Will of chaos

The meeting was short-lived, and everyone realized my intentions much faster than I expected. The cunning of these beings with millions of years of experience makes me sweat, remembering that I have enemies like them after my head.

As my mind wandered through these concerns, I left the meeting place and walked outside the Temple of Urd. I wanted to walk and think. There were too many things to consider, too many things to resolve, and too many enemies to guess at.

But as soon as I left the Temple of Urd, she herself appeared in front of me. She didn’t say anything right away, following beside me as we walked for a few hundred meters before I sat on a cliff, gazing up at the night sky like in the old days.

“Say what you want. Why keep silent when you followed me here with your doubts?” (Me)

“What are you planning?” (Urd)

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, you’ll have to be more specific.” (me)

“Attacking the Avatar of Hatred without any plan!?” (Urd)

“They clearly have countermeasures for that, even with all of us we’d still be at a disadvantage against their preparations.” (Urd)

“So that’s about it. I thought you’d talk about Urak again or ask about Vecna.” (me)

I turn to look at her, I could see the emotions on her face as evident as a children’s picture book.

“You already have plans against Urak and you’ve made that very clear. I have no right to object.” (Urd)

“I also heard about Vecna. Whatever happened to him is beyond your control, isn’t it?” (Urd)

“Yes, honestly… I have no idea what happened to him and I don’t care. I’m just glad my list of enemies keeps shrinking.” (me)

“About Urak, well… I think we’ve already discussed that, so I won’t repeat myself on her topics.” (me)

“Even so, you must know that your opinion matters to me. Part of the reason I’m not tearing her Soul apart right now is because she’s important to you.” (me)

“I… I appreciate that consideration… even though I know I don’t deserve it… even with my current power, I’ve accomplished little…” (Urd)

“No, you’ve accomplished much. The Ascended who would have been killed will have a new life and a chance. The traitors, most of whom sought death, may perhaps be convinced to stay alive. And with your help, all these universes and their residents can be saved.” (me)

“Don’t belittle yourself. I know you still blame yourself for simply observing all this time, but you were the only one who held a look of hope and pure love, a heart as immaculate as yours, as beautiful as it is rare.” (Me)

“Thank you for the compliment…” (Urd)

Just looking at her, I know she didn’t appreciate being praised. I know she thinks all this love is a mistake. She knows better than anyone the countless crimes of the Ascended. She’s seen them throughout her entire existence, yet she still advocates for them, even accepting that they pay for what was done. She doesn’t want to see them destroyed.

It’s difficult for her to create rational excuses or even arguments to convince herself she’s doing the right thing, especially when opposing voices are constantly around her.

I know about Adella, and honestly, it was expected. Kaan is a leap of hatred in her heart, and Urak was responsible for what happened in her universe, so Adella represents well what Urd seeks to remedy.

“It wasn’t about these things that I came to learn.” (Urd)

“I want to know what your plan is. I don’t think you’re stupid enough to attack the monstrous troops of Hatred head-on.” (Urd)

“I already told you, my plan is to have no plan at all. I’ll just attack head-on.” (Me)

I couldn’t help but turn my eyes upward once more, gazing at those strange stars, I smile. This update is available on n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net

“…” (Urd)

Urd looks at me like I’m some kind of madman. Teasing her is interesting. She hasn’t noticed anything even now. After so much time watching the Ascended and their crimes, it seems she hasn’t learned anything, or perhaps she doesn’t want to learn anything from that. Her reasoning ability is very linear, and she still lacks practical experience. She lacks it more than I do in that regard.

“Don’t look at me like that, you’re the only one who didn’t understand the plan.” (me)

“The play on words is quite clear, the plan is to have no plan, so tell me, what preparation should they make?” (me)

“You’re making them create plans!?” (Urd)

“Bingo!” (me)

“Why? That doesn’t make sense? Why do things so…” (Urd)

“It seems that, like the Ascendants, you also don’t understand. The Anomalous Monsters and the Avatar aren’t the real enemy, they’re just pieces on the board.” (me)

“Hate is the real problem, an eternal Entity that has seen everything, experienced everything, and more than anything, has had many hunting those connected to it.” (me)

“There’s a saying in my two home worlds… hate only breeds more hate…” (me)

“Hate’s planning will be meticulous and he will act personally, taking possession of your Avatar’s body. This Entity knows Igor and Ronan as well as your Entities. He has also seen the Twins’ powers and will have countermeasures in place. Only you and Davoth are strangers to them.” (me)

“No plan we formulate would work; it would be wasted effort, so why not have multiple plans in place?” (me)

“But that’s ridiculous; plans can interfere with each other.” (Urd)

“I know it, and I’m counting on it. Our only weapon of surprise will be unpredictability. If we don’t even know what might happen, then there’s no way our enemies will know.” (me)

“Everyone in that room is an ancient monster. The Twins have memories of Life and Death, Ronan is an investigative agent, Igor, as a merchant, possesses incredible reasoning, and Davoth is a mystery even to me.” (me)

“I saw in everyone’s eyes that they realized my intention, especially after the Twins exchanged glances.” (me)

“To cause confusion and chaos. Even if that works, we still need to…” (Urd)

“Stop there, don’t tell me anything. I don’t want to know. Just make whatever preparations and plans you want on your own. Don’t share them with anyone else, least of all with me.” (me)

“…” (Urd)

“That’s ridiculous.” (Urd)

“Yes, and that’s exactly why we’re going to catch them by surprise.” (me)

———————

Pov Igor:

I was in a room lent to me as a temporary office. Unfortunately, I couldn’t formally settle in due to the Chaos Bringer’s indisposition, and I couldn’t wait forever in a relaxed state.

But now I was alone, completely in disbelief at the events of this meeting, because the content was simply inconceivable.

“How could I not understand something so simple!” (me)

“(You overthink, you made so many complex conjectures about the matter and failed to see the most obvious.)” (Merchant)

“But this plan has so many flaws that it’s ridiculous on a fundamental level.” (me)

“I can’t see how this can work; this is simply a gamble!” (Me)

“(Remember, he’s a Bringer of Chaos; they often see existence in a distorted way, and their way of acting is always a mystery.)” (Merchant)

I was frustrated at not understanding the hidden message earlier, and I was also astonished by this kind of plan, considering it a misunderstanding even after listening to the Merchant’s explanations.

“(Let’s get started with the plan; let’s learn to invest your time in something more productive than your emotional crisis.)” (Merchant)

“Merchant, shouldn’t we stop all this?” (Me)

“Even though I see some advantages in such an attack method, it’s all just theoretical.” (Me)

“The truth is that in practice, when multiple plans are implemented without any synergy, we will be cornered by our allies during the chaos.” (me)

“(You’re still young and don’t understand. Chaos is the perfect environment for Zenos. His life, though short, embraced by chaos, he thrives on unforeseen situations like this, and his adaptability must be heightened to get where he is.)” (Merchant)

“(The truth is that any other form of attack would be disadvantageous to us; don’t underestimate Hatred.)” (Merchant)

“…” (me)

For a merchant like me, betting on something randomly is absurd, but if the Commerce Entity itself is placing its bets, there’s no reason to hesitate.

“If it’s a plan, then we already have a premise that will provide an opportunity…” (me)

———————-

Pov Davoth:

I was leaving my mother’s room. Her condition is getting better. Since I was the one who helped her become an Ascendant, she wasn’t connected to Urd, her adaptation to her new power has been more complex now.

“Davoth, why did you send for me?” (Hajak)

I turn to Hajak. He was wearing enchanted armor covered in Law Runes. The energy flow around him was also changing, as was his Aura.

The most important thing is to feel the power of Chaos in the red crystal in the center of the armor.

“(The reconstruction of your body seems to be in the final stages.)” (me)

“We will launch an attack against the troops of Hatred in 3 days. Will your body be ready?” (Me)

“My body will be ready tomorrow, but after that I’ll need some internal adjustments and some testing to understand my new functions.” (Hajak)

“I’ll help with that, but for now, we need to talk. I need you on this attack, and you need to prove yourself to Urd.” (Me)

“Tell me more.” (Hajak)