In the Crimson Cathedral, Nikolai sitting in the church confessional alongside with Patriarch Futility. His consciousness is still muddy and processing the thought, while the Patriach is not about to deliver sermon but more insidious implications of specific agenda.

  “My adorable wolfling, did you enjoy the game with the big nasty wolves? If not, maybe I should drop the pretense. Anyways, the Overseers was so very pleased of the performance and took liking of your pack.”

  Partriach Futility came out from confessional and stand in front of him. Nikolai refrain from sitting for long and knelt to pay respect also to pay attention on what Patriarch's briefing.

  Patriarch Futility smiled gently at him. Nikolai shuddered in agony as his own body underwent a qualitative transformation into a grotesque and monstrous humanoid hybrid of werewolf and octopus. His entire body split in half, discarded flesh growing out in the process to replace his hominid features with wolven biology. Nikolai howled erratically, gasping for air to breathe, as fleshy tentacles with eyes violently grew out from his body.

  Nikolai's spatial awareness and senses expanded exponentially regardless of topography or distance, allowing him to observe everything. His strength, speed, and durability increased beyond the conventional rules of biology or even the fundamental laws of physics. Nikolai whimpered in horror, prostrating himself and pleading for mercy in front of Patriarch Futility, who responded only with an expression both amused and indifferent.

  “Fear is temporal but the horror is always eternal. Even the Lake of Oblivion itself refusing him to reconcile with death. Keeps dragging his consciousness back in the surface of Lake, the crimson moonlight projects the shadow back with cruel empathy”

  Patriach Futility immediately lift the minute-long little experiment on how resilient is biological immortality in Crimson Waste's metaphysical contamination and he was satisfied in results of mocked-up stress test.

  Nikolai transform back to original state after the horrifying and sanity-shattering experiment. He felt thirsty and the throat is dry as desert from dehydration. Nikolai found a knife at the table and mutilates the wrist to drink its own blood to quench the thirst.

  Patriarch Futility finds it amusing and offers a seat to Nikolai as reward for additional entertainment in it's own self-consuming insanity and he sheepishly accept the hospitality. The Patriach continue to deliver the overview for him.

  “Regarding the Haemanthus mark in your left hand. It is not only a fancy ornament but a marker for evolution, to resist otherworldy interference, and grant abilities beyond human reflexes. Of course, not every gift is created inconsequential and are you prepare to bear the consequences?”

  Nikolai affirmed and did not hesitate to accept the offer.

  “Yes, we are willing to accept the offer and pay for consequences. Your will, is my will”

  Patriarch Futility was surprised and burst laughing out on his naivety.

  “Fools are always been fools, if someone think that being and time are the separate schema. You know what Heidegger guy said: “Dasein is an entity which does not just occur among other entities. Rather it is ontically distinguished by the fact that, in its very Being, that Being is an issue for it.” By the way, you can't understand from now, until some scary stuff comes out to make everyone piss in their own pants. Splendid, my adorable wolfling because the big nasty vixen is coming to play with you, hehe”

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  Matriarch Despair appear behind Nikolai's back and touch his shoulders with frigid intimacy. He unable to move neither to speak, as the primal fear betrayed its own entire body. Now, he was trembling violently in unspeakable horror and the raw damnation of madness spiraling towards in the zenith of despair.

  “Mortal flesh is unbelievably pathetic for anthropocentric arrogance, believing themselves they are entitled to claim the path of apotheosis and stand within the pedestal of cosmos. The puny kind of yours, obviously still living in the well of banal delusions. I'm able to take the mortals out from cave but mortals can't take the cave out for themselves. I'm not here as a preacher to deliver sermon of salvation but to sustain the endless foolishness of theirs. That's a very spectacular ideology of egalitarianism that they want to deserve. Isn't?”

  Matriarch Despair embracing Nikolai tightly, kissing his cheek and caressing its face, in the way of imitating the maternal embrace while looking at him with contempt. Patriarch Futility was laughing out loud on how horrible and cheesy but effective is Matriarch Despair's acting skills and then she suddenly twists Nikolai's neck.

  The sickening crunch of audacious violence reverberates the whole cathedral even the damned across Haemanthus garden are complaining and rumbling gibberish when they're heard the commotion.

  Nikolai's consciousness has blackened out into the void followed by decomposition of its own entire body into subatomic level to transport him back in mortal realm.

  “Your reverence, don't be so cruel on that mortal. He is already broken and we might face scrutiny if you gone overboard with this one.”

  A man in royal purple, embroidered with fractal motif was speaking behind the confession and he smirk sardonically at her until get suddenly met by Matriarch Despair's rude retort while Patriarch of Futility still remain indifferent in their trivial banters.

  “You know, my majesty. The distinction on being humorous and pretentious at the same time is inseparable essence of self-contradiction unless you're not a insufferable fool to risk empathy for him. I rather not to risk the Overseers? displeasure toward us.”

  Emperor of Origin's still remain indifferent by her own scolding. In fact, he enjoying more drifting across the braneworld and creating fractal art in vaccum than listening to her pompous philosophical musings.

  Maybe, this is time now for him to seek something interesting besides managing cycles of creation and destruction across cosmos. He saw the potential new source of entertainment. Emperor of Origin interrupt the moment and start asking for a favor.

  “Enough for that, your reverence. Reserve that bureaucratic sternness of yours because I'm here to offer an helping hand not to attend a philosophical crash course. May I ask for a favor, can I able to take temporary role as custodian for your wolflings?”

  Patriarch Futility does not hesitate to hand the custodianship over him. He only find them as boring, sloppy, and tedious piece of meat should be marinated all over again to keep the preservation of meat's tenderness.

  “Yes, I'll grant the temporary custodianship for you, over the “wolflings” from now. We're going to enjoy the vacation because I'll go fishing some vile soul from Lake of Oblivion and your reverence Matriarch will do the gardening stuff in Haemanthus field. And also don't forget to report the progress and performance data regarding them.”

  Emperor of Origin grinning in satisfaction about the assignment and getting more motivated. Behind the smile, reveal he not occur randomly just to entertain himself but entrenched ulterior motives hide something deeper beyond knowledge of Null Reverends.

  Nikolai's consciousness return to the world and get awake by abrupt crackling noises from fire. Takeshi was roasting a boar meat for breakfast while Feng calibrating his exoskeleton interface and then Mei grooming Maibelle's hair as the part of military etiquette. He was very glad that his nape was healed expectedly at time. Thanks to Mei's surgery skills and successfully relocate his vertebra in original position by patching nanolattices.

  But Nikolai feel indescribable dread, recalling his own death and only stares at fire with gloomy expression, still remain unmoved could no one pay attention for him.