Chapter 447 (1/2)

Randidly, content that all that could be done, had been done, was preparing to leave the Soul Skill and check the progress in the real world when Lucretia burst into the room. She looked him up and down, then sighed with relief.

“I was worried I wouldn’t catch you,” She said, plopping down on an ornate wooden chair, as she was used to such lavish riches. “We need to talk.”

She leaned back, seemingly in no hurry to begin their discussion. Instea,d she sighed and rubbed her temples. Even though she had clearly been taking advantage of the awe of the denizens of Randidly’s Soul Skill, he couldn’t deny that he sympathized with her exhaustion. For all that they were enjoying the most deferential treatment possible, they still were scheduled to inspect and give opinions on every small detail that could possibly affect the final confrontation with the army of abominations moving towards them.

Being effectively a Godling was hard. His voice in the world, even more so.

Wrinkling his nose at the thought of Lucretia being known as his voice, Randidly said, “What?”

“We haven’t spoken of it directly, but I’m sure you can sense it the same as me; the Creature is… effectively broadcasting energy to your Soul Skill, to create this army,” Lucretia said, her eyes still closed. “Unless that’s destroyed, this is a problem that will keep cropping up. But more than that… I think we should talk about the possibility that we use this connection to strike back at the Creature.”

That had Randidly’s attention. But it only took 10 seconds for Randidly to snort dismissively. “...based on what we understand from the situation, that is.... possible. But it would require us somehow manipulating Aether better than it… or sending a delegation back through the connection to strike at what is likely her Soul Skill. A Soul Skill that is probably thousands of years old. Although the people here are strong… I doubt-”

“True, they would likely die.” Lucretia shrugged. “But this would occur after the battle is won; at that point, what do a few more deaths matter? The success rate is very low, but if they manage to succeed, or even to communicate some of the details of its Soul Skill back to us-”

Standing abruptly, Randidly released a little of his aura. The longer that he spent in his Soul Skill, the more he realized that Progenitor’s Influence wasn’t the only weapon that he had to use while he was present here. The very air loved him, as it was his. As more and more time passed as he was here, there was a strange… almost magnetic effect of energy, where more and more concentrated on his body, giving him an aura that could be used to strike out.

Of course, it accumulated relatively slowly, and once it was used, it dispersed quickly. But Randidly didn’t mind blowing through a bit of it in order to intimidate Lucretia. And from the way her eyes widened immediately upon his usage, it worked.

“How-” She began, sounding completely bewildered, but that’s when it hit her, knocking her backwards off of her chair and onto the ground. Although he wanted to convey his anger, Randidly didn’t want to offend her overmuch, even if his anger called for a much greater retribution, so he kept it as a slight amount of force.

“Let me make myself very clear,” Randidly said, dropping the pitiable amount of aura he had used. Even though it was small, it was still fully one half of his stored up power, so he didn’t mind blowing it here, rather than saving it to interfere in the upcoming fight. “They are not… on our same plane of existence as us, that is true. But they have lives, and they should not be treated casually. They listen to you. I have no doubt that you would be able to convince them it was in the interest of the greater good for them to sacrifice themselves… but that is not what I want. They are, admittedly, a large source of power for me.”

As Lucretia straightened, her smile was all teeth. “Do you think I don’t know that? Hmph, you are trying to play softly with them when it is convenient for you, but you have no problem forcing them to fight against this invasion.”

“Because it's necessary,” Randidly hissed, frowning at Lucretia. “If it could be any other way-”

“It’s this way because you built their homes on top of a bomb you don’t understand.” Lucretia countered, her eyes red. “And while you were… blocked, shall we say, I was holding down the house. And yet… now you throw tantrums and have the nerve to lecture me?”

An energy began to condense around her then, faintly lilac with thin shimmers of gold within its depths. “Now, it’s become obvious that there is something… strange about that world of Shal’s; there is a subtle influence that pushes one towards violence and extremes. Out of its influence, I have lost much of the more sinister aspects to my nature. But do not for a moment forget what I am, what I have been, what I could be.”

When she spoke, hundreds of thin filaments of gold spread out, the lines of fate she had drawn between herself and another. And honestly… 80% led directly to Randidly. She flashed a cheeky smile, but that faltered when Randidly’s face stayed impassive.

Because while she was here, he had a strange ability to utilize her Skills too, and tugged back on those threads, demonstrating that these things didn’t just go one way. For a full minute, they both stood silently, looking at each other, sizing the other up.

To his surprise, Randidly relented first, sighing. “...think long and hard before you send a force through the conduit. It won’t be a token resistance they encounter there. The Creature is not me.”

Tight lipped, Lucretia nodded. To Randidly’s surprise, he was abruptly reminded of Sydney. And in a flash, he understood her deep frustration towards him. Because no matter how difficult it was to accept, at this point Randidly and Lucretia seemed bound so tightly that he knew of no easy way to extricate them. Although there were probably Skills that could accomplish it, Randidly didn’t even know where he should start looking for such a thing, or what Paths he would need to go down to accomplish it.