“Are you absolutely positive?”


    Larek looked at Kimble and General Auran, at their second meeting in as many days, and nodded.  “As positive as I can be,” he responded.  “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter in the overall situation.”


    “Doesn’t matter?  You’re talking about someone deliberately causing the Calamity to expand somehow; that’s a big deal, no matter how you look at it,” the General said, scoffing at Larek’s dismissal.


    “I’m not saying that it won’t be dangerous, but it doesn’t change our goal.  We need to close the Calamity before it expands out of control; I told you already that it’s expanding even as we speak, so I can’t imagine what it will look like in a week or a month if we don’t do anything.”


    Kimble spoke up before the General could.  “But that is only considering that the Calamity will keep expanding the way it is,” he interjected.  “We don’t know that for sure.”


    The Fusionist shrugged.  “That may be true.  It’s just a feeling I had when I got close to it, after all.  But what I am sure of is that this isn’t a normal expansion, so it could stop at any time – or it could continue expanding without ever stopping.”


    “Look, we already agreed to close the Calamity, but we might have to adjust our timeline,” the General interjected before they could argue about this again – which was just fine with Larek, as he was tired of the discussion.  He’d come back to the city that morning and had imparted the information he’d learned to those with the knowhow to deal with it, but all it did was restart the discussions about what to do about the Calamity in the first place.  “We’ll have to speed up the evacuations and—”


    “We don’t have that capability yet, especially with our teams finishing up north, so to ‘speed up’ their work is…”


    Larek stopped listening and stood up.  “Let me know what you decide; for now, I’ve got some work to do to get ready.  Since you’ve approved the use of my Reactive Necrotic Siphon, despite the dangers, I have quite a few to create.”  They barely seemed to notice he was leaving as the two of them began to go back-and-forth with their arguments, and he slipped out of the office and then up the ladder to the roof.


    From there, it was easy enough to make a Pattern platform to take him back home within a minute, and he entered to find it empty.  That was perfectly fine with him, as he had some work that needed to get done.


    Taking stacks of thin steel plates with him to his pillow throne, he used his Shape Material Fusion to turn each of them into a curved bracelet with smooth edges, with an opening that could be slipped over the wrist.  Kevara had worked earlier in the day to create a large batch of bracelets, but he was going to need a lot more in order to outfit everyone going on the expedition to the Calamity.  Fortunately, he would be able to place both of the newer Fusions on the same bracelet, giving everyone a way to see in the darkness and to help reduce the aura of death around them.  With the way he was able to separate their areas of ambience, he now had the ability to put quite a few more Fusions on the same accessory, which cut down on the need to be wearing so many different pieces of equipment.


    Larek lost himself in his work, reveling in the way his Shape Material easily allowed him to bend a solid steel plate into bracelets, all with a simple series of thoughts, thanks to his Fusion.  It got to the point where he was able to pick one of the plates up with his Fusion and transform it in less than a second, so he was able to rapidly create as many as he needed.  When he had 100 of the bracelets ready for his use, he spent another minute adding Reactive Necrotic Siphon and Adjustable Illuminate Area to the accessory, before putting them aside; he left enough room on them that he could add something else, but he wasn’t exactly sure what it was going to be just yet.


    It still shocked him that those in charge of the expedition to the Calamity had resolved to use the Necrotic Siphon, even after Larek had told them of the dangers.  Kimble reasoned that with more people in a group, the amount of necrotic energy being siphoned from the environment and condensed would necessarily be spread out among all of them, thereby lessening the possibility that some sort of bone monstrosity would or could be borne.  General Auran had argued that it would simply speed up the process of clearing the Calamity of monsters if they all focused on the Siphons, so it was actually beneficial to have them.  Plus, she said, with the Fusions that Larek provided and their own spells and Battle Arts available, she was fairly confident that they would easily be able to handle whatever evolved undead might show up.


    If that was what they wanted to do, Larek was fine with that; now that he knew what he’d potentially be going up against, he wasn’t necessarily worried for his own safety, but he just hoped that the General knew what she was doing.  The members of the SIC who had joined the Volunteers were generally more powerful in terms of their experience and development, though that would only go so far when it came to evolved monsters, such as the skeletal monstrosity that he’d just recently fought.


    Then again, if they planned everything correctly in their assault, then they likely would never have to worry about any Bone Wraiths getting a hold of a condensed orb of necrotic energy.  Again, he was leaving the logistics of the expedition to others, but he’d overheard enough to be optimistic at their chances of dealing with the Calamity quickly.


    Over the next few days, Larek continued his work, creating thousands of Fusions for those preparing to assault the Calamity.  Nedira informed him that they had finally come to an agreement regarding how to speed up the evacuation process, shifting around personnel and even utilizing the Faction members who were beginning to integrate themselves into the larger organization.  It was actually turning out to be easier than expected, helped in part because those they were sent to evacuate were already prepared to flee and just needed assistance with transportation, which was easy enough to provide with the Transports.


    “What do they have to say about the trap that we’re potentially walking into?” the Fusionist asked her at dinner, taking a break from his work.


    She smiled sadly at Larek, throwing up her hands in helplessness.  “They have no idea.  I expect that they are waiting for you to tell them the plan there.”


    That took him aback a little.  “Hmm….  I suppose I can figure out something.”


    The Fusionist ate the rest of his dinner mechanically as he thought about the problem at hand.  If he was right about what he’d felt, then it was likely there was a trap awaiting him inside the Calamity, and it would be dangerous for anyone with him if that was the case.  Not because it was a Gergasi he was feeling, nor even multiple Gergasi; instead, the familiar underlying sensation within the surging Calamity was from the Unspoken Response.


    It had taken a while to identify it because it wasn’t exactly the same as he’d felt back in Kilvering, where he sensed those in charge of the assassin organization watching him.  Whereas that had been something that was related to light, as if someone could see him through that medium, this felt exactly the opposite.  A cloying miasma of darkness or shadows accompanied the surging of the Calamity, as if enhancing its effect, and it had the same definitive quality to it that – now that he had equated it to the Unspoken Response – inhabited the distance-viewing he''d experienced before.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Obviously, he could be wrong, but he was 99% sure that he was correct about his assumption.  And along with that assumption was that if there was one of the members of the Unspoken Response inside the Calamity, there was a good chance that there were more – perhaps all of them.  It was a good plan for a trap, as the assassins had obviously learned enough about him to know that he would try and stop the central Aperture from expanding and putting people in danger – and that he could even race inside to close it before that happened.  Now that he knew about the trap, however, he could do something to mitigate the danger.


    While no one necessarily knew much about the leadership of the Unspoken Response, based on what he’d learned and experienced, he could only assume that they were powerful individuals, each with their own abilities that made them deadly opponents.  The fact that one used light to watch him even at a far distance, and now this new member of the assassins’ group was using darkness and shadow to do something outside the bounds of normal casting, which made Larek assume that many of them could be casters focused on a singular element – but that was a complete guess.  Still, it was better than no guess at all, and it gave him a place to start with defending against them.


    Ideally, his relatively new offensive Fusions would be more than enough to eliminate the assassins, but he wasn’t going to rely on them; since he’d be walking into a trap, there was every possibility that they would be prepared for his existing Fusions.  It was even more than likely that they knew about them via spying on him through the light, as he was now aware that they had probably watched every single fight against their assassin strike groups, so those Fusions were compromised.  If he wanted to surprise them, he needed to bring something completely new.


    And he thought that he had just the thing.  Turning to the thousands of bracelets that he’d created previously, he looked at them as a whole, seeing the possibility inherent in them that he hadn’t thought about before.  He wasn’t going to simply add a single Fusion to each bracelet, each of them independent of each other; instead, what if he connected them so that they worked in conjunction with each other, enhancing and multiplying the Effect of the Fusion?


    So, that was exactly what he did.  The Fusion itself was one he’d already created before and which was simple enough to reproduce; but this time, he added something completely new, a component he’d never thought to use before: Resonate.  In essence, the Fusion would detect the use of an identical formation within its range, and instead of creating a whole new Effect, it would add to the detected Effect with a boost, enhancing both its quality and its range.  As he began putting it together, he became more and more excited over the potential for something like this, as its applications could be used in other types of Fusions to produce extraordinary results from ordinary Fusions, allowing for a much larger and more powerful result than what would be possible normally.


    But that, of course, would have to be something he’d experiment with in the future; for now, he just needed it to work on these bracelets.  He tested two of them together to see if they did, indeed, work together with the Resonate component, and he quickly discovered that he’d succeeded spectacularly.


    Pleased with what he’d created, Larek began adding the new Fusion to all of the bracelets, working in near darkness the entire time as he took precaution against spying on him.  While he hadn’t lately felt the attention through the light like he had in Kilvering, he wasn’t going to take any risks.  In fact, he wasn’t going to test it any further than what he already had, nor would he tell anyone about them – so that their function wouldn’t leak to the Unspoken Response.


    The following morning, he was done with his preparation, so he took the rest of the day and some of the following night off to rest and recover from his Fusion creation, while crates of Fusions were picked up and distributed to those who would be coming with him to the Calamity.  Early the next morning, before the sun was even up, Larek and Nedira found themselves out in the Transport Field, surrounded by thousands of other people, all prepared to board the Transports.


    “Everyone is assembled, sir,” Bartholomew reported officially to Kimble, Larek, and General Auran.  “Towns around the border have been evacuated; the situations in the northern regions have been stabilized, to an extent; and we’ve been able to distribute the necessary Fusions to each assault group.  As soon as you give the word, we’ll embark and be on our way.”


    Kimble took a moment to glance at the General, followed by looking over the assembled ranks of Volunteers, SIC members, and Faction members that were joining on this assault on the southwestern Calamity.  He finally raised his hand in approval, and the crowd roared their own excitement, as Larek wasn’t the only one anxious to get rid of the constant surging coming from the west.


    Larek joined his friends in the fully repaired Hopper, and he took off when they were all aboard.  Everyone was coming with them this time, unlike their last foray against the SIC, so Neidra was joined by her brother, Verne, along with Teena; Kimble was accompanied by Esmer; Penelope was with Vivienne; and Bartholomew was by himself.  The General was on another Transport, and while he also had another 20 Volunteers on The Hopper, it still wasn’t too crowded.


    “So, are you happy with this plan of yours, Larek?” Kimble asked softly, coming up next to him.  “It''s relying on a few suppositions, after all.”


    The Fusionist nodded.  “Yes.  If there’s a trap, it’s probably near the center; it’s the only place that one could reliably believe they would find me.  The other groups should be fine.”


    “And you have a plan for this supposed trap, if there is indeed one?”


    “Don’t worry, I’ve got that handled,” he responded as he looked out at the points of light in the darkness of the pre-dawn environment.  Each transport now had an Adjustable Illuminate Area Fusion permanently attached to it, creating large beacons of light in the sky.  “Just so that I have the rest of the plan in mind, would you be able to go over it again?”


    Kimble looked at him in confusion for a half-second, before he chuckled.  “Oh, that’s right.  You decided to skip all of our planning meetings, didn’t you?  I can’t blame you for that, however, because they were quite boring – but necessary.


    “Anyway, to answer your question, I can go over the wider plan with you.  First, as we’re doing right now, we’re moving out before day hits, so that everyone can get into position in their designated assault section.  With 20,000 total participants, each of them equipped with staves with a myriad of offensive Fusions, a large percentage with your Protection of the Void Fusion for defense, and many of them also equipped with a plethora of your newest additions, including these bracelets, this is the largest undertaking that the Kingdom has ever seen.


    “Split up across 500 Transports, there are 40 people per vessel, which is more than enough to handle just about anything that we might encounter.  In a coordinated assault, we’ll be striking as soon as dawn clears the darkness from the Calamity to give us plenty of time before night falls again to clear out the entire territory.  A full 350 of our teams will be tackling the subservient Apertures, while the remaining 150 are on undead duty, where they will be hunting down and annihilating any hordes of undead that are wandering around, thinning out their numbers as we advance toward the center.  By midday, the plan is to have the majority of the subservient Apertures wiped out, and the teams will station themselves above them in order to eliminate any reinforcements.


    “Meanwhile, the remaining 150 teams, along with us, will be advancing toward the center, where we’ll wipe out all of the more difficult evolved monsters that are likely guarding the central Aperture.  This is the most dangerous part, because if you’re correct, it’s at this point that the trap might be sprung for you, but I’m trusting that you have a plan for that.  If that is successful, then it should be easy enough to eliminate all the monsters and begin whittling down the Aperture, closing it before the day is done.  We shouldn’t have to worry about being enveloped by the darkness that the night would bring, but we have contingency plans in place in case there are any delays.


    “How’s that?”


    Larek chuckled.  “Sounds perfect.  A quick strike before the Calamity can react is probably the best solution to close this one.  Is there any other information on what might be awaiting us in the center?”


    “Nope.  No one’s been able to get that close in the past, as the aura of death only becomes more potent the further you travel toward the center, so we haven’t had anyone able to investigate it yet.  We’ll be flying into it a bit blind, but we should be able to handle it.”


    Larek certainly hoped so.  They were certainly as prepared as possible, and with more strength behind them than there had been in any of the previous Calamities.


    The only wildcard was the trap, but even that wasn’t something he was too worried about.  The Unspoken Response would find that they were completely unprepared for his coming, despite their trap.


    And he would finally be able to end their threat to the Kingdom, enacting more than a little revenge for the countless lives that they’d likely taken over the years.