Chapter 125: The Border Territory ( 2)
The center of the territory took three hours to reach.
They found the other four hunters along the way.
All like Bertold — conscious, immobile, trapped in root cages or simply anchored to the ground with no visible reason. All with their systems active, their A-ranks intact, without damage.
The fourth watched them arrive with an expression that showed his loss of hope.
"Are there more behind you?" he said.
"No," Kai said.
The hunter looked north.
"Then it comes from the center."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: five found. all five like Bertold. conscious. waiting.
[Stephen_Summers]: "are there more behind you?" — he’s been waiting nine days for anything.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the terrain responding differently every hundred meters. the territory alive. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: "it comes from the center" said by someone who’s been staring in that direction for nine days.
[Bangsund]: five A-rank hunters. seventeen total. where are the other twelve?
[Drakeking]: @Bangsund the rescue teams. they haven’t found them yet.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ to the center. everything points to the center. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
The center of the territory was a clearing.
Not natural — a perfect circle where nothing perfect should exist.
What was inside was a man.
Sitting cross-legged. With his system active — the HUD visible, his own stream running.
The viewer counter was visible from where they stood.
Forty-two million.
---
[DraconicLegacy]: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ FORTY-TWO MILLION
[Stephen_Summers]: Kai has nine million at his best moments. that guy has forty-two sitting on the ground doing nothing.
[Warwolf]: A_D_M criminals have huge audiences. of course. the spectacle they offer is different.
[Martijn_Wiersma]: forty-two million watching someone paralyzed at the center of a territory that traps people. that says something about audiences.
[Bangsund]: what kind of crime did someone with forty-two million viewers commit?
[Drakeking]: @Bangsund I don’t want to know.
[Zerox]: Kai has fewer viewers but his chose to be there. that’s worth more. #TeamKai
---
The man opened his eyes when they arrived.
Not with surprise. With the neutral tone of someone checking an estimate that went wrong.
"Late," he said.
"Pardon?" Kai said.
"I calculated twelve days. Not fifteen."
Kai looked at him.
"How long have you been here."
"Three weeks building. Ten days waiting for someone to arrive."
"Waiting for someone to arrive or waiting for someone specific to arrive."
The man looked at him differently.
"That’s an intelligent question."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: "that’s an intelligent question" — the man with 42 million viewers recognizing Kai’s question.
[Stephen_Summers]: Kai asked what I was thinking. "someone or someone specific?"
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ he was waiting for someone specific. I see it on his face. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: 42 million viewers watching this conversation right now. and Kai’s too. the combined chat.
[Bangsund]: the criminal’s stream active while talking to Kai. his viewers see this too.
[Drakeking]: the criminal’s viewers are different from Kai’s. how do they react to seeing Kai?
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ two streams in the same place at the same time. that hasn’t happened before. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
Lira looked at the energy structure around the man.
Not Qi — something else. Kai’s resonance Qi didn’t respond to it the same way it responded to Aethon entities.
"What are you using?" Lira said.
"Time magic."
Silence.
"What is that," Mara said.
"Exactly what it sounds like." The Streamer sat up without hurrying. "I can anchor the time of an area. Not stop it — anchor it. The physical rules of the space stay fixed at the moment I anchor them."
"That’s why the trees." Lira. "The ground. The hunters."
"Side effect." The discomfort was genuine. "I didn’t see the hunters until the anchor was already active."
"They’ve been like this for ten days."
"I know." A pause. "I’m sorry."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: time magic. ANCHOR THE TIME OF AN AREA. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ
[Stephen_Summers]: that explains EVERYTHING. the trees at fixed angles. the ground that doesn’t change. the hunters immobile.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ time magic. completely different from Kai’s Qi. different from everything the group has. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Lira connected the mechanic in thirty seconds.
[Bangsund]: can anyone in the group use time magic? Kai?
[Drakeking]: @Bangsund Kai uses Qi. only Qi. it’s the only thing he has and it’s completely his. time magic is something else.
[Zerox]: Kai’s Qi didn’t respond to the Streamer’s structure the same way it responds to Aethon entities. Lira noticed. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
"Why are you here," Kai said.
"I build structures." The Streamer looked at the clearing. "I’ve spent twenty years building magic structures in different territories of Aethon. This one is the most complex."
"What for."
"To understand what magic can do when it’s structured correctly."
"And does A_D_M know you’re here."
The Streamer looked at him.
"A_D_M brought me here. Like everyone." A pause. "Do you know why they bring us."
"Jameson told me. Before we fought."
The Streamer nodded.
"Then you know that all the Streamers in Aethon committed crimes in their worlds. A_D_M uses them as an extraction mechanism." He looked at Kai. "All except you."
Kai didn’t respond.
"You never committed a crime." The Streamer. "I’ve spent five years tracking A_D_M’s summoning records. Your name doesn’t appear in any of them."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: CONFIRMED. Kai never committed a crime. A_D_M didn’t bring him.
[Stephen_Summers]: five years tracking records. and Kai reached the borderland and got the information in one conversation.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Jameson was right from the beginning. they’re all criminals except Kai. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: the Streamer’s 42 million watching this conversation. do they know their Streamer is a criminal?
[Bangsund]: underground rings aren’t a crime in his world then. or A_D_M has specific criteria.
[Drakeking]: fighting isn’t the same as what the others did. A_D_M chooses criminals with purpose.
[Zerox]: "your name doesn’t appear in any of them." — Kai in Aethon for completely different reasons than everyone else. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
"Then who brought me," Kai said.
"Someone who used A_D_M’s architecture without authorization." The Streamer. "The records have a blank entry at the time of your summoning. The origin data is erased."
"Who can erase data from A_D_M."
"Architecture-level access. There are three people in the whole system."
"And the one who brought me. Is he still here."
"The blank entry has a residual trail with an active frequency." The Streamer looked at him. "That frequency was active twenty-one days ago. Northern sector. Near Valdris."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: near Valdris 21 days ago. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ
[Stephen_Summers]: the one who brought Kai is still in Aethon. active. near Valdris.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ three people with architecture access. one of them brought Kai. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Aldric. Vayne. [ORIGIN]. the ones near Valdris. chat starts the theories.
[Bangsund]: wait. the kingdom summons arrived a few days ago. and the frequency was active 21 days ago near Valdris?
[Drakeking]: @Bangsund Bangsund connecting dots I hadn’t connected. note that down.
[Zerox]: [ORIGIN] near Valdris. [ORIGIN] who sent the message. EVERYTHING connects. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
"The hunters first." Kai. "Then the information."
The Streamer nodded.
"The central anchor." He pointed to the point beneath him. "Break that and the field dissolves."
Kai looked at the point.
[System — analysis]
[Central anchor: time magic structure convergence]
[847 overlapping layers]
[Vulnerability: resonance Qi has frequency incompatible with time magic]
[Direct internal transmission could collapse the structure]
[The system notes that this hasn’t been attempted before]
[The system also has no reason to believe it won’t work]
Kai looked at the Streamer.
"I’m going to use something you probably haven’t seen."
The Streamer looked at him.
"The Qi." He said it as question and statement at the same time. "I detected it when you entered. It’s not Aethon magic."
"No."
"Where’s it from."
"Mine."
The Streamer processed this.
"Interesting."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: "where’s it from" / "mine." — two words. the most complete answer possible.
[Stephen_Summers]: the Streamer detected the Qi. recognized it as different from Aethon magic. and couldn’t classify it.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the Qi completely Kai’s. not from Aethon. not from the system. his. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: someone with 42 million viewers and twenty years in Aethon saying he’s never seen Qi before. that’s significant.
[Bangsund]: the Qi incompatible with time magic. that’s why the territory couldn’t absorb Kai.
[Drakeking]: the Streamer said "interesting" with the same face as the Grimvast administrator. when something says "interesting" about Kai it’s because Kai broke something.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Kai’s Qi unique in Aethon. unique in the system. completely his. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
The Streamer looked at the structure around him.
Three weeks.
"Alright," he said.
---
Kai positioned himself over the central point.
Resonance Qi at 100%.
Deep Resonant Impact — the Qi concentrated in his fist, amplified by the resonance Qi flowing at the same time.
He struck the ground.
The central point gave way.
The 847 layers dissolving from the inside out, the time magic structure collapsing because its frequency was incompatible with what was passing through it. Four seconds. The territory recovering its natural physical rules.
The trees straightened.
The ground stopped responding to footsteps.
Four and a half kilometers in all directions, seventeen people regained movement at the same time.
---
[DraconicLegacy]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ THE TREES STRAIGHTENED ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Stephen_Summers]: 847 layers of time magic in four seconds with the Qi. frequency incompatibility as a weapon.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ SEVENTEEN PEOPLE BACK ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: the Qi wasn’t stronger than the time magic. it was incompatible with it. that’s the difference.
[Bangsund]: Bertold can move. the five hunters. the twelve rescue personnel. all back.
[Drakeking]: three weeks of the Streamer’s work. four seconds of Qi. the Streamer watching.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ Kai’s Qi breaking something Aethon magic can’t break. this is going to matter later. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
The Streamer watched the clearing.
Three weeks of work dissolved on the ground.
"I’ve never seen Qi work like that." He said it without bitterness — with the concentration of someone processing something new. "In twenty years in Aethon. Not in SSS entities. Not in the oldest primordials. None have that frequency."
"I know."
"Do you know what it means that the frequency is incompatible with time magic?"
"That they can’t trap me with it."
"That they can’t trap anything of yours with it." The Streamer looked at him. "The Qi that emanates from you too. The people near you."
Kai processed this.
He looked at Serah. At Lira. At Mara.
Back at the Streamer.
"And the one who brought me to Aethon. Did he know."
"Someone with architecture access who sought you specifically among all the worlds A_D_M supervises." The Streamer transferred the file to Kai’s system. "Yes, he knew."
---
[DraconicLegacy]: the Qi protects those near Kai from time magic. that’s new.
[Stephen_Summers]: "the Qi that emanates from you too." — passive resonance Qi as a shield without Kai deciding it.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the one who brought Kai KNEW. chose Kai specifically for this. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: Kai looking at Serah Lira and Mara after hearing that the Qi protects them too. that look.
[Bangsund]: the one with architecture access knew Kai’s Qi was incompatible with the system’s magic. that’s why they brought him.
[Drakeking]: the plan has more layers than it seemed. the one who brought Kai planned it far in advance.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ everything connects. everything points to the same place. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
The Streamer gathered what was left of his equipment.
He stopped before leaving.
"Why are you giving me this information," Kai said.
"Because you’ve been in Aethon less time than me and you’ve already found more answers." He looked at him. "Someone brought an innocent to this world with a specific plan. I want to know what it is as much as you do."
Kai nodded.
The Streamer went among the trees that were now growing straight.
His forty-two million viewers followed him.
---
[DraconicLegacy]: 42 million following the criminal Streamer among the straight trees. end of his appearance.
[Stephen_Summers]: "you’ve been here less time and found more answers." the Streamer with more humility than expected.
[Warwolf]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ the criminal with 42 million helped Kai. that’s a twist. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
[Martijn_Wiersma]: the criminal’s viewers saw Kai destroy their Streamer’s work in four seconds. how did they react?
[Bangsund]: some of the 42 million now know Kai. that could be important.
[Drakeking]: the file in Kai’s system. the frequency near Valdris 21 days ago. the group has a direction.
[Zerox]: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ back to Valdris. to find the one with architecture access. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
---
[Current viewers: 11,200,000]
Comments