When the sword wielded by the Monarch of Karma first manifested, Randidly felt quite confident in a direct clash. However, with each second that passed with more energy congregating above his raised hands, the sword swelled. It first stood as high as a flag pole, then as a building, then as a mountain.

Each passing second saw Mae’s image pulse. Every particle of matter and air that had been covered with that image fed into the sword wielded by the Monarch of Karma. It was one existence, untied by the image, feeding into its rapid growth. Randidly’s eyes widened as the sword continued to swell. First it simply towered high enough to rival Yggdrasil, but with the accumulation of power it came to dwarf the World Tree.

“Holy fucking shit,” Devick muttered next to Randidly. Even her vicious red hare image seemed solemn. Randidly could only nod in agreement as he looked up at the blade turned against him.

“Do you see?” Mae called, pride clear in her voice, even as she seemed possessed by that fatal sort of exhaustion. “This… this is what we could have. With this blade, need we fear the trespasses of singular entities? We will smite them, as they deserve. Then, once cowed, they can be shown the illuminating truths-”

“You mean to brainwash those you defeat?” Randidly said. “My, my, seems like most of your morals have withered during your meditation time.”

“How can our ideal world persist if it doesn’t strengthen itself enough to endure the constant tide of threats?” Mae countered. “Besides, accepting a more orderly existence will only bring benefits, in the end. Our existence is enviable.”

“It’s barely existence,” Randidly observed as he looked at the Monarch of Karma. Rather than a person… what he fought now was just a body acting as a conduit of a woman’s desperate dream. And while he could empathize with the desperation, he couldn’t forgive the unapologetic elimination of self-determinism.

No, this is just another Narrow Path. Randidly thought with genuine venom. Fatia Cerulean would certainly be proud.

The sword stretched to the point that the concept of a ‘blade’ became irrelevant. It was simply a towering pillar of violent energy, reaching so far into the sky that it seemed to tickle the hanging sphere of Pine. Aether crackled and spat, so pressurized the sky seemed ready to slow. The Monarch of Karma’s arms began to move. The blow crashed down, seeking to fell the World Tree.

Randidly’s eyes widened and his pupils dilated. He felt all the energy poured into a singular purpose. He could sense how a pillar running the length of the sword had condensed to liquid Aether due to the immense concentration. And there were some ominous places of superior cohesion, where crystalline chips of Aether had solidified.

His instincts warned him of the force wielded by this foe. This much raw power wasn’t about the sophistication of an image, just the accumulation of energy by weaponizing the world state. Yet that only perked him up. He spoke to Devick as he settled into a battle stance. Acri flowed out into his spear form. “Stand behind me.”

“How forward. Usually, I wait until the third date before allowing a man to see my vulnerable side.” Devick fluttered her lashes but quickly shifted so Randidly stood between her and the approaching threat.

After such a poor showing from Elhume… Randidly’s eyes glittered in anticipation. He spun the spear in his hands and then tightened his grip on the weapon until his knuckles popped. Sulfur and Acri both hummed in pleasure. Well, all I can say is, I hope you don’t disappoint me too, Mae.

Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil. Humunculi’s Monstrous Tenacity. Siren’s Dirge of Bottomless Taking.

The Monarch of Karma slashed with his sword. Acri began to vibrate in Randidly’s hands as he unleashed a vicious song from the Songstress of Absence. The vast emptiness she wielded carved a Path out through his arms, his hands, into the spear. Yggdrasil’s canopy rustled with the hints of that music, resonating down through the trunk and into Randidly’s upright stance.

This Monarch was just a conduit, but Randidly possessed a great deal of forces to corral, too. And he would teach them that brute force would never be enough to overwhelm him.

Congratulations! Your Skill Humunculi’s Monstrous Tenacity (P) has grown to Level 1015!

Congratulations! Your Skill Siren’s Dirge of Bottomless Taking (P) has grown to Level 970!

From the tip of the spear exploded a cutting spearhead of the void. The energy was a song and it was raw solidified craving and it was a voice of loneliness howling for acknowledgment. It launched from Randidly’s position like a missile, screaming up and intercepting the swing of the Monarch’s sword before it could smash directly against Yggdrasil’s manifestation.

Congratulations! Your Skill Siren’s Dirge of Bottomless Taking (P) has grown to Level 972!

Congratulations! Your Skill Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 1013!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Siren’s Dirge of Bottomless Taking (P) has grown to Level 980!

Mae’s image sought to impose harsh rules on the world, their draconian specificity bordering on war crime sanctions. Randidly ripped open the world, eliminating space, time, opposing images… obliterating all impediments as soon as they were encountered with raw power. Before the maw of the Songstress of Absences, all obstacles could only collapse.

In the sky still murky and muddled by the reverberations of time, these two forces smashed into one another. Force met force and neither collapsed.

The corner of Randidly’s mouth curled up. Thank god this isn’t another disappointment. Now, let’s have some fun.

All the way to my thirtieth Mille. Hell, maybe even a 31st for good luck.

Devick yelled as the impact, even screened by Randidly’s body, sent her tumbling backward. Although the clouds in the area were hazy mountains turned strange by the pulse of time, they were obliterated. A widening circle of empty space formed around the impact point. Even the Engravings of the skyisland wavered before that blast of force. Randidly gripped the spear and gritted his teeth as his spear thrust ground against the sword of the Monarch of Karma. The whole of his will trembled, getting caught up in the intersecting forces.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 1062!

The weight of Karma… heh, it’s been a while. It’s quite heavy.

Randidly lowered his stance and settled in to break the stalemate, but the Monarch of Karma withdrew after only a few seconds of contact. He once more hefted the sword above his head. And as Randidly watched, even more energy flooded into the blade, ballooning it upward. Perhaps more worryingly, the density of Aether through the weapon increased.

The Monarch of Karma didn’t even seem to take a breath before he brought the sword back down again, aiming for Randidly. Licking his lips, his body flooded with significance as their two ideologies clashed, Randidly produced another spear of gobbling absence. If Mae could only use raw power to create the world she wanted, Randidly would just devour the world.

Congratulations! Your Skill Marred Yet Reliable Foundation of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 1018!

Congratulations! Your Skill Siren’s Dirge of Bottomless Taking (P) has grown to Level 983!

Devick had gotten up from the first impact and scuttled back to Randidly just in time to be tossed away by the second. The Engravings of the skyisland flickered again; that portion of Randidly’s attention that had remained on the twanging of temporal waves paused to stabilize the working. Randidly’s fingers tightened on Acri and his eyes blazed. Absence ripped into that sword and tore shreds away. But also bits of Randidly’s image began to fray, damaged by the powerful reverberations as the two clashed.

“It always seems… I fight against those who bring a unilateral mandate,” Randidly began to laugh as the second extended conflict ended, still in a draw. The Monarch of Karma lifted his weapon. The color of the light it released changed from a gold-white to a cooler, almost silver color.

“Perhaps it is simply proof you offer the world nothing. Your promises… would build a ruin on top of civilization,” Mae said.

The Monarch of Karma swung his sword that sought to cut perfectly through the transgressor, executing its particular justice. Randidly flexed his toes, digging into the mistreated skyisland beneath his feet for better leverage. Abruptly, he recalled when he had been labeled a Heretic by the System. He almost felt nostalgic.

The Songstress raised her voice to a crescendo and he thrust in response. Dust and pebbles poofed out away from his position due to the eruption of force. Lanced with veins of Nether, the near spear phantom crashed against the descending judgment.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 1069!

“You know what I think?” Randidly panted, his arms trembling from the strain of resisting the enemy's massive pillar of energy. He twisted his spear, nudging the Monarch’s attack to the side. His spear retreated, and in an instant, the massive black spear of absence he produced vanished along with it, slithering out of existence. As the ungainly pillar of energy rumbled sideways off its target, Randidly thrust again, a new blast of absence spiraling together into a spear thrust aimed at Mae Myrna. “I think you are all afraid of a very simple truth. In the end… every Path could lead you to the Pinnacle if you followed it faithfully.”

As the Monarch’s sword fell, the unfortunate stretch of the Badlands beneath it first vaporized from high heat, then cracked from the impact of liquid Aether. But as a wave of annihilation swept out, some of the sword’s light dimmed; at the same moment, a powerful shield blinked into existence in front of Mae.

The spear strike cracked open the shield and Mae ducked, receiving only a small cut on her cheek. Randidly clicked his tongue in disappointment. The second strike like that would likely be a lot less effective than the first.

As the Monarch lifted his sword, Mae glared at Randidly. “Nether King Hungry Eye, we are aware that, theoretically, all Paths end in the same place. Why would that information cause me to feel any trepidation?”

“Because of that one word: theoretically.” Randidly shook his head. “Because what is implied there is that most circumstances aren’t ideal. What you are telling yourself… is all the compromises you have made, especially with aspects like needing to brainwash your enemies, were necessary. Were unavoidable, due to circumstance. You could never have neared the Pinnacle otherwise without those adjustments. And that… is just cowardly ego soothing.”

“You… you dare call me a coward?” Mae said. “You are so proud, spouting your own reassurances. By your own admission, you have no plan. A life without compromise? Is that truly your agenda for the Nexus? You grasp at impossibilities and ignore realities, Nether King. You are irresponsible and deluded.”

“Turns out we just can’t get along.” Randidly poured more and more emotional sea into his images, until the image physicalizations glittered and settled around his shoulders. “But you know… there is one other aspect of your philosophy that bothers me. Paths… don’t just end at the Pinnacle.”

In his chest, the Dread Homunculus smiled. His other two images exploded out of his body, rising to support Yggdrasil.

Hungry Eyes, Hollow Heart, Cadence of Tragedy. Motif of Unimagined Tolls. Nyx’s Successor Births Fate.

Congratulations! Your Skill Hungry Eyes, Hollow Heart, Cadence of Tragedy (GD) has grown to Level 1039!

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of Unimagined Tolls (GD) has grown to Level 1100!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nyx’s Successor Births Fate (GD) has grown to Level 1070!