>>43002327

She continues before you can say anything. “You know…” She looks around herself. “When you witness repulsive sights like this, you begin to wonder just how many Occult arts have been lost to time.”

You can hear her voice oozing with words yet to be said.

She smiles despite your silence. “In my studies, I’ve come across a term that hardly appears anywhere in common usage.” She’s silent for a moment before finishing. “Viviogenisis.”

There it is. You tense up imperceptibly. Did she happen to come across the practice by chance or perhaps there’s something more here?

“And what does that term mean?” You ask calmly.

“Don’t be dumb, you surely know.” Justina’s smile widens even further as she clenches tightly down on one of her dolls hands. “Or maybe you don’t, the only known place rumored to practice it was burned down weeks ago.” She looks toward your hand.

You smile back and the silence tenses into some almost palpable. “So, why bring this up in the first place?”

“My reward!” She slowly raises her hands to her doll’s shoulders. “For my gift of keeping that ambush from becoming a total clusterfuck, I intended to approach The Empress in hopes that she could perform this forgotten practice for me.” Her hands raise to the doll’s neck. “But I needed to get the supposed proper ingredients first.” Justina’s hands now lost in the doll’s hair. “Of course, they couldn’t be any ingredients, this had to be special…”

You feel the flames in your hand tingling to burst out.

“I never touched him, as I had promised, but imagine how surprised I was when I picked up one of his brown hairs to see the faintest bit of pure white near the root.” She plucks a hair off the doll’s head. “The exact same as yours.”

Another heavy moment of silence.

“I haven’t gone to The Empress, yet I have lots of questions.” Justina says. “But why don’t we hear what you have to say first?”

>Remain silent.

>"You're already too far down a dangerous path."

>Write in.

>>43002348
>What do you wish to know?
While she's talking feel out exactly what she wants from her questions. Be ready to eliminate her if need be.

>>43002348
>>43002412
Seconding.

>>43002348
>>43002412
Thirding except for the eliminate part, we can't exactly do that right now.

Hello and welcome to Thread 60, everyone!

>>43002412
>>43002483
>>43002503
Turning it around.

>Writing~

>>43002519

You scoff lightly. “You’re the one who ruined the good mood and scenery, Justina.” You lean forward. “Why don’t you tell me what you wish to know?”

She throws her doll to the floor. “Oh fine, we’ll do it that way.” She sighs and slides her auburn hair back. “Your hair color isn’t common at all, meaning there’s a good chance that he’s related to you in some way.” She rubs her chin dramatically. “He’s too old for him to be your son, so maybe a brother or cousin.”

It seems that she’s a bit off course in her deduction, even if the answer is staring her right in the face. You’ll just have to use this to your advantage.

You tensely stare into her eyes. “We are related, in a way like that.”

“I knew it!” She claps her hands together. “Shame on you for hiding his beautiful features. His hair… His precious eyes!” She thinks on her own words. “But why would you do so in the first place?”

You’re spinning her in the way that you want her to, but you can’t make it seem so easy.

“You’re walking down a dangerous path here, Justina.” You respond calmly and fold your arms together.

She stands. “I wouldn’t have gotten this far if I wasn’t completely used to this sort of thing.” Her arms shoots out. “Look around you, Sophia. Dead bodies make up everything that there is to see here, just ripe for my goddamn control. “She points back to you. “You’re the one who’s walking the dangerous path by not answering.”

[1/2]

>>43003172

She thinks that even with all of this on her side, provided that she could wrest it away from The Broodmother, that it would make a difference. You fight not to smile too widely, but instead make it seem begrudging. “While we’re here, I will indulge you then.” You slide your hands to your knees. “In this world we choose to live in, any weakness can be taken advantage of, by enemy or ally.” You emphasize the last word. “He’s too young to be off on his own, so I disguised him and my familial relation to him so that I could take him along with me.” You make a subtle move of clenching your knees tightly.

Justina smiles smugly, sits back down, and crosses her legs. “Not as juicy as I thought it would be, but these sorts of things rarely are.” She picks up and seats her doll in her lap. “Your secret is safe with me, and I won’t touch the boy…”She pauses. “Provided that when we get out of this hell hole, you give me some of his blood to make for a better Viviogenisis ritual.” She looks at you with victory in her eyes. “What do you say?”

She’s where you want her, but she still has important knowledge, even if she doesn’t fully realize it herself, and you’re certainly not going to give into her demands, ever. So that means, it’d be best if you found a way to get rid of her before your business in this realm is all said and done…

>”Fair enough. You'll receive my gift and we'll hear no more of this, ever."

>Write in.

>>43003219
>"Fair enough. You'll receive my gift and we'll hear no more of this, ever."
What a cunt. Another person who will be taken out.

>>43003219
I assume that's for your Vivogenisis you mentioned? Why does it need to be his blood? Of course I'll pay the price but I am rather curious now.

>>43003219
>”Fair enough. You'll receive my gift and we'll hear no more of this, ever."

>>43003267
>>43003294
>>43003308

An interesting question and a lie.

>Writing~

>>43003219
>"Maybe if you can convince him yourself, he's a growing young man."
I don't know if this will arouse her even more, but it will at least distract her.

>>43003356
She doesn't like them to be too old, so that might turn her off just as well

oh good, I was afraid I would wake up to an abandoned thread.

>>43003387
>Wake up
Well lucky you to have such good timing... It's 2 AM here where i'm at.

>>43003294
I would think it is for the same reason we could give our hair to the scientist to make Izu. She wants one made to be like him.

>>43003869
We know that but she doesn't know we know. So because she doesn't know we know, we'll ask so she can let us know and thus continue our façade on our pursuit of knowledge.

>>43003869
>>43003901
we know she know who know what know know no

>>43003901
>>43003936

I see... This is getting complicated now that I know to that we know that she doesn't know that we know and instead knows that we want to know.

>>43003901
No, she definitely knows that we know she knows.

>>43003936
>>43003965
>>43003987
Exactly!

>>43003987
Do you know that for certain?

This was the real trap, a web of deceit designed to confuse what we know with what isn't in the know.

>>43004000
You're enjoying this aren't you?

>>43004000
I'm as certain as your trips.

>>43004032
Wouldn't you like to know.

Our lack of knowledge is disturbing, perhaps we should ask for that next time we use the cloak.

>>43004048
Indeed, you know that's why I asked.

So that everyone will know, maybe.

>>43003351

She wants the blood to create a similar creation to Izu, but that sort of knowledge isn’t the kind you would get from someone who had only heard of Viviogenisis in passing. You wonder if a certain Occultist has been lurking closer than you know.

“First hair, but now blood? Why?” You ask with a resentment flavoring your voice.

She wags her finger disapprovingly. “There is a reason, but you don’t need to know.” She grins. “Plus I’ve yet to see the ritual in action, so I can’t say how true anything I know about it is, but maybe I’ll tell you after all this is said and done.”

You rigidly settle back into your seat. “Fair enough. You’ll receive my gift and we’ll hear no more about this, ever.”

“I’m looking forward to it…” Her hand slips under her doll’s undergarments.

You’re looking forward to giving the gift too, your flame prickles almost imperceptibly.

A few moments later you hear a voice call out from alongside the construct. “Commander.” The messenger announces as you look down to him. “Our Empress requests your presence.”

Good enough excuse for you to get away. You take off without another word and then land gracefully in the Empress’s construct to find Izu looking ahead at what’s coming.

You bow to her and then turn to Izu. “You’ve gotten a good enough look, go with the soldiers for a bit.”

[1/2]

>>43004214

His lips tighten but he quickly obeys. Before sliding down he offers a good-bye wave to the both of you.

The Empress watches him as he runs further down the line. “The soldiers are grateful to him for purifying as many as he did during and after that ambush. Their morale is surprisingly high.”

Quite a bit different from what you accomplished during that ambush…

“Which is just what we need for the next part of our plan.” She looks down to the small crate containing the bound and useless body. “Enemies are already surround us, so it’s time for us to use our new weapon here.”

You quickly glance around you, but sense nothing out of the ordinary. This place truly is their home it seems.

“There will be collateral damage…” The Empress looks back to the marching lines behind you. “Much more than what he can purify on his own. So, that will have to be taken care of to allow them proper deaths.”

Meaning that mercy kills are in order.

“But while one of us will be leading that, the other will be invoking our weapon here to root out our hidden enemies.” She turns her piercing eyes toward you. “The choice is yours, Sophia.”

Naturally it comes down to you two doing the dirtiest work. While taking care of the mercy kills would better allow you to see the exact effects of the weapon, invoking it yourself will give you knowledge in how to use it better, in case you might need to do so in a different way.

>Lead the mercy kills.

>Wield the bound ancient being.

>Write in.

>>43004243
>>Wield the bound ancient being.
Izu can watch and note the effects of the weapon. We trust him.

>>43004243
>Wield the bound ancient being.

>>43004243
>Wield the bound ancient being.
Time to know what this old one knows, about killing.

>>43004243
>Wield the bound ancient being.
Izu can watch the effects, but he has a more important job: keep purifying people anyway. Let the troops cling to him, not the Usurper. Sow a shift in loyalty for when we strike later.

>>43004276
>>43004287
>>43004288
>>43004318
Well, what do you know, a unanimous vote.

>Writing~

>>43004390
Does anyone really want to do mercy kills over piloting a magic behemoth? I guess if we wanted to accidently mercy kill Justina too, but it's too soon after Philomena.

>>43004459
and to be honest, we can always accidentally squash her.

>>43004459
Yeah, it's too risky to try it. It would be better, but not by much, to "accidentally" mis-invoke just a little bit so that Justina is in the AoE.

That's unless Izu doesn't try anything himself.

>>43004511
Izu isn't a killer though.

>>43004526
What he did to Philomena disagrees.

>>43004569
I get what you mean, though he still hasn't killed anything yet.

>>43004390

Knowing more about a weapon will allow you to better wield it, or overcome that weapon, if it comes to it. Your apprentice out in the field can report what effects its power has, plus it doesn’t hurt to have the soldiers’ favor him more and more.

“I’ve handled this thing before, so I can do so again.” You step toward the small crate.

“The effects on your mind will be different, but it ultimately comes down to using your will to dominate the creature.” The Empress straightens herself out. “All you need do is force it to awaken and then direct its powers to the area ahead of us. You’ll certainly see and feel the results.”

You bow one last time before she teleports away further down the line. In a few moments the entire army ceases its march forward and locks into defensive positions far behind you.

All eyes are on you for the moment, better get to work.

You flip open the crate and pull out the forcefully folded useless body slumped inside. It’s cold and clammy to the touch, but other than that you don’t feel anything from it, yet. You tightly grip the small frame and immediate force it to wake up with your will.

[1/2]

>>43005155

Immediately powerful waves of pressure roll over your body as the being awakes, churning and rippling muscles in your body that you’ve never felt before. Soon you feel your consciousness begin to separate from your body, and you see yourself stiffly holding the useless body.

“You remember me, don’t you?” You laugh derisively. “Can’t beat me, so you try to force me away?”

Not going to happen.

Painfully moving your right arm, you force the waves of imperceptible aura to roll over the fleshy landscape, and soon, by the thousands, enemy soldiers burst from the folds of land and twitch rigidly in the air.

They remain suspended like patiently waiting marionettes until you manage to direct all the waves of pressure toward them. A hideous note of sheer pain resonates through all in front of you, growing louder and louder, until a single wet bursting sound pops from the hordes of enemies. More than half of the force collapse to the ground, their insides imploded from the resonate noise. The rest, like blind infants, cry out desperately, and begin clawing at their surrounding allies with deadly and desperate purpose.

Like an ocean, you feel the power splash back toward you and the rest of the army. Immediately the contents of your stomach violently grace the open air, painfully burning your esophagus, and all sound becomes a dulled by a prevailing ringing.

You can sense the clamoring of soldiers behind you, but in front of you, tens of thousands of more enemy soldiers swarm in to cease your efforts. Your arm raises again in the near silent world, but in your mind the pained weeping of a young girl rings clearly. Any attempts to communicate her are in vain, as she doesn’t respond.

The Impel soldiers press forward to protect you from the advancing army.

>Signal them back and let out more of the being’s power.

>Let them press forward while you try to find a way to help the young girl in your mind.

>Write in.

>>43005200

>Signal them back and let out more of the being’s power.
>Child I know it hurts, but if you can't help me get through this then we'll both die.

>>43005200
>Signal them back and let out more of the being’s power.
UNLIMITED POWER

>>43005285
>>43005316
Keeping up the assault.

>Writing~

>>43005200
>Any attempts to communicate her are in vain, as she doesn’t respond
we called it a SHE

>>43005461
That's her assumed physical form. It could be worse, she's been well behaved so far.

>>43005358

You’re not going to be denied anything, you signal for the soldiers to fall back, and they do so immediately.

“I know it hurts.” You communicate to it as you prepare for another attack, concentrating the waves of sheer power. “But if you give in, then chances are that we’ll both die.”

Not that you’re going to let her drag you down with her.

She continues sobbing as if none of your words made it through to her.

You stomp down on the construct to get it moving forward and then let out another flood of the being’s power. The vast army in charging toward you are viciously contorted under it, the back of their heads crashing into their feet. Those not killed after snapping back into shape with destructive force, begin gnawing at their own flesh with savage fervor.

The aura splashes back toward you, and you feel every single one of your muscles wanting to bend to its utterly dominating force. You watch as the fingers of your left hand pull back tensely before cracking into the back of your hand.

You shout in agony, yet you let the pain motivate your will to stand no more of the being’s assault.

“Caught me by surprise.” You cough as you pick up the useless body once again.

The dull din of the fighting behind you means nothing to you, as you search your mind for any signs of that creature that lurks within. However, the sobbing has long left, and in its place you hear a distorted laugh quietly fill your mind.

“She’s gone.” Izu announces as stoically as he can. “That thing rubbed her out of existence.”

“Does it still have the same powers she did?” You ask immediately.

“Maybe more…” Izu responds quietly.

You bind the distorted laughter of the new being into complete and obedient silence.

Then it’s an upgrade.

You turn back to the officer behind you. “We’re advancing!” You shout down to him, snap your fingers back into place, and press forward with your construct.

~

[1/2]

>>43006094

In a few short hours, you push forward through countless numbers of soldiers using the being’s power as if it were your own. You bleed heavily, your insides sting under the constant assaults, and your thoughts begin to feel clouded before The Empress finally appears next to you.

“That’s enough for now.” She grabs hold of the useless body.

You feel your fingers reluctantly cling to it, but you eventually give it up. You watch as she forces it back to a state of sleep.

“I never imagined we would’ve made it this far in such a short time.” She peers far ahead. “Look.”

You shake your head to get your eyes to focus, but when they do you spot the beginning of long line of train tracks in the distance.

“You and that apprentice of yours never cease to surprise me.” The Empress returns the useless body back to the small crate. “Now rest. That thing has more power the closer we are to it, so more will be required of you.”

You bow as far as you dare before clumsily taking off from the construct. The ground is completely covered in a swamp of pulpy and viscous death you hadn’t noticed until you came crashing down into it. With excruciating pain, you struggle to your feet as Izu rushes to your side.

While not exhausted as you are, fatigue clearly shows in his face and how he struggle to wade through the mess covering the ground.

He looks at you warmly, completely ready to obey any order that you might have.

>”Heal me.”

>”Let’s go get some rest.”

>Write in.

....damn, we shoulda let IT out. I didn't think IT was THAT hurt.

>>43006126
>"Where's Justina? I don't want to be ambushed while I'm weakened."

>>43006126
>I place myself in your care, don't strain yourself unduly. What'd you see?

>>43006243
>>43006296
I few questions and a little help.

>Writing~

So what exactly was the nature of the backlash? It bend Sophia's hand, but it also banished the thing, a mental entity, from existence.

>>43006379
Something to do with their relationship with each other I guess for why it was able to replace the little girl.

>>43006319

“If you have a hand, I won’t reject it.” You say aloofly before he slings one of your arms over his shoulder for support.

It’s only slightly helpful in terms of stability, but you still limp along with him at your side. You feel him channeling his flames into you as subtly as he can, but it’s just too soothing to even vocalize resistance.

The two of you finally clear the sea of mangled bodies and head toward where the army is putting up hasty shelter.

“What were the effects of the attack?” You tiredly ask as you watch soldiers retrieve their fallen comrades.

Izu is quiet for a moment before answering. “It really differed between each wave. Sometimes they’d try to scoop out their own insides with their weapons. Another time their own lungs would fill with fluid, and another tried to peel off their own skin...”

Self-harm in the most violent extremes. And these things once roamed freely through the realms.

You mess up his hair to get his mind off of what happened and instantly remember the conversation you had earlier in the day.

“Where’s Justina?” You ask, not wanting to be caught off guard while you’re so exhausted.

“Resting.” He answers quickly. “She helped out a lot with keeping the soldiers from harming themselves.”

Well, they’ll soon have to do without…

A soldier directs you to where the support staff are setting up the tents for the high-ranking officers.

In just a few minutes after that being was taken from you, you feel substantially better, and in no small part to the tired young boy at your side. So, you decide to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way.

“Hey! Put me down!” Izu squirms feebly and looks over toward the resting soldiers who don’t dare comment aloud due to sheer respect and fear for the both of you.

You laugh and grin widely as he covers his own slightly smiling face.

“Commander…” A soldier shakily approaches you.

[1/2]

File: paracre1.jpg (70 KB, 472x699)

70 KB JPG

>>43007033

"Help." He utters before suddenly collapsing to the ground, revealing a whole host of strange creatures burrowing into his back. The hand-sized parasites slither and gnaw into his flesh, before finally burrowing deep into his body.

You quickly invoke your flame and burn away the sight before you.

The sound of alarm quickly catches your attention as you see swarms of the mindless creatures in the distance fill in all around the camp.

“Push forward! Don’t let them surround us!” Virgil shouts orders as the camps are abandoned to advance into a stronger position.

“Commander...” Another voice appears next to you. “This... is our home.” He lunges for you and you give him a solid kick before igniting him.


You quickly survey the scene. As it is, some of the army may not be able to advance quickly enough before they are surrounded, but you’re not sure if you’re in the proper condition to be covering a retreat.

>Cover the retreat as much as you can manage.

>Head back to the front and hold from there.

>Write in.

>>43007068
>Cover the retreat as much as you can manage.
Get in the air use sealing and mental warping to confuse the enemy advance. Only use the draining options as a last resort and do not do so if we lack the energy.

>>43007068
>Cover the retreat as much as you can manage.
Can Izu purify this?

>>43007068
>Cover the retreat as much as you can manage.
Troop loyalty is more important than killing Justina in the chaos.

Focus killing infected and Izu protecting from infections. The less tired forces can deal with the majority of the parasites.


I'm not sure if we have the strength to do it, but a low level high coverage seal designed to slow, not disable might be what we need.

>>43007170
His flames can force the parasites out from the body, but once they've made it inside, they've already done considerable damage.

>>43007207
then don't bother, shield or mercykill

>>43007143
>>43007170
>>43007183
Careful covering of retreat, making sure not to over-exert ourselves.

>Writing~

Yeah, if we ever get another Control, maybe it should go into Efficiency or Stamina Recov rather than POWER

Although plain control would be good, considering our new resident.

>>43007308

There’ll likely be more of a problem to deal with if the rear soldiers are infected with these parasites.

You approach and quickly grab Virgil. “Hold at the start of the train tracks. Get the uninjured soldiers to cover the retreat. We’ll fend them off as much as we can.”

He doesn’t think of objecting to your plan, but only nods before rallying the lower officers.

You set Izu down gently. “We’re both tired so we’re going to have to act efficiently. Funnel them as much as you can into a single area and I’ll take care of them.” You fling a bolt of flame at a nearby infected soldier. “We’ll save more of them if we focus on covering the retreat.”

He nods and immediately channels to massive and thin barriers with a small path of space between them.

You advance into the air above him, and carefully watch as the swarm of parasites file into the small path in front of them.

Wait…Almost…Now!

You seal a solid wall of the parasites at the back, cutting off any potential escape from where they came, and then unleash a long and controlled burst of flame down upon the trapped horde.

They squeal as the pop brutally from the sheer heat. Snuffing the flame, you watch as the still huge remaining numbers make their way around Izu’s dome barriers and converge toward the both of you.

“I don’t think I can do two again.” Izu quickly informs you as you pull back slightly with him in tow.

“Then, after I release my flame, make one as large as you can.” You order as you stop to fend off the assault once again.

[1/?]

>>43008316

You seal the ones directly at the front, creating enough of a bottleneck that more will be in a single area for a short period of time, and then immediately let out a solid orb of hungry flame toward them.

Izu covers it all with a large barrier, and all those trapped inside are roasted in the intense oven of bouncing flame. He releases the barrier and the residual heat scorches a number of the swarm nearby.

Your efforts have managed to eliminate a little less than half of the total wave of parasites, but you’re running out of room to use such careful maneuvers.

You tightly grab Izu as you ascend high into the air above most of the group. Mindless creatures are easy enough to seal, but you don’t think you’ve ever been this exhausted while still having much work left to do.

You shake your head. They’re just a single mass worthless leeches, and now is the time to show off what you can really do.

Focusing on as much of the horde as possible, you will that they cease moving.

Your wings falter, and you quickly turn back to the front line without even looking at the product of your latest seal. Awkwardly landing among the soldiers near the front, you grab the highest ranking soldier nearby.

“Go finish them off…” You turn toward the distance to see a solid sphere of parasites containing the majority of what’s left of them in a single ball.

[2/3]

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453 KB JPG

>>43008357

~

The army suffered sizable losses today, estimated to be slightly less than thirty-thousand. The constant need to move forward wears on them. While they’re used to rough conditions, it’s plainly clear that this campaign is something entirely different.

Izu’s fallen asleep as the both of you ride in the leading construct with The Empress.

“You should sleep too while you have the chance, Sophia.” She scans the approaching train station.

“I’m fine.” You answer quickly, stroking the sleeping boy’s head. “Also I don’t think I would be able to fall asleep, even if I tried.”

“You just need to clear your mind.” The Empress says quietly.

Easier said than done.

“Maybe.” You look toward the buildings surrounding the train tracks.

Looks like a good place to get ambushed.

You look down toward the sleeping boy and then back toward The Empress
.
“If there’s something you need to check out, I’m perfectly fine with keeping an eye on him while you’re gone.” She responds, knowingly.

Somehow, even with her being your largest enemy, you trust her the most when it comes to Izu’s safety.

“I’ll only be a moment.” You gently slide Izu off of your lap and slowly take off toward the dilapidated buildings.

The skeletons and husks of long dead creatures and trees litter the ground like fallen snow, and a strange sickly dust clings to everything here. It seems that not even the residents of The Maw frequent this area very often.

You land next to cleaned carcass of a particularly strange creature to catch your breath.

“Nice of you to come visit...” Carmina calls out next to you. Elegantly dressed and completely devoid of any of The Maw's flesh. "Sophia."

~

>>43008462

Okay, that's where I'm going to end it for today. Many new things are known now, and perhaps many more are not, but I want to thank everyone that played today!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them in the thread, and I will do my best to respond to them.

If not, then as always, I wish you a good day/night, and hope to see you again next time!

>(Twitter)
https://twitter.com/QM_Auri

>>43008462
We're gonna need to ask this girl the secret to her immortality.

>>43008516
Yeah, I doubt she's any more than a puppet.

>>43008513
Thanks for running! How much damage did we do to ourselves? How highly do the troops think of us, and more importantly Izu? Could we open a trandimensional portal and hop out to impel if things went bad? Where was Justinia in the snafu?

>>43008513
What would have happened if we let it out before triggering the second wave of power? Would she run? Get herself killed? Get infected in the aftermath?

Can we give Carmina an opening to kill Justina?

>>43008513
thx 4 runin budi gud thred

How destroyed is our left hand? Will it recover, and if so, how long will it take?

>>43008516
Maybe you wouldn't want it if you knew what it entailed.

>>43008592
You're very welcome! Quite a bit, while nothing overly serious, you're not going to be punching anyone with your left hand any time soon. But there's plenty more realm to see.

In the eyes of the troops, you are second only to The Empress, what mixture of fear/respect is that differs from soldier to soldier. But Izu is highly regarded even if he technically isn't really a commander. Where you are now, you could return back to Impel using your own abilities. Justina was supporting the retreat on the troop's side.

>>43008666
If you're referring to that being that once inhabited your mind, she would've still been affected by the being's aura if she was let out, but in a much different way. I suppose you could, but that would require Carmina to be cooperative, so maybe not very likely.

>>43008680
You're also very welcome! You're left hand was quite injured, but Izu's flame mended it slightly. It will recover if more flame is applied to it/enough time is waited.

>>43008799
>Maybe you wouldn't want it if you knew what it entailed.
That's why I wanna ask first :^)

>>43008799
What are the opinions of the other commanders on us and us on them? What do the troops think of the other command staff?

>>43008838
Fair enough, and will likely be easily answered.

>>43008889
The main person that you trust is yourself. Fractions of that amount of trust are given to those who are most beneficial to your cause.
On the other end, most of the commanders present in this campaign respect your power, but don't really like you as a person.

Most commanders are well respected due to their sheer power and the fact that they often keep a lot of soldiers from dying when they have the chance.

>>43009017
Aya hear of this yet? How are things going in Impel? Sophia have any ideas on how to resist or negate the thing's effect beyond not being there when it attacks and taking out the wielder?

>>43009076
Not yet, but with events this large words have a way of spreading everywhere. Impel is fine as far you know, Aya's army is still not nearby.

If you're referring to the being in the useless body, she's doing very well to resist it's effects actually, but completely negating them is much more difficult a task, especially if you're not just receiving the splash back. But this experience will make her more prepared for the next time.

>>43009189
Any way to seal it so it can't be used as a weapon? At least until the seal is removed. Would blowing the body up kill it or let it free?

>>43009224
Sure, that would basically be returning it back underneath the palace with all the safeguards that were in place there, but to be able to use it as a weapon comes with a large amount of risk, which is clear to everyone after you used it.

Killing the body would free it up. What that implies is still unknown, but it surely isn't good.

>>43009285
So basically not a good idea. We take stock of the thing in our head yet? Could we fragment it via seals and then adjust each one to our linking?

>>43008513
Thanks for running! How have the usurper and the broodmother lived for so long?

>>43009341
You haven't quite had chance to analyze the new being occupying your mind, but it's still under control of your will, just in a much different way than the previous being was.

>>43009376
You're very welcome! And that is a very good question indeed. Perhaps soon you may know, perhaps.


With that, I'll be stepping out for the night. Until next time!