Chapter 1622 (2/2)
Randidly spun Acri lightly. “Alright, fight freely. We need to cut through this space as quickly as possible.”
*****
Meldoon Crum was inwardly sweating, but he dared not reveal how much fear he currently held in his heart. While his associates continued to strengthen the Nether Array, he had to actually interact with the individuals they had captured. Yet in Meldoon’s mind, he wished he had encountered a scouting party from basically any Pinnacle Seeker organization rather than the Holy Frost Society.
And not only that, but the leader Meldoon recognized. She was the current favorite of the Frost Matriarch, Claudette Beigon. Even worse, she was extremely famous in the Nexus. Her disappearance would be noticed very quickly. Not only had the Beigon Family founded itself in the Nexus in the Third Cohort and remained illustrious for thousands of years, but Claudette was a particularly exemplary descendant.
Not only was she considered one of the most beautiful women of her generation, but she also fought a very famous duel against the Patron of Corrosion after she rejected his marriage proposal.
And she had brutalized the man, too.
Meldoon could only rub his temples and attempt to buy time. His squad had set the ambush as ordered and he had triggered it on the first group to have the bad luck to wander through, but right as he had activated the array, Meldoon knew he was making a mistake. They were supposed to wait for high ranking Nether combatants to capture and use for experiments. They had even chosen a relatively isolated space within the maze of spatial islands. Nether forces should have arrived first.
Yet somehow, his traitorous hands had triggered the trap even as his eyes were absorbing information. And in the next moment, the Pinnacle Seeker squad was captured. They stood now at the base of a small hill in the middle of a clearing; the array covered a space about five meters in diameter. Thick and pulsing black liquid formed the bones of the array, heavily suppressing all Aether within its grip. Yet Claudette Beigon stood there calmly, waiting.
After a few failed attempts to manifest her image, she stopped struggling and stared at him. Her dark eyes burned a hole through his flesh and seemed to peer at his soul. And so Meldoon began to sweat. Had they met each other in basically any other circumstance, she could annihilate him. It was only due to the preprepared Nether Array that their power dynamic was suddenly reversed.
As the silence began to stretch, Meldoon cleared his throat. “There is no need to be petty; it is understandable that you are unable to escape my trap. This move was prepared to restrain even a true Pinnacle Seeker. As a subordinate, even a valuable one, you-”
“You’ve bitten off more than you can chew and you know it,” The blonde-haired Claudette looked out of the Nether Array, her voice cold enough to freeze some of Meldoon’s sweat. Her midnight blue armor was even more ornate than her nine subordinates. She folded her arms and scrutinized Meldoon with a small smile. “You kill us, the Frost Monarch will find out and then hunt you down to turn you into a popsicle. You release us and I will kill most of your subordinates, then report your name to the Fallen Seekers to teach other insignificant characters like you not to mess with the Holy Frost Society.”
“You…!” For a second, Meldoon couldn’t breathe. Rage and fear pounded through his veins in equal measure. He stared at the baleful glare of the blonde woman in front of him and struggled to think of something to say. After sucking in several breaths, he managed, barely to forcibly reduce his blood pressure. “Please, let’s be reasonable. There is no need to be so obstinate; are you truly not afraid of death? If we can come to an amicable agreement, we can part ways today as though we had never met.”
The woman shifted her weight from one side to the other, putting her hand on her hip. She smiled almost sweetly up at Meldoon through the barrier of Nether that separated them. “If I would let a small impediment like this shake my determination to move forward, how could I ever hope to reach the Pinnacle? You claim I am but a subordinate, but I still will someday reach the Pinnacle.”
“This… this isn’t about the Pinnacle at all,” Meldoon spoke through his clenched jaw. “If you can swear on your image that you won’t report this interaction-”
“All decisions relate to the Pinnacle.” The second in command of the captured squad announced. Claudette glanced over her shoulder and nodded in agreement, leaving Meldoon with a growing feeling of helplessness. This was exactly why dealing with Pinnacle Seekers was so difficult; they simply didn’t possess reason.
Meldoon’s expression turned ugly, but in his heart, he knew that it would come to this from the moment he had mistakenly sprung the trap on the group. A woman who dared fight against a Patron would not be intimidated by a relatively obscure figure such as him. “Fine then. With no other choice, I will eliminate you and destroy all evidence.”
At his gesture, his fellows activated their own Nether Cores and integrated their Weight into the Nether Array. Gradually, the flowing lines of dark energy began to tighten around the ten-member squad of the Holy Frost Society. The Nether density sharply increased and black lightning crackled up and down the array. Yet Claudette simply continued staring at him.
Her dark eyes were infuriating. Meldoon knew that standing in the center of such an array was agonizing. He had experienced it himself when he had been chosen to receive a Nether Core. Yet she didn’t flinch at all.
And soon, Claudette grinned wildly up at him and laughed loudly. “Do you truly think you can hide the truth of this matter? Maybe if one of the Engraving Guilds’ elites were here, but you? You are one of the lowest members of the Nether Lattice that I’ve ever seen. Even with your Nether Array, the imprint left by my image on this world will never fade!”
“You’ve lived a blessed life, but will soon be over. Reality... will reduce you to nothing but a prideful loser,” Meldoon was grinding his teeth as he carefully mobilized Nether within himself to flow in the appropriate pattern. His eyes were bloodshot as the intensity of the Nether continued to climb. The array tightened. He was determined to be looking at the blonde woman when she finally died.
Maybe then she could understand the stress that he had endured. Maybe then she would see that it didn’t have to be this way. Maybe then-
Behind Meldoon, there was a slight popping noise. Then an unfamiliar voice spoke.
“Alright Lay’mel, prove your worth. Who are these two groups of people?”