Chapter 816: Desperate Times calls for…
Meanwhile, while the previous three chapters were happening all at the same time…
‘Well…this is painfully more boring than I had anticipated,’ Zhen Liu complained to himself. ‘Then again, that could just be my brain just trying to ignore my anxiety talking, I thought we kept Paralust in a cage for a reason!’
Due to the lack of a clock’s presence in the Library control room, for some reason, Zhen Liu had no idea how long he had actually been left floating like this.
His only measure of time came in the form of watching his cousins, Olstenna and the idiot trio go through a kaijin-made gauntlet.
In the time he had been left floating like this, he had seen his cousins get challenged by Hurricroak, Archanidame and Lacerage; he saw Olstenna get ganked by an army of zakos led by Razorstella and Nepherage; and watched with a growing sense of dread as the idiot trio got their asses stuck in a hot springs shaped honeypot, necessitating a rescue effort led by Screamira and Spring Brawler.
On the one hand, Zhen Liu was proud that the kaijin were able to independently act despite him being in a weird off state.
On the other, he was viciously worried about whether or not they would be able to hold themselves back when the situation called for it.
Having cannibalism suggested as a solution once could be considered a weird joke, but having it suggested multiple times could be considered a red flag.
Either way, Zhen Liu really wanted to get back inside his own body as quickly as possible.
‘Seriously, how much longer do I have to float like this?,’ he wondered while tugging at the shortening spiritual chain connecting him to his body. ‘I’ve been floating like this for way too long now and…why do I suddenly feel a completely different form of dread looming over my head?’
…
[So…how much longer do we have to keep doing this? I don’t mind being able to move at a more normal pace, but I don’t think I can keep doing this forever,] Frosttusk pointed as he kept one of his hands on Zhen Liu’s chest in order to continuously sap away the heat radiating off of it.
[Was…was that a pun?]
=Both of you please shut up,= Logos interjected. =It’s hard enough establishing this array as is without the proper materials, it’s even harder to do it with bantering in my ears.=
=You know what I mean.=
When Logos and Pathos dug into the Library’s archives for any records of anybody else in history having to deal with two different types of natural aether flames conflicting or synergizing with each other, the two of them managed to find multiple cases.
Most of the cases they found though, consisted of horror stories as to why it was a very bad idea for somebody to try and tame multiple types of aether flames from different series, with only a handful being success stories that included the methods that the warriors used when they pulled off this feat.
Making things more unfortunate though, a majority of these methods required the usage of rare aether plants, high tier aether beast blood or treasures that neither Zhen Liu or the Library had access to. In other words, this meant that Logos and Pathos were forced to improvise and substitute a vast majority of what they needed with ludicrous amounts of [Chaos].
Due to the primordial randomness that was innate to [Chaos], it could technically be used to mimic any type aether, including the types of aether found only in pills and natural treasures, when manipulated in certain ways.
On paper, this sounded great. This mean that the kaijin and the kaijin lord didn’t have to put in any effort in finding rare materials or medicines, because they could just whip up their own knock-offs at home with their innate [Chaos].
In practice, this was an incredibly stupid idea that should only be done in the most dire of circumstances due to the innate problems associated with [Chaos], i.e., instability.
By name, nature and design, [Chaos] does not like to be structured or ordered in any particular way and will actively rebel against any form of structure or order lasting anything longer than a couple of seconds. If the structure is not dismissed before this time limit is reached, the compacted [Chaos] will usually explode in a very violent manner. After all, there is nothing more chaotic than the aftermath of a large explosion.
On a related note, depending on the type and quality of aether being mimicked, the resulting explosion will not only be an elemental discharge related to the aether type, but will usually be proportionally deadly.
In essence, the higher the quality of aether, the bigger the explosion.
Which is why Logos and Pathos were essentially playing with an active volcano when they decided to use their abilities to forcefully mimic an array known as the [Zen Flame Phoenix Formation], which was designed by a man known as the Zen Alchemist, to stabilize both the [Ghost Flame] and the [Violet Berserker Spring Flame].
This particular array required the usage of the blood of a ninth tier aether beast known as a Zen Jade Phoenix and about one hundred and thirty-nine different runic structures positioned in a very particular way.
The structures were incredibly easy for Logos and Pathos to create, but forcing [Chaos] to mimic something as dangerous pure as Zen Jade Phoenix blood was…tricky, to say the least.
Actively mimicking such a rare material required either Logos or Pathos to exert significantly more energy and effort than either had exercised in centuries.
Which is why Logos was doing their absolute damnedest to maintain the array as it slowly pacified the aether flames and, presumably, restore their lord’s soul.
=Fucking shit, puta Madre and noi shi-tat! I forgot how much of a pain in the ass it was to do something like this for an extended period of time. I don’t have a back and I can already feel it breaking!,= Logos complained. =Wait…fuck! Is the [Violet Berserker Spring Flame] affecting me too? What the fuck?!=
=That…huh.=
The last time the Library of Nowhere was in use, was back when it was known as the Demon’s Archive.
The last time the Demon’s Archive was active was a little over two centuries ago, and that was when they were situated on another continent entirely.
And back when they were on that other continent, they had to say goodbye to the previous Kaijin Lord after they had sacrificed themselves to prevent an alliance of assholes from taking over the library and monopolizing it’s knowledge for personal and political gain.
They hadn’t told Zhen Liu about this moment, because frankly, it wasn’t important. That and because their memories of that day were…hazy, to say the least.
Emotional damage has a tendency to make it hard to remember certain details, after all.
Especially when the person trying to remember was an ageless being who had been around longer than most people.
Regardless, now that they knew what was going on, Logos felt they could push themselves a little harder in maintaing the array just a little while longer.
=Pathos.=
=There are days where I hate how oddly observant you are.=
=Hmm? What’s wrong?=
=That’s…oddly specific.=
Evidently, if Pathos had followed up this feeling with a quick observational outside of the library, they would’ve quickly realized as to why this feeling was creeping down their back.
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Meanwhile, at the shore of the Jade Lake where the Library of Nowhere was submerged in…
“So…this is where Xiao Liu not only almost got murdered, but where he found the library?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Huh…I don’t know if I should be more annoyed that he kept this place secret, or more over the fact that he was quite literally this close to home when he disappeared…”
“Honestly, both are very applicable feelings, madam.”
“Uh… mother-in-law to be, Jin Fang. I hate to be a buzzkil, but how are we going to get inside? If it’s underwater, we can hitch a ride on Tiny’s back for sure, but the only time we’ve been able to access the place is when we’re accompanied by Xiao Liu. If this place is like anything the sanctuary my father controls, we ain’t getting in without a key.”
“Who says we don’t?”
“Huh?”
