Chapter 1318 (2/2)

Randidly shook his head and sighed. One more weight on the shoulders won’t matter; what’s one more world I’m struggling against? I bear the Inscrutable Mien and drag in my wake the Implacable Price. If Yggdrasil is really a Universe that was First a Tree, it will eventually need to support its own natural laws anyway.

When he then roused himself and glance over at Helen, he found that she was now looking at him with a remarkably solemn expression. Seemingly, her earlier frustrations had been overcome while Randidly considered his own problem.

“So will I be able to fight against the First Calamity when it comes?” Helen asked.

After hesitating for a small moment, Randidly shook his head. “Probably not. I don’t think there will be any complications from you participating, but I think the Earth should learn to handle its problems on its own. I hope that Calamity shakes off the rest of the doubts that they have about the danger the Earth is in.”

She nodded and paused for a few seconds of time. When she spoke again, however, Helen’s eyes seemed to shimmer with a crimson light. “But of course, I’ll be able to participate on behalf of the Order Ducis against these… corrupted invaders? Quite an unusual threat that has suddenly appeared on the planet.”

Inwardly, Randidly chuckled wryly. Was Helen using a sales tactic of starting with a large ask and then becoming more reasonable to get him to agree? Maybe he had left her alone with Tatiana for too long; the two were as thick as thieves. But honestly, it didn’t much matter; Randidly had planned on Helen helping to resolve this problem quickly. “Of course. We aren’t extremely pressed for time… but we definitely don’t want to miss the window for the benefit if the danger will remain on Earth either way. You’ll be responsible for smashing to pieces any defenses that were likely designed to stall a typically developing world.”

“About fucking time you let me stop playing around. I swear, when you aren’t around to spar, I’m driven out of my mind by boredom.” Helen rolled her shoulders.

This time, Randidly chuckled aloud. “We will see how much longer you can say that for. The people of Earth are growing stronger. Maybe someday soon, someone will be able to beat you in a direct confrontation. That would certainly inject some tension into your life, right?”

Helen snorted, but as she quickly changed the subject, Randidly realized that the same thought had already occurred to her. And that she was unwilling to dwell on it for a moment longer than necessary. “How was the party? Have the people of Earth begun to listen to you?”

That made Randidly twisted his mouth. He glanced down at the pitch-black metal of his left hand, flexing it to cause lines of white light to flare to life across the dull surface. As Randidly focused on his swirling inner nebula, shadowy flames of Nether flickered to life across his knuckles. “They currently listen to my power. Which is fine for now. But this Epic Danger Zone and the direct interference of the System… it means someone has noticed something about me. Rather than continuing to lure those forces to Earth… I’ll probably need to go to the Nexus to stop the Earth from becoming a battleground.

“Which means I’ll be leaving Earth, for who knows how long. And as the impression of my power fades… people will stop heeding the warnings that I left for them. Even though I don’t doubt the Order Ducis will remain the most powerful group for a while even without me, that won’t stop some of the other Zones from testing the limits. Especially since we have no idea what kind of Zone is about ot connect to Earth, or what sort of governments will be revealed in the new bubble cities… I can’t just display power; I need to teach them a lesson about power. Which is what is happening now.”

“Will it work?” Helen asked. It was clear from her tone that she didn’t think that it would.

Randidly showed his teeth. “Probably not. Which is why I’m being a bit heavy-handed this time.”

*****

“Obviously we don’t want to actually meet the Ghosthound,” Delilah told Tim. As she spoke his name, a shadow of fear skittered across her features, but then it passed and they continued on her way. She skipped quickly ahead, forcing Tim to jog to keep up with her on the winding forest path that led out the back of the children’s haphazard wooden castle. A gaggle of older and larger teens followed closely behind. “Have you met him? Don’t do it. He is one of the most horrible… he’s the devil incarnate. Hiding from him is impossible. Once he grabs you, he won’t let go. So we avoid him. BUT! We obviously need to go to his party!”

“Err... “ Tim glanced around, still slightly unsure what he was doing here. After introducing herself, Delilah had promptly begun barking out quick orders to the other kids, without waiting for Tim’s answer to her offer to crash the party. Tim’s arrival served as some sort of signal that the plot was beginning. She seemed to take his acceptance for granted. “Why do we need to go to his party?”

Delilah abruptly stopped, requiring the rest of the scampering column to skid on their heels in order to prevent them all from smashing into each other and collapsing into a pile of gangly limbs. She turned around and regarded Tim with a beaming expression of pride. “Aha! I knew you looked smart. Because all the adults have emphatically said that there will not be a birthday cake because the Ghosthound doesn’t like them. But it’s a birthday! Of course there is a cake. Which means there must be a secret cake!”

“Uh…” Tim wasn’t sure if he shared Delilah’s confidence. “But also… why did you invite me…?”

“Weight to moss spirit ratio,” Delilah turned around and started skipping forward again just as abruptly. “I told them to bring me the scrawniest kid with the most moss spirits around him, and that turned out to be you! Just a surprise you are so new here. Seems like they really like you.”

Scrawny? But I’m bigger than you! Tim thought with a frown. But then his other questions reasserted themselves.

“But why-” Tim opened his mouth to continue the line of questioning, but they rounded the side of a low hill and walked into a small clearing in the trees. The words died on his lips as he saw the rather strange mixture of crudeness and care that only projects completed entirely by children possessed.

A slapped together wooden vessel sat in the middle of the clearing, reminding Tim of vague memories of boats he had seen in the past. The bottom was flat like a raft, but it was large enough to fit two squat shacks and a tall mast that seemed entirely without purpose.

“Our ship,” Delilah said fondly.