Chapter 1576 (1/2)

Vualla shook her head rather sadly after the connection was broken. She was sitting a carriage, wearing a silver gown that accentuated her brilliant azure hair and eyes. When she had seen herself in the mirror, even she was pretty impressed by how she looked when she scrubbed off the dirt: she was a knockout.

This was exactly why she was delighted when Randidly suddenly contacted her out of the blue, after being dead quiet for several months. She wanted to show off a little in front of him. And it was also why she was then filled with a strange sadness, sensing that Randidly was currently in a strange state of mind.

At this point, there is nothing I can do but trust him. Vualla balled her hands into fists. Even with the Xyrt Brigade training… we are really far from overthrowing the Nexus, aren’t we Randidly? You are out there risking your life to develop yourself. And I… I need to continue to grow here, as best as I can.

The carriage stopped. There was a polite knock at the door. “Miss Vualla, we’ve arrived at the auction venue. Please be sure to have your mask in place before you head in; the Shelley Kingdom would like to… distance itself from events like this.”

The corner of Vualla’s mouth quirked up. She reached to the side and picked up a mask that she had specially tailored for this event, as an homage to the body that was also this world. The face was a hound with long black hair and emerald accents around the eyes. Combined with Vualla’s natural color hair and silver gown, the accessory clashed garishly. But somehow, that display was satisfying to Vualla.

She pulled the hound mask over her face and opened the carriage door. The driver offered her his hand and she stepped down onto the cobblestones, looking up at the brilliant lights from the building in front of her. Wide marble stairs led a curving path around fountains and statues of heroes, before finally arriving at a pair of enormous black doors. Groups of masked individuals held flutes of champagne and conversed in quiet voices.

Their eyes briefly flicked to Vualla, but away with disinterest. She was dressed to the nines, but being simply beautiful wasn’t enough to earn anyone’s attention; it was only political power that attracted attention here.

I could annihilate this entire country if I was allowed to use my image, Vualla thought cheerily as she stared around.

It was the site of the most powerful financial institution inside of Randidly’s Alpha Cosmos, the Unus Institute Central Bank. And, due to the mission given to the recruits by Helen a month ago, they would need to be here in person.

Vualla began to walk up the stairs with a wicked smile. Tonight, she intended to enjoy herself.

*****

Randidly’s small voice of observation continued to note the way he was being polished, like a shining sword. His edges grew sharper. His core became shining and reflective, a bright torch in the depths of the shaft. All of his ancillary personality traits gradually fell away to dedication and ambition. Stroke by stroke, the Visage of Obsession was wiping him smooth.

He wondered how much longer this could proceed. At what point would he cease changing? But the curiosity was only an idle thing; his attention inevitably was pulled back to the firm resolve that drove him forward. In this place, with this chance… he would grow strong. He finally had ‘time’. He would then escape this place and pay back the debts he owed to the villains of the Nexus.

So he Engraved. He polished his images. He trained.

Occasionally, Randidly left his Nether Ritual and fought against the Nether Beasts with each of his images in turn. Yggdrasil grew towering and became more holy and glorious. The Grim Chimera continued to streamline its form for violence. The Stillborn Phoenix grew larger and more complex, its manipulation of the surroundings becoming overwhelming.

Then he worked on his Nether Engraving. As he perfected Yggdrasil, he began to develop the seeds of significance for the Grim Chimera and the Stillborn Phoenix. Then he experimented with layering the varying forms together into a complete whole.

The results were disappointing. Keeping the heavy significance present in the construction while also weaving three different forms together was nearly impossible. But Randidly simply set his failures to the side, floated to the left, and began Engraving once again. Failure meant nothing to him. He did not waste his time during those attempts, he simply found one more method that was ineffective. So he tried another.

And anyway, the current Randidly barely noticed the passage of time at all. What difference did it make to him?

It was only when the Visage Obsession hummed in warning that Randidly paused in his Engraving. He silently clicked his tongue and got out the Fatepiece, annoyed that he had been interrupted while he was busy testing out a new theory. But he understood why it called to him.

Ki-Kunot once more stood in front of Randidly. You must give up your external connections to proceed further.

The current streamlined Randidly could see immediately what his subconscious construct within the Fatepiece was requesting from him. But still, he made an aggrieved expression as though he was confused. How does that make sense? The whole point of this is to work on my Nether Core. Connection is one of the core principles of Nether. You are trying to cripple me as revenge for your fate aren’t you, Ki-Kunot?

The projection flapped her wings in a huff. Your humor is ill-timed and riddled with guilt toward how you dealt with me. I am you. If your heart wants you to be crippled… well, enjoy being buried here by your own hand. But in terms of Nether, you already have the clues needed to find your own significance in the images. You have just kept being distracted by your current connections and are unable to see the truth of how you’ve developed.