"Because Sasrir is just that useful. Back when he served the Sun God, he kept the divine kingdom in perfect order. If he jumped ship to my team, he'd be worth three Reds." Alaric said confidently, not a trace of guilt on his face.
"And you have the nerve to tempt Sasrir with an eight-hour workday when you'd have him working 24/7 anyway." Medici retorted, exasperated. "With your personality, Sasrir would still be slaving away non-stop."
Alaric's gaze drifted, as if suddenly fascinated by the peculiarity of the pocket dimension. After a few seconds, he muttered, "…At least I'd give him annual leave."
The War Angel couldn't hold back anymore. "Isn't it possible that Sasrir, after becoming the True Creator, has already gone mad and can't help you manage anything? Plus, he's fused with the Lord's humanity…"
Alaric gave him an odd look. "Isn't it also possible that a mad god could regain sanity, and what's fused could be split again?"
The War Angel's eyes sharpened instantly.
Medici turned to Alaric, narrowing his eyes. "So that's your plan…"
Medici had long wondered how Alaric intended to recruit Sasrir, who had "fallen" and become the True Creator. He'd never asked, but now he was starting to grasp Alaric's ideas.
"They're just some thoughts. I like to tinker with ideas in my spare time, so I've brainstormed ways to retrieve the Creator." Alaric said, spreading his hands before continuing eagerly. "Right now, I have two plans. The first is separation and re-fusion. As we know, Adam plus the True Creator equals the Ancient Sun God plus Sasrir. So, if we could extract their consciousnesses and recombine them, we might reconstruct the Ancient Sun God and Sasrir... maybe even salvage the real Adam…"
"The challenge is how to extract those consciousnesses. I have some ideas, but they're not fully developed yet." Alaric paused, sighing. "My expertise isn't quite suited for this."
Alaric's abilities focused on time, space, emotional manipulation, and avatars. The only aspect remotely tied to consciousness was emotional manipulation, but even his Persona Mask could, at best, impose emotions on Adam or the True Creator... not reverse-engineer their consciousnesses into the Ancient Sun God or Sasrir.
Still, as a Sequence 6, Alaric couldn't rule out gaining new abilities related to emotions or consciousness in higher Sequences, so he saw potential in this plan.
"…And the second plan?" Medici asked, withholding comment on the first.
"The second plan…" Alaric paused, smiling. "It's simple in theory, tricky in practice. Since the Shadow of Time can summon people from the past, if I summoned the Ancient Sun God and Sasrir the moment before their fall and kept their consciousnesses in this era, wouldn't that count as revival?"
Medici froze, his fists clenching instinctively. "Can you do it?"
"Not yet." Alaric shook his head, honest. "If I could, I'd have already revived Sasrir to work for me."
A brutally practical reason, but convincing.
Medici felt a wave of disappointment. Though he no longer served the Sun God, his deep bond with both the Sun God and Sasrir made him yearn for their revival.
The War Angel didn't fare much better. He looked at Alaric. "But you seem to have some ideas?"
"I do have a few." Alaric said with a smile. "Maybe when I reach Sequence 2, I can give this path a try."
Alaric still hadn't fully grasped the Fictionist's abilities, but through self-exploration, he had a vague sense that they might allow him to anchor past consciousnesses in the present, albeit with significant limitations.
He wasn't clear on the specifics but was eager to find out.
The War Angel looked puzzled. Though he shared emotions and some information with his future self, he didn't know Alaric well.
Medici narrowed his eyes. "How much longer until you've fully digested your Sequence 6 potion?"
"About a month?" Alaric said uncertainly. His "Lucifer" persona was progressing smoothly, and at this rate, he'd have a Sequence 2 persona in a month.
"But even after digesting the Sequence 6 potion, I'll need to complete the ritual and gather the auxiliary materials for the Playwright potion to advance." Alaric said with a grin.
Like other pathways requiring rituals to reach Sequence 5, Alaric's ascension to Sequence 5 Playwright demanded one too. Fortunately, the ritual was straightforward for him: within a short period, guide the fates of over a thousand people, evoke intense emotions in them, and consume the potion amidst those emotions.
For most Sequence 6s, this would be a nightmare, but for Alaric, the people of City of Silver or Moon City made it feasible. By selecting a thousand from either city and bringing them to the outside world, he could fulfill the fate-guiding requirement. The intense emotions they'd feel upon seeing the bright world would meet the ritual's needs.
This was why Alaric invested so heavily in City of Silver. Advancing his Lucifer persona was one reason, but more crucially, City of Silver was an ideal ritual resource.
As for the auxiliary materials for the Playwright potion, they followed the Chaos Pathway's eclectic style... this time requiring items tied to the Earth or Moon Goddess Pathways, specifically high-Sequence ones.
Alaric's conventional plan was to ask Lilith for blood; his less conventional one was to test whether the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption would work… ahem.
Medici, unaware of Alaric's riskier ideas, frowned instinctively. "That's slow."
"Come on, just over three months ago, I was a mere human. This speed is already cheating!" Alaric protested, unapologetic. "Have some patience, Red. I get you're eager to see your 'mom,' but cut me some slack!"
***
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