Chương 411: The Unnoticed Radiance
"…Svanya Xilios," the woman's soft and cold tone echoed as she spoke to him. "My 'other name' in this Guild is Silence. And if you prove capable of remembering it, hear my title; The Unseen."
Rakna narrowed his eyes. There was something odd going on. 'An illusion? A perception filter? Mind control?' He considered each one of them and decided to test something. He commanded his Eye to carve the information into its core hardware and then looked away from her.
At that moment, the confusion on his face disappeared. It reverted to the exact expression he had before turning around. He was about to say something when he noticed Merlina's arm lowered but stopped himself when a feeling of déjà vu sprung into his mind. He checked the time in his Eye and realized that the memories of the last minute were missing.
"…what is going on?" He muttered with a frown. He tried to rewind the video continuously filming through his eyes but it had also been deleted. What survived was information he seemed to have personally inputted. A description, a name, an alias, and a title.
Caer smiled at him. "You handled it on the first try. Incredible. I suppose that's the advantage of a digital computer interconnected to your mind. The rawest form of remembrance, writing, survives her ability but no image or audio of her can ever exist, whether that be recordings or drawings."
"…" Rakna furrowed his eyebrows.
"Despite writing down discoveries and hearing it from others, cognition of her still fades over time either away if you don't remind yourself enough," the pink-haired man added. "We all know about her, but if we don't 'talk' about her for too long, we still forget. As for interacting with her directly, we obviously forget everything about it the moment we look away."
"It's a shame," Lux said with a sigh. "Apparently, she's a heck of a beauty, but we cannot remember her appearance. Writing her description down isn't enough."
"…so, you have some type of spirit-type Skulking Angel in this Guild?" Rakna asked.
"Hm, well, sounds about right," Gray nodded.
"Isn't that a pain for teamwork?"
"Not really," Lux shrugged. "It's a one-way street in the end. We just have to give directives without looking at her. And if she needs to communicate, she can send messages back. She hates it though."
"Why?"
"…because we forget to reply," the fallen angel said whilst scratching his cheek. He was pretty sure that Svanya was currently glaring at him. "Writing that originates from her is different. The second we finish reading a sentence, we forget it. So, she has to keep it short. And then after that, we also have to be fast at reacting to it. Otherwise, well, we forget her message altogether."
"It's quite a predicament, I'll admit," Geisman commented helplessly. "Even the leader has a hard time keeping her in mind. Compared to us, he's capable of remembering for several minutes after looking away but it still fades eventually."
Ensis grunted to catch everyone's attention. "I believe we have strayed off topic," he said with a gruff tone. "Are you ready to start the test?"
Rakna blinked and slowly nodded. "Yes, but… give me a second," he said and turned around once again. He faced Svanya who raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't mind me," he said with a smile. "I'm simply curious," he said and his eyes were split by a pair of golden crosses.
Promptly, the blonde woman stiffened. She felt something pry into her very existence. It wasn't the kind she was used to when someone tried to peek into her status. This was something else.
"Uh… you exist twice," Rakna uttered with a fascinated tone and the rest of the Guild looked at him curiously. "With every instant that passes, you alternate between two states of existence. It's hard to explain, but basically, you're playing hide and seek with yourself."
"…pardon?" The regal woman exclaimed with a confused grimace.
"In one instant, a version of you that 'exists' gets caught and replaced by another," he mused. "With these eyes of mine, I learned that everyone has a 'root' that goes beyond time and space. It's tied to someone's 'existentiality'. If it disappears, you get erased from History; never born."
"And you're doing that practically every nanosecond," Rakna tilted his head. "You're resetting your life at every living moment, but as the eye of the storm, you grow and live like anyone else even though the perception of others is warped."
"…can you do something about it?" Svanya asked with a subdued hint of hope in her voice.
"Unfortunately, I cannot do anything to the problem itself."
"I see…" Her voice reverted to neutral coldness.
"But that doesn't mean I can't use a quick fix on myself," the therian said casually, almost missing the way she trembled. "Let's see… how about this?" He smiled and purple flames slithered up his limbs. He enveloped himself in soul power while he maintained Crystal Sight.
From what he understood, someone's 'Root of Existence' was inviolable. It is something he could affirm to be truly indestructible, since it is natural 'proof' of a living being's birth; something that remains even after death. The only way it can be influenced is through oneself or by intentionally making it vulnerable.
Rakna could feel that 'Root' somewhere under the Soul Stele. It was there; he knew it. But he had no way to do anything about it. His idea was simple; use Crystal Sight to duplicate both versions of Svanya's existence and carve them into his soul power with transmutation.
Then bring that recreation down to his Soul Chasm and then connect it to his Soul Stele. It would be better to directly carve it into the latter, but that was suicidal, even for him.
Even Arimane would never consider altering his Soul Stele so lightly.
In the end, what that would do is create a shared 'cognition of existence'. In other words, no matter how many times Svanya reset herself, it wouldn't reset the proxy he had created by tying it to his own existentiality, fueling it in a way.
Rakna winced as he forced the transmuted soul power to go down his Soul Sea, reach the bottom, and advance through the layer beneath. On the outside, it only looked as if his flames were being swallowed through his mouth.
When he reached the Chasm, he promptly sealed his soul power and implanted half of it into the boundary of the Soul Stele's layer. Once he was done, he let go of his soul power and wobbled back to reality.
"Ow…" He rubbed his temples as Crystal Sight flickered away. "That stung."
"You…" Svanya was staring at him wide-eyed. "What did you just do?"
"Copied your existence," Rakna grunted and then turned his back to her. She immediately held her breath until he spoke the next words. "Hm, it could be worse. I can still remember our interactions but it requires a bit of focus. That's the side effect of only getting it near the Stele…"
"Holy shit…" Varq muttered as he caught up with what was happening. "Did he just…?"
"Mhm, he did," Gray nodded sagely as if this was completely normal. "Rule number one of dealing with the newbie; if he does something nonsensical, don't worry, it's normal."
"What kind of fucking advice is that?"
"Interesting," Vegas raised his voice. "I understand what you did to some extent, but… aside from the kind of skill set it would require, isn't it incredibly dangerous?"
Rakna shrugged. "Maybe. For me? Not as much."
"Wait a minute," Lux interjected, alternating his gaze between Svanya and Rakna. "What the hell is going on? When I look away from her, I don't forget as long as I have you in my sight. How?"
"As I said, I 'copied' her," the therian reiterated. "Essentially… I'm sharing her burden. Consider me an extension. If you keep your eyes on me, you will be able to remember her the same as if you were looking at her directly. Though, ultimately, it ends the same if you look away."
"Why…" Svanya's voice sounded and he glanced at her; she had a complex expression. "Why would you go so far to remember me? Is it even worth it to meddle with your own soul for a stranger?"
"I would hate it in your place," Rakna answered bluntly and she widened her eyes. "Not being able to have a normal relationship with any living creature? That sounds like a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone. Call it vanity, if you want. I refuse to be part of someone else's misery if I can help it."
"…hah," the golden-haired woman let out a laugh. The guildmates who had been paying attention to her opened their mouths wide. Somehow… they knew this was probably the first time they had ever gotten something close to a smile from her.
Her expression melted in some kind of courteous joy, controlled, and not hysteric enough to erase the natural aloofness she exuded like royalty. "I like you, boy," she declared. "This is surely the first time in my life I am grateful for something the clown did; to have recruited you."
"Hey, I resent that. I do plenty of things deserving gratitude," Gray retorted. "Who was the one who coded a program to check on you once in a while?"
"Which you forgot about," she deadpanned.
"…which I forgot about… oh," he whispered to himself. "I forgot I had forgotten, hahaha!"
Varq rolled his eyes. "You really are a stupid…" He blinked, losing his words. He had inadvertently lost sight of the two. "What were we talking about again?" He asked aloud and those who had kept their eyes off Svanya in order to remember the conversation through context alone sighed.
At the same time, Rakna noticed the way Svanya's lips twitched downward.
"See? That hurts, doesn't it?" The therian asked and she smiled sadly.
"It does indeed…"
Ensis opened one eye to look at the two who now shared a 'cognizance', his thoughts unknown to anyone. "…are you done?" He asked out loud and Rakna looked back at him.
"Yes. We can start anytime."
"Good," the old warrior eyed Lilia, who had just a moment ago been awfully invested in whatever words were being exchanged between Rakna and Svanya. "Lilia."
The purple-haired girl was jolted back to her senses and she quietly waited for the instruction that was to come.
"You know what to do," Ensis said. "Drag that World Boss out of there."
She nodded quietly and flew off, her outfit shining white before it was replaced by an ornate mage robe resembling some kind of ceremonial garb, complemented by a blue fur mantle. A tall wooden staff with intricate carvings also appeared in her free right.
Rakna watched her head toward the dragon, plunging into the water and creating a circular wave strong enough to reach them. "Wasn't I supposed to fight that thing?" He inquired.
"Don't worry, you will," Ensis said flatly. "But there will be rules."
"Rules…?" Before Rakna could get an explanation, Lilia re-emerged from where she had dived, her clothes mysteriously as dry as how she went in. Trailing her, bubbles began to rise and the ocean's surface bloated upward, signaling the arrival of a massive creature.
When the uprise of water burst open, a large dragon with a lengthy body reminiscent of an oriental dragon took to the skies with a roar. Its body was dark blue and red. It had many layers of scales and protrusions that could easily pass off as limbs at first sight. Those were the features of wyrms who usually lived underground and inside magma, forging their own scales as they grew older.
The weight usually made it impossible for wyrms to fly, but they made up for it with a defense that couldn't be penetrated by both magic and physical attacks. However, this dragon not only lacked a concept of weight limit but also was a Lóng capable of high-tier magic.
"{Undoubtedly a World Boss,}" Fray commented. "{Though… what is she doing?}"
Rakna squinted, observing Lilia who stood atop the dragon's head, her staff sending an azure light into the creature's skull. With a quick use of Crystal Sight, he rapidly understood what was going on and didn't know whether to be impressed or confused.
"Lilia is arguably our Guild's greatest asset," Caer abruptly said from next to him. "She has a Unique Path called 'Mother of War'. She possesses buffing skills capable of increasing the average combat level of an army by at least a hundred levels without breaking a sweat."
"And if she focuses on specific targets, and uses her skills to their utmost potential, she can boost a target at least three times more than that." He looked up at his daughter and smiled. "I couldn't be prouder of her. But most importantly, her Sub-Path is called 'Mother of Nature'."
Rakna's eye twitched when he heard the conspicuously compatible names.
"Her Sub-Path's skillset is divided into two simple halves; one grants power from nature, while the other… has a synergy with her Main Path that makes her the Top Tamer in the entire System."
"Here's your test, boy," Ensis spoke up as Rakna came to terms with the fact that a World Boss had been tamed by Lilia in the span of a minute. "You will kill that dragon while Lilia does everything in her power to empower it and make it survive."
"The rules are as follows; you are forbidden to target or harm Lilia, no matter if she jumps in front of your weapon as you swing or is just in your attack's area of effect; you are forbidden from using your Soul Marble or Manifestation; and finally, consider us a 'prop' to protect."
"What?" Rakna scowled at the elder. "What do you mean?"
Lux waved at everyone with a smile. "Exactly as it sounds. A fictional scenario where you have to protect us. Lilia will lead the dragon to attack us. If even one single attack, no matter how weak it is, manages to reach us, you will have failed. Ah, but of course, we won't just stay here."
"…really?"
"Yep. We will split up in different directions. So, you will have to protect each one of us, separately and maybe concurrently," the fallen angel smirked as if he hadn't just stated the most unfair thing imaginable.
"…" The therian gawked at them. "You can't be serious… if Lilia's buffs are as powerful as you make them out to be, that's essentially impossible."
"Well, that's not my problem," Lux chuckled. "Complain to the leader."
"The test will start in ten seconds," Ensis announced without care.
"…" Rakna was genuinely speechless. His expression twitched violently as he grabbed his scarf and ordered it to change forms. At the same time, Pronos jumped out with a small hiss and landed on his shoulder, catching the eyes of everyone.
"Fine… I'll play your game," Rakna growled and whirled the Guandao in his hand. "You better give me a good reward afterward. Because joining your Guild alone isn't worth this shit."
Ensis allowed a taunting smile to appear on his face. "Convince me."
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