I was toying with the keys in my hand. Examining the devices after Herolax scanned me in as a registered user.

"Funny how convoluted it all seems." I mused out loud.

"How so?" The Kenari asked as he threw aside the metal plates he'd forced onto his chest those last few moments. All in order to keep up the ruse.

I sighed.

"I mean, you have people who are capable of predicting the future to varying degrees of accuracy and who must also contend with others who can do that much if not more. All while knowing you have to develop countermeasures for future-prediction and mind-reading and mind-controlling and all kinds of other attacks. Like, I was sparring with my friends this one time and I turned their brains to slurry with a sonic attack. Before being a Projector. I used [Vocalization] after growing a whole lot of mouths and that was just as effective as a combined sonic manipulation ability."

I played with the little device some more.

"And the best they could come up with in order to speak privately was a little thingymabob like this?"

Herolax made the Kenari equivalent of a shrug.

"It was designed eons ago with diplomacy in mind." He explained as if I didn't already know. "By a Divine. Without any assistance from the System. They wanted some means to engage in diplomacy without interference. As they struggled with constant sabotage and subterfuge while they were on the last stages of their ascension. Their every attempt at organizing some kind of cease-fire being undermined."

I nodded politely.

"Why bother fighting some guy who is really scary when you can intercept his mail and make it seem like some other really scary guy is looking for a fight?"

"Quite." Herolax spoke while rolling his beady Kenari eyes. The seahorse face making the motion look utterly ridiculous.

"Aww. You don't need to emulate me big fella." I teased. "Those kinds of expressions don't look too good on your kind of face. It's okay. I don't need to be put at ease."

"No. It is me who needs to be put at ease when I'm with you." Herolax asserted. Then he huffed and straightened his posture.

"Regardless, you have what you…"

"Yeah yeah." I waved him off. "I am a man of my word Herolax. Unlike some Dragons I could name. I have nothing to gain by screwing you over now."

"You have nothing to gain by giving me what you promised either." He pointed out.

I made a show of feigning offense.

"My word! Is honor truly so dead around these parts that you'd doubt me of all people!? After I paid half upfront?"

Herolax did not comment further.

Which made me chuckle dryly.

"Don't worry. Like I said. I am a man of my word. I would not feel right if I backstabbed someone who wasn't going to backstab me first. I wouldn't even consider doing something like that unless my species was at risk."

I gave him the second boost, as he wished. Going easier on him than I did with my family and friends. Making sure he landed just at the tippy top of Tier 4. Partly to make him satisfied while not hurting him too much, and partly so that he was still a Tier lower than a lot of my associates.

While I would keep my word, it wouldn't do for him to be getting any funny ideas after all was said and done.

I opened a portal behind him some minutes later, after he'd recovered enough to walk without needing assistance.

He looked at the aperture in reality, but didn't leap through right away. Instead turning to stare back at me.

"You will keep your word on the other matter?"

"I will." I asserted. "No more chaos than absolutely necessary. Not that I have any incentive to keep going. I've already more or less crippled your civilization's elites and ruined your pretty little shuttles. None of you are going anywhere, anytime soon."

I stopped to look at him meaningfully. The interior of the ship's helm seeming to shrink as I exercised the slightest bit of my [Presence].

"That said. If Hazimon does return, all bets are off."

I narrowed my eyes.

He did the Kenari equivalent of gulping.

"So, I would work extra hard in convincing anyone you can to have a chat with the old fool once he does emerge back into the Labyrinth."

I paused to let him inhale and exhale once.

"I meant every single word I said."

His eyes began to quiver slightly. His mouth tube opening and closing nervously.

"Every. Single. One. The second he touches a single hair on a single human's head, this whole spree of vandalism will seem a jolly lark, compared to what I will do to your species next."

He nodded. Somehow managing to keep the terror out of his next words.

"And… the others?" He insisted.

"Will not die." I assured him again. "Why, I even have a fantastic growth opportunity waiting just for them. Which I'll show them right after you leave."

Herolax did not wait for any further comments.

He leapt into the portal and I turned to the PA system.

"Hello my dear passengers!" I called out with far more cheer. "I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to fly with Soon-To-Be-Spirits Airlines! This is your captain…"

I let the whisper from beyond the Veil carry the next words.

Bedlam broke out in the passenger section of the space-craft. The rest of the couriers running around like headless chickens as they began to realize that, one, they had all ended up on the same craft and two, that all the other passengers had disappeared.

'Not that they were there in the first place, but details details.'

"Now, I'm afraid I can't have you folks spreading rumors and misinformation about myself, so I'll have to take us on a little side-trip."

I willed Intruders to manifest. Ordering them to drill holes in the hull so that the whole ship started to go down.

"Now, If you look out the new windows, you'll notice that the whole ship just leapt through a portal. This is normal. We're actually going to a fun little Instance I designed with the help and inspiration of your dear Hazimon the Dragon. I call it, the super-DMV!"

Everyone in the back was screaming their lungs out. A few tried and failed to portal out themselves. Two of them hugged and started making out. Sure that these were their final moments of life.

"Oh no need for that folks!" I said with even more cheer. "It's not that bad! You'll just have to complete the Instance several times! What with the System translations being down. First with Kenari, and then with English, Spanish, French, German, Polish, Russian, Cantonese, Arabic, Sanskrit, three dialects of Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Portuguese."

I paused to admire my work. Pocketing the crystal as I opened another portal for myself.

"Do enjoy yourselves, and do make sure to relay aaaaallll your feedback to us. Because here at Soon-To-Be-Spirits Airlines, we make sure the customer, is always…"

I paused to lick my lips.

"Our bitch."

The night sky above the world was beautiful and mesmerizing in equal measure. The many stars twinkling merrily above our heads as the gentle breeze passed through the plains. I stretched my toes and felt the soft grass beneath my bare feet. Loving the way each individual blade tickled my skin. Caressing it with a loving familiarity.

I breathed in and rejoiced as the fresh, untainted oxygen entered my lungs. The air smelled of grass and pollen and of life itself. Carrying all kinds of scents from all kinds of sources.

Far to the south, a field of purple flowers attempted to overtake a field of red ones. The two masses battling for territory in the subtle ways of plants. Through spreading their seeds with the aid of nearby insects.

Those very same insects were at home tonight though. Buzzing in hexagonal hives nestled within empty fallen logs or otherwise hidden just beneath the surface. Their constant work continuing within the confines of their houses. Caring for their young or for their queens.

Far to the north, a group of semi-bipedal predatory marsupials had brought down a large lizard creature. Opening its belly and feasting on the poor behemoth's insides until they were full and sated. Then the carrion birds had come, along with other kinds of insects and smaller mammals and reptiles. All scrambling for a piece of the kill now that the most dangerous predators had fled the scene.

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To the east stood mountains. High and mighty as any that might be found on Earth. Their peaks dressed in coats of shimmering white as storms billowed out over them. The cool air fleeing down the slope to mix with the breeze running through the plains.

To the west stood a forest. Where trees filled with reddish-green leaves stood silent over the edge of the plains. Their domain ending where the great scaled giants had tread.

I took another breath and savored the moisture in the atmosphere. The soft cleansing sensation from the puddles the morning rain had left behind some hours ago feeling like portals to new and wondrous worlds. The dew on the grass only serving to add to the feeling of calm purity this place exuded.

"My oh my. How very wonderful." The chittering, insectile voice next to me spoke. "It is not every day I see someone who can appreciate my humble lodgings."

There was a clatter of mandibles striking mandibles in short, low-pitched squeaks. A sound no human would have picked up unless they had at least 2 Tiers in Shifter under their belt.

"They are indeed splendid. Even awe-inspiring."

She made a noise that, coupled with her visage, might have made regular people shit themselves on the spot. Though I had it on good authority that she was not displeased.

"Truly now? How very odd. Most of my guests complain about the incessant noise of nature at its most raw. About how I dislike the usual constructions and cities of the peoples within the Labyrinth."

'I suppose that's part of why you eat so many of your guests.' I thought with some humor. Though I would have never dreamed of saying such a thing out loud.

In truth, the Golden Cruelty was far better known for what she did to the guests she didn't eat, rather than those she tore apart with her fangs. Even the likes of Deketer had heard the rumors about the webs she spun. Both the literal, trapping webs and those webs of intrigue between dozens of co-conspirators. Most of whom never realized they were co-conspirators. Ruining the lives of those she felt had insulted her one tragedy at a time.

A rather detached approach to petty vengeance for an Enhancer Savant.

"It is so nice to see someone who understands the serenity a tranquil biome at balance brings. Why, it reminds me so much of my original home that I cannot bear to be away from places like these for long."

Contrary to her words, her furry spider-like centaur body was draped in flowing robes of strange make. Not a Symbiote. That and all her limbs were filled to bursting with golden bracelets and bands that shimmered under the soft moonlight.

Her neck and torso sporting so many golden chains you'd think she was getting ready to drop her latest diss track on a hated rival. Or perhaps getting ready to be buried under the pyramids alongside her ancestors.

None of these fashion statements spoke of someone with nature-focused sensibilities, but I chose not to mention any of that. I had enough enemies at the moment of course and the whole point to this mission was diplomacy.

I turned towards my host and shrugged.

"What can I say. I have a deep appreciation for life."

Her eight eyes followed me closely. Unblinking in the darkness while the mandibles continued their chittering.

"Oh yes." She went on. "Though I could have guessed that by your association with my esteemed colleague. Tell me, oh Inescapable Tyrant. How is the Seeking Drake?"

I shrugged again.

"Alive. I assume. Though I will admit I cannot prove it. I have not seen him for a week now. Still…"

My host let out another one of those amused noises.

"Yes. I know what you mean. When it comes to the Seeking Drake, it is always better to assume he is still alive. After all, if my most honorable peer, the Hermit Dragon was unable to slay him, one cannot imagine he will go quietly into the night."

She moved about the field graciously. Her slender arms and legs, though I could not for the life of me tell if she differentiated between the two, cruising through the soft grass without making a single sound.

"I could probably guess you first merged something to do with [Dexterity]." I joked. "You move very beautifully."

The centaur-spider horror thing made a motion with its mandibles. A gesture I assumed indicated it was pleased. Kind of how a matronly lady might wave you off without too much violence as a show of appreciation after a compliment.

"Oh, flattery will get you everywhere my young friend." She clicked those fangs of her again. A drop of venom dripping down as she did so.

I made a show of not pointing it out or even having any kind of physical reaction. Even as the single drop turned a three-meter radius of grassland into a patch of blackened dead, shriveled leaves in less than a second.

"It can hardly be called flattery." I said diplomatically. "Your reputation precedes you, Golden Cruelty. An Enhancer of your might and awesome reputation can hardly be ignored."

She chittered, more loudly this time. Waving with one of her hairy front… legs?

'Arms.' I decided. 'They can all be either arm or leg, but she seems to favor using the front two and the rear two as arms. While the middle four act as legs.'

Which was rather confusing as, from an onlooker's casual glance, her front legs were where arms should have been on the torso of a humanoid. While her rear-most arms looked as if the were vestigial with how much smaller they were than the rest.

'If I didn't know better, I'd have thought her a Shifter.' I mused. 'And a particularly mean-spirited Shifter at that. Good thing I never had arachnophobia.'

"Is that why you killed these poor, poor Kenari who tried to reach out to me?"

I sighed internally.

"I'll have you know I did no such thing. I even went out of my way to provide them with a once in a lifetime opportunity in an Instance I designed. One where it is quite literally impossible to die. Unless you kill yourself, but I can hardly be blamed for that."

The other Savant in attendance grumbled at the mention of my recent escapades. The sound travelling through the peaceful world like an earthquake. The very earth and dirt beneath us shuddering as the massive monstrosity moved its weight about slightly.

"It was. Dishonorably. Done." The Moving Mountain whispered.

Her body being so large as to eclipse the actual mountains in the distance and her mouth so huge that it would have looked like a volcano or a massive crater left behind by a meteor's impact to a scientist looking from space.

Indeed, I could only see all of her now thanks to my own Psionic senses. My human eyes being unable to hold in her entire mass within my vision at this distance.

"They. Posed. No threat. To you." She continued. Each slow, drawn-out word a different tremor.

"Perhaps." I allowed. "But you will note those who surrendered their own keys to the communication pylons were allowed to leave in peace."

"If. You. Can. Call. That. Peace."

"All I wanted was to send out my messages and to keep them from sending theirs. I could have stopped them all from sending them easily enough. I will not deny that. But then I would have had no way to reach most of you and speak with you like this. The protections put in place by whomever made those damn things were nothing short of exemplary like that. Not to mention the grim possibility that another Master, one who I could not foresee, might reach out to you all before I could get a single word in. Imagine the horror that would have ensued. All of us fighting for no good reason."

The Moving Mountain grumbled again.

"I. Would. Call. Mass. Killings. A good. Reason."

I could feel some of the loose pebbles at my feet scattering with those last few words. The carrions birds and other small animals feasting on the faraway carcass taking flight in naked terror, even as the insects in the hives worked to abandon their homes with their queens and whatever larvae they could carry.

"And I would point out that the gnomes are, as we all know, gnomes. I'm not going to stand here and pretend they're people."

Golden Cruelty chuckled.

"As for the Kenari, I have done remarkably little damage to their species. Only crippling their infrastructure and preventing them from building anything that can travel dimensions. I have been killing Masters at the medium Tiers, yes, but I will also point out that the Dragon had it coming."

The Moving Mountain grumbled again, though it was more a series of complaints it was repeating to itself rather than any actual statement.

"You. Had. No. Right." She went on. "All. Life. Is. Precious."

"I agree." I spoke casually. "That's one of the many beliefs we have in common with the Seeking Drake."

"Seeking. Drake. Cruel. Unjust. Dishonorable. Abomination."

I actually let out a dry chuckle at that.

"Well, yeah. That does sound like the Seeking Drake that I know."

The Moving Mountain went on.

"Life. Should. Be. Cherished. Guarded. Kept. In. Harmony. With. Nature. Not. Stored. And. Cut. Up. Into. Morsels."

I felt the wind picking up speed from the northwest. The Shifter Savant's breath rushing past us like a hurricane picking up speed.

"I would agree." I said while raising my hands in a placating gesture. "Frankly, our dear and lovely host's idea of nature in the form of this place is much more my style. I love the Zen feeling these grasslands give off. Really helps you think."

The winds kept picking up speed. The grandiose display of power only ramping up.

"Drake. Disgusting. Abomination."

"Yes madam. I would agree with that assessment." I clarified again. "I would hardly call him an upstanding citizen. Not when I'm certain I'd much rather be kissing serial killers than hanging out with him. I am saying you are right."

"Then. Why. Friend?"

"Because the Dragon betrayed me first." I spoke. My words cutting through the sound of the rushing gale.

"I gave him every opportunity to leave me and my people alone. I did not force him to betray me. I did not even make threats until he started making threats."

"But he left you no choice." Golden Cruelty cut in. "Yes. With what we've seen of your… particular talents. That does seem to align with what I've come to expect of the stubborn Kenari. I'll grant you that much."

Moving Mountain grumbled her agreement. Unable to deny the fact that the Dragon would have acted this way.

"But what I don't understand is what you hope to gain from these discussions."

She said with a few more clicks. Her many pieces of jewelry clinking softly against each other as she moved with slow, practised movements. Ones that did not betray just how fast she could move if the negotiations failed to bear fruit.

"In short, neutrality." I said with ease. "Don't attack me or mine and let me and the Drake cripple Hazimon's little empire unhindered."

The Moving Mountain grumbled again. Clearly, she was not the least bit happy with this deal.

"And why would we let you do that?" Golden Cruelty said with far too much excitement for my liking.

"Because you have nothing to gain by defending the Dragon." I answered politely.

The part about them also having everything to lose went unsaid.

"If he manages to escape his confines, which I doubt will happen anytime soon. And if he manages to beat both me and the Drake together, which I find even more unlikely; Then you will have gained nothing you didn't already have or were capable of obtaining without Hazimon's help."

I clasped both hands together.

"For example. Let us say that you manage to join the Dragon and defeat me and the Drake. Three against two."

"There will be many more than three on Hazimon's side." Golden Cruelty pointed out.

"He. Is. Well. Loved." The Moving Mountain echoed.

"Be that as it may." I continued. "Let us say that there are two against three. Well the two of us have all four Types and Hazimon only has one at a high-enough level for it to make any kind of difference. That, and even should you win, me and the Drake will still come right back again. And again. And again. Over and over. Without end. I don't know about either of you but I myself can be supremely petty when the lives of my kin are involved. I have granted miracles and it is in my nature to help. But make no mistake. I can and have ruined lives. I could do so again."

I clapped to annunciate the point.

"But I can also be the greatest miracle you've ever hoped for. All while Hazimon has no way of rewarding you for your efforts."

"Justice. Its. Own. Reward." The Moving Mountain declared.

Golden Cruelty gave her peer the side eyes, but did not refute the statement.

"But if you stay neutral, then you don't have to lift a single finger to get something out of this. Merely stay here or wherever you feel most comfortable and ignore any calls for aid. And your reward for sitting back and doing nothing?"

I let the question hang in the air.

"Types! One right away, as a sign of trust and the other two for after I've dismantled the main strength of the Kenari Empire and gained enough new levels to be able to take on Hazimon in a direct fight."

Golden Cruelty made a noise reminiscent of a sigh.

"So, we would be waiting a few thousand years?"

"No. You would be waiting a year at most." I told them plainly.

Neither of them laughed.

"You're serious?"

"More or less." I admitted. "Though I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. Like I said, we should be able to dismantle most of Hazimon's loyalists with little issue so long as other Savants don't get too involved. From there, I don't expect there will be a fight. More likely Hazimon will see the Drake and realize what I could do if further provoked. Then he'll be much more likely to offer me a peace where we leave each other alone from now on."

"Fool." The Moving Mountain chuckled. Seeming amused for the first time. "The. Dragon. Does. Not. Relent. That. Is. Why. He. Is. The. Dragon."

Golden Cruelty nodded along in her own spider-like way.

"The battle will be to the death. No matter how long that takes. You've proven you can be an equal, at least. And that you are more resourceful than the Drake. It is too dangerous for him to let you live. Too dangerous for his people to let your people live while they grow stronger in their hour of weakness."

"War. Is. Not. Avoided." The other Savant agreed.

I only smiled at that.

"Are you so sure?"

Then I released some of my Psy into the air and degraded the Veil in that pristine world.

"Why don't I show you both a little something?"

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