Chapter 1585 (2/2)

For this step, the shade needed to move up and down the length of the entire pillar. Layering in a small space was literally impossible, but even with the larger space, it was extremely difficult. The subtle permutations of depth and breadth of Nether flows were innumerable. A normal human brain simply couldn’t handle the sheer number of permutations.

Luckily, the shade was only barely human these days.

During the Engraving process, the shade swiftly grew annoyed with the pillar itself; it dearly wished it had found a less durable material for his Nether Core. Obviously, the physical power would prevent it from being damaged, but Engraving each line required significant amounts of Nether energy. Even the shade’s instincts wondered where such a pillar came from.

Had the shade not obtained that dense pooled significance from the tomb, it would have needed to take several breaks already to replenish its strength. As it was, it quickly devoured the ambient significance and converted it into its own. And then it looked at the grey-green pillar with reddening eyes. There was so much more to Engrave.

What the hell was this pillar, anyway?!?

As the layering continued, the requirement of specific depth for the lines the shade made grew increasingly harsh. The Nether Engraving pulsed, releasing a baleful light into the sealed room. The shade could sense the island around it slowly shifting, both because of the actions of the workers to activate this place and because of the ambient Nether flows stemming from the very actions it took.

The Nether Core was, as advertised, the ‘core’. The energies of this location naturally were steadily being integrated into the core. As a core, that was its prerogative.

But neither of those phenomena was what attracted the shade’s attention. No, when it took rare breaks from the exhausting process of Engraving, it looked up in the direction of the sky and frowned for an entirely different reason. It didn’t understand how it was possible, but that being of Nether had locked onto its position once more.

It rapidly approached Expira, its pursuit of the shade continuing across Cohorts.

The shade clicked its tongue silently, a motion that it didn’t truly understand, but one that was leftover in its instincts. Then it turned back to the Nether Core. Its many hands moved ceaselessly. The layers of the differing significances began to steadily overlap, deeper and deeper. As the shade proceeded, it could feel its spectral body steadily growing weaker; the process of Engraving was more exhausting than it had anticipated.

Occasionally, it would take breaks to recover its energy, but the looming threat of the approaching Nether Being made it tense. Yet despite its emotional turmoil, it did not hurry in its Engraving. The Nether Core was more important than anything else. The shade was a being streamlined for this purpose; even though it was nervous, those emotions didn’t manifest in its work. The Engraving continued smoothly.

The layering deepened. Waves of force rippled across the pillar, strengthening the material. There was only a thin layer of Nether allowed by the System in the surrounding space, but that Nether began to naturally swirl inward. The Core exerted its influence in the surrounding space, steadily changing the surroundings. The materials of the entire island gradually shifted toward something beyond the physical.

Waves of ethereal black energy lapped back and forth over the pillar.

Yet on the cusp of completing the humming Nether Core, the shade paused the process. It looked up toward the sky, at the Nether Being that approached. The shade could feel that Nether Being gathering power to strike against the reinforced Aether protections in the area around this world and the Seventh Cohort more broadly.

Slowly, the shade began to smile. Leaving the Nether Core a single step away from completion and its first energy rotation, the shade utilized the principles it had learned in the tomb it had visited to rapidly construct a more typical Engraving.

Except this Engraving flowed easily through the air, rapidly seeping out into the surrounding space. The longer the shade worked, the further its Engraving spread.

The shade’s instincts had felt a great deal of worry about the completion of its Nether Core. It had already attracted enough dubious attention with the creation of its Fateset. To create a Nether Core in the eyes of the System was something that it didn’t want. However, circumstances had conspired against the shade; to reach the ability to finish his Nether Core so quickly, the original version of itself had to be trimmed down. It didn’t understand the details, but there were other methods it could have used if it retained its full capabilities.

As it was, the shade could only muddle along as best as it could. With quick flicks, its hands accelerated forward, drawing heavily on its Mana. The Engraving expanded, crossing mountains and rivers and ocean sot reach the ends of this world. Then the shade released a long breath.

Suddenly, there was an opportunity. Or rather, its instincts told the shade that it now had plausible deniability. After a few more seconds, the entire world was wrapped in this new Engraving. The shade’s fingers buzzed with the energy friction it had generated with its rapid Engraving patterns.

The shade finished its ancillary Engraving and looked up at the sky with anticipation. The Nether Being gathered more and more power and then brought a swirling maelstrom of Nether crashing down on the Nexus’s defenses. For a second the Aether held, but then everything cracked and began to disintegrate.

Suddenly, the pursuit became the perfect distraction.

With a smile on its face, the shade activated the familiar Engraving it had made. In a split second, a wave of power spread rapidly across the whole world. The Overlay System that so worried the shade’s instincts was dislodged. A new overlay slipped into its place.

One of the shade’s pairs of arms moved quickly, drawing several lines of Nether to connect the layering. With a shudder, the Nether Core was finished. Energy rapidly began to rush through the layering, rising in intensity with every revolution. The ground beneath the pillar began to crack. Sizzling bolts of ambient energy lashed off of the pillar, charring several spots in the surroundings.

The shade watched intently. Above, the Nether Being struggled to rip through the remnant defenses in the area and descend. The shade’s focus narrowed. It would not be distracted, despite the extremely tense situation.

This situation had become a race. Although the System could no longer observe this place, the shade still needed the Nether Core to be complete to move to the next step.

Energy pulsed through the pillar, suffusing through the entirety of the Engraving. The energy soaked outward, running through the concurrent layers. The grey-green pillar shuddered. After several long seconds, the revolution of energy was completed; there were no obvious flaws in the Nether Engraving. The Nether Core was complete.

The gamble paid off.

The shade looked upward and winked. Then, the Nether Core’s energy exploded outward. The Nether Being descended from the sky, intent on the shade. But the energy of the core was faster. Soon, it covered even the atmosphere of Expira.

Where there was a core, there could be a ‘bubble’.

There was a flickering pulse and Expira vanished, slipping through the small allowance of space left by the Nexus. The Nether Being’s force crashed into empty space. After searching the surrounding area, it raised its head and howled its fury.