Bab 8: King of the Grave
Chapter 8: King of the Grave (Edited)
RUMBLE!
The sky was decorated with thunder and lightning as the bolts snaked through the darkness with lively energy.
BOom BoOm!
The deafening sounds of thunder and lightning threatened to shatter the very fabric of space, making it daunting and perilous to venture under the oppressive skies.
From a divine perspective, a flash of lightning revealed a hulking black castle perched atop a lofty peak. The castle seemed to be carved from the very mountain itself, blending seamlessly into its surroundings.
The castle's pillars were made of pitch black stone resembling the bones of a mighty dragon, while its exterior was covered in a sheen of dragon scales. These features gave the castle an ominous and imposing appearance, as if it were a fortress built to withstand even the greatest of threats.
A dark aura emanated from the castle, giving the impression of a black hole. Even on a bright day, the castle remained shrouded in an impenetrable darkness, as if it were a magnet for all light and hope.
The castle's ominous atmosphere was amplified by the dead, stale air that permeated the Death Fortress, making it appear even more sinister and foreboding than it already was.
The deadly aura surrounding the castle made it nearly impossible to detect from afar. Even powerful gods would struggle to locate it if they did not know where to begin searching.
"Ah, help me!" Desperate pleas echoed through the empty chamber.
"What have I done to deserve this, dear God?" An anguished cry pierced the silence.
"You devils! The wrath of the gods shall be upon you, and we shall watch as the God of Purgatory casts you onto his wheel of carnage to suffer for eternity!"
Wretched screams echoed throughout the castle as countless souls cursed their torturers in agony.
The atrocities witnessed in this wretched scene could even corrupt a benevolent god, causing them to descend into evil and join the ranks of Erebus, the Corruptor - the True God of Evil.
Amidst the cacophony of screams, there were two unusual voices that stood out - their calmness so pronounced that it bordered on indifference.
The utter terror of hearing these two calm, almost detached voices amidst the ceaseless screams was completely overwhelming.
"Abel, do you have faith that we will succeed this time? We've already attempted this twice and failed." One of the detached voices spoke with a hint of frustration, seeking reassurance from its companion.
The sound of footsteps echoed as the other man replied, his voice steady and assured. "Fear not, High Priest. I reviewed the ritual and identified the cause of our previous failures. It was our failure to create the correct symbols. As long as you strictly adhere to my instructions, success is guaranteed." The voice replied, now with a slightly annoyed undertone directed at the leader of Soul Eater.
Abel couldn't help but complain silently in his mind as he thought, 'Why must I always be the one doing the High Priest's work? He's supposed to be the leader, for god's sake! If it weren't for that cursed initiation ritual we underwent as Soul Eaters, I would have disposed of him a long time ago due to his incompetence.'
"As an added measure of caution, let me run through the list of ingredients required for the summoning. We'll need 10,000 souls of 18-year-old female virgins to entice the powerful beings hidden in the World of the Dead. That allure will increase their powers, of course. To make the summoning circle a physical entity, we'll also require the spine of a Bone Dragon. For any being to withstand holy spells, we'll need the blood of a benevolent god. We managed to procure some from a weaker god in the Righteous Faction via auction - no small feat, I might add. And finally, we'll employ Charon's Kiss - Flower of Death - unique to Soul Eater, as a binding agent to ensure everything goes exactly according to plan." The High Priest of the Undeath concluded, introducing each item with meticulous detail.
The Dark Advisor, Abel, nodded before replying, "There doesn't seem to be anything missing from the list. However, I can't help but think that if we had better materials, we could summon something more compelling - something equal to a Demigod, perhaps."
"With a summoned creature of that high rank, we could obliterate the Church of Sun and Sky. Those bastards have been spearheading the charge against our coven - they deserve nothing less than death!" The High Priest's voice was filled with ice-cold hatred, so much so that even a blind person could have mistaken it for the onset of winter. "But," he continued, "if one of us could ascend, that would be the ultimate triumph."
"Agreed, but with our current strength that's unlikely to happen." Abel assented as the leader nodded his head in agreement. The demise of the Church of Sun and Sky symbolized a return of their freedoms, and time was of the essence.
They approached a blood-red circle that floated an inch above the ground, and solemnly positioned themselves on opposite sides. Both wore black robes that concealed their faces from view.
As they stood within the blood-red circle, the two of them clasped their hands together in front of their bodies, and began to recite words that caused the very atmosphere to tremble and shudder. It was almost as if two invisible giants were playing with space and time in the center of the circle. "Oh Great and Powerful God of Death," they intoned, "we, your humble apostles, offer these souls as payment. We beseech you, dear Lord, to send a powerful being to aid us in our quest to vanquish the vile hypocrites from this world!"
Their words had only just passed their lips when an unknown force yanked the ten thousand virgin souls into the circle. However, before the final souls could be consumed, a commanding and ancient voice thundered through their minds. "I accept this offering," it proclaimed, "and shall send a powerful creature to aid you. Be warned, dear mortals: this being surpasses even your wildest imaginations. Be humble." The voice faded away into the silence, leaving behind a sense of ancient power and dark foreboding.
Abel and the High Priest's bodies began to quiver, their expressions twisting into disbelief - unable to process what they had just heard.
It was incomprehensible to some that they did not recognize the owner of such a powerful voice, for it was none other than the True God of Death himself- Utherus, the Reaper. He held complete dominion over death in their world.
Utherus, also known as the Reaper, is a True God - a deity that existed before the creation of worlds and is the very embodiment of death; thus, he is immortal. Being a True God signifies that Utherus has absolute control over the laws that govern his being.
Within the realm of Dominion, there existed nine Primordial Gods, each governing and embodying a fundamental aspect of existence. Amongst them were Utherus, the God of Death; the Goddess of Destiny; the God of Destruction; the Goddess of Creation; the Goddess of Life; the God of Spacetime; the God of Evil; the God of War; and the Goddess of Freedom and Order.
Deities that come to be after the creation of worlds are referred to as Demigod.
Demigod signify not only a particular level of strength and standing, but also highlight that those beneath the might and authority of True Gods - the true deities - are, in comparison, mere demigods despite their considerable power.
The power of True Gods lay in their complete command over the laws, aspects, and rules that governed existence. In contrast, Demigod were limited to overseeing only a portion of said laws and aspects. This limitation was imposed on them by the nature of the world itself.
To clarify, let us consider Astraeus - ruler of the Demigod - who reigns supreme, making him the most potent deity among his kind.
Despite his immense might as compared to the other Demigod, Astraeus would remain powerless against even the slightest movement of a single hair on the head of a True God.
BOOOoM!
While pondering their next move, a deafening bang echoed through the air, causing them to spew a mouthful of blood. Their bodies recoiled, folding into a deep kneeling position so intense that their heads were no longer visible, buried deep beneath the ground!
The two were struck with an overwhelming sense of fear, never having imagined that summoning a creature would garner the attention of the True God of Death. The summoning response was bizarre and unnatural, subjecting them to an involuntary kneel with no capacity to resist.
———-
"I'm obliged to you, Soul Eater. Without your aid, I doubt I could have achieved my objective. It's unjust for me to have you assist me, particularly considering your slight connection to me, and not offer anything in return - it would be intolerable for me," declared the God of Death as he called forth the Codex of Souls from his apostle's hands within his Heavenly Kingdom and exchanged it with the simpler one that Soul Eater was employing.
Notably, the God of Death was not simply presenting the book to them; he was entrusting it to the being they were summoning, hoping to gain insights into whether the True Gods were, in fact, born before Dominion or created. It was an early payment for services to follow.
As one of the most commanding deities, Utherus had long suspected the existence of beings far more powerful than himself, even as the highest-ranking among all the gods.
Utherus' suspicion was only compounded when he witnessed his elder sisters - the Goddess of Creation and the Goddess of Life - fashioning the diverse array of life forms that now teemed across the world.
In that moment, he pondered, "If my sisters could create life that could become a god, then who or what created us?" He had previously believed it was the universe itself, but quickly dismissed the notion as even he could effortlessly destroy a miniature universe. How could such a vulnerable entity possibly have created him?
Thus, he looked at it from a mortal's standpoint: in their eyes, they were created by the gods, which was both true and false since it was only his sisters who had created all the mortal beings, not all the gods. As the gods held supreme power over mortals, it stood to reason that the ones who had created the gods were beings who surpassed even them in power.
Observing Soul Eater's actions, Utherus employed his powers to shield the unfolding events from the sights of all the other gods, aware that they would likely seek to intervene if they knew what was happening.
When the summoning ritual drew to a close, he appropriated the souls and executed their desires, dutifully fulfilling his function as a god. After all, if it was the mortals who tasked the gods with such missions, then the world had no right to interfere.
He remembered to infuse some of his own power into the summoning circle, thereby enhancing it significantly, expanding its reaches deep into space, the better to detect and locate something surpassing even his own strength.
Examining his surroundings, he breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that the world had taken no action. As a god - even as a True God - he understood that he was bound by the rules and regulations set by the world. Any attempt to flout these edicts would inevitably result in his prolonged suppression or worst of all, his eventual destruction. He knew this from previous experience - once while attempting to summon an entity stronger than himself, the world had interfered, obliterating the summoning circle and sealing him away for over a million years before his eventual release, which had occurred only recently.
Utherus lamented, "It's a pity that I won't be able to use this ruse again without alerting the world." With a heavy sigh, he ceased speaking, returning to his World of the Dead to recuperate. Though it may appear facile, every action he took was a significant expenditure of his divine mana. After all, he was summoning a being that far exceeded his own capabilities. Thus, it would require no less than a hundred thousand years to fully replenish his divine energy pool.
The lengthy process of regeneration was just one of the numerous frailties plaguing the gods. Each time they wielded their power, they were compelled to allow time for recuperation. However, there were several methods to alleviate this ordeal; one being to acquire devout followers whose acts of worship would channel faith-powered energy into the gods, hastening the restoration of their mana.
———-
Once the God of Death had departed for his World of the Dead, a new deity emerged from a fissure in the galactic void, motioning with his hands to initiate a temporal reversal. Surveying all that had transpired, he shook his head mournfully. "My dear brother, why must you persist with this scheme of yours? Do you not comprehend the dire consequences it could have for us all? Nonetheless, as your senior, it is my responsibility to shield you from harm." With those words, the god vanished into the space-time breach, using his abilities to eliminate all traces of evidence, from the flow of history.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone