"You said the Difference Engine altered the powers of these Beasts of Calamity, giving them chanical, gear-like features. Why don't I see anything like that on this one?"
They were both decisive people and knew this was not the ti for tender words, so they focused on the matter at hand. Alexia, however, was still a little puzzled.
"Because its very essence is a dream," Jenkins explained. "The Difference Engine is a physical entity. Its explorations into the soul and spirit haven't advanced to the point where it can alter sothing as conceptual as a Sin Nightmare. If it could, it wouldn't have been so easy for to toy with it in that dream last ti. How did you get in here? You..."
Jenkins finally realized sothing was off about Alexia's condition. The unique aura of a mortal-turned-god was suppressed by the Mysterious Realm, so at first, he had assud she had simply used another power contract to borrow so incredible strength.
"What is this?" he demanded. "This is madness. Can your body even handle this much power?"
This was entirely different from the ti the God of Lies had borrowed her body to manifest. Back then, Jenkins had ticulously controlled his power, and their connection had been constrained by the shackles of that contract.
"Go back now," he urged. "Don't use this power so recklessly. Your body can't bear it."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, his own power probing the damage a mortal vessel sustained when channeling a god's might, and imdiately began to repair it.
"Didn't you feel the stabbing pain in your heart?"
The heart was naturally the first to falter, being the central hub of the body's circulation.
"It's fine. I calculated everything after I received this power. According to my plan, my body will be perfectly fine by the ti I've helped you and returned to the Sage's Church."
Alexia answered with complete confidence.
"'Perfectly fine' isn't good enough," Jenkins retorted. "That's not acceptable."
He beckoned toward the white ash, and the Star-Forged Magic Sword, which had fallen during the intense battle, flew instantly back to his hand—a clear display of ntal energy influencing the physical world, a form of telekinesis.
"No more wasting ti. You contain the Nightmare's power, and I'll finish this now."
"No problem."
Alexia knew they had to get back to business. She summoned the cube that represented her Mathematical Principles. Its sky-blue surface was now streaked with several golden marks, which, far from marring its beauty, made it look even more otherworldly and divine.
"I can maintain complete control for only ten seconds."
With that, Alexia threw the cube. It spun through the air, expanding as it flew, and descended like a cage, completely entrapping the paralyzed sludge.
The black Nightmare thrashed, understanding its predicant perfectly. It knew that once the man with the cat on his back got close, it would face its final demise. Yet no matter how it struggled, within the ten seconds promised by the mortal-turned-god, there was no way for it to escape.
It tried to pull every living being back into its dreamscape, but the cat watching it hungrily was simply too "heavy." The earlier clash with Jenkins had taken its toll, and with its power now restricted, it couldn't force both the man and the cat into a dream simultaneously. And if it couldn't trap all its opponents, pulling just one or two into its realm was utterly pointless.
"Alright, ten seconds, is it?"
Jenkins counted down as he strode toward the writhing, trapped Nightmare. He moved quickly, reaching the front of Alexia's blue cube prison in just a few seconds.
While the Nightmare couldn't get out, Jenkins could certainly get his sword in. He blinked, confirming with his Sight that the creature truly had no discernible weaknesses or fatal weak points. Then, gripping the sword in his right hand, he pressed the index and middle fingers of his left hand together and slid them from the hilt down the length of the blade to its tip.
Flas—strange, ethereal flas—wreathed the deadly blade. The Star-Forged Magic Sword itself lacked the power to kill the Nightmare; even the gifted fire, enhanced by absorbing several other flas, couldn't destroy this fragnt of a Beast of Calamity.
Unfortunately for the Nightmare, however, Jenkins had absorbed a part of its essence during their first encounter in Bel Diran. While that wasn't nearly enough to grant him the power to destroy an eternal Beast of Calamity, it was more than enough to deal with a re fragnt.
He gripped the flaming sword with both hands and plunged it into the cube, the blade sinking deep into the iridescent black "mud." Beneath his feet, the Savior's Emblem of the [Hero] flared with a dazzling light, bathing the sword in its own inexplicable brilliance.
"Though this is called a magic sword, as long as its wielder is a hero, the power drawn from the bonds of inherited conviction will flow to , an endless source of aid."
He softly recited the words the ancient hero had spoken beside the campfire in the graveyard:
"'What we pass down is not just power, but conviction. The Hero is a bond, one that others will inherit and cause to shine once more.'"
The blade pierced through the Nightmare's manifested physical form, and then the light and flas together consud its body.
A long mont passed before Jenkins withdrew his sword. He watched as the flowing light of the flas coalesced, forming a doorway that would lead from the ritual site back to the Steel Forge.
He turned to Alexia, who was now recalling her power. An unnatural flush colored her cheeks—a clear sign her body was straining under the imnse force she had wielded.
"Go back now," he insisted. "I can handle the rest. When I get ho from the tower, I'll help you properly recover. This was far too reckless."
He rushed to her side, supporting her. This ti, the petite woman didn't refuse his help and was even in the mood to joke.
"Well then, when you get ho, you'll have to be sure to 'recover' my body properly."
She kissed him on the cheek, though her own earlobes flushed red.
"That man in the hunting gear in front of the forge is strange. Be careful."
"Don't worry. I've eliminated the Beast of Calamity's power in this Mysterious Realm. What else could possibly stop now?"
For once, Jenkins could walk calmly through the exit of a Mysterious Realm instead of being chased through it. But before he left, there was one more thing he needed to do.
"Alright. Co back soon. We're all waiting for you."
She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. When Jenkins opened his eyes again, Alexia had vanished. Her body couldn't withstand the divine power for long, so she couldn't accompany him all the way to the end of the tower.
"ow~"
A soft sound ca from his shoulder. Jenkins turned to see Chocolate perched there, looking rather pathetic. Alexia had used the [Contact the Devouring Moon Spirit Cat] ritual to summon him to verify Jenkins's identity, but she had left without taking him back.
"Well then, I guess you'll be coming with the rest of the way."
A smile touched his lips. Jenkins gently patted the cat's small head, then stroked its furry cheek with the pad of his finger.
"Just like always."
It should have been a comforting sentint, but hearing Jenkins say it made Chocolate even more uneasy. This version of Jenkins was strange. He clearly knew the truth, yet he continued to act as if he didn't.
After comforting his cat, Jenkins stepped through the doorway, returning to the front of the forge. The fragnt of the Nightmare, slain by his sword, had transford into a towering inferno that now roared within the massive furnace.
The light was even brighter than what Jenkins had seen upon his arrival. If not contained within the Steel Forge, the raging flas looked powerful enough to incinerate the entire world in an instant.
The man in the hunting gear was still leaning against the forge's gate. When he saw Jenkins erge from the doorway with the cat, he didn't question Alexia's rule-breaking. Instead, he simply pointed behind Jenkins.
Hundreds of fiery red doorways, all except the one currently streaming with flas, drifted behind Jenkins. They overlapped, one on top of the other, forming the familiar white portal that signified an exit from a Mysterious Realm.
"Not bad. You did very well. Now, you can leave."
It hadn't anticipated that even a fragnt of the [Sin Nightmare] could be destroyed, and thus hadn't expected such a massive conflagration to light the forge.
Jenkins didn't just pick up his luggage and turn to leave.
"I have sothing to say before I go," he declared.
The man in hunting gear kept his head down and waved a dismissive hand, the palm glowing red in the light of the flas leaking through the gate's seams.
"I'll overlook your rule-breaking, and you can overlook mine. Just go. Our business here is done."
The sight was almost comical, but Jenkins wasn't about to let him off the hook.
"I broke the rules because I'm on the path to saving the world," Jenkins stated coolly. "Summoning one person is nothing. Not long ago, I summoned an entire army inside a Mysterious Realm and turned so cheater who was printing his own cards into black sludge. No one dared call that a violation."
He let that sink in before his voice hardened.
"You collaborated with a Calamity of the Epoch. First, you manipulated the doors to send against a Balrog wielding a forbidden weapon. Then, you manipulated them again to make face a fragnt of the Sin Nightmare. I think your violations are the ones that deserve to be punished, don't you? Do you know what happened to the last rule-breaker I encountered? It was taken away by Mr. Prankster himself."
The entity clearly recognized that na.
"So, what do you want?"
It was a clear sign of surrender.
"You can gamble on whether or not I'll defeat this epoch's Calamity and achieve godhood. If I lose, then of course, I can't do anything about your transgressions. But if I win... what do you think I'll do then?"
The threat was simple and effective. The being leaning against the forge straightened up, letting its hands fall to its sides.
"I did break the rules, but didn't you realize I was helping you? The mont you arrived, I saw your condition was unstable. You had just acquired imnse power but hadn't learned to wield it. I was the one who sent you opponents, from weakest to strongest, so you could gradually master and unlock your own strength. I didn't just throw that Balrog at you from the start. I'm not entirely a bad guy, you know."
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