The monsters were attacking again. They were only going after my decoy. And they had brought a focus for the calculator. That would disrupt the protections I had put in place to hide my presence. It was time to prepare for a retreat to another area while slowly continuing to heal.

The mass expenditure of energy would hide my presence for quite a while. Long enough that the calculator would not be able to target me. The monsters had dealt serious damage to my decoy. But it only possessed a fraction of my power and ability.

While its defeat was frustrating, it was not surprising. Let the monsters think they had won. The calculator would not be so sure. It was a tricky opponent. Continuing with the same strategy, while effective, would eventually be countered. I would need to consider alternative approaches from my vast memories.

A direct attack would be most useful. The structures I had built could continue to operate and feed me energy while weakening the calculator. Its nexus point was not well hidden either. It was either over confident or well prepared. I was inclined to believe it was well prepared. That meant creating and empowering a single champion would be ineffective. It had countered the creature.

It had struggled against energy mites. A useful construct. I focused on creating more and then unleashed them upon the calculator along with several other locations. The energy drain would start slow at first, but once it progressed enough some of the energy mites would be disguised into the environment. It was one of the preferred methods of attacking calculators, overwhelming their processing power with something incredibly small and adaptable.

While they would end up costing me a lot of energy I could have taken for myself and possibly damaging the structures the calculator had built, winning was important. I also made sure to seed the energy mites far away from the critical structures that tapped into Chaos. Even now, after spending quite a bit of energy, I still could not understand them. Whatever had made the calculator certainly understood their engineering.

That was why I chose to avoid more technological solutions. Calculators preferred precision. It was their nature. To force the world into rigid structures. Creatures sought only power. While these were generalities, they acted as good benchmarks. For a being could not go against its very nature, or it would no longer be that type of being.

Even calculators that preferred organics had to control every single step. While that focus could grant the calculators very powerful abilities they were too rigid, too static. Being adaptable in the front of a threat was the optimal method of combat. To draw upon the accumulated wisdom of the thousand thousand that had come before me.

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The calculator was struggling but hadn't noticed my actions yet. While my victory was probable before, it increased to a near certainty now. The creature may have weakened the calculator after my initial injury. While the blast the calculator had unleashed was impressive, it was not enough for an outright win. The calculator was dealing with exhaustion and sapping its energy was only making things worse for its recovery.

I considered using divination to chart future probabilities, but quickly discarded that option. While it would be unexpected, the risks were too high this close to Chaos. One mistake and we would all be doomed. The shielding from discovery was interesting, but had been encountered before, just done very well this time. Perceptional filters both coming and going. They weren't just creating a void, but creating the perception of nothing interesting, blending in with the background of the Astral Plane and Chaos.

Fear coursed through me at the very dangers so close by. While I did not wish to die and extinguish my line, if I triumphed, I would become stronger, and the thousand thousand after me would become stronger as well.

"You can stop hiding." The words were transmitted through one of my auxiliary locations I was tapping into. Many energy feeds had been rerouted to it. The calculator probably guessed I was there.

"If you found me, then I am not hiding, I am subverting everything you have built. You can flee and survive." I made sure to carefully reroute my communication.

"Then I will break the seal, I have in place. And we will both be consumed."

"Go ahead calculator. This place is tied to you. Once I have control, you won't be able to do anything. The risk is minimal," I countered easily. There were no more responses, another victory for me. The calculator was trapped doing whatever it was doing to maintain this place, while I hollowed it out from the inside.

It didn't have an answer to my relentless actions and I had achieved another victory in communication. The adaptable would always triumph over those who couldn't adapt. I could tell it was trying to find me, predictable, like calculators tended to be.

Everything continued without interruption until there was one. The calculator was taking action. No being would just sit by as they died. Minor divinations were being used to trace my location. Weak techniques, so weak that I might have dismissed them, but I couldn't counter them without revealing myself.

That was what was annoying about divination. One could not simply deflect it aside or counter it directly. I could only wait and lay low. As time progressed in a forward manner, I would achieve victory. The temporal and spatial manipulation of the calculator was concerning, but it was also what was hiding this place from other forces.

Since the calculator had not dropped these defenses, it would keep them active until the last moment. Any attempt on my part to interfere would allow the calculator to target me directly. In this game of brinksmanship, I would make sure I emerged victorious and prove my superiority over such an opponent, strengthening my future.

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