anwhile, at the [Library of Nowhere]...
=No. No it is not.=
From the observation room of the library, Logos and Pathos looked on with stress and worry plain on their faces, due to the very simple fact that their Lord was being backed into a very vulnerable corner while being handicapped on a physical and ntal level.
To summarize the situation, Zhen Liu was about to be forced to walk alongside a man who had every incentive imaginable to pop him like a grape, all while technically a quarter conscious due to Nepherage, Frosttusk and Hurricroak being subjected to the power of the [Crane’s Slumbering Bell].
Music-baaed aether arts were one of the main weaknesses of the kaijin, and the feedback from their pain and status effects was one of the major vulnerabilities of a Kaijin Lord, especially when amplified.
In other words, if only one of the Ragnarockers was rendered unconscious because of the bell, that would’ve been fine. However, because three different Kaijin were all sending back feedback related to sleeping and dreaming, Zhen Liu found himself in a bad situation.
To be more precise, Zhen Liu’s current transformation as i Yue required him to be consciously manipulating his [Chaos] to maintain not just the "look", but the aether channels as well.
The looks were the easy part; it was the channels that were a massive bitch and a half to maintain, especially over a long period of ti like this.
Zhen Liu never ntioned this to anyone, but temporarily creating channels within his body actually caused him imnse pain.
He could feel that his body was actively rejecting every single second of having those artificial channels exist within himself, and he had no idea why.
Perhaps it was growing pains, perhaps it was because his fundantal existence seed to want to try and reject the possibility of having traditional channels; either way, the mont the drowsiness beca too much for Zhen Liu to bear, he would no longer be able to maintain this farce of his.
The mont Zhen Liu reverted back to normal, and the mont Alain saw that one of his biggest targets of opportunity had essentially handed himself over while wrapped in a silk dress, then there was a very real chance that the [Library of Nowhere] would go back into hibernation as the mantle of Kaijin Lord was passed on to another.
As such, Logos and Pathos were doing their damndest to try and figure out what to do, because right now, all they could do was helplessly watch.
=No, the change in deanor would be too abrupt, and there is a very real possibility that Alain would notice the change in both deanor and aura. Especially since the only kaijin in the area that even remotely qualifies for the task at hand is Blazejudicator. And I’m pretty sure that Alain morized his ass after that show he put on in the restaurant.=
=Fucked if I know. Other than their audio-visual feeds, I can’t determine if they’re three feet underground or three miles. The catacombs here are more twisted than a pretzel made by a man with nervous tic...damnit, now I’m talking like you!.=
The funny thing about panic was that, while it may cause most people to think too fast for their own good and cause most people to make terrible decisions one after the other, there were so who actually thought more clearly while panicking.
Sothing about having all their thoughts aligned to a single emotion made it easier for them to put together what resources they had on hand to resolve whatever issue had appeared before them.
And right now, Pathos had determined that there was a very underutilized resource in the library that could weirdly work in this situation.
She just needed to locate his freeloading, drunken ass.
=Anton? I think he’s currently haunting around the animal conference...wait a minute, are you thinking what I think you’re thinking to do?=
Pathso interjected with extre seriousness.
=I...if you want us to do a data dump, that will definitely be noticed if Alain actually pays attention to the presence of [Chaos].=
Pathos ominously declared before snapping their fingers and summoning an illusionary window that explained their idea.
=Oh...wait, when did you establish this?=
...Alright, enough pre-amble, let’s get to the juicy bit...
The plan for after acquiring the [Rainbowsmith Manual] was for Ren Jia and i Yue to make use of a carriage and ride around the city for a couple of laps until stopping at a random inn.
During these laps, i Yue would revert back to Zhen Liu and Ren Jia would ditch her disguise and go back to being Jinju Ren.
The reason behind this sequence of events was simple.
Ideally, all of the lapping around the city would shake off any possible tails that the couple would’ve attracted from this evening with Alain and Alder. If not, then seeing a completely different couple suddenly exit the carriage to so random-ass inn would’ve thoroughly misinford any spies that managed to hang on tight.
Unfortunately, luck and circumstance had determined that this plan had no choice but to be chucked out of that aforentioned carriage’s window.
Due to i Yue suddenly becoming incredibly drowsy, both Alain and Alder had insisted on accompanying both her and Ren Jia back to whatever inn that they were both staying at.
As such, instead of a lovely relaxing carriage ride between a shapeshifting weirdo and their fiancee, Ren Jia and i Yue were forced to sit right across from a guy that they both disliked for reasons that didn’t need to be repeated and one oddly earnest sheep bloodliner who seed unable to read the situation despite supposedly having the ability to read minds.
Then again, perhaps he was acting this way precisely because he could read minds and understood that speaking up about any suspicions was probably a bad idea in this situation.
Especially since the tension in the carriage was thick enough to be stabbed, filleted, and seared like a fine piece of tenderloin beef.
Inside of this cramped carriage cabin, i Yue and Ren Jia were seated on one side, while Alain and Alder were seated on the other.
i Yue was still acting unconscious; granted, she was actually focusing incredibly hard to make sure her facade was still being maintained, because the mont she passed out, her entire ruse would be exposed, as her disguise would’ve beco undone in an instant.
Alder, for his part, was still pretending not to notice the brewing tension in the carriage, especially since it was preceded by such a lovely evening.
As for the last two mbers of the cabin, Alain and Ren Jia, the two of them were starting to stare daggers in each other’s direction. Albeit, sheathed daggers.
Since that earlier "episode" involving i Yue and his rightfully purchased book, Alain had been keeping a sharper eye on both the aforentioned maiden and Ren Jia.
While he didn’t say it out loud, Alain had suspected that i Yue’s sudden bout of fainting might’ve been a planned ruse to try and steal the book away from his person. At least, that’s what his instincts told him.
As for Ren Jia, Jinju Ren, she knew that Alain had grown suspicious of her and Zhen Liu.
Now, while she wasn’t a mind reader like Bellona, nor able to detect [Desire] like Zhen Liu, she was still a bonafide Imperial Princess.
Court intrigue and all of the bullshit that entails was part of her daily routine, so she could determine whether or not soone was acting suspicious or was on the lookout for foul play.
And right now, she could feel Alain’s suspicions piercing a hole into her skull.
Of course, she wasn’t entirely sure if this suspicion was due to just that earlier episode of tripping and grabbing or because Alain knew what the fuck was up with i Yue’s true identity. If it was the forr, fine, Jinju Ren could co up with a dozen or so plausible lies that would play off this incident like it was nothing.
If it was the latter, though...then Jinju Ren didn’t mind taking the first shot and hope to the ancestors that her strike ripped Alain’s pretty little wings off in one go.
Either way, all of this tension made the entire carriage cab feel like a pressure cooker that was about to explode.
And it was about to get...interesting.
User Comments
0 comments from readers