NOVEL NEXT Chapter 198: The Weight of Destiny.
Jax returned to Manaia and the girls, and upon arrival, he collapsed, beginning to breathe heavily. Although he had maintained his composure during the negotiation, the truth was that being before the four beasts had intimidated him more than he could ever accept. He had felt the blade's edge against his neck the entire time.
His golden armor flickered and dissipated, leaving him standing in his usual attire, sweat plastering his hair to his forehead.
One of his wives rushed to him, her face etched with panic. "My Lord, what happened? Are you alright? What was all that immense power? The ground—it shook like the world was ending!"
"It's fine," Jax managed to gasp, waving a hand weakly. "Everything is fine now. I bought us some time." He looked around, his eyes instantly spotting the devastation. The entire area surrounding the waterfall was a mess of shattered rock, splintered wood, and mud. "The collapses... did you get everyone out?"
Another wife approached, her voice strained. "No, My Lord. There are still people buried. We couldn't reach them deep enough; the continuous shocks kept causing more and more collapses. The granite tunnels were being crushed like clay."
Jax took a steadying breath, pushing aside the lingering fear from his encounter. He extended both hands, and a golden force, imbued with his divine authority, began to lift the landslides. The earth and rock moved backward, repairing the tunnels instantly and allowing all the trapped workers and residents to crawl out. Thanks to his timely intervention, there were no fatalities; only injured and a few critical cases who had almost died from suffocation or trauma.
"Thank the gods!" one of the wives whispered, tears streaming down her face as she saw the last trapped dwarves pulled from the rubble.
Jax breathed a sigh of relaxation, the worst crisis averted. Everyone immediately began tending to those who had suffered injuries or fainted from the terror.
His wives surrounded him then, demanding answers. They pulled him over to a still-intact slab of rock where he could sit.
"Tell us, My Lord, please," Seraphina implored, kneeling beside him. "The terror we felt... we thought you were fighting an entire army. We tried to send you messages through the link, thinking the aftershocks of your power were destroying our refuge."
Jax took a moment, leaning back and rubbing his temples. "I understand why you thought that. That power... it wasn't mine. That was the power of what I found in the deep forest." He then recounted the entire meeting, his voice low and serious.
He explained how he had ignored the spider's warnings and entered its domain. "I met four of them. Four beings of power so immense that I had never imagined anything like it existed. I felt completely insignificant, like a mere mortal child. One was a colossal spider, another a white tiger, a red dragon, and a giant serpent. They called this place a graveyard of gods."
"A graveyard of gods?" whispered another wife, her hands flying to her mouth. "But who are they? Why didn't they kill you instantly?"
"I don't know who they are, truly. But they called themselves demigods, and beings above the gods. And they didn't kill me because they need me. They've been trapped here for ages—millennia, maybe longer. They were abandoned by the Celestial."
The mention of the Celestial's name caused the usual brief, dizzying pressure in his head, but Jax pushed through it, focusing on the memory of the spider's rage. "And here is the most important part: the spider was screaming his name, insulting him, calling him a traitor. And nothing happened to her. No illness, no death, no pain. She wasn't affected by his rules at all."
"But... but that's impossible!" exclaimed the wife who was tending to a small cut on his arm. "The Celestial's law is absolute! We cannot even speak his full name without fear of reprisal! How could they be immune to his power?"
"That's what surprised me most," Jax continued, his gaze distant. "It seems that what we know as 'divine law' is merely a set of rules for the young and the weak. They are older, more primal. And they all want out. I told them I would get them out, but that I needed guarantees that they wouldn't destroy my continent or kill all of you."
"And did you get guarantees?" Manaia asked, clutching his hand tightly. "Is it safe? Can we trust them?"
Jax looked at her, his expression resolute. "Yes. We signed a Destiny Contract. It's a type of contract I had never heard of—a law above even the gods. If they break their word and try to kill me or harm you, the Contract will pursue them and destroy their Destiny, rendering them powerless or erasing them completely."
"But you also signed it, My Lord," another wife noted, her eyes wide with concern. "If you fail to release them, what happens to you?"
Jax offered a wry smile. "They made that very clear. I either get them out after I return from GRB, or the Master of Destiny will judge my breach, and they will kill me. There are no exceptions." He paused, looking at each of their concerned faces. "Don't worry. I won't fail my promise, but I also won't rush headlong into the danger of releasing four entities that could shatter the world. I gained time for us to prepare and for me to deal with my original mission. For now, we are safe. Their Contract prevents them from causing you any harm."
He stood up, feeling the exhaustion deep in his bones, but his mind was already racing, analyzing the new layer of reality he had just uncovered. Destiny Contracts... A Master of Destiny... And a Celestial who is hated. The world was far more complex than he had ever imagined.
He took a slow, deep breath, the realization settling heavily upon his shoulders. "Things are getting more and more complicated with every step I take," he muttered, his voice barely audible. "I thought I could annihilate everything in my path, but it seems I was far too naive to think this was as simple as I imagined."