When the battle was over, Ren just tossed the dead shark onto the shore, telling everybody to leave it alone. She remained there, scanning the shoreline, while the rest cleaned up the battlefield and retook what remained of the old lighthouse. Thankfully, no second wave or another demon demigod came, but not because they gave up. Ren sensed a few coming and going, nearing the shores, even scanning her before they returned to the depth of the sea.
Farther back, underwater, in almost complete darkness, two huge angler fishes were floating next to each other.
"Why aren't we attacking? It's just one human!" one of them grumbled with a raspy, female voice while her partner answered in a much more feminine, charming voice.
"Because those are our orders! Hammy failed spectacularly, so for now, we wait until the Big-J gives its order to attack!" She giggled, sounding like a young maiden, in great contrast to her massive jaw with protruding, giant teeth and her savage-looking exterior.
"He died, so we now know her full strength! We just need to swarm up on her!"
"Sis, you spent too much time with Chompy and the others!" she said while her angler flashed in a bright blue light. "Those piranhas are a bad influence on you! The girl out there is a true cultivator; our powers come from God…."
"Exactly! We should kill her! We were blessed, and she refused the gift!" She protested quickly.
"Haaahh… we took the shortcut, Sis… she did not! I'm afraid our experience in fighting is below hers! I'm more akin to a plan of waiting for a good moment to strike without notice! Or lure her into a trap! We tried swarming the surface; now look at it! Dead! Every one of them!"
"It was only a small group of rejects!" she shook her fins and angler as an answer, ignoring everything she just said. "Our numbers are just as numerous as the humans' up on the surface!"
"Then blow your trumpet Sis, gather your friends, and off you go!" she replied with an annoyed voice by now, her cheerfulness slowly dissipating. "Let me see how long you survive!"
"..."
"So? Why are you not going?" She asked with a clearly sarcastic voice. "Should I toss you out?"
"I'm not going without you…."
"Suuuuure!" She sighed, but then both of their anglers lit up simultaneously as it was flashing as if they had just received some kind of morse code.
"That is so far away!" groaned the impatient one after everything returned to normal, but her cheery-sounding sibling just laughed, already swimming away.
"But it is a great plan from Big-J!"
"Stop calling the jellyfish that! He will absorb you alive if he learns about it!" the raspy-voiced anglerfish swam after her.
"Nah! It's all good! We just need to hurry and cross the ocean!" she continued laughing, already swimming so fast that it looked like she was underwater in a separate tube, pushing everything away before her so her sister could keep up behind her.
"Can those mermaids be trusted?" The raspy-voiced asked after a few minutes of travel.
"It came from our lil' sis stationed there. She recognized the feel of the human's aura when Big-J recorded it and sent it to every outpost! She even spoke with her! The best way to catch her is to attack where it hurts~."
"So we cross the huge ocean just to then attack her family… ugh… I hate traveling the open waters; it takes months and is boooooring…."
"So what? Stop crying! We got time~ It is going to be great! By our information, no strong humans are there; we can march up from the sea and feast on them! Ahahahaha! This is why I love Big-J! He thinks like me~" She laughed as the two were crossing the almost endless ocean, heading straight towards the Storm Coast on the other end of the Realm.
…
….
…..
At the cabin, where the twin Gods' little Realm was, the two of them were entertaining a guest who came uninvited and in a pretty sour mood. Not long ago, the whole, snowy mountain range shook as starless night descended while Skoorn's figure stepped out from the appearing bloody moon, landing beside the log cabin, holding his weapon in hand.
"Brother… he looks scary!" Alfina moaned, hiding behind her brother, who just chuckled at her playful voice, not even sounding scared.
"Don't start playing now!" Skoorn shouted, raising his rusty sword at them. "Out with it! What are you doing with my minions' souls!"
"Nothing~," both of them said at the same time.
Skoorn, for an answer, just slashed, his blade cutting Oynega in two cleanly, faster than they could react to it. There was no blood, and the cut looked completely clean but not because of the sharpness of Skoorn's blade. Alfina just clicked her tongue, stepping back, and soon, Oynega's dismembered body disappeared. From a distance, the sound of millions of souls' crying came, and from Alfina's slender body, a face appeared, growing out from her chest, and only after a few seconds Oynega 'climbed' out from her. Now the twins stood there, unharmed and as if nothing had just happened, with the only exception that Alfina was panting with ecstasy as she 'birthed' her twin sibling into the ranks of the living once again.
"Start explaining, or I will cut you up until you fail to rebirth each other!"
"Then we are going to be here for a long time!" both of them said at the same time. "Relax a little!" Alfina rolled her eyes as the reborn Oynega sighed, looking at Skoorn. "We are collecting souls; why do you even care? Don't you know, until Kai is alive, we can't be sure he won't find a way of coming back! Just look at Athos's example!"
"..." hearing those lines, Skoorn's eye twitched a little and immediately thought about something unpleasant, even smelling some burnt hair in the air.
"Look, we are far from completing it… but after we do, we could work together!" said, once again, both of them, looking at him with a grin and shining eyes.
"I'm listening," he replied, lowering his weapon.
"Easy! You need blood, eh? To finish your sword~ Let us help each other! You get to finish your weapon; we get to finish our soul-thingy~."
"And how do you plan that?" Skoorn furrowed his brows together.
"Let's kill Nilier!" the twins replied with a laugh, and not even Skoorn could mask his shock. "You get enough blood to finish cultivating that rusty toothpick; we get her soul! With that, she won't be a problem! You also know she is hesitating! Same as before when we dealt with Kai and when it was about Athos! She was always the spare wheel; we didn't need her then and not now!"
"..."
"After that, we can go and kill those Immortal schmucks and Athos too~," They said, speaking simultaneously, their voices resonating weirdly, "It was his choice to reincarnate too late~! With our project completed, none of them will have a chance at reincarnation ever again~," They explained, smiling with a savage, unnatural look.
For a bit, Skoorn said and did nothing; not even his facial expression changed, but in the end, he just nodded, before disappearing, leaving the twins there with wide grins.
"Fool!" Oynega laughed while his sister hugged him from the back.
"Let him be one! He always thought he was the hottest of hotshots! Just because he became the first God under Kai! It is easier to manipulate him that way! Plus… With one thing, Athos was right!"
"Hm? Which one?"
"Nothing stays the same!"
…
….
…..
"I'd love to thank you for everything you have done!" Urami walked in, still with wobbly steps, bowing as deep as she could toward Ren.
"Here!" Ren laughed as an answer, putting a steaming bowl on the table in her tent, signaling with her arm to sit down and eat up. "Finish it until the last drop!" She smiled at her. "If I can say so myself, I made a great shark soup!" she sat down at the other end, starting to spoon up her portion.
Urami was greatly surprised at the ease she felt, facing a demigod who acted way more casually than she expected to. Finding her steps again and sitting down, the hot food sent warmth through her body, easing most of her pain by moving around.
"I'll send some for your companion too! I heard he regained consciousness!"
"Yes!" Urami answered quickly, wiping her mouth as she was lost in slurping up the meal presented to her "Master Oxon has promised to replace his missing limbs when we arrive back at the Sect. It will take a year or two for him to recoup his strength!"
"That is not bad~" Ren answered with a kind voice. "What if I tell you I can cut that time in half?"
"Really?!" she opened her eyes wide, not expecting another boon just so quickly, falling right into their laps. "What do I need to do for that?! Just ask!"
"Well, it can't be done here. I have a father-in-law and a Master whose specialty is vitality. With their help, attaching new limbs and getting used to them would take less time!"
"Um…" She looked at her, still waiting as to what the price would be for something like this. Even in the Sect, if not for rewards, something like replacing lost limbs would cost them a lot, especially if the original body part was destroyed.
"You just need to travel far. Very far away!" Ren continued, explaining to her where she was from, and hearing that the three Immortals brought her here; she could not help but gulp, finding the story unbelievable, to say the least. "You would act as an ambassador in my Sect while you are there. Being the contact between yours and mine!"
"Wouldn't be," She tried to ask; why not send someone more important over.
"Nope!" Ren cut in with a chuckle. "I already spoke with Kaizer about it; it has been decided! Of course, only if you accept my proposal!"
"Y-yes! Yes, I do!" Urami nodded quickly, especially if this would help Adachi out.
"Good~ When you are ready to move, Kaizer will send you over; he also finished setting up the teleportation formation! By now, my Sect can travel between any of the three Immortals' homes..." she leaned back, finishing her soup with a satisfied expression. "There will be ambassadors from the other two, too, of course! So please, get along~."
"We have always been allies, the three Sect's disciples are rarely enemies, and even then, it's just bickering amongst cousins!"
"That is good to hear~ Don't expect a wonderland, by the way! My home may look like a backward place for you, but I'll let you explore that part of the world! Spoiling it would not be fun~" she stood up, fixing her clothes. "Now eat up; bring one to your companion, and the others will tell you the rest!"
"Thank you!" Urami stood up once again, deeply bowing while Ren just walked past her, patting her head before leaving the tent. As soon as she stepped out, she was gone, already far away, flying in the air, watching the rumbling clouds above her. The air was cold, and rain was yet to fall, but it could start pouring down again any time now.
"Dad!" Ophila appeared, followed by Invictus, and both wore serious expressions.
Not even a day ago, Nilier contacted Ophila, saying she amassed all her people, and they had two choices. Bring Athos to a meeting, or she will announce a crusade against the three Immortals. Of course, Invictus's first reaction was to announce a 'counter-crusade' so they would be the first to strike, but Ren shot him down as soon as she heard it.
"She was always like this!" Ren smiled at the two, shaking her head. "She wants to meet but saying that would be too… Well... Too straightforward! She never said what she felt, always finding roundabout ways to say things!" she let out a long sigh in the end. "There won't be any trouble, so I'll go, meet with her, and that is all!"
"Anyway, we are coming with you!" Invictus answered, "Ophy will take you away while I keep her at bay if anything goes south!"
"Fine, fine!" she put her hands on her waist, watching the two.
"Shouldn't Kaizer be coming too?" Ophila asked as the trio was already on the move, heading towards Nilier's main temple.
"No," Ren said. "Ariana is at her threshold! Something clicked in her mind, so I won't disturb them now… and as I said! We are going to just TALK, okay? No fighting!" she looked at them seriously before finally bursting out with a loud laugh. "I just realized something great! She doesn't know I have been reborn as a girl… oh boy! The surprise is going to be a funny one~."
Corty We are close to the end. One more week. Yes. One week and the book is done.
This may sound weird but the ending is pretty close. The reason is simple: When I was writing this story, by this time, I felt that I exhausted my creativity. I had very little inspiration remaining. I was thinking about how to flesh out this part of the continent but I had very few good ideas. I did not want to drag out Ren's travels around the sects... etc. I did not want to write filler-like episodes. Especially not, when the plot would not support it. Why would the Gods wait for her to travel around and explore the land? So...
So, here we are, close to the end game. I hope you are not too angry about it and I hope, what is left of the story is going to be satisfying. I am honestly, a bit nervous :) But, on the plus side, I also decided to write an additional, extra afterword when the story is done, making sure all characters have their closures!
When the battle was over, Ren just tossed the dead shark onto the shore, telling everybody to leave it alone. She remained there, scanning the shoreline, while the rest cleaned up the battlefield and retook what remained of the old lighthouse. Thankfully, no second wave or another demon demigod came, but not because they gave up. Ren sensed a few coming and going, nearing the shores, even scanning her before they returned to the depth of the sea.
Farther back, underwater, in almost complete darkness, two huge angler fishes were floating next to each other.
"Why aren't we attacking? It's just one human!" one of them grumbled with a raspy, female voice while her partner answered in a much more feminine, charming voice.
"Because those are our orders! Hammy failed spectacularly, so for now, we wait until the Big-J gives its order to attack!" She giggled, sounding like a young maiden, in great contrast to her massive jaw with protruding, giant teeth and her savage-looking exterior.
"He died, so we now know her full strength! We just need to swarm up on her!"
"Sis, you spent too much time with Chompy and the others!" she said while her angler flashed in a bright blue light. "Those piranhas are a bad influence on you! The girl out there is a true cultivator; our powers come from God…."
"Exactly! We should kill her! We were blessed, and she refused the gift!" She protested quickly.
"Haaahh… we took the shortcut, Sis… she did not! I'm afraid our experience in fighting is below hers! I'm more akin to a plan of waiting for a good moment to strike without notice! Or lure her into a trap! We tried swarming the surface; now look at it! Dead! Every one of them!"
"It was only a small group of rejects!" she shook her fins and angler as an answer, ignoring everything she just said. "Our numbers are just as numerous as the humans' up on the surface!"
"Then blow your trumpet Sis, gather your friends, and off you go!" she replied with an annoyed voice by now, her cheerfulness slowly dissipating. "Let me see how long you survive!"
"..."
"So? Why are you not going?" She asked with a clearly sarcastic voice. "Should I toss you out?"
"I'm not going without you…."
"Suuuuure!" She sighed, but then both of their anglers lit up simultaneously as it was flashing as if they had just received some kind of morse code.
"That is so far away!" groaned the impatient one after everything returned to normal, but her cheery-sounding sibling just laughed, already swimming away.
"But it is a great plan from Big-J!"
"Stop calling the jellyfish that! He will absorb you alive if he learns about it!" the raspy-voiced anglerfish swam after her.
"Nah! It's all good! We just need to hurry and cross the ocean!" she continued laughing, already swimming so fast that it looked like she was underwater in a separate tube, pushing everything away before her so her sister could keep up behind her.
"Can those mermaids be trusted?" The raspy-voiced asked after a few minutes of travel.
"It came from our lil' sis stationed there. She recognized the feel of the human's aura when Big-J recorded it and sent it to every outpost! She even spoke with her! The best way to catch her is to attack where it hurts~."
"So we cross the huge ocean just to then attack her family… ugh… I hate traveling the open waters; it takes months and is boooooring…."
"So what? Stop crying! We got time~ It is going to be great! By our information, no strong humans are there; we can march up from the sea and feast on them! Ahahahaha! This is why I love Big-J! He thinks like me~" She laughed as the two were crossing the almost endless ocean, heading straight towards the Storm Coast on the other end of the Realm.
…
….
…..
At the cabin, where the twin Gods' little Realm was, the two of them were entertaining a guest who came uninvited and in a pretty sour mood. Not long ago, the whole, snowy mountain range shook as starless night descended while Skoorn's figure stepped out from the appearing bloody moon, landing beside the log cabin, holding his weapon in hand.
"Brother… he looks scary!" Alfina moaned, hiding behind her brother, who just chuckled at her playful voice, not even sounding scared.
"Don't start playing now!" Skoorn shouted, raising his rusty sword at them. "Out with it! What are you doing with my minions' souls!"
"Nothing~," both of them said at the same time.
Skoorn, for an answer, just slashed, his blade cutting Oynega in two cleanly, faster than they could react to it. There was no blood, and the cut looked completely clean but not because of the sharpness of Skoorn's blade. Alfina just clicked her tongue, stepping back, and soon, Oynega's dismembered body disappeared. From a distance, the sound of millions of souls' crying came, and from Alfina's slender body, a face appeared, growing out from her chest, and only after a few seconds Oynega 'climbed' out from her. Now the twins stood there, unharmed and as if nothing had just happened, with the only exception that Alfina was panting with ecstasy as she 'birthed' her twin sibling into the ranks of the living once again.
"Start explaining, or I will cut you up until you fail to rebirth each other!"
"Then we are going to be here for a long time!" both of them said at the same time. "Relax a little!" Alfina rolled her eyes as the reborn Oynega sighed, looking at Skoorn. "We are collecting souls; why do you even care? Don't you know, until Kai is alive, we can't be sure he won't find a way of coming back! Just look at Athos's example!"
"..." hearing those lines, Skoorn's eye twitched a little and immediately thought about something unpleasant, even smelling some burnt hair in the air.
"Look, we are far from completing it… but after we do, we could work together!" said, once again, both of them, looking at him with a grin and shining eyes.
"I'm listening," he replied, lowering his weapon.
"Easy! You need blood, eh? To finish your sword~ Let us help each other! You get to finish your weapon; we get to finish our soul-thingy~."
"And how do you plan that?" Skoorn furrowed his brows together.
"Let's kill Nilier!" the twins replied with a laugh, and not even Skoorn could mask his shock. "You get enough blood to finish cultivating that rusty toothpick; we get her soul! With that, she won't be a problem! You also know she is hesitating! Same as before when we dealt with Kai and when it was about Athos! She was always the spare wheel; we didn't need her then and not now!"
"..."
"After that, we can go and kill those Immortal schmucks and Athos too~," They said, speaking simultaneously, their voices resonating weirdly, "It was his choice to reincarnate too late~! With our project completed, none of them will have a chance at reincarnation ever again~," They explained, smiling with a savage, unnatural look.
For a bit, Skoorn said and did nothing; not even his facial expression changed, but in the end, he just nodded, before disappearing, leaving the twins there with wide grins.
"Fool!" Oynega laughed while his sister hugged him from the back.
"Let him be one! He always thought he was the hottest of hotshots! Just because he became the first God under Kai! It is easier to manipulate him that way! Plus… With one thing, Athos was right!"
"Hm? Which one?"
"Nothing stays the same!"
…
….
…..
"I'd love to thank you for everything you have done!" Urami walked in, still with wobbly steps, bowing as deep as she could toward Ren.
"Here!" Ren laughed as an answer, putting a steaming bowl on the table in her tent, signaling with her arm to sit down and eat up. "Finish it until the last drop!" She smiled at her. "If I can say so myself, I made a great shark soup!" she sat down at the other end, starting to spoon up her portion.
Urami was greatly surprised at the ease she felt, facing a demigod who acted way more casually than she expected to. Finding her steps again and sitting down, the hot food sent warmth through her body, easing most of her pain by moving around.
"I'll send some for your companion too! I heard he regained consciousness!"
"Yes!" Urami answered quickly, wiping her mouth as she was lost in slurping up the meal presented to her "Master Oxon has promised to replace his missing limbs when we arrive back at the Sect. It will take a year or two for him to recoup his strength!"
"That is not bad~" Ren answered with a kind voice. "What if I tell you I can cut that time in half?"
"Really?!" she opened her eyes wide, not expecting another boon just so quickly, falling right into their laps. "What do I need to do for that?! Just ask!"
"Well, it can't be done here. I have a father-in-law and a Master whose specialty is vitality. With their help, attaching new limbs and getting used to them would take less time!"
"Um…" She looked at her, still waiting as to what the price would be for something like this. Even in the Sect, if not for rewards, something like replacing lost limbs would cost them a lot, especially if the original body part was destroyed.
"You just need to travel far. Very far away!" Ren continued, explaining to her where she was from, and hearing that the three Immortals brought her here; she could not help but gulp, finding the story unbelievable, to say the least. "You would act as an ambassador in my Sect while you are there. Being the contact between yours and mine!"
"Wouldn't be," She tried to ask; why not send someone more important over.
"Nope!" Ren cut in with a chuckle. "I already spoke with Kaizer about it; it has been decided! Of course, only if you accept my proposal!"
"Y-yes! Yes, I do!" Urami nodded quickly, especially if this would help Adachi out.
"Good~ When you are ready to move, Kaizer will send you over; he also finished setting up the teleportation formation! By now, my Sect can travel between any of the three Immortals' homes..." she leaned back, finishing her soup with a satisfied expression. "There will be ambassadors from the other two, too, of course! So please, get along~."
"We have always been allies, the three Sect's disciples are rarely enemies, and even then, it's just bickering amongst cousins!"
"That is good to hear~ Don't expect a wonderland, by the way! My home may look like a backward place for you, but I'll let you explore that part of the world! Spoiling it would not be fun~" she stood up, fixing her clothes. "Now eat up; bring one to your companion, and the others will tell you the rest!"
"Thank you!" Urami stood up once again, deeply bowing while Ren just walked past her, patting her head before leaving the tent. As soon as she stepped out, she was gone, already far away, flying in the air, watching the rumbling clouds above her. The air was cold, and rain was yet to fall, but it could start pouring down again any time now.
"Dad!" Ophila appeared, followed by Invictus, and both wore serious expressions.
Not even a day ago, Nilier contacted Ophila, saying she amassed all her people, and they had two choices. Bring Athos to a meeting, or she will announce a crusade against the three Immortals. Of course, Invictus's first reaction was to announce a 'counter-crusade' so they would be the first to strike, but Ren shot him down as soon as she heard it.
"She was always like this!" Ren smiled at the two, shaking her head. "She wants to meet but saying that would be too… Well... Too straightforward! She never said what she felt, always finding roundabout ways to say things!" she let out a long sigh in the end. "There won't be any trouble, so I'll go, meet with her, and that is all!"
"Anyway, we are coming with you!" Invictus answered, "Ophy will take you away while I keep her at bay if anything goes south!"
"Fine, fine!" she put her hands on her waist, watching the two.
"Shouldn't Kaizer be coming too?" Ophila asked as the trio was already on the move, heading towards Nilier's main temple.
"No," Ren said. "Ariana is at her threshold! Something clicked in her mind, so I won't disturb them now… and as I said! We are going to just TALK, okay? No fighting!" she looked at them seriously before finally bursting out with a loud laugh. "I just realized something great! She doesn't know I have been reborn as a girl… oh boy! The surprise is going to be a funny one~."
Corty We are close to the end. One more week. Yes. One week and the book is done.
This may sound weird but the ending is pretty close. The reason is simple: When I was writing this story, by this time, I felt that I exhausted my creativity. I had very little inspiration remaining. I was thinking about how to flesh out this part of the continent but I had very few good ideas. I did not want to drag out Ren's travels around the sects... etc. I did not want to write filler-like episodes. Especially not, when the plot would not support it. Why would the Gods wait for her to travel around and explore the land? So...
So, here we are, close to the end game. I hope you are not too angry about it and I hope, what is left of the story is going to be satisfying. I am honestly, a bit nervous :) But, on the plus side, I also decided to write an additional, extra afterword when the story is done, making sure all characters have their closures!
