Inside the cave, Millus stood motionless, he was like an immovable statue. His body remained still, but his mind drifted elsewhere, it was a space existing in a liminal space between the material and immaterial planes.
Within this void, a vast expanse of swirling energy surrounded him, threads of mana and aura pass through the nothingness, and at the center of it all, he stood, focused on the newly acquired power, Divinitum, its faint glow flickered like a dying ember in his grasp.
"… Creating an afterlife is a hassle, especially with this small amount," he muttered, as he examined the unstable energy. "This Divinitum is barely a spark yet it's potent compared to that so-called forest deity, it was full of impurities, but he was burning through it like there was no tomorrow. And now that I have it, there's barely anything left to use. It's like those times when I played games where you kill a boss expecting great loot, only to be stuck with some garbage reward and shit…"
His voice trailed off, his expression quickly shifting.
"…Wait." A strange sensation washed over him. "That… that felt familiar. Did I just say something?"
Fragments of memories from his past life that were supposedly erased had resurfaced again, it was unbidden and fleeting. He grasped at the thought, but the moment he tried to focus on it, the memory dissolved like mist, it was like grabbing air.
"…What's happening to me? What happened?"
Veda's voice resonated through the void. "It seems that acquiring and utilizing Divinity has disrupted the causality binding your soul. Memories in your old world seem to be tabooed in this realm, while the rest of your past remains sealed."
Millus's brows furrowed. He attempted to recall what he had just said, but the memory was gone; it simply vanished.
"…Veda, what did I just say earlier?"
Then a brief silence ensued. Then after a while, Veda's voice returned, but it was quieter this time. "I… don't remember. It seems I am also affected. The law of causality prevents anything beyond visual recognition, the faces and images of those you once knew are retained. But if you verbalize forgotten knowledge, the Origin rejects it immediately as it is dismissed by the world and is considered taboo."
Millus exhaled sharply. "So, no matter how much I try to remember and occasionally remember them, I'll always forget? Then the only way to break this damn rule is to acquire more Divinitum, so either by plundering it from others or gathering a substantial amount of followers."
"That seems to be the only viable path," Veda confirmed. "However, as we saw with the forest deity, gathering faith takes time. We don't know how long it took for him to accumulate even this minuscule amount of Divinitum it may be centuries or even more than a millennia."
"Then plundering is the faster method," Millus concluded. But his gaze darkened as he spoke. "Though… if weaker beings can amass that kind power over time, then it's safe to assume that somewhere out there… there are bigger threats. And they might not appreciate me taking what's theirs."
"That is a logical assumption, then will you proceed with caution."
Millus nodded while he considered his next steps. His initial plan to forge an afterlife for his followers where they would have to wait, after amassing a large amount of followers he can use them as an army. But the amount of Divinitum required to create that space would be astronomical, and for now, he had too little to work with.
"I'll postpone the afterlife project for now," he decided. "First, I need to establish control over those outside of this cave."
He paused for a moment, then his voice, which had been sharp earlier finally softened, then he looked at his hand.
"The thought of having power is intoxicating, and controlling others and having their lives at the palm of my hands doesn't sit well with me, I must remind myself not be devoured by this, once that happens I don't even wanna know, and there's no turning back now, I've already taken the lives of others, there's no need to make myself look like a hypocrite."
So for a moment, he let the silence stretch in between as he relished the silence and peacefulness.
"…Maybe it's because I still want to see them again so that I can properly say goodbye, and if it's not possible then maybe I can just see them one last time to see if they are doing just fine." His hand curled into a fist. "It feels like I'm just a wandering spirit with an unfinished business, I should've just stayed dead there and then… but I guess I can still enjoy this new life, though not as peaceful as the old one, it's still better than nothing."
Veda did not make any remarks on his words.
Millus exhaled, then withdrew his consciousness from the immaterial plane.
His body moved once more, walking towards the cave entrance. Beyond the shadows, his newly turned followers knelt and awaited his command. Outside, the dark Dome still loomed over the land, blocking out the sun which was a necessary measure to protect the dark beings under him, lesser beings of the dark perish under the might of the light except those that are powerful enough to resist it.
Millus cast one last glance back into the cave, his thoughts lingering on the cave.
As Millus stepped toward the cave's entrance, his gaze flickered back toward its depths.
'There are a lot of valuable minerals inside…' he mused.
'I scanned it earlier while fighting that beast. This cave is deeper than it looks, and the mana concentration here is abnormally high. I might be able to use this place later.'
'But for now, it had to be erased,' he thought.
Under the watchful eyes of his followers, Millus raised one of his feet and stomped it to the ground which sent a powerful shockwave towards the cave.
A deep tremor rumbled through the land. The cavern broke apart and the cracks splintered through its rocky structure along it's walls, and in mere seconds, the once-massive cave collapsed inwardly. The jagged hill above it was also flattened unnaturally, as if it was pressed down by an unseen force.
High above, layered across the sky, three massive overlapping magic circles shimmered faintly, it was barely visible to the naked eye.
Millus observed the unfolding destruction, with his cold and calculating eyes. 'Simply destroying the cave with raw mana alone would have been wasteful and inefficient. Instead, I'll break it apart from within…'
His mind processed the magic structure at blinding speed.
'First, I'll forcefully extract the air from the cave using a vacuum seal, creating an artificial implosion. Without air, the internal pressure will drop instantly, causing the entire structure to weaken.'
Then he activated a second magic circle. The cave's atmosphere collapses inward, the sudden loss of air triggering a violent implosion. The walls caved in on themselves, dust and debris violently rushing toward the void left behind.
'Next, I'll use gravitational compression to condense the remaining fragments, ensuring nothing remains but solid rock on the surface.'
The final magic circle surged with power, a gravitational field pressing downward with an irresistible force. The ground rippled and compressed, sealing the cavern beneath layers of dense earth.
By the time the dust settled, it was as if the cave had never existed. But Millus wasn't finished yet.
With his Crimson Dark Mana, he reached out, not to cast a spell, but to manipulate the latent elemental mana in the surrounding environment.
'The terrain still looks unnatural… Let's fix that.'
He extended one of his hands, subtly influencing the earth's natural mana. He didn't infuse it with his own power as it might trigger a chain of unforseen destruction as his mana might taint the earth, his mana was fundamentally different, unique, and incompatible with elemental energy. Instead, he acted as a conductor, redirecting the flow of nature itself.
The result was immediate and can be seen with the naked eye.
The barren ground shifted and reshaped, rich soil rising as thick roots burst forth, spreading like wildfire. Within moments, lush greenery overtook the land, a dense canopy of towering trees growing where the cave once stood.
Millus lowered his hand, admiring his work with a subtle smile.
Now, no trace of the cavern, the battle, or the fallen deity remained.
He turned back to his kneeling followers, their faces were a mix of awe and fear.
"Has everyone gathered?" Millus spoke. His voice, though calm, carried a weight of majesty that made the very air feel heavier.
Millus looked over the once-proud chieftain, now nothing more than a hollowed-out tool for his use, Magbo lowered his head in submission.
"Yes, my lord. Everyone is here."
Millus eyed him with mild amusement. 'How obedient. A warrior reduced to something barely more than a puppet.'
His gaze swept over the gathered figures, their vacant eyes awaiting his command. 'Keeping them here is pointless. I need a place to store them… but what kind of space would be best?'
As the thought crossed his mind, inspiration struck. 'Wait… why bother creating an afterlife right away? I can make something temporary, a holding space. A void where they can rest and grow until I have use for them.'
The very moment he conceptualized it, time around him seemed to slow. His mind processed calculations at an accelerated rate, blueprints forming in the depths of his consciousness.
'A waiting area… a limbo of sorts. Perpetual darkness, a transition between existence and the afterlife I'll create… Yes, that'll do perfectly.'
Mere moments passed in reality, but when Millus opened his eyes, the air behind him ripped apart.
A colossal, majestic gate materialized from the void, its form defying the natural laws of this world. Space itself twisted and contorted around it, as if acknowledging its dominion over the material plane.
The followers instinctively stepped back, gazing at the structure in a mix of awe and fear.
Millus turned to them, his crimson eyes gleaming.
"Now then… since none of you are of use to me right now, you will all enter this gate." He gestured behind him. "I shall call upon you when I require your service. Until then, you will wait."
As he finished speaking a hushed silence fell over the group of more than 30 former tribespeople.
They exchanged wary glances at each other, there was uncertainty flickering in their dull eyes, it was not until their former chieftain stepped forward. And without any hesitation, he walked towards the gate and vanishing into the darkness.
Seeing this, the others followed. One by one, they crossed into the abyss.
Inside, there was nothing. No ground, no sky, only endless, velvety darkness.
And once inside, they felt safe and warm. A strange sense of peace washed over them, and one by one, they succumbed to slumber within the void.
Until the last figure walked over and disappeared, Millus closed the gate with a flick of his wrist. The rift in space mended itself, sealing them away.
He exhaled as it took a vast amount of mana to create it. "That takes care of that."
Then, he turned his gaze passing through the dome of darkness towards the distant mountain, his expression was unreadable.
'How is she doing right now?'
His thoughts drifted to Lina, who remained under the protection of the Lunar Wolf, Kaela after he teleported her away to her safety.
End of chapter