Chapter 1051 (2/2)

The skin began to burn and curl upward in long, warped loops. The emerald light from Randidly’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. It felt like-

Pop.

“Huh, I stand corrected.” The very reassuring voice of Abiodun rumbled. “You have lived. This is a surprise.”

*****

Abiodun stood before Queen Iellaya, looking at the ground as his mistress stared up at the roof of her tent while lost in thought.

“An image surviving alone in the Great Rift should be impossible,” Iellaya said lightly. Because she said it, it was so. Abiodun continued to look at the ground without responding. She did not need him to assist her here. She would turn the problem over in her mind until she was satisfied with the answer.

That was the terrible implacable determination that made Iellaya such a formidable commander.

“An image without a body will be damage directly by Nether. That very image-body is the source of its strength while it is cut off from the main body. It no longer possesses the sentience that imagined ‘it’ originally. Without the imaginer, the image cannot very well return to its original form once damaged. Because the part of it that knows itself would be warped along with the form…” Iellaya tapped the edge of her desk with a heavy silver pen. Abiodun could hear the soft sound of Iellaya’s feathers flexing outward.

“...there is also the matter of the resonance between the images of this Randidly Ghosthound. They are clearly more intimately connected than most images… and each more distinct and evolved.” Iellaya showed her teeth. “If I can bring this man to my side, it will be a great boon to the cause. Regardless of how his image accomplished it, the fact that the image possessed that capability means the man behind the image is even more of a find. Did the image use the Aether Fountain to recover after returning?”

Abiodun straightened and shook his head. “The tree image informed me that such a thing would be unnecessary. It is performing the healing directly. As for the image running out of Aether… it showed no signs.”

Iellaya sneered. “If they became cognizant of their situation, they are likely aware enough to avoid the Aether Fountains. They can clearly see that such energy would not come without costs. But at least that’s one thing I won’t need to worry about. Although now that the image survived after I filed it as destroyed, I’m stuck in something of a pickle… but perhaps that can be used to my advantage.”

Inclining his head, Abiodun agreed with Iellaya’s assessment. That was the reason that Abiodun had thrown his lot in with Iellaya just as she was beginning to discover her ability to subsume other’s images for her own gain: she did not regret mistakes, but found ways to transform them into advantages. To Iellaya, it was all a matter of perspective. And due to the fact that Abiodun was the first to bow, his growth surpassed all the later converts.

One part of that was outlook, but the other part was an extremely sharp mind that would repeatedly reduce a problem to thin slices in order to determine what the best path forward was.

“Still, if the image recovers it will be a strong soldier.” Iellaya mused. “The physical form is quite compelling as well. I quite look forward to how being within my Domain will influence it. Hopefully, its loyalty toward me will grow rapidly enough to make a difference. Otherwise, that fool Lord Miln will have his way and half the frontlines will collapse just so he can win his fucked-up private war.”

Abiodun didn’t respond to that. Some thoughts it was better to pretend not to have heard. He was not here to offer advice. He was just here to obey.

And yet, some instinct made Abiodun raise his head and look at Iellaya in the eye. When she mentioned the Ghosthound being influenced by her Domain, something inside of Abiodun did not believe it.

Iellaya noticed his gaze almost immediately and paused in her thoughts. So rare was such an action for Abiodun that even Iellaya was swayed by its sudden arrival. “Is something the matter?”

“No, Queen,” Abiodun said. After hesitating for a second, he finally rumbled. “I just… I like this Randidly Ghosthound. It might not be relevant, but I wish to offer you this information. His spirit is not one that will be easy to sway. This I sense.”

Iellaya’s eyes were pitch black as she weighed his words carefully. “...you very rarely express any sort of emotion. And to it to be enough for you to say you like him…”

“The only other person I would have said such a thing about…” Abiodun sighed in his heart. But his loyalty to Queen Iellaya was everything. She should know his honest reaction. “...was you.”

“Indeed.”

Abiodun could not look up and examine Iellaya’s expression. Her face was covered in that same devouring darkness that was always present in the corner of Iellaya’s eyes. But now it spread and it became her entire countenance. The vast will to dominate and control that usually slept in her chest was shaken into wakefulness.

As with every other strange bit of information, Abiodun could feel Iellaya attacking this with a scalpel, cutting and cutting and searching to find the perfect way for this information to become useful to her.

To find the way that Abiodun’s affection for Randidly Ghosthound became a weapon.