And yet, even as this occurred, The Great Usurper took no action.
His gaze remained one of profound, unshakable laziness. He almost wanted to go back to his slumber. He had The Idle Gaming System!
After all these years, he had long since figured out that he simply needed to stay idle.
And surely, in the next moment, another set of prompts rose to meet his serene, inactive will.
|Your influence has begun to thread through the connection between the Transcendent Spirit Folds and the Tear of Existence. Your authority is slowly permeating across the weavings of reality to begin flowing into the torn Veil.|
|An infinitesimal amount of The Veil is gradually falling under your influence. Future potential effects are unknown, but the immediate effect is an increase in Idle Loot, with new selections now possible.|
The Great Usurperβs existence smiled. He pulled up his Idle Gaming System Interface, his attention drawn to the new, glittering possibilities in his loot table.
|New Idle Loot now possible: [Veil Patch] β A small, conceptual patch that can be used to mend tears in reality. May or may not work. Use at your own risk.|
|New Idle Loot now possible: [Essence of a Lost Soul] β A common resource dropped by entities that cross The Veil.|
|New Idle Loot now possible: [Fragment of a Dead Existenceβs Memory] β A rare drop. May contain useful information or just existential dread...|
He looked at these new possibilities with shining eyes, a silent, amused chuckle rippling through his consciousness.
βHow all of this seems foreboding and all,β he thought, βbut my goal is to still remain Idle... Letβs see, does that crazy guy know anything about this? If this becomes something that can affect my idle life... hmm.β
...!
With a final, pondering thought, the Great Usurper pulled upon a connection, a silver, shimmering entanglement that stretched across the Folds, a line cast to none other than Osmont.
He wanted an update on what, exactly, was happening to the Folds while he was trying to nap!
β
Far from The Great Usurper.
In the Transcendent Emotive Folds, there exist regions where feelings are not merely experienced, but are the very substance of reality.
In one such region, a silent, glacial cold reigned. It was a cold that did not freeze water, but hope. A cold that did not crystallize air, but the will to continue.
Here, in this expanse of frozen despair, countless mirrors of glacial white stood scattered like doorways to forgotten memories, each one a perfect, unblemished surface that reflected not light, but the profound emptiness of the space around them.
Rarely would any being give these mirrors a second glance. They were monuments to stillness, fragile things that would shatter into a thousand pieces of crystallized sorrow at the slightest touch.
And yet, at this moment, two figures, wreathed in a faint, protective glow, passed through one of the mirrors as if it were nothing more than a veil of mist. It did not shatter. It rippled, accepting their passage, and then returned to its perfect, frozen state.
Alexander remained still for a long moment, his gaze unwavering. Then, his voice, a low and steady, cut through the silence.
"The reason I am not looking at you is not because I wish to ignore you," he said, his tone devoid of cruelty, yet heavy with a pragmatism that was almost as painful.
"The moment I laid with you was the moment you became mine. You do not have to worry. I will take care of you."
He paused, and the weight of his next words was a physical thing. "The reason I am not looking at you right now is because all around us is unprecedented danger. And you cannot even sense it."
His words struck her with a dual force. Mine. The word was a sunburst in the winter of her heart, a possessive claim that sent a wave of warmth through her.
And yet, the second part of his statement was a chilling reminder of the chasm that separated their perceptions. The joy and the grimness warred within her, a tumultuous storm of feeling!
In the next moment, the glacial white surroundings began to alter. The ground beneath them trembled, and all around, the very substance of the realm began to rise, to form.
Massive white statues, carved from what looked like pure, crystalline marble, erupted from the frozen ground, nine titans of law and judgment rising to surround them!
Law!
It was thr inheritance of THE Living Law, and it bore asking...why the hell it was even in the lands of Emotive!

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