Chapter 284 - Negotiations
Added 2026-01-25 18:00:07 +0000 UTCComments
In one of his early conversations with Mirian, Aurum thought the over-exploitation of resources in Akana could be solved by continuing to expand to new frontiers.
UraniumPhoenix
2026-03-01 18:40:51 +0000 UTCProbably pushing 200
Josh Cothran
2026-02-28 21:59:37 +0000 UTCI might have forgotten: what does Aurum mean by saying “there is no frontier”?
marten
2026-02-24 12:37:06 +0000 UTCtftc
Samuel Sever
2026-02-11 23:46:53 +0000 UTCFixed!
UraniumPhoenix
2026-02-04 04:34:30 +0000 UTCPardon me, but I recall Zhuan having silver hair in a past chapter. 250, when Mirian first met her. Here she has dark hair. Is that not a discrepancy?
John Anastacio
2026-02-01 22:28:46 +0000 UTCMagic suplex.
John Anastacio
2026-01-27 23:43:40 +0000 UTCI'm pretty sure Mirian hasn't given up on Aurum. In fact, she wants to keep him, because his help increases the amount of supplies she can get shipped. She just hasn't found a way to stop people from killing him, because there are just so many people who want him dead. She has given up on Cormier. You could say that she should have given him a few more chances, but it seems clear that the guy is either incompetent, or complicit with the attempt to murder Mirian. And the attempt happened so early, too.
Michael Vonica
2026-01-26 22:14:34 +0000 UTCKind of unfortunate that even the rich and powerful guys who are fully willing to play ball get sentenced to death if they can't keep their underlings under control. (if I'm understanding this right?) This Aurum guy seemed genuinely willing to change when given evidence, and yet it's not enough. Mirian could've researched better who was behind the assassination and eliminate them instead. Or just provide him personal protection now that she knows when the assassination is going to happen. I suppose we did see his... dangerously ambitious side at the gala, and he would still become a problem long-term. Still, his interest in space travel and willingness to work WITHIN a new, sustainable, spell engine-less system could have been valuable when combined with his existing connections and reputation.
fghsgh
2026-01-26 19:22:31 +0000 UTCWhat's Miriam's MYR rating these days?
Nick
2026-01-26 14:16:00 +0000 UTCIs the amount of mana used in a force spell only based on the impulse or does the "shape" and strength of the force affect the cost? For example is 10N exercised over 1s more expensive than 1N exercised over 10s?
Z- B0T
2026-01-26 11:53:50 +0000 UTCAgree about romance, disagree about Gabriel. He seems far too hedonistic for Mirian, would much rather see Zhuan
oikla
2026-01-26 05:14:38 +0000 UTCHoly fuck is Mirian getting strong. She picked up a leviathan and just slammed it to death by dropping it down on the water. That's... *fuck.* They're gonna have to make up a new category just for her. Archmage cubed. Arch³mage.
Daniel
2026-01-26 02:28:14 +0000 UTCYou mean the one about the scale being set at the human limit which the creator placed at 100myr? Plenty of people, like Archmage Luspire, have reached ~126myr and more without soul magic and ascensions. There isn't actually a human limit that we know of. The creator of the scale just thought that there was one at 100 myr. It was probably a decision based on limited data.
Mr NerfGun
2026-01-26 00:59:22 +0000 UTCDoes this confirm that the inaccuracy of the myr scale (as was elaborated on in one of the recent tangents) actually should have put 100 myr at 106? Or are those 6 extra points from Gabriel's additional experience in soul magic
fghsgh
2026-01-25 22:30:09 +0000 UTCI wounder about Mirians relationship to Gabriel. We see that Gabriel takes the time loop business very seriously now with him actually practicing magic and working closely with Mirian. I would love to hear more about them. Also we need more romance, not implying anything. haha
mkbrechtel
2026-01-25 22:19:47 +0000 UTCIt's quite visible character growth that instead of drinking and whoring, Gabriel is instead hunting the perfect sunset.
bob semple
2026-01-25 20:16:34 +0000 UTCI think the leviathans might be the precurses to the Gatekeepers. Maybe Mirian helps them evolve but either way there are things a being of that power that can transcend time loops can do. Say.... Dig impossibly wide mana channels that are so huge and complex they resemble (or are) another layer of the Labyrinth.
Khent Mercer
2026-01-25 20:15:59 +0000 UTCI am glad apocrypha is getting better now that Mirian can talk to them.
FuriousDee
2026-01-25 19:50:04 +0000 UTCShe took on a bunch of archmages previously, but I wonder how she'd fare against a host of most of the world's archmages, army support, and a hostile prophet or two. It's gotta happen eventually
karmaslap
2026-01-25 19:25:06 +0000 UTCAm I reading this correctly, the titan is slowly recovering? That makes me so happy, I always felt there were so much options in that path. I hope she can talk with it at some point and wonder what options that could open.
Enthernal
2026-01-25 19:10:01 +0000 UTCHell yeah I like Mirian deciding to just bend the world and get shit done
E
2026-01-25 18:54:35 +0000 UTCOoh I love the idea of the current loopers eventually all ascending. I can't recall off the top of my head, but how many gods do we know of? And how many loopers are there again? Does it line up??
chumponimys
2026-01-25 18:53:46 +0000 UTCUphold Zhuanist-Mirianist thought
Clara
2026-01-25 18:45:11 +0000 UTCWith the armor for sure but she might not be at the 200 ish he showed naked yet.
Alexander Dupree
2026-01-25 18:41:20 +0000 UTCThanks for the chapter!
Gopard
2026-01-25 18:40:12 +0000 UTCProbably plenty of plotter in there... Akana Praedir did NOT strike me as the kind of environment where a "pure dreamer genius inventer/investor" rises to the top... However he is most likely at least a TRULY INTELLIGENT "Capitalist" and lets say... less Sociopathic than most successfull people in a modern world unfortunately are. He can both recognize and bend to "impossible realities". Doesn't mean he didn't order plenty of death or similar shit before... he literally did that to Mirian already in this very story LMAO...
Gopard
2026-01-25 18:39:59 +0000 UTCI love this story, it's the most intriguing thing I've read in years and after much pondering I STRONGLY believe I know where it is going. Theory Time. The Elder Gods are not bound to linear time. They are in the future, the present, the past. Every Present, Every Past, Every Future. Importantly they are Ascended Beings. Meaning they were not always what they are. A being that is in ALL TIMES and ASCENDED from something else must, inevitably, have been preascended in its own timeline. Let us call this THE PRESENT. Mirian IS the Ominian. "THIS PLACE" Not only are their thinkings becoming ever more similar she is literally soul bonding arcane artifacts of impossible power MODELED AFTER THE OMINAN'S FLESH. The other gods? They are the other members of the Time-Loop. Over time they are drifting ever farther away from humanity and becoming something.... other. Something Eldritch. Further Mirian's solution to this disaster is to make city sized spell engines of impossible complexity to regulate ley line energies. You know.... that's kinda like the labyrinth. Or the moon. She's literally building another layer of the Labyrinth. Maybe this has happened many times. Maybe it's simply a bootstrap paradox and as it enters the final stage and the Ominian's body reunites with Enteria the Paradoxical nature of the world wipes it out. I have like twenty pages of notes in support of this theory and dozens of sub theories. The God's War? That's what we are reading right now. The Cataclysm? That's when Mirian figures out how to shunt enough of the energy to survive this disaster through the gates. Through time itself. Sacrificing the past for the future. Xylatarvia rescuing humans from the stars? yeah that's obviously Ceiba Yan. She is literally depicted in her statues as having SKIN OF BARK. You know, like a tree. I've looked through hundreds of pages of comments and been shocked that no-one else seems to be considering this. Maybe I just read the wrong ones. What does everyone else think?
Khent Mercer
2026-01-25 18:38:40 +0000 UTCIs Miriam more powerful than her dad already? I would guess so but I'm not sure. Great chapter, i love how she changed her approach after the crash out. Im just slightly worried about how this series will continue, she can bully her way forward but that's not as interesting as the struggle.
Laura López
2026-01-25 18:34:07 +0000 UTCI'm sure Mirian doesn't see it, but this kind of show of magical strength right after that discussion about contingencies for sure comes across as a threat. If Zhuan really does have a secret contingency made for Mirian, she's definitely sweating bullets right now.
chumponimys
2026-01-25 18:33:37 +0000 UTC"Bad! Bad leviathan! Down!! There you go. Who's a good boy, leaving the coasts alone." And just like that, leviathan problem solved
chumponimys
2026-01-25 18:30:16 +0000 UTC"You are the only one I don't have a contingency for." -What you say to a powerful mage that you absolutely don't want to reveal your contingency for.
Robert Mullins
2026-01-25 18:20:11 +0000 UTCI love how easy it is for Mirian to show her growth as a mage lifting an entire leviathan is one of the coolest things she’s done so far (flying to the moon was definitely the coolest tho)
Spartanstoryteller
2026-01-25 18:15:41 +0000 UTCMan, she's gotten scary. From a well justified fear of bullets, to picking up leviathons and beating them to death with an ocean without signifigant strain. Makes you wonder what the final stretch will be like, and what she'll need to be able to do to bring everything to a close.
Sean Carter
2026-01-25 18:15:25 +0000 UTCI love that Aurum asked for the torture memories, it’s such a fun character choice. It shows that he rose to the top of the industrialists because he was willing to accept things people say are impossible, he’s a dreamer instead of a plotter.
YarrowFlowers
2026-01-25 18:14:34 +0000 UTCIf only humans were as reasonable as leviathans.
Robert Mullins
2026-01-25 18:14:15 +0000 UTCthank you for the chapter!
cel
2026-01-25 18:13:36 +0000 UTCooh mirian and zhuan flirting lol
Reed M
2026-01-25 18:13:22 +0000 UTCSo good to get a chapter on Sunday afternoon after my anatomy tests were shitty, thank you for the great work
Eduardo Cunha Santos
2026-01-25 18:03:51 +0000 UTC
