The sound of explosions as yet another infiltration force from Midnight Parlor managed to get past our barricades. You’d think with the fact that we had three dragons flying around and killing all the intruders they could see that they would be more on defense instead: we did send an entire good of spellmen to take out their base. Sighing in frustration, I flicked one of my conjured fishing rods and used it’s line to swing myself onto one of the base’s raised terraces: leaving Fake-Reginald and Fake-Nevil to deal with whatever RTS was making its way through the barricades’ ground level entrances.

“These guys are such a pain,” I quipped to no one in particular, readying my original fishing rod from my Halo system-slot connection for myself and my new coral monster fishing rod from my Alternate Source’s connection sub-connecting to Alihi’a’Pounga. To think I started off learning about the Alternate Source because I heard it was more or less a stronger and more nuanced but less finetuned version of system slots and made my first connection into a primary-blackzone one and sub-connecting to Alihi’a’Pounga and a hardcore Digital Realm called Monster’s Ladder. Now I had an outer-blackzone connection to sub-connect to the Hybrid System of Warring Core along with a power-linking to my Dual System-Fishermanship (Game-Vox) plus two outer-blackzone multi-connections with their own slew of power-links: five Alternate Source’s connection worth of investments into the hybrid system to make sure I could stay head and shoulders against all the other newcomers and more experienced enemies that weren’t toting around large investments in system slots.

“Let’s just focus on defending the base for now, we can get back to monster creation later,” chimed Anlola from the back of my head as I scanned for my next target.

“Fine by me, let’s get this over with so we can finally work with everyone on finishing up the backlog on monster variants.”

Finding my next target, a RTS that bolted past our defenses in a streak of black, I whipped my original fishing rod: the second the enchanted lure hit it, it exploded like an inky balloon. Just goes to show how powerful kits from Alternate Source’s connections were: Driscoll had helped me ballpark the potency and we figured it was about one of these kits to two system slot’s connection kits on top of effectively being 50% higher in stratum. 

“Two stratum 0.5s and four stratum 2s in term of potency, these summons will be simple enough to handle even in larger numbers,” commented Driscoll as he and pappa helped me fine-tune my telekinesis and mana-infusing of my fishing rods with Anlola.

“The Alternate Source is an interesting ingredient to use,” followed up pappa as I flicked my coral monster fishing rod, sending out a spray of pink and robin blue coral fragments from its fishing line and skewering more RTSes to death.

“Of course it is, and I still have four more Alternate Source’s connections I can use,” I chimed in before swing over to the barricade proper: with all these RTSes, drudges, and secret worlders managing to breach our defenses, I needed to give Tabbitha and Aunt Margaret a word or two. You’d think that a pair of witch-cursed with dragons and a boon kit and a radar kit would be better at directing the defense.

More explosions to my right as I saw the golden-clad Scalugon the Last suddenly distort and wink out of existence: Tabbitha’s alt-rhi better be in the enemy’s base right now or else dispelling her high familiar like that would have been very frustrating for everyone in Goldenrod Compita-Phantasm. Scowling in frustration, I hurried to where I last saw the two and of course Tabbitha was barking out orders, radar in hand, while Aunt Margaret was casting all-purpose boons from her staff. Glancing up I saw Vertrala spitting out more dragon’s breath while the remaining Scalugon the Last threw ball and ball of bane-infused dungeon-mana.

“Umi, behind you!” shouted Tabitha suddenly;whipping around. I saw a secret world bearing down on me with an absurdly long blade. On instinct, I dropped low and held my twin fishing rods up in a X formation. Catching the blade in the notch of my fishing rods, I flicked my wrists and allowed the fishing lines to unwind and strangle the secret worlder under pappa and Driscroll’s control.

“I hate stealth,” I muttered under my breath before calling out, “Thanks.”

“No problem, jesus these guys won’t stop coming.”

“It’s this hybrid system, too many throwaways,” complained Aunt Margaret loudly, sending out a series of boons to our faction’s gold-trimmed RTSes.

“The Hybrid System of Warring Cores always did prioritize quantity followed by experience,” extolled Driscroll as we tossed the now dead secret worlder off the barricade, completely strangled and fried under my Alternate Source’s potency. This was getting taxing and annoying, but it felt good to use magic like this. Catching my exhaustion, Aunt Margaret quickly tossed a boon my way, filling me with a refreshing sense of subtle power. It was simple but effective: I guess dad’s cousin was good for something after all.

Working our way through a steady flow of RTSes, drudges, and secret worlders, I continued to hear the sounds of explosions from where Midnight Parlor managed to breach our defences. Before I could ask if we should fall back to the system-made base core, Tabitha answered the question for me,

“Crap! They’re at the core!”

“Do we have enough time to stop them?” I asked with a scowl, frustrated that I wasn’t already defending it.

“No way, they already took our A-Eris and her troops.”

“So… retreat?” followed up Aunt Margaret as she glanced to the far side of the base where it was easiest to exit the pocket dimension.

“Retreat, and I guess leave Vertrala and Scalugon for a bit. To cover our tracks.”

And just like that, the three of us were running away with our tails between our legs: I couldn’t help but grit my teeth when I felt the pulse of mana that signalled the base was taken over. Those spellmen better at least take the other base of us, I sourly thought as I looked back at the mundane skyscrapers blocking my view of the portal to Midnight Parlor’s pocket dimension. Turning the corner to the optimal exit-point, the three of us were greeted by a secret worlder in all black and wielding a pain of submachine guns.

“You guys trying to escape?” asked the secret worlder with a cocky grin as we came to a halt.

“Yeah…” replied Aunt Margaret defensively, holding up her staff, ready to give me a helping boon or two.

“Well too bad, Crestier is Midnight Parlor territory. You should have came here in proxy bodies.”

“You’re kidding right? This place is in a conquest, you can hardly call it on Crestier.”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules here, I just enforce them.”

“And I really don’t care about your stupid rules,” I shot back, springing into action as I lost my patience: we had just lost the base and I really wasn’t in the mood for some secret worlder idiot claiming he controlled this part of our Enigma. Lashing out with my two fishing rods, I sent a mental command to Fake-Reginald and Fake-Nevil since they were both still alive and summoned, “Hurry up and get here! Flank him!”

Still smiling, the secret worlder jumped over my fishing lines and released a volley of bullets. Sending out a thing of telekinetic energy, I shot the fishing lines up to try and catch him midair as I rolled sideways: a pair of bullets ripped straight through my passive spell shield but likely not through my arms. Multiple kits for one weapon, damnit, I thought to myself as I felt my mana passively circulating in my system try to mend the wounds only to become sluggish in the process.

Not wanting to spend the rest of the week in my personal space waiting to be revived, I focused on evasion while Tabbitha and Aunt Margaret went to calling their dragons over. Another bullet scraped the hand, making me wince before I dropped my coral monster fishing rod and summoned one of my two basic fortified fishing rods from my Alternate Source’s connection’s Twin Fisherwoman kit.

“Looks like you dropped something,” taunted the secret worlder, twirling his guns as the ammo cartridges flew out and were magically replaced.

“Shut up,” I quickly shot back as I casted the fishing line in a long arc. He was getting on my nerves, but he wasn’t getting on my nerves enough to make me regret not using another Alternate Source’s connection to power-link my other Refresco hub system slot’s connection for its spirit child’s daydreaming fishing rod. Pulling the crystalline fishing rod, I managed to accelerate the hook itself to get a scathing hit on the secret worlder's back. “See?”

“Cheap shot.”

“Who cares.”

“I do.” Another volley of molten metal tinged in darkness that forced me to kite around him in zig zag. Another mildly revitalizing boon from Aunt Margaret, causing the secret worlder to shift his focus.

Before he could start shooting at the two witch-cursed, I flicked my original fishing rod at one of his guns and managing to wrap a fishing line around it. With a telekinesis-empowered pull, I ripped it from his hand and felt as he started to force it back into his head with some sort of telekinetic or basic weapon magic of his own.

“Damnit, didn’t your parents ever tell you not to play with a man’s guns?” shouted the secret worlder before pausing as Vertrala finally made an entrance with Scalugon the Last in tow. Catching a glimpse of Fake-Reginald and Fake-Nevil arriving with perfect timing, I gave them the command to attack while Anlola remotely controlled my dropped coral monster fishing rod, drawing on one of its primary spirit halo abilities.

With a look of surprise on his face, the secret worlder found himself getting ensnared by all five of my fishing rods as both of my summons caught him from behind. Seeing that both dragons were readying their killing blows, I stuck my tongue and said,

“Nope.”

“You really are brutal, you know that right, Umi?” asked Aunt Marget as she dispelled Scalugon the Last and started to jump back to Rainbow Rope District.

“I know, dad keeps reminding me,” I replied as I followed suit with a grin, glad that I was able to shut at least one idiot up before leaving the pocket dimension.

It wasn’t too long until after we exited back into the conquest that our accounts dinged with the notification of the battle completely ending: Tabbi and her housemates actually managed to capture the other base for us. And of course she managed to get a group reward along with Tabitha and Aunt Margaret. From the looks of it it was a duplicate of Scalugon the Last’s legacy plus a mirroring collage room with the megiddo-ultima tag for the both of them with the alt-rhi getting the lion share in the form of mandala inscriptions to turn some of housemates in sweet tooths and also supplies to give them Scalugon. So we’re going to have two Scalugon the Lasts now? Don’t we have enough dragons already?