Chapter 99 (2 of 2) Court of Me Myself and I

Unbeknownst to Lucille, a certain individual was already infuriated with her before she had even visited him, and had been for a while. The incognito Demon Emperor had initially intended to engineer a situation at the Banquet where several lesser nobles believed a meeting between them and the Commission Head had been set up, so she’d be stuck dealing with them and their idiotic business ideas.

As it turned out, Lucille Goldcroft had entirely skipped the Banquet that year, rendering all plans to get payback redundant. A Wight endangering the lives of her entourage was appropriate extenuating circumstances to warrant skipping the Annual Banquet, but logic had a tendency to leave the mind of the Demon Emperor and his second body when it came to the Honorary Count – to be replaced by incessant irritation and wrath.

Of course, Lucille had known none of this until she investigated the events of the Banquet after the visit, so she turned up, prepared for the normal frustrating, but ultimately peaceable visit – the last one of the year. Someone did not want to leave things be, though.

...

“Where are my pens?”

The Archduke glared at her with his hands gripping his desk’s edge. Spider-web cracks spread across the strained wood grain, threatening to shatter.

Lucille stood with a hand behind her back, ‘studying’ her nails hidden under a white glove as she was interrogated. At the question, she blinked and looked at him with eyes open wide in innocence. “Pens?”

His scowl deepened and he swept a hand across his desk, shoving the clutter onto the floor. “Don’t play games with me! The pens, Goldcroft! The ones you stole last month!”

She raised herself up on her tiptoes, leaning forward to peek at an open stationary box on the floor. “Stolen pens? I see no stolen pens. Only poorly treated ones.” Lucy pointed at the box’ contents. “I hope you’re not going to abuse your power and order Count Bentsen to clean that up,” she added.

“My patience is hanging on by a mere thread, Goldcroft,” he stressed through gritted teeth. “I don’t have to wield the powers of the demonic to wrangle an answer out of you!”

“According to the Imperial Code of Legal Dealings, Section 23,” she announced grandly, ignoring his blank stare, “Article 9, Paragraph 4, Sentence 17: An Eternal Duke and their dependents are no exception to the Law of Ruling, Sentence 19: May not use their power to alter the judiciary verdict, Sentence 25: May not detain an individual personally conferred a Title by the Emperor, Empress or adjacent positions of power without express permission of a higher figure. Also..” She raised a finger. “Addendum 304 as of 870/100 A.S: Individuals conferred the Title of ‘Archduke’ are no exception to the laws applicable to Eternal Dukes regarding the Law of Ruling.”

“You truly believe you can save yourself with the negligible rules of an Empire younger than m-”

“Section 72, Article 3, Paragraph 1, Sentence 58: A citizen of the Eternal Empire may not accuse someone without evidence of their crime presented at the same time.” Lucy placed her palms on her cheeks and tilted her head, pretending to look pitiful. “This young, eighteen year-old-girl wouldn’t dare steal a belonging of yours, Your Grace! I couldn’t possibly be capable of such an immoral and... disrespectful act as taking thirty, replaceable and minor items of stationary. I beseech you to thoroughly investigate to find evidence that-”

“You’re nineteen,” he stated blandly.

Lucy hesitated as she considered this. Then she began to repeat her tirade with modifications: “This young, nineteen-year-old girl wouldn’t-”

Her words were cut off by the sound of a pen whistling through the air to lodge itself in the wall behind her.

“Stop,” the Archduke commanded, raising a hand to hold his head. “Just… shut up.”

And shut up she did. She waited in front of his desk in complete silence.

For at least five minutes until she felt the urge to irritate him again. “If you insist, my Lord, then I shall contact the Capital to arrange for a judge. I’m sure he’ll be prompt when he hears my horrendous crime of borrowing a few pens… even such a minuscule thing is of grave important to the Archduke’s mental well-being!”

He glowered at her as she blinked innocently. The next moment, her face was hit by a thick wad of paper.

“Sit. Down. And. Work,” he growled.

“As you wish, Your Grace.” She gave him a bow just low enough to appear sarcastic, then placed the work on a nearby table. She waited for him to sit down again.

The Incognito Demon Emperor noticed she hadn’t sat down and gave her a raised eyebrow as he set a toppled, closed inkwell upright on his desk. “You have something else to bother me about, Goldcroft?”

“Are you familiar with my recent… excursion to an Old Era plane?” she offered, gauging his attitude from his expressions.

He frowned slightly and pushed aside his work to focus on her. “The Sundown Continent plane shard? If it’s about the Archwizard, I won’t step in to resolve anything. Outwardly offering you protection limits what you, and consequently I, can do.”

“Oh noooo, I’m perfectly capable of dealing with that myself. Your protection? Ha,” she scoffed.

Maybe her frustrations were a little too obvious. The white-haired Archduke tilted his head, studying her. “Then?”

She leaned on his desk, one hand on a hip. “That facility. End. The Wight. The System and you must know exactly how dangerous it is for anyone in this realm to come in contact with that organisation from the Cosmic Realm, yet several people instrumental to my future plans now have knowledge of their existence!” She looked away. “I’m not ignorant. The System has an understanding of my past actions through the memories of my bond. I don’t believe it’s a mere coincidence that my sponsored mage ended up on a plane affected by End.”

“Goldcroft, how could I have possibly-.”

“And the Wight!” she interrupted, wanting to get her piece out before he started ignoring her. “The Death Monarch despatches multiple 1st Sector Vigils to destroy Wights every time they’re spotted outside of their native realm, yet the System let me deal with it?! You’re lucky that Paladin Jasten Albrecht was willing to summon Escalon to deal with it or else you risk a pinnacle-Aberration level disaster inflicting the Mystical Realm!”

He slammed his hands on the desk and stood up. “That is enough, Goldcroft! Do not blame the System for those incidents! That plane was never meant to be discovered in the first place!”

She glared back at him, until his words registered and made her curious.“…in the first place?”

The Archduke shot her a sour look and sat back down with a huff. “Based on the System’s estimations, it would’ve been another thousand years until it drifted into the furthest distance the Athenaeum can locate, which by then it would’ve shattered and fallen into the Mystical Realm’s depths before anyone could glean something from it. Its trajectory had been adjusted drastically… and as of yet, no physical explanation for this can be provided.”

She hesitated. “…when did it start becoming attracted to the Aeternus plane?”

He gave her a solemn look. “When you came to the Mystical Realm.”

Lucille stared at him, then roughly pulled at her hair with a cry of frustration. “I’ve become a living infohazard now, is that what this is?! Because of my Conceptual Weight interacting with Conceptual Coalescence, certain ‘things’ will be attracted towards me?”

She turned away and raised a hand to her mouth, distracted by the implications. “I’ll need to develop a mental construct to contain problematic spiritual information particles… no, but because the plane’s existence is known by all of Athenaeum and my close companions, the damage has already been done… I can at least attempt to prevent the attraction of other dangerous things from gaining a connection with the Realm… but are they even affected by my Influence when they have a connection through Aberrants? Should I focus my efforts with Adrianna to eradicating Aberrations- no, that would most likely enhance the risks as the respawn rate of Aberrations would increase-”

“Goldcroft.”

The loud clap of her observer’s hands gained her attention and she turned to face him.

“Cease your irritating mutters,” the Incognito Demon Emperor announced with disdain. He crossed his arms. “Your insignificance cannot influence anything regarding this problem.”

It vaguely sounded like he was trying to say she wasn’t really the cause for this, almost comforting her in a way… but the way he said it…

She glared at him. “Why, thank you for your enlightenment, oh noble Archduke. This insignificant speck shall turn to a different issue, then.”

Lucille straightened up and pointed at him. “You sent a Rank-2 to deal with a Wight. While you were here lounging around and scheming, I nearly died. I still have yet to know if my resurrection would be perfect if I died.”

He gazed dully at her. “Do you think my position here as an Archduke is purely for me to shoulder human responsibilities? That I stay here as if I was a machine and do nothing else?”

“…you don’t?”

He scowled. “Forget I said anything.” The disguised demon stood up and turned to face the window. “I was preoccupied with another plane. I assure you, the Sundown Continent is one of the minor issues this Realm now faces.”

Lucy let out a sigh and put her hands on her hips. “Can I at least be compensated for this?”

“Fine. State your desire.”

She stared at him. “Wait. You are going to compensate me?”

He looked over his shoulder and glared at her. “Did you want something, or not?”

Lucille leaned against his desk, feeling smug. “You know, maybe I’ll keep this debt in my back pocket for a while until the right moment…”

“I, the Demon Emperor, Archduke, and Authorizer, am not indebted to anyone, nor is the System,” he retorted. “Request something now while I’m feeling nice, or all compensation is null and void.”

Feeling… nice? This is him feeling nice?

She clicked her tongue and straightened up. “Give me ownership of all transaction records of my Faction’s members regarding estates and ownership transferals. Not the copies, the real ones. You may keep the copies.”

He touched a hand to his forehead. “….done. I’ve given the order to Bentsen. What else?”

“The right to trading with the Heavenly Realm.” She came closer. “I’m aware that ‘officially’, you are the only noble to own the equivalent of a Minor Kingdom in the Heavenly Realm, and any Mystical Realm business operations must originate from there. I would like to operate in your Prefecture.”

“After your misadventure with the Profound Emergent Jade Lotus Sect?” He went silent as he considered it. “You would be the biggest organisation I allow movement in my Prefecture yet.”

“But the best choice currently, correct?” she prodded. “While I know the least about the Heavenly Realm out of all current realms, I still know some of what happens in the future. And I wouldn’t waste this opportunity to try market ‘tea’ or something that the Heavenly Realm of all places has the least need for.”

The Incognito Demon Emperor sighed. “Is that all?”

Lucy smirked and held out an open palm to him. “Money.”

He slowly turned around to stare at her. “Money?” he repeated blandly. “You?”

She shrugged. “I need finance that can’t be tracked back to the Aurelian Commission, and it needs to have the highest purchasing power – something valued by every Faction. So, Crystalline Tokens to be precise.”

He pressed a hand to a temple, reaching the limits of his patience regarding the woman in front of him. “A thousand crystal tokens. Fine. The notification should appear soon.”

[1000 Crystalline Tokens have been added to your Obelisk Balance. Visit a Faction or Obelisk to retrieve or invest these tokens in-]

She swiped it away and gave him a beaming smile. “Thank you very much, Your Grace. But...”

The Archduke scowled. “What else, Goldcroft?”

Lucille studied him for a brief moment.

I have a pending notification at the Obelisk I haven’t checked yet, which is likely a Status-related reward from the System itself, so I shouldn’t press anymore. I still need to obtain one more thing from this visit, however...

She walked right up to him until they were standing barely a meter apart, a fact that seemed to disgust him more than make him angry.  

The Incognito Demon Emperor gazed at her as if she were a bug that had begun to speak. “Have you developed a case of insanity, Goldcroft?”

Lucy pulled out the small green leaf she had been given by Count Ravimoux and held it out to him. “Do you recognise the spiritual signature on this spiritual plant?”

He frowned and gently picked it up from her hand. The Archduke gave her a strange look. “I do...”

Lucy blinked. “Who does it belong to?”

“Luo Ehuang. The Verdant Shadow Lark.”

Lucy wracked her mind for a full minute, before coming to the unfortunate conclusion that in both timelines... she had never heard that name or title before.

“....who?”

He gave her an inscrutable glance, before letting go of the leaf. She caught it before it fell to the ground.

“Luo Ehuang is a Venerate Manifestation of the Profound Emergent Jade Lotus Sect.” He placed his hands behind his back. “We’ve met twice. She is... unpleasant.”

“What, is she ugly?” Lucy quipped.

He gave her a flat look. “She is the kind that smiles and offers you greetings after murdering your entire household without guilt. Her only allegiance is herself and-”

“Great. Thanks.” Lucille cut him off and turned on her heels, briskly marching off.

“...what? Goldcroft, what are you-”

“I appreciate the information!” she called back, already halfway out the door. “Oh- and the compensation! May we not meet until February, and enjoy our much-deserved separation from each other!”

With that statement, Lucy left without regrets. The door clicked shut and she hummed while heading to the entrance. She held up the leaf.

Luo Ehuang... Luo Ehuang...

She rolled the name around her mind, immediately focusing most of her thought strands on the subject.

The Verdant Shadow Lark? Sounds fitting. A sweet-swinging bird that curses others from the shadows.

She crushed the leaf in her hand, the corners of her lips turning up.

There’s much I can do with a name. She seems determined to involve herself in my Faction, so...

Lucille held up the fragile remains of the foliage, and let the pieces drift to the floor.

It’s only fair that I do the same in her realm, right? I’ve been too passive, so now I need to retaliate.

There was a much more important figure she had to retaliate against, however, and her first major step since returning to the past needed to occur soon. She hummed as she left the Archduke’s Palace, planning to rent a private room somewhere to wait for it to begin.

There was just one individual who she still hadn’t managed to directly contact that might create some difficulties for the meeting but... well, she had a few final tricks to pull out.

But she was free of the Archduke/Demon Emperor! - She threw her hands up, celebrating inwardly-

-for two more months. Lucy would take the small wins when she got them, though.

That was when she felt someone’s eyes on her and she turned around to make eye contact with the neon blue eyes watching her from a window.

__________________________________________________________________________

A few minutes earlier, a Demon Emperor’s Alter-Ego was still standing in his study in mild shock at Lucille’s actions – at the boldness she had to cut him off and leave without his permission.

His feet carried him to the window overlooking the front square against his will, and he scanned the outside for a dark-haired figure.

“I was going to add that Luo Ehuang is progeny of the Qinglong Cardinal Court,” he murmured. “She has connections to the Azure Dragon’s clan.”

[Come to think of it, Alectis. You never got what you wanted from her in the first place.]

The Incognito Demon Emperor initially took no heed of the androgynous voice in his head, before recalling that he did not, in fact, find out the locations of his pens, and that instead, Goldcroft had managed to extract compensation from him. He had done nothing that needed him to compensate that woman!

The Archduke scowled when he located the person known as Lucille Goldcroft walking across the marble-paved square. When she visibly rejoiced at exiting his premises by punching the air, he was near boring holes into her back with a gaze of ice.

Clearly she had felt something was off, because she turned around and spotted him watching from the window. They stared at each other, neither moving.

The white-haired man at the window considered what to do, before slowly narrowing his eyes and beckoning for her to return with his hand.

He glared at her when a smile slowly spread across her face, lighting it up with vicious glee. His fingers dug into the wood of the windowsill when she gently shook her head from side to side in refusal.

Then Lucille Goldcroft had the audacity to bolt across the square at full speed, leaping over hedges instead of taking the time to avoid the side gardens. With a running jump she vaulted over the front fence, leaving the guards bewildered about why she didn’t just walk through the open gate.

Her surly observer nearly felt the urge to leap out of the window and chase after her to drag her back, but didn’t want to stoop so low. Luckily he had a much more elegant solu-

[You’re not seriously going to teleport to her, are you? Are you?]  

His expression twitched.

[That’s what I thought.]

The Archduke glared at the notification, glared at the receding dark-haired figure, and glared at the door to his study when he turned around to walk back.  

He slammed the door shut, paying no attention to his aide who had just arrived to discuss the orders from earlier.

[...yeah, Lucy has more important things to be doing right now anyway.]

__________________________________________________________________________

-An hour later-

“What do I even need to be here for?”

Lucy ignored the complaining snake to her right in favour of analysing the emblems on her cuffs. Deciding she wanted to wear something else, the pattern changed to become simpler, but more refined. A quick tug of her sleeve to finish up, and she stepped back from a temporary mirror she had set up in the artificial realm to observe her pantsuit. It collapsed into a puddle of white fluid that melded into the blanched floor.

“You can be my emotional support snake,” she replied.

Scytale squinted at her. “You? Emotional?”

She considered it. “Moral support snake?”

“Uh huh.” Scytale walked over to a lounge that had been set up and looked out of the high window into the auditorium-style hall below, reminiscent of a lecture hall. In contrast to their white, depthless surroundings, the hall was dark with a blank screen on the front stage.

“Bit of a trippy perspective.” Her bond tested the window to see if he could fall through and found himself blocked. “Won’t they see me?”

“It’s one-way glass. It’ll just blend in with the walls.”

“Oh.” Scytale shrugged, then sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of it. “Well, I’ll be here, watching your Introduction to Apocalyptic Futures series. Not sure how I can do anything to help you in the Simulacrum Realm, considering we’re all just consciousnesses here, but I’ll make do. Mental trauma might work...”

“Thanks.” Lucille sighed, then looked down. “It’s time for me to summon them all here.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’ll finally make a major change by wrangling Earth’s potential out of the Hero’s rotten hands.”

“Good luck!”

With encouragement in the form of her bond giving her a thumbs up, Lucille removed herself from the observation room and waited off the side of the stage. A small mental click sounded in her mind, then the streams of consciousnesses connected to the Simulacrum flowed into the fake realm.

Rows upon rows of people began to populate the aisles, from genius scientists to military commanders and representatives from every nation’s Senate in the World Government.

A total of ninety people filled the room until the mind gates were shut.

Ninety of the most influential and power people in the world, yet not nearly enough to create a small ripple in the pool called Earth without her interference.

Several recognised their neighbours and opened their mouths to talk, before belatedly realising nobody could make a sound. That was by design. Lucy couldn’t have anyone voicing their objections before she finished presenting her evidence.

The lights dimmed on everyone until the only luminescence came from the stage.

All eyes turned to the platform as soft steps echoed from it. Lucille walked up the side steps to stand before them. She clasped her hands together, studying them all expressionlessly, and they, in turn, her.

“You’ve all been lured here by rumours of a hidden gathering of the greatest minds, hearsay of a ‘club’ that has been making the world turn in ways mysterious to outsiders,” Lucille began, soft spoken. “Unfortunately, I have to correct you.”

A holographic projection of a blue cog lit up the ceiling above them, attracting their attention.

“Ordinarily we would be celebrating the fact that the missing youth have been merely relocated, and that I managed to bring this news to you!” she shouted, gesturing to the screen behind her. Slowly, but gathering speed, the faces of those missing flickered across the display – all those who disappeared in the month of July.

“But our world and way of life faces an unimaginable threat, one that something beyond our power to comprehend has stolen us away from Earth for!” She mimed gripping her fist in the direction of the cog, the symbol of the System, and it broke into fragments of light, showering down on the people below.

“It is only a mere coincidence that I awakened the theoretical ‘Psychic’ ability to contact you all through your minds,” she finished, stepping back. “I’m not here to whisper sweet promises of benefits and power. I’m here to show you that without a plan of action, each one of you will lose everything you’ve worked to achieve. Short of that...” She smirked. “I can show you why you’re all going to die in a couple of months.”

And so it began. All the information she recalled from the previous timeline, everything she had queried the System on during the Planetary Simulation Viewer Event, every possible speck of data that had accumulated over the long years of her life – Lucille had compressed as much of it as she could into a two hour long demonstration of the future she had seen, of the destruction each realm had rent across the fabric of their world.

“Researchers have identified a mark-up in mana density of 5% on Earth in each of the past two years alone – an unexplainable phenomenon that has rendered 15% of all of our current technology useless and out of date with barely enough time to make advances that can replace them,” she argued, pointing to a diagram. “The source of all this energy has yet to be identified and the Earth’s core has been ruled out as capable of producing enough mana-”

“The results of the Mars Immaterial Outpost on our neighbouring planet have found monsters generating in limited areas. This conflicts with all our theories of mana transferal, and clearly suggests something we never considered before: What happens when other planets start generating vast quantities of mana, and what happens when monsters advance to enough power on planets out of our reach... that they return to our own with all their adaptations for deep space? We’ve clearly seen from their absorption of radioactivity that they fare better than us under extreme circumstances-”

“How else do you explain the arrangement of S-tier Rifts beyond an intelligent mind behind it? Each functional nation has one and only one, regardless of its size, yet each Rift somehow produces enough resources proportional to its residents that all nations under the banner of our World Government – that is, every single nation – continue to advance in some manner, whether military or quality of life. Desert nations gain access to Rift spaces with fresh water sources, those lacking mineral deposits can obtain ore for their most basic civil construction-”

“The only three SSS tier Rifts in existence are somehow, miraculously, situated in the absolute furthest geographical position from any source of civilisation outside of the Fringe Outposts. I find it difficult to believe monsters would be so kind to place three SSS Rifts out of our way when we know larger nations are prone to emergency Rift openings, and I doubt you believe that too. Something wants to protect us, but everything comes at a price-”

“We have dragon-shaped monsters. How do they know what a dragon looks like unless they’ve seen one? Experiments have shown they adapt to visual stimuli, so-”

“-and the most important piece of evidence yet – as of yet, we ‘Forerunners’ as we’re classed by this intelligent supporter have vanished of the face of Earth, with not even your greatest ability users able to locate our traces-”

Eventually, she had said all she wanted. Lucille took a deep breath and took in her audience’s reactions for the first time.

More than sixty percent... were completely pale. That was an excellent outcome! Only by being scared out of their wits would something be done! But those who were merely scared were not the most crucial members for her operation. The heads of the most advanced research institutes, the World Government leaders, commanders of the military... they were deep in thought. Pensive. Pondering the credibility of her claims.

“...in summary, please make it so that we will have a home to return to. We can only last in these other ‘realms’ because we know we will always be welcomed back on Earth but... Earth needs to stay safe for that to be the case,” Lucy finished.

She silently lifted the speech ban, but everybody was too focused to notice. She decided there needs to be some emotional finale to cement the fact her presentation was over, so with a bit of prodding...

“My dear niece... come here.” Marvin outstretched his arms and walked up to her, putting on his best tearful expression. He wrapped her in a hug. “You’ve been dealing with all of this for so long without us... I promise you now, Medallion will do everything in its power to realise your wishes, even if it costs us everything!”

“...thank you, Uncle.” She buried her head against his shoulder, inwardly disgusted.

Laying it on a bit thick, aren’t you?

‘You asked for an emotional display, and I gave you one. Do you think I like this? Don’t forget to give me what I asked for: priority contact with these Counts of your ‘Commission’.’

Her face was flat as they pulled apart.

Sincerity is a lost virtue in this modern day and age.

‘Bah. Your birthday present to me had less sincerity than this.’

A slow clap echoed across the hall, and everybody turned to look. A lone man walked down the hallway, wearing spotless attire and a perfectly trimmed appearance. His presence alone turned heads. Bright yellow eyes glowed. “What a touching display of familial affection between Marvin Goldcroft and his niece. I miss my grandchildren in this moment.”

Marvin and Lucy looked over to see who was approaching them. She fixed a polite smile on her face and dipped her head in acknowledgement. “It is an honour to meet you, Edison Williams. Thank you for coming here.”

The dark-haired man smiled and held his hands behind his back. “Coming where? This is in the world of your mind, isn’t it? But I understand your meaning.” He came up to her and held out his hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I believe this is our first time meeting... including in person.”

She hesitated, before grasping his hand. “...yes.”

He very obviously remembers our meeting when I was seven. Wonderful. How long have his people been stalking me?

Before she could retrieve her hand after she shook it, he grabbed it and held it up. Edison Williams turned to the audience and gestured to the girl next to him. “Lucille Goldcroft has my word as World Government President. We will act on the presumption that there is indeed this ‘System’ behind the phenomena on Earth, and will work in close cooperation with her to prepare for the times ahead.”

There were stifled murmurs after that declaration, before a few took the initiative to walk up the front to greet her. Slowly, more and more came to the front with the intention to discover more about her situation in the other realms and what exact ability she awakened.

They couldn’t get to close due to the President though, so he smiled at her as he finally let go of her hand. “In fear of sounding repetitive, we too will do everything in our power. Lucille Goldcroft, I hope to be the very first individual you contact for all your needs, so I may ensure it gets done.”

Her ever-present smile stiffened at the implication that he wanted her to answer to him. Lucille slowly nodded her head. “I’ll contact you again soon, President Williams.”

“Ah. One last thing.” He looked over his shoulder. “Did you have a name in mind for this gathering?”

Is Super-Secret Schemer club a no go?

“I was thinking The Illuminated.”

“That sounds vaguely familiar,” he chuckled, before leaving the stage.

She sent him out of the Simulacrum Realm with his agreement, then she became expressionless as soon as he was gone.

I had heard he could only see someone’s ability potential through the physical manifestation of his ability in person. That was clearly a lie spread by the Government to keep his powers hidden.

Edison Williams hadn’t gained his position through pure politics. While he looked forty, he was just over seventy, and had been alive at the time of the first Rift outbreaks. But he was also Earth’s ‘Saviour’ during the first five years, because he managed to clear the first S-tier, SS-tier, and SSS-tier Rifts to emerge and gathered all of the unstable World Government nations together to fight the threat.

There was only one way he could’ve done that, and that was by being the strongest on Earth for the past fifty years. Many had theorised what his powers could be, and the popular theory was a form of ‘Omnipotence’.

Lucille knew that wasn’t far off. In contrast to directly having the power himself, Edison Williams could ‘summon’ the weapons of every mythological divinity – known later to Earth as Primarchs.

So if you had all the powers of functionally confused Primarchs that had their abilities and reason for existing change and distort over the centuries of adding and removing core doctrinal facts from initial beliefs... it could be said that compared to any living human, he was Omnipotent.

These powers of his came with great limitations though, and they weren’t discovered by anyone until moments before Earth was destroyed. He could not leave Earth no matter what... otherwise he would die.

So, I have another life to save. That would be easy... if he didn’t suspect me of not being a normal human.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I POSTED

And.... that's it for Chapter 99! Next chapter will be an 'Interlude' chapter with other people's POVs, as I normally do around this time. (Eg. Chapter 10, Chapter 50, now Chapter 100). Next 50 chapters moves on to Year 2, and there will be a lot of changes now that most main characters' roles and relationships with Lucy have been established, as well as world building + everybody knows she's from the 'future' (loosely).

But anyway, I have some stuff I've done when I can't write:

Rosaline Chavaret

Lucille from chapter one. Excuse my poor handwriting. Voilà