You can get your wish with Fortov! So far, no clue which way the cookie will crumble.

However, Daimen's explanation was pretty standard - he was a selfish older brother. Plenty of people are, they grow up fine.

 

Another chapter dropped a few days ago. Some things have advanced but still mostly filler. Things are bound to get interesting in the next few chapters though as this one ended saying five more restarts have passed.

 

As expected.

And it's time for Zorian and Zach to fight someone powerful that they aren't used to dealing with.

EDIT:
Checking the number of chapters, I sort of expect the author to aim at 100 chapters in total. With everything that is left for Z&Z to do and even assuming some late twists, 12 chapters should be enough to finalize the loops and have a proper finale outside of them.

 

Seems about right. The author said it was the final arc of the story.

From his profile:

 

A new chapter is up here, and it's a big one.

 

I did not see that coming but midway through the conversation it just came to me that Silverlake would leap at the chance since it so perfectly answers the question of what she could do that they couldn't just shut down.

 

This is why no one trusts witches.

 

Silverlake seems to be a particularly greedy and unscrupulous witch though. (Kael's MIL Fria seems to be have been quite nice, and Kael's morals come from somewhere! Also, she doesn't remember getting smacked down by ZnZ way back when Zach told her he only gives people two chances. I wonder what their response will be once they leave the loop. Will they kill the timeloop!Silverlake or take the other way out of binding her somewhere - effectively forever given her safety from death by old age.

 

Interesting stuff. So now they have two primordials yo worry about when they get out? I think we'll see Zach and Zorian forced to take Silverlake's advice and include give QI a temporary marker out of desperation.

 

I found the Primordial scene a little underwhelming. Transforming into your loved ones is such a basic trick and just makes the one you try to appeal angry most of the time. It's the kind of move you expect from generic fantasy generic cosmic horror or illusion villains. It brought its level down.

Only Silverlake was unscrupulous enough to take the deal? I'm just a little surprised. Good thing they didn't go with her suggestion to bring the lich in. Time loop Silverlake is likely more dangerous than Red Robe, if only because of the knowledge she now has.

 

I'm surprised that you guys did not see the betrayal coming. Silverlake has been an extremely egoistical and prideful bitch ever since Zorian first talked to her.

Also is the primordial inside the gate the same that is freed by Quatach-Ichl at the end of the loop? If it isn't perhaps they could play one primordial against the other but I'm not sure if they would be willing to sacrifice children for this, even if it's only inside the loop.

/edit
@Clerith
I thought so too. I mean there are cliches that would fit way better. A blessing like Quatach's being offered wouldn't be as cringey

 

I think everyone saw Silverlake doing something against them coming and were simply wondering what form it would take that she wouldn't fuck herself over, it was the Primordial being it that was the surprise.

We were told the time loop just creates another entrance to the prison of the existing primordials, though it was by Silverlake it is tied to their understanding of how the time loop works and considering how much they have been focusing on it I don't think she could get away with something on that level, or that she would want to. After all first you make sure you succeed then you betray the others for maximum reward, so unless she had prior contact with Panaxeth I don't think she would risk not getting out of the time loop even if that meant others might also leave.

 

So, can we now talk about how Zorian can now form a hive-mind intelligence with his own magical clones and has perfected an intelligence enhancement suite on top of that makes him (in the words of the actual story text) "superhuman"?

Because that is freaking awesome.

 

Updated.

Very conversation-heavy chapter but still interesting. And now we have a more real clock.

 

Is anybody else worried about Zach?

It may be paranoia, but the fact that Zach has kept a shield over his mind was pointed more than one time over the course of this story.

 

I'm not sure - so does Xvim, so does Alanic, so do lots of other people.

Well, Zach can still leave at the end of this month, right? He's good. Now Zorian is just like every other temp looper. Zach doesn't have to betray Zorian, Zach is still safe. Worst case scenario for Zach, he unbars the gate this restart, then leaves whenever he wants. The fact that he's still invested (or seems to be invested) in getting Zorian out is a good thing.

However, compulsions are a real thing......

 

Unless the Primordial did lie, Z vs. Z just got a lot more possible right now.

As for the future outside of the loop, I would prefer for Zorian to get out by possessing his younger self. While based on the established rules of this universe, it would be like killing the other one, I'm not a big fan of endings where you get two version of the main character.

One thing Z&Z should do once they're out, other than making sure their family and friends are safe, is to actually contact other Silverlake before loop Silverlake kills her. Because that's definitely what she's going to do to get her stuff back and to eliminate the competition.

Anyway, while I'm convinced that the soul bounded twins will be relevant soon enough, it appears that the vampire lady that Zorian killed a long time ago isn't. I had a theory that she's going to be involved in the part where Z&Z will explore Ulquaan Ibasa, but that's not going to happen.

 

Updated
And wow is it an update.

Spoiler

So I was kinda wondering how much longer he was gonna drag this out. We have the answer now I suppose. Some good stuff in here - though I still get the feeling that the story is kinda rushing a bit. Skipping over the details some.

Still, this is kinda how I expected it to go as far as who gets out. I suppose it's not actually set in stone who got out, but it does seem to be just Zorian if I read that right. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing - I definitely did not want to see tens to hundreds coming out of the loop but I wouldn't really have minded Zach.

Since the story is supposed to be three arcs (and outside the loop for anymore than about 7-8 chapters pretty much defines itself as an arc) I expect this will either a) not wrap it up at all and leave on a cliffhanger or b) end in the next couple chapters

Overall pretty happy with the update I think. Definitely invested in the outcome at least.

 

100%. What a ride. Those 13.500 words just flew by!

Spoiler

Zach should still make it out. He's still the Controller, he can wake up, go to the time dilation facility, see the Guardian, and zip out via the unbarred gate.

Someone on r/rational says that the author said 9 more chapters remain.