NOVEL NEXT Chapter 104: Intrusion
104:
Almost instantly, he knew.
Tom knew that the alien limbs he controlled, the dull senses that weighed on him like a heavy fog that blanketed his movements and even the rigid throne he was seated on— none of it belonged to him.
He tried to speak, but the lack of vocal chords on his skeletal frame quickly inhibited that possibility.
‘I guess this was why Active Shroud only wanted 1 SP,’ Tom thought, finding even his concentration sluggish as he tried to make as best of the opportunity as he could.
He moved his limbs as a test, noticing how weightless it felt.
‘How does this creature think? How does it move? What powers it? The throne of Nether Crystals it sits on, where does it come from? Are Nether Crystals naturally found in Artezia, or do they come from wherever the Lich comes from?’ Tom cycled through a list of questions he wanted answers to, finding himself a little overwhelmed by just how little he knew and just how much he wanted to before he was pulled into a state of Yul.
‘What am I doing?’ He chastised more than asked himself. ‘No, no… there’s only one question that I need answered, above all.’
“Why are you here?” Tom moved his lower jaw in a bobbing motion, asking the question even though voice could not be generated by his form.
The earliest memory it had— the only memory before it found itself in this chamber, in the final sector of the Zelez Dungeon.
And how visceral that memory was.
Tom felt like his breath hitched in his throat as he was drawn into the vivid memory, following into the one place where the fog weighing down on his thoughts did not chase.
Fear ran across his spine as he took in his surroundings.
A single Nether Lich was on the verge of defeating their party, despite Zirel’s uncommon card, Aleph’s rare and his own Legendary.
Tom had taken his place amongst hundreds, if not thousands of Nether Liches flanking him from every direction.
But his gaze was still focused forward, past the contingent of Nether Liches that were arrayed near the tail end of the army and to a raised dais that was visible from even so far away.
The memory was vague when it came to the details of the monstrous army, if only because every ounce of attention was held rapt by the hooded figure who stood near the center of the semicircular dias.
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If Tom was still capable of expressions, his would be somber as he took in the ten figures standing behind the hooded person.
Ten men and women, if they indeed still were humans. The splotches of deep, glowing violet that marred their visible skin in large swathes left Tom uncertain as to the answer, but he was certain that they were part of the command, part of the leadership that directed and perhaps, had even created the Nether Lich.
“Our ancestors,” The hooded man who was clothed in iridescent robes began his address and to Tom, it felt like that voice was coming from each and every direction at once— yet he failed to pinpoint its source.
Such strength, such presence was contained in those words, a magnetic influence that had him hanging on to every word, that Tom could not help but be horrified in face of such a presence.
“They made the mistake of tapping into an energy that regulates the very fabric our universe is woven out of, an energy we are all familiar with,” He continued, the being’s every word shaking Tom to his core.
“Nether energy, the great equalizer between man and the divine,” The being stated, his every word arcing with almost visible power. “Six of the Divines saw wisdom in our ancestors’ words. For they were not mere words, but a plea. A way to bridge the crushing gap between mortals and the power of the laws that made the Divines immortal,” the being declared, a hint of anguish leaking into their tone.
“Four, however, did not agree. That was the reason behind the first and only Divine War in our universe’s history.”
Tom listened intently, enraptured by the history that was being revealed to him.
“So much death. Such utter devastation. Too many galaxies to count, entire superclusters erased. Leaving life only in the fringes of our universe, the most powerful beings to ever exist died, failing them. Failing us. Nine Divines perished and the one who remained, the strongest of them all, chose oblivion by intermingling the remnants of his mighty soul with a world. That is the twisted history behind their divine system,” The being gestured to his right.
‘Holy shit,’ Tom thought as he took in an entire world, with its whites, greens and blues, with a tower that rose to touch the clouds and many other smaller towers that were not nearly as prominently visible. ‘We’re standing on a rock… floating in space. This is above my freaking paygrade.’
“Even now, even after his demise, the Divine System gets in our way. Such was his strength, in life and even in death. Yet… seven hundred years ago, we proved that our ancestors were not mistaken. We proved that the Divines who had fought on our side had chosen the correct side, vindicated our ancestors by discovering a way to cultivate the Nether!” The being bellowed and Tom felt like his eardrums would shatter.
“The Prime was too wise, too strong, too devastating to not know that cultivating the Nether was possible. He merely feared a world where mortals could rival the divine, where a mortal could rise up to challenge him. His selfishness and greed destroyed the known universe, yet, even then, we managed to prove him wrong. Even if it was done on planets no longer capable of supporting life,” The hooded man shook his head, his tone heavy with dismay.
“We adhere to his terms, no matter how humiliating they are. Even dead, the soul fragments of his that govern Artezia, the shards of his vast power that he calls cards, keep us away from the last planet capable of supporting life in our entire galaxy. We send you to fight, to die, on their terms, at the mercy of their system because we cannot afford to destroy Artezia. But, our sacrifices near an end,” The being stated with aplomb, the shift in his tone marked.
“For the key is near. The seventh ephemeral will soon walk among us, the key to the Book of Maya. Find him and capture him alive, no matter the cost and we shall have four out of the seven. We shall turn the tide of this unjust war and claim the inherit… you,” The being’s tone abruptly shifted, from impassioned to aggrieved. “How did… Who are you?”
Tom’s expression froze and the horror in his heart crystallized as he considered the terrible possibility that the being depicted in his memory had somehow… detected the intrusion?
‘What the fuck—,’ The thought was all he had time for as the scene faded and he found himself in the realm of yul.