Chapter 11: Onslaught
As the fire orb above him flickered and extinguished, plunging the cavern into near-total darkness, Niveus immediately felt the shift in the atmosphere.
'She can't maintain her skill in that state...'
The oppressive cold and the overwhelming silence were quickly replaced by the sinister skittering of the monsters, their many legs scraping against the stone as they closed in on him.
The faint glow from their eyes was the only light in the dark, casting eerie reflections off the slick, web-covered walls.
"Perfect timing."
Niveus muttered, his voice tinged with sarcasm.
But he couldn't afford to be distracted by frustration.
The absence of light would make this fight even more difficult, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
He still had an ace card, after all.
Closing his eyes, Niveus breathed calmly even though the monsters were ready to devour him.
In a second, his inside was filled with warmth. Meanwhile, the golden aura enveloped his body. Soon, it was concentrated around his eyes instead of the whole body.
As he opened his eyes again, his already golden eyes shone even more in the darkness as if enhanced by divinity.
Niveus was indeed a "nameless character," but there was no rule that stated the nameless had to be an unimportant or irrelevant figure, especially when the story had become a reality.
Realizing what Niveus had done, Nono shouted at him in his mind.
["What are you doing?! Why are you using that? What if—"]
'You don't have to worry, because I only used a small portion of divinity that's even lesser than the Saintess usually used. The Celestials, especially Luminous, won't even realize.'
["Still, your divinity is different from the Saintess."]
'I don't know why you're so worried about the Celestials, but I assure you I'll be fine.'
The Celestial Being, or the Celestial, was a term for those who had ascended to Godhood and lived in Celestia, which people thought was only a fairy tale.
As someone who had the all-know sentient system and the creator on behalf of The Heir Sought For The Thorny Crown, Niveus knew that Celestia actually existed.
In the original game's settings, Celestia was mentioned and even became part of the plot of the hidden route, where if players pursue that route, instead of becoming a king or queen of Chrysantheus Kingdom, the heir character they played ascended to Godhood and became a minor God (Celestial).
Although they could play the hidden route with all the characters, the easiest to get this particular route was to also use a secret character.
In the game, even though it said seven heirs were fighting for the throne, players could only play with six characters because the last one was meant to be an unlockable secret character if they reached an ending with a specific condition.
The point was that as the maker of the game, knowledge about Celestia was like the back of his hand.
The problem was it didn't mention Celestia's exact location.
Only this line was provided:
"You abandoned everything in the mortal world, choosing to ascend into Godhood. As a minor God, you are spending the rest of your time in Celestia and watching over your beloved kingdom from above."
After reassuring Nono, Niveus, now empowered by divine power, could see through the darkness.
The monsters flinched when Niveus's eyes, wrapped with divinity, gazed at them.
After reassuring Nono, Niveus, now empowered by divine power, could see through the darkness.
The monsters flinched when Niveus's eyes, wrapped with divinity, gazed at them.
After reassuring Nono, Niveus, now empowered by divine power, could see through the darkness.
The monsters flinched when Niveus's eyes, wrapped with divinity, gazed at them.
Although they were monsters, Niveus could tell they were hesitating and confused by how they slowly retreated before standing their ground a few seconds later.
With a swift movement, Niveus launched himself at the nearest monster.
Swinging his sword, he sliced it in a quick motion.
The blade cut cleanly through its thick exoskeleton, severing its head from its body. The monster collapsed to the ground, its legs twitching briefly before it stopped moving altogether.
The others recoiled, their movements erratic as they struggled to comprehend the threat before them.
"Too slow," Niveus muttered under his breath as he moved to the next target.
He was faster and stronger, his movements almost too quick for the eye to follow. With Nono's help, he also anticipated the monsters's attacks before they even made them.
Another monster lunged at him from behind, making him raise an eyebrow.
'From the back?'
He spun around, his sword arcing through the air and catching the creature mid-leap. The blade sliced through its abdomen, and the monster let out a shrill screech as it fell to the ground.
The remaining monsters surged toward Niveus in a frenzy, their glowing eyes fixated on him as they closed in from all directions.
With a deep breath, he raised his sword and braced himself for the onslaught.
As they got closer, Niveus began slicing them like a tofu, deflecting and countering their attacks.
One by one, the monsters fell, their bodies disintegrating into ash, the nature of the creature inside the Monolith realm, as Niveus cut them down.
But as he fought, he could feel the strain building within him. The use of divinity, no matter how small, came with a price.
After each use of divine power, the Saintess always suffered a backlash; a momentary headache if she used a small portion, coughing blood, or fainting if it was large.
The same applied to Niveus.
'Even though I was born from that tribe, I guess only a pureblood would be able to wield it freely.'
Niveus was born to a tribe, no, to a race that was originally a Celestial Race.
However, they were exiled from Celestia thousands of years ago, forcing them to live in Actlane and build a small community in the northernmost land in the world, even beyond Salhju.
The eternal winter land, a large unoccupied snow desert territory, Tundra.
Although no longer a Celestial Race, the divinity was still with them even after thousands of years of surviving and maintaining their bloodlines.
Sadly, even after thriving that long in the mortal world, only one of them managed to survive until the end, a half-blooded child, Niveus.
'Just a little more.'
Shaking the memory from his head, Niveus continued slaughtering the spider-like monsters.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last of them crumbled into ash, leaving the cavern eerily silent.
Niveus stood in the center of the battlefield, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath. The golden light in his eyes slowly faded, the divine power receding as he allowed himself to relax.
But the silence wasn't long.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him trembled violently, shaking the very foundation of the cavern. The walls began to crack and crumble.
"What now...?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone