Book 5: Chapter 24: Birth of an Ocean |
The quick meal David had in mind turned into a 48-hour-long date. Not only was that unplanned, but their absence caused chaos on a completely different level. Maja, who’d been working for the majority of the day, every single day, for the last six months, disappeared all of a sudden. She vanished without as much as an “I will be busy for a bit.” She just vanished.
Two days after her disappearance, Maja returned, her skin glowing, her expression more vibrant than it had been in the last six months combined. Everyone heard about David’s reappearance. Most also heard rumors that the Sanctuary Leader and David were lovers, but many didn’t quite believe it. They were certain the rumors were exaggerated and that Maja and David had a partnership solely based on business and the connection of Ascendant and High Champion.
There was no way they’d be together… but why was it impossible? Some asked why they couldn’t be, and nobody had an answer. Not that they needed one, it was not their business anyway.
Maja returned to work, and she worked with renewed vigor. She was considered the bane of her subordinates’ existence before, but her ambition worsened. It reached sky-high heights, transforming Maja into none other than a whirlwind of trouble—a disaster for her workforce.
However, it was not only ambition driving her to work harder than ever. No, Maja was scared. She was frustrated she couldn’t do any more to help David, and she was anxious something would happen to him again. What… if he died a true death the next time? What if he would never return to her? Maja couldn’t live with those thoughts, but she did not have the power to change anything. All she could do was take care of his territory. Expand it and hope Orhain and its residents would produce the power needed to help him prevail. To survive and to protect.
David, sensing the dread in Maja’s heart, couldn’t help but feel bad. The last few days had been the best of his life. Rising from the dead had been odd to say the least, but he was able to spend some time with Maja. It was just unfortunate that it was probably the last time they’d be able to spend this much time together. For a while at least—until all of this ended.
David was back at the place where he fought Zephyr. Levitating above the ocean, he glanced down, eyebrows creased.
“Disgusting.” He spat, sensing nothing but Nihilum and emptiness from the ocean.
The Earthen Union was dying, and the void-infested ocean played a major role.
Vitae Nihilum pooled at his fingertip. It liquefied and compressed further until its consistency was syrupy. [Herald’s Blessing] added a faint silver sheen to liquefied Vitae as it trickled from his finger, dripping into the ocean.
A ripple of power pumped through David’s body as he activated the Law of Unbinding. He intertwined the Ancient Law’s power with Vitae as it trickled into the ocean, spreading his power, removing the influence of nothingness. What happened next was as surprising as it was expected. The nuance of the Law of Unbinding severed nothingness’ connection to the ocean. Then, unguarded and too insignificant to defend itself, nothingness was consumed. Vitae burst through the water like a starving shark, and it consumed everything it could.
As more and more Vitae gathered at his fingertip, David felt a change in the surroundings. He ushered Vitae to pour down upon the ocean and to consume Nihilum and nothingness, which it did unhesitatingly. It moved through the ocean, swift and deadly, cleansing it from the harmful energy that had tormented it for months. His control of Vitae increased, but David bolstered it further, amplifying his connection to Vitae with a burst of Might.
The Weave flared up and merged with the sharks and whales of Vitae that took shape as they spread out. David, however, was not satisfied. He reached into his bond with the Mythical Electra and called upon [Bloodlife Echo] and split 500 droplets worth of Electra’s Echo into a family of fish. Words of Power escaped his lips as he accessed the Law of Unbinding once more. He fused Might and Vitae, inserting it carefully into the family of 500 fish Echos and ordered them to spread out to cleanse the ocean alongside the Vitae-based creatures.
“How exactly did I create them?” he asked Electra, eyes trained on a massive, eerily black whale swallowing nothingness. Electra didn’t seem to be particularly interested in the creatures, but the same couldn’t be said about the Voidlings entering his periphery.
David’s attention jerked back to the surroundings. Since [Bloodlife Echo] and close to 200 units of Vitae had been released to cleanse the ocean, he could focus on the culprits. They came at him from the north, east, and west, their numbers greater than anticipated.
“Do you think they sensed us?” David turned to Electra’s Echo as it manifested coiled up around his left arm. Electra motioned what could only be a shrug and burst into the sky, releasing an enormous amount of lifeforce into the surroundings.
“If they didn’t know we were there earlier, they do now.” He snickered, conjuring the Obsidian Blade. He applied [Herald’s Blessing] and activated Origin Lightning. His eyes flicked to the nearest bulk of Voidlings, which was still a good dozen kilometers away, and used Passage. He materialized before the Voidlings in an instant, arm pulled back.
“Only one Voidre? That’s a shame.” He muttered, voice ice-cold as he slashed out, releasing Lightning Rend.
Not even a trace of Might or Vitae was used in the process, but that wasn’t necessary. The Ancient Law’s passive enhancement of Rend was all he needed. The Voidre at the head of the group noticed something. It roared aloud and tried to move aside, but the crescent-shaped blade was already on it. The blade carved through its Void Barrier without any resistance. It carved through the creature’s neck and beheaded it effortlessly. Then, it moved onward. It whistled through the air, cracking space with the crackling of its pristine-white lightning currents, and tore through those that were too slow to escape. Those fortunate enough to escape didn’t survive for long either. David released a dozen lightning bolts at them, incinerating their defenses and Maelstroms in one go.
There was no escape. David’s attack was raw and destructive. The Voidlings didn’t even know what happened before their Maelstroms shattered, killing them once and for all. Their bodies crashed into the ocean, where pitch-black sharks and whales were already waiting to consume them. Curiously enough, the creatures made of Vitae expanded as they devoured the Voidlings, and the largest creatures bulged and separated, splitting into two and spreading out once more.
Interesting. Is that a semblance of sentience? If so… is that sentience a part of me, or did I just replicate Void Saplings using Vitae?
He didn’t know, and he did not have the time or the nerve to bother. David took a deep breath and used Passage once again. He appeared at the back of the group of Voidlings about to attack him from behind. They were too late, too slow to stop him. He pressed a hand firmly against a Fragment’s back and released Vitae into it in a burst.
The Fragment stood no chance. A hundred units of Vitae forced their way through the Fragment within seconds, devouring it. He swung his blade, released a simple blade of Rend at a pair of three-meter-tall, winged Fragments, then drove the Obsidian Blade into a bulky Fragment’s abdomen. Only the hilt was visible when David was done. However, the Fragment was far from finished—or so it thought. Its claws burst forward, ready to pierce David’s heart, but only the tips of its claws managed to pierce him. Even then, David’s flesh stopped them as soon as they penetrated his skin.
A single droplet of blood trickled from the wound before it regenerated naturally, but that was enough for David. He cast [Blood Manipulation], accessed the Law of Blood, and transformed the black blood droplet into a deadly weapon. It whipped toward the Fragment, piercing the Void Barrier, its chest, and Maelstrom in one go.
David turned to the remaining Voidlings, his expression turning grim when he noticed more Voidre than before. Maybe they would have been a little troublesome to deal with a year earlier, but that was no longer the case. Ancient Words of Power rolled from his lips, his soulbound weapon trembled with excitement, and he barreled forward, his fury toward the Voidlings resonating with the essence of the Earthen Union.
***
David was slowly getting used to the Law of Unbinding. He had to limit it actively or lose control of the Ancient Law, which turned out to be rather painful, but he succeeded most of the time. The times he didn’t, Rend backfired and cut into him, severing his arm. Worse, it looked like he had nearly lost his sword arm permanently. Almost.
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It took about ten times the amount of lifeforce and pure Blood to regrow the arm severed by Rend, but it worked.
“Ready to heal the ocean?” he asked Electra as he reached out to the Earthen Union. He grabbed the planetary bond ever so tightly until a familiar resonance spread throughout him. Words of Power materialized in his mind. They rolled smoothly from his tongue, influencing the Fountain of Life and his Source. His body shuddered and raw lifeforce poured out of him. It felt natural even if it was as far from a natural phenomenon as it could be. The world, the Weave, and his very being merged momentarily. They became one, and they released the essence of life into the ocean.
David descended into the ocean. He was apprehensive at first, snippets of memories of his death resurfacing in his mind, but he proceeded. He sank into the ocean, his body a fountain of raw lifeforce. The Weave flashed around him in brilliant colors. It reached out for the plane of existence, grasped the essence of life, and spread it through the ocean, aiding the Herald and the Earthen Union.
More Words of Power rolled from his tongue. David couldn’t hear them underwater, yet he felt their effect. He saw the divine letters as they manifested before his eyes. A pulling force drew the surrounding life into the letters, nourishing them until they reached the size of a small child. They shimmered brightly and exuded a sense of sentience, mixed with joy, sadness, hunger, and much more. It was a mess, and as chaotic as the emotions of a newborn. It was… a newborn. Or was it? Why did he think that the Words of Power developed into newborns? How could that be? Was that possible, in the first place?
David was clueless, but what he did felt correct, so he proceeded. The Words of Power spread outward and started a process that required not only more lifeforce but also Might and the raw energy of Essence. Unsure but confident in his work, aided by the Weave and the Earthen Union, David opened his Source to the outside world. Pure Blood and Origin Essence poured out of him. It flowed into the ocean, where it diluted, only to be pulled into shimmering strands resembling minuscule serpents slithering through the water.
His energy flowed toward the materialized Words of Power, and they processed the energy and lifeforce near-instantaneously. They produced something. At first, David couldn’t sense it, let alone see it. However, as the Words of Power continued to create what appeared invisible at first glance, he circulated pure Blood into Bloodthrone Dominion, unraveling what was hidden before.
Something insignificantly small appeared before his eyes. It wasn’t noteworthy and nobody would pay attention to it in this time or age, but it was there, and it was crucial to form and maintain life. Simple self-replicating molecules came to be, fueled and influenced by lifeforce, Might, and the Words of Power. They reproduced at blinding speed, courtesy of the current circumstances as well as their natural characteristics, and it was not long before there were thousands of them. Thousands turned into tens of thousands, still producing and replicating.
At some point, while David was still focused on the production—his Words of Power and the mountains of lifeforce drained from his body—the manifestations of Words of Power shifted. The first molecule showed signs of forming a membrane, hinting at the creation of a single-celled organism. It was only one, and it would take a while before more would form, but under the guidance of lifeforce, the Weave, and the Earthen Union’s desire to bring life back into the ocean, they would grow rapidly. That is, as long as the Voidlings didn’t return.
Healing a dead ocean was not simple. It was not something David would have been able to do without help. But he was one with the Earthen Union and had garnered the Weave’s interest, allowing him to do whatever he wanted.
Everything—almost.
***
Zephyr slithered through the air, his serpentine eyes drifting across the ocean.
“I should have marked him,” he hissed in annoyance, ignoring the pain radiating from his neck and lower body.
The last few months had been the worst in his life as a Minor God. Not even his time as a Veronem Serpent had been this frustrating, and those few years had been torment. He had been so weak, useless, and the semblance of proper sentience had yet to form. Still, as annoying as those years had been—he remembered every single moment of them—the fight with the Voidre and Overlords had been worse.
Zephyr was still unsure what had happened, but he was aware of the attention the Void Overlords had paid to him. They didn’t bother with the other Minor Gods, not even the pair of peak Minor Gods, and instead attacked the Poisonous Beast God. Their attacks were fast, fierce, and filled with Nihilum. Zephyr could do nothing but unleash his strongest abilities to escape. He fled from the scene while the other gods killed the Voidre.
Zephyr knew he was not particularly liked among the gods. He didn’t care about something as mundane as friendship, but he was still satisfied with their support. It didn’t matter that the gods didn’t fight for his sake or that they ignored the Overlords to remove the threat of the Voidre first. What mattered was their sacrifice. They didn’t expect to die that day, but their sacrifice led to a greater good—to the Poisonous Beast God’s survival.
He survived, although wounded and pushed to the edges of death. He healed slowly, at the expense of the Might he had accumulated over the last few years, but he recovered. And, as cumbersome as the Overlords and the End’s power were, they helped him in one regard: the masses of Nihilum circulating through his body, tearing it apart, also helped him digest what remained of the Healer’s body he had consumed during that fight.
It was not easy, and it cost even more Might and time, but Vitae—revealed to be the System’s label for the Healer’s power—and Nihilum canceled each other out. Almost. He did not have much to digest and make his, but Vitae was stronger—and it was reproductive. It consumed Nihilum and grew while the End’s power struggled to keep Vitae’s growth at bay.
The battle between Nihilum and Vitae was at a stalemate at this point, almost seven months after the fight with the Healer, and it was the best that could have happened to him. His body had transformed into a battlefield with both sides desiring his demise. Yet, now that seven months had passed, the Poisonous Beast God had gotten used to them. His body had been tempered constantly over the last six months, which made it considerably easier to block, expel, and control an Overlord’s Nihilum and the Healer’s Vitae in small quantities. It was not a lot, but it was leagues above the pain he suffered when his body had first transformed into a battlefield of the End’s powers.
Others would have been satisfied with that. They’d be happy to escape the fight with several Void Overlords relatively unharmed. A few deep gashes that would heal over the course of years once the residual Nihilum had been fully washed out would have been enormous.
Zephyr, however, was far from satisfied. Minor control over a small quantity of Nihilum and Vitae was not enough, nor was the major transformation his body had undergone to dispel harmful substances swiftly. Not even the minuscule increment of power he’d gained from tempering his body with Vitae and Nihilum seemed to satisfy the Poisonous Beast God.
He wanted more—he wanted the Healer. Knowing where his remains should be, Zephyr returned to the ocean corrupted by the power of the End, only to find nothing. The shell of liquid death was no longer at the bottom of the ocean, the Healer was nowhere to be seen, and the End’s corruption had receded.
Life had returned to the ocean. Odd creatures entered his perception every now and then—be it schools of fish with unusually high lifeforce, pitch-black sharks, whales, and more—but it was not until waves of lifeforce swept through the ocean that something clicked.
His senses locked onto the pitch-black creatures, and he recognized them as ethereal beings made of the End’s power. No. Made of Vitae.
Zephyr’s scales clattered, and fury and disbelief merged into one as his head jerked toward the fish that radiated a familiar crimson hue.
“He… how can that be?” he asked, but there was nobody to answer him. No one but himself. “He cannot be alive. He is dead. DEAD!!”
***
“You sensed him too, didn’t you?” Zachariah asked, sword unsheathed. He looked grim, clearly angry, which was rare. David had only seen the Regressor like that once, and that was when he held a sword to David’s throat.
“Zephyr? I sensed him a while ago when he passed through one of my fish schools. That was an hour ago, maybe two,” David responded with a smile. He didn’t mention that he’d deployed a few dozen Echos to spy on Zephyr, nor did he reveal the Vitae and Nihilum residing in the Poisonous Beast God’s body.
The Beast God looked different. His body was covered in deep gashes that didn’t heal well, as well as the scars of even older wounds that hadn’t been visible before. His scales were darker than they used to be, and he looked more like a ferocious black dragon than the oversized, verdant green serpent he’d once been.
David had heard about the Voidlings’ interference in his demise and how they’d hunted Zephyr. He half-expected the Poisonous Beast God to be licking his wounds for years. Clearly, that was not necessary. Zephyr was back at it, and he was looking for something in the ocean. David didn’t need two seconds to figure out what—or who—that something was.
“He is looking for me.”
“For you? Did he already figure out that you’re still alive?” Zachariah looked weirdly impressed, though still angry.
“I don’t think so. He’s searching the ocean for my corpse. Probably to consume and get hold of Vitae,” David responded.
“That… is beyond stupid.”
I don’t think so. If you saw what I saw, you wouldn’t say that, he thought but didn’t say aloud.
“We can deal with him real quick.” Zachariah gave David the look, which made him reconsider for a moment.
“No. I want to deal with him. I want a rematch.”
Zachariah didn’t seem convinced, but something in David’s crimson eyes must have persuaded him. He sheathed his sword once more and gestured to him to leave.
“Make sure you beat him this time. Losing once to a snake should be humiliating enough.”
Fuck you too. David’s lips curled upward in a smirk.
“Sure thing.”
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