The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound

Randidly waited until his energies stabilized, then moved on to the next step. If this would truly be a method to empower the Alpha Cosmos, he didn’t think many others would be able to manage this for a long, long time.

Even his honed Willpower trembled as he inserted the next bits of energy.

This fit was even tighter than creating the core area. Yggdrasil was pushed to its limits to prevent the new addition from expanding, and then causing the surrounding four drops of Aether to expand, which would then expand the outer ring… essentially, it acted as a containment framework until all the pieces were in place.

But he ran up against a problem as he prepared to add his finishing touches.

He didn’t have enough Nether bubbles.

The middle drop of liquid Aether needed an additional four Nether bubbles, one to modulate the division between each of the four drops in the core area. Randidly only had three.

So now, Randidly had a working pulsing with power, which he didn’t dare release, which he wasn’t really sure what it would do when he did finish it, a Nether Core insisting this was important work, and also the greatest confrontation of his existence waiting in front of him.

He dearly hoped Neveah didn’t peer into his thoughts and spot the situation. She would be so disapproving and superior about it.

“Fuck me,” Randidly almost laughed at the impasse reached by his relentless drive to push forward. Yggdrasil wasn’t fully occupied keeping the working balanced, but wouldn’t be able to wield its usual implacable force. A decrease in its force meant utilizing it in activation with his other two images… would have mediocre results.

On the other hand, he had already condensed two additional small grey bubbles by interacting with Solomon Rex and then adding some extra power to his supporters' weapons. So very soon, he suspected he would create one more tiny grey bubble.

But would it be in time?

“In the end, I can always pull Yggdrasil out if I need it. And the power Level of the fill-in Skillset has really improved…” Randidly allowed his awareness to leave his Soulspace and return to his body. He blinked several times, looking at the tense faces of those around him. Soldiers hurried back and forth, their expressions twisted into scowls. Over by the grand array, the mood had clearly chilled.

Randidly’s gaze immediately snapped to Neveah. “What is it? Did something happen?”

“...honestly, no, we just have a bit more context.” Neveah clenched her hands and then forced them to relax. “Reports are coming in from across the Nexus. Not that they are killed by the process… but having the Actus Suprem rip out all of the power gifted through Grand Fates knocks the victim into a coma. As of yet… we haven’t found anyone who has recovered from this state. Even with healers encouraging them.”

Randidly shivered; he hadn’t really considered the smaller consequences of Devick’s actions, just the monstrous amount of image power she would extract.

That’s the problem of reaching the heights of power. Randidly’s thoughts darkened. A lot of the advantages that I’ve used to climb up to this position… you miss them from above. Details pass beneath you. And just as inevitably, weaker individuals die, because those details are vital for their survival.

Without the nudge of necessity, it’s very easy to become blind.

“Orders?” Raymund Ballast brought his fist to his chest as Randidly’s expression changed.

His emerald eyes gleaming, Randidly stood and rolled his shoulders. His gaze went from Neveah to Alana, to the nervous representative from the Upper Sonara Society, to Charlotte Wick and DiOrtho Vant toying with their weapons. Finally, Randidly Ghosthound looked at the leader of his Vulpis Squad. Fury made his voice smolder. “Prepare to move. We are going to kick down Elhume’s door and stop the Actus Suprem as quickly as possible.”

After he spoke, the surrounding area exploded into motion. Supplies were gathered up, small dwellings and cooking fires torn down, orders were shouted, images began to rise and clash in the air, the low maelstrom of significance churning over their position pressed closer against their bodies. Randidly felt his own Nether Core accelerating in response.

“And so we march toward the finale,” He let out a breath. He checked his Soulspace briefly, but creating the next Nether bubble wasn’t so easy as just announcing the beginning of the expedition. He raised his head and looked out across the sky.

Below the gleaming nebulas, bits of debris from the Sonara continued to drift downward. The ritual to invite the entire population of the Nexus to be Patrons crept outward. Light danced and bled into itself. The vista was beautiful, alien, magical. It belied the howling weight of history, forcing him forward.

Randidly looked at his hands. The moment almost didn’t feel real. He really was about to attack the base of Elhume.

“No one but you could do this, Randidly Ghosthound,” Neveah’s fingers slid around his wrist. She tugged on him, drawing is gaze upward. A version of his features looked back at him. The other half of his soul poured her mental energy into him, smoothing over all the small flaws his last-minute training had created.

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“No one but us.” Randidly corrected gently.

Neveah sniffed. “As if I would be caught dead participating in such a haphazard assault. While you launch the first salvo, I’ll be contacting groups within the Alpha Cosmos— even if you would prefer it never happen, you might need help.”

Randidly cracked his fingers. “Everyone has their own methods of fighting-”

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Keystone of the First Ghasthund has grown to Level 96!

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Keystone of the First Ghasthund has grown to Level 97!

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Keystone of the First Ghasthund has grown to Level 98!

“What the hell?” Randidly blinked and looked around as his Fatepiece gained three Levels in a split second. Neveah frowned at him but then sensed the cause through their Soulbond. For a few seconds, both scanned the surrounding area, trying to understand the source of the disturbance, even while the armies formed into tight groupings. But no matter how much they combed, they didn’t find a culprit.

“I didn’t sense its activation,” Randidly frowned, still aware of the preparatory movements of his troops around them.

Neveah spun on her heel. “Neither did I. But… well, not that this is any less ominous, but your Fatepiece is the Keystone of the First Ghasthund. Perhaps just the strengthening of the Hierarchy of Ghasthund you added to the Nexus would impact you. Perhaps… perhaps there was some relevant development in the wider Nexus.”

Randidly gave her a slow nod. It was a positive thing; when the Fatepiece reached Level 100, he could start absorbing experience again. He could take advantage of all of the Level Up bonuses he had been sitting on for years. But he had also spent far too much time in the System. A boon like this definitely did not come without a cost.

“Can’t wait around now, though. Not with Devick ripping out people’s souls,” Randidly kicked off the meteor on which he sat, sending it tumbling off into the deep space above the Nexus. He floated up, his eyes scanning across the forces arrayed before him. Even with the addition of the forces from the Upper Sonara Society, it was a small group, barely two hundred individuals.

Randidly’s heart rate increased. What they were about to attempt had been something that felt insane. He had been thinking about this moment for so long, he couldn’t believe it had finally come to this. More and more significance pooled and swirled in the sky. Randidly couldn’t believe its density, couldn’t believe they weren’t currently sinking into the deep shadow below the looming presence of history. He couldn’t believe these people could breathe with it pressing against them.

He produced the Alchemist’s Passport. Randidly Ghosthound looked down at his subordinates and nodded. “We go.”

“Yes!” The soldiers roared back up at him. The significance shivered in pleasure.

Randidly slipped the key through existence, following the source of all dread in the Nexus. He didn’t attempt to drill through everything and arrive at the final result. Just by peering through existence at the halos, he could tell defenses had been erected. Even to his extremely meticulous mind, the layers and folding of space around Elhume’s main base left him somewhat lightheaded.

He ripped open a portal wide enough to hover in front of them like a lake. And then he led the way to stand right outside their final destination. Randidly’s skin prickled as he looked up at the mountains that sealed away Elhume’s physical body. He suppressed the impulse to swear.

At the very least, I now understand why it fucking shattered my Class, just to have this being look at me.

Even though they came with intentions of violence, the entire group paused and looked up at the glittering crystal majesty in front of them. The peaks rose high enough that even Randidly’s powerful vision couldn’t reach them. The jagged peaks seemed to stretch out endlessly to the left and right, the concentrated energy as large as a country.

Randidly wondered if this was what it was like, for travelers to come up to the highlands and raise their heads to the Himalayas on his old planet. A row of twisted and flawed protrusions of crystal filled the area directly ahead of them, almost resembling pearly teeth. The Aether around them was so dense that a misty, half-formed shroud of energy covered their bases. And the raw power radiating off of their presence…

And the jagged maw of mountains was only a fraction of the whole.

Even from this distance, the oppressive energy of the crystal mountains sizzled against his skin. He breathed out and unleashed the Dread Homunculus. A vast darkness spread out from him, wrapping himself and his people in a protective barrier.

Congratulations! Your Skill Ghosthound’s Cloak of a Thousand Lightless Horizons (GD) has grown to Level 1143!

“Almost makes us seem like the bad guys. Approaching under the cover of darkness,” DiOrtho Vant observed.

Randidly shrugged while tugging on a string given to him by Solomon Rex. “Isn’t that the conceit? That if you stay around long enough, eventually you become the villain. Some young upstart leads a revolution to tear everything you’ve built down.”

Neveah shot Randidly a warning look, but Solomon Rex already materialized next to him. The slim humanoid looked up at the mountain range of crystalized Aether with his violet eyes. His presence added a stream of significance to the growing cataclysm above their heads. “Ah. So I see it’s time to finally slay this beast.”

“How do we get in?” Randidly said, annoyed at having to rely on this very unreliable ally so soon. His eyes scanned the fault lines of the energy monolith in front of them. There were definitely a few avenues of ingress, but the final hurdle rose very, very high into the sky in front of them.

“You choose,” Solomon Rex gestured broadly. Waves of dense Aether by-product curled like beckoning hands in front of them.

Randidly narrowed his eyes. He felt a sinking feeling in his gut, as though he should have expected an answer like this. “Choose?”

“There are seven entrances to Elhume’s… castle.” Solomon’s expression turned serious. Wave by wave, the dense mountain range of Nether punished them for their continued presence with its dense energy. “In the end, while there is probably one answer that leads more efficiently toward the critical area where the Actus Suprem yanks on Grand Fates, I’ve been unable to penetrate the outer barrier. I recommend just selecting one and starting a blitzkrieg.”

“Just. Select. One.” Randidly clenched his jaws. In front of his awareness, a massive beachhead of significance rumbled. Below that, he witnessed the dense halos of all the energy produced by the mountain range. Beneath that, he scoured the threads of Grand Fate connection for lines leading to the source of the ritual. But those System apparatus connections seemed to drill directly through the side of the mountain range, caring not at all for the mundane concerns of body-possessing individuals.

He pivoted and looked at his assembled army. “Any ideas.”

After a few seconds of silence, Neveah sighed and rubbed the back of your neck. “Well, yes. But it’s not my idea… and you won’t like it.”

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