Saida-hime: Get ready to find out the horror of the evil Suzokon-kyō. It's going to be uglier than you could have ever imagined.

Burando-san: WHY ARE YOU STILL CHARGING THE EYESTONE? Suzokon-kyō is otherwise occupied, and you're just handing him a weapon with which he can destroy the world.

Kind of filler, but always entertaining. What the heck is Brand thinking, though?

Not sure what you expect Brand to do, Suzocon is still not even fully trying yet. Not to mention that Suzocon's threat is still probably ringing in his ears.

Brand's stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Not getting fried, that's probably what

Also, I wouldn't call this padding at all. It's a perfect amount of buildup for what Saida's about to experience.

Probably just trying to avoid 'ceasing being useful' since the other side of that shield doesn't look to healthy now either.

That only matters if Suzocon were there to enforce it. He's busy dancing with the quetzal in the pale moonlight. I'd be looking to get the hell out of dodge via somewhere far away from the battle.

I can see the wisdom in not risking it. Especially when 1) it might be safer on the inside of the shield than outside, 2) might not know how to get outside, 3) If he could he can't flee the island without Saida and she can't without the starfish in Roko's medallion anyway and who knows where they are at the moment, and 4) sometimes when trapped between two nemesis you might just have to pick a side.

Lunala below made some very good points about it. Sometimes, when you're in the middle of a war, soldier on, soldier is the best you can do. And that's what Brand is doing. Plus, having a charged "Eyestone," if they can get away with it, is far more useful than having a dead one.

Retreat may be the plan, but have to pick the right time for it, lest suddenly YOU become the target.

Yeah, retreat with the stone was the plan as of 'this morning'. Charge, switch, steal, run. Brand just pawned it off on Roko to do the stealing part.

It doesn't take a genius, and Suzocon is pretty smart, to figure that's what they're figuring. I kind of wonder if that was an additional reason to grab Roko. I'm sure nabbing a functional mana ghost for experimentation was very tantalizing, but you also remove the most sneaky conspirator out of the mix. So until they see him they probably aren't going to just cause trouble and run even if Taran hadn't arrived and interrupted the switchback.

I'm not fully sure if Brand is thinking that far ahead, but either way it is correct that a charged stone is far more useful to them than an uncharged one. Suzocon might figure out other ways to charge it, but Brand only has the one and they do need it that way.

O_o i also have to agree with brand about this sitrep being nuts... O_o i have to agree that this is rather indeed a nutty situation

Keep the charge up and things will be fine

If they don’t get the Eyestone charged, they’ll stay stuck in the wrong bodies forever. Given that the Queen can recharge it freely whenever she has it back, this is the only chance they have to charge it while everyone else is keeping one another busy.

Not to mention that the reason they stayed on the island this long was most likely to leave with the Eyestone charged, otherwise they could have ran/flew/swam away already, and left Suzocon with the dead Eyestone, and no way to charge it without a Quetz.

It’s not like Brand is in a position to refuse Suzocon or his request anyway.

Brand would much prefer if the protective force field didn't come with a skylight.

Life is funny Brand. One minute you're sitting on a ledge, watching the sunset, and then you're in the wrong body, powercharging a magical relic replica between to supreme beings duking it out.

Yeah, it is kinda nuts.

Things are lightning up.

O_o sigh nuts indeed brand.. nuts indeed