"Yes, I've fought with one and absorbed his power." Bright yellow and bronze flames, no thicker than a candle burned on the back of the white spot blade's gray granite exterior. The new addition to his power made the blades seem weighted, he approved of the change but wondered what else would happen in the future.
"Then there are some things about your previous request for answers that I can now relay." Qu hung his head ashamed but quickly looked up when Wu Hai started to shake him violently.
"You fucking asshole!! You knew something all this time! Spill it before I give Kim Li your Core." Wu Hai lost his patience in that instant and took out the Tower Token, teleporting directly to the Core. He held it in his hands, "NO MORE JOKES, NO MORE HALF SPEAK. MY DAUGHTER ALMOST DIED, SPILL IT OR WE ARE DONE."
Qu's spirit fritzed out while Wu Hai was in contact with the Core .
Wu Hai noticed the problem and set it down, in on its place. Qu's image began to realign. "Master, Please.. mercy. These orders, they come directly from you."
"Enough Double Speak..." Wu Hai motioned for the Core again and Qu started to speak earnestly.
"Master, You forbade me from sharing these things until a proper time, I believe that time has come. Mercy. I will tell you what I have been told to explain." Qu took a deep sigh of relief when the Emperor walked away from the core and brought out a chair.
"Tell me." Wu Hai cracked his knuckles.
"Yes. Firstly, the Creators Crusher is not a Weapon of God." His first sentence broke Wu Hai's already strenuous patience and he motioned to stand up. Qu took what looked like a gulp and continued. "As a creation made by the Creator it.." he paused unknowingly and glitched.
"What is this?" Wu Hai stood up and approached Qu's avatar. "I won't play these games." A drop of elemental essence was placed onto the core and Qu snapped out of it.
"Where was I... oh yes.. The Crusher. The Crusher is incomplete. The pieces lost are not lost but unfulfilled." Qu waved his hand, a book appeared and a single flawless crystal.
Then, the crusher popped out of Wu Hai's ring and flew in front of the Tower Spirit. "This crystal explains everything. Though, based on its size, I wouldn't expect it to house much information, perhaps a few sentences."
He passed it to the Emperor.
"Hmmm. You don't know its contents?" Wu Hai felt puzzled momentarily and asked.
"No, I cannot access its information. Not from a lack of trying, I am simply not authorized." Qu gave a brief reasoning and waited for more questions.
"Very well." Wu Hai sat in the chair and accessed the crystals information, cracks began to form on its surface as information came into his mind.
["Yo! So, I see you've finally decided to threaten Qu. Don't worry, this was all to be expected. Information is important and hopefully, you waited for a long time. I am the Spirit of Quanli Jigui, a small mishap caused me to die, caused.. you.. to die. We, I... Came to a blank universe, one of design but blank none-the-less. I was God. Given to me, by others of power. If you've come to this juncture, it means that you're ready to see if you're worthy.. worthy of the power over existence in this universe. I leave myself in the hands of Murphy, Chance, Fate, and the RNG Gods, if I am to be worthy, let me leap into the depths of chaos and come out clean, let it be proven in a second life. Your life. Accept this Quest or seek fulfillment in life, the choice and knowledge are yours to take."]
The Crystal shattered.
Wu Hai shed a tear, it was information he had begged for. He flexed his hands. 'God?' He hunched over and threw up. It was a shocking piece of information, he was cringing, writhing in twisted, abject uncertainty. It almost tore his willpower to shreds. There were a lot of things he expected, being a child of the creator or some great descendant. However, to be the Creator, reincarnated or otherwise brought a heavier burden to his shoulders than he could have ever expected.
The once freed ideals that Wu Hai had suddenly shattered, just as the crystal had done. If epiphany brought change, then this revelation had the possibility of calamity.
"What did the Crystal say?" Qu stood in wonder while the Emperor received the information.
"It says very little." He didn't want to share that part. Instead Emperor Zao chose to ask questions, "Tell me about the Ultinians, and tell me about this so called land of the Gods."
"I believe the best person for this task would be someone from that place." Qu said matter of fact like. Wu Hai cracked his knuckles, Qu's response seemed like sarcasm but then he continued. "You should talk to Ibuwere."
"Ibuwere? Why?" Wu Hai wanted to know, he was tired of having to ask questions about this matter. The strain could be heard in his tone. He cracked lightning around him and stood up. "Why? Does Ibuwere come from Ultinia?"
Qu cringed, he was looking for a reason to get away, the Emperor was angry and standing next to his core. The pressure from Wu Hai's aura was shaking his core, the power center for the Tower. "This.. You should simply ask him. I will explain what I know but I doubt that it compares to Ibuwere."
The Emperor paced around the core.
Wu Hai took out a communication stone and contacted Ibuwere, when the connection was made, he disappeared and reappeared next to him. He grabbed Ibuwere by the throat and held him against the wall.
"This.. Again?" Ibuwere struggled but this time he couldn't break free.
"Ultinia." Wu Hai spoke a single word and Ibuwere lost all strength to fight back.
Ibuwere's body relaxed and he hung against the ceiling, pinned by the throat against the stone walls. "I see. My Price..."
Wu Hai squeezed tighter.
"I see. Free. Free information, no charge." Ibuwere's face paled and his smug grin was wiped away, wishing he hadn't overstepped this time.
Wu Hai set him down and stabbed his wings into the wall. Eight holes pierced through Ibuwere's vital organs and he coughed up blood. "Talk." Having missed his core, Ibuwere would undoubtedly regenerate quickly but with the intrusion of the Emperor's wings, there was no hope of the wounds healing.
"The land of the Gods." He hacked up a mouthful of blood and wiped his face. "What about it?"
"Tell me about it. In detail, leave nothing out." Wu Hai burrowed his wing bones further into Ibuwere's body, widening the wound.
"They are the children of the ones called Custodians from this world. This is a place of their ancestry." He coughed twice and kept speaking, he was very ready to heal his wounds. "Their world, it operates differently."
"How so?" Thoroughly intrigued, the Emperor kept asking questions.
Ibuwere's lungs filled with blood and he was passing out.
"How So?!" Wu Hai pulled the wing's from his body and rammed his fist through Ibuwere's shoulder, driving his hand into the wall.
"Thanks.." Cough, Cough. Ibuwere spit up a mouthful of blood and regained control over his organs quickly. He held his head up, "Time is different there, I don't know how different, I haven't been back since I first left. I stumbled across their pocket realm cache and entered a doorway that led me to this world. I wasn't being hunted anymore and this place was so much more fun.. then, I got captured. How was I suppose to know that hooker wanted to sell me?"
"Hooker? You know what a Hooker is?" Wu Hai seemed confused.
"Aren't there hookers in every culture?" Ibuwere asked honestly like he didn't know if he was wrong. "In any case, you found me. I was a slave for over a hundred years."
"Tell me about the Ultinians and their realm." Wu Hai removed his hand from Ibuwere's shoulder and the wound closed up. "Come, Sit. Do not dare hide anything." It was a stern warning to Ibuwere.
For a few hours, Ibuwere told him of creatures and cultures, great buildings that reached for the heavens and domes big enough to house a planet.
"I understand. Ibuwere, you're no longer welcome in the Tower City." Wu Hai placed his hand on Ibuwere's shoulder and teleported away.
They arrived near the Qilin territory border. "On the other side of this river is Qilin territory, I cannot afford to keep you in my company any longer." Wu Hai took Ibuwere's storage ring and handed him an empty. "All debts have been paid. You owe me nothing, I owe you nothing."
Ibuwere stared at the Emperor for a moment. "I don't want to leave Tower City. They can find me outside of the City."
"Who can find you?!" Wu Hai grew even angrier. "This is exactly why.. You keep hiding things from me.. things that jeopardize our lives, souls and family." Wu Hai pulled out a healing potion and a formation disc. "This is an concealment and isolation barrier that is the best in my collection and this is the best healing potion I have. Now, you have a chance of your own."
Wu Hai made Ibuwere swell with abandonment issues, he quickly dropped to his knees. "The Ultinians will find me. Once I went through their territory, I picked up markers. I escaped but they kept finding me, I already told you, time is different there."
"Cheap Talk." Wu Hai flicked a single communication stone to Ibuwere. "In one hundred years, I will remove your exile from our records. Live among the Qilin, they share no love for outsiders, be sure to blend in." Wu Hai took a deep breath and began to channel his exit portal. "Call me when you settle down, I will check on your progress." With a final sentence, the Emperor was gone.
"NOO!!!!" Ibuwere was stranded, he could teleport but short distance teleporting wouldn't get him to Hell, or anywhere near Tower City.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Wu Hai reappeared in the throne room of the Tower City Pagoda. Qu warped an avatar down to the lobby and met with him.
"Did you get the information you wanted? I notice you've returned alone." Qu's question was spot on.
Wu Hai waved his hand. "He's had it coming, I will let him return in 100 years. Until then, he is not welcome in Tower City. I have some upgraded spell work that can increase the efficiency of the City's shield. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that something else is very wrong in Hell. There have been a lot less encounters today and recently the attacks have somewhat fallen."
"Yes, last month we had 87 incidents, this month, though we are only half way through it, have only had three instances where the city was even approached and none of them chose to attack." Qu shared the data and projected a screen showing the last few events.
There was nothing special but then a flash in the background caught the Emperor's attention. "What was that?" He pointed to a spot in the background of the projection. "Enhance.."
"Do you think this is a Television? This is what It saw, to the finest detail it could be recorded. Of course I can enhance it!" Qu smiled and nudged his shoulder to the Emperor.
"You read too many graphic novels." Wu Hai shook his head and Qu brought the image closer to the streak. A silhouette came into view, it was shadowed but undeniably familiar. "You know what these are?" Wu Hai asked.
"No. But, if I use this as a reference," Playback of the events over the last few months began to rapidly cross the screen until it came to a stop. "There are 71 recorded beings that fit this build that have entered our detection."
'So many!' It was alarming, Wu Hai stared at the silhouette and teleported outside of the City. He was determined to find one of these beings to see them in action. He spread his wings and flew toward a ridge of bone surrounded by a yellow tide. Ground bodies and bile, cursed objects and bone flowed along its shores.