Chapter 320: Dimensional Wakes (1/2)

I gave him a slow nod, ”There's one issue that's still popping out to me.”

Plazia lowered his arms, ”What would that be?”

I pointed at the pile of unconscious people, ”Uhm, they can die at any point. Exposure, roaming eldritch, the sun drying them out. Honestly, there's a lot of ways for them to meet the reaper right now.”

Before my words left my mouth, a group of metallic spiders crawled from the barren dirt. Their dark gray exoskeletons sheened red, and the eyes glowed a bright crimson. They put the humans into silken weaves, nesting them into cocoons. As the spiders finished rounding up the people, they crawled back into the ground.

I pointed at the giant metal spiders, ”Like that. It looks like those civilians will be people smoothies before we know it.”

Plazia waved a hand, ”Those spiders absorb thermal energy from their captives. They simply place their victims into their colonies, cast metabolic magic over them to make them sweat, and harvest the sterilized liquid and radiating heat. They are some of the most benign eldritch for this reason. It's why I chose them as captors for the aftermath of the conflict.”

I frowned, ”I'm guessing they keep their captives till death?”

”They will, but that isn't a matter of concern. I planted that eldritch's colony, and I know where it is. We can save the people therein whenever it's convenient for either of us.”

I put my hands on my hips, ”Alright. I gotta admit this was pretty perfect then.”

Plazia gave me a bow that oozed confidence, ”Why, thank you, Harbinger. I aim to please.”

I pointed at him, ”Speaking of which, I need a test subject.”

”What for, precisely?”

”I'll be testing a new aura of mine.”

Plazia peered at my shoulder pauldron, ”Like that pale aura over you now? I've long wondered what that is.”

I spread the Rise of Eden over Plazia, including him in the aura's effects. Plazia froze in place, unable to process the changes. I pulled the dimensional wake back, and the hivemind gasped,

”I...That was incredible. The clarity. The strength.”

I shrugged, ”The everything, really. It's called the Rise of Eden. It gives me stats, and those stats are potent. You can also experience Event Horizon if you want. It will be agonizing,unlike that last one. In your case, you're very vulnerable to that aura since it's more an AOE tool. It tears groups apart. You, being a cluster of bugs, kind of have those fighting mechanics about you.”

Plazia grounded his feet, ”Isn't that your original aura? I've seen its impacts during your encounters, but my spies couldn't parse its specifics. It seems to melt anything it touches. I...I'll experience it, but only for a moment.”

The runic sigils spread over my skin flared a menacing red, oozing out with murderous intent. My armor grinned a jagged smiled as I frowned, ”You ready?”

Plazia stammered, ”Y-yes.”

I reached out Event Horizon over him, and Plazia's knees wobbled. He channeled mana from his furnaces, revving out some kind of healing magic. He shook his head, confusion spreading over him, ”Ah...This is rather potent. It's like swallowing a bowl full of nails...Made of glass...Through my nostrils.”

I laughed before Plazia peered up at me in defiance, ”It's a cluster of fun, isn't it?”

I gazed down at him, ”That's half the effect.”

Plazia tilted his head, wondering what the other half entailed. I stated with my voice imbued by aura's dominance,

”Kneel.”

Plazia fell onto one knee, and the hivemind gasped, ”This...This is how you controlled the eldritch on Blegara. Hah. Madness. Truly this is madness.”

He enjoyed the challenge, pushing himself back up despite his legs wobbling. I smiled, ”Damn. Impressive.”

He almost got up before I pointed down and seethed, ”I said kneel.”

Plazia collapsed, falling onto his arms. He cackled, ”That's incredible. What a tool at your disposal. It's wicked, I must say.”

I pulled Event Horizon back, and Plazia's Sentinel armor calmed, no longer jittering under the surface. The insect swarm maintained itself despite how powerful Event Horizon was, and Plazia remained able to speak and function. If anything, he appreciated the aura instead of fighting it.

I gave him a nod out of respect, ”That was a good effort.”

Plazia kept his healing magic going, siphoning it into himself, ”I take pride in my control, whether it's of myself or others. To face a test of my control is a delight I rarely meet. The novelty alone is worth it.”

I raised my brow, ”Well, those are the two auras I've had up until now. My new energy type means I have one for my primordial mana now.”

Plazia brushed the dirt off his sentinel armor, ”And that's what dictates the aura's composition?”

”Yup.”

Plazia spread his arms, ”That was ascendant mana just now, and the previous one was quintessence then?”

I raised my brow, ”Yeah. Exactly.”

Plazia crossed his arms, ”And now you're dissecting primordial mana. You need a subject, and you want me to be that individual?”

I waved my hands out, ”Hell no. I have no idea what it's going to do. It could kill you-” I snapped my fingers, ”And just like that. The last thing we need is you suffering death or permanent damage. Instead, just throw a patch of insects out, and let's see how they deal with it.”

Plazia raised a hand, forming umbral insects out of the corner of the room. They glimmered in the crimson light oozing from my runic markings. I stepped up to them, and primordial mana funneled into my sigils. I turned to Plazia, ”Take a step back. This could get messy.”

Plazia did so before sitting on a basalt throne, his favorite resting place given his propensity for them. I stared down at a pile of beetles, and I funneled mana into my body. As I did, the sensation of primordial mana oozed into my mind. It assimilated with my flesh and blood, coursing into my veins like injecting an ichor.

It left a different sting than quintessence or ascendant mana. Primordial mana placed an aura of perfectionism and judgment over me. I was a judge over a courtroom, all under my grasp, and I decided anything and everything that occurred. In fact, my surroundings popped out with detail as if I viewed them through a magnifying glass.

In a sense, the confidence and precision of the energy struck out to me. I kept funneling the mana until I jittered under the energy's fluctuations. It spawned an almost demonic urge to destroy and recreate. I felt like a god given life, and everything appeared impure and weak to me. The desire to evaporate my surroundings and replace them with better, superior replacements surged in my chest.

They turned into whispering voices. They rose in volume, shouting in my mind to devastate and replace. A compulsion to reduce the insects rushed over me, along with the desire to create better beings in place of them. They deserved nothing better. Their deaths served my vision, a better vision. I soaked in this confidence, one grounded in knowledge and control instead of absolute power.

And I silenced it.