Published at 5th of November 2026 9:32 am

Chapter 381: Replaceable

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Nicolai strode toward the House Thrynn compound. The ghoulish undead guarding the gate saw him coming, and the gate immediately began to open. One of the perks of his new position. It wasn’t that they recognised him, exactly, but the infrastructure of House Thrynn could somehow sense the new addition to his Mark.

They recognised the Role he bore.

He pressed between the gates and headed into the compound, eyes on the larger building set within. While he’d been out, the Trials had all ended. House Thrynn had filled all its Roles, and it was time for the big meeting.

He’d kept himself busy in the meantime, trading, buying supplies, and performing recon. He had also redeemed his free rewards. One of them had gained him a Symbiote which would allow him to upgrade the Spectral Mantis, the rarest component of his Spectral Claw. With that in hand, he’d traded what he needed to upgrade the others, and was now ready to attempt to upgrade as soon as he had a few hours to spare.

As to his other reward, it had been a familiar Symbiote. A Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote, which were currently in very high demand. He’d been considering whether to sell his current one, now the Infiltrator had finished building its Nodes, but ultimately decided to hold onto it. This new one, however, he immediately went and traded.

In return for it, he’d gained something he’d wanted for quite some time. The Silver Net. A set of Symbiotes which now filled his entire left arm, granting him the same protection from bullets he’d come to find so irritating when utilised by others. Silver Net sets were also in very high demand, to the point where many were unwilling to sell them for mere points-tags, rather demanding to barter something equally valuable. He would’ve struggled to get one without trading the Yin-Yang Rotation Symbiote.

His final reward was of less immediate value, but something he’d nevertheless been unable to turn down. Ten bars of Elysium. The bars would be enough to take him perhaps 20% of the way to fully infusing his bones, and having them soothed his hunger for efficiency. Any time in which he was not absorbing a bar was time wasted, thus he was determined to maintain a stockpile.

The rest of his time had been spent attempting to remove Severin.

He’d told his Pathfinder to seek “monowire” which had worked just as well as he’d hoped, immediately giving him a location. He’d set off with eager steps and murder on his mind, but upon getting closer realised he was approaching the Morvain compound. Then the ping his Pathfinder was giving him had faded, and he knew Severin had entered the Assassin’s Trial for House Morvain.

He didn’t stick around to watch. Assuming there were no others he wasn’t aware of, Severin would quite likely take the primary Role, or at least one of the junior Roles. When the assassin emerged, his advantage would be lost.

After that, he focused on his own business, deciding it was best to make himself stronger and procure what resources he could before the House War started properly heating up.

Arriving at one of the largest buildings, he headed inside. It was a great hallway, full up with Players, Shenran and Earther alike. Armed and armoured Cyborgs checking over weaponry, Cultivators counting Oma crystals and hefting Artifacts. Nicolai knew he was looking upon the Soldiers House Thrynn had managed to recruit.

The majority of the crowd clustered to one side of the room, and as he passed by he took in what they were focused on. Four gigantic spiritual displays hovering over the wall, arranged in a square. The two uppermost ones were the largest, and read Jobs and Rewards. Both were cluttered, Jobs with things the House wanted done, and Rewards with an array of treasures. Below these were two slightly smaller screens, on which he saw lists of names. After a moment to take it in, he realised the leftmost were the names of the Soldiers, and beside each name was a number, labelled Merit Points. On the rightmost screen, the same, only with a much shorter list. It only showed those Players who held a Role, and he saw his own name on it. Currently, like everyone else, he had zero Merit points.

Some of the gathered Players, noticing him, frowned or prodded one another, beginning to mutter and point to his name on the board. It all gave him the distinct impression many of these Soldiers were already thinking about advancement, eyeing the positions they might be able to seize.

He pressed on towards a large doorway flanked by a number of Thrynn bodyguards. One of them nodded to him and opened it as he approached.

Nicolai was about to stride straight on through without a word, until the Mask drew him to a halt. He stood there, confused and silent, and sensed the guards stiffening at his unexpected behaviour. The Mask wanted him to ask their names.

‘What are your names?’ he asked, and realised as he did so that his total confusion about why he was doing this came across very clearly in his voice.

The guards, equalled confused, exchanged glances. After a moment (in which Psychology recognised the pair as having come to the mutual, shrugging conclusion that he was an important person they’d better not offend, regardless of how weird he was) they replied.

‘I am Tskorvai,’ spoke the one on the left.

‘Tashvyr,’ said the one on the right.

‘I’m called Nicolai. A pleasure to meet you,’ he replied, then passed quickly between them.

And what the fuck was the point of that? he asked.

It’s good to make friends and get to know people, replied the Mask, unruffled. I would have expected you to know that. They could be useful, couldn’t they? And anyway, it’s polite, and it’s what nice people do, and it’s what I think a Better Man would do. Though I was imagining you being a lot more charming and friendly than that. Remember how Maxine was? A bit like that.

I’ll keep that in mind for next time, he told it, emanating sarcasm. Good, it replied, pretending it didn’t notice, but he knew it had. He found himself in a room dominated by a huge circular table, chairs tucked neatly beneath it. More bodyguards lined the walls, and here and there, people had staked a claim to one section of the table or another.

The Patriarch was talking to someone Nicolai recognised as his brother on one side of the room. Quite a tense-looking conversation, voices low.

Serrin was sitting with Junko and her group, all of whom were here. He was somewhat surprised they’d all managed to claim a Role. He was even more surprised, though for entirely different reasons, to see another familiar face.

It was Wu, staring back at him with mirrored surprise, sitting off by herself.

The moment of surprised staring lasted less than a second, then they looked away. He knew that she, just like him, had decided there was no reason to reveal they had interacted before to the others in this room. Nicolai was, he decided, pleased to see her. Yes, a positive development. With her, Serrin, and Edrin, he had positive relations. And perhaps, he thought, as he strolled around the table in the direction of Serrin—who had seen him and was waving—after some more contact, he would turn Junko and her minions into allies too. At that point he would, quite possibly, have more “friends” in this room than anyone else. The Mask would doubtless be pleased with that, having “friends” was undeniably Better Man behaviour.

It might be, if you thought of them as Friends and not “friends,” it replied. He told it he was willing to remove the quotation marks for Serrin, or at least downgrade them to singular.

They were all looking over, not as pleased to see him as Serrin was, which was expected, but they seemed surprisingly… sanguine, following that last interaction. Far more than he’d have anticipated.

Something had changed. For a moment he simply lost himself, mind empty, as he considered body language and seating positions and all the other secret signs. It was as he rounded the table’s edge that Marlowe, who sat beside Serrin, nudged the youth in the ribs with his elbow and muttered something, clearly a comment about Nicolai, then chortled to himself. Serrin did his best to ignore the man, faintly awkward.

And it all fell into place. Serrin was no longer on the outside. The Hornet had become a full member of the group. The new familiarity with which they looked at him, relaxed and at ease with one another, yet simultaneously pressed tight, wary of the rest of the room. A united front. Only, there was a Serrin-shaped gap in that distrustful wall, and Nicolai, as he closed the remaining space and pulled out a chair, had just sailed straight through it.

He knew exactly what he was looking at. He’d seen it many times before. It was the camaraderie of those who had fought and bled together against the same enemies and for the same purpose. There was nothing that could forge bonds between humans so quickly. Apparently it was the same with Hornets, or at least this one.

He settled into the seat beside Serrin, who immediately launched into excited chatter.

‘Did you watch? You saw us, right?! It was great! That guy, Pidgen, wow, he and all the rest were tough! But we beat them on that ridge!’ Serrin looked back at the others. ‘You guys were amazing!’

‘You did pretty damn well yourself, kid,’ said Marlowe, chuckling. ‘That idiot with the bazooka would’ve fried me if you hadn’t come up from behind him.’

‘Yeah. It was almost perfect,’ put in Maverick, his ridiculous little corgi face appearing surprisingly downcast.

‘I’m sorry!’ cried Junko, stroking his head and looking near as downcast. Surprisingly, the dog didn’t get angry. ‘If it weren’t for me, you would’ve made it,’ she continued, voice tight. ‘I’m such a…’

‘No,’ said the Corgi, looking fiercely up at her. ‘Don’t blame yourself. Anyway, there can only be three Champions. Better it went how it did, else we’d have ended up having to fight one another.’

‘Maverick didn’t make it,’ Serrin sadly murmured to Nicolai. ‘He jumped in the way of a shot meant for Junko. Well, I guess you already know about that.’

‘Uh huh,’ said Nicolai, nodding, while the Mask writhed in indecisive agony over whether a Better Man would reveal he hadn’t watched or if it was better to spare the Hornet’s feelings. From his drones Nicolai knew the important details, at any rate. Serrin, Junko, and Marlowe were Champions. Yue had entered a separate Trial, gaining the Role of Spy. Maverick, presumably, had been allowed in because he was close with the other three.

‘Did you get some new Symbiotes?’ asked Serrin, and his Soul Sense was questing around. ‘It feels like a Silver Net.’ The others looked over with interest.

‘You both have a Silver Net?’ asked Junko. ‘Yue’s been trying to get one of those for a while.’

‘Where did you find it?’ Yue asked.

‘I did a little trading,’ answered Nicolai, doing his best to come off as charming and chill and friendly, bottling up his annoyance that Serrin had immediately broadcast his newest countermeasure. He definitely needed to rehash his “What To Talk About And What Not To Talk About In Public” briefing. He’d always suspected Serrin hadn’t been paying attention.

Their attention was drawn by the sound of a chair loudly being pulled out, and they turned to see the Patriarch and his brother were settling into their seats. The few conversations quieted as the Patriarch prepared to speak.

‘Welcome, new members of House Thrynn!’ he began, spreading his arms, a friendly smile on his face. ‘I am Dravosk, Patriarch of this House. All of you,’ and he turned his head to take all the humans set around the table in, ‘have achieved the great honour of seizing a Role amongst us, proving you are simply better than your peers. I am especially glad to welcome the Summoner!’ He grinned and nodded enthusiastically toward Junko. The other nobles, who were sat either side of him, mimicked the facial expression and head bobbing. The various humans—excepting Nicolai, Serrin, and her group—frowned at her.

‘Oh, thank you,’ she said, grimacing faintly.

‘You spoke with Austhyk? You have your additional rewards?’ the Patriarch added, with a glance to a tall, severe-looking Person standing slightly to his side and behind him.

‘Yes. He was… very helpful. Thanks for all that.’ The grimace intensified.

Austhyk inclined his head.

‘Good, very good,’ said the Patriarch. ‘So. We will all be working together toward the same goal. The success of this House! As you are all Role Holders, you will greatly benefit once we seize full control of this Sector. But, we are up against enemies numerous and powerful, insidious and vicious! Houses Morvain and Veyron, especially, will require a very deft hand. To those who prove useful in this fight, I assure you that your rewards will be equal to the task. I hope you are fully motivated. And if not, I can always replace you with someone else.’

The Patriarch grinned cheerfully around the table, so much so that it almost seemed like his words had been just a joke. Nicolai was 100% certain they were not.

Share