Chương 230: Chapter 226: One in a Million

Nyxalair tumbled out of her jaw and it slammed shut behind her. Solan might be dead, but the remnants of her soul still permeated the mountain of chains now sat in her stomach. They did not let her pass easily. Even in death, Solan had to be a nuisance. Well, it was over now. Those chains would digest eventually. Until then, Nyxalair just needed to be careful and quick if she wanted to teleport through pink. Glancing up, she found Lysyra watching her.

"So…" Nyxalair started.

"Have you recovered your replica network? Are you ready to evolve?" Lysyra didn't react. She just continued to stare. Nyxalair decided not to acknowledge the intensity of the girl's eyes.

"You know, I had to go through quite a lot to-""Do I know?" Lysyra repeated.

"I don't think there's a soul on Coral that doesn't know. People are talking. Everyone is talking. Entire battlefields have come to a standstill as the higher creeds convene. S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘ is dead."

"How do you-""Half the Fleshsmiths dropped dead where they stood," Lysyra deadpanned.

"Not hard to figure out what happened when the signs of Invow death are so obvious."

"They are?" Nyxalair asked. That was great news. An entire cult eradicated by cutting off its head. Hopefully the other cults would fall just as easily. Well, 'easily' was definitely not the right word.

"Great! Whoever did it, good one them." Lysyra closed her eyes and pressed her fingers into her head.

"No less than two dozen people witnessed a pink jaw cut through Coral right before her death." She opened her eyes again to give a pointed look towards the wall Nyxalair had appeared from.

"Huh. Could be anyone's disembodied pink mouth." Despite her efforts, Nyxalair could only smile. After killing one of her primary targets, she was feeling giddy. She felt like nothing in the world could stop her.

"Right."

"Ok, fine." She caved.

"I may have run into her. And I may have dropped her into the black hole."

"How?" Incredulity finally leaked into Lysyra's voice.

"You killed S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘. How is that even possible? What made you think it was a good idea to get into a fight with her in the first place?" She paused, an accusatory glint entering her eye.

"You could have killed me."

"It's not like I chose to be ambushed. I'd rather not die myself."

"So?" this time, Lysyra couldn't hide her curiosity and awe.

"How did you do it? And what are those eyes." Given how… obsessed Lysyra seemed to be over her mutations, Nyxalair was surprised she'd managed to hold it in until now. It wasn't like she'd been able to manifest a replacement concealer. No, that would be Ta'Stralanov'r's job.

"A lot of balancing on the border of death, and a lot of one in a million gambles." She grinned.

"They paid off, as you have clearly seen." What was just as clear, was how unsatisfying that response was to the girl across from her.

"That pink realm? Well apparently, not even S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘ could fight its influence. She had no way to leave besides holding open my jaw. Originally I was just trying to run, but she made it very clear she wasn't backing down, no matter the inescapable nature of my stomach. So… I laid a trap.

I dragged the fight down to the black hole — or as close as I was willing — and gave her the choice of running with her tail between her legs, chasing me and getting stuck in my stomach, or continuing to hold my mouth open and getting dragged down by the Darkness."

"And the Dark Star?"

"You know about that?" Lysyra responded with a flat look.

"Ah." If anyone knew anything about anything, then it was Lysyra.

"Nobody… saw me down there, did they?"

"No. As far as I'm aware, the only thing I've overheard being mentioned was a 'monstrous, shadowy figure that peered through the depths of my soul'."

"Huh," Nyxalair muttered. Considering the extent she spread her shadows through the Dark Star, and had her core name twist the entire thing around herself until it took on the visage of a spiralling storm, she could see how she might have struck an intimidating figure to the few eyes that had been looking down on her from above.

"Yeah, well, the trap wasn't exactly enough to kill a cult leader. Who could have predicted? S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘ stopped playing around, and so I had to grasp at any straws I had available. One was the corruption of my core. She managed to close my first Dark Star, but after her god fled, she became too overwhelmed to stop it again. Then there was-""Wait," Lysyra interrupted.

"Her god?"

"Yeah, she summoned it into her own body," Nyxalair said.

"It made a terrifying figure of her. Even worse than normal. After I soul-bound them to a death pact — the same I did with you — the god decided S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘ wasn't worth the risk." Oh, how Nyxalair wished she'd been in Solan's mind for that.

"You used that Feat on a god? S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘'s god?" Lysyra could no longer keep any trace of her bewilderment hidden. Nyxalair sympathised. In retrospect, it had been an insane choice. And… it was hardly the worst one.

"One of the million to one gambles." She shrugged, even if she didn't feel nearly so unbothered.

"I bet on my connection to the Eidolons. This Seed. While the Soulchasm tried to eradicate me for it, weaker gods — Euphoria — are skittish about the Eidolons. It is something even gods fear. S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘'s god ran because it didn't want anything to do with me." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Even Nyxalair found that shocking.

She'd originally thought that she'd been sent back in time to punish those who believed themselves worthy enough to call upon the Eidolons. But to be labelled a 'Seed', to have gods fear retribution for touching her… the Eidolons absolutely had more planned for her.

"You were ready to lock yourself to a god, on what? A hunch?" Lysyra's incredulity was warranted.

"And what if that god had no way of escaping that Feat of yours?"

"I would have figured something out. Maybe. Probably." Lysyra let out an incredibly insulting sigh.

"And these other… gambles?"

"Well, the Feat I got from surviving the Soulchasm turned out to be incredible. Most of what I figured out is that I can disregard forces… so long as they are constant. Applying my own is also possible, but only to myself. It also strengthened the Dark Star storm. How exactly, I've yet to figure out.

"O̅s̫s̋tho̲th pulled many, many times its weight. Even more than Lý̥o̻tepͦ. Apparently, making a god run off is rewarded extremely well by its boost. Then that effect doubled as S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘ feared for her life." Nyxalair smirked.

"Then there's the eyes, as you've noticed. Really, I was grasping at straws and didn't really expect much. They're one of the holdovers from my last life. Back then, they did nothing. Now, oddly enough, I can see so much through them. Someone sent a soul-bound spawn down into the black hole, and I could see the man through that dog's eyes. I wonder if they contributed at all to S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘'s fear?" Lysyra remained silent for a moment, taking in all Nyxalair said. As well as the four new spiralling eyes.

"I would say it's possible."

"Oh, and how could I forget!" Nyxalair tapped her arm. Blood spilled from the pores opening to her veins.

"Yog helped. Didn't you, buddy?" The blob wobbled a nod.

"That's… good?" Lysyra did not sound as enthused as she should.

"You killed S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘." She said it as if she still couldn't believe it.

"Does that mean another evolution?"

"Not yet." Nyxalair pointedly ignored the breath of relief from the other girl.

"But I do have her soul in my stomach. When I finish consuming it, I will. Actually, there's enough to her soul that I'll probably get a few evolutions out of it. Assuming I surpass any capability requirements." The dirty glare Lysyra gave her brought a laugh bubbling from her chest.

"Before you overtake me by a dozen, I better evolve." She sat down in a ritual Nyxalair noticed she'd already prepared.

"Do me a favour and watch over me. A part of my mind will be active to watch over the reflections, but I still don't like closing off so much of my mind." Shrugging, Nyxala leaned against the wall across from her. Now that Solan was dead, she felt like she had all the time in the world. Besides, she had a new Feat to look over. As soon as Lysyra closed her eyes and entered her own mind, Nyxalair slid forward. She could view souls with her new eyes, but not her own.

And while Solan was being digested, her Pink was out of commission. So she required mundane rituals. Looking over Lysyra's mediocre line-work — the other girl never claimed to be a good ritualist — Nyxalair realised she really needed to explore the field. Between her hundred voices and natural inclination to their formation, it was a no brainer. Especially after Euphoria's betrayal. She needed to figure out how they worked. She needed to steal as many as she could.

And if possible, she might even try to make a couple of her own. One cult leader was eliminated, but this was not the time to grow complacent. S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘ was one of the weaker of the lot, and the next time Nyxalair got caught in such a fight, she did not want to leave anything to chance. Nyxalair's mind slipped into pink. Her presence immediately stirred the chains, but they couldn't seem to find where exactly to strike. There was no body to fight.

She left them to their slow consumption, and turned her thoughts to her soul. To the new Feat that had been gained with the Fleshsmith leader's death. Considering Solan was almost twenty evolutions greater than herself, she imagined it would be something regarding toppling an entity so much higher. Nyxalair couldn't be more wrong. Nyalac — The Eidolon's Bounty It was short, and yet there was no mistaking this for a description of anything weak. The simple mention of the Eidolons made this beyond anything ever seen.

Nyxalair had not achieved a Feat for surpassing any boundary of power. No, she'd been rewarded with the bounty divined by the Eidolons themselves. This wasn't just proof that this was the reason she'd been sent back, but it announced that the entities beyond their world took direct offence at the actions of the cult leaders. Enough to instil their deaths with what was more than likely a powerful reward. But… why offer a reward for their deaths rather than just crush them directly?

The description offered no hints at what the Feat actually offered. Did this even count as a Feat? Or something more? But for something gifted from the Eidolons themselves, the only things Nyxalair could think of were the domains they ruled. Could the name be a form of clairvoyance? Or, maybe, possibly, something related to time? Even if Nyxalair was their 'Seed', would they really be alright with laying such power in her hands?

Opening her eyes, Nyxalair went to move back, but found Lysyra had somehow snuck closer — despite being completely lost to her evolution — and was threading her fingers through Nyxalair's feathers. She gaped, in awe of the girl's audacity, and carefully extracted herself from Lysyra's grip. With her new eyes, Nyxalair found herself staring into the deepest parts of the girl before her. Lysyra's evolution expanded before her. Something that should be impossible for anyone besides the one who the name belonged to.

Nyxalair was intruding. She knew she should leave such an intimate moment to Lysyra alone, but she couldn't help but peek. Lysyra added a couple of additives to both her primary third evolution names, but most of her combinations were surrounding a third focus. Nyxalair felt that, if she really wanted, she could reach in and read the predictive descriptions. Maybe even interfere, if she used her curse touch to force that burgeoning curse in Lysyra's soul to merge with another name.

She didn't like the thought, but there was no denying the sensation it triggered in her instincts. It was very possible. That went against everything they knew about names. Opting not to stick her nose in further, Nyxalair retreated. She waited for the girl to wake, and when she did, greeted her in the only way that was proper.

"Welcome back, Alͦy͚sy͚rã." ❖❖❖ Hours later, a set of teeth ripped through the space in the core of the Technocult cathedral, opening to unveil a realm of deep, endless Pink. The unnatural portal remained open for a mere blink. Enough for a girl to leap through before an ocean of chains caught her. Nyxalair glanced around, and realised she'd just interrupted a conference between some of the highest creed Technocultists.

Tarchon's intimidating presence seemingly loomed over her, despite being the one furthest from her. Then there was the cultists she'd… bumped into when she'd first teleported back to the Grand Sacrificial Chamber after escaping the Soulchasm. They gaped at her as if she were a rubber spanner. Something that made absolutely no sense. Right. She no longer had a concealer. Amongst the other high creeds, Nyxalair realised they weren't looking at her with any sort of irritation at being interrupted.

They were all gazing at her as a puzzle. Something they couldn't understand. Something that didn't fit the rigid structure they'd formed their world from. Amongst them, Nyxalair recognised Ta'Taish and Ta'Malis. Oh… she'd accidentally eaten the woman's sample in the fight against Solan. And the few pages of the report she'd started.

"Speaking of," Ta'Stralanov'r's disembodied voice clung to her from all directions.

"N̪ỷx̱̽alair̘, I believe you have some explaining to do." It seemed not even Ta'Stralanov'r could have predicted Solan's fall. Nyxalair grinned. There was no denying she now had the power to cause chaos through Coral. With the Technocult's help, these next few months were going to be a delight.

"I killed S͍̾ølą̛́̄n̼̙͈̘̄̍̓͘," she said.

"What would you like to know?"