Chapter 1153 (2/2)

The Path the karma had always yearned for. The chance to wound the System.

Because Randidly’s Path was subverting the natural order of the Nexus.

When he started, he killed the Tribulation of another Village before it had truly been released. Then he had helped Lyra discover the tools to become a village spirit. Randidly had created his own Class and then caused fellow humans to seize the powerful roles of Champion and Nemesis.

Randidly had jumpstarted a world that had been slowly failing the Second Calamity for five hundred years and given a Village Spirit a Class.

And now with a blade of karma, he wanted to do something even more elaborate and bold.

Ignition Essence surged upward, leaving the fireball around Randidly dim, but it emerged as the shape of the hiltless blade in the sky. With that as the framework, the karma surged forward to form a vicious edge that had the requisite sharpness to sever.

Yet that wasn’t enough. Yggdrasil raised his branches and a gleaming, golden hilt was formed. It was sculpted, smooth mahogany covered with a looping, graceful script that told the entire story of this assembled blade that Randidly had created. It grandly spoke of a future where Randidly’s Alpha Cosmos became entirely his own.

Growling, the Grim Chimera became the shadowy bond that held the two portions of the blade together. It floated lightly downward, a thing of metaphors and repurposed images so that Randidly could easily take it into his grasp. Perhaps the strangest part of it was that the blade was three meters long, perhaps just as long as Acri itself. Randidly looked down at it in wonder. The hit was warm and the blade was cold.

Almost unwillingly, Randidly raised the blade above his head. For all that he had managed to tempt the karma with this long craved form, that accomplishment also meant that Randidly wasn’t long able to delay, or everything would come unwound. Then the threads of karma would find their bitter succor in Azriel’s flesh, which was exactly what Randidly was trying to prevent.

That Path would not give him the future he wanted.

“A beautiful blade,” The Creature said warily. “But do you think you can subvert its nature enough to strike at me? Or are you fool enough to truly try and cut the System itself out of the Alpha Cosmos? Because it has recorded this experiment of yours without responding to it because it doesn’t affect its bottom line. But if you truly strike at the System-”

“I know,” Randidly said. His hands itched from the strain of keeping the blade from falling, but he couldn’t strike yet. His Grim Intuition operated to its limits, giving him the shape of the System that was present in his Alpha Cosmos. Because he knew in his heart that the Creature was right. The karma he had received from her was truly bloodthirsty. And now that he activated that portion of it, be needed to sate that craving.

The problem was a wild strike against the System probably would be exactly the sort of action that Octavius Shrike warned Randidly against. Direct interference with the System that would bring a much harsher inquiry down on Randidly’s head. One that would likely cut to the truth of what Randidly was, and the energies he carried. One that Randidly couldn’t afford to allow.

Yet there were two Systems. And the karma that the Creature had given Randidly was not discriminatory.

Even then, Randidly probably wouldn’t trust himself to swing the sword. For one, because he had never used a sword in the past, but the larger point was that there was no room for error in his strike. If he didn’t completely sever the overlay System, it would realize what happened and likely report Randidly the same way a strike against the underlying System would. And if Randidly happened to strike against the main System…

There was a single line to walk.

No, the reason that Randidly felt he could do this was that he had added his own karma to this blade. Because his karma would act as a guide.

It was a secret given to Randidly by Ileot Swacc, a secret now which outlined about a third of the System that Randidly could sense in the Alpha Cosmos in gleaming light. That the overlay System only became possible by utilizing the principles used by the first Vualla. That her incorporation of Nether was critical to its implementation.

Randidly’s connection to the duplicated Vualla still burned strong in his chest. And although they were vastly different, they were two Paths from the same karma. Randidly could see exactly which parts were which. Vualla’s influence was illuminated before him. His shoulders relaxed.

The blade began its graceful arc downward.

“Don’t do it.” The Creature whispered desperately. “If you bring their attention onto yourself now, everything we’ve done-”

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Randidly cut the System while smiling viciously.