CHAPTER 139: THE GRIMOIRE OF THE CHAOTIC LEARNING

The 51st day of Kivas’s survival in this timeline dawned with a crisp clarity over Vaingall, the domain’s scattered pieces gleaming with the subtle energy of growth and stability.

The air carried the faint scent of mythic blooms from the farms, mingled with the ozone tang of Dark Matter Reactors powering the ever-expanding wards of the S.A.D. and its many core facilities.

Kivas stood in one of the main temples—a grand structure of ethereal stone and vine-woven arches, dedicated to her burgeoning religion. Sunlight filtered through stained-glass windows depicting scenes of renewal and harvest, casting kaleidoscopic patterns on the floor.

Before her, on a pedestal reinforced with Eulanite braces, lay the Grimoire of Chaotic Learning, its massive form open like a behemoth’s maw, pages fluttering with runes that shifted like living shadows.

Samael was beside it, her red-black hair cascading over her shoulders as she traced a finger along the chaotic text, her draconic horns glinting in the light.

Sarkha’una, the Speaker of Veins, stood nearby, her massive witch’s hat drooping over one eye, her exposed midsection revealing the luminous vertebral structure and pulsing glyphs that defined her enigmatic form.

She walked barefoot on the temple’s cool stone, her layered fabrics whispering with each step.

The trio had been delving into the grimoire’s contents for days, an artifact gifted by Morgina as a reward for their pivotal role in repelling the Hollow Aequor invasion at Salissic Vein.

The book was a Legendary-tier Curio Item, a tome filled with chaos runic text capable of forming any wisdom of any existence in theory, with limitless possibility.

Yet, its true nature was elusive—pages that rearranged themselves, runes that defied logic, offering glimpses of profound knowledge only to dissolve into gibberish.

Samael leaned back, her wings folded neatly, expressing a mix of frustration and intrigue.

Her initial appraisal, conducted upon its arrival from Salissic Vein via Karasu’s Black Living Clouds, had been thorough.

The grimoire wasn’t just any normal book, it was a living archive of entropy, its chaos runes adapting to the reader’s intent and the world, theoretically unlocking any spell, lore, or concept imaginable.

But in practice, it was a riddle wrapped in madness—the majority of its content too chaotic, ineffable, and self-contradictory to yield usable insights.

Attempts to transcribe pages resulted in blank parchment, forced readings induced headaches or fleeting visions of alternate realities that may or may not be relevant to anything.

For five days, the New Vaingall Consortium’s brightest—Samael, Sarkha’una, even Oizys in passing—had poked at it, yielding only fragments, a minor entropy ward here, a cryptic prophecy there, and not a single usable insight or wisdom.

It was as if the grimoire mocked them, revealing just enough to tantalize but never to satisfy.

Blanchette, who had wandered unannounced—as was her habit—leaned against a pillar, her pale skin almost translucent in the temple’s light, white hair trailing like snow.

Her red eyes gleamed with mischief as she watched the trio. "This Curio Item was probably given by Morgina because he didn’t know what to do with it either," she commented, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "A ’legendary’ paperweight, tossed to the allies who saved his bastion. How generous."

Samael shot her a glare, her deadpan cracking into annoyance. "It’s only been five days since we started working on it. Too early to judge if this Legendary tier is legendary in uselessness or not. Patience, brat—chaos takes time to unravel."

Sarkha’una, who had been prying into the grimoire’s chaotic runes for hours, her glyphic spine pulsing with absorbed energy, glanced up without lifting her head fully, her witch’s hat casting a shadow over her face.

"I haven’t seen Lady Oizys for a while," she noted casually, her voice soft but curious, as if the observation was a passing thought amid her focus.

Kivas, standing with arms crossed, her halo casting a gentle glow on the group, nodded. "Oizys is attempting to improve the Eldritch Bolt Launcher, along with the Eldritch Bolt model itself. The ones used for Salissic Vein were effective and powerful, but she’s tweaking them for precision."

Sarkha’una tilted her head, her exposed midsection’s glyphs flickering like distant stars. "Is it necessary? One Eldritch Bolt could destroy a young bastion outright. What more needs to be improved?"

Blanchette snickered from her pillar. "Look at ourr Speaker of Veins—prying the grimoire while chatting~ Multitasking like a pro—can you even process it all without your brain melting?"

Sarkha’una smiled faintly, her voice calm. "I have a skill for that. The one that lets me split my attention without losing efficiency."

"Handy~"

"You’re surprisingly chatty for today," Samael commented.

"She has always been a chatterbox," Kivas snickered. "You just happen to miss her for quite a while."

"As expected of my lovely sister, she always knows me the best~"

Samael glanced back to Sarkha’una, wanting to tackle the initial topic further. "As for Oizys, the Eldritch Bolts Kivas created lately are too powerful—destructive radius too wide for common use, is one of its demerit.

"Oizys is attempting to concentrate them, shrinking the mayhem into focused points. Better for strong entities, and less collateral when used in the context of our strategic Eldritch Bolt Launcher too. Of course, that is the hypothesis."

Kivas continued, her voice steady. "It’s not hard for me to make a focused version, but Oizys has interesting ideas so I green-lit it—Vaingall needs firepower upgrades anyway. Salissic Vein showed us that."

Even with six Eldritch Bolt, the tsunami-like horde of the Hollow Aequor was still advancing.

And to think that was not the full power of the Hollow Aequor, Kivas feared that there should be changes made to the Consortium’s arsenal and overall military prowess outside of Samael’s and Oizys’ existences.

Before Sarkha’una could reply to those statements, her eyes widened, locking onto a section of the grimoire.

The chaotic runes stabilized momentarily, forming a coherent pattern—a spell formation that pulsed with otherworldly energy.

"Found something," she said, freezing the text with a glyph from her spine, preventing it from dissolving back into chaos.

She projected it afloat, the runes hovering like a holographic mandala, intricate lines weaving into a gateway sigil.

The group gathered closer.

The formation led to an unknown realm, its structure suggesting a void without spacetime—conceptless, sense-deprived. Sarkha’una traced the lines with a finger.

"This... opens to a place that may not exist. No space, no time—just potential. I can’t dig deeper without activating it fully." Sarkha’una wryly grinned.

Blanchette’s eyes lit up, her white hair shifting as she stepped forward with unusual eagerness. "Perfect! Kivas, you should go in. Might find something interesting there—treasures, knowledge, who knows?"

Samael narrowed her eyes, suspicious of Blanchette’s sudden interest. "What’s with the sudden push? You better not be planning anything insidious, or else there will be an execution happening in Vaingall soon."

Blanchette shrugged, her red eyes innocent. "Nothing~ I sense something useful for Kivas—and Vaingall in extension. That’s all." She then formed a heart with her index and thumb. "Trust my heart, and vow to die~"

"I think that’s not how the phrase goes," Sarkha’una chuckled.

Kivas’s smile turned kind yet intimidating, her halo brightening, casting shadows over her eyes. "The truth, Blanchette. The Unrelenting Vow still binds you—tell us straight without any deception and trickery."

Blanchette met her gaze, unflinching. "I used a skill to pry further than Sarkha’una. I would burn like a fried chicken if I was~"

Samael frowned but relented slightly. "Fine. But if it’s a trap..."

Kivas, excited by Blanchette’s rare encouragement, nodded. "Samael, Sarkha’una—prepare the formation on the empty plain near Yoiglah’s sanctuary piece. We’ll test it there."

Samael, finding no immediate threat, obliged. "As you wish, sweetheart."

Sarkha’una agreed, "It’ll take time, but it’s feasible."

The group moved to the plain—a vast expanse of mythic grass swaying under Vaingall’s stable skies, adjacent to the hallowed ground where Yoiglah’s colossal form loomed like a guardian mountain.

Samael and Sarkha’una worked in tandem, recreating the massive spell formation.

Samael etched the outer runes with void essence, her draconic wings casting shadows as she channeled precision.

Sarkha’una infused the core with her unique magic, her witch’s hat drooping as she knelt, barefoot, drawing the prepared Eulanite dust into patterns.

Concentrated Darkness Essence served as catalyst, black liquid poured into grooves that glowed with chaotic potential, binding the formation’s edges.

Hours passed—five in total—the sun arcing across the sky as they labored.

Claturians gathered at the edges, watching in awe.

Uryusha arrived, her robes flowing, for she too was curious to observe her deity performing an activity.

And it just happened that she had nothing to do at the moment.

The formation took shape slowly, a circular mandala of interlocking sigils, pulsing with energy that hummed like distant thunder.

Enhanced Eulanite shards embedded at key points stabilized it, while the essence wove threads of shadow to contain any backlash.

As the final rune locked in, the formation activated with a soft glow, and the air shimmering like heat haze.

For such a massive spell formation, it was surprisingly light and stable. Then again, it was Samael and Sarkha’una who were attempting to reconstruct it from the Grimoire of Chaotic Learning.