Six lives and six deaths, back to back.
Arden was already ready to admit that he preferred his time with Domah than this. At least those deaths were quick. At least he died almost immediately, at some points several times a second. Now, they were going through 10 to 20 minute iterations. They were fairly short, but they felt way worse.
“W-what happened on your end?” Kepler asked.
Arden, with a sigh capable of being suffocated with, answered.
“We made it Gettle before Lodi turned,” he began. “I convinced him to head back here so we would have time with Schrell. We flashed him the picture, and he burst into flame. The plan didn't work out.”
He passed for a moment, looking towards the ceiling.
“If I had to guess, he wasn't strong enough.”
“Maybe that's why it always goes back to Lodi,” Sya said. “Of everyone here, she's the strongest.”
“Even more so than Gettle, apparently.”
Vera leaned into Arden. She heaved a sigh and said what everyone was thinking.
“This is stressful.”
“I always thought time loop stories were cool,” Sya said. “They were a guilty pleasure of mine.”
“Same,” Kepler said.
“Now that we're in one…” Sya let the words hang in the air. She shook her head, annoyed. “All we get are more problems and more questions.”
“Maybe Kepler can give us some answers,” Vera said, not separating herself from Arden.
“D-doubtful,” Kepler replied. “L-Lodi didn't transform until shortly after Gettle arrived. He was inconceivably a-angry, and then Lodi went b-berserk.”
“That timing lines up,” Arden nodded. “He probably only took a minute to get back here with that mobility technique. It took about the same time for Schrell to burn alive after seeing the picture.”
“T-they had a huge fight, but it was obvious that Gettle was g-getting overpowered. The w-weird thing was that L-Lodi didn't attack at first. She l-looked off into the distance, w-where you guys were. She o-only fought back after Gettle attacked first.”
“That proves it then,” Arden said. “The bug is after us. Most likely after me.”
‘But why?’
That was the question on everyone’s mind. Ever since the first iteration, Arden was the possessed Lodi’s target. She killed everyone in her path who attempted to block the way to him, and then killed everyone after she was done killing him.
What was the dark matter beetle’s goal?
What was Arden the target?
Why was the static returning?
Arden sucked in air through his teeth and began shivering. His compatriots saw it this time. His eyes fogged up and he whispered.
“It’s happening again…”
This time it wasn’t as invasive or disorienting as it had been two iterations ago. He still felt tethered to his own body, but it was only a faint connection. It was like his soul had a very high ping. The only anchor he had to reality was the faint presence of Vera, Sya, and Kepler somewhere far off in the distance.
SOURCE CONFIRMED
INTEGRITY // AT RISK
INTEGRITY MAINTENANCE // IN PROGRESS
MORE PARADOX REQUIRED
REDSHIFT
WHAT
WILL
YOU
DO?
The static receded from Arden’s senses and reality began to unfold before him. It looked like a static-y void, but it was filled with his group. He was back in the sensory veil.
Three pairs of worried eyes looked at him. He smiled weakly and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“That wasn't as bad as last time,” he said.
“What happened?” Vera asked.
Arden responded by emptying the contents of his stomach onto the ground. Several times.
*****
“It wasn't an Archon,” Arden said, rinsing his mouth out with some water he kept in a cooler in his inventory. “It was still something incredibly strong, but I don't think it has any beef with us like Domah or Life.”
“How are you sure it wasn't one of them?” Sya asked. As the one in the group with the most knowledge about the Archons after Arden, thanks to being made into a vessel for Domah, she was understandably nervous about anything with that kind of power.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“It didn't feel the same. It felt more…substantial. More full, if that makes sense.”
“Not really.”
“The Archons we've seen so far, they were powerful, but they also felt hollow. Maybe you guys can't see this because you're not one of them, but I can because I am. It was like they were never able to show off…”
Arden’s words trailed off as he realized what he was going to say.
“As if they can't show off their full power. Domah said it herself. Archons can only manifest in vessels because they are so vast they would end the world by existing in it. The new guy didn't have the same handicap.”
“So this guy is as strong as the Archons,” Vera said. “That's not great.”
“A-archons are the gods you talked about, r-right?” Kepler asked.
“Yeah. Calling their power infinite is an understatement,” Arden said. “I felt an Archon's soul a while back, and it almost destroyed mine. But we're getting away from the problem at hand.”
“We're pretty much out of options,” Sya said. “I don't know how many more slight variables we need to account for.”
Arden was going to look into the fire but caught sight of his vomit instead, so decided to look up again.
“Maybe we need to stop planning,” he said. “Our plans haven't been working recently, and honestly they didn’t really work before the time loop began.”
“So what then?”
“Well, I need some more biomass. I haven't had any since the first iteration. Our inventories and souls are maintained from one cycle to the next. We need to resupply. Maybe we can game the system and get an infinite loot glitch going.”
“You want to turn the time loop into a farming run?” Sya asked. “Arden, I don’t think-”
“I’m game,” Vera cut her off. “It’s clear that we can’t beat Lodi in a fight as we are.”
“And you think that looting the same corpses until we rank up will make us that much stronger?" Sya asked. “You were the one who told us that ranks are about quantitative power increases while tiers are qualitative. I don’t like being a naysayer, but I don’t think that will work.”
“It will,” Kepler said, hesitation all but gone. She met Sya’s disbelieving stare and didn’t wither. “I need materials too. Don’t forget, I’m an alchemist of the Tang clan that specializes in poisons and medicines. I’m sure with the right materials, I can make something that can help us.”
“...The Tang clan?” Sya asked. “The murim guys? That was your trial?”
“Yes. I wasn’t the disciple of the Poison Dragon or anything, just an apothecary who helped with creating medicine and poisons.”
Sya looked at everyone in the sensory veil.
“I don’t like this,” she said. “I don’t like how we are going to waste how many more lives trying to get stronger when we could just try fighting Lodi until we win.”
“If we tried that, we’d be in another Domah situation,” Arden said. “I don’t want that. In my soul, I was able to do what I did because it was my domain. We don’t have an advantage here. We have to make our own.”
“Fine,” Sya said, finally relenting. “We’ll do it your way.”
“Great,” Arden said, rising to his feet. “Starting next life, we'll try and gather everything we can.”
“D-dont we have enough t-time to begin now?”
“Highly doubtful.”
Then Lodi appeared.
*****
Arden had a hunch. There was another reason why he wanted to collect biomass and other loot. If he told the rest of the party the real reason, everyone else would have vetoed the loot run. After he had been split in twain vertically last life, he was willing to act on it.
The group had been split into two two-man teams. Arden and Vera in one, and Sya and Kepler in the other. The first team headed into the cave back the way they came. Thankfully, the Entomina Nest was spacious, so there was little chance of running into Gettle without meaning to. Arden and Vera’s goal was to find the Celestials that were already killed and had their bodies neglected save for star cores. Not everyone in the group had the waste not want not attitude like Arden.
Team two, Sya and Kepler were to go ahead even further into the cave. They would look for more Celestials, and if their luck was good, kill them as well. Cores would be a great boon, as would the biomass should they store the corpses into their inventories. With everyone split up, Lodi would take much longer to kill everyone. The loop would last longer, which meant more gains.
“So what's the real reason you wanted to do a looting run?” Vera asked.
“...I don't know what you mean,” Arden lied.
“You're a pretty awful liar,” she shot back. “You might be able to fool Kepler, you might even be able to deceive Sya, but not me. I know you too well. You have an idea, one that you didn't want to share. It's dangerous.”
Arden didn't say anything. Vera continued.
“...But we're at the point where we need to try anything and everything we can, even if it goes nowhere. Even if it puts our lives at risk.”
Arden turned his head to look at Vera in all her splendor. He looked at her like she had grown a second head. Those were the same words he said to her when Arden threatened to decapitate himself a few iterations ago.
“Everything is getting worse,” she continued. “Nothing is working. Not getting a different host, not sicking another orange-tier on Lodi, not hiding the picture. Every road leads to us getting killed.”
“Then we change the destination,” Arden said.
“What?”
“The game is rigged. With the doppelganger, my trial, and the incident with Domah, there was always something that came with the paradox. The higher ones. Life, the Stargazer, and Domah herself.”
“What does that have to do with your destination comment?”
“There's something else here besides us and the dark matter beetle. The thing that spoke to me. I'm changing the destination. My goal is no longer the dark matter beetle and the timeloop.”
Vera's eyes widened, and she skidded to a stop, sending sand into the air. Arden stopped with her and faced her.
“You can't be serious.”
“I am.”
“Just because it isn't hostile, doesn't mean it will help us.”
“You're right. But this thing isn't just neutral. I felt the words it transmitted. The meaning and the intent. It's curious. It wants to see what I can do. It also wants something.”
Vera tensed. Her eyes turned to daggers. Arden hated being on the receiving end of it.
“If it wants a sacrifice, tell it to fuck off,” she said. “You're staying with me. With us.”
“You don't have to worry,” Arden said, raising his hands in front of him, gesturing for Vera to keep calm. “It doesn't want a sacrifice.”
Arden kicked off the dirt once more into the darkness of Entomina Nest. Vera hesitated for only a moment. She was even with him in seconds. She didn't know what he was planning, and she knew there was no dissuading him, but she wasn't going to let him do it alone. History had taught her that anytime he encountered something like this, it took a drastic mental toll on him. She wasn't able to be there during his trial nor his encounter with Domah.
But she would be with him for this time.
The duo came across a dead Celestial. It was a human-sized scorpion with two tails half buried in the rolling sand. It was killed by Kralis in a fight that made Arden realize that his provocation from before the assessment was something that he wanted erased from memory. To put in another way, Arden believed that he would get his dick flattened if he fought with Kralis at the moment.
Regardless, Arden inspected the course, kneeling down next to it as he spoke to Vera.
“Whatever the thing talking to me is, it doesn’t want a sacrifice. It doesn't even want a vessel like Domah had intended for Sya.”
“What does it want then?”
Arden placed his hand upon the thick carapace of the scorpion where purple blood leaked through the cracks. Tendrils extended from his hand and wrapped themselves around the scorpion and started sucking it dry.
“It wants a paradox,” he said.
His Status appeared in front of him, showing his non-soul cluster information.
Name: Arden
Starborn Tier: Red
Starborn Rank: Protostar
- Progress to next rank: 13/1000
Constellation: RedShift
- Rank: Paradox
- Description: Hidden
Legacy: Arden
Innate Ability: The Blood of Billions
- Description: Hidden
Protostar Ability: Devour
- Description: Hidden
Several minutes passed as Arden slowly devoured the scorpion. He stared at his Status, rather than the dead Celestial, as did Vera. When his counter until the next rank moved up to 14/1000, Arden got to his feet.
And smiled.