Chapter 1492 (2/2)

His Grim Intuition fed him more information about the surroundings, slowly transforming the expression on Randidly’s face. Above him was the milky way highlighted in wide golden strokes. Two absolutely massive stars lingered overhead, each taking about as much space as Randidly's fist if he held it up toward the sky, shedding yellowed light across a glittering space that was filled with asteroid debris, cosmic dust, and the remnants of what clearly were destroyed worlds. The destruction was so close to his current position that Randidly could see the wreckage and broken rocks tumbling end over end, suspended eternally above these teleportation relays.

Because the location on which Randidly was standing on was just one of six hundred floating platforms that were covered in serpentine lines of teleporters. Randidly's platform was part of a massive ring that stretched in both directions. The flow of bodies was toward a massive teleportation Engraving at the center of the relay where groups of five hundred at a time were sent forward to the Nexus proper. That train of thought had Randidly slowly pivoting and looking toward what sat coiled at the center of so many teleporters.

Randidly's emerald eyes narrowed as he gazed at the hazy form of the Nexus. It was so distant that even he, with his powerful Grim Intuition, couldn't make out any of the details. There was only the massive form, hunched and shadowy in the distance. Although perhaps perspective was playing tricks on him, the Nexus appeared even more massive than the stars coloring the nebula. It was lopsided and heavy, with only vague lines indicating the towering buildings that dominated the Nexus proper.

Yet despite that, Randidly's gaze was pulled down to the deep darkness sitting below the Nexus. The lines around Randidly's eyes tightened and his Nether Nebula briefly stalled in its eternal churning. Even from here, Randidly could sense the massive concentration of significance.

If it's this horrifying from this distance... Randidly gritted his teeth. But he forced his feet to move forward, joining the flow of bodies around him. It makes sense why someone would be driven mad by it. That power...

Randidly followed the path for about ten minutes of winding walking. The sparse stream of people became a rapid river of bodies as the portals around them continued to activate and add their passengers to the flow. A massively muscular humanoid stepped directly in front of Randidly, blocking his path. His rather undersized and bald head looked down at Randidly from between his massively over-muscled shoulders. The effect was a bit like an apple sitting between two cantaloupes. Then the humanoid sneered at him and strode forward.

Perhaps because he was busy internalizing all this new information about the Nexus, it took Randidly several seconds to realize that he had just been insulted. When it finally hit him, he blinked and snorted out a gust of laughter at the humanoids back.

But now that he had noticed it, he could start to sense that there was an increasingly competitive edge to the crowd around him. As more people arrived, there was less space for them all. Especially as they approached the plaza with the large scale teleportation formation, the various figures seemed determined to make themselves out to be the top dog on this relay, one of six hundred similar relay platforms.

Perhaps the sheer scale of the two golden suns above them made these ants try their best to feel meaningful. At the edge of the horizon, the dark and hunch form of the Nexus sat like a disapproving moon.

Around Randidly, there were several lightning-fast collisions of images as various individuals postured against each other. And ultimately… Randidly was rather stunned; all of the people around him were incredibly weak. Basically any of the individuals in the top eight duos of Expira would have been a dominant force here. Which was perhaps proof that Randidly’s attempts to strengthen Expira’s development worked… but wasn’t this a little much…?

How did these people use images like this to pass the Calamities…? Or were they special cases like me that were invited before the Calamities? No, that seemed even more unlikely…

A few aggressors came for Randidly and the comfortable bubble of space that he maintained around himself, but unlike the first humanoid who seemed completely oblivious, the traces of Randidly’s physicalized image meant that most challengers quickly balked and backed off. Randidly grinned. Although most people here were pretty weak, their Perception wasn’t too bad.

When they finally arrived at the platform, there was something of a queue for the massive central teleporter. Randidly would have been content to wait, but he caught sight of that muscular humanoid strutting forward toward another uniformed NLC employee at the front of the line. “Hey, you. Do I really need to wait for this? What’s to stop me from just flying toward the Nexus myself?”

The employee didn’t seem impressed at all by the humanoid’s bluster. He simply chuckled. “Heh. If you have to ask whether you can do it… you cannot. It’s just one of those things.”

The humanoid’s expression darkened. “You-”

But further conversation was cut sharply off as a figure flashed downward and slammed into the crowd. Most people were taken completely by surprise, so Randidly had to use his metal left arm to guide bodies lightly to the side as they were blown back toward him. The muscular humanoid was knocked forward toward the employee, who grinned wickedly and brought his arm around in a brutal hook that slammed into the humanoid’s stomach.

The humanoid slumped to the side, almost insensible from the pain. The employee laughed. “Like I said… if you have to ask, you cannot.”

A violent place, Randidly observed.

Meanwhile, the figure that had slammed down amongst the group resolved itself into Octavius Shrike. His rhinoceros horn gleamed coolly in the golden light; it was clearly freshly polished. The officious looking Rhinoman cleared his throat. “Apologies, Mr. Ghosthound. I didn’t mean to make you wait. If you would please follow me…”

Everyone turned to look at Randidly with wide eyes.