"Where is she?" asked Priam.
"I don't know. Anatole, Anne and two Generals have been missing for several hours."
"Gone to set their trap, right?"
"That's what we think. The last order I got from the two present Generals was to tell the snipers to force an attack."
Priam watched his prisoner for a mont. He seed to have made peace with his death, and was beginning to give him information on his own. Priam stood up slightly to allow Corentin to breathe.
"You're with now. If you do anything, I'll kill you straight away. Between now and the end of this battle, you're going to help destroy the Revenants. Okay?"
"Okay," replied the ssenger in a clear voice. Either he's a good actor, or he's out for revenge and redemption.
"Swear on your Potential that you will follow my orders to the letter and do your best to destroy the Revenants."
Corentin swore, and Priam relaxed slightly as he felt the Concepts' magic. He stood up and held out his hand. Corentin took it, and Priam helped him to his feet.
"Good. Any idea where Anatole is?"
"No. There are underground passages beneath the camp. So Abominations have been specially created to dig the ground, but the entrances are hidden. Even though we're linked by a common cause and a desire to live, information is pretty partitioned. In case one of us decides to betray the cause, I suppose," Corentin sneered.
Priam looked at him for a mont. The man in front of him was going to die, and he knew it. Yet he laughed. The pressure of death and the horrors he endured had made him unstable...
"Any idea how to find these underground passages?"
Priam had no desire to prevent Anatole from provoking the Earl's Tribulation, but he didn't want Anatole or Anne to run away afterward. After all, it was unlikely that Revenant officers would stay close to an Earl's Tribulation. The collateral damage promised to be titanic.
Corentin thought for a second before answering. "There may be a way. There are two guest officers representing factions allied with ours. They've invested a lot of resources, weapons, and cores in this conflict. I suppose if they asked to see Anatole, the Generals would lead them..."
Priam took only a mont to think. With every passing second, he risked being caught in the sa trap as the Earl. I need information about their trap.
"Right. You're going to tell them that a Viscount is coming their way, so they need to evacuate. Then you leave and let them panic. They'll go straight to the Generals and ask them for a way out. Normally, one of them will warn Anatole, or he'll lead them to him. I'll just have to follow them."
Priam noticed Corentin's grimace.
"Is there a problem?"
"Why not do as you did with ? Threaten to kill them and tell them to ask the Generals to take them to see Anatole?"
"Because they co from a real faction," Priam explained. "The difference between them and you is that aliens who have been enslaving people for thousands of years don't want their recruits to betray them. They've undoubtedly signed a contract, taken an oath, or are hypnotized not to betray their faction. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't help ."
Corentin nodded. "These factions are deceitful!"
The System made you promise to kill your fellow man Corentin. It's this world that's deceitful...
"No ti to lose. I'm watching you."
Anatole quickly forgot about the two idiots behind him and faced Anne. Or at least the thing that used to be Anne. The manipulator had quickly realized that the ritual would destroy her consciousness. After all, even depleting part of the Concept fragnt from the pond and using the full power of the Spiritual Sapphire might not be enough to overco the Earl's will.
Fortunately, the Urn had the answer to his problem. By sacrificing Abominations, he could use so of their spiritual energy to strengthen the ritual. After all, the Depths were naturally adept at manipulating spirits.
Anne had no desire to be in contact with the Depths, which Anatole could understand perfectly well. Yet he had left her no choice. The Revenant now chanting was but an empty shell, a shadow of the manipulator she had once been. Anatole focused on the ritual.
Anne's skill, boosted by the ritual and her Potential, created a subli rune at the heart of the sapphire. Anatole delicately placed a Kanaz'h pearl on the sapphire, which lted into the gem to fortify it.
The rune's construction approached its climax as Anne's Potential drained away. Anatole closed his eyes and took over. [Deep Connection].
With one hand on the Urn and the other on the sapphire, he connected with his Abominations and used their deford minds as spiritual armor. The next instant, he opened his eyes, seeing through one of his creations. The Viscount-rank chira was currently on the battlefield, devouring its enemies while confronting a colossal rhinoceros.
Anatole looked away from the charging rhinoceros and up at the Earl. He stood regally at the center of the fray. No trace of blood marred his coat, and an invisible tornado swirled around him. This automatic defense was enough to cut through any approaching Baron-ranked Abominations. Behind him, Anatole could feel his human troops fleeing. The battle had only been going on for a few minutes, but it would take a dozen Revenants to defeat a single wild animal. Without the Abominations to slow their charge, the camp would already have been reduced to rubble.
The Viscount Abomination was brutally thrown to the ground by the rhinoceros' charge, and Anatole lost contact. The Viscount's horn must have penetrated the Abomination's protective cage.
Cursing, he connected with a second Abomination and quickly stood back. He turned his gaze back to the Earl and manipulated his aether to link with the Earl's mind. A Domain stopped his aether, and the lion ca to a halt. Anatole concentrated on his urn and sacrificed a dozen Abominations to create a surge of aether. For an instant, the Domain folded, and Anatole sensed the Earl's spirit. [Deep Connection].
Anatole connected the Earl to the Spiritual Sapphire and gave the order to Anne. The rune glowed, and the ritual was activated.
Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / N 10 / TA 0)
PHYSICAL:
Strength 148
Constitution 258
Agility 164 ( 3)
Vitality 284
Perception 297 ( 1)
NTAL:
Vivacity 176 ( 1)
Dexterity 193 ( 1)
mory 50
Willpower 274
Charisma 150
TA:
ta-affinity 141
ta-focus 98
ta-endurance 90
ta-perception 32
ta-chance 114
Potential: 1081 ( 5)
Tier 0
[He Who Eludes Death] charge OFF. Reloaded in 6 hours 27 min 14s
[Tribulation]: Tribulations are coming.
Ti: 10 hours 47 minutes 8 seconds.
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