189 (II)

Anticipate [I]

“This is what I need you to do to the mana core,” Udraal said. “As mentioned before, it would take far too long to break through it, and you won’t have that much time. But you will be able to compromise it far more easily than I can. And now that you know the basic principles and have conducted the act once, you’ll be able to do it again.”

Shiv wasn’t sure about that.

“Don’t doubt yourself now,” Udraal encouraged, reading Shiv’s expression. “It’s not that complicated. You know the process. If you’re missing anything, you’ll at least have a direction to work toward. Failing that, I recommend you try to make a run. I am certain you can escape, but the others?” Udraal shrugged. “I have doubts about that possibility, to be honest. Maybe Young Lord Arrow can come with you. But there will be a great many losses with how tightly the Ascendants hold this prison now. The longer we give Veronica, the worse our odds get. Which is why I intend to distract her and the other Ascendants for as long as possible. To that end, I have something I need from you.”

“Golem?” Shiv said. He began constructing a golem before Udraal even finished talking. He drew from his Vitality Drain skill first, and then he followed up with his Leviathan of the Shapeless Tides, Inertial Overdrive, Pillar of Orichalcum, and Strider of the Unbending Path. The golem emerged from Shiv in a burst of vivid color, and Udraal looked it up and down.

Golemancy 22 > 24

“Ah. So, directly from the substance of your soul. How efficient. Do you know most golems take years to make? Extremely tedious and difficult. It is one of the few major advantages the ancients had over us: Their machines could be created and built in a day. As intelligent as people—more, even.”

“Not in terms of vitality,” Shiv grunted, trying to stay upright. “It has a Vitality Drain Skill. You might need to consider kidnapping a warden or something because—”

Udraal waved him off. He marched up to Shiv’s golem and let out a quiet sigh. The humanoid mess of Vitae stared at Udraal, and Shiv prepared to give it orders. “There isn’t a need, and I’ll keep it bound to myself.” Before Shiv could ask what the Abyssal Lord meant, Udraal extended a finger, and a thread shot out. It was a thread of the faintest blue, and it connected Udraal to Shiv’s golem. At once, Shiv felt a strange presence pierce him. It was as if he had been the one threaded instead of his golem. Just then, a scene took shape before him. His golem vanished, and it was absorbed into Udraal. A moment later, it emerged behind him, acting as if Udraal’s shadow rather than a separate entity. Their vitality flowed as if a conjoined river then, and Shiv found himself flabbergasted at the feat Udraal just performed.

“You’re not the only one with a Unique Skill, Deathless,” Udraal said with a slight smirk. “Truth be told, you’ve offered me quite a few useful tools for life and for testing. Returning so quickly was worthwhile.”

“Was it worth abandoning the conquest of a new world?”

Udraal frowned as he considered that. “That is uncertain, but I have time to finish that at a later date. For now, I will be off. The moment I leave, I expect you to have around two hours or so to raid and take this place’s mana core. After that, there are no guarantees. I only came back with so many vessels, after all. And facing gods, false though they may be, is ultimately a costly endeavor.”

“And what happens after it’s done?” Adam asked. His jaw was set as he glared at Udraal. “What happens once we’re free?”

“Free.” The Abyssal Lord chuckled. “What a naive and intoxicatingly innocent notion. But I get your meaning. After you escape from this prison, I advise that you try fleeing into the capital during the chaos. The moment this Rubix Well collapses, Veronica will adapt immediately and place the entirety of the capital under quarantine. You might be fast enough to get through, and you should if you can. If you fail, find a place to disappear. Perhaps a little bird among you might know somewhere.”

Five shifted uncomfortably. The wolf-man didn’t much like being noticed by Udraal.

“I’ll try to find and bring you out of the encirclement with me once that happens. If you do manage to escape, I would like to meet you at Blackedge, or wherever Blackedge used to be. There are things we must do there. People I wish to meet again. So much to catch up on.” Udraal looked away then, and Shiv realized he was thinking of his father.

Adam, however, found himself worried about another as his stare hardened. “I won’t let you hurt my father, and I won’t let you lay your hand on the Starhawk. I state this now to make things plain. Prove yourself an enemy, and I will strike you down. I will find a way.”

Udraal studied Adam for a moment, and Shiv saw him consider several replies. Ultimately, Udraal settled for a shrug. “Alright, you stated it plainly. Not wise, in my opinion. Shooting someone in the back is the best way to fight. I don’t think it matters so much what you intend to do, but I respect the resolve. Who knows, you might surprise me, as your father did.”

Udraal turned and regarded Shiv thereafter, and an inquisitive look overtook him. “I assume you’re going to side with your friend against your maker if this comes to blows.”

“Is that even a question?” Shiv asked, his voice low. “You’re not blind, Udraal. You know something’s coming down the line between us.”

Udraal squinted at Shiv. “Why are both of you so openly aggressive?”

“He’s having an exceptionally shitty day. For me, it’s just how I am,” Shiv grunted. “And there’s no point in hiding from this. You know it’s coming. I know it. Pretending doesn’t do anything.”

“Hm. Very good. Understandable. And maybe…”

“Maybe?” Adam asked, confused as to what Udraal was saying.

“Maybe the two of you combined can bring down one of my vessels. It will be difficult, though. You’re immensely gifted, with a plethora of skills, but emotional and easily goaded. My Deathless is rough, sloppy, but powerful, with a growing grasp over his own psychology to boot. I’ve been surprised by weaker Pathbearers.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Shiv’s eyes fell on where Sullain had lain, then, and he saw that only a portion of the Vicar’s head remained. A coldness flooded Shiv’s bones. One second ago, he was still there. And now, he was gone—a Legend slain as a tutorial, gone with a whisper and smile rather than fire and triumph.

And across from him, Udraal studied Shiv’s Vitae Golem without a care in the world. There stood a true Legend—a true monster. One that had stepped beyond humanity and was more than capable of dipping a foot back over to exploit any empathy or psychological weakness present in another.

Psycho-Cartography: The fact that he can admit that without shame means you won’t be able to exploit his ego. It also means you can’t beat him like you beat Sullain. He’s not interested in proving himself to you, or to anyone. He has no emotional wounds you can reach into. If you wish to beat Udraal Thann, you have to be better than him. And we are far from better right now.

Only right now, Shiv thought to himself. But I’ll find a way. Someday I will find a way.

“See that you do,” Udraal said casually. Shiv’s eyes widened. The Abyssal Lord’s smile grew sweeter. He winked at Shiv.

But my Shapeless Tides… Shiv looked down at his hands and saw the kinetic vectors were still circulating through him.

“Oh, there’s more than one way to guess at what you’re thinking.” Udraal shook his head. “Truthfully, you have the potential to be a bit more unpredictable. But you hesitate a bit too much still. I didn’t make you to be entirely human. I mantled your mind to the greatest monstrosity the System has ever known. Let the beast guide you every now and again. It will take you to places that surprise you. At least it will surprise me.”

At that, Udraal reached out and grabbed hold of his Animancy banner. At once, his body was consumed by a soul-rending flame. And he began to shrink and splash, merging with the banner. The blue light grew so bright that Shiv had to look away. A tickling presence crawled over his skin and then made his very soul shudder as the banner flared one final time and then collapsed inward. The next second, only a glass scar remained where it was, cleaving a deep gouge into the Orichalcum floor.

“Remember,” Udraal’s voice suddenly echoed through the room. “Two hours. Quite a bit of time for some things, but never enough. Not nearly enough. Time is the great betrayer.”

As the Abyssal Lord’s voice fell silent, Shiv and Adam shared a look, and they broke into motion.

“Orcs, to me!” Shiv called out. The grayskins responded immediately and began to arrange themselves in neat rows within the lobby of the cube. They growled and chuckled with glee. Some of their number had been lost during the rescue earlier, but those who remained were undiminished of morale, and more than a little excited about keeping this war going. At the same time, Adam gathered the escaped prisoners and checked over each one of them.

“What’s your composition?” Shiv said to the orcs. “Tiers and Paths. I wanna know.”

Leadership 4 > 6

“The ones that didn’t get lucky enough to die fighting the Tarrasque,” Whisper said. “So we’ll have to make do with the consolation prize of saving you.” A unified chuckle went up among the orcs, and Shiv couldn’t help himself from smirking as well. Whatever the orcs lost, they were down for blood, and he needed that right now.

“How about the consolation prize of going down fighting the Ascendants?” Shiv said. He saw a gleam light up in some of their eyes.

“Oh, are we not doing what He Who Walks Beyond says?” Tequila asked with a taunt at the end of his voice, as if he wanted Shiv to defy Udraal. “I thought we were supposed to make a run on the core?”

“No, we’re still doing that,” Shiv said, “but I got another idea on top of it. Consider it a bonus objective. Adam, a moment.”

The Gate Lord gave him a nod, and once again they conferred privately. As Adam activated Commander’s Foresight, he inquired what Shiv’s new plan was.

“You still got Cripple’s reactor core?” Shiv asked.

“Yes, it’s a bit cracked now, but I managed to preserve what’s left of it. I’m surprised I didn’t manage to drop it in that chaos.”

“Yeah, you and me both. But I was just thinking. We don’t really have any way to counter Udraal. He’s too powerful.”

A feeling of discomfort and frustration passed through Adam. “We can find a way.”

“No, Adam, let me finish. He’s too powerful, he’s got too many High-Tier skills, and he has too many bodies he can spend. That, and the damn flag-thing he has my hairs standing up. So we need something to balance him out, right? Or someone.”

And now Adam caught on. “You wish to free Cripple?”

“Wish to make contact with him at least,” Shiv said. “If we can ‘kidnap’ Cripple’s Avatar, then whatever Udraal does, he’ll find himself faced with a force he can’t just walk through. And… maybe I’m going for more than just Cripple. I think it’s time I had a bit of a family reunion. See what she can offer me against the Abyssal Lord.”

“What?” Adam said, alarmed. “Shiv, we barely escaped from her minutes ago. Are you insane?”

“Yeah, I know it’s a shit idea, but right now, we have multiple shit options in front of us. I don’t trust Udraal worth a godsdamn. He doesn’t much care about us beyond the fact that we’re interesting, and I’m his experiment. Sooner instead of later, he’s going to do something that we don’t like. And we won’t be able to stop him. I’m not waiting for that to happen. I’m dealing with that right now. With the only options we have. You said fuck the Ascendants earlier, right? Well, I say fuck Udraal, and we use both of them to fuck each other.”

Psycho-Cartography 76 > 77

Deception 33 > 35

The young Gate Lord was utterly speechless. “This is absolutely mad.”

“One of us has to be,” Shiv replied. “The other one has to be sensible and strategic. Tell me this is a bad plan, Adam. Tell me where the flaws are. Talk me out of it.” And Shiv realized he was practically pleading.

The Gate Lord hesitated. “Too many things can go wrong. If we try to collapse the mana core… Damnation, just collapsing the mana core itself is a difficult operation. It’ll be heavily defended. And we need to find it first as well. Then, I need to track the Ascendants and their Avatars too. Cripple, Chandler. Godsdammit, Shiv.”

“But you can do that?” Shiv said.

“Of course I can do that!” Adam scoffed. “Who do you think I am?”

“Lord Scorn’s favorite boy in all Integration.”

“Exactly—oh, go eat shit, you bastard.”

Shiv laughed.

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