Thud
Up above the spirit world, inside the ancient majestic palace shrouded in gray fog, Klein Moretti sat leisurely at the high back chair that belonged to The Fool. In front of him the copper mottled long table, and above the ancient majestic dome, propped up by pillars of varying height.
Klein rapped the handrest of his chair, while leaning back letting his back rest on it. He brought his hands to his head and rubbed his temples, sighing slowly.
Well, I was able to gauge Lilith's current condition, and I got to know of the current situation of the inhabitants of Moon City. A successful trip if you ask me. Klein commended himself and nodded. I never expected the Outer Deities' influence was present so far back...
Lilith, as a sequence 0 of the Moon pathway, and suspected to have at least one naturewalker characteristic is affected to such an extent. Then, it is safe to assume the same for Ombella, who should have the Uniqueness and either the rest or one Sequence 1 characteristic of the Mother Pathway.
Then, it is likely that other deities such as the Mutant King Kvastir and Devil Monarch Farbauti, both of which are from the Chained and Abyss pathways respectively, would be affected by the Mother Tree of Desire. Or at least, the part of "Her" original Sefirah on Earth, the Tenebrous World… Wait a minute?
Farbauti is looking for the Abyss… I previously deduced that it might be due to the influence of the Mother Tree of Desire. But, could it actually be the influence from "Her" will within the Tenebrous world that is attracting the Devil Monarch towards the Abyss? But then, what about the Mutated King? What's "His" deal?
Klein racked his brain for some moments, but was unable to come to any definite conclusions. Shaking his head, he couldn't help but think to himself. Hehe, There is so much I am aware of, yet so little… I thought to myself at the beginning, that I knew everything about the third and fourth epoch. But now I can't help but question, as to how many mysteries hide within the holes in my historical knowledge.
He felt the portion of the Fog of History that belonged to the Second Epoch clear up further, which only made him chuckle. After laughing to himself for a moment, he turned his attention towards his possible next task. But, before Klein could begin ruminating on it, he heard illusory whispers in his ears. Someone is praying to me… Klein tilted his head to listen to the murmurs.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this Era;
"The Mysterious Ruler above the Gray Fog;
"The King of Yellow and Black who wields Good Luck."
Following his Honorific name, Klein was provided a series of coordinates, and was asked to descend there as soon as possible by a… A fucking Cuttlefish??! Never in my life did I think a cuttlefish would pray to me… This was done by Grisha, of course, Klein instantly realized that.
After cursing his fellow ally for a bit, Klein focused on the details of the prayer he had just received. Grisha wishes to meet me, huh... Klein softly recited the coordinates had been provided by Grisha, in his mind. He then used the positonting ability of the Door Pathway and immediately traced the location from the coordinates in the real world.
Klein's eyelids slightly twitched as his lips curled into a small smile. Interesting... Bansy Harbor, or at least the place which will be named that in the future. Klein leisurely rested himself on his chair, propping his one leg on the other. Bansy huh... Could the City of Calamity have begun to show its effects on the place? That would explain why this Dual Pathway true deity would be interested in it. But then, what motive could "He" have for calling me? Klein thought to himself, and caressed his chin with his fingers.
He tapped the armrest of his chair once more, while summoning a gold coin. Klein positioned the coin in his fingers and tossed it in the air, divining whether or not meeting Grisha was safe. His pupils dilated for a moment, as the coin flipped in the air, before landing back in his palm. Klein's pupils returned to normal, while he dispelled the projection of the coin.
The answer he received was that it was relatively safe. While a King of King of Angels like Klein would not have received such a vague answer upon divination, this matter concerned a Dual Pathway True Deity with a level of control over Chaos Sea. Klein was surprised by the fact that he even received an answer from his divination, having fully expected it to fail. This immediately made him suspicious that his divination was interfered by the chaos sea, to make it seem safe. Well of course, Grisha must have expected me to divine it.
Usually, interference in his divination would have been a major bad sign for Klein, and it still was. But considering he was divining about Grisha, Klein knew well that it was "His" twisted way of telling him that it was indeed safe to come. After all, Grisha isn't stupid, neither does "He" consider me one. "He" knows well that interference in the divination of a seer, is a hostile sign unless "He" is trying to check my level of competence and reverse thinking. Klein bobbed his head up and down. After contemplating for some moment, he decided to head to Grisha's call and visit Bansy Harbour.
But then something else came to mind. Now that I think of it, Bansy is in Sonia Sea, which is the home of the Elves. It is also pretty close to the part of the northern continent that will later become the Loen Kingdom. Klein instantly nodded again, This opportunity is too perfect to miss! I am already going to Bansy, so why not drop to the shores of the Northern Continent. The Seven Lights said that the Elves and Humans are in constant battle there. I can witness the fight myself and be able to better my understanding of Human and Elven Factions! Klein instantly came to the decision to visit the Northern continent first, before heading towards Bansy Harbour.
Grinning, he extended his hand, and pulled out his projection from moments ago. The reason Klein didn't pull out Merlin Hermes this time around, was because he was leaving the eastern continent which would lessen the effects of Convergence, easing his worry of Flegrea tracking him down. And for the fact that he was meeting with Grisha in a place that was suspected to be affected by the City of Calamity, a Sefirah. The trip was going to be anything less than Safe. On top of that, Klein's divination was already altered, making him discard the answer received from it. Merlin Hermes, The miracle invoker, a sequence 2 would likely not be enough to deal with all the dangers that might come his way.
Klein concealed himself through Sefirah Castle, and descended inside his historical projection. He stretched his body, smiled, and then left towards the spirit world.
…
Sea.
To everywhere one could sew their eyes on was a large expanse of water, housing thousands of aquatic life beneath its surface. The violent clouds that hung above in the sky, a display of the chaotic weather that loomed over the entire Sonia sea.
The vortex of waters, the tsunami rising towards the very clouds in the sky, and the lightning bolts that often smited and ocean thunderstorms that hovered above the sea. The entirety of Sonia sea was ridden with natural disasters and calamity threatening any and all that dared thread its waters.
But this wasn't a natural disaster, but a calamity born from the war that had gone on for thousands of years, from the very beginning of this world, to this very day, this very hour, this very second.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions occurred in the chaotic sea, as the tides rose up towards the sky, washing over the various seafarers that were swimming in its waters. Up above the gigantic tidal waves, floating in the sky was a figure shrouded by the clouds, reflected by the lightning storm.
Blue hair, blue eyes, pointy ears and fair skin with only a leather cloth covering his reproductive organs. This Sea King Elf, gazed at the vast expanse of water and the land that laid not too far from him. The mere reflection of his gaze instilled fear in all that caught its glimpses.
He slowly breathed out, raised his hand, pointing towards the land with his index finger. In the very next moment, large water cannons shoot out from the gigantic tide, some landing on water, while others landing on land, their impact shattering the very ground as rubbles flew up in the air, carried on by the swift strives of air, aiming towards each and every human on land and sea.
The Sea king in the air, extended his hands and then clapped, creating an enormous shockwave that traveled through the water at insane speed giving birth to even larger tides. Between them formed a giant vortex of water, a tsunami that traveled at unfathomable speed towards the land and the part of the water on which humans were floating.
Suddenly, the wind seemingly took a tangible shape, as its speed grew, it curved, and formed a windblade. This windblade traveled at hypersonic speeds sliced through the giant tides and the tsunami that was heading its way, with the sliced halves calmly returning back into the water. However, the windblade did not stop there, as it traveled and changed its aim to the Sea King hovering among the clouds, looking to cut through his body and dye the sea with his blood.
The Sea King Elf, witnessing the spectacle, took a singular step forward as the surroundings itself also moved, with the lightning storms booming in the background, its sound soon shattering the eardrums of the people within a ten kilometers radius. The windblade which was of extreme speeds slowed down, and was completely halted by giant walls of water which had instantly risen from the sea below.
These walls were lined one after another, creating an impenetrable barrier between the Sea King and the edge of the massive windblade. Yet, the wind blade seemed to magically gain momentum and fight back against the barrier. It suddenly grew in size, as it cut through numerous water walls, and continued on its path to the Sea King.
Witnessing this scene, the Sea King nonchalantly lifted his arm and flicked it, as the air obeyed his command and instantly formed a swirling windblade with equal size and momentum to the approaching one. The two windblades collided, creating a massive shock wave that split apart the very sea beneath them, shoved the remaining clouds away, and cracked the ocean floor.
The sky ruptured due to the collision of the two massive forces, giving birth to a chaotic rainstorm that poured down to the ocean floor, fixing its cracks. The violent undulating sea suddenly rose, and soon shaped into a gigantic hand, with a figure standing on its palm.
The figure had dark blue hair, tied in a bun of the same color, his face wrinkled yet bore a calm expression. He looked as if in his middle ages, yet dignified, clad in a dark blue robe. His gaze fixated on the Sea King in front of him, as lightning streaked behind him, illuminating the area with his own figure.
Holy Lord of Stor—No. Leodero! In a far away place, Klein observed this grand spectacle, featuring a fight between two Sea Kings; Leodero, and an Elf. While traversing through the spirit world, his attention was drawn to the chaos in the corresponding region, which had now brought him here.
Klein continued to observe the battlefield, having concealed himself. He initially planned on saving the people that might get caught in the crossfire between these two demigods, but he soon realized that Leodero was ensuring the safety of his men on the battlefield, by creating protective air bubbles around them and controlling the sea to safely wash them to the shore.
Despite his irascible nature, Leodero does seem to care about his men... Klein thought for a moment, before turning his attention back to the battle.
In the tense atmosphere, Leodero and the Sea King elf stared each other down, their gazes locked on eachother. For the longest of time, the sea remained mostly unchanging with only waves rising and crashing, lightning streak through the clouds, illuminating the dark environment, as everyone's gaze were fixed on the two Kings of the Ocean.
Boom!
An ear shattering boom roared in the sky, as both demigods disappeared from their spots! Suddenly, large tides grew from the sea's surface, reserging up to cloud length. Whereas, the wind took a tangible form, the raindrops that were pouring from the sky changed their trajectory under the wind's influence, as tens of thousands of these drops came together, swirling with the wind forming innumerable water blades.
The water and wind blades clashed with the giant tides, creating massive explosions that cracked the very ground beneath the sea. In between the clashing tides and the water blades, the two saints clashed with each other at hypersonic speeds.
The Elf Sea King controlled the wind forming miniscule yet extremely sharpened wind blades. He pointed towards Leodero as these wind blades traveled at supersonic speed looking to cut him in half. Leodero, noticing this, roared loudly at them, his roar created a massive shockwave that completely changed the wind's direction at his side, dissipating these wind blades into nothingness.
The shockwave created by Leodero shook the entire sea around them, as well as the clouds, causing the rain storm to grow in intensity, lightning streaking brightly due to the impact between the clouds.
As these two demigods further clashed with each other, the surrounding sea headed on their call. Those several kilometers away on land, and those deep underwater couldn't help but watch in awe at the sheer strength of the two beings that were closest to godhood.
Klein on the other hand, while amazed, couldn't help but muse to himself, I can dodge all of them through Door's ability… Actually I don't even have to dodge them, the wind blade isn't sturdy enough to cut through me, and what's water gonna do to me? Wet my clothes? Dishelve my hair? He chuckled. Klein had to specifically remind himself to lampoon so as to maintain a connection with his humanity.
On a more serious note... Klein's eyes suddenly turned glint, as a mysterious symbol appeared, traveling up his eyeball and disappearing within them. The torrential rain is disrupting the flow of spirituality, which makes it harder to use beyonder powers. Not just that, the waves around them are interfering in the spirit world, causing a kind of seal to be erected in its place. The humidity, air pressure, and overall environment has become hostile to most saints in the 10 km radius of their battlefield. Also, there seems to be an illusory barrier around this place, possibly formed from their dominion ability. Both the sea kings have claimed this area of the sea as their domain, which allows them to suppress anyone in the area, inhibiting their spirituality as a whole, and even inhibiting teleportation, realm shifting… No wonder, Sea King is possibly one of the strongest Sequence 3 of any pathway. They are near impossible to deal with at the sea!
He shook his head, when he suddenly felt the surroundings shaking. Klein immediately looked down at the sea, his eyes reflecting a giant shadow that was rapidly making its way upwards. As a Mythical Creature, Klein's vision was capable of penetrating the water and seeing through it, which was the reason why his expression grew slightly twisted upon seeing the monstrosity that was heading its way towards the battle field.
The…. The fuck?!
Leodero observed his opponent grinning and mocking him. The elf then extended his hand outward, as he plummeted down to the sea. Leodero was about to follow him, but he noticed something and halted. He felt the very air change, and the water level rising up, as it shook far greater than ever before.
Leodero witnessed, as a shadow began to rise from the depths of the sea, and shortly, a giant monstrosity, a sea creature half the size of Sonia Island itself rose from the surface of the water, displacing the entire sea with its rise. Leodero upon noticing the rising water, shifted his attention and controlled the water so as to not submerge the shore behind him. The elf sea king, who was but a dot in comparison, leisurely sat on its head, as the giant sea monster rose making its way towards Leodero with the intention to swallow him whole.
Leodero seeing this monstrosity, released out a sigh, his facial expression remaining calm. He slowly raised his hands, curling his fingers, and brought them down. Seeing this, the sea king elf immediately moved away from the head creature. Suddenly, a lightning bolt snaked through the sky, striking the giant sea creature, then the lighting began to branch out through the rain drops in the environment, hitting the sea creature in various spots.
In an instant, the thunder completely branched to all parts of the sea creature hitting every point of its skin. It creaked loudly burning the creature on various spots. Leodero did not stop there, he repeatedly hit the creature with lightning and controlled the rain storm, making it even more violent, allowing the bolt to branch out further and further until it enveloped the entire creature.
Eventually, the creature dropped back into the ocean, incapable of handling any more damage to its body. As it fell, the entire ocean rose back up before submerging within it, once more. The Sea king, watching the death of the giant sea creature clicked his tongue in annoyance, and suddenly moved at hypersonic speeds barely avoiding a lighting bolt. More lightning bolts began to come his way, as he continued to dodge them with mild easiness.
Suddenly the Sea King Elf halted his movements and clasped his hands creating a massive shockwave that split apart the very sea beneath them. Leodero immediately created various layers of wind wall, halting the shockwave from hitting him. He extended his hands and brought them upwards in a swinging motion. Suddenly, thousands and thousands of water spears began to rise from the ocean, each one of them aiming towards the Sea King elf. The rain drops around them also took the form of small water spears, and aimed themselves towards the seaking.
Leodero slightly grinned as he snapped his fingers. All the water spears both in air and ocean immediately launched themselves at incredible speed towards the sea king, aiming to impale his body. In a singular second, this sea king was completely surrounded by the water spears, with no space to escape from. Yet he didn't lose his cool, shaking his hands, he controlled the already violent wind, and created a torpedo, which grew larger and larger in size, disrupting the trajectories of water spears that were enveloped in it.
In some moments, the torpedo grew larger, developing into a full sea storm. The Sea King Elf controlled the wind and water around the storm, making thousands and thousands of wind and water blades, making the storm a shredder that was heading Leodero's way, looking to shred him.
The Sea King Elf grinned widely, as he extended his hands in splendor. He looked up at the dark sky, and softly began to whisper a hymn in elvish, he softly muttered certain words in a beautiful voice.
Suddenly, Leodero's heart stopped and fear took over him. He watched as the sea king elf began to be surrounded by an unopposable and terrifying tyrannical aura that could drive anyone into fear and submission.
A Tyrannical aura. The Aura of the Tyrant, the Elf King Soniathyrm!
Leodero's face twisted, as panic overcame him. It was then, other than the imposing fear and awe, he felt a sting of madness that began to take root in his mind, as he felt like his head was splitting apart. This wasn't a tyrannical aura, but genuine madness that seemed to originate from nowhere.
Far away, Klein suddenly felt the surrounding temperature rise up by several degrees, prompting his eyebrows to rise. As he began to ponder over the sudden anomaly that originated from the sea king who borrowed some of the Tyrant's aura. He continued observing the battlefield and the panicking Leodero that began to mount several walls of water and wind, but stopped as a voice echoed in his ears.
"Retreat" A soft ethereal voice sounded everywhere and nowhere at the same time in the entirety of the environment, even overcoming the sounds of the violent wind and the noisy sea. The Sea King Elf's attack suddenly halted before disappearing entirely, whereas he himself turned to look in a certain direction far away from where he was floating.
It wasn't just him, but all the Elves looked back in the distance, as the soft ethereal voice continued, "The envoys of Death loiter, return immediately." Without waiting for another second, the sea king left the area, his speed overcoming that of sound, causing a sonic boom. With his leave, the other elves also retreated from the battlefield, not paying another gaze to the humans who were in- awe and shock.
The sea slowly calmed itself, as the sunlight penetrated through the dark clouds. What once was a chaotic shore, ridden with calamites, was now a calm ocean with the sound of water hitting the shore. Shortly, cheers erupted from humans, as they commended their captain, Leodero, for having fended off another Elven attack.
Leodero, still floating in mid air, remained unmoving. He neither took part in the celebrations, nor did he intend to stop them. He wasn't happy at all, since he hadn't won the battle, he didn't even succeed in winning the battle against them. If it wasn't for that ethereal voice calling the sea king elf back…
He sighed and turned around floating back to the shore. As soon as he landed, he was surrounded by people, each of whom tried to pat his back. Yet, Leodero's expression remained still.
Queen of Calamity, Cohinem... Far away, Klein sighed. He continued to watch over the humans at the shore, before disappearing from his spot, entering the spirit world. Immediately, he noticed the chaotic state of this particular area of the spirit world, and shook his head. He began to traverse through the place, before leaving the spirit world, arriving at a foggy shore.
He heard the distant sound of waves crashing at the high ground, and the sound of birds chirping. Klein's vision was dampened by the white fog that surrounded the entire second epoch bansy harbor. Before he could examine the place closely, a soft familiar voice entered his ears.
"You sure took your time."