the Empyreans, there are thousands of figures throughout history that had speedier climb than him. I wager that the Sword Maiden had already shot past all our expectations, but, well, she's an exception, after all.”
”...”
”The reason why I'd rather stand on his side... is his Will.”
”His... Will? Your Grace?”