Chapter 428: The Quirk Evolution and Odd Hints
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From the beginning, all the Chief Gods more or less knew that something had happened with the God of the Bible for him to not make an appearance for centuries. Most thought he was in a coma, in seclusion training, or in some kind of sealed state.
Now, they knew the truth. That God had actually died. But they learned it too late to take advantage of it as a new God had appeared and inherited the Big G's legacy overnight.
The pantheons around the world were outraged and busy with the recent turmoil caused by the return of the all-new Biblical God, now going by the alias Admin.
"What the hell is he doing?!" Was the main question of the Gods.
There was a peace treaty between Pantheons to not actively meddle in the mortal world, to not actively show themselves in the mortal world. But this — this was beyond a God simply showing his face, he had revealed all of the divinity and was claiming the followers for himself. His old followers were under him, from the three Abrahamic religions, but the problem was that even atheists and some followers of other Gods were converting to him.
Naturally, the pantheons had no choice but to reveal themselves to the world too. The Greek Gods, Norse Gods, Shinto Gods, Egyptian Gods, Hindu Gods, Aztec Gods, and many more.
In particular, the Hindu Pantheon grew explosively thanks to the majority of the 1.5 billion Indians following this religion.
Then there were the Greek Gods; Olympus was a powerful pantheon from the get-go thanks to its famous stories, but they were growing ever so more popular and stronger. The other major pantheons were not much behind.
Old wounds reopened, and old revenge caught new fire; some smaller pantheons waged war now that the agreed-upon rules were less problematic than ever. Gods fought and mortals died in their clash.
Earth wasn't a large planet on its own, but it had thousands of dimensions attached to it. Most of the wars and fights happened within those separate spaces, but some of the Gods came out to the mortal world to clash fists. Their fists collided, and towns vanished overnight.
In just a week, the Planet Earth was not peaceful anymore. Gods meddled with human nations, and a new world war began.
World War III was in full swing, nukes dropped, Gods intervened, and Gods fought.
Every Major God was frustrated, angry, and spiteful towards Neji. Chief Gods searched for him, Zeus and Quetzalcoatl wanted to crush his head, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Because Neji was in secluded training.
* * *
The room was luxurious and spacious, fitted out with traditional Japanese furniture and décor but with a Western twist. The walls were painted a light and airy shade of blue, and the floor was covered with tatami mats. In the center of the room stood Neji, tall and muscular as always, his eyes were seemingly open, but his entire eyes were white, just like his hair.
Around him, Japanese tea sets were scattered across a traditional tea table, adding to the tranquil atmosphere of the room. Tranquil just like him. If someone were to spend hours observing him, they would notice Neji wouldn't move a single muscle, as if he wasn't even conscious. He was wearing his full golden armor, just in case he had to come out of his trance and fight.
"Hm," finally his eyes lost their daze, and his blue pupils returned. "Finally done."
Gods' memories were long but useful. So he had decided to go through every detail to learn about every necessary information, and also every way he could use his power. Finally, after a week, he finished assimilating the memories. [Gamer's Mind] helped him not catch any feelings from the memories, which was appreciated.
He hadn't received God's proper divinity yet, otherwise, it would have been registered in his System Window. Yet, he could do a lot with the powers he did receive. This week, his progress and growth have increased too. Not by much, but enough for passive growth.
Progress Bar: | | | | | 56.40%
"Oh well. I can focus on that aspect now." Reaching the 50% mark had given him the full memory package, so now that he had assimilated with the memories, there won't be any delay like this in the future.
He could rush ahead and grow as fast as he needed to. For now, though, he decided to catch up on what was happening around the world.
"Hmm," Neji was about to go out and meet Raynare to learn things from her, but he decided there was a better way than that. "[Omniscience]." His voice commanded reality itself. "Tell me the things I need to know about this situation."
He said Omniscience but it wasn't the true Omniscience, it would give him no answer if he asked it about things outside this universe. So he was Nigh-Omniscient at most, or region-limited omniscience at least. Less so now, as he hasn't inherited 100% of God's powers yet.
Still, Neji received an answer. A load of information flooded in his head and the Gamer's Mind helped filter it. He learned about Humanity's reaction to his revelation, the Gods' thoughts about it, and the overall happenings all around the world. The world war. Lastly, he even learned about the small things happening around here.
"Ah, they are still at it." With a snap of his fingers, Neji vanished from his room and appeared in the backyard of the mansion.
There, he saw Raynare sitting on a chair and reading books. Around her, something more interesting was going on.
There were a hundred Raynare clones lined up, while a hundred clones of himself were right in front of them. His clones were using [Mine] to put random quirks into her clones, and then [Mine] again to take them out. That was the training for Mine, to use it as much as possible.
Neji had left clones to work here a week ago. First of all, he taught Raynare a clone technique, he created it with Light Magic, following the same rules as Shadow Clone and others. Though it was much higher in quality than Shadow Clone, as this allowed the user to have a body real enough that it could bear the process of receiving quirks and losing them over and over again.
There was a limit. Neji noticed five of the light clones disperse into thin air as their limits exceeded. But that's where the real, book reading Raynare came from. She raised her head from the book and waved her hand, filling the ranks with new clones.
"Good job,"
"Ah- my lord."
Neji complimented her from behind the chair she was sitting on, by putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing her. She quickly shot up, bowing deeply.
"Welcome back, my lord." She said, "Did the process go well?"
"It did," Neji nodded. He now knew all that God knew. If he were to interact with Goddess Amaterasu again, he wouldn't have to say he had amnesia. "How's it been here? Though I already know the bits, I'd like to hear it from you."
Raynare was about to follow up with an answer right away, but Neji raised a hand to stop her. "First, let me end the farm."
He said and snapped his fingers. The two hundred clones, half his and half hers, all burst into essence and rushed at either of them. Neji embraced the essence of his clones, allowing Gamer's Mind to filter the useless monotonous memories, and enjoying the result that came in the form of system messages.
[You have accumulated a large amount of Experience Points for your quirk — Mine!]
[Quirk "Mine" has leveled up.]
[Quirk "Mine" has leveled up.]
[Quirk "Mine" has leveled up.]
[…]
[Quirk "Mine" has reached a threshold.]
[Quirk "Mine" is ready for evolution.]
[...]
[Unique Void energy is detected on Mine. The void energy is reacting with the user's own innate void power.]
[The evolution is growing.]
[...]
[Quirk "Mine" has evolved.]
"Oh? Looks like the evolution was better than what I had hoped. Let's see. Oh, and don't change the name, I like [Mine]." Neji said. "Show me the description."
Neji demanded and Sisty followed. A page showing the evolution of Mine appeared before him and he stared in silence.
===
Name: Mine
Type: Quirk
Level: 1 {Third Evolution}
Type: With the help of hungry black-red void energy, the user can absorb literally anything and everything that exists. That includes matter, energy, power, divinities, concepts, etc. They remove it from the source into their body and use it in various ways to gain some form of advantage: by enhancing themselves, gaining the drained power or concept, using it as a power source, etc. either temporarily or permanently.
===
That was... awesome. "Isn't it like Rimuru Tempest's absorption? Incredible. This is great. Who would have known that just having the [Voidmancer] class would give me such benefits?"
"Looks like this process was a success too, my lord?" Raynare asked with a bright smile, she felt happy seeing him happy.
That was more supernatural than casual emotion though; his emotions would affect an angel's own on a fundamental level. With the help of Gamer's Mind that was nullified since he didn't want her to be melancholic and sad, but seeing him happy with her own two eyes worked wonders.
"Yes," Neji sat down on the soft chair that Raynare was occupying. He reached out a hand and pulled her, making her sit on his lap as she blinked and blushed. "Now, tell me about everything that's been going on. You can take your time."
"Erm…" his Archangel nodded slowly and began explaining.
* * *
Neji had received the basic information with the help of Omniscience already. That Gods were descending on earth. Raynare gave a much more in-depth explanation.
For example, the Olympus Pantheon has completely descended from the real mountain of Olympus located in Greece. Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, the highest peak is 2,918 meters above sea level, and now that uninhabited mountain was the home of Gods. Just as myths suggested.
Likewise, Hindu Gods have descended on the Himalayas.
In truth, they always existed in these exact places, just in another dimension, so mortals couldn't see them before. They erased the veil between their dimension and earth, and so it was a real place.
"Hmm," Neji hummed after hearing all of Raynare's explanation. "If we follow that same theme, we should leave Japan and go to Israel. Mount Olympus and the Himalayas are the most iconic places for their particular Pantheons, but for us, Jerusalem is the most iconic. Should we move there, Raynare?"
Raynare, on his lap, gulped. "I don't have the audacity to advise my lord. Naturally, I will follow whatever you decide."
"Jerusalem, eh…" Neji chuckled a little as he found the place interesting. Back in his Fate world journey, that was the 2nd most important place. That was where he found Ryukyu. "I was planning to stay in Japan. It's one reason I didn't pick a fight with Goddess Amaterasu. But if we stay here, the only choice is Mount Fuji. But if I take over that place, it's not very iconic. Doesn't suit the character, you know?"
"Mhm, if you say so…" Raynare agreed with whatever.
"Hmm," Neji pondered some more. Then, he snapped his finger. A blonde little girl teleported near them, wearing a cute dress and she had dirt on her hands. "Hey, Asia. Were you gardening? No, never mind, don't answer that. Tell me, Jerusalem or Mount Fuji?"
Asia blinked, having opened her mouth to greet him now that he was finally out, but he presented a question before she could speak. She blinked once more and then smiled. "Jerusalem, my lord. It's our holy place. Why are you asking such an obvious question, though?"
"Alright, Jerusalem it is." Neji reached out a hand and ruffled her hair. "Good girl."
Asia smiled and received the head pat with her eyes closed. Raynare stayed silent and elegant.
Jerusalem was the better choice. And it's not as if distance mattered to him when he could teleport anywhere, so if he needed anything from the Japanese Gods, he could always come visit here.
"By the way, what's up with Aika Kiryuu? Did she ask for anything or what?" Neji gently put Raynare off him and asked. He stood up and stretched.
"She..." Raynare paused. "She disappeared, my lord."
"...?" Neji turned to her. There shouldn't be anyone who could leave this place. What?
"I don't know how it happened. She was just here and then not." Raynare replied and watched Neji frown deeply.
"[Omniscience]. Answer." Neji asked but received no answer. He paused as his hair stood up at the back of his head. "Omniscience can't answer where she is or what happened to her… but that's not possible for a mortal to hide."
Neji's heart began to drum. He expanded his vision, now going more than kilometers away, and looked down at earth. He didn't find her anywhere. Then he had another name pop up in his head.
"[Omniscience]. Find me Yuhei Kotazaki." It was the Yokai girl who he thought was Kimi, the teacher who had fled from him a few weeks ago.
Strangely, there was no answer this time either. Neji felt his forehead grow cold, and then he smiled. Realization hit him.
"She was here. They were her."
"Huh? My lord?"
Neji wasn't sure if he was thinking too much. Was he being delusional? If she was here, she would have revealed it, wouldn't she? But she didn't. Did that mean there was something going on with her that made her hide it? Was there some kind of cryptic message she left? Or was this a prank by the Prime Gods?
Neji concealed his smile. "No, it's nothing. Let us move to Jerusalem."
There was too little information for him to be happy. So instead, he decided to finish settling down first.
Neji waved his hand as the entire heaven shook. One after another, the mansions on the lower island dropped down through the clouds like raindrops. They slowly descended upon the mortal plane, like a supernatural rain of army from the skies.
* * *
In the distant city of Jerusalem, the holy Temple Mount rose from the surface, and the earth shook as reality trembled. The temple that existed on the surface grew tall, the ground moving up with roaring earthquakes as it became a mountain. The range of the area grew, the surrounding area expanded, and the earth's tectonic plates shifted, to increase the area around the temple. The mountain grew up and over, with kilometers of diameter to house the mansions that began to descend upon it. Heaven itself descended atop the mountain.
The scene was an awe-inspiring sight, with the heavenly kingdom descending upon the mortal plane in splendor and glory. The world below was filled with mortal life, and all eyes were glued to the sky. Heavenly clouds began to descend from the sky, and the world was filled with a mystical and divine presence. Mansion after mansion descended, until the largest one descended on top of the temple. The temple shone, and it merged with the mansion. The mansion grew to have the temple's features, even if it was much, much larger than the temple.
All of a sudden, Jerusalem had a 7.77 km tall mountain around it. Strangely, as if a miracle, the earthquake and trembles didn't destroy anything or claim any life. Because it was a miracle, God's mercy.
However, Neji knew that won't be for long. His location was now known by all Gods, some of whom might come visit him anytime.
So, it was time for Neji to ring a call.
"Kurai," Neji said. "Come back."
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