Randidly and Neveah looked up at the sky in silence for several seconds.

The only thing that was currently clear was that the Nether in the sky was caged in Aether Constructs that were visibly acting to keep the vast darkness contained. Which was something of a relief to Randidly. But it was disturbing to be able to see the representation of the Great Rift hovering above Earth. It was like a second, slightly larger moon. Except it looked to be a baseball of darkness, surrounded by shimmering red-violet lines of energy.

Bit by bit, Earth is turning into a fantasy world… Randidly thought, slightly amused despite the worrisome circumstances.

“People will want to know what happened to put that in the sky,” Neveah said rather unhelpfully as the duo stood on Randidly’s island and stared upward.

Shrugging, Randidly just said. Of all the issues running through his mind, that was the least of them. “Since we just passed the test for the Corrupted Invaders, I think most people will just assume it is related to the test the System gave us. But in the meantime… we need to figure out what is actually going on.”

Randidly activated Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart. A ripple spread out around them. It weakened the effect on gravity on both of them, allowing them to leap upward and soar toward the sky. Honestly, this was a good chance to determine whether the Earth had been largely physically preserved in this new form. Was it even still a planet now that it was a part of the System…?

So the two of them shot upward. Very quickly, Randidly needed to manifest the Stillborn Phoenix’s image directly in order to strengthen their upward momentum. They continued to shoot upward, piercing through clouds. They blasted through thick swaths of raindrops and then clouds of drifting frost. The temperature around them rapidly dropped, but both were more than powerful enough to ignore the chill. In the meantime, Randidly sent a message both to Octavius Shrike and Lady Iellaya to see if they had any idea why such a thing would manifest above Earth.

As they went upward, no obvious clues manifested themselves. The silence of the sky surrounded them. But although they didn’t see any cause for the Great Rift’s presence, after approaching it, Randidly and Neveah could see that the cage of Aether in the sky was nowhere near as inert as they had initially assumed. It wasn’t that the Great Rift had been contained. They could see the movements of Nether, smashing periodically against the Aether cage as though it was about to break out and sweep away the planet below.

Not only had the Great Rift arrived, but it was actively struggling to break through Aether’s defenses. Feeling the air beginning to thin around them, Randidly slowed their ascent and glanced around. They had pushed up through the cloud layer and quite a bit beyond, but from what he distantly remembered from school, they were still well within the Earth’s atmosphere. The horizon around them seemed to bend away in brilliant blue waves. It was a pure and austere place.

At this point, they had closed perhaps half of the distance to where the Great Rift and the Aether constructs were struggling. It stretched like a mountain in their vision, dominating a large portion of the atmosphere around here. It was reassuring to see that it seemed the Earth was a sphere once more, but it just made him have as many additional questions as it answered.

Probably not the best to just jump up there and figure out how surviving in space works… Randidly thought as they decelerated, chewing his lip. He likely could survive out there for a while, but he was slightly leary of unanticipated side effects. But then Neveah interrupted his thoughts.

“Randidly, look. That-” Neveah began, but even she was cut off as a huge mass azure Nether veins in the shape of an enormous hook slashed at the Aether cage around the Great Rift.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

There was a deafening physical reverberation that spread out across the sky, speaking to the imposing contact between the two energies. But what followed a full second later was a more subtle, and to Randidly’s mind, much more dangerous wave.

Earth’s Aether shivered and resonated for a split second. And that resonance brought with it a horrible wave of pain as it sheered through his Soulspace. Instantly, Randidly’s expression turned grim.

Perhaps most of the reason that he was affected so strongly by the resonance was that he was much nearer to the source and because the cloud of Aether that Randidly carried with him was that much larger than an average person. Randidly Ghosthound was quite a big Aether target. In fact, the Aether that Randidly consistently maintained around his person rivaled that of a small Village.

But Randidly also noticed that the painful Aether resonance was mostly through the System Aether. It was somewhat more muted when it began flowing through Randidly’s pure Aether. So if he felt pain here, it was likely that everyone on Earth felt at least a sharp stab of pain.

Randidly and Neveah exchanged a glance, their shared thoughts flitting across their Soulbond. Randidly sighed. “Hopefully those don’t occur very often… But it seems clear that this is going to be a problem. It doesn’t match any aspect of the Calamities that I remember hearing about… could it be another detail of the old scenario for these Corrupted Invaders…? I’m sure that creatures of Nether are categorized as ‘Corrupted’. But the notification indicated the trial was over...”

“...there is something else that might be possible…” Neveah said slowly. “Did you not weaken the control that the Xyrt Brigade had over that Nether King on the frontlines…? Perhaps this is just the Nether King… coming to thank you for your assistance.”

Both Neveah and Randidly watched the Nether of the Great Rift lash out and attack the cage of Aether around it. The red-violet lines of energy hissed and spat in response. Small bolts of violet energy radiated outward from the Aether constructs, evidence of the high degree of strain it was under. In some places, it was clear that the construct was beginning to warp.

Randidly forced out a chuckle. “This doesn’t seem like a thank you… besides. The world doesn’t revolve around me, Neveah. Not everything that happens is my fault, or is a sign of someone new trying to kill me.”

“...well if you are sure…” Neveah said, giving Randidly a decidedly unconvinced look. Rolling his eyes, Randidly used Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart to carry them back down to land on his island. After being up in the thin-aired atmosphere for so long, Randidly was almost uncomfortably warm back near the ground. But he ignored that and pulled out his Philosopher’s Key.

With his eyes closed, Randidly pressed the key forward through the air, tasting the various karmas in the universe. If no one would answer Randidly’s message to tell him what was going on, he would simply drop in on one of them and demand answers. This seemed like a time-sensitive issue; perhaps it would also give him an explanation for why Kaan Swacc was MIA.

But what Randidly felt in the surrounding air chilled him. Gradually, he opened his emerald eyes and frowned down at the Philosopher's Key. There’s something obstructing the karmic connections…? But why…

Soundlessly, Randidly shook his head. Then he closed his eyes again and focused. It was almost like those little notes of karma had become murky to Randidly’s vision. Like the presence of the Great Rift in the sky above Earth cast a long shadow across the bindings of karma. But even if they were shrouded in shadow, Randidly eventually found the connection he was looking for.

The key went partially into the groove in the air, but then it slowed and stopped as it encountered resistance. Randidly’s grip tightened on the Philosopher’s Key. His heart began to beat steadily faster. Thick veins emerged on his arms and ran up from his wrist.

Probably not something that can be solved with just physical power… but…

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Avoidance (L) has grown to Level 253!

Randidly’s arm began to tremble. His images all began to manifest around him. Randidly’s skin grew pale and his veins turned gold. And in that moment of strain, an idea of how to make the image of the Stillborn Phoenix clicked into place in Randidly’s mind. He followed his instincts, and suddenly the light in his left eye dimmed.

After a blink, the emerald brightness had vanished. Randidly’s left eye became an inky black, with light in the surrounding space beginning to dissipate under its intense pull. Because of the visual distortions, a portion of his face seemed to melt and spin around that black egg that took up residence in his skull.

Congratulations! Your Skill Cosmic Necessity (M) has grown to Level 241!

BADUMP, BADUMP, BADUMP!

All three images pushed with the overwhelming potency of an image built by hand. The veil over the karmic connections groaned beneath that force and then collapsed. The Philosopher's Key engaged and built a bridge of impossibility between two distant points. Once the portal had been established, Randidly released a huge sigh. After blinking a few times, his left eye returned to normal. Only then did he step forward and walk into the office of Octavius Shrike, Overseer of the Seventh Cohort.

Randidly was rather surprised to find Octavius sitting at his desk and furiously typing away at his terminal. And whatever was consuming his attention was so pressing that it took Octavius almost five seconds to realize something had changed in his office. And when he looked up, his rhinoceros face was curled into a snarl. But when he finally recognized Randidly, his eyes widened.

“Randidly Ghosthound… how did you manage to come here…?”

Randidly awkwardly scratched the back of his head. His body was still slightly heated from activating his physical power earlier, which made him further distracted. But it was clear that Octavius at least knew something that he didn’t. “What’s going on Octavius? Why is the Great Rift in the sky over Earth?”

“We are under attack,” Octavius said grimly. “The Nether forces- wait, what did you say? You can see the Great Rift?! It’s above Earth as we speak?”

Randidly frowned. “Didn’t you just say there was an attack by Nether…?”

“There is, but we weren’t sure where Nether was focusing its offensive. I suppose Earth makes a great deal of sense…” Octavius’ eyes flicked away from Randidly and he pulled out one of the drawers on his desk and began rummaging within it. After a bit, he pulled out a scroll that was covered with complicated Aether symbols that Randidly completely was unable to understand.

Octavius looked at the scroll and clicked his tongue. “But as I was saying, the Seventh Cohort is being attacked directly. Thirty hours ago, one of our smallest frontlines was completely overwhelmed by a surprise attack of a Nether army of unknown size. Even the emergency response team from the Xyrt Brigade was slaughtered. They were reserve forces, as most of the genuine Xyrt Brigade is constantly in the field, but still, it spoke to the first loss the Nexus has had in twelve hundred years.”

“Why Earth then?” Randidly said, feeling a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he remembered Neveah’s words. Was it really just a coincidence that the Great Rift had manifested above Earth…? “And why would the Nether Forces attack a Cohort directly? Are they trying to cut off the flow of images to the Nexus…?”

Randidly was abruptly realizing that he had misread this issue entirely. Rather than a plot by someone within the Nexus, his home planet might literally be soon overrun by a hostile Nether force.

Octavius grimaced. “No, that isn’t their goal, although they probably won’t mind doing so. But… have you ever wondered how the messaging system within the Nexus works? No, I suppose not. I sent out a System announcement about certain functions of the System might not be working for a while, but appears not even that made it out to you… the truth is, Aether isn’t capable of maintaining the huge network of the Nexus. Only Nether principles can keep us connected.

“Each Cohort, in essence, is a new expansion of that network. Therefore… each Cohort runs on the back of a subdued Nether King. We expect that this is a rescue mission for the Nether to liberate the Nether King at the core of the Seventh Cohort.”