220 (II)

  Slipgate

  Adam sighed. “And there it is.” He pinched the bridge of his nose once more. "Nothing can be gained without penalty or consequence. We create the Slipgate, we find our way to the outside and save Blackedge, and after that, we also have to contend with the fact that we have helped stabilize a cross-dimensional teleportation network for murderers, smugglers, and worse."

  As Adam complained, however, Shiv had narrowed his eyes at the obelisk. "So, this entire room is going to get flooded with Dimensionality when the Slipgate activates."

  Can Hu hummed. "That appears to be the case. However, the way it operates is quite ingenious."

  "Yeah, I think so too. I'm guessing that the gateway at the heart of the academy is what the base of that obelisk is connected to."

  The Penitent's optics flashed twice, signaling confirmation. "Quite so, very astute of you, Legend Shiv."

  "Not hard to guess. Since it's tapping into the gateway, that probably means it's using the gate as an in-between door of some kind, doesn't it?"

  And that statement caught Adam's attention. "You're right, that would be how it works. We need a source of unending power, and the gate provides. All the crafters need to do here is hide any overt fluctuations or time it to specific spikes coming from within the gate, and most of the activities will be nigh-unnoticeable." But then, the Gate Lord suddenly stopped talking. His eyes darted about.

  "Adam, what you got going on in your head?" Shiv asked.

  The Gate Lord held up a finger but didn't reply to Shiv. Instead, he stormed over to the crafters. "Concelhaunt, Merrielmel, a word."

  Both of them jumped away from each other and whirled around to greet him. The goblin piloting the mechanical chassis briefly clutched his chest. "Damn it, kid, tell us when you're coming in. You're trying to give me a heart attack?"

  Adam ignored his complaints. "Is it operational right now?"

  Both of them looked up. "What? No, no," Merrielmel said, waving both hands frantically. "If you try to activate it right now, the matter diffusers will undergo a dramatic overload." And then he made a loud explosion noise as he wildly gesticulated just how massive the blast would be.

  Shiv guessed that it would kill almost everyone, based on how much the elf was waving his arms around. Too bad for the Ascendants and all the bastards that wanted him dead that he wasn't most everyone. Neither were the other Legends here, for that matter. Hells, he gave Adam even odds by now too. It might just make the Gate Lord turn into a phoenix and slam into several things before he came away with a few burns.

  "How long will it take for you to get its base functions activated?" Adam asked

  "Base functions?" Concelhaunt repeated. The goblin looked confused.

  Adam rolled his eyes. "You're not punching a hole directly into the Outside. I’m not a dedicated crafter, but even I know that. To step beyond the System’s reach, you need to use another dimension as a proxy, and then you're springboarding into the Between through all the waste Dimensionality leaking out from the gateway. That means you can tap into other dimensions adjacent to the gate as well, right? And from them, you keep going and get into the Between.”

  Both of the crafters looked at each other uneasily. Psycho-Cartography activated, and it wasn't that Adam was wrong. It was that they were startled to realize just how much the Gate Lord got right.

  Sometimes, being a know-it-all bookworm is pretty cool, Shiv admitted.

  "For primary functions to take shape," Merrielmel stammered, "it will still take at least two weeks to a month. And then it will still take more time to test and—”

  "I'm not talking about primary functions," Adam hissed. His patience was waning. "I'm talking about the standard functions that a gateway is capable of: connecting one realm to another. Can you connect this to any realm using the Inertium as a stabilizer and with those diffusers? They look functional.”

  Can Hu’s optics narrowed, and something about the Penitent seemed positively giddy.

  Alright, what’s being planned right now? Shiv wondered.

  "Alright, kid, what are you asking us to do?" Concelhaunt muttered, seemingly catching on to Adam's intentions.

  Shiv was also trying to figure out what Adam was getting at. But Can Hu was staring hard at the Gate Lord—it already knew.

  "I want to do a test run first," Adam said, "as soon as possible. I want this place to be connected to the Tutorial."

  Shiv finally realized what Adam was getting at. If they could connect to the Tutorial, then they could get back to Gate Piety as well. There was a gateway linking those two realms. This would allow them to bypass Harlock's notice and reach their allies from Weave, as well as Courtney and the other orcs. Wonder if Bonk and some of the other fallen are already waiting there.

  "T-t-t-t-t-tutorial!" Merrielmel looked like he nearly had a breakdown right then. "You mean the place where the o-o-orcs reside?"

  "One of the places," Shiv said, and there was a massive grin on his face now.

  Concelhaunt had a deep frown on his face now. "Why the hells would you want to open a place like that?"

  Adam looked to Shiv, and the Deathless pointed at himself. "Vaketh-Insul. Also, we have somewhere else we need to get to, and the Tutorial is the quickest way."

  "Vaketh!" the goblin sputtered. "Is that why you have a small army of orcs with you?"

  "Why else did you think?" Shiv asked, actually curious.

  "We just thought they were mercenaries. People hire orc mercenaries sometimes."

  Shiv was about to open his mouth, then realized his first two run-ins with orcs had been mercenaries. The goblin had a point.

  Concelhaunt clutched his head. "Oh my gods! Our Ascendants! What did we let walk into our own lab?"

  "The only reason your experiment might be taking off," Shiv said dryly. "Now, can you do it or not?"

  Both of the crafters looked at each other. Merrielmel gawked, and Concelhaunt looked like he was having every second thought possible. "It is theoretically, maybe... Can I interest you in another realm?" Concelhaunt coughed. “Anywhere fucking else as a first test.”

  "No," Adam barked. "Look, if it's any consolation, I don't much want to go to the Tutorial either. I don't want to deal with the orcs—they’re bloody maniacs. However, there is a place I need to get to, and there are people I need to help. And ultimately, I have responsibilities. I am a Gate Lord. Thus, I have resources to offer—and a Unique mana core as well. Furthermore, how would you like a place to retreat to and hide from the Capitol's authorities if everything goes south?"

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  "You're going to be able to protect us?" Concelhaunt asked.

  "Again," Shiv replied, "Vaketh-Insul. The orcs will do what I say."

  The goblin scoffed. "Yeah, orcs. Obedient. My ass."

  "You ever kill an orc?" Shiv asked the goblin.

  Concelhaunt blinked. "I, uh…”

  “They don't really scream or beg when they die. They always got that smile on their face. But if you pop things inside their soul using Animancy or something else, oh, there's just a little bit of fear, and they get just a bit more human compared to before. They will listen to what I say." Slowly, the fear chain between Shiv and the goblin turned iron-hard.

  Shape of Monstrosity 139 > 140

  Shiv was about to reaffirm the goblin once more, but just then, there came a splash of incandescence from the back of his cape. Shiv grunted in surprise, and Adam noticed it as well. A loud, shrieking cry followed, and Radio tumbled out. Its small body was burning, and it let out a dismayed cry. "Oh, come on, Bossman, don't just take my body like—"

  "What are you two doing?" Cripple all but bellowed, manifesting its one-armed form in a flash of ethereal radiance. “What madness am I hearing you spew?”

  Both Concelhaunt and Merrielmel shrieked as the ethereal outline of the Ascendant glared down at the offending group of Pathbearers.

  "We're trying to find a way to get back to Gate Piety," Shiv said without any hint of fear. “And I need access to the Tutorial to—”

  “Right within Phoenix Academy, within the capital itself!" Cripple snarled, ignoring Shiv entirely. With every syllable it spat, its outrage only grew. "Have you no consideration for your actions?"

  Shiv held up his hands placatingly. "Listen, I would rather do anything other than open this gateway. However, that requires Harlock to fuck off. Now, is Harlock going to fuck off?"

  "No," Adam said, folding his arms. "He is not."

  And Cripple turned, glaring at Adam now with its single cyclopean eye. "Him, I can understand. He's reckless. He is the Deathless. But you—"

  "But I what?" Adam almost snapped. "I wake up in a prison. A prison which is run by my Ascendants. I wake up, and I realize someone had reached into my mind and defiled my memories. City Lord Stormhalt still remains unpunished for his part in things, I take it?"

  "He has been stripped of his right as Avatar," Cripple said with a slight growl. It was clear that the Strongest didn't think that was punishment enough, either.

  "Oh, how wonderful!" Adam sneered, sarcasm viscously thick in his voice. "Stripped of his position, Shiv. Did you hear that? Let us host a gala to celebrate. It's not like his actions caused the death of countless citizens, not even mentioning the ones he directly fed to a Greater Demon. It's not like he led an entire detachment of Inquisitorial agents to sack one of our own towns."

  Rage spittle flew free from the Gate Lord's mouth. He pointed up at Cripple, and his fury continued to burn. "You make demands of us. You ask me what I think about the citizens of the Republic—if we care for them at all. I care for them. I do." Adam slammed a fist against his chest piece, and it rang like a gong. "And when the time comes, I will do everything I can to make sure none of them are harmed by what we do. However, I can do nothing to protect them from you. You and the other bastard gods I once worshiped."

  A crushing silence followed. Adam staggered a step away from the Ascendant, and Cripple looked upon him no more.

  "I believed in you," Adam said, his voice haggard. "I believed in all of you, every single one, despite the Starhawk being our patron god. I wasn't the most faithful, but I cared. I pledged myself to you, to your banner. And look what you've made of me. Look what you've made of us."

  Seconds passed, and Cripple didn't say anything. Shiv had his arms folded. Adam hadn't gotten a chance to talk with Cripple in great detail. That moment got derailed by the other Ascendants during their attempt at escaping from the Rubix Well. Now, several things were broken. The prison was obliterated, but even its destruction paled in comparison to how much damage Adam's faith sustained.

  "We're going to use whatever means we have now," Adam said. He swallowed, and his face was flushed. He seemed to realize how loud and uncontrolled his outburst had been. "And I’ve not forgotten the fact that you aided us. That you, alone among all the other Ascendants, decided to intervene. Decided to intervene on our behalf. It's something, but it's not enough. We need every edge we can get.”

  "Not enough," Shiv said. "But that's why you're here too, Cripple. We're not hiding any of this from you. If you want to propose another idea, or negotiate any terms with the Challenger, you're free to do so. I'll even make introductions, and you can try punching his fat gray head off if you'd like.”

  The Challenger is looking forward to having a conversation with the so-called Strongest.

  A sound of groaning metal signaled Cripple's displeasure. "When you do activate the slipgate, I wish to be here. I wish to be present within Radio. And you two." Cripple's gaze now fell upon the hapless crafters, who clung to each other like children caught by their parent. "To think that you were creating something like this on the grounds of one of our most hallowed institutions. Among those you deem your peers and pupils."

  Shiv shot the crafters a brief glance. "Well, yeah, of course they're gonna do it here. The Gate’s here, the Neath is sponsoring them. And they have someone they gotta get back. Seems pretty expected to me.”

  And that drew the Ascendant's ire once more. "Does all this mean nothing to you? Are you unburdened by the risks you place upon the student body here?"

  "Not really unburdened," Shiv said. "But the Neath was going for this to begin with. And up until Adam and I showed up, you guys had no idea what was going on." Shiv paused. "Well, most of you probably didn't. I can't put anything beyond Veronica. She seems to be the only one who knows the larger picture. How is my piece of shit of a grandmother, anyway? Did she get my letter?"

  "I am not the Councilwoman's minder," Cripple said severely. "But I am yours. The conditions of our prior arrangement remain. I am not only here to prevent you from being abused and used by Udraal Thann. I am also here to prevent you from using and abusing the people of this Republic."

  "Yeah, sure, and I'm fine with that," Shiv replied. "But there's one more thing on top of that. We need a private place to do our business, and we need a fortress to hold up in when the System comes to claim our lives once more. There's a storm coming on the horizon, Cripple. You want to meet with Starhawk? Well, you're already in dangerous territory with your fellow Ascendants. There's probably no easy way to hide inside the capital. Gotta have an alternative spot. That, and… Well, we got some Legendary and Heroic fugitives with us. It’s better they end up in the Tutorial and our Gate than sticking around here, right?”

  Cripple didn't say anything, which Shiv took as a sign of agreement. "So, are we done here?"

  "I wish to be here when the Slipgate activates," Cripple said once more.

  "Yeah, yeah, you'll be here, don't worry. And we'll make sure nothing goes wrong for the citizens or the students. Just like we made sure nothing went wrong on campus earlier."

  "You mean with the Prophetess," Cripple said. "Yes, I barely stopped myself from intervening then too. That was dangerous, sloppy."

  "And they slipped out of your net," Shiv said.

  "Our net," Cripple snarled, outraged. "Our net, that was only necessary because someone collapsed the mana core."

  Shiv wanted to continue barking his own offenses at the Ascendant. But Psycho-Cartography told him it was a childish and ultimately ineffective way of going about things. "Yeah, you know what, Cripple? Alright, it was close. But you want to know how you can help me make it less so next time? Maybe find a way for me to deal with someone without letting the fight spill over or get noticed by the rest of the city. Your guard was nowhere near catching those four. The Jotun alone could have probably killed everyone on Academy grounds with her Cryomancy before any of you even noticed what was going on. And if I'm going to continue helping your guys wipe their asses, I can't always be fighting with both hands strapped behind my back."

  And to Cripple's credit, he didn't continue complaining either. "I will see what can be done," the Strongest said mutely. A long, tired sigh escaped the Ascendant. "The lockdown will likely persist for a period of three weeks. After that, things get hard. The market will become volatile. The nobility will rebel. And trade will grind to an irreparable halt. Furthermore, there's movement to our south and north as well. The Jotun are mustering, as are the Scarred Ones." And then a beat of silence followed. Cripple seemed hesitant. "We also no longer know where the Tarrasque is.”

  "You felling what?" both Shiv and Adam cried at the same time.

  “How did you lose the Tarrasque?” Shiv snarled. “It’s the size of a fucking mountain!”

  Cripple groaned awkwardly. “It is the size of a mountain, and it developed… Counter-Divination and several High-Tier Stealth Skills. Suddenly. Without explanation.”

  Shiv cupped his face, and Adam clutched the sides of his head.

  “Udraal!” Shiv snarled. “It has to be fucking Udraal!”