Chapter 1323 (1/2)

After polishing his rhinoceros horn and straightening his suit, Octavius Shrike coughed into his hand and raised his chin in an officious manner. Although it was admittedly somewhat… unusual to accept an invitation to a party hosted by someone in a Cohort that he was overseeing… as far as he could tell, there was no rule against it.

Obviously his powers would be greatly suppressed, but he wasn’t there to impart any teachings in that regard. Although Octavius was currently confident he was more powerful than Randidly Ghosthound, he was not sure how much longer that would last. That knowledge was… unsettling, but that was part of the reason that Octavius now chose to attend the party. Developing a good relationship with powerful individuals before they had reached their full potential was essential.

To that end, the reason that Octavius went accepted the invitation was to share information. Randidly Ghosthound needed to be warned that the Swacc family was clearly aware that there was something unusual about his body. Their trap was rather ingenious, but with Octavius Shrike’s help, Randidly would avoid it effortlessly.

Or at least, that was what Octavius hoped for. He was somewhat nervous that it wouldn’t be so simple because although Octavius knew he could protect Randidly, it remained to be seen what could be done for the Earth as a whole.

With his authority as Overseer of the Seventh Cohort, it was entirely child’s play to open a portal to the Earth. Due to their prior interactions, it was very easy for Octavius to key in on Randidly Ghosthound’s energy as well and arrive next to him. The portal opened grandly and Octavius strode through, the awards and merits that were pinned to his chest jingling with the motion.

And he did indeed found Randidly. But Octavius paused, struck by the bleak coldness that hung around Randidly Ghosthound. The image seeping out of the young man was so biting that Octavius sucked in a quick breath. They stood on a moonlight island, a low silver mist pooling in large banks around them. The surrounding area was entirely still.

Randidly had his head lowered, a shadow covering his face. Octavius cleared his throat. “Did… Mr. Ghosthound, are you alright?”

Randidly blinked and looked upward. Almost immediately, the feeling of horrible bleakness faded and Randidly offered a bitter smile. “Just reflecting that power isn’t enough to fight against the System. You need to be smart as well. But I’m glad you came, Octavius. Do you have more information about the Corrupted Invaders?”

Randidly had been holding a strange, geometric sphere of rope in his right hand, but he twisted it abruptly and the thing began to fold in on itself. Piece by piece wound together until it was simply a single woven bracelet that twisted around his right wrist. He crossed his arms as he considered the Overseer of the Seventh Cohort with a startling directness.

Octavius could sense a fair amount of power from the object around Randidly’s wrist, but he didn’t peer too deeply. Such an action would be rude, after all. And this was practically a networking meeting.

Octavius cleared his throat for the second time. His hands felt clammy even as the chilling air began to warm slightly. “Indeed, I do have more information about the interference of the Swacc Family. But first, I would like to apologize for even allowing such a thing to happen. It was under my watch, and-”

“We both know your powers are limited,” Randidly interrupted with a rather insulting amount of accuracy of Octavius’s ability to handle orders from the Nexus Council. Randidly then waved his hand. Again, the lack of respect was slightly irksome. “Don’t worry about it.”

“...ahem. But as I was saying, the Corrupted Invaders that are present in your Danger Zones are powerful individuals, but based on what I can sense…” Octavius paused for a second to scan the surrounding area. He frowned somewhat to sense people that had clearly come from the frontlines to Earth and wondered how they survived on the lower Cohort, but decided to ignore that and focus solely on the natives. “...it is theoretically possible for the people of Earth to overcome the challenges present. Difficult and time-consuming, but-”

“I’ll give them a little push to motivate them,” Randidly said with a sharp expression. Even though most of the chilliness had faded from the air around him, it was still present in his eyes. Rather than the rich and warm emerald that they usually were, the coloration was closer to a frigid mint. “Can you tell me about what this situation really is, however?”

Octavius grimaced. “They got us good, unfortunately. The Swacc Family isn’t going after you directly; instead, they are claiming that your presence and success on the front lines is proof that the Earth is the home to several uniquely powerful images. As such… it managed to push through an absolute antique of a test that hasn’t been used since the Fourth Cohort. And the reason they could do that is the Xyrt Brigade agreed to it.”

Randidly tilted his head to the side and gestured for Octavius to continue. Octavius obliged, despite his annoyance at the slowly growing sense that he was a subordinate reporting to a superior. “When the Cohorts used to be smaller, the Xyrt Brigade needed to recruit much more actively in order to field a sizable enough fighting force. So they would do sudden tests like this, to ascertain the responsiveness and power of a planet.

“Of course, the real slick piece of arrangement on the Swacc’s Family’s part is how they got the Xyrt Brigade to agree; by helping them get rid of some of the useless individuals they are honor-bound to support. All of the ‘Infected Invaders’ are truly infected with a powerful image to stabilize them, but they are those who went mentally insane from the training to get into the Xyrt Brigade.”

Finally, Randidly opened his mouth and his words weren’t sharp and dangerous. Honestly, his voice displayed a surprising amount of vulnerability when he spoke. “It’s… dangerous to get into the Xyrt Brigade?”