Chapter 52: The Cost of Divinity
[Oracle (SSS): An Echo of the divinity of Justice, user gains limited control over space and reality — an entity modeled in the image of an order.]
Wait, that’s not right... Roy suddenly realized, glancing around in confusion.
"Boss, is something wrong?" Richard asked in worry.
Roy frowned, his hands touched his eyes and ears — but they were clean...no blood. His frown deepened.
What just happened now... was that a dream? It couldn’t be, right? He wondered with furrowed brows.
The entire event — from the glimpse of divine glyphs to the mysterious force that awakened deep in his soul — was vivid in his mind.
But reality told him it never happened. His eyes found their way to Jake, the only other person who might have witnessed it all...
Jake’s lean frame hung silently, now with a newly found meekness. Suddenly, he felt a familiar gaze trained on his being.
His gait trembled instinctively, the fear still fresh in his veins, his mind still in upheaval — disbelief, visceral fear, and reverence.
The moment he felt the gaze, he flung himself into a prostrating bow, his face kissing the chilly marbles of the outpost, his hands outstretched — as though in prayer to a god.
"T-this lowly servant Jake Vladen... greets Almighty Lord of Justice."
Richard and the others wore quite the funny expressions at the scene.
They found his actions exaggerated and too extra. After all, even when meeting Roy for the first time, none of them had acted so subservient.
They were humans from the modern era — acts like these felt cringe and awkward.
Unfortunately for them, Jake remained oblivious to all this as he kept his posture, his spine trembling under Roy’s gaze.
The others might not understand, but he understood fully well what sort of monster stood before him as his Lord.
Roy had literally, slowly and painfully, pelted him of his divinity. Though all he had left was but a spark, the soul-deep pain remained entrenched in his mind.
If only that was all — but he had then proceeded to witness the cosmic spirit casually drag time backwards, to the time before anything even happened. This wasn’t really hard, as beings with staggering amounts of divinity could manipulate time somewhat if they were willing to pay the cost...
But this guy? Not only did the Heir rewind time, all the cause and effect that occurred on Roy was erased — but that of Jake remained fully intact.
Such level of command over reality shook Jake to his very core. His fear of Roy scaled a whole other level.
Right now, talk less of being Roy’s subordinate — he would happily be his dog.
Indeed, this guy knows something. That means what just happened wasn’t a dream — it was real! But... that power... was that really mine?
Roy could hardly believe he could command such power. During the entire event, it was as though he was working on full auto mode — all his emotions and thoughts sealed, silent throughout.
Well, whatever. I seriously have too much on my plate to be sidetracked by this. He quickly decided to shelve these thoughts and questions for now. Even the system remained silent — meaning there was more to this than he could unravel now...
"At ease... such overtly formal acts are not required of you before me. Like I told the others, we are all family — well, at least I would like us to be.
As long as you remain loyal to me, I shall treat you as kin. So please, learn to ease yourself in my presence."
Not waiting for a reply from Jake, Roy quickly turned toward Richard.
"I’ll need you to take me to see this Beast Lord Amon..." He needed to take care of this latent threat before he could concentrate fully on the incoming Calamity.
"Ah, about that Lord — Jake has already set a space marker at the very outskirts of the Beast Lord’s border, making going back more convenient.
So what am I doing, Boss? Should I gather the recruits? Are we besieging them?" Richard asked, voice tinged with enthusiasm.
The Beast Lord had gotten on his nerves, and he wanted nothing more than to watch the mutt suffer.
But unfortunately, he was disappointed.
"Sorry man, but taking you all along would be unnecessary. No worries — me and Jake going is enough."
Richard was instantly disappointed. Tch! I guess I won’t be there when you get your ass handed to you then. He really loathed the wolf, but it seemed he just had to make do with the knowledge that Roy would handle it.
Roy stood and walked up to Jake.
The poor guy, who had just gotten to his feet, almost plunged back to kissing the marbles.
"Alright Jake, take me there now... Oh, and Ethan, Layla — don’t forget the instructions." Roy reminded, before Jake’s trembling arm made contact with his shoulder — and they both vanished.
...
After a brief second of lightheadedness, Roy found himself before a wide mountain range.
"This region is located at the far east of your territory, Master. From here back would take a two-hour journey, and it’s approximately thirty miles apart from your border. That thin line marker over that rock is the border of the Beast Lord’s territory," Jake hurriedly narrated.
But Roy remained silent, gazing at the vast mountain range. He questioned, "What is a Justice Arm?"
Jake’s expression froze, and he gulped hard before replying, "A-actually Master... I don’t know myself either..."
Roy turned his gaze to him with a frown. "You don’t know?"
Gait trembling, Jake scrambled for a suitable reply. "Ah... I swear... Master, I really don’t know. When I descended, I had little to no memories. I only knew I had to come find you and serve you..."
"You descended?" Roy was curious.
"Yes Master — my soul broke into the barrier before occupying this freshly dead body."
This reply worried Roy a bit, and Jake seemed to sense this, so he quickly added:
"Though I can’t recall, I’m sure my circumstances were quite unique. So I’m certain no other being could accomplish the same feat."
This reply caused Roy to sigh in relief. For a moment, he feared — What if higher-leveled beings could disregard the protection barrier?
"If you were really ready to serve me, why did your actions say otherwise?" During his omnipotent-like state, Roy had seen through all of Jake’s actions — including his attempted severance of their bond.
Frantic, Jake hurriedly explained:
"Master, you really can’t blame me. This is the side effect of having so much divinity in your soul — it begins to eat at your mind, giving one a god complex. Mine was even worse because of how much I carried. It was so much that I dare say even after the three years of protection on this ether plane, I would still remain unrivalled...
But Master has rid me of the divinity, so I’m nothing but a mere mortal now." Toward the end, his voice held a hint of regret.
"I see. If it’s like that, I won’t fault you then. Just make sure from now on your every action is to redeem yourself — and to earn my trust."
Roy actually felt pity. Such a powerhouse — demoted like that.
Having such a character in his ranks... wouldn’t he be invincible?
Sadly, divinity wouldn’t bow for someone lesser...
"Anyways, let’s go and deal with that Beast Lord."
Roy stepped forward, only to be obstructed by a translucent shield.
[Border Shield: Level 13]
[Details: Can withstand damage of 130!]
Such a construct would have stopped most. After all, very few could reach such numbers at this stage in Arcana. But before Roy? It might as well have been papier-mâché.
Crash!
Like brittle glass, the shield shattered with a slight wave from Roy as he continued to venture into the foreign Lord’s territory.
...
Meanwhile, deep in the mountains — unlike human Lords’ territories where there would have been some semblance of civilization or constructs by now — this place remained untouched, save for a mountain filled with caves.
And at the summit of a mountain, an abyssal cave lay. Most wandering wolves dared not venture close.
This was the residence of their alpha — the Beast Lord Amon.
And just at this moment, a pair of crimson eyes cut through the darkness of the cave, as a guttural growl — which eerily portrayed human words — rang out:
"He’s here..."
{Author Note Below!}