After augnting the Valkyrie Pri, the Bright Sword Pri and the Piranha Pri with so remarkable gems, only two more pri chs awaited their prizes.
As Ves entered the cockpit of the Bright Beam Pri, he brought out another Unstable Chaos Essence gem.
Yet before he installed it into the ch, he paused and directed his gaze back to his pouch.
The contents of his pouch had dwindled. Aside from the Maiden's Affection and a small amount of Unstable Chaos Essence gems, it also contained Lucky's latest products.
Ves slowly put back the gem he had originally brought out and pulled out a different gem instead.
It imdiately stood out for its round shape with sharp spikes sticking out from the surface. Ves happened to possess two of these unusual gems.
"ow!" Lucky hissed as he flew back at the sight of a spiky gem!
Ves chuckled. "Your guts must have gotten quite a workout to produce these abnormal gems!"
"eeeeow!"
He recalled that Lucky originally 'produced' a couple of Antithesis Essence gems after he attempted to cure his pet's indigestion problem.
The Nyxian Gap, Unending alloy and B-stone all combined to generate a pair of spiky gems with an ambiguous description.
[Antithesis Essence]
???
If not even the System was capable of deciphering their effects, then they must definitely be on a higher tier than his other gems!
The problem was that all of this potency was shrouded behind a veil. What if they brought harm to the ch pilot? What if their effects were conditional to specific circumstances?
At the very least, the Unstable Chaos Essence gems appeared to be a little more straightforward.
The few clues he had hinted to Ves that the Antithesis gems might have a surprising effect against spiritual entities and maybe expert chs.
"The Nyxian Gap. Unending Alloy. B-stone. Antithesis. All of these put together will definitely not result in sothing weak!"
His first thought was that he should employ these gems into chs that could be used to repel expert chs.
"The Fridayn, Praetors and Planats brought 11 expert chs. Even if the Glory Seekers and Crossers do their best, they can't guarantee they'll be able to contain every enemy expert ch."
If just one of them managed to break through the blockade, the Larkinson ch forces would definitely experience much greater pressure!
Therefore, the Larkinson Clan needed to prepare a response against expert chs.
While expert chs could not be beaten so easily, it was still possible to hinder them by bombarding them from a distance.
"This Bright Beam Pri is already very suited for this purpose. I'm not sure whether its firepower is truly capable of inflicting damage to an expert ch, but it doesn't hurt to strengthen this capability."
The only downside was that the Bright Beam Pri was only capable of firing a total of three pri resonance-empowered shots in a single go. Ves essentially had to gamble whether an Antithesis gem brought enough power to make it worthwhile to expend such a precious but mysterious resource.
"Ahh, let's just do it!" He shouted in the cockpit! "I have a good feeling about this, and that is enough!"
When faced with inexplicable and uncertain circumstances, Ves usually defaulted to his intuition. Even though it did not send any positive or negative signals at the mont, it did not suppress his bold streak.
As soon as he installed one of his two Antithesis gems into the Bright Beam Pri, the ch seed to experience a profound change. Ves carefully observed the ch with his regular and spiritual vision, but he failed to glean any clues.
"I'll just have to wait until the battle starts to see the results of my decisions." He muttered.
For the final ch, Ves briefly contemplated using his second Antithesis gem before shaking his head.
The Bright Spear Pri stood no chance against an expert ch at close range. He could make much better use of the Antithesis gem by embedding it into another ranged ch.
"I guess I'll use one of my remaining Unstable Chaos Essence gems, then. I hope Venerable Orfan is able to cope with this addition."
Every pri ch possessed a gem now. In order to prevent Venerable Jannzi from feeling left out, Ves entered the Shield of Samar's cockpit and pretended to do sothing. Once he erged from the final ch, Ves told the expert pilots that he was done with the pri chs.
"I can't tell you how your chs have changed. While they have definitely beco more potent in battle, I cannot determine the exact outcos. What's worse, my actions may have introduced so side effects to your machines. Just bear with them. The power bestowed to your chs is very much worth it. Our overarching priority is to defeat the enemies that intend to crush our clan and kill all of our comrades."
"We can bear any pain so long as we gain greater power." Venerable Dise stated in an indomitable tone. "We appreciate all of the help that you have given to us. The Fridayn will taste our wrath on the battlefield!"
Ves smiled. "Well said!"
Now that he handled the pri chs, Ves quickly moved to another section of the Spirit of Bentheim. In order to waste as little ti as possible, he utilized the flight system of his Unending Regalia and rapidly flew through the hallways.
He eventually reached the ch stables where a number of Transcender Punishers were being readied for the upcoming engagent.
Ves happened to et two familiar Ylvainans next to the Prophet's Fist.
"Bright Martyr. I knew you would co to visit." Jas Ylvaine greeted him with an exhausted tone.
"You look.. older."
The Living Prophet didn't seem so lively today. His pure white robe drooped over his listless body as if it was a funeral shroud. Wrinkles marred his previously youthful face and a portion of his slick brown hair had turned white.
This was a drastic change! Ves had t with Jas not too long ago. He looked around 10 to 20 years younger back then. How could the cult leader look so much closer to the traditional depiction of the Great Prophet as an old and wiser man?
"Power always cos at a price." Jas sardonically smiled at Ves. "Isn't that what you always said? Even transcendents cannot escape the law of conservation of energy."
Ves did not pay attention to how Jas managed to decipher so of his inner thoughts. He sensed a heavy weight had settled in the air. His spiritual advisor looked much worse off than before!
"Is it because of my request?" He asked.
"I told you, Ves. The fates of the strong are harder to read than the fates of the weak."
In other words, Jas Ylvaine sacrificed a lot in order to provide Ves with the intelligence he demanded!
"Is your condition permanent?"
The prophet nodded and patted his chest. "My sight is strong, but my body is weak. This vessel is too flawed. I am not the first to suffer from premature aging. So do not feel guilty for seeing in this form. The body is just a channel for to interact with our flock. If it expires, it expires. I have faced death many tis before. It gets old after the first few tis."
This was incredibly troubling talk! Ves gained so much information that he could hardly determine how much of it consisted of shaless boasting!
Ves was always aware that Jas, for all of his humanness, was actually a clone. Perhaps his interaction with Ylvaine's resurrected spirit may have given him more life, but that did not an he suddenly turned into a normal human. At the very least, his physiological shortcomings still remained.
Due to overdrafting his power, Jas had brought his ti of death a lot closer!
Ves didn't know what to think about that. It was partially his fault that Jas lost a significant amount of years of his life.
Even so, his forces truly needed to know in advance how many expert chs they were about to face. The Golden Skull Alliance was able to prepare much more thorough counterasures now that they knew what to expect.
For this reason, Ves did not regret his choice. It was absolutely worth it to sacrifice a single person's lifespan to obtain crucial information that significantly increased their odds of winning.
Besides, he knew that Jas was wise and clear-minded enough to know the implications of what he had done. If the Living Prophet valued his life more, then he would have refused to make the prediction.
"How long do you have left?" Ves softly asked.
"I cannot say. It might sound strange to you, but looking into my own fate is the most costliest prediction I can make. Before I can even get an answer, my body will definitely expire."
"I see."
Ves didn't understand anything. He hated prophecies. Not only were they rooted in superstition, they also implied that the future was fixed or that fate actually existed.
He did not believe in this nonsense. He was an adherent of free choice and the future was inherently chaotic. At each mont of ti, there was an infinite amount of possible futures. While so futures had a much higher chance of coming true than others, the rules of probability taught him that the most likely outcos were never guaranteed to happen.
Jas sighed and turned to gaze up at the Prophet's Fist. "It is okay, Bright Martyr. You do not need to entangle yourself with my future. Whether my body can persist or not, our flock does not need anymore. They have you to turn to after I am gone."
"Prophet!" Taon lin couldn't remain silent any longer. "What are you saying?! We still need your guidance!"
"You misunderstand, Taon." Jas gently shook his head. "I will never be gone. Life and death is just a cycle to . Besides, it is high ti that the faithful must learn to stand up for themselves. The galaxy will not remain tranquil forever."
"Prophet…"
"No more, Taon. You need to think about solving our current predicant before you should consider anything else. Bright Martyr, please proceed with your plan."
Ves nodded. He originally planned to ask Jas whether he could determine the effects of the Antithesis gem, but he decided to drop it. He did not want to waste the remaining charges of his human-shaped prediction engine.
He turned to the Ylvainan ch pilot. "Taon, your ch along with every other Transcendent Punisher will play a vital role in the coming battle. The firepower at your disposal is massive. Aside from our pri chs and our Valkyrie Redeers, our other second-class chs simply don't have the firepower to efficiently chew through the armor of the enemy chs we expect to face. Our general battle approach is to provide our heavy artillery chs with as many opportunities to fire upon enemy elents as possible."
"We understand, Bright Martyr. We will do our best to shoot down each and every enemy ch even if they are expert chs!"
"Good man." Ves lightly patted Taon's shoulder. "I'll be going ahead with adding sothing extra to the Prophet's Fist."
He issued the sa warning to Taon as he did his expert pilots. The Ylvainan ch pilot had to be on guard against any possible negative side effects.
It did not take long for Ves to install the Antithesis Essence gem in the first production copy of the Transcendent Punisher. He was faintly afraid that the ominous Nyxian gem might have corrupted the previously pure Ylvainan ch.
However, just like with his other decisions, he didn't have the luxury of worrying about any potential sequelae. As long as the gems brought additional power, any price was acceptable!
As Ves was about to leave, he briefly considered doing sothing extra for the Ylvainans.
Should he establish a battle network for them? Ves briefly checked up on Ylvaine the design spirit.
He silently shook his head.
The design spirit of the Transcendent Punisher was too weak. There were too few Ylvainans providing him with spiritual feedback.
What happened to Ylvaine might also happen to the Superior Mother if the Hexers lost their foundation. Ves beca more resolved to beat the enemy strike enemy force today.
He could not allow the Friday Coalition to succeed!
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