Chapter 1717 (2/2)

Helen nodded. Despite his strong words, Randidly felt guilty and sick as he turned away and began to walk toward the gate out of the farm. Several times, he stopped and turned around to look through that home sunken into the browning hill. But he gritted his teeth and kept going. He couldn’t just barge into Nrorce’s private room with an apology. With the time dilation inside of the shaft, Randidly could recover the rest of the way before Nrorce was done anyway.

In addition, he wanted to get used to the new Grey Creature image and how all three images merged together. Even more valuable than the combination method, through his experience Randidly had been exposed to two images so powerful that they had become memory indistinguishable from memory. Or perhaps they were a memory so powerful they generated a natural image. Either way, the experience reminded him so much of entering the Nether Prince on the frontlines that he knew there had to be a connection between the two. Plus, the sharp detail of those definitely could be used as a launching off point to refine his own image further-

A message from Claudette distracted Randidly as he left the farm. I hear you finally woke up.

Randidly wondered when Claudette and Helen got close enough to message each other. But then he supposed that Claudette must have been the one to drag him back to Nrorce’s. Yes. I know your deadline is coming up for beginning the process, but you don’t need to worry. I’m heading for some time dilation now. I’ll be prepared.

I’m glad to hear it… but I’m messaging you now about other issues. Claudette responded. Honestly, it might have just been easier if you remained unconscious… The Imperium Ball is in three days. So we need to… be ready for that. And also… I wanted to ask you something. You mentioned… about the planet… something about an Alpha Cosmos…? What exactly does that mean?

Randidly let his breath hiss out through his teeth. He reached up and rubbed his temples. Claudette finding out about the Alpha Cosmos felt like one more shock to his exhausted system. But still, Randidly supposed that he would have told her eventually; he couldn’t really hide the fact he had absorbed a planet into himself…

...but this conversation came a little bit more quickly than he had expected.

It will be easier to show you than to explain. Randidly sent back a message after several seconds. Will you be able to get out of the Beigon Compound and meet me in the Web below the Nexus?

Claudette responded quickly. Sure. You’ve been asleep for two weeks; plenty of time for my father’s observation to slacken. I’ll meet you there.

*****

Don Beigon held the memory crystal that Fellador had provided for him of the excursion his daughter and that boy Ghosthound had taken and squeezed it. After a flash of light, he found himself teleported to the place where Fellador had observed the entire thing. The details were somewhat blurry, but the impression of images was extremely clear, due to Fellador’s strange senses.

The Don had planned on watching the memory much sooner, but unfortunately, the blatant challenge that the Ghosthound had issued on the gates of the Beigon Estate had been more problematic than anticipated. Which, more than proving anything about the Ghosthound, made it abundantly clear that Commandant Wick was just using the boy as a front and stirring up trouble in the shadows.

Plus, his daughter had returned safely. So he hadn’t truly made it a priority to understand their brief skirmish with the forces of the Swacc Family.

After watching the memory a single time, Don Beigon was pale. If he hadn’t been so scared of what he had just seen, he would have immediately summoned Fellador and beaten him ruthlessly for failing to indicate how important this development was.

Of course, Fellador would have no way of understanding the import of the images contained within the memory. But it would at least work off some of Beigon’s nerves. He began watching again, studying everything more closely.

First, the Ghosthound had somehow absorbed a planet into himself and experienced a surge of growth in terms of his Nether. Don Beigon had enough familiarity with Nether to know that whatever the boy was doing was much more profound than either the Nether Lattice of the flawed cores of Solomon Rex. He might very well be a genius in regards to Nether.

Next, the Ghosthound managed to rely on Nether and his physical body to fight Velio Dunn to a standstill. Obviously, Velio’s image was much more powerful, but the Ghosthound was able to circumvent that.

Finally…

Don Beigon licked his lips. The final, frozen moments of the confrontation between the Ghosthound and Velio Dunn made him very, very nervous. He examined it from every angle he could in the memory crystal, making sure there couldn’t possibly be a mistake. Then he sent out a message.

For ten minutes he waited, his anxiety steadily growing. He tried to sip tea to calm his nerves, but the liquid was ash in his mouth. So he just sat and sweated.

Finally, there was a flicker in the air. A glowing, blurry figure manifested within the core area of the Beigon Estate, completely bypassing the powerful sealing Engravings that were some of the most powerful of its kind in the Nexus. That blurry figure then turned and looked at Don Beigon. The weight of Elhume’s attention made the Don shudder.

He spoke haltingly, struggling against the weight of the other’s presence. “Randidly Ghosthound… has somehow managed... to loosen Velio Dunn’s seal. I… do not know how fully… but…”

There were several long seconds as the projection of Elhume’s will simply looked at Don Beigon. And then that projection vanished, leaving the Don to slump over in his wicker chair and shiver.