Chapter 1150 (1/2)

Randidly knew why Azriel would make her stand. He also knew why she would make her stand here; it was one thing for Randidly to admit he needed help, it was another for him to face the truth of those beings he would likely need to receive help from in order for that help to matter against the Nexus.

The assistance of an average individual wouldn’t be enough. Those content with their lives would never gather enough power to matter.

Yet this was difficult ask. There was so much built-up hatred and fear in his chest that he laid at the feet of the Creature, for all the ways it… she manipulated him over the course of his experience with the System. He was a tool to her, meant to be used and then cast aside. To work with someone who made use of him, who tried to burn everything he was and wanted to protect…

Are those emotions worth sacrificing the chance to make her a tool of my own, though…?

That was the question that Azriel asked. She wasn’t asking Randidly to trust that the Creature wouldn’t try to betray him or use him somehow. In fact, she was telling him to face that possibility head-on. But what Azriel also wanted from him was to also face directly the benefits that might come with using the Creature or her image.

The costs and benefits should be balanced. Although Randidly continued to think that Azriel was rather blithely ignoring the threat on her own life through all of this...

Randidly pressed his eyes closed. If my Soulskills, and the Alpha Cosmos by extension, are truly the type of worlds that are created by being strong… worlds that are habitually beset by an existential threat with the potency to shatter everything I’ve built… perhaps this Path I’ve walked…

Feeling that they had dithered for long enough, Randidly slowly phased out of that strange tea room with Azriel. Yet even as his awareness turned back toward the Alpha Cosmos and the horrible howling of the collapsing Nether Ritual, Azriel’s voice continued to whisper into Randidly’s ear. “When you were purely a being of Aether… well, when Aether was the dominant force, it was fine that you and the Alpha Cosmos were one. You were a world, and a world was an individual.

“But as your body became increasingly comprised of Nether… especially because of how fascinating the interaction is between the two energy sources… there needed to be a vessel of Nether here in the Alpha Cosmos to mirror its presence in your body. The Creature intends to make that a weapon and establish a balance in that manner.”

How… do you know that? Randidly asked mentally.

Azriel seemed to sniff and take a sip of her mental tea. Even though it was just an illusion, Randidly would have sworn he could smell mint. “Because I’ve been here observing the changes in the Soulskill for quite a bit longer than you. Most of it is conjecture, but being part of this strange ritual has made me… strangely connected to the broader situation in the Soulskill. This Nether… is a peculiar substance.”

Randidly shook his head as a huge chunk of the spine of the Nether RItual above groaned and collapsed. Nether began to freely spurt out and douse their area in even more dense Nether with thick globlets like a heavy fall rainstorm. If such a huge chunk had broken off of a Class, it would be effectively hamstrung, no matter how many Levels you gained. As it was… it was a sign that this all was soon going to come crashing down soon.

And Randidly needed to make a decision.

All that Randidly had done for the past several years was to get stronger to resist the Creature’s next plan. Or to be on the lookout for signs of the Creature and escape her next trap. It was a habit he had long gotten into. Although his main enemy was the Nexus… the Creature embodied all the same traits that Randidly hated from the Nexus. Entitlement. Greed. Manipulation. Arrogance.

Callous disregard for life. It had been the physical representation of Randidly’s final goal on Earth. It kept him motivated to grow and to refuse to let his growth slow down.

Yet that thought caused Ki-Kunot’s feathered visage appeared before Randidly, tugging at the edges of his heart.

Shaking his head, Randidly tried to stem the guilt that was seeping out into his thought processes. Luckily, rage still roared in every bone of Randidly’s body as he considered Azriel’s suggestion. Following the lesson of the Creature and achieving balance in his Soulskill? Bah. It roared and demanded sacrifice instead. Rather than give in to obtain a benefit, it urged him to fight and burn everything the Creature touched to the ground.

And fear slithered through his tendons and joints, preserved by the visceral remembrance of how he had been bound previously by the Creature’s machinations. Even making use of the Creature’s strength and knowledge seemed like a dangerous prospect.

And yet…

There was a truth that occurred to Randidly as he watched the black bead unwind, slowly revealing the memories contained within that the Creature had donated to birth a weapon. As he thought about this almost missed truth and considered it from every angle, he could find no flaw in it. Perhaps his perspective was simply warped, but… it felt impeccably true to his eyes. Ignition Essence pulsed with agreement for the sudden insight.

The truth was a simple one: The Creature would not expect Randidly to compromise here.

Perhaps that was what ultimately moved the needle of his heart the shade it needed in order to consider it as a serious option. Because no matter how much Azriel might sense about Randidly needing to achieve balance in his Soulskill and the Creature providing an easy avenue, she didn’t understand the Creature’s abilities. Randidly did.

And he didn’t doubt there was another trap hidden somewhere in this, waiting for him to buck her carefully laid plans and find a way to seize her power for himself. Because that was what he had always done. That was what she, the Creature, had likely done over the course of her lifetime.

Is there really any benefit to doing something that will legitimately surprise the Creature? Randidly asked himself.

Combined with all of the other benefits of using her power… yes. Randidly whispered back to himself. Even if she didn’t expect the method of me using Nether… she correctly predicted it would eventually happen. And to give her a genuine surprise now will make her doubt every plan she had laid thus far.