Chapter 1149 (2/2)

“Azriel, she wants to sacrifice your body to do it.” Instantly, Randidly frowned, finally letting the whole of his annoyance with Azriel through. “How can I stop and weigh some theoretical power when your life is on the other side of the scales? Sure, power would be useful. But I don’t need it. Even if I cannot solve everything, I can solve this problem in front of me-”

“Listen to yourself. ‘I don’t need it.’ So can you solve every problem that manifests itself in front of you?” Azriel interrupted. Her eyes glittered as she lazily spun her teacup in her hand. “Forget the theoretical problems that threaten the world. The problems that line up in front of you… if you devote yourself to them, can you solve them all?”

“What are you trying to say?” Randidly asked slowly.

After taking another sip of tea, Azriel gave Randidly a frank look. “I said it to you once… and its the reason that I stopped pursuing martial power. The more novelties I’ve experienced outside of the thin experience of my early life, the surer I have become: if you could build a better future by simply being strong… wouldn’t we have reached it already? Some things aren’t about the sort of threats you can deal with by being strong.”

Randidly experienced an echo of the same shock he had felt when Azriel had said that to him originally, sitting in that manicured garden in the Armgrast Capitol. Even now, Randidly didn’t know what to say to the confidence in Azriel’s expression. Because there was some part of him that wanted to argue that she was wrong. It was only due to the fact that increasingly powerful foes were circling viciously around him that Randidly needed to continue to stay strong and grow stronger. Someday, theoretically, he would be able to set aside that power.

For now-

But those words died stillborn on his lips as he looked at Azriel’s firm expression. He disagreed with her on this. Yet he also trusted her and recognized her intelligence. And Randidly had spoken honestly when he had said earlier that he didn’t believe he could solve everything on his own.

Even if he understood that Azriel was likely trying to guide him off of the same Path that Randidly had saved Donnyton from, his voice was bitter when he spoke. “So you are saying… be weak. Allow… the Creature to influence me for the possible benefit of its power.”

“I’m saying you shouldn’t be so inflexible as to refuse to take a loss here,” Azriel said with amusement. Then she raised a hand as Randidly gritted his teeth. “Peace, I only mean a loss from your current perspective. I wish to raise two points as to why it is actually not such a loss as you think.

“First… you fear allowing the Creature to have a measure of control over you. This is… honestly naive. Do you think that your image hasn’t already been indelibly marked by her? And your Class as well. But perhaps even more than that…” Azriel leaned forward. “This is just a projection, yes? This projection’s image would be fighting against the weight of everything that you have built so far.

“If you let that fragment of the Creature’s will into you, it will be bound by the bones of this place. You will influence it just as surely as it will influence you. Likely more so; this is your home turf. Just like the Creature made it here because of your past Soulskills… do you think your past Soulskills have truly died? You underestimate the past. The Path stretching behind you has not disappeared, Randidly Ghosthound.”

A tremor ran through Randidly.

Azriel straightened. “My second point… the Creature pointed out both the problem of Nether in your Soulskill and provided a certain type of solution: use the vacuum of Nether power in your current Alpha Cosmos to produce a potent weapon. Even if she has hurt you in the past… those two things alone are a tangible benefit you have received. You don’t have to be on the same side eternally, but do you not have the same goal? To overthrow the Nexus? Is it truly that unthinkable to work together?”

Gritting his teeth, Randidly spat out, “More likely than not she doesn’t truly believe I have the power to damage the Nexus. She just wishes for me to be a distraction so she can hide.”

“Is that true? Does she not currently seemed resolved?” This time, Azriel tapped her fingernail against the gold molding of the table. “Even faced with the knowledge that her main body is being pursued, she did not falter. In fact, she seemed even more determined that you pick up her blade.”

“I-” But again, as soon as Randidly went to vehemently deny the prospect, to insist that he didn’t need to work with the Creature, some part of him awakened to the fact that what he would be saying was that he could handle the problems alone. Which was why Azriel had started the conversation by asking him that.

Because that was the choice he was facing.

And it wasn’t that Azriel was insisting that Randidly allow a partnership with the Creature. No, she just wanted Randidly to look at the opportunity with clear eyes. Was he not taking similar risks by using the two Fates he had obtained as foci for his own Fate?

“...the Path you choose is your own, obviously.” Azriel took another sip of her tea. “You have made it thus far by relying on yourself. But do not lie to yourself; if you continue down this Path… you are the piece that will come under greater and greater stress. Everything stems from your own power. You will need to become strong enough to overcome everything. If not as an individual, as the fulcrum by which many forces meet. All that stress will run through you.

“This is another Path. One where you become the core of a larger assembly seeking to destroy the Nexus. Not to touch a sore subject… but is Vualla your partner… or a partner for now? A partner for before the time that you become strong enough to completely protect her?”

Still Randidly remained silent as emotions seethed inside of him. After a hesitation, Azriel spoke again.

“Do you truly resent the Creature that much…? You won’t even acknowledge that this is a woman that you are dealing with, however old and monstrous she may be. How different will you be from her if you continue down this Path for a couple of thousand years? Because all you need to do is look at her to see that she followed this same logic of yours during her life and lost. I’m not asking you to forgive her because of this… but can you at least acknowledge how that could have broken her?”

In his Alpha Cosmos, standing on the platform of jade, obsidian, and silver, Randidly slowly raised his head and gazed at the slowly unraveling seed that contained the Creature’s image. Unwilling to give, Randidly barred his teeth.