Chapter Summary: The Sovereigns keep being drama queens.
Author Note: As the previous time, I apologize for the poor formatting. Webnovel is just that bad at this.
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Topic: A new Supreme is among us.
In: Boards > Places > NQSC > General
OrangeCat111111 (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (I dread to open the news)
Posted On Feb 27th, 21xx:
Well, I have to say that this isn't how I was expecting to start my day. Not even close. And here I was hoping to just watch a cringe interview while drinking my morning coffee…
For those of you who missed it. Last night, on the TV program Hunted, we got a few interesting revelations that I would like to say I'm making up to farm some Karma. To summarize for those who haven't watched it just yet and missed the follow-ups:
1. At the tail end of the interview, Laura, the host, revealed herself as a Supreme named ********. Edit: I didn't censor this; the app just defaults to this when it comes to his name since the bot deleting posts crashed.
2. This new Supreme went on to reveal some rather damning things. Like the fact that Supreme Ki Song and Supreme Anvil murdered Broken Sword in cold blood, right after becoming Supremes almost twenty years ago, then locked ******** up some time after that. Apparently they have also been attempting to murder Lady Nephis since she was a child.
3. Lady Nephis herself has received a very damning condemnation of her own. Apparently Sir Sunless has a True Name, Lost from Light, that makes it so whoever says it becomes his Master, and he cannot disobey them in any way. Yes, she apparently used it to force Saint Sunless to remain behind in the Forgotten Shore, and she's presumably still using it to control him now.
4. Finally, we reach the worst part. A Category Six Gate is going to open in a year in Antarctica. No, I didn't mistype. Yes, we are fucked.
5. The Government, along with Clans Song and Valor have already released many official statements, denying everything Supreme ******** has said.
6. Supreme ******* on the other hand, has promised to make an announcement in a few hours detailing his plans for the immediate future.
Personally, I don't even know what to believe. I'm just a normal guy who wants to wake up and find the world the same as when he went to bed. Go to work. Complain about my terrible boss. Eat something nice, maybe game a little, and go to bed.
Is it that much to ask for the world to not go to shit even more for a few days?
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> Quicksave
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
I had the dubious honour of watching the whole thing live. I even had a watch party going on and a drinking game for every time Saint Nephis and her Cohort looked like they were dying inside after answering a question. We were all tipsy by minute five.
Then, that guy showed up, opened his mouth, and we all sobered up in seconds. Honestly, he sounds nuts, but I cannot avoid feeling like he might be telling the truth. He just has a charisma of sorts, even with how culty he seems.
I'm not sure what to think about what he said either, but this whole thing sure has made me reconsider a lot of things in my life.
> OldJoe (Even more veteran member)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
I sure didn't miss the old times of waking up and checking the news, dreading to find out what happened while I was asleep…
At least we have Lord ********* looking out for us this time.
> Aaaartix
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
What kind of idiot are you, @OldJoe? Some guy comes out of nowhere, says that his direct rivals are evil, and that an up-and-coming Saint is just as bad, and you just believe him? That guy might as well have said that they also eat babies while he was at it.
> OldJoe (Even more veteran member)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
When you reach my age, you learn to listen to what's in front of you, rather than to what you want to listen to. You need proof? Sir Sunless himself said that what Lord ******** said about Changing Star is true.
> SonOfWar
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
The Legacy Clans being downright comically evil? Who could have seen that coming? It's not like they have spent the last few decades looking down on everyone and acting like we are dirt under their shoes or anything. That guy ******** doesn't sound much better, but at least he went ahead and said the truth. I'm actually considering attending one of those Church of the Moon masses to check them out for myself.
> SalvationIsNear
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
We will gladly accept you if you end up deciding to join us, @SonOfWar. Our Lord is kind and won't turn anyone away.
Don't worry, @Aaaartix, you'll see the light too, one of these days.
> @Aaaartix
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
Great, what's next? Will you guys start sending people door to door trying to sell me on your religion or something?
Who allowed this place to become a cultist echo chamber? I miss when we could still hold serious conversations.
> SalvationIsNear
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
-This message has been deleted by a moderator.-
> Tinmom (Moderator)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
That's a permanent ban. Doxxing other users goes against the rules.
@Aaaartix, we apologize for that, but please be more civil.
> Lost in paradise
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
Can't believe anyone would believe that kind of slander against Lady Nephis.
Guys, the whole thing is obviously fabricated. Do you have any idea how many "Live" programs are actually recorded? That lunatic obviously got a copy and inserted himself into it with AI. Just look at how unnaturally they all acted.
> TheIceLord (Random bullshit go)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
Guess you want to be enslaved too. Sorry to disappoint, dude, but she's not going to take you on a walk no matter how much you bark.
I always knew there was something shady going on with Slaver Star. Nobody is that nice without wanting something.
>ThePeak (Bring the Roman empire back)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
Guys, remember all those rumours from like a year back? The ones about the things that Lady Nephis was doing to Sir Sunless' sleeping body while he was still in the Dream Realm? Well, in light of this, and the fact that when he showed up, he was nude…
I really don't want to think it's like that, but looking back on it, whenever they appeared together on screen, things looked very tense…
Whatever the case, I feel really bad for him.
> Lost from Light's right hand.
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
It should have been me, not him!
Jokes aside, no way that happened to my goat. There must be another explanation behind that.
At least ******** will make sure to protect him from that evil woman. My guy will finally be freed from his chains.
> Duolliste
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
I call dibs on being his next Master. I sure could use having a Saint protecting me when that Gate opens. I even promise to feed and treat him well.
> Erestil (Ten years at least)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
Thank you! Finally someone mentions that!
Holy shit, guys, there is an actual extinction event coming in what, a year? And you guys are fighting over which tyrant is nicer? Seriously, we need to do something about that before it's too late!
My sister lives in Antarctica and is freaking out. Has the Government said anything yet about the evacuation?
—This post has been deleted by an administrator—
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Topic: Supreme ********'s announcement.
In: Boards > Places > NQSC > General
MorTheGrey (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (They should have flown there with the eagles)
Posted On Feb 27th, 21xx:
As promised a few hours ago, Lord ******** has released a video on all social medias explaining what he intends to do next.
The quick summary is that he will be moving to Antarctica and, along with anyone willing to work with him, personally fight against the Chain of Nightmares. While he warns that he cannot remain in the Waking World for long periods of time due to the limitations of being a Supreme, he still intends to fight on the front lines as much as possible.
Following that proclamation, some famous Legacy Clans like Clan Aegis Rose (formerly serving Valor) and Clan Fang (formerly serving Song) have decided to swear fealty to him, citing that they cannot in good conscience keep working under Supremes Anvil and Ki Song after what has been revealed.
To finish the proclamation, he has also said that while he condemns his fellow Sovereigns' actions, he understands that now is not a good time for strife and, as such, will personally talk with them in the hopes of securing cooperation until the crisis is over.
I don't know about you folks, but I already feel far safer thanks to Lord ********.
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> Aaaartix.
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
You know, I was really dismissive before, but seeing this, I get why everyone is so smitten with the guy. I was almost expecting ******** to start a civil war or something, but instead he put his grievances aside and placed humanity first.
Praise Lord ********!
> Erestil (Ten years at least)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
Dude, did they brainwash you or something? You did a complete 180.
> Aaaartix.
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
I just took a long look at the facts and realized that I was wrong. I'm not perfect like Lord ******** so I commit mistakes too.
> OnionKnight. (Hmmmm)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
This is really creeping me out, man.
I keep seeing posts like these, with people that originally criticized ******** turning around and singing his praises. I really hope this is just a marketing trick or something.
—This post has been deleted by an administrator—
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Topic: A fight breaks out at the Immortal Flame manor .
In: Boards > Places > NQSC > General
ByThePowerOfTheMoon (Original Poster)
Posted On Feb 27th, 21xx:
This morning, around 09:12AM, there was a loud explosion in the Legacy district. One that the eyewitnesses and the cameras around the area confirmed was caused by Lady Nephis' Aspect. Video here [Fight].
Who was she fighting? You might be asking yourself if you haven't watched it yet. Well, that's simple.
Sir Sunless himself.
Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. Then I saw the other news, and suddenly it made a lot of sense.
The whole right wing of the IF manor was destroyed during their fight, which had a non-conclusive result, as Saint Sunless ran away the moment he realized there were cameras recording the whole thing. As of now, Lady Nephis has refused all attempts from the media to clarify the situation, while Sir Sunless hasn't been seen since the fight happened.
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> Raptorman (Still waiting for a Jurassic Park movie beyond the original that's good)
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
And people still give her the benefit of the doubt? Some people just refuse to see reality.
> Lost in Paradise
Replied On Feb 27th, 21xx:
Or maybe they just want to have the full context before coming up with an opinion on something.
If you really want to blame someone for the mess we are in, then blame the Sovereigns. They had what, two decades to get things done? And they spent them doing nothing but bickering.
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Topic: Protests erupt in Falcon Scott.
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Topic: We are all going to die, aren't we?
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There were many ways Ki Song had been expecting to start her day.
Like having breakfast with all of her daughters before the campaign separated them. Going through the reports delivered by her agents. Reading a novel Revel had vehemently insisted she should give a try. Or a myriad of other, more pleasurable things.
Instead, here she was, waiting for the others to arrive.
Ki Song tapped her armrest with impatience, feeling like time had slowed down to a crawl.
All around the Waking World and her own domain, waves were being made; previously dependable subordinates revealed themselves as the Dream Spawn's thralls, ruining vital plans and throwing wrenches in the worst places. Even more infuriating, was the fact that she was sure that there were more in hiding, biding their time for the right moment. And while her other vessels dealt with this, her main body was stuck here, wasting time.
She detected movement from the corner of her eye and turned in time to see an abomination of a Nightmare Creature emerging from one of the many cracks populating the vast white field.
It was small, scrawny, almost resembling a skeletal bipedal horse. It was covered in red moss from head to toe, with a beating, concentrated mass of it at the chest, almost like a mockery of a heart. Its long head swept around in long arcs, looking for prey, until at last, it spotted her.
A part of Ki Song wondered what the Nightmare Creature must have thought upon seeing her.
Right here, in the chestbone of Godgrave, one of the most dangerous Death Zones known to humanity, there she sat. A woman in an elegant red gown that looked at home at a gala, sitting in an elaborate mahogany chair under a wide parasol that protected all of her body from the merciless golden light.
Whatever it thought didn't matter much longer, as the clouds parted right at that moment and the rays of annihilation descended on the foolish horse. Not even an instant passed before it was gone, disintegrated so thoroughly that not even ash remained.
"Quite the sobering sight, isn't it?"
Slowly, she turned toward the speaker, feeling no need to rush.
"Dream Spawn," she greeted placidly.
Like a poor slasher monster, he had decided to show up the moment she turned her eyes away to stare at the Nightmare Creature.
Now, there he was, sitting on a simple plastic chair and under a beach umbrella. If she didn't know better, Ki Song would have thought that he was a man enjoying a quiet morning under the sun before heading off to whatever it was that he did with his time besides ruining perfectly good schemes.
"Ki Song," he said back, that eerie smile of his almost blinding under the light.
"I see you have been busy."
Asterion shrugged, careful not to poke his limbs out of the parasol's protective shadows, and made a dismissive gesture.
"Just a little." He leaned forward, his golden eyes even brighter under the intense glare and the sweltering heat. "I must say that the two of you made it quite hard. Nothing I couldn't manage, but hard."
Ki Song did not bother hiding the undignified snort that left her.
"Bragging, old friend?" she asked dismissively. "I thought you didn't see the point of such a thing."
"And I still don't, but I thought it appropriate for the occasion. Isn't it so?"
Were it any other person, she would have thought that Asterion was trying to mock her. She knew better. That was a genuine question. The Dream Spawn looked human, acted like one, but he couldn't understand them. Neither was he capable of learning, as Smile's many failed attempts to make him more sociable had revealed.
"It is, though you should also be a little more smug. I sure would be, if I had made such a master stroke," she answered honestly.
And what a damnably good move it had been.
She had grown complacent upon seeing that the Dream Spawn was keeping a low profile, slowly extending his influence rather than attempting to grow it explosively through public appearances. Even that church of his made a point of staying under the radar, preaching their "end of the world" spiel to the masses while only revealing his name to those who seemed more devout.
That complacency had reached a head last night, when she hadn't deemed it necessary to send little Bin or one of her vessels to keep an eye on her heirs. It was just a low-stakes interview in which the worst thing that could happen would be one of them embarrassing themselves, so why bother? She had asked herself.
Looking back on it, her whole thought process had been suspect. Ki Song wasn't looking forward to second-guessing her every decision from now on, lest she fall for any more of his ploys.
She had been on the back foot the whole time after that, as both her attempts to cut the broadcast failed -Asterion had rather thoroughly thralled the whole TV channel staff- and she couldn't quite fight him openly and put her heirs in the line of fire.
"I see," he said, sounding as though he was committing the answer to memory. "Thank you."
Ki Song waved the fake gratitude away, aware that he didn't mean it.
"What did you want to speak about?" she asked instead.
The heat was starting to get to her, turning her already poor mood even worse. Their conversation had barely started, and she had already come up with a hundred different gruesome ways she could kill him.
She would have, were she not aware that she would just be wasting her time. Nothing she did to that damnable cockroach would stick as long as a single being remembered him.
"Don't be so impatient, dear Ki," he chided like a disappointed parent. "We still have to wait for someone else."
Her frayed patience almost snapped at his tone, and it took all of her self-control not to attack him. It would be inadvisable, as the light of Godgrave would disintegrate her long before she reached him.
The temptation was still there, though.
Fortunately, it only took a matter of minutes for the clouds to close up again, taking away with them the destructive light. Mere seconds after that, Ki Song felt the telltale sign of someone using their tether to cross the boundary between realms.
With a sound that resembled sharp steel cutting through air, Anvil appeared, his posture straight and narrow like he was about to enter battle, rather than participate in a conversation. Wise.
"Worm, Dream Spawn," he greeted coldly.
The man took a short look around, confirmed that there were no other threats around, and summoned hundreds of swords. In that steely expression of his, she saw the temptation to use them to cut her and Asterion down right where they stood, futile as that would have been. He overcame it a moment later and commanded them to assemble into a throne of swords and a parasol that was twice as big as hers.
And he called her petty.
"Anvil," the Dream Spawn said warmly. "It has been a long time."
"Not long enough."
Ki Song snorted, having expected no other answer from him.
"You wanted to speak," Anvil said, though it sounded more like a demand.
Asterion made a disappointed sound, looking genuinely heartbroken for all of one moment before he realized neither of them was fooled.
"I see you are as curt as ever, old friend."
The sound of grinding metal echoed through the vast field as Anvil released his Will in answer. Ki Song unleashed her own, the rotten smell mixing in with the heat to make a truly revolting one. Asterion released his a moment later, an insidious whisper at the back of the mind, unnoticeable if you didn't know what to look for.
Then the collision began.
Anvil's Will came first, vast and ponderous, grinding forward with the inexorable force of a mountain dragged across the earth. It sought to crush the others beneath its weight, to force them back through sheer weight and overwhelming force. Ki Song slipped aside rather than meet it head-on, her Will curling around the edges of his like smoke through a closing fist. Where Anvil pressed, she yielded. Where he withdrew, she followed, probing for the smallest weakness.
Meanwhile, Asterion's Will slithered between them. It was neither a mighty mountain nor a flowing wave, but something more subtle. A whisper slipped beneath the clash, circling the others, searching for the places where their attention faltered. It darted toward Anvil's flank, only to recoil when the grinding pressure of his Will swung toward it. It vanished from Ki Song's grasp before her own could seize upon it, reappearing elsewhere a heartbeat later, striking where her defense had weakened minutely, only to move back to Anvil in a direct strike.
The silent waltz continued for minutes on end as their Wills continued clashing, looking for a decisive weakness yet finding none. The three of them had been Supreme for almost two decades already. They were far too skilled, too knowledgeable, and too experienced for there to be such a thing as an easily exploitable weakness.
In the end, the result was a draw, as none was willing to commit where the other two could strike them down. Their Wills retracted to their respective owners, coiling around them like a protective shroud that made the air feel heavier.
Asterion regarded them both with an amused glint in his golden eyes, his face partially shadowed by his parasol in a way that made him look even more sinister.
"Is this my welcome after such a long time apart, old friends?" He shook his head in disappointment. "Smile would have already organized a party and forced us to play one of those ridiculous games of hers."
The grinding of metal grew louder.
"What need is there for more?" Ki Song asked, regarding him coldly. "You have managed to come back despite our efforts. Spread your name all across the world already, and even stole some of our Awakened right under our noses. If that's your idea of a friendly reunion, I dread what you would do for an enemy."
Asterion shrugged lightly, his eyes never leaving hers. "Oh, it is. If we weren't friends, I would have waited to steal all your precious daughters before making myself known." He tilted his head in Anvil's direction. "As for him... well, I don't think he really loves anything. So I guess I would just steal his forge."
Ki Song hummed thoughtfully, leaning back on her chair with all the ease of someone being informed of a lightly inconvenient problem.
"You could have done that, true." She smiled sharply. "I welcome you to try, even. Though I assure you, you won't like the result."
Asterion's eye shone brightly, almost resembling the annihilating light of Godgrave.
"I just might."
"You think you can waltz your way through my castle and just take something that's mine like that?" Anvil asked in turn, his steely-gray eyes asserting every millimeter of the other man like one would assert a faulty sword.
Asterion raised his hands in mock surrender. "Oh no, I wouldn't just walk through. I would rather make someone like your brother Madoc do the honors instead."
For but a moment, Anvil's Will pressed down on Asterion's with renewed vigor, almost slicing through before the Dream Spawn reacted and fought back.
"You are as arrogant as ever," the head of clan Valor said coldly. "Just like the Worm said, I welcome you to try."
The target of their ire chuckled. "And the two of you are just as confident. Is that based on those secret weapons you talked about?"
Ki Song did not fall for the bait, carefully keeping her thoughts in order so that he couldn't glean the details from her mind. It was a technique she had developed years ago, back when she only wanted to keep her personal thoughts private from the nosy teenager named Asterion and her even nosier friend Smile.
She felt a faint sense of nostalgia when remembering those simpler, happier days. To think that she would have to use it again, and to keep her sec—
"Good try," she said calmly.
Asterion's serene smile had never wavered. "Thank you."
Silence fell after that, as tense as a bowstring about to snap from the force it was holding back.
"I guess the pleasantries are over," the Dream Spawn said once the quietude started to become too oppressive. "You two wanted to talk? Then let's do it."
Ki Song leaned forward in interest, genuinely curious to hear what he had to say. It must have been quite something for him to meet them both so brazenly in a place without thralls to hide behind.
Vibrations rang under the giant skeleton's breastbone right at that moment, and she reconsidered her stance. He likely had many enslaved Nightmare Creatures on standby, ready to protect the monster with their lives if things took a wrong turn, like it inevitably would. She, too, had her own lying in wait for the right moment, after all.
"I come to both of you with a bargain in mind—"
"No." Anvil shot him down immediately.
Asterion chuckled, completely at ease. "Now, now. You are supposed to listen to my offer before refusing. Even I know that."
"I'm with our dear Ironheart in this. Whatever you have to offer, you will benefit more than any of us will." She narrowed her eyes darkly. "And I don't feel particularly generous after that stunt you pulled last night."
"Is it so wrong of me to level the field?" Asterion asked innocently. "You two had more than a decade to build up your forces, put public opinion on your side, and prepare to face me. What else was I supposed to do?"
"How about die? That would have been quite considerate of you."
The Dream Spawn chuckled. "Your jokes have turned quite morbid in my absence, old friend."
"I wasn't joking."
Asterion's smile widened. "Good one. Now, how about you let me continue, and then we can start with the threats?"
She remained silent, and so did Anvil.
"My influence has already reached critical mass. Unless the two of you can travel back in time, there is no stopping it anymore," he began, and this time he did sound smug. He learned quickly. "I could easily take over all of humanity within the month, and your domains not much later. However, I am willing to wait a little longer."
He sounded awfully confident. Then again, he always did.
"The Nightmare Chain and the Category Six Gate," Ki Song guessed the reason why.
"Correct," he congratulated. "I alone cannot protect Antarctica from all of those Nightmare Creatures while also rebuking your attempts to destroy me. So I'm here to offer a temporary non-aggression pact instead. I'm not asking for much, just the nine months the campaign is expected to last."
She quirked an eyebrow in mild surprise. She didn't think even for a moment that he cared for the people of Antarctica, so why was he so interested in saving them? To the point of presumably halting the spread of his influence during the pact's duration?
"Elaborate," Anvil commanded.
"Gladly. I know that the two of you have made an alliance against me." He chuckled derisively. "Though one could scarcely believe it, given how willing you were to rip each other apart. Ah, but I digress. You will fail, but still be enough of a distraction to prove problematic for my plans. Therefore, a pact."
Asterion reaccommodated himself on the plastic chair, looking far too at ease for her liking.
"The pact is simple. I will stop spreading my influence the moment a third of humanity is under my control, though this only applies to my Aspect and not mundane means. I will also stop stealing your precious subordinates from the two of you. I even promise to refrain from speaking about all the true, terrible things you have done. Yes, I'm magnanimous like that," he said lightly, almost sounding like he was trying to make a joke. He pointed at them next. "In exchange, the two of you continue with what you already intended to do and send your forces to aid against the Chain of Nightmares and cease all hostilities againt me and mine."
"What's in it for you?" Anvil asked immediately.
Asterion smiled brightly. "Is humanity's well-being not reason enough?"
"You don't even care about your well-being," Ki Song shot back.
"Rude," he complained. "The truth, but rude."
They waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't.
Ki Song considered carefully what he could be planning with the information at hand. It didn't take her long to reach a conclusion.
Simple, unchecked greed. Asterion wanted all of humanity serving under his domain, and wouldn't content himself with just the chunks he could safely manage as she and Anvil intended.
Then came the problem of the Chain of Nightmares and the incoming Category Six Gate. He alone couldn't handle the first, and the second could very well be an extinction-level event, the kind the Waking World had scarcely seen before, ending the lives of every single human not already in the Dream Realm.
Asterion, cunning as he was, could see this too. If he just thralled all of humanity and stole their subordinates, then Ki Song and Anvil would just give up on them and take extreme measures, such as killing as many people as possible to weaken him themselves.
Through this, not only did he gain time to relocate people to wherever he intended to start his own kingdom, but he also recruited them to protect his future Domain and sped up the process of moving as many humans as possible into the Dream Realm. What had he said the night before? "They will be mine sooner or later anyway. What does waiting a little more change?" Yes, what was a little more time to him?
It was a bold plan. One that left her wondering what he needed so many people for. Asterion was greedy, but it wasn't without purpose.
"Why should we grant you that much time?" Ki Song prodded.
"Or believe that you would follow your word?" Anvil concluded.
Asterion smiled widely, his eyes a burning gold that held nothing but hunger.
The clouds parted again at that moment, and golden light spilled all around them, the contrast between the light and the shadows he was under making him look half-divine, half-profane.
"Why so much time? Because it benefits you too." His smile widened further, inhuman already. "More time to come up with countermeasures against me. More time to scheme. More time to find a weakness you can attack. And..." He paused, his smile turning wider still. "Time to complete those precious secret weapons of yours. The ones I assume aren't quite done just yet, given that you haven't used them already despite how good a chance this is."
He crossed one leg over the other and leaned back on the chair, the vivid image of relaxation. "As for why you should believe me? You'll have to take my word for it. So, what will it be?"
Ki Song didn't need to glance at Anvil to know he was readying himself to strike. She could feel it just in the way the air turned sharper. Just as she assumed he noticed that everything around her was rotting at an accelerated pace.
And still, despite how much they wanted to strike, they hesitated.
There simply wasn't a point.
Both she and Anvil could kill Asterion without too much problem. Strong as he was, his specialty wasn't fighting, which would lead to a swift defeat against one of them, let alone the two. The problem lay in the fact that he wouldn't remain dead. And in the war that would follow such a thing. A war that she wasn't sure she could win.
It was the whole reason she had started her secret—
Ki Song glared at Asterion, who merely smiled like he was asking, Can you blame me for trying?
She gritted her teeth, considered it from all angles, and double-checked to make sure she wasn't being influenced. Rather disappointingly, though he was certainly messing with her emotions, in the end, the decision was all hers.
"I have one condition."
She just wasn't going to make it easy for him.
Asterion smiled triumphantly. "I'm listening."
He and Anvil leaned forward in interest as they detected the beginning of a Memory summoning, wondering what it was that she intended to bring into the discussion. In a matter of seconds, it appeared within her grasp. A scroll made of a thick, dark violet hide, rimmed with gold, exuding both age and power.
"This is [The First Law], a Memory I acquired after slaying the Cursed Devil known as 'The Ruler'. Its use is simple. Whatever is written on it becomes a contract for all those who sign their names on it, one they are physically unable to break."
"Can it be changed or undone after the fact?" Asterion asked immediately.
"Only if all the participants explicitly and unambiguously agree to that. It also can only hold one contract at the same time, so there won't be any separate one before any of you ask," she answered calmly.
Ever since she obtained the Memory, six years prior, she had never stopped thinking about how many things would have been different if she could have used it to enforce true companionship, free of the distrust or fear of betrayal that had plagued their cohort ever since Smile died. Could she have prevented Broken Sword's death with it? Asterion's imprisonment? The cold war she had been waging against Anvil this past decade?
The possibilities were almost dizzying.
Usually, she wasn't one to partake in "what ifs," and still, it made her wonder.
A part of her found it deeply amusing that taking so long to broach the subject with her heirs had led to the Memory still being usable now.
"Why should I trust that you are saying the truth and this is not a trap?" Anvil asked next.
Ki Song shrugged elegantly. "I know that you can appraise Memories with your Aspect, and the Dream Spawn can tell whether I'm lying or not, so what's the point?"
Anvil narrowed his eyes, but didn't rebuke her.
She took that as a yes, which only left one participant. Ki Song expected him to say no, as the treacherous man would never willingly chain himself like that, but that would still grant her more leverage in the negotiation to come.
"Very well, I agree to a contract with this Memory," Asterion said cheerfully.
What?
"What's with that face, old friend? Do you trust my word so little?" he asked, looking hurt.
His agreement alone was almost enough to convince her not to go through with it. He either was confident of having a way out of it, or he deemed that he had already won and, as such, didn't need to bother pushing back. Both possibilities were just as terrible.
And yet, circumstances still forced her hand.
After that, and much debate, the terms of the contract were agreed on. Neither would attack the other, whether personally or through their forces, directly or indirectly. Asterion would cease his expansion through his Aspect. They would lend the aid they had already promised against the Chain of Nightmares, and however much more they wanted to. And finally, once nine months had passed, the contract would automatically be rescinded.
They had to wait hours before the clouds closed again and they could stand up to sign it all together, the tension in the air so thick they could have sliced it with a knife. Ki Song kept expecting something to give at any moment, for either of them to decide that enough was enough and start the fight that would happen in nine months here and now. She herself almost did it more than a dozen times. And yet, none of them did.
She lacked Elegy of the End's foresight, and she still knew that her future would be filled with quiet nights thinking about how much of a mistake the decision she had made today was.
When the light of annihilation finally disappeared behind the clouds, she went first in a show of goodwill. Anvil did so next, looking at her full of distrust the whole time. And finally, Asterion did, that eerie, serene smile of his never leaving his face.
In the end, against even her own expectations, the reunion ended without violence.
The media would spin this as a win, the brightest stars of humanity united against the Spell and the dangers seeking Humanity's destruction. Poor Asterion, having spent years trapped under the hex of a Nightmare Creature, had been fooled, wrongly thinking that he had been betrayed when it was nothing of the like. The inconvenient truths would be brushed under the rug and ignored until they went away. The overt hostility between their forces would be nothing but healthy competition. They would even attend events together, their friendship rekindled like it had never been doused and stomped on to begin with.
Some would believe it; most would not. It didn't matter, only that the status quo would return to what it was before, but a little better, so they wouldn't complain too much. And those who did, well...
And meanwhile, she and the others would plot. They had been very careful about not locking themselves out of doing just that, after all.
There was no love lost between the three of them. No sense of kinship or former affection that would stay their hand when the time came. Even she and Anvil, nominally allied as they were, wouldn't hesitate for a moment to strike the other down if they had the chance.
As they stood there, signing a contract that would only ensure death would come later instead of now, under the light of a dead God and the shadows of their own parasols, Ki Song reflected on just how much of a failure this all was. She had always believed that if you had to fight, then you had already failed, and now not only was she going to do that, but she was also giving her opponents the time to ready themselves before she did so.
She didn't like to entertain "what ifs," and still, she wished all of this could have been avoided.
-------------------------------------------
"...that's when I sliced off that weakling's head and the whole city surrendered!"
There were many things you could get tired of when you were immortal.
"City? With the way you described it, it sounds more like a particularly small hamlet," he mocked.
Food, drinks, fine clothing, works of art, women, living. Not that he could enjoy most of those that much before he was cursed. Either way, if there was one thing he would never get tired of, it was mocking his fellow prisoner.
"You dare mock the mighty Azarax!? Conqueror of a hundred Thrones!?" the skeleton screamed, struggling against the nails staking him to the tree in an attempt to break free and rip him apart.
One would think that after countless eons stuck here, with nobody but each other for company, he would have already learned not to fall for his bait so easily. If humans were good at something, it was learning from their mistakes and not stumbling over the same stone twice, after all.
Whoever came up with that expression had clearly not met Azarax.
"Sorry, sorry. Let's call it a village, then," Eurys said cheerfully. "I'm sure that the forty people or so living there were very impressed with your feat of killing some recently-Awakened warrior."
"I'll kill you! Break your bones apart and use them to build myself a throne! Then when I'm bored of it, grind them into dust and scatter them to the four winds so that you may never be whole again! Then I--"
No matter how many times they had this conversation, or how often he mocked him, the ancient tyrant always reacted like this. It was entertaining enough to almost make his continued existence tolerable.
Almost.
Eurys prepared himself to continue teasing the other skeleton when he noticed it.
There were ripples in the small lake before the tree he was nailed to.
Eurys frowned upon noticing that detail, and no more than a second later, the sand beneath him trembled.
It was faint at first. Almost imperceptible. Then the ground gave another shudder, and the ripples spread across the lake in widening circles.
"—And then I will..." Azarax fell silent, trailing off as he, too, noticed the strange event.
They shared a quick look, wondering what it could be.
The sun was still high in the sky, which meant that it couldn't be the deathless. And no Nightmare Creature would dare approach this cursed battlefield of theirs so brazenly, even during the day.
Another tremor passed through the earth.
Eurys tried to extend his senses beyond the surface, searching for the source, but found nothing. The nail drove all his power into the tree, leaving his senses little better than those of a mundane.
"What do you think is going on, oh mighty Azarax, conqueror of a hundred hovels?" he asked, though the usual amusement was absent from his voice.
"You—"
The earth lurched violently, making even the mighty tree they were nailed to groan dangerously.
Azarax's jaw snapped shut, the tirade he was about to unleash dying off.
The lake suddenly churned, its surface breaking into hundreds of frantic ripples as sand slid down the dunes in thin streams. Then the entire battlefield shook like something deep within had suddenly moved.
Eurys stared toward the dunes, where he detected movement. Far ahead, almost at the edge of his vision, the sand began to sink.
It was slow, silent. A depression formed in the middle of the desert, widening as the grains poured inward. It wasn't because of the wind or some creature. There wasn't anything visible that could possibly be causing it.
The ground simply... gave way.
Eurys felt it then, a presence. One that took his nonexistent breath away. Even robbed of his powers, even reduced to little more than a skeleton nailed to a tree, he could feel it.
For one terrible instant, Eurys was no longer in the desert, but somewhere else.
He was a young man once more, not even a century old. Standing before the Dragon, peering into those terrible, hungry eyes. It would always give him that look, the one that made him wonder if he would be next on the menu, were the creature to not be satisfied with its meal.
Then the presence vanished, the trembling stopped, and the lake became still.
Silence descended upon the battlefield so completely that Eurys could hear the faint creak of the tree behind him. Calm just... returned to Ariel's Hell like it had never left, leaving him with a sensation of dread he had long thought himself incapable of feeling.
For several non-existent heartbeats, he genuinely considered whether he had imagined it.
Then—
A human hand burst free from beneath the dunes.