Chapter 1501 (1/2)

“...stealing Elhume’s body sounds like a bad idea,” Randidly said after a beat of silence. He had wanted to listen longer to Edraine’s entire plan before he interrupted, but when he heard the name Elhume, he felt compelled to speak up. “He is the creator of the Nexus and the most powerful person in it. Even if his body is truly sealed… Just attracting his attention…”

Edraine raised up a hand. “You are correct that attracting his attention comes with so much danger that even I am unsure if I could survive. But don’t be so quick to reject the idea. Plus, if you have some useful information about Elhume, I’m willing to take it into account.”

Randidly blinked. In a way, he did have some information about Elhume, but what he had learned from Yystrix was how powerful Elhume was and the origin of the System. None of that seemed really relevant to this planned larceny three thousand years later, so he shook his head rather helplessly. “...maybe the biggest reason I’ve come so far in such a short amount of time is that a certain individual interfered on Expira. From her, I learned some background about Elhume. But nothing relevant.”

“There was interference in my Cohort?” Octavius muttered.

Meanwhile, Edraine’s gaze turned sharp. “That interference is highly irregular. She must certainly be very powerful in order to escape the notice of the System architecture. Is there any chance that we could meet with this woman? If she’s truly that capable.”

“Elhume tracked her down and killed her,” Randidly said lightly, but his chest tightened as he said it. Which was exactly why he was deeply wary of a plan involving Elhume. From his recent usage of the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night, the sensation of Elhume’s gaze fracturing his Class was still fresh in his mind. A tremor ran through his Class just thinking about it.

“...I’m sorry for your loss,” Edraine said with a very genuine expression on her face. Then, while Randidly was struggling to cope with the conflicted feeling he felt when being given condolences for Yystrix, Edraine continued to speak. “But I believe there are a few things that you do not know about the situation. Elhume is overwhelmingly powerful, but by and large, he exists entirely as an image being at this point. When his body became useless to him, he discarded it. He keeps tabs but has made no attempt to liberate it.

“In addition, I perhaps was being slightly dramatic when I said we would steal his body. I, too, wouldn’t want to weaken the seal on his body. Instead, what we want to make use of is the massive amount of power released by the crystalized Aether sealing his person. That ambient energy will be the fuel to effect the change we want.”

Lady Iellaya reached up and cracked her neck. “Heh. Even if he doesn’t use it anymore, I doubt that Elhume won’t have something to say if we attempt to take his body. I like the spirit, but I have to agree with the Ghosthound. This is… dangerous. The deepest parts of the Nexus… I would tread lightly.”

Across the room, Octavius Shrike shivered. His eyes were filled with dread, as though he was a small child remembering a nightmare. Everyone had experienced the harsh truths of the System in the past.

Meanwhile, Edraine frowned around at them. “Yes, there is extreme danger. But I have one thing to say to all of you: we will not be able to change the Nexus without brushing up against Elhume. Above all of the trash that has congregated at his feet in the Nexus’ three thousand years of existence, he is the true hurdle. Taking his body would give us an opportunity. A pice of Elhume to stave off the whole. But if you have any other ideas about how to rival that monster’s power…”

Randidly had been about to say something else, but that truth silenced him. Even in his current tier of strength, Elhume was a being that could shake him to his core with just a look. And that wasn’t a psychological commentary; Randidly’s body had been physically impacted just by the man’s attention.

His gaze was the least of his weapons and it was still overwhelming.

But ultimately, Edraine was correct. Any true change to the Nexus would need to, at least partially, brush up against Elhume’s awareness. Expecting to hide meaningful change was foolish. Therefore, they didn’t have any other choice but to take these sorts of risks. And as long as they prepared and planned well…

Randidly licked his lips. “Well, who sealed his body anyway? If that’s possible, perhaps that will give us a blueprint about how to go about this.”

Edraine released a low laugh. “No one sealed his body. Heh, we don’t have much reliable information about what exactly happened, but I believe we can piece things together between my memories and secondhand accounts. From what I can tell, his body being sealed happened around the time of the Second Cohort. I had known of Elhume in my original life… and he was moving around freely, although he was rarely seen. But at that time he pursued a now-defunct Path to power: image physicalizations.”

Randidly gradually began to frown.

Meanwhile, Edraine continued to speak. “While we currently use our images to push toward making thought projections condense as physical presences, there used to be a school of thought that these projections could be used to gradually modify your physical body to resonate more directly with your images. While I was just entering the army and my family was fighting… it was an extremely popular school of thought. In terms of Stamina, none could match those who physicalized their images within their bodies. They seemed to possess endless wells of energy.