Chapter 233: A Friendly Little Negotiation (Patreon)

The wheel of fate might spin forever, but it was my turn to throw a wrench into the cogs. Would it shatter them? Would it even leave a scratch? Uncertainty had never stopped me from making an attempt before, so what was different this time? I had knowledge. I had controlled the variables. I only moved when I took everything into account and expected everything to go horribly wrong. And this time, I was prepared too.

This would all go how I expected it to.

I looked at the faerin possessed by the Water Leviathan. What a pitiful little thing— going this far just to escape a gilded cage, only to strut like a prize lamb straight into the wolf’s jaws.

Though one thing I once again despised the most was how they all just happened to threaten the people I saved. I remembered a few faces from the crowd still— ones I had saved in the Black Sea— and I instinctively abhorred whenever someone tried to harm my belongings. And people I saved were my belongings. I'd had time to think about why I felt that way. But as I grew, there was just this instinct developing within me. I still didn't fully understand it, but it didn't matter.

Nothing made me more furious than this. Threaten me and I might laugh it off. Threaten my hoard of belongings, and I will rip your throat out and feast on the marrow.

I opened my mouth once again as I watched her freeze in place. "What, cat got your tongue?" I said as I finally revealed myself, Alice perched upon my shoulder, shielding me from the Leviathan's gaze— for sneaking within whispering distance of this Dream Sea’s master with my usual stealth would have been pure fantasy.

"Go on, slit their throats. Do your little party trick, and I’ll do mine. Let's see whose blood hits the flagstones first.”

I took a step forward.

“You really thought you picked a clever hole to bury that titanic carcass, didn't you? Wards layered thick enough to mangle divination attempts into ribbons. Mind-shredder traps waiting in the silt to turn any physical intruder's brain to porridge. And just in case some lucky bastard survived the descent, an entire legion of abyssal thralls to drag them into the dark. Truly meticulous work, assuming, of course, nobody knew how to navigate the Black Sea trench in the first place. Going to such ridiculous lengths to hide a body is just screaming to the world that it's your biggest, softest weak point, you slimy little bitch."

I flashed her a sharp grin full of teeth.

"Say... you want to take the plunge? Let's burn it down together, shall we?"

I snapped my fingers. Immediately the world went white as a split second later, the floor shuddered violently beneath our boots. Everyone snapped to attention as the entire place shook. A distant explosion resounded, snapping every gaze toward the window—where a massive divine violet pyre bloomed on the distant horizon, before the shockwave crashed against the city walls. 

Ahh, the MAGINIFICANT explosion, I had been meaning to test it for so long. How powerful would it be if I imbued divinity within it? And well, the effect was nothing short of spectacular. Even at this distance, the spectacle of destruction was a sight to behold.

It was Lazy who had been situated there. The moment she got my mental suggestion, she did her work and exploded somewhere within the Abyss itself. All eyes were shaking at the sight of destruction.

Every jaw was slack.  None more so than the faerin vessel, whose mouth hung open in absolute terror.

I turned her face away from the explosion with a gentle tug under her chin— this spectacle was for her, after all.

"Don't worry. That wasn't your burial chamber... not yet. Merely a courtesy demonstration to remind you that no matter how impregnable you believed your deep-sea vault to be, a piece of me is currently seated inside your belly."

I leaned in.

"I couldn't excise your carcass entirely, of course, tearing down those arrays from the outside would have alerted you and ruined the surprise. But slipping a piece of my own self past the perimeter was entirely trivial. You studied my repertoire during our last encounter, didn't you? You know precisely what I can do. So I'll let that razor sharp mind of yours do the arithmetic, imagine. Your true flesh obliterated into grease and ash at a single pulse of my will and not a single DAMN thing you can do to halt the detonation. Makes you feel miserable and helpless, doesn't it?"

I smiled at her shaking body as I saw the final pieces of my plan falling into place. Even someone as formidable as her had her limits. If you gave a powerful enemy time to gather their thoughts— especially if they resonate with Reflection, the magic of the very mind itself— you might be in for a nasty surprise. Alice had drummed that law into my skull. Against a mirror that deciphers deceit at a glance, who needs bluffing when you can just bludgeon them with unvarnished, terrifying truths.

Getting to her body had been rather easy, as Heavenly had just teleported me directly to the chamber, telling me everything about it.

It would have been downright impossible to access in the usual manner within the time limit I had, and I wasn't sure if I could have even done it in the first place had she not been assisting me.

Oh well. Now Terrorist, my most volatile, trigger happy clone, was chilling in her stomach. Summoning my clones within divinity had extended their lifespans much, much more than they previously had been. I hadn't felt the urge to dismiss them even once till now.

For now, I just looked down at her face. Nobody had spoken since I started speaking. Nobody at all. And I felt like I'd be the one monologuing like a villain the whole time. And that suited me just fine.

Markus was frozen in a corner after watching that explosion. To his side was his shadow, Vesna— with Alice shielding me this time, even she couldn't tell I was there. I really wished I knew how to use such water magic myself, so that literally minds would stop comprehending my existence and treat me as a blank spot— without using the world's principles for my stealth, for that always seemed to have its own loopholes.

It was obvious once one thought about it: a stealth so good it created a blank spot in literal space. Someone keen would pick up on such pristine emptiness and pinpoint where it was. But stay there in the blank spot of their mind itself, and even with eyes they turn blind to your presence. Who wouldn't want such power?!

I mentally shook my head. It was not the time to think about that.

"Well, it seems our terms are established," I whispered, knotting my fingers into the faerin’s silver hair and wrenching her head back until her throat strained.

"Now, where is your current vessel? I know you're operating from a distance, pulling these puppet strings like a coward. Where is Avena? Bring that borrowed body here, darling. Look me in the eye when we negotiate. It feels dreadfully discourteous to conduct an eviction when the landlord refuses to show her face."

Well, I needed her with me so that Alice could keep an eye on her. I couldn't do much against someone like her if this plan went haywire, but Alice would warn me in advance— and maybe even counter her.

I looked at the doll perched on my shoulder. She had told me she was growing stronger, but I still had no idea how she was managing it. Not in any direct sense, but she kept telling me how her influence was growing in the Dream Sea. I'd had my doubts at first— But watching her shroud my presence from an ancient, water attuned Gold Core entity without leaving a ripple was nothing short of miraculous— so, I was inclined to agree with her. Somewhat. Even though I couldn't quite map my own self and power against her like I did with everyone else.

The same was true with Belle. For Belle, it was obvious— she was sort of my Supplicant, so she counted as a part of me in a sense. Was the same true for Alice? Seemed like it. However Lotte had recreated her, it seemed to have been making her grow in her own way as time went on. I did ask her, but she didn't have a straight answer.

But well, I could feel that her presence had unsettled this monster just enough, so I figured that was fine. I'd dig into it later, after this farce was over.

It didn't take long for her veiled form to appear. The wall rippled like water as a slender hand emerged first, followed by her white dress and pale, heart-shaped face with a veil draped over it. Twin horns adorned with curled white roses—she still looked like a majestic beauty in that form. It was base Avena's face, but after the Leviathan had taken over her body, it had changed in ways that made it seem eerie and beautiful at once.

It was the first time she opened her mouth after biting her lips. "What is it that you want? If your intent was simple eradication, you would have triggered your pet charge in my belly before setting foot in this hall."

Her lips curled into a spiteful sneer.

"Terrified of losing the Keys if you crush my mortal shell? Or did you crawl all this way merely to indulge your draconic sadism before the slaughter?"

Ah, so that was what she thought. I had to laugh as I couldn’t stop myself. The sheer, narrow predictability of a mind like hers backed into a corner was almost endearing.

"You can read every vibration of truth in my marrow, can't you?" I stepped into her personal space, tilting my head until my gaze bore directly through the lace into her azure eyes. "So hear this plainly: I don't give a single fuck about your pathetic Keys, your little trial, or whatever rewards await in the end.

"Well? Tell me, mirror. Am I lying?"

That was the next thing that truly unsettled her. Even I could read her mind now. The big, greedy dragon must want it all with such passion— but why is she saying this? Why is this truth? How can she reject the prize? Is the doll poisoning my sight? It makes no sense!

Chew on that, you miserable parasite.

Greed was natural, sure, as I loved power as much as the next beast or human. But greed weighed nothing against survival and I never bargained away my neck for shiny trinkets.

I raised my hand and snapped my fingers.

I snapped my fingers, and the entire place shook once again. The wall tore off as a black blade of dark mana imbued with divinity sheared through it with clean precision.

I lunged, knotting my fingers into the embroidered collar of her white gown, and hauled her bodily toward the ruined ledge.

"Allow someone with the actual script to enlighten you," I said, forcing her toward the open air. "Let the one who set you on this path explain the punchline in person."

Just as I approached, on cue, the sky tore open. The Heavenly Leviathan materialized across the expanse of the sky, her titanic, serpentine body coiling between the clouds, casting a shadow so vast it plunged the entire district into sudden shadows. Everyone froze in sheer terror.

Avena’s body stolen vessel went slack in my grip, Leviathan’s sneer freezing into an expression of existential horror as those colossal, rainbow faceted irises locked onto us from the sky.

A blinding flash of fire ignited the skyline.

The city-sized coils condensed inward with dizzying speed, shedding mass until a slender silhouette descended from the tempest. Draped in gossamer auroras, barefoot and regal, the Heavenly Leviathan touched down upon the shattered flagstones of the terrace— and immediately sank into a low, reverent bow directly before my boots.

The silence that followed was heavy. Markus looked like he was having a stroke in the corner; Veshka’s daggers rattled in her trembling hands.

Whether she was simply indulging in theatrical flair or genuinely showing deference didn't matter in the slightest. The psychological devastation was just absolute.

I grabbed the leviathan’s by the nape of her neck, shoved her vessel to the edge of the ruin and whispered against her horn:

"Go ahead. Ask her how long you'll survive in the waking world once you open that sky gate with your precious Keys."

I tightened my grip, my smile razor-sharp against her cheek.

"And then ask her how long I will reign if I lose."