“Miss… Seraphina, was it?” Marcelle calls out just as I’m prepared to head down the final hall.
“Please, if I may borrow a mont of your ti.”
I turn to her and nod.
“Is sothing the matter?”
“I–
If I don’t get the opportunity to thank you again, I want to make sure that I say thank you right now.
It would be a regret I carried with
for the rest of my life.”
I smile.
“You don’t need to worry about that, Marcelle.
I’m stronger than I look.”
“I’m sure you are.
But neither are any of us invincible.”
She doesn’t say anything more, but the sullen look says everything.
To have survived that long through such pain ans she must be much smaller than the ager spark of will and muted flow of [Ether] through her suggests.
I don’t know if she was defeated on the field of battle in so sort of ambush, or disappeared in the middle of the night, or sold out by soone looking to curry favor with the guards and soon-to-be dead Mayor, or maybe worst of all, drugged with so poison or other substance.
However it was, she was overpowered.
And it’s a reminder that I can’t be complacent, either.
I pull out a [Large Ether Canister] and draw the contents into myself.
Good for just a bit over nine hundred points.
Nowhere close to my maximum, even after my growing regeneration is taken into effect.
One more regular [Ether Canister] for good asure to get
to a total of a hair under two thousand total.
That… should be enough.
Just as I’m about to leave— for real this ti— I’m stopped by the sound of Marcelle’s stomach growling.
She looks at each of us, blushing furiously by the ti she gets to Chloe.
I’m about to pull so food out of my [Inventory], but Chloe beats
to the punch, summoning half of a turkey and mayo sandwich and a bottle of water.
“We’ll need you to eat and drink slowly at first,” Chloe says.
“Just a couple sips for right now.
Your stomach isn’t used to having food in it right now, and if you try to put too much in too soon, it’ll all co back up the way it ca.”
“Sothing you learned while volunteering shifts at the hospital?”
Chloe doesn’t answer telepathically, but the slight smile and the waves of pride and contentnt I feel through our bond answer on her behalf.
“I’ll be seeing you all again soon,” I say, opening the door leading to the final hallway.
“You damn well better,” Kristil says.
“It may be a bit improper of
to say sothing so crude,” Cara says.
“But kick his ass!”
Chloe just smiles.
“I love you, and I believe in you.”
“And I, you.”
She taps my cheek, refreshing my [Saintess’s Cloister]. I still have over an hour of ti left on [Saintess’s Blessing], so asking her to dip into her reserves and invite further [Ether] Strain is wholly unnecessary.
After sharing a glance with each of the others, I move onward.
The door closes behind , leaving just Filia and
to walk down the nearly pitch-black pathway.
I’m astonished once again by just how much having access to the System improves my visual perception compared to a baseline human.
Despite there being only the equivalent of a small candlelight’s worth of luminous intensity streaming in through cracks in the door behind , I can still see shapes, if not colors, as easily as I can in full daylight.
“Are you ready for this?” Filia asks.
“Do you have any idea what we’re going to be facing?
I must admit, I don’t know much about how a broken fragnt of will is going to manifest itself.”
“I–
I cannot say I’ve experienced such a thing before myself.
I can only assu the battle will take place in the realm of your mind, rather than here in physical reality…
Or, what passes for physical reality within the Tower.
Though I must caution you: if you die in this ntal world, your psyche could end up shattered and broken beyond Chloe’s ability to heal you.”
“I understand.
And as I said, I will succeed.”
“Be aware that it is unlikely at best that I will be able to assist you, despite our bond.
Chloe may, considering the strength of the bond you two share.
But I would not rely on it.”
“Understood.”
I enter the room.
There’s a figure sitting on a dark throne.
The face is covered in shadow, the body gaunt, the nobleman’s clothing torn to shreds, effects shattered.
The body clearly belongs to the Lord Mayor, although it’s bizarre.
It’s as though his presence is not confined to his body.
A grotesque body… it might’ve been human once, but as twisted and warped as the faint flow of [Ether] is within it…
I don’t think he’s human anymore.
Truly a disgusting series of experints that led him to becoming one with the crystal, abandoning his humanity to this ghoulish vestige.
Maybe that’s why I’ve been sent here.
As a warning of what might happen if I go too far with my experintation and lose my morality to my research.
I walk up to the disheveled man, struggling to keep the remnants of last night’s dinner in my stomach.
Closer, closer, every step hitched, looking for traps all around , so sign of movent or whatever is going to happen.
The suspense, more than anything, is driving
up a wall.
Don’t make
wait, you damned contemptible son of a–”
My ntal tantrum is cut off by the sound of another voice entering my mind.
It’s not Chloe’s soft, loving tones, nor Filia’s stern yet knowledgeable, matter-of-fact words.
It’s the voice of a man, gruff, angry, and vengeful, pure wrath funneled directly into my psyche.
“You… You ruined everything, you bitch!” it screams.
“Yeah.
I did ruin your little fun, didn’t I,” I sass back.
“You’re welco, by the way.” ??????s ?????????????? ??s ???????????? ???? NoveI~Fire
“Do you know what you did?”
“I ended the reign of a tyrant.
I ensured that his tool of oppression would never again be used for evil.”
“You brought chaos and disorder upon all of Synthir!
The people need strength!
They need soone to look up to them!
They need soone to protect them!”
“They need the freedom to make that choice for themselves!
Not just have it forced upon them.
Not just have their freedom to develop their own power taken from them, in the na of ‘justice’ or ‘order’ or ‘righteousness’, or whatever other bullshit excuse you’ve conjured to justify your actions to yourself.”
“And you are no better!”
I scoff, spitting.
“You lie to yourself, wench, but your cognitive dissonance won’t work on .
You seek power for yourself, just the sa as everyone else.”
“It can’t be avoided.
It’s either we get stronger to combat whatever monsters the System sees fit to throw at us, or we simply wait for our own execution.
You might choose differently, but I choose the path of fighting for a better future.”
“So does everyone.
And do you know what I’ve accomplished?”
“Besides terrorizing everyone with a secret police, keeping people weak and underproductive, stifling the developnt of industry, making yourself more susceptible to monster attacks in the long run when monsters that have suppression-immunity Skills like I do eventually show up?
And believe you, they absolutely will, sooner or later.
And while you might’ve been able to ride it out in your little Crystal Tomb, thousands would have died.”
“No!
I provided my people with protection, security, peace, prosperity.
I orchestrated and trained an elite unit of guards, and provided them with the power and discipline they needed to maintain order and vigilance throughout Synthir and the surrounding areas.
I kept the streets clean, free of petty thefts and acts of rioting or civil unrest.
Because of that, the incidence rate of preventable death and serious injury in Synthir has been cut down by almost two-thirds!”
“By depriving everyone of their free will, making everyone little more than puppets with no agency, no choice but to dance to whatever lody you demand of them!”
“And what you are offering your people is no better!
In fact, it’s worse!
You still have the power to lord over them, whether you say you exercise that power or not.
They are still confined to exactly the things you allow them to do.”
“And that is the difference.
Choosing not to use that power.”
“You’re a damned hypocrite, Seraphina.”
Peter’s voice scoffs.
I can feel him attempting to worm his way into my mind, trying to break my concentration with this battle of words, hoping to win so advantage in the final battle about to comnce.
The sights and sounds of the outside world fade away, leaving behind only a mindscape in the shape of an endless void of black.
I stand within the emptiness, about ten paces from the madman who caused all of this.
He’s back in his original body— his human body.
No, not quite.
His visage is that of a human at first glance, but the spectral glow surrounding him is proof that I’m looking rely at so fragnt of his lingering will.
His eyes are full of anger and hatred.
If looks could kill, I’d be a dead woman.
Instead, I rely stare back with eyes full of resolve, determination to finally end the Nightmare of Synthir once and for all.
I draw Filia, though, as expected, no voice from within reaches
here.
He conjures a swordstaff of his own, identical to Filia in shape and size, but inverted in color.
The two of us take fighting stances, mine more defensive, slightly backward, his more aggressive, ready to either pierce or strike at a mont’s notice.
For monts, we stand in silence, still, neither of us moving even an inch beyond flickers of our eyes and the tiniest of breaths.
And then Peter charges at
with full force.
His speed eclipses my own, forcing
to step backward to dodge the spear thrust.
I draw my wings, flying out of the way of the second slash that follows, then block the third, beginning a fearso bladelock as the two of us stare at one another.
“Everything you think you’re fighting for is a fabrication,” the specter hisses, the form of Peter subtly changing as we clash.
“In the end, the only truth of this world is that power governs.
The strong do as they will; the weak suffer as they must.”
“No!
This can be changed!”
“I see into your mind.
All your thoughts, all your feelings.
You can’t hide anything from .
You know everything I say is the truth.”
“A part of
does.
I will admit: we can’t rely on the sa systems of governance we used before.
They never worked before, and they sure as hells aren’t going to work now that we have people that can level half a city with a flick of their wrist and a bit of ntal effort.”
“You know the truth.
The only true order that’s possible is the order brought about at the tip of your spear.
Accept your rightful place, and rule as you were ant to.”
“Not a chance in any hell,” I say.
“You think I want the responsibility of ruling?
That’ll take away all the cuddle with Chloe ti.
Let soone who actually wants the job do that.
Just let
stab the monsters and keep the politics out of my hair.”
“You know it’s inevitable.
You are a political force, no matter how much you try to deny it.
No matter how much you hate it, no matter how much you bury your head in the sand, no matter how many tis you throw the crown off your head and onto the floor, you will be in a position of leadership in the coming weeks and months.
It’s ti you started taking responsibility for your actions.
Because sooner or later, those chickens are going to co ho to roost.”
“Well, I’m sure as hell not going to do so the way you did.
The idea of depriving other people of their agency, locking their power away, ruling as a despot, secret police and disappearances, torture of people who wanted nothing more than to fight for a different future.
It’s wrong.
It’s anathema, and I won’t stand for it!
I will find a better way.”
“Hmph.”
The face of the spectral presence in my mind, previously Peter’s, now settles into my own, its body mirroring mine right down to the ruffles in my hair and the wrinkles in my undershirt.
He, now she, looks at , her expression softening slightly.
“If you think you can do better, then prove
wrong.
Not with promises or convictions, but with action.
You’ve made mistakes before.
Now it’s ti to do better.”
“It’s ti to do better.”
Those are the last words that I utter before my ghostly duplicate subsus into
and consciousness fades from my mind.
[You have defeated Peter Relain IV, Lord Mayor of Synthir (Crystallographist / Dreamweaver, Level 64).
You have gained a boosted 562,500 Experience.]
Reviews
All reviews (0)