"So, I just have to pour my mana into this, correct?" Rakna's 'Obsidian clone' asked Elora after he brought her back to his underground territory. The poor girl had been stunned into silence when she saw the terraforming around them.
"Ah! Y-yes, that's all. The Pavilion will then use it to form and link itself to the owner of the territory it is in. His Majesty will then be able to control the dimensional zones inside through the System."
He nodded and channeled some mana into the casket held by his tail before tossing it to the middle of a spot of land he had chosen. While his house was built roughly at the center of the cavern, and the crystal mausoleum was a few hundred meters to its left, this place was almost touching the borders of the cave and relatively close to the entrance.
When the object touched the ground, it opened and light instantly flowed out of it like water filling the air. Elora covered her eyes and Rakna barely moved his eyelids until it was over. After the light disappeared, the oval building of the Pavilion had already been made.
"Hm, it's definitely smaller than the one in Black Steel, but that's to be expected," Rakna remarked and furtively glanced at the System window that appeared in his vision.
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Congratulations! A Pavilion Branch has been established in your territory! Your territory's range and buffs have increased.
Current Facilities Available: Private Section, Commune Section, Training Room, Gravity Room, Guild Quest Board, Shop, Quest Board, Portal Room, Staff Lodges.
This Pavilion is currently set to Independent Mode; only recognized Hosts or Locals will be capable of entering its premises. Currently Recognized Beings: Rakna Xiorra.
Branch Master: Elora Hoshi – Tier 3 Staff Officer.
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Do you wish to switch this Pavilion to Public Mode?
Yes/No
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Rakna promptly selected no and was instead asked to compose a whitelist. But it seemed like only his original self could do it since it required the help of his AI and Ceres couldn't directly interact with a clone
"Um, Lord Obsidian, if I am no longer needed, I will take my post," Elora spoke up and he turned toward her. "And, um, since I have been promoted, I have new responsibilities to get used to..."
Rakna nodded. "You don't have to ask. You can go. There shouldn't be much to worry about when it comes to the reception for this territory. There won't be many visitors so you can relax when it comes to that specific part of the job."
She smiled lightly and bowed. "Thank you. Have a good day, sir," she said and ran to the Pavilion.
When she closed the door behind her, Rakna heard some footsteps and looked over his shoulder, lowering his tails. He spotted Flavia walking in his direction with a small smile on her face.
He squinted his eyes and sighed. "Did you have a talk?"
She made a wry expression. "Yes… at least, I think there's no risk that she will take over me. There should be some margin to negotiate and coexist."
"Is that so…"
Flavia smiled calmly and eyed the Pavilion. "I didn't know one could build Pavilions like this," she commented and Rakna hummed before reverting to his therian form. He massaged his neck before answering.
"Yeah. Thanks to this, we can access the Shop or the Quest Board from here. And that means we can do something like… this," Rakna said and on cue, the Pavilion's entrance opened and a version of himself with four tails walked out, closely followed by Higure.
Flavia blinked in surprise and the original Rakna smiled at them. "I just tried it out; I took the Portal of the Pavilion in Black Steel and I reappeared in this one. Quite nice. Oh, and I think I dealt some more mental damage to Elora. We should let her rest for at least a day after this," he said as he approached his clone who had already extended his hand.
They shook hands and the assimilation started, lasting barely ten seconds before Rakna was back into one piece, his fifth tail grown back. He popped his neck and processed the memories.
"Hm, right. The whitelist," he muttered. "Ceres, add all the members of both Obsidian Throne and Throne of Glory as recognized entries. Also, obviously, add the pair of you-know-what as well."
[Do I also include the rest of your friend list?] She inquired back and he mused.
"No… but do add Lana to it. We can't ever have too much sheep-girl," he jested.
[All right. It is done,] the AI stated with a faint humorous tone, and the list was updated in front of his eyes, completing the whitelist of his Pavilion.
"Lana?" Flavia tilted her head at the name.
"Yes, I'm sure you would love her. Even Nyx couldn't help herself."
"Ah, I remember. She did mention something about your Bank Manager being 'too cute for it to be magically or scientifically possible'," she reiterated with an amused voice and Rakna snorted.
"And I stand by what I said," a new voice echoed and Nyx herself appeared next to them in a burst of speed. "It couldn't be more accurate," she said with a faint smile.
"Oh, you're back. Perfect, I can start making you that sword you wanted," Rakna stated. "I wanted to practice smithing with the Prima Shard today. I might as well use it to make your Urumi sword. So, if you have time, work with me on the schematics. You too, Flavia. I'm going to upgrade your weapon so tell me if you have specific requests about the design."
"Hm, no, it should be fine," the witch shook her head. "But it would be nice if instead of the burst enchant you gave me last time, you turned it into a multi-projectile like Evelyn's spear. I want to be able to launch a volley with my telekinesis."
"So, duplication?" Rakna pondered. "Wait… actually, tell me how small and how many projectiles you think you can handle?"
"Hm, as long as they're not too small to see, the size doesn't really matter. As for the number, that depends on their overall weight or how strong I want to launch them, but if it's something like an arrowhead, I'd say I can handle around a hundred with enough spiritual energy to spare."
"I see. In that case, I already have a design for you. Let's go to the smithy, we'll talk there," he said and when he was about to follow up on his words, Nyx interrupted him.
"Wait, Rakna, there is something I have to discuss with you. It concerns your uncle."
He paused on his tracks and both Flavia and Higure also had their interest piqued.
"Tell me…" The night goddess squinted her eyes. "Have you heard of the name 'Karaskan'?"
Rakna's eyes widened in a rare display of disbelief.
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"So, an archbishop of the Basilica told you about a Mad God who was the nemesis of Eternal Night and the main actor into making what he is today," Higure narrated as she sat on the table, everyone settled around her.
Rakna had his arms crossed and seemingly in deep thought.
Nyx nodded at the lioness. "Yes, that is correct. I reached a bottleneck in the mastery of my magic and he told me that a new perspective on the Kind Demon could help me… understand it better."
"Karaskan…" Flavia muttered. "But if he is a god, the old master shouldn't have met him while he was on Earth, right?"
"Yes and no," Rakna finally spoke up and everyone looked at him. He sighed. "Honestly, I'm not sure what I should do now that I know about this. Even if the Karaskan residing in the System is not the real one… I'll have to find a way to kill him."
"Eh?" Higure exclaimed. "Wait, what? How did it come this all of a sudden?"
"Karaskan; that's a name I saw on some files my old man had compiled," the therian explained and leaned back. "One day, I coincidentally saw hundreds of reports from all across the world that my old man had collected; he was searching for someone worldwide. When I asked him about it, the answer I got was; 'I must kill him'. That's it. He didn't add anything. He didn't say that he wanted to kill him or that he would kill him; he just said… that he must."
"That's… hard to imagine," Flavia uttered quietly. "I don't recall your uncle ever speaking in such a way before."
"Hah," Rakna surprisingly let out a short laugh. "Of course, that's normal. To be honest, I felt that the older he was getting, the goofier he got. Maybe it was his own way of coping. There were only a few times I saw him show his true side, what the stories about him depicted; a demon in human flesh that kills his way through everything…" He trailed and the room fell silent.
Rakna lowered his head a bit and breathed out. "Regardless, after I tried to insist a bit, saying that if there was something he wanted to do, I would help him to repay the life debt I owed, he got very silent. The next thing he said was the last time the topic was raised. Word for word, it was: 'Kid, if one day you find a man; a creature named Karaskan, and I'm not around anymore, kill him for me'."
"A pretty heavy request for a child, even for you," Higure whispered solemnly. "Regardless of your stance on the subject, devourer, giving someone else the burden of your revenge is a grim act. He must have known that. It simply indicates how desperate he was. I wonder what this Karaskan did for him to be loathed this much by Eternal Night…"
"He never told me but," the therian narrowed his eyes. "I have an idea…"
"So…" The lioness mused. "Does that mean we're gonna commit some deicide now?" She asked as if there was nothing wrong with that sentence and Rakna deadpanned at her. "What?"
"It's like asking to be killed," Nyx said with a shake of her head. "I don't know about this version of Karaskan, but someone with a title like his should be at least a Heavenly God. I was previously an Ancient God, so I have the insight necessary to judge everyone's strength here. And despite your collective talent and quick rise in strength, at this point in time, you would probably only be able to deal with Demi-Gods at best. Even the lowest-ranked Celestials, Divinities, would be trouble for any of you."
She then looked at Rakna. "Except perhaps for you. Perhaps… if it's you, an Earthen God isn't too much of a far-off goal."
"Hm, maybe. That's only if I use my trump cards though," he responded. "I fought an Earthen God during my Simulation, after all. But, not only did I have an advantage in magic elements, but I also had an environmental boost. Realistically, I could be killed in seconds. Much less a higher-ranked Celestial..."
"Fine, fine, stop!" Higure waved her paws around to stop them from continuously painting a worse and worse scenario. "I never said to go right now…" She pouted.
"What should we do then?" Flavia followed up. "Do we go meet him? I heard that those that live in the Celestial Plateau are prohibited from harming non-Celestials if not provoked. So, in that sense at least, there shouldn't be much danger."
"Yes," Nyx nodded. "That's why the archbishop suggested the idea. But after hearing what that God truly is, I don't know if I even can trust the perspective that it would give me on my magic…"
Rakna glanced at the night goddess who had a slight downcast look. He didn't need his racial trait to sense her mood. "Nyx," he called and she looked back inquisitively. "Do you feel unsatisfied with yourself?"
His question made her freeze up. "…is it that obvious?"
"Well, it's not like I can't understand. You fell from so high, and are struggling to climb back up. To make everything worse, you're using the power of the one who defeated you, and being outclassed in talent by the student and nephew of that same person."
Higure sweatdropped. "Devourer of mine… is that really something you should say?" She blankly remarked and Flavia wryly smiled.
"Well, what point is there ignoring the obvious," the therian shrugged and crossed his arms, gazing at Nyx who didn't seem to be fazed by his statement; she had already accepted it. "Hey, Nyx, did you know? My old man liked lightning."
"Huh?" She exclaimed at the unexpected information. "What do you mean?"
"It was just a random occurrence. There was a storm one day and my old man casually told me he liked lightning. He said that it was fast, powerful, domineering, unyielding, and bright. And most importantly, it tore through the dark and disappeared within the blink of an eye. He said that it was a beautiful thing and that he wished he could have been the same."
Nyx furrowed her eyebrows and looked at her hand. A few strands of silent black lightning coiled around it and she squinted her eyes. "But this isn't…"
"Let me finish," Rakna cut her off. "To be honest, I was quite curious when I learned that this 'dark lightning' was something that the old man defined himself after. But I quickly found out why. Say, what do you think of the combination of darkness and lightning?"
"What do I think of it?" Nyx scowled. "How so?"
"What kind of qualities could each share with the other?"
"Well, it's…" She paused and took some time to think about it. "For me, it always was about speed and power that cannot be parried. You can't see it coming, it is unpredictable like a shadow and it ensnares you before you can understand how."
"Are you sure?" Rakna retorted with a small smile and she blinked in surprise. "You fought the old man, didn't you? Are you sure that's what you felt?"
"I--"
"Aeter is not bright," he cut her off before she could continue. "It does not tear through darkness either since it comes from it. It is indeed fast and powerful. It never stops; it chases its target like a shadow. But there's one last thing; an aspect that regular lightning also possesses."
"…"
"Domineering," Rakna declared with a hint of finality. "Lightning is breathtaking. Aeter should be even more than that. It should empty your lungs until you suffocate. My old man, before this whole magical stuff even happened, was just like that. Before he even hits, when you see him, hear him, or sense him, you will already feel like you're dying…"
He then pointed at Nyx and she flinched. "That's something you lack in your application. This black lightning is indeed like a shadow, but it shouldn't be silent or subtle. Wherever it goes, it should roar and flaunt its existence. It should dominate and swallow its prey," he said and stood up. He walked around the table and everyone followed him with their eyes.
He stood right next to Nyx and raised his hand cloaked in a fog of demonic energy. "Since words are most likely not enough, would you like me to show you?"
The former goddess steeled herself and stood up, face to face with him. "Do it."
Rakna nodded approvingly and pointed his palm at her. "Then experience it for yourself. This is a hybrid spell combined with my dimensional ability," he said as the energy of sloth slowly wrapped around her. "[Plant the Seeds of Marvel, Onera – Morféas Efiáltis] (Morpheus' Nightmare)."
Nyx willingly allowed the sloth and dreams to invade her mind and in the next moment, she lost consciousness.