The Legendary Fool

105:

Physically, Tom knew he couldn’t pant while he was in the realm of Yul. That did little to reassure a fear so intense that it was palpable, leaving him suffering from phantom phenomena as his heart hammered so hard in his chest it felt like it would explode in the next second while the air was sucked away from his lungs, leaving him gasping and panting for it.

‘Who was that?’ The single question dominated his mindspace as he tried to recover from the wave of terror that was still roiling in his gut.

Tom had not even been trying to peer into the memories of that mysterious being, not that he believed himself capable of such a feat. He had only glimpsed upon the memories of the Nether Lich and up until now, not a single person he had used Active Shroud— Maya on had so much as noticed.

Yet another person, a being who helmed the army tens of thousands strong, had known even though it was not his memories that were being infiltrated. The being had known and it had put an end to it.

The Fool was no ordinary card. It was an Ephemeral Card, the only of its kind to exist. It was the one card above all Tom could place his faith in, an infallible cornerstone of his defenses.

Perhaps it had been breached. But what was more likely?

Had The Fool really failed… or was there a connection between that being’s soul and the Nether Lich?

Tom shuddered at the thought alone, his expression visibly haunted as he thought back on the being’s words.

“Who are you?” was the question the being had asked, meaning that there was a chance it could not figure out how the infiltration had taken place.

There were thousands, nay, millions of cards in existence, even if a large swathe of them were common cards. It was not unlikely for one or even many amongst them to be able to tap into the memories of creatures whose bodies housed a soul.

Maybe the being didn’t know that it was him, Thomas Lowe, that had peered into the Nether Lich’s memories.

But… that didn’t change the horrifying fact that the entire army of Nether Beasts were waging a war on the entire planet of Artezia, a planet that he had witnessed in the Nether Lich’s memories, were after the seventh ephemeral.

A sinking feeling in his gut told him that there were only so many interpretations that could be made out of that statement. The Fool was an ephemeral ranked card. He was its wielder. It or perhaps, he, Thomas Lowe, working in tandem with his ephemeral card, was the key to something called the Book of Maya.

A book that could change the tide of the war being waged on Artezia, tilt it towards the side of the invaders.

‘Eight Divines. Three on one side. Five sided with this… Nether Faction. Only one survived. Cards are shards of the Prime’s power and the fragments that remain of his soul govern Artezia…. It has to be the Divine System. This… isn’t something I should be knowing. I didn’t sign up for this, not for any of th—, Tom’s train of thought, a melange of panic and horror, derailed as he remembered where he was.

“This is neither the time nor the place to break down,” Tom snarled under his breath, even as he floated in the yul’s infinite void.

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‘It doesn’t matter if they want me, as long as I have The Fool, they can’t find me. They can’t destroy Artezia either, so they won’t force their way to me. Someone is holding them back for me. Right now, there’s only one damn thing I need to focus on, Tom thought, before turning his gaze in the direction where he expected the sea of stars to be.

“What the hell?” Tom exclaimed, his tone carrying forward his astonishment as he noticed the stark absence of the sea of stars that he was so used to.

The void before him was almost empty, stretching out endlessly into what felt like infinity. Eternal darkness, punctuated only by only a single golden star twinkling in the distance.

“Wait, come to think of it,” Tom muttered to himself, before stretching out his limbs and moving them. “There is none of the rejection I usually feel,” He observed, finding no resistance from the soul he was encroaching upon.

Almost as if the soul was slumbering.

The Nether Beasts had never seemed like nature’s creations to him. Perhaps he was overreaching, but the fact that their leader, the robed being, had managed to detect the intrusion suggested a connection between them.

Were the Nether Beasts made instead of born?

Did the robed being play a hand in their creation?

Tom shuddered at the thought, before shaking his head and directing his body forward.

As he had suspected, the resistance from the realm of yul did not grow stronger as he strode deeper and deeper into the void.

For once, a challenge that Artezia had thrown at him was too easy and it terrified him.

Finally, Tom reached for the golden star.

The light returned to Tom’s gaze as he pivoted to the right, avoiding the charge of a skeletal bird with his superior reflexes.

Tom’s complexion was pale, his hands lightly trembling as he turned his gaze to the Nether Lich.

For now, he knew just how many leagues the nether beast outpaced them by, how impossible this fight was.

Their party could not so much as scratch the Nether Lich, not in a decade. Or at least, that would have been the case if it was not for the seal the Divine System had placed on the creature’s strength.

Tom knew what the Nether Crystals were, why and how they came to be.

“Zirel!” Tom bellowed, his tone sharp and commanding.

“What?” came the strained reply, as Zirel blocked a clawed strike with his blade of necrosis, the impact sending him reeling backwards.

“Retreat to the eastern wall before throwing that alchemical reagent on the throne,” Tom called out in the chaos of the battlefield.

“I just told you—,” Zirel protested, his words cut short as he was forced to dodge another swipe of claws. “why that’s going to kill us all!”

“Trust me!” Tom replied, his tone determined. “You’re not going to die as long as you stay close to the wall,” He explained, even though he knew how weak his reasoning sounded.

“Are you sure?” Aleph asked, her tone sounding uncertain as she tried to fight her way to the Nether Lich.

“It’s the only way. We’re not going to win a war of attrition,” Tom pleaded, the raw desperation in his words audible.

“I believe him, Zirel,” Aleph added, as she no longer pressed forward but instead began a hasty retreat.

“You two are going to be the death of me,” Zirel protested, but his tone didn’t carry any bite to it. “How do you propose we get through its shield?”

“How many reagents do we have?” Tom shot back, as his lips curled up into the beginnings of a smile.

“You’re insane, all of you are blooming insane,” Zirel pronounced, but he didn’t protest.

Less than a minute later, six alchemical reagents sailed across the air, aiming for the Nether Lich that was still seated on it’s throne.

It would defend, Tom knew. But it also didn’t have the intelligence to differentiate it from any other attack they had launched at it.

Violet flames consumed their line of sight the next moment.