“So, let me just see if I’m understanding this correctly. If she runs away instead of choosing to fight, and if she then applies one of your malicious mantras before reading the fine print, and if, on top of all of that, the very first thing she decides to do upon waking is forgo indulging in a nice, hearty breakfast-”

  “Then plan c is a go. I really don’t see what you’re getting hung up on here.”

  “If we survive that long.”

  “If we survive that long, correct.”

  “Inside the very place she’ll be taking great pains to ensure we’ve vacated.”

  “It can’t be as hard as all that, surely. Would be rather shit if I couldn’t even hide from intruders inside my own soul.”

  “Jun, isn’t a lot of this dependent on external factors we have little to no control over?”

  “Yes well, this is why we call it plan c. If it had a higher than average chance of success, it wouldn’t be a proper plan d now would it? After all, every plan e comes with its complications. The trick, is to learn to roll with them.”

  “Plan d? Plan e?!”

  “Yeah, well, I thought up a couple thing’s, you know, just now while we were talking? Okay, so what if-!”

  “No! Not another word, Jun. That is far enough. Really, at a certain point you just have to commit to a path and stick with it. We’ll be at this all day otherwise.”

  “But-!”

  “No but’s!”

  “Hmmm… alright fine.”

  “So, it’s the least likely of our plans to come to fruition.”

  “Yes.”

  “And it also, somehow, has the highest likelihood of success despite that.”

  “Also yes.”

  “High risk, high reward… I can’t say I’m particularly enamored with the idea, but I suppose if all else fails…?”

  “That’s the spirit! Now, while I still have you, there’s this new drink idea I’d been wanting to run by you. I call it ‘Sunrise in Paradise.’ You’re going to love it. It’s a mix of a bunch of different drinks I’ve made—I tried my best to capture the full range of the color spectrum, to fit with the theme, you know—which technically ended in this sort of muddy brown color, but once you get a taste? Ooh, trust me, you can never go back…”

  “Is that a promise or a threat?”

  “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. It’ll be fine!”

  “I- Jun I’ve changed my mind! What was that you were saying about plan d again? From what little I heard it sounded fascinating. Why don’t you tell me more? And that plan e! Or.. was it c? I can’t even imagine. Just look at me! I’m practically on the edge of my seat! So, as you can see, there really is no need to- Jun? Are you listening to me Jun? Jun? Jun!”

  ***

  Shorn. Lost. A feeling of violation. Left to flail feebly in frightened desperation. Torn from familiar shores as if snatched by unseen riptides. Swept up by greedy undertow. Dragged kicking, reaching, screaming—forced to leave herself behind. The hypnotic play of sunlight on surfaces. Undulating waves and long forgotten purposes.

  Captivating. Tantalizing. Growing further by the day.

  And in its place is only dark, seizing chest, and cold. A bitter, soul numbing chill. A brisk that wears away. Scouring identity just as surely as it did sense. And as ever, there were the gripping, kneading fingers at play. A nagging tug here. An impatient shove there. Insistently drawing her ever closer… to what? She was not, could not, be of a mind to say.

  Trial Difficulty: 3 Stars

  Metropole of a Landlocked Barony

  Starlight City: Central Park

  The very first thing she heard was bird song. Followed closely by the metropolitan din of overlapping voices. The drag of autumn leaves on coarse, dry pavement. The anxious shuffling of hundreds, no, thousands of feet. She pried her eyes open, hesitant at first. The bright light of a cloudless blue sky leaving her feeling disoriented and confused. For a time, the world existed as an indistinct series of colorful smears. And then…

  With a start, the world came into sharp relief, and Nialla was allowed her first glimpse of the army arrayed before her.

  She found herself on a well maintained lawn within a public park sparsely populated with deciduous trees. In the distance, tree-lined pathways led a circuitous route past sparkling marble fountains and around crystal clear lakes. Quaint benches dotted the paths periodically, while even farther off, and all around them, standing monoliths of glass and steel sought to scrape the very clouds from the sky.

  These minor details weren’t what held her attention however. The tens of thousands of mundane energy rifle’s currently trained on her position, on the other hand? Did. She was surrounded on all sides by faceless mercenaries atop hovering platforms—layered atop one another like the bowl shaped rise of stadium seating, with her, apparently, on the coliseum floor—behind which mechanized automata stood ready.

  The cannons these automata bore longer than the average human was tall, to say nothing of their own gargantuan frames. Impressive frames which were, themselves, dwarfed by the mechanized titans that loomed behind them—the likes of which could easily contend with the towering city skyline above.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Fifty thousand troops, two thousand automata, and five mechanized titans in total. And then there were the sky ships, two in all. Floating islands of sleek metal whose vast underbelly’s cast shadow across nearly the entirety of the standing army—and likely much of the far off city besides. Heavily armored behemoths that, like as not, were more than capable of accommodating a good hundred of the looming titans on their spacious decks, and with room enough to spare.

  And all of them, every single one, with their faintly glowing barrels trained exclusively on her. Then, as if this improbable series of events weren’t already enough, came the most shocking revelation of them all. Atop one of the highest platforms, a lone figure emerged, parting the organized contingent with ease. In a way that spoke of high rank—of authority. It was a face she’d have recognized anywhere. A face which, only moments prior, she would have seen remnants of had she looked in the mirror.

  “Welcome to my humble abode! Well, one of many, at any rate. I hope this’ll do as an adequate reception? Wasn’t exactly easy, you know, putting all this together on such short notice. Cost me an arm and a leg, and I do mean that literally. There was a… let’s just call it a minor disagreement between business partners.”

  The boy smirked. It was a sardonic expression. The sight of it practically made Nialla’s blood boil.

  “I had to get a bit… creative during the negotiations. Suffice it to say, modern medicine truly is a wonder! And, believe it or not, getting your hands on a classified dreadnought category battlecruiser isn’t nearly as hard as the government would have you believe. Honestly, it was the second one that broke the camels back. They really didn’t want to give that one away.”

  “You…!” Nialla snarled, taking an unconscious step forward.

  “Me!” the boy chirped. “Oh! And, before I forget! Your daughter says hello.”

  And then, all at once, the entire army—soldiers, mecha, and sky carriers all—opened fire.

  As his contracted army let loose a cacophonous barrage of light to heavy artillery, Jun, quite sensibly in his opinion, made a hasty retreat. Not particularly keen on keeping to the frontlines at this very delicate stage of the conflict.

  The constant whine of energy weapons, the deep chested thrum of particle beam cannons gathering charge, not to mention the unholy crack of the dreadnaught’s many railguns—as their magnetically accelerated payloads broke the sound barrier with unnerving regularity—having nothing at all to do with his decision to immediately vacate the premises.

  Nope. None whatsoever.

  He cringed as yet another almighty fist from god had its rough and tumble way with the sorely abused sound barrier.

  Was that little display entirely necessary?

  “If by ‘little display’ you mean that healthy bit of showboating I so perfectly executed, and she so greatly deserved? Then yes. I mean, picture the look on her face and tell me that wasn’t worth it. Besides,” as if a switch had been flipped, his voice took on a cold, uncompromising tone. “She needs to know there will be consequences for her actions. More than that, I need her to know whose hand it is that holds the gavel.”

  Yes. Yes. Very ominous. The ascendant being must surely quake in her boots at the mere sight of you. Lofty and powerful condensation realm cultivator that you are.

  Again, it was as if his disposition did a full one-eighty.

  “Thank you. At least someone around here appreciates my worth. Oh! And speaking of ominous,” he clapped, the sound barely heard over the din, and rubbed his hands together. “What do you have for me?”

  Are you sure you’d like to know? I do not expect it will evoke much confidence.

  “Hit me. No point planning ahead on faulty information is there? If we’re royally screwed I’d rather know enough to prepare, than go on flailing around in the dark.”

  Suit yourself. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

  Name: Nialla Tallvar

  Race: Albino Cthulle

  Bloodline: Call of the Voidling (2 Stars)

  Titles: Denizen of the Void, Budding Sage, One in Ten, One in One-hundred, One in One-thousand, One in Ten-thousand, One in One-hundred Thousand, One in One Million, Generational Prodigy, Rapid Ascender, Dungeon Delver XIV, Tower of Plenty IV, Twilight Catacombs Top 10’000: (907th place), Last Chance Pavilion Top 10,000: (908th place), Walking Calamity, Planetary Scourge, One of a Kind, Lone Progenitor

  Resonance Pillar: Bloodied Iron [22 of 70]

  Body Mutation: Abyssal Deep Sea Predator (3 Stars) - [Kraken’s Regeneration, Compartmentalized Minds, Deep Sea Resilience]

  Body: 3 Stars (168,004,000 Celestial Essence)

  Mind: 4 Stars (219,700,050 Celestial Essence)

  Spirit: 3 Stars (151,000,945 Celestial Essence)

  Insight: 4 Celestial Sea (2,118,000 Celestial Essence)

  Martial Alignment: Spearing Deep-Sea Terror

  Substantive Alignment: Kinetic Authority

  Conceptual Alignment: Quiescence Overwhelming

  Talents: Galaxy Eyes (1 Star)

  Divine Archetype: Ranger

  Boons: Sphere of Omniscience I

  Core Grade: Perennial

  Core Capacity: 23 of 1000

  Mutation Points: 12,450,000

  “Well. Fuck.”

  Indeed. The difference between the two of you is not measured in degrees, but in orders of magnitude.

  “And there’s no way you could… oh, I don’t know, fudge the numbers a bit for old times sake? Rearrange a few things? You know, in the pursuit of fairness and all that?”

  Not possible, I’m afraid.

  “Dammit! Why?”

  Already I’ve towed the line in bringing her here without her express consent. The confused entanglement of your souls allowed for that suspect interpretation, but no more. Just as your soul informs your ability in this place, so too must hers.

  “Argh! Alright fine! Well, even if that is true, it’s not as if numbers are everything, right? I mean, if she was always this strong, couldn’t she have just scooped me up and gone about her business with no one the wiser? Why go to all this trouble if she needn’t have even bothered?

  That is simple. Because, unlike out there—where her conduct was held to a higher standard, and her actions strictly monitored—here she will not be hindered by her overseers in the application of her power.

  “Ah. Right. This mysterious overseer I’ve heard so much about. Remind me to buy them a drink one of these days, would you?”

  Inadvisable. It is likely such an interaction would not go as you expect. Is now the time for a theoretical plan d?

  “No… no. I still think it’s doable, it’s just… uhhh… yeah.”

  Jun glanced up at the two looming battle cruisers that could easily support a large city between them. Then he swept his gaze out over the small nations’ worth of top of the line artillery he’d transported all the way from the fourth just for this very occasion.

  “Shit. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we should’ve brought more guns.”