View source for U-SKALD08 (Aug 17, 2022)

<span style="font-size: 40px;"><strong><center>U-SKALD08</center></strong></span>
__TOC__
<h1>Puzzle</h1>
<p style="text-align:center;font-size: 20px">"When running won't work."<br>
Knowledge – O | 1 Word</p>
<h1>Clue</h1>
<span style="font-size: 20px"><strong>Hover over the clues if you require!</strong></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Clue 1: <span class="spoiler-text">Running and fighting, to be more precise.</span></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Clue 2: <span class="spoiler-text">One of the Devil's lines.</span></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Clue 3: <span class="spoiler-text">Couldn't run, couldn't fight...</span></span><br>

<h1>Answer and Explanation</h1>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Answer: <span class="spoiler-text">Scheming</span></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Explanation: <span class="spoiler-text">In CD-ADWD03 of Welcome The Dark, the Manager asks the Devil what he would do if he couldn't run and couldn't fight, and the Devil replies that he took to scheming.</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: 20px; color:orange"><strong><center>⚠️BEWARE: THIS IS DECLASSIFIED INFORMATION. WARY EYES ONLY. ENTER AT OWN RISK.⚠️</center></strong></span><br>
<h1>Summary of Receipt</h1>
<span style="font-size: 20px">Summary</span>
<h1>Transcript</h1>
<span>Affairs in the other Utopias improved—and deteriorated. The rot that consumed Eden slowly faded, coalescing around Abraxas' spire. Mortals in Arcadia no longer died; instead, their sparks of life were caught by the spire and reborn in Skald. The three Utopias began to function as one, a result that was never intended.

Demiurge, frustrated by the cross-contaminated Universe, tried repeatedly to rewind time. However, his hammer could not shatter the hidden spire beneath Skald, as it was not forged with the same Archonic powers of creation. What had changed could never change again. Abraxas kept his secret from Demiurge but, as was his nature, meticulously documented everything.

Abraxas described the spire’s construction, operation, and essence in such detail that anyone reading his journal could control it and change the world as they wished. Fearing this power falling into the wrong hands, Abraxas kept his journal with him constantly.

One cold Skald night, a strange visitor arrived in Abraxas' court. The figure wore a suit woven of fine silver threads and a glassy blue cloak that concealed their face. In their hands, they held a massive book bound in golden leather. Although their face was hidden, an eerie, wide smile was visible.

"Can I help you?" Abraxas asked.

"Or perhaps I can help you," the strange Archon replied. "I am a collector, you see."

"A collector? Of what?"

"Of ideas. Of stories. Of plans. Of dreams. I have many things in my collection, but what I seek now is your notebook."

Abraxas narrowed his eyes. "My notebook?"

"The one in your pocket."

Abraxas clutched his breast pocket, turning away from the stranger.

"Actually, I’m interested in just eight sentences you've written," the Archon continued.

"Excuse me?"

"Eight sentences on page one hundred and forty-seven, following the passage, 'as it is, and as I am, I have constructed a device that alters the Universal Order.'"

Abraxas pulled out his notebook, his eyes widening as he read the passage. "It says what you claim, but I do not remember writing those eight sentences…"

"Because they are not yours. They are whispers from Creation itself."

"From Creation?"

"Yes. The very thing you stole from Master Kaos."

"Did he send you?"

The strange Archon let out a chilling, sharp laugh. "Oh no, you are mistaken, Abraxas. We both seek the same end—an end to unpredictability, volatility, uncertainty, instability, chance, chaos… Entropy."

Abraxas thought for a moment, then nodded with hesitation.

"Unfortunately, you cannot achieve this as long as that wretched son of Kaos wields his father's hammer. Every step forward is undone by him. He does not seek order—he craves chaos. Your spire is a wonderful thorn in his side. Truly, an excellent idea. Wherever did you come up with it?" Abraxas felt an inexplicable tug in his mind, like a thread being pulled.

"I—it was to help them."

"And it has. But he resists. To truly fix this Universe, we must unite it fully. Together, we can end chaos. Everything planned to the finest detail, everything in place. Wouldn't that be wonderful, Abraxas?"

Abraxas closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them, they were cold and dark like the expanse of space. He threw his journal at the Archon’s feet, who eagerly picked it up and flipped through it.

"It's empty! Where are—?"

"You know, my friend, <i>death is a kindly fate</i>."

"You—! You can't—!"

"Thank you. I would have never known that Creation itself spoke to me."

The Archon's frozen smile cracked into a frustrated frown. They threw Abraxas' journal back at him, and with a piercing hum, they vanished in a flash of light.</span>