[Bonus courtesy of Niceee9842 <3]
“In that case, Israeal.”
“You want to send our firstborn?”
“Our firstborn in this generation,” Saeng corrected.
Isra slowly nodded after a while, but it was clear this was the first time the two were having a disagreement.
“There is a way,” Saeng continued.
“What haven’t you told me?” Isra asked, displeased.
“Legacy… no, The Professors contacted me earlier today, so I didn’t have time to inform you before this call came.”
“And?”
“There may be a chance to give Israeal the best chance possible and manage the risk. But we must send one of our best, otherwise there would be no point.”
Isra slowly nodded once again. “Explain.”
As Saeng did so, the distaste in Isra’s eyes slowly faded and her shoulders relaxed. There was a ripple in the wrinkle on her forehead, her aura settling to the point the husband-wife pair were in perfect harmony once again.
A resonance was beautifully formed between the two of them.
If Sylas had been there… it would have most definitely reminded him of another husband-wife pair.
The Twin Moon Healers.
**
Sylas took deep breaths. The weight of the situation wasn’t lost on him, and he knew that he had quite a bit riding on this.
He was on a chessboard bigger than any he had ever been on, and micromanaging everything would stretch him to his very limits. But he also recognized…
That his opponents weren’t the only ones holding cards anymore. He had weapons of mass destruction himself.
As he slowly felt Nosphaleen’s trust deepen, her body relaxing, and her ability to resist and deal with his oppressive Charisma expanding, he knew that his odds of succeeding had increased considerably.
Somehow, his Vipermancer had gone from an FFF+ Profession to a Common one. All things considered, he only vaguely understood what this meant. Inexplicably, his Profession until now had only counted as a Fragmented one.
However, Sylas knew that it wasn’t the power or abilities of his Profession that had changed, at least not directly. The real reason his Profession was so much more powerful now was because its flexibility had changed.
Total Merge and Fusion weren’t meant to work together, but right now they were.
One of the greatest weaknesses of Total Merge was how Sylas’ main body ended up limp and vulnerable. When he was fusing with Gogo, that just meant he had to enter the latter’s mouth. But if it was Nosphaleen, how could that be possible?
Plus, being in Gogo’s mouth made several other things more inconvenient. One of Gogo’s strongest weapons was his teeth and bite. But for obvious reasons, he couldn’t use that in Total Merge.
But now, it was different. Sylas felt like he could use the two simultaneously, and that was far from the only change he was experiencing either—now just wasn’t the time to look into them.
Slowly, Nosphaleen and Sylas truly became one.
In the end, the biggest holdup was actually Sylas himself. He didn’t like the feeling of having someone taking up space in his mind like this, changing his thought processes, manipulating his emotions.
But he also knew that it had to be done.
Unlike Gogo, Nosphaleen had her own life experience, much more of her own personal philosophies and thoughts, and the moment they completed their Total Fusion, Sylas felt the shift in his thoughts.
But it was surprisingly… not as far from his normal baseline as he expected.
There was a fire in Nosphaleen, a drive, but also a dichotomy between what she wanted and what she hoped to accomplish.
There was a part of her that loved being by Sylas’ side, of enjoying the feeling of being protected in ways she hadn’t experienced ever before.
But there was another part of her that strove to be better, to become stronger so that her Clypsian Race didn’t have to suffer now like they had in the past—to grow to the point that she could suppress the Dogons beneath her thumb and wipe them out to the very last man, woman, and child.
She was ambitious, but inside her heart there hid within a girl that was far more carefree than Sylas had ever been.
Sylas had been the same stoic, indifferent sort of person ever since he was a child. He couldn’t remember being any different, and he could remember quite a lot about his life.
But Nosphaleen… she had once been like any other child until the day she had no choice but to change.
However, when it came to making those that had done them wrong pay…
They were on the very same page.
They reached out their palms in unison, their Wills trembling and wrapping around one another in a forceful sort of dance that merged them into a single, pulsing might.
Pressing their Wills forward, they almost fused it into the World’s Core.
In that moment, they felt everything, touched everything, experienced everything. They saw the people of this world much the same way the world itself did.
The feeling was intoxicating, but it mirrored something else.
A control, a sort of omnipotence that was only possible through a world.
In that moment, Sylas understood the most intimately how you could conquer with this power, and he knew why others would seek it out. But at the same time, he felt like it was a power he should have…
Was this what Rune Spark was well and truly supposed to feel like? When… when would he have this power himself?
Despite his thoughts, Sylas didn’t slow.
At that moment, his mind expanded and the Frostbane World trembled, reaching out and linking with another planet. Then, as though a chain reaction had been formed, through the power of this one world, all of the Sylph Planets began to react.
No one quite understood what was happening, and it felt like only the strongest of the Sylphs—or rather, the ones with the most Luck—could grasp anything.
But even as they awoke one after another, they didn’t know what to do either.
Sylas’ eyes flashed open.
It began now.
SHUUU.