This is an idea that came to me suddenly in a dream. I believe this to be a revelation from Logos himself, for it may well be the answer we have long sought to the continuing threat that the expanding Abyss posses to all life. Until now, efforts to slow the advance of that accursed realm have relied on reasserting the dominion of the Archons or using Ideals to expend the dense mana that makes up the substance of the Abyss. Either through strong faith or skillful application of external mana manipulation, we have managed to chip away small bits of its influence. I think you will agree that this method is not working. We are only slowing the growth, but not stopping it.

What we need is an entirely different mode of thought. A shift in paradigm. This is what I have envisioned.

All great advances in Sapient society have come from automation. One prime example is the Akashic Record. Everything the Akashic does could be done before its creation through various means, but by consolidating and automating the gathering and exchange of information it has become integral to nearly every aspect of modern life. The usefulness of runes to production industries can also not be understated. These days, many simple consumer items can be created from raw materials without the need for any interaction from the craftsman! This is in no small part due to my own efforts as an inventor, but I digress.

What I am proposing is a means by which the destruction of mana can be completely automated. Already, I have designed such a prototype. The device uses runes to first draw in nearby ambient mana, then uses the mana to effectively 'push against itself', rapidly expending the energy contained within on a pointless task. The end result is the ambient mana in the location being rapidly drained.

There are some unusual side effects that I have noticed after a week of testing my first prototype. The chamber in which I placed the prototype has begun a process which I have named 'derealization'. The lack of ambient mana has loosened the demiurge's hold on the area in a way very different from the way the Abyss does, which might be referred to as 'hyperreal' by contrast. To utilize a common analogy, the Abyss steals control from the demiurge by covering everything in colorless paint so thick that there's no room left for details to fit, whereas these 'derealized zones' are more akin to actually evaporating all the paint from a region entirely. The effect is that the region becomes almost dreamlike, with local reality failing to follow the physical laws and being more easily swayed by perception. Whereas the abyss erodes objects and individuals within its borders, objects within the derealized zones seemed to shift to more closely match my expectations, with mundane objects actually becoming more sturdy and in some cases even repairing themselves. The effect is somewhat similar to the perception-based properties noted in abominations, but much less pronounced.

Although the result is curious, I do not believe it will inhibit the function of these devices in slowing the spread of the Abyss. After a quick test run at the border of the Abyss to confirm their effectiveness, I suggest we begin mass producing these devices and setting them up around the perimeter of the Abyss as quickly as possible. I've enclosed the design I used with this letter; feel free to begin constructing and testing replicas immediately.

From the Desk of the Grand Inventor, Arti Kurmalt

-Letter forwarded to Cithlar, along with an order for 10,000 'derealizers'. The order is marked as complete.

It had been two days now since they were ambushed by dragons. This was not an unexpected turn of events for Jabrax. She knew perfectly well that a powerful dragon made her nest on this particular mountain. Yet she had still not warned Mud of that well-known fact, even despite her contract.

This was because the demon Jabrax was convinced that, should he play his cards right, her contractor Mud should be able to profit immensely from interaction from the ancient beast. While dragons are terrifying in their single-minded pursuit of what they crave, and will often lay waste to human civilizations in an effort to collect items suitable for their hordes, they are otherwise quite reasonable. What exactly Mud would gain by the interaction was unclear, but at the very least this location should act as a suitable buffer from human interference for a time.

The one flaw with this plan had to do with herself. Jabrax lay in the air of the Cithlar's walking mansion's sub-basement. Bark and Jericho snoozed against the curved wall, leaning against each other. Jabrax let out a bored sigh. Dragons, as a rule, did not like demons. It was not on the level of hatred that Sapients felt, but enough that she was not willing to expose herself unnecessarily. And so, she now found herself stuck in this heavily inscribed chamber, her only company her two dreamers.

Jabrax stretched a lazy band of mana towards Bark. She appeared in a cloud of reddish smoke in a golden hall, a tall throne in its center. There sat Bark, surrounded on all sides by worshippers. A somewhat plain girl was at his side. She looked vaguely familiar to Jabrax, perhaps someone she had seen on the streets of Geltheas. Bark was making a rambling speech about his grand plans for the future, and the multitudes around him cheered with each new idea. The same sort of dull power fantasy as always. Jabrax slipped out of Bark's dream, and into Jericho's.

This time, the scene was on the deck of a wooden ship. At the helm stood Jericho, dressed finely as a long jacket and captain's hat. Leaning over the side of the boat, Jabrax found the land and sea to be far below them. It seems Jericho had taken maps a bit too literally in school, as great plots of land in different colors were divided with thick black borders far below, in rough approximation of the Sapient nations. The demon approached Jericho, while the latter carefully steered the ship upward and ahead.

"What is our destination, Captain?" Jabrax stood beside the stern-faced youth and matched his gaze. Directly ahead hovered a rapidly approaching gigantic circle of stone.

"Have you grown seasick from the voyage? Worry not, for we shall arrive at our destination soon. The treasures of the moon will be ours to plunder." As they drew closer to the huge disk, Jabrax could make out signs of civilization; cities, farmlands, and grand monuments. Suddenly the scene shifted, and they were landing upon the surface of this stone disk.

The wooden vessel slowly lowered onto the ground, and humans with blue skin wandered out of their conical homes to investigate the new arrivals. "Why are they blue...?" Asked Jabrax.

"Because they're Moonians." Jericho approached the side of the boat and waved his arms to get their attention. "Greetings, Moonians! I am a traveler from a distant land!"

Jabrax left the dream and returned to consciousness. As interesting as Jericho's fantasies were, it was time for her to check on the situation outside again. Last time had been a near disaster, as when she opened the door she found a Kobold who seemed to actually be carrying objects into the basement. Luckily she was able to close the door before being spotted. The fact that the household objects were being returned is a good sign, though. It meant that Mud had already made an agreement with the dragon who rules the mountain in so short a time.

This time when Jabrax opened the hidden door she found the basement thankfully unoccupied. Large amounts of seemingly random objects from the household were piled in a disorderly heap in one corner of the basement. When the Kobolds had returned those items, it seems that they were satisfied with just dumping them in any empty spot they could find.

Jabrax flew up the stairs to the first floor, and found a similar mess. It was actually rather nostalgic; this must have been what the upstairs looked like before Mud was created. Jabrax carefully checked the entire house. Finding it clear of enemies, she peered out the windows. Unless they were considerably skilled at stealth, there were no sentries watching the building. She was in the clear.

The demon could feel Mud's general direction through their soul contract. A short time ago, she could feel him traveling away from the peak of the mountain. He was likely running some errand for the dragon. This would be a convenient time to reestablish contact. If she was lucky, she might find some way of manipulating the situation so that the dragon comes into conflict with some of the humans who were doubtlessly now pursuing Mud.

With that in mind, the demon spread her wings and flew over the rocky mountainside towards the direction of Mud.

Three brightly colored assassins traveled rapidly through the woods; each moved in a different way, but all weaving between trees with remarkable agility. A girl with pink hair sprinted with her arms to her side, a thin and pale boy rode on a skeletal horse with blue flaming eyes and hooves, and an older man smoothly flew through the air with rigid posture. Despite it being midday, the skies were dark with storm clouds, and the trees slick with rain.

The leader of the group, running and at times jumping between trees, curved subtly to the left as the path they followed suddenly shifted. After a few seconds, the older man yelled out to stop, causing the girl to slip on a wet tree trunk and tumble into a flailing ball of limbs.

When she finally came to a stop laying on her back in the mud, she blew a strand of tangled pink hair off of her face. "What is it, Linus?"

"Oh, my apologies Pumare." Linus stoically hovered in the air with his arms behind his back, stoic against the downpour. He waved a hand towards Pumare, and she rose into the air beside him. She hung limp, resembling a cat lifted by its neck. The skeletal horse of the thin man galloped into the air to stand beside them. With the group assembled, Linus waved an arm towards the direction of their newly shifted path. "Do you see that mountain in our way?"

Pumare squinted. It was difficult to make out distant objects through the sheets of falling water. The rider's wheezing voice replied first. "Isn't that, tsssss, the Lutumocus Mountain?"

Linus nodded sternly. "Precisely. In the worst case, we may need to deal with an Elder Dragon to destroy the construct. Things have gotten more complicated." The older man turned towards Pumare. "Do you see now why they needed to send all three of us? Normally, even the most deranged criminal wouldn't be so mad as to seak succor from Dragons."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just let me down! I hate being held like this!" Pumare kicked and punched at the air, raging against Linus's grip. With a sigh, the older man released his grip on her robe. Despite the great height of her fall, the girl elegantly landed on one leg. While the two men of her party continued to talk in the sky above, Pumare wandered by herself into the sparse trees of the mountain foothills. Finding a relatively dry tree to rest under, she leaned against it and muttered to herself. "Well, the domain of an Elder Dragon. That really raises the stakes, doesn't it? I wonder, well you continue to follow us, mystery man?" Pumare turned and smiled into the shadowy depths of the forest.

From behind a tree stepped a man in black armor. From the looks of it, a rather expensive piece from the uncivilized continent. The man spoke slowly, with a thick accent. "I am following the same thing as you. I mean no harm. I am Shin."

"And I'm Pumare, nice to meet you!" The girl sprang forward and caught the surprised Shin in a hug.

"I, um, uh," Shin's embarrassed muttering was cut short as Pumare grabbed his hand and dragged him in the direction of the others in her group.

"No need to follow us in the shadows like some sneak-thief, I'll introduce you to my friends!" Pumare cheerfully skipped through the damp mountainside while pulling along the black-armored stranger.