Chương 234: Chapter 230: Dan's Mistake

Nyxalrai did not like how steadfast Dan remained to the cults. She had hoped that he would come around on his own to tossing them aside — he already had the foundational distaste for the way they did things — but if not even this would convince him otherwise, then he might well be doomed. He knew she'd killed Solan. He knew the Fleshsmiths' downfall was at Nyxalrai's hand. And despite her telling him not to, Dan refused to listen to reason. The fact that he'd found out at all still left Nyxalrai off-balance.

He'd discovered her from what were little more than oddities. There was nothing concrete to his claims, yet as he'd said it, Nyxalrai had felt the boy's confidence rise. Dan happened across the truth, and got every detail right. Nyxalrai had wanted to laugh it off; it was an obscene thought, after all. What sane person would believe anyone with less than half a century behind them could even threaten a cult leader? Especially if they hadn't yet reached their tenth evolution.

It should have been too obscene to even consider. And yet she couldn't simply dismiss the claim; Nyxalrai had witnessed the manifestation of the Feat herself. The galaxy eyes ability to peer into his soul was different to the way her core did. It was deeper. More raw of an experience. Instead of just the surface of each name and the experiences etched into them, her eyes saw further.

She saw past the seams that only ever unsealed during an evolution or the consumption of a soul, and saw the individual components that made up each name. In her experimenting, she'd even seen inside those components themselves. The sight was incomprehensible to her mind. As impressive as they were at piercing the very core of a person, she still lacked the understanding to make heads or tails of what she saw. She was getting better, though. With each soul she saw, she recognised patterns.

The same core thirty parts were in every Technocultist name with the precursor'Ta'. Many more were shared, but not always in the same configuration. That method of reading was completely distinct from the onomastician type. She couldn't get a description out of a name, no matter how vague. Still, what Nyxalrai had seen was enough. Not only had the timing been unquestionable and the unquestionable traits of a Feat been present, she recognised the makings of a deduction name from Ta'Taish.

The man had been rather open with his names, and had been helping her try to extend her reading of curses to full names. An effort to work towards an additive. After all, the incorporation of an onomastician name into her core would almost certainly help in battle. The more knowledge she had, the better. There was also the possibility that it might also allow her to manipulate names in the same way she did curses. It was a small possibility, but it was there. And definitely worth pursuing.

Nyxalrai watched Dan reenter the main expressway that connected the Biovault to the upper levels of Coral. Her gaze trailed him for a moment, before she stepped back into the uninhabited side passages. She never travelled where there were eyes anymore. Too much risk.

"Keep an eye on him," she said. Alysyra manifested at her side. The girl had never left, even after Nyxalrai had told her to. If she hadn't known, she might have been annoyed, but not even Alysyra's incredible Feat could hide from Nyxalrai's eyes.

"I would have even if you hadn't asked." Alysyra turned on Nyxalrai.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let him live?" Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Nyxalrai had already thought about it. Despite the fact that she regarded Dan as a friend … she had considered killing him.

"No. I'm not sure. The cults wouldn't hesitate. I mean, there's so much risk of being revealed in leaving him alive, and nobody would blink an eye at his disappearance. But that's not what I want. Even if he wasn't a friend, I shouldn't kill because it is convenient. The cults will never be eradicated if I follow their methods."

"You'll never remain hidden." Alysyra looked sceptical.

"Does it really matter how we destroy the cults, so long as they are gone?" Nyxalrai focused on Alysyra's soul. The curse for causing the Null Scar had nearly fully formed now. She was not one to care for the consequences.

"Yes," Nyxalrai said.

"While I want the cults gone, preferably it will be without all of Coral dropping into the black hole. If it means they find out I'm hunting them sooner, then I just need to get stronger while they're oblivious." Alysyra furrowed her brows, but didn't further express her doubt. Nyxalrai wasn't exactly convinced herself. She was risking a lot by pursuing this ethos, but the longer she went without constraining herself to these rules, the less effective they would be at directing Coral's culture later on.

It would be especially important that — once she was known — there were no instances where she broke the ideology. Nobody would trust that her way was possible if she faltered and turned to the cult's methods whenever pressed. Dan couldn't die because he could still be turned away from his cult. That applied to any of his young acolyte brethren. Nyxalrai knew that goal was core to her counter-ethos. Other aspects…. She still had to decide. The ideology was still in its infancy. But she was now faced with a date.

In two months, the Cult of the Everseeing Eye would induct their acolytes and her opportunity to save Dan — and the others she didn't actually care for — would pass. They would be a part of the cult. Instead of someone worth saving, they would become a target of eradication. What was she to do? Nyxalrai couldn't just come out into the open and demand that these kids and young adults not join. They wouldn't listen to her. Not yet. No, she needed to do something about the cult itself.

Destabilise the foundational trust these acolytes have for the cult they wish to join. Her first solution was murder. It had been such a good solution to her problems recently. Even better when it involved eating. But … she had to admit this problem would require something a bit more than simply swallowing a bunch of Everseeing Eye cultists. Not that she wouldn't do that.

Unless she took on Arasthis-Val'Boor himself — not that she was willing to get caught in a fight with another cult leader — she doubted any murder would do much more than delay the ceremony. Nyxalrai needed to convince the acolytes to abandon the cult. Dan included. How? She had to undermine the very pillar that made so many willing to sacrifice their eyelids.

If the Cult of the Everseeing Eye could not defend the jewel of their existence on such a day of importance, then if nothing else, the acolytes would be scared from their supposed safety within the cult. Everything could go wrong for the Everseeing Eye cultists. Nyxalrai was planning to crash their ceremony. She would send the Observatory into chaos. There was plenty of time to prepare. She had two months to strengthen herself through her constant hunts, and the seemingly endless consumption of Solan.

She was going to force herself to gain at least a decent understanding of rituals. And once everything was in place, when all the cultists sat beneath the Great Iris, they would meet the entity that killed Solan. Before that —"Alͦy͚sy͚rã, is Ari still stalking that Omen Artisan?" — she had another friend she needed to dissuade.