Chapter 1315 (2/2)
“What happens if you pass the Fourth Calamity?” Warlord asked curiously. The Winged Serpent’s tongue flicked outward and then it looked at Randidly.
Randidly grinned. “No one has passed the Fourth Calamity in a very long time.”
From some of the earlier information Randidly had obtained, the Fourth Calamity was a special inspection done by a ‘representative’ of the System. To his mind, it sounded ominously like actually being forced to face Elhume.
For all that Randidly had been constantly improving, that heavy gaze from an entire continent of crystalized Aether would still shatter him like an egg.
“I cannot explain the details of the Calamities due to… constraints,” The Winged Serpent continued while Randidly flexed his hands. “But failing the second Calamity will see your planet become the basis for Dungeons for the next Cohort. Failing the third Calamity generally… means you will take on even stranger roles for the System, depending on the type of wildlife and images present on your planet.”
“The System always gets its due. Once we use its energy to create images, our images became its valuable labor to harvest more images in the future.” Randidly added. Then he started increasing the circulation of Nether through his body. Although most people in the room wouldn’t necessarily notice the shift immediately, they would feel a heaviness on their chests as they looked at him. “But I can give some information on the other Calamities, as I have offered in the past.”
The Winged Serpent’s tongue flicked outward. Randidly’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Certainly a cool customer. I was hoping he would be more shocked that I know about the Calamities.
“The Second Calamity pits our world against a warped mirror of Earth. Basically forcing us to fight our worst fear, although defining it like that might be a bit misleading. In System terms, I believe it makes us fight a reflection that shows us the farthest Path away from what we took to get here.”
After Randidly said that, he paused and frowned. Wait a minute, does the Second Calamity have anything to do with Ileot’s power? Because it seems like it literally IS an effect similar to what he could accomplish… just funded directly by the System at large and designed to fuck a planet over…
An interesting thought, but one that Randidly would consider more when he was standing in front of almost two hundred people. “The Third Calamity… is likely the simplest and the most agonizing. As though we had failed the first Calamity, Earth will need to endure a period of time where Aether is extremely scarce. The goal… is to cull most of the populations and force the most powerful images to develop further, urged forward by the threat of extinction.”
One of the three women standing near Han Yazhu paused as she raised her flute of champagne to her lips. “...so even if we pass the First Calamity, we will still have to face the consequences of failure as though we hadn’t? In order to test us?”
“Generally, yes,” Randidly said with a sigh. The woman downed her entire glass of champagne in a single gulp and signaled for another. He glanced at the Winged Serpent to see if the Nemesai was willing to add any more information, but it held its tongue within its mouth. However, Randidly couldn’t help but notice that its gaze on Randidly was quite a bit more interested.
...or at least Randidly thought so, based on the combination of the Winged Serpent’s posture and subtle image that got through his Nether dampening. But it was still difficult to tell much from its reptilian eyes.
Randidly circulated a slightly larger volume of Nether as his gaze moved from person to person that were standing and watching him speak. Even though he had their full attention, he still felt quite uncomfortable with it. He ignored that feeling as best he could. “But the real threat, the unexpected one, is the Corrupted Invaders we earned by clearing enough Danger Zones in time. The timeline isn’t exact… but I have heard that the seventh and final Zone will be connecting to New Earth in two weeks' time. So that is all the time we have to clear out four Danger Zones… and then address the Epic Danger Zone.”
THAT finally earned a response.
“How do you know this?” Theodora Greyman asked in bewilderment. Many of the Order representatives frowned down at there hands in a stance that clearly showed they were sending messages to their Order at large. Mrs. Hamilton seemed almost annoyed and quickly produced a small notebook to mark some things down.
People in the crowd glanced at each other and began to whisper quietly.
But of course, Randidly’s attention was once more on the Nemesai. Although the Winged Serpent stayed completely neutral, the Bandit King jerked in surprise when Randidly made that reveal. And in his eyes, Randidly saw a flash of relief.
So it seems like the Nemesai aren’t completely out of cards to play yet… Randidly hummed to himself before ratcheting up the pressure he released a little bit more. Good to know, but not relevant quite yet. The entire venue seemed to be encircled by the roots of Yggdrasil. The chatter quickly died out.
“I’ve already located the Danger Zones we need to clear to reveal the Epic Danger Zone, and I expect there will be some rules regarding clearing it that have been arranged by the System. I…” Randidly closed his eyes. Trust them. “...will not be personally taking part in the Epic Danger Zone. But you have my full support and the Order Ducis will be sending representatives. If we stay focused, we are more than capable of obtaining the benefits the System promised us.”
Because earlier Octavius Shrike had sent Randidly a second message, adding a few more details about this interference. They would discuss the rest later, but from what Octavius had said, this whole thing was a trap that had been set for him.