Chapter 312: A Piece of Plazia
Once it landed, I seized the mind’s fragnt around my own conscious, smothering it. It reached out with an insidious curiosity,
“You who crawls beneath the mantle…Who are you, and how have you not perished amidst my inner sanctum?”
I grinned, “? I’m Daniel Hillside.” I spread my arms,
“And I’m alive because I’m hard to kill.”
Plazia’s piece spoke out, “You are difficult to kill, but only now. You’ve lived by the rcy of those around you.”
Plazia didn’t threaten like I expected. I leaned back, “How so?”
It reached out with malevolence, “The first of your rcies ca from the son of that lich you walk with – Alfred Worm. He fell to darkness near his end, but he lived a dignified life. His life’s work lives on within you.”
My forehead wrinkled as my eyes widened, “Wait a minute, how do you-“
“The second of your rcies ca from Schema, who hears all but listens little. He chose to let you live, as anyone like you is deserving of death in his unchanging eyes.”
I narrowed my eyes, and it smiled in my mind, “Your third rcy ca from the undead mage, Torix Worm, father of Alfred and bringer of death. He could’ve stripped you bare. He thought to do so many tis. You are a surrogate son to him, and so he did not.”
Plazia’s words carried an evil that crawled under my skin. It spoke out like liquid darkness,
“The fourth rcy you own ca from Yawm of Flesh. He chose to embed his legacy within yours, and now you will enact his will or die. Your fifth and final rcy ca from my own fangs – I did not sink them into your neck. You may be no sheep, but know you live by the will of those around you, as all beings do.”
He was right about that, but how he knew so much about was eerie, especially the bits from BloodHollow. Plazia seeped out,
“Yet, you understand your weakness well. I found my own weakness in my forgotten mories. I’ve chosen to live by that weakness instead of dying by my strength.”
I parsed his riddle-bound words. Plazia let live at so point when he didn’t have to. Knowing about BloodHollow gave that so validity. He talked about living by weakness instead of dying by strength. If I guesstimated his aning, he referenced letting the ahcorus take over Svia instead of being glassed by Schema…Probably.
Plazia continued, “That weakness was embedded in my faded mories. They linger as raw emotion, and now, only silence remains.”
Plazia bled out, “But I rember what those mories gave . Warmth. Refuge. Purpose. In their lingering silence, I found peace. In that gloom, I found the quiet quite welcoming.”
As a hostage, he spoke in confidence, “Tell this, Harbinger, are you so welcoming as that silence, or have you forgone already, as all others have?”
He talked with more eloquence than Obolis, and even just this fractured fragnt understood so much about . As he spoke, one of my minds dissected Plazia’s words, and they unnerved . He researched my background already, but more than that, he was connected to Baldag-Ruhl Sohow. There’s no way he could reference my ti in BloodHollow otherwise.
Either way, I gave him a nod out of respect, “Huh, you know , but I know you too. You’re using the ahcorus, and you chose to let them overrun the surface.” More of my animas went into action, thinking of different ideas, “You sent Wrath to find as well. If you did, you wanted here. Now, why you want hunting you down, I can’t say.”
I crossed my arms, “How about you explain yourself?”
Plazia laughed, a haunting cackle ebbing out. It spoke with joy, “Do you read poetry?”
I blinked, “Eh, not really. You sound like you might.”
“You predict correctly, as I partake of it often. I relish in poems, and I listen closely to the words of the dead. They wrote with the wisdom of the living. From them, I have learned much. I learned that the enemy of my enemy is a friend.”
I frowned, unnerved by Plazia’s voice, “I’m picking up what you’re putting down. Sort of. So, who’s the enemy we both share?”
Plazia’s fragnt oozed, “Schema.”
I shrugged, “I’m not against Schema.”
“But you are. You see the faults of his governance, and you have made your stance clear – you ally with the eldritch. You may ally with even , should I convince you too. Your history has told this.”
My hands tightened on my arms, “If working with you involves getting my skin getting peeled off and worn like a puppet, I’ll pass.”
“Listen closely and dwell on the words I’ve spoken. They carry many anings, but one is singular; I understand what you are, who you are, and what you will be. I speak of the rcies given to you as an example. You were but a monster in the eyes of all, yet you rise above your origins.”
I tapped my arm, growing impatient, “What’s your point?”
The fragnt gnarled out like the roots of an ancient oak, “I want your forgiveness for what I am, and in turn, I will give to you purpose and knowledge. That is a priceless offer, as I know of much. I know of Earth and Blegara and Gypsum. I know of the cipher and its secrets and of Schema’s lies. You glimpse at a shade of , but trust in its confidence. My full being carries a light that will expose the dark, even though I dwell within its twilight.”
It muttered, “And I will tear you from those shadows if you would allow to do so.”
His last words carried a lingering, ominous pain. I gestured around, “How about we call off the insects then? That would be a good start.”
In a flash, the insects retreated. Plazia’s fragnt stayed in its ntal restraints, comfortable as could be. I sighed,
“Ok…If I understand this right, you don’t actually want to fight . You brought here using Wrath, and now you want to explain sothing to . I can’t understand why you’d do that. It doesn’t make any sense.”
It lounged about, sensing my other minds, “You are the Harbinger of Cataclysm. You are of many. You reek of forces surrounding space and ti. Gravitation. Kinetics. Heat. All forces you’ve mastered. Your mind is honed as well, yet it is not stagnant. I know that it will change if given knowledge. From these observations, I believe you carry the potential to evoke a great change.”
Plazia radiated his words as if speaking a legend, “You carry that potential. Others have seen it. I as well. I aim to direct it, but not through manipulation. I wish to give you the truth, and you will direct the ensuing change on your own terms.”
My narrowed eyes turned to slits, “So you got so secrets you want to tell …Cool. The thing is, why should I trust you at all, to begin with?”
“I did not speak to Elysium of what and who you are. My silence speaks for , as your ho remains unscarred.” Plazia’s fragnt trembled, “Even when I may have scarred it with but an utterance.”
I tsked. Plazia was right. He talked about my ti in BloodHollow, so he knew where my ho planet was. He could’ve told Elysium before my ceasefire if he was so inclined. Earth would’ve been devastated, and I couldn’t have done anything about it. In fact, based on what Plazia said, he didn’t act on many of my past events. My curiosity peaked, and I tilted my head, “Point taken. You want to just talk then?”
It reached out towards one of my minds. It seethed inner darkness and primordial hunger, but sothing else effused from its psyche – a sort of enlightennt. Plazia held so secret or truth that changed him, and he wanted to share it with . The mind laid bare that raw emotion, and it convinced more than any words he could’ve spoken.
But it also terrified . He was too convincing. My instincts flared as I jerked myself back, and I growled, “A Ruhl nearly wore my soul for its shell. A feeling isn’t going to be enough to convince .”
Plazia rumbled, “And you killed my brethren, but I wish not for your blood. I wish to tell you what my full being knows. et beneath the lair of Wrath, and I shall untangle the riddles I’ve spoken. Your web of ignorance will unweave with my words, and we shall be of one notion.”
The piece of Plazia condensed into a small, minute point as it said, “If we disagree, then you will kill . I shall put my life on that edge, as I endure for more than just survival. I wish to one day live as I did before I beca an eldritch.”
That was a loaded statent. Fractures popped into the edges of the mind, “Before this was done to .”
I tried holding the splinter of Plazia together, but it ripped itself apart before I could even react. The hollowed mories within turned into a garbled ss. Staying amongst the calming lava flows, I subrged in the mantle of Svia for a few minutes, thinking Plazia’s words over. Getting my thoughts in order, I pulled myself back to the void ice.
Knocking on it like a door, Helios let in while I cooled the magma around it. As I stepped into the steel shell, Amara, Florence, and Helios stared at . Helios tilted his head, “What did you uncover about our oh so mightyfoe?”
I let my arms down to my sides, “Plazia knows about . He knows everything.“
Florence stepped forward, his curiosity peaked, “Ah, so he knows the history of killing Yawm and the like. Did you not expect him to do research or sothing?”
I waved, “No, I an, he knows more about than almost anyone else. And, he’s hard to understand. He talks in riddles…Well, sort of. I an, they’re kind of like riddles, but maybe he’s just taphorical all the ti.”
Helios waved a hand, “A standard hivemind then? Did he also wish to fight you to the death over many decades?”
I blinked, “No. Plazia wants to explain sothing to . Apparently, he rembers a ti before becoming an eldritch.”
Helios’s inner brow wrinkled, “Huh. Really? That’s…odd.”
Amara hissed, “I know my own kind. It is a beast, and it cannot be trusted. It will attack when you are vulnerable. It throws us from our hunt to save itself. Do not listen.”
My face wrinkled in confusion, “I don’t know. Plazia seed pretty genuine about us not killing each other.”
Florence spread out his arms, “Guys, when an ancient, revered hivemind wishes to not kill us, who are we to argue?”
Amara simred, “You are a coward.”
Florence swung an arm, “And proud of it. Now, any details on the peace treaty? I’ll get the pen and ink out if you need them. I’m sure Plazia wants the treaty signed in blood, so I’ll make the donation if that’s necessary. Now, if the parchnt needs to be skin, you’ll have to find soone else for that.”
I leaned back against the steel bubble, “You know what, I really don’t know what he wants. If anything, he might be pulling in with curiosity instead of threats. If I co wanting to learn, my guard would be down. Maybe that’s his aim.”
Helios’s eyes narrowed, “Has the great Harbinger’s confidence been shattered?”
“What confidence I had at least.”
Helios rolled his shoulders, “Then we move forward with more caution. It is as simple as that.” Helios walked over and gave my chest a hard tap with his gauntlet, “Where must we go, and what must we do to prepare for Plazia-Ruhl?”
I shook off my jitters, getting déjà vu from my ti in BloodHollow. My helplessness then gave so severe whiplash now, but I got myself together, smashing it apart. I wasn’t the sa person trapped in that cave, and I wouldn’t be manipulated again.
Plazia wouldn’t end up wearing my skin either.
I stood back up, “We need to head to Wrath’s colony. That’s where Plazia told to et him. He’s probably under them.”
Florence’s jovial deanor deflated at that, “Oh…Do we know for sure that Wrath is Plazia’s tool now?”
Rembering how Plazia knew my past, I nodded, “We were right. Plazia directed here even before the rebellion with Giess began.”
Helios snapped the fingers of his gauntlet, the void ice dispersing from around our steel bubble. Helios said, “He may not have known of your rise to prominence. It is an easy error to make, as I would know.”
Helios’s upper lip twitched. I turned a palm to him, “Look, your first impression with was about as terrible as it could get. That being said, you haven’t run out in the middle of a fight, not even against Lehesion. You’re gaining ground, albeit slowly.”
I tapped his shoulder, “So chin up, ice mage. Soone has to be the cynical jackass of the bunch, and you’re just the man for the job.”
Florence smirked, “He does have an icy deanor, doesn’t he?”
I laughed, but no one else did. Amara winced, “I hate you all.”
I lifted an arm, pulling our steel bubble up from Svia’s mantle, “Well, that’s enough talking for now. Let’s warp to Wrath’s colony and et him. I’m tired of waiting.”
Helios opened his status, “Do you know her colony’s coordinates?”
I sent Reason a ssage about it as I spoke, “No, but I will in a few minutes.”
Without warning, our make-shift vessel collided with the solid crust of Svia. Everyone lost their footing before I winced back, “Hah, sorry, guys.”
I ntally cringed at the simple mistake. Using this many minds for so many tasks overwheld at tis, and it led to tiny errors like that. Getting all the different animas working together without gaps took more effort than I’d have thought. It needed abundant organization and keen foresight.
So much foresight that I planned on brainstorming so kind of solution for it. Before doing that, I got us out of Svia’s crust, pulling the steel sphere into Reason’s colony. Among the toothy tunnels and pressured depths, we rested inside that tal orb for a mont.
Florence made notes in his status about Svia, the Ahcorus, and Plazia. Amara opened up her red status, fiddling with it. Helios waited, ditating for a bit. After Reason sent Wrath’s coordinates, I relayed them to the ice mage, and Helios got to work. He pulled out a dozen apps, each helping him handle the logistics involved with warping.
Helios even constructed 3-D, visual spaces from 2-D maps of Svia. He actually made the areas well enough they mirrored reality quite well. Helios kept at it more than necessary, however. He etched in details, finalized the colors, and added depth to rocks.
Turns out, Helios was an artist.
I quit watching, letting him get everything ready. In the anti, I sat down and brainstord a way of organizing my many minds. I had thirteen made right now. Eight dedicated themselves to the furnaces. One read the book in front of my face while another practiced the cipher. The other three helped cast magic, speak, and visualize my surroundings.
Despite my profusion of multi-tasking, I ended up sharper than average, though nothing too crazy. Just as well, I hadn’t actually had any free ti since uncovering the mana into ntal processing power phenonon. Pushing those limits, finding its use cases, and discovering those inner workings would take to the next level, ntally, that is.
Aiming for that, I sat down cross-legged in our spacious tal globule, and I pushed a bit more energy into ntal processing power. My mind responded in turn, becoming faster. Even tiny, minuscule amounts of mana made a tangible difference, so I put in a bit more. Once again, positive effects manifested, and the many tasks my minds handled beca easier.
I gave it even more juice, and suddenly, my thoughts turned in different directions. Focusing beca a burden, and it was as if I was on so kind of stimulant. Considering how little mana I injected, the speeding up process carried no limit. My ability to control it was the deciding factor, and like runaway trains, my psyches ended up running off the rails.
I dwelled on many aspects of my life, my mistakes, and my hardships. Emotions ran rampant, overwhelming in a surging tide. Anger, rage, hatred, sadness, and even happiness all hit in a sort of mania.
I grabbed the sides of my head, pulling mana back into the cipheric runes. I bit through my lip, my silver blood gushing out before reconstituting in an instant. I let out a small gasp before settling myself down. Florence peered up from his status work, “So, uh, you ok?”
The sociable albony was as perceptive as ever, though it wasn’t hard to notice. I nodded, “I’m fine.”
Florence tuned back to his screen, but he kept an eye on . I waited a bit before doing anything else, scared of what may happen. Before I paralyzed in that fear, my insight mind fed a, well, insight about what just happened – I just experienced mana devolution. However, that was only the early stages of it.
My insight psyche explained that mana devolution involved a mind running rampant, no longer under the user’s control. It was similar to getting too lost in your own thoughts but amplified many tis over. If a person couldn’t pull their mind back, then the person fell into an insane mania. My eyes widened as a few realizations popped in my head at that fact.
First, I would’ve 100% have devolved into an animal if not for my blood magic. After all, my mana output vastly exceeded my capacity to control it. By taking a more physical approach to my magic, I avoided being possessed by my own volatile mana flows.
My second realization ca from an article I read about mana devolution; ascendant mana carried the highest chance of it occurring. Interestingly enough, quintessence had the least, and that made intuitive sense to . I an, quintessence just motivated you to build yourself and others up. Even if you ‘devolved’ with that mana type, your manifested personality wouldn’t be all that bad. It would be like an ambitious CEO or sothing.
On the other hand, ascendant mana was the energy of consumption. Of the advanced mana types, I gained it first from my exposure to inter-dinsional miasma. If I fell into ascendant mana’s influence, I’d be a raging monster hell-bent on eating everything in my path. I’d be like the worst incarnation of an eldritch, one that evolved rapidly and couldn’t be killed.
That’s probably why Schema considered such a risk factor. It’s also why Spear considered letting live to be such a huge blessing. I represented a real chance at becoming sothing abominable. Despite the gloom cast by those realizations, I also gained so confidence from these facts.
Not discovering this processing facet of my mana probably saved a lot of headaches. Considering how difficult it was to control, I’d never have managed this early on. It would’ve consud like a hungry shark mauling an injured fish. This also explained why Baldag-Ruhl made this armor like this.
Baldag-Ruhl intended on this tal to bolster his ntal capabilities, and that’s why it generated so much mana. Torix and my experint with the rip in space-ti ended up shifting the carapace’s evolutionary path, making it more a dinsion than just a mana shell. Feeding it eldritch helped generate ascendant mana too.
Peering at my own skin, the dark gray tal sheened from the quintessence overhead. It could’ve blessed with my talent for runes and gravity even. At this point, it spiraled out of control, a forbidden relic further bolstered by Schema’s system. With my cipher runes enhancing it even further beyond, this armor left awash in limitless possibility.
It was an amazing, utterly unique artifact.
Tapping into that unending potential ant mastering this aspect of it. Even if it would be a challenge, I’d faced plenty of those before. It was ti for another, so I prepped my mind for a flood of emotions, disciplining myself to prevent the ensuing chaos they’d cause. I closed my eyes, and I oriented several personas to that end. Dribbling mana into each anima, I ramped up my ntal processing.
It expanded, and the five free minds began wobbling. They struggled with controlling the overflow of thoughts, each preventing my descent into madness. I put one furnace burning psyche to the job of managing those minds. This psyche acted as a manager of the other Daniels, setting them straight and helping them stay on task.
I put more of the furnace psyches to this new task, and my thoughts flourished from it. I found the upper limit of productivity for this manager Daniel to be right at seven minds. Any more, and it no longer assisted them all. Any less, and it had gaps in its schedule, causing it to micromanage. Finding this balance, I managed a careful equilibrium of augnted minds.
I kept at this process, entering a deep state of ditation. Taking slow, shallow breaths, the different consciousnesses acclimated to the mana flows. I wasn’t about to suddenly master this ability, but I gained a much more defined idea of what I could and couldn’t do. Knowing my limits, I kept this manager Daniel over the ‘free’ minds. I also put fewer minds on Matter Conversion in general.
Even over just a few hours, I gained quite a few skill levels in that mythical skill. Seven tis more than usual, in fact. Combine that with the processing power, and I could put four furnaces to three minds now. These adjustnts gave two more psyches to work with. One of those psyches beca manager Daniel. He put mana into the free minds and helped keep them from spiraling out of control.
For the other freed consciousness, I put it on insights and magic duty. Once it was all said and done, everything flowed smoother compared to before. Manager Daniel stopped from ssing up the simple stuff while getting more processing power out of each mind. Having dual psyches put on insight patrol also ant I’d respond faster and better to situations.
Eh, most of the ti.
My speaking and thinking self stayed at the forefront of all those minds. After an hour of practice, it turned from a wonky attempt into a solid structure. Gaining a thod for A Manifold Mind gave a lot of breathing room. Everything clicking into place, I peered around. Helios kept reaching out, envisioning various warp summons. Florence and Amara kept at their relevant studies. I turned a palm to Helios,
“Are you ready to head out?”
Helios took a breath, calming himself before he snapped his fingers. A picture-perfect warp spawned, one leading to another colony like this one. Helios cracked his neck and stood, “Of course I am. I’m a Novas, after all.”
He walked through the portal before we all followed, the veil snapping shut behind us. Once within Wrath’s domain, we found more green drone slis rolling about. Enal lined the tunnels as reinforcent, and the sa sterile, burning scent effused this place as well. Bruiser slis ca up to us over the next minute, each of the fighters deep blue in coloration, just like Reason’s guards.
Unlike Reason’s troops, these slis charged us with unquenchable ferocity. I stood between the blobs and my team, holding each of them in my fingers. They snapped several toothy shards and spears against my skin, snapping their chosen weapons against . They recreated those tools over and over, their biomass shrinking over ti.
When Wrath showed up, the guardians wrestled against while surrounded by piles of shattered teeth. Wrath rolled up before spreading her form thin. She swallowed the expanse of debris before forming blades of her own. With needle tendrils, she sliced into each of the sli guards. From within, she expanded bushes’ worth of spikes from their insides. Those slis gurgled before she pulled them into her steel blue mbrane, assimilating each of them.
Florence shivered, “Sheesh. It looks like Wrath also lives up to her nasake.”
Wrath trembled, “I do. You’ve visited , Harbinger. Finally. We may kill my species’ ultimate enemy…together.”
Unlike with Reason, Wrath lacked the sa nonchalance before battle. She stayed aware of her surroundings, several thin feeler tendrils inspecting around her at all tis. Wrath’s spikes and teeth also carried a different composition, being more than simple crystals. One of the claws tapped , and it mirrored so organic fusion of graphene and adhesives based on the hardness.
How she got graphene, I didn’t know. As for the adhesives, they turned dull carbon to shimring gold. When ready for battle, Wrath exuded danger, both majestic and deadly. I smiled at her, spreading my arms, “It’s good to see you too. We’ll be focusing on scouting for now, but we’ll be spilling blood soon.”
I sent over a telepathic burst of bloodlust, and Wrath quivered in joy. I grinned, “I can promise you that much.”
Wrath receded, “Then killer of wolves, what have you visited my colony for? Plazia rests beneath every colony, and mine is no closer than the others. We have spread my domain far and wide, but not deeply. Reason or Awe would serve you better if burrowing deeply was your goal.”
Her feelers groped Amara and I. Wrath shivered, “But you have visited Reason already. And you, little one-” Wrath pooled up near Amara.
Avoiding the sa aggressive conversation again, I cut in, “She’s with . She’s my technician.”
Wrath’s tendrils touched Amara’s hair. Wrath uttered, “Of course she is. She holds bloodshed in her skin and blood on her hair. I love its taste, little one. You also carry the skin and flesh and bone of your leader. You serve him well for the Harbinger to indulge such gifts.”
Amara leaned back, turning her palms away from Wrath, “I…I have done what I may.”
Wrath shuddered, “We may one day taste each other, should you desire.”
I turned to Florence, who turned to . We both gawked at each other, each of us having a conversation with that glance. Helios rested his face on his hands, “A razor queen who wishes to mate with our eldritch technician. Ah yes, how charming.”
An awkward silence passed before I spread my hands, “Alright guys, do whatever the hell you want to on your off ti. We’re on a mission right now, so stop all this.”
Amara pushed away Wrath, who showed no signs of doing the sa. Unlike Reason, Wrath stood by herself, the drones around here giving plenty of space to their queen. Even the guards kept their distance, no sli wanting to be devoured without warning.
There may be multiple kinds of devouring going on if I had to guess.
Either way, that was none of my business as I pointed down, “Take us to the bottom of the colony, and we’ll take it from there. Don’t worry about the burrowing.”
Wrath balled herself up before firing herself away. I pulled everyone along, keeping pace with Wrath. We winded through the tunnels fast as an echo, the twists and turns passing by my eyes like a roller coaster ride. Seconds later, we rested at a much higher depth than Reason’s colony depths. Enal struts remained a rarity here, and the supporting tunnels still let us move around.
Before leaving, Wrath let one last tendril feel over Amara as the razor queen left here. Once Wrath departed, Amara mumbled under her breath, “Perhaps…perhaps not all razor queens are bad.”
Florence covered his mouth under his black mask, “Oooooh.”
Helios sighed before shaking his head in disgust, “I would’ve never have imagined, not in a thousand lifetis, that I’d prefer going to a different world with Hod instead of you, Amara.”
Helios lost tension in his arms, and they flopped on his sides, “And yet, here I am, wishing he were here instead. Their bulbous eating contests were far less disgusting than…whatever this is.”
Amara cackled before hissing, “Is that jealousy I hear?”
Florence and I bust out laughing at Helios. The ice mage simred, “Wrath’s disposition may explain why she’s allied with Plazia, hm? Regardless, may we please fight the world-ending horror instead of experiencing this grotesque coupling? I would much prefer the forr to the latter.”
I got my chuckles out before wiping away a tear with a branch of armor. Damn, I hadn’t laughed that hard in forever. I sighed, “Ok, ok. Let’s go get him.”
Before I could use my newfound, fancy elevator technique, insects composed of magma crawled out of the ground. These insects assimilated together, forming a blob of lava. This lava then spoke out in a familiar and ominous voice,
“You have co and with others of use. They bring a wealth of talents, ones we may turn to our own uses, soon enough.”
Amara lifted her palms to the living magma, “So this is Plazia? He is less than he first appeared to be. I’m disappointed.”
The magma tilted its head, “Amara, it is good to et you. I studied you when Yawm first stole you from the prison your rulers commanded. It is from my research of your origins that I uncovered the inner machinations of Schema’s system. Your research into cipheric energy flows was groundbreaking in that regard.”
The magma smiled with igneous teeth of blackened stone, “So while you may be disappointed in , know that the feeling is far from mutual.”
Amara shivered before grabbing her elbow and pulling it against her side. She snapped, “How do you know so much about ? Are you so shaless in your spying?”
Plazia chided, “Spying is rely gathering information others wish to hide. My curiosity is never-ending, and so I engage in all thods of obtaining information. That pursuit sustains , and from it, I know much of everything, spawn of the Builders. Rember that the next ti you judge my surface, for I am like a book; my cover only shows but one of my many pages.”
Florence spread his hands, “So, I’ve heard from Daniel that you’re not trying to kill us. I just, you know, wanted to verify that.”
Plazia opened dark, umbral eyes of igneous rock, and they bent into a raised brow,
“I aim for far more than your deaths, silver tongue. Your demise would an little but the loss of your powers, for it is in living that your value is manifested. In life, you may help rise above my corruption. You may offer us salvation.”
He referenced all eldritch there at the end. Amara took a step back and snarled, “Salvation? You speak as Yawm did, and he tornted many. You’ll find we are no fools, and if you wish to bend us to your will, we will retaliate in kind.”
I listened as Plazia cackled. He reverberated from the stone all around us, “No. I manipulate only when I must. You each carry your own ideas and virtues. I will aim those virtues at a new goal, a far greater one than any of you may imagine. Follow my children, and I will offer each of you my truest form.”
A piece of the ground glowed before more of his glowing insects walked out of this spot. Where rock once stood, a tunnel ford. So of Plazia’s vessels stayed behind, holding the tunnel upright. Helios found nothing wrong with the mana, and Amara couldn’t sense any cipher shenanigans either. All of our senses showed nothing as well, but we prepared for the worst.
I charged dozens of singularities into my blood. Amara’s hair grazed all of our surroundings where it could. Florence prepared several ssages in his status for help, and Helios generated a portal. Unlike other warps, Helios dragged this one behind us. I’d never seen soone do sothing similar, yet he did.
I created a shell of Event Horizon around my teammates, and I generated an antigravity well ready to stop a tunnel’s sudden collapse. After we set everything up, we paced down the tunnel for about a hundred yards. We reached an excavated cave. It stood twenty feet tall and forty wide, kind of a tight squeeze for all of us at that point.
Plazia-Ruhl spoke from the bowels of Svia, “I invite you forth.”
On the wall farthest from us, a spearhead cleaved through dinsional space. I blinked, recognizing the dinsional slicer to be one of the Sentinels’ weapons. Reaching out my hand, I readied a swarm of singularities at the entrance point. No violence ca our way, so I stayed my assault for now.
He could’ve reached us at any point, so I noted that. He brought us here for so other reason.
The violet, cackling blade sheared space-ti before a Sentinel’s hands grabbed the dinsional tear. These sharpened gauntlets colored dark azure instead of the bright turquoise of most Sentinels. Many black tubes lined the hand’s palms, but the fingers ended in sharpened claws, gripping into the sliced fabric.
Once pulled opened, a complete, azure Sentinel walked out of this warp. Cipheric runes coated the outer plating, and primordial mana oozed from every iota of it. That dark blue energy spawned lightning which clashed into the Sentinel’s surroundings at random. The sparks dissipated against the shield of Event Horizon I made earlier.
Once past the veil, the Sentinel’s primordial lightning died down. In its wake, the mana warped the space around us, bending it to the twisted Sentinel’s will. This hollowed guardian sheathed its dinsional slicer onto its back, the air around it popping with volatility. It held the dinsional tear open with comfort, as I often did.
We gawked at the being, and from under its plates, a discordant thrum of cracking ebbed out. At first, I believed it was insects under its skin. Listening closer and finding absurd sums of mana, the Sentinel used furnaces underneath its armor at all tis. Quite a few of them, actually. Helios gasped while stepping back, “You…how many furnaces are you using? Four? Five?”
Plazia-Ruhl raised a hand, one that showed the convoluted tubing of an Overseer’s gauntlet. He grasped the large fingers into a fist,
“I am wielding several hundred, but not here. They lay throughout Svia, and they establish my domain upon this world.”
Sensing the mana around him, I verified his claims. The energy coursing through the Sentinel’s armor paled compared to my own, being about one-fifth of mine. He struggled with that much while his body both incinerated and healed in tandem.
For him, this was likely the limit of his mana potential. Anymore, and he’d burn away to ash. At this apex of his potential, Plazia spread out his hands, his polished Sentinel armor glistening in the magma’s light behind his warp,
“I am Plazia-Ruhl, of Many Faces, and I have much to show you, Harbinger.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)