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Where would that leave himself? Might his own position become quite obsolete at that point? Or greatly diminished, at least?

Which was to say nothing of what the Devil's Knife might actually do with such power.

That was the main reason why Lozaro felt that Jercash must not yet realize his situation: because if he did, then he would have been wielding that power openly. And it was still a recent development, besides.

But perhaps he was just trying to conceal it, as he often did. Every creation that Lozaro had ever given him, Jercash had squirreled away, never speaking of it again.

Even to the point of manipulating their own memories in order to hide some of them.

This cloning business, for instance...

Lozaro had all but given up trying to understand the Knife's machinations for that. Plus, it didn't really interest him in the first place. Politics had never piqued his curiosity. Petty quarrels over petty problems. Unworthy of the visions that true immortals should hold.

Lozaro shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Getting distracted wasn't going to help.

On the bright side, this development had made it so that the Red Rift was now fully mobile--a feat not shared by any other Fusion Forge in history, as far as Lozaro was aware. All Lozaro had to do was transport the dormant base with them wherever they went and then bring Jercash around to get it active again.

So the invasion campaign in Intar had the immediate aid of a Fusion Forge. Another unprecedented advantage.

At the moment, the Rift was sitting on a small hilltop with a raised outcropping, shielding it from view below while still allowing Lozaro to see anyone approach. He'd erected a one-way invisibility layer around it, as well, just to be safe.

He was supposed to be working on a project for the Idkin. They'd given Jercash one of their little floating pods for Lozaro to study and potentially enhance, but the Rift was being especially moody, today. Throwing up sparks whenever he tried to direct it even the slightest bit. Resisting his guidance.

Quite the nuisance.

Perhaps it could sense that he was distracted. Too many things on his mind. Bah. This hilltop vantage point had actually been a bad idea, hadn't it? He'd wanted to keep Jercash in view at all times, but now it was just impossible to not keep stealing looks at the man. Constantly worrying over what might happen next.