NOVPUBPov Érica:
I was using my Grimoire to create a new Ritual. Kira’s situation is a real mess. She has Zenos’ power from when we dived into his pool of sacred blood, but Byakko is still a Spirit King, one of the strongest to the point of almost becoming a Spirit Emperor before being on the verge of death, which is how he ended up in Kira’s family line.
Now their bond is becoming an impediment for both of them. On the one hand, Kira already has a complete Essence and her own Sacred Power. The Gods also trained her to awaken her Will, but her power descends from Zenos, just like mine and Ibuki’s.
Meanwhile, Byakko is a Spirit. She was born, raised and spent her entire existence as a Spirit. She already has a complete Essence. In fact, she has 2 Complete Essences and has had control over her Will long before our ancestors were born. However, her power is completely associated with the Spirits, with her Temple of the Spirits having been built for thousands of years.
"A curse wouldn’t be enough. It has to be a Ritual. But what...?" (me)
Ding!
<[ You have resonated with the Divine Realm of another God ]>
.
.
<[ Do you wish to integrate your Divine Realm with his? ]>
.
<[ Yes / No ]>
I read the notification, but I didn’t need to read it. I could feel it. My Will was resonating and I could feel the Power of Zenos within me calling for its origin, encouraging me to accept it.
That alone tells me that this has to do with Zenos. I could also feel my Divinity with a slight anxiety. I could already understand that I was being called to integrate with his power as a Goddess. It was even better than what I had planned to do.
"Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times YES!!" (me)
Ding!
<[ You have integrated your Divine Kingdom with that of another God, complementing your two Divinities ]>
.
.
.
<[ You have become a Goddess of the Anomalous Entity [ Tarzor (Unholy Universal Dragon) ] ]>
Ding!!
I saw a few more notifications that made me understand the situation and suppose a few things. It was easy to understand that Zenos must have done another one of his things. I could also feel the changes happening in my Divine Kingdom as well as in my own Divinity.
I just needed to feel these changes and read the notifications along with everything I already knew, so I was able to fill in most of the gaps about what had just happened, my eyes shone as I went back to leafing through my Grimoire using some old spells as reference, now I had confidence in making this ritual work.
"You always appear when I need you most... thank you..." (me)
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Pov Zenos:
When the wave of power of reality passed I felt the entire Star Path pulse, Tarzor was opening his eyes and inside them what I saw were two wells of pure darkness containing only a vertical line full of stars as if it were a cut in the blanket of darkness revealing an entire universe inside.
Tarzor released a totally different Aura, his Aura no longer seemed like that of an individual, it was the Aura of a universe where the Essences were just a natural part of it and not a power to be manipulated, his own Aura did contain the power of reality and seemed to be separate from the rest of the universe even though it was mixed with my Stellar Paths.
Feeling the Star Path was as if he were separating himself from the universe as well, something connected solely to me in its entirety, both this universe and Tarzor himself were only connected to the Star Path with the only difference being that Tarzor was fundamentally connected by being reborn here, making his connection much more fundamental than the rest of this universe.
It was also this connection that allowed him to remain in this universe, he was using the connection with the Star Path as an umbilical cord to keep himself here, but because of that he could not leave the Star Path for long and could not move away from me.
All of these are things that I could feel just as Tarzor must have felt, this became a stronger connection than he thought and a greater restriction than I planned, but he sought this on his own.
He seems to focus on me, his body changes becoming smaller, his Dragon head remains while his body becomes more humanoid acquiring arms while his tail remains from the waist down, his height being only 3 meters with an open cloak covering his body, this cloak was made of ethereal leaves and crystal scales, he approached me before bowing, it was not about hierarchy or submission, it was a sincere thank you and form of respect.
"< you helped me... >" (Tarzor)
"..." (me)
"Aahhh!!!" (Niryna)
"She still can’t handle universal words, let me teach her a little something." (Callidora)
Callidora doesn’t move from her position, she speaks in Niryna’s ear who was holding her head with an expression of pain, then Niryna waves a finger that opens a small crack in space from where the presence of Hell leaks as if it were poison, a drop of blood leaks from inside stopping in front of Tarzor before the crack closes.
Tarzor looks at that drop of blood and touches it with one of his claws before bringing it to his head where the branches that form his horn move absorbing that drop of blood, this makes his eyes shine and his presence fluctuate for half a second while he blinks his eyes.
"Thank you." (Tarzor)
"You’re too young, it would have to wait a few thousand years just for you to learn to communicate without using universal words." (Callidora)
"Try not to talk like that inside another universe, it will trigger a bad reaction." (Callidora)
"I’ll keep that in mind." (Tarzor)
After thanking Callidora, who remains close to Niryna, taking care of her, who still seems to have a headache, Tarzor bows to me once more with one hand on his chest.
"Thank you for fulfilling what I always wanted, and I’m sorry my lack of control caused you an inconvenience." (Tarzor)
"It’s okay, this can’t be considered your fault." (me)
I talk a little with Tarzor, explaining my conversation with the System when he was trapped in the egg and everything I talked to Callidora about before he woke up, but from what he said, he seems to already know about the Divine Realms.
Tarzor said that he still needs some time to stabilize his body and get used to his new existence, he doesn’t know how long it will take, but he said that he will take his servants, the Grave Ladies, with him while he is in seclusion, and I allowed it since they were in the city waiting for him.
I tried asking about Freya, but he said that she was busy creating a flow of Natural power within the universe as well as helping to stabilize the Essences and Universal Laws.
After I left the Star Path, I still took Niryna with me, there was a place I wanted to go, but I needed Callidora’s permission.
I had a lot of things to deal with, but I decided to leave the enemies outside the universe aside for now. Things involving my wives and Tarzor could also wait. I had to focus on Baldr first, and by extension, the one who was trapped in Hell.
After asking Callidora’s permission and promising to help Niryna with her liquor collection, she allowed me to enter Hell and talked about taking me to where this individual was.
Niryna wanted to go, but Callidora forbade it. She was afraid that being inside her could have an unexpected effect on her. After all, she had never raised a daughter before and Niryna was still too weak to be trusted.
Of course, I also had to allow Niryna to join my Pantheon, something I allowed. Fortunately, the notifications were no different from those of my wives.
I warned the others to continue preparations for war while I was away and let them know that I would be leaving alone.
After spending a day resting to focus my mind on what mattered, I left everything I needed nearby, but it wasn’t much; the main thing was to bring that book with me.
Niryna was not happy with always being commanded by Callidora and always following what she said. Until today, I hadn’t had time to have a serious conversation with her. That’s why she said she would only agree to open the gates to Hell if one of her Demons could go with her, the Demon she created by herself called Lara. Callidora immediately accepted, and I didn’t object either.
After a day of rereading that book and talking for the first time with my traveling companion, I discovered that I was born from one of the Heralds of the God of Law.
Today I was alone in a deserted land on another star that was once one of the floors of the Dungeon. I couldn’t open a gate to Hell near the city.
Those who were with me were Niryna who was opening the portal and her Demon who was wearing a very tight suit on her body, Callidora was on the side always nearby as always.
It didn’t take long for the space in front of us to break, bone claws seemed to hold the broken edge of the space as if forcing it to stay open while from the dark interior there was a gate made of bones, organs and a lot of blood.
"< Open >" (Niryna)
With Niryna’s command the gate opens all at once, she waves to us who enter, as soon as we pass the gate closes becoming a square medal that Lara holds with reverence as I look at this Infernal scene once more.
"Once again in this damned place..." (me)
Sigh
