Chapter 84

In a cold and desolated world where nothing but the souls of the living I roamed the place fighting against an opponent of the greatest caliber.

This bastard named Vendir Saida was ridiculously powerful. I agreed to not use any of my soul related skills thinking that I could defeat him but damn he was beyond powerful, the way of manipulating magic was beyond comprehension.

Normally, all of my abilities were sealed. However, this place was different, this was within my soul as Vendir had said. This sacrilegious king was proficient in using magic and could handle anything I threw at him.

In this place, I should be a God. However, this man is clearly making me feel that I am not. His way of conjuring immense powers to fight against me was beyond my comprehension.

I tried to fight against him using fire magic that I just barely learned, even the immolating orb that I gained as a skill after defeating the boss of the first circle Gwinling was of no effect against his raging flames.

He wielded flames that were hotter than hells. he summoned powerful roots to destroy and corrupt, he had managed to chant curses that would corrupt the body and mind.

I was being thrown everywhere without being able to do a damnd thing to him.

Physical prows? They were useless unless I got close to him, and he manages to enlarge the distance using some ability of his that enabled him to teleport away. Not even my shadow step could close the gap.

I tried to use everything in my arsenal, but nothing would reach.

“You are too ignorant of your own ability, you sure had enormous luck fighting against enemies with much sturdier and more power than you, but that was all thanks to your undying nature.” He said as he summoned lightning that was as large as pillars to destroy my body.

I was barely able to dodge as I sent my chains toward him.

He didn’t even bother dodging as he just summoned a shield of magic that forced the chains to sway apart.

“You should know that people had reached high levels due to them defying monsters of great power, yet they had only one life. They trained, and they became more skilled, they fought hard to achieve their position, yet you swept through them with but one ability. Your immortal ability that defied death. What would you have done without that? How many times would you have died?” he said as he chanted a spell that called sand and rocks to come flying towards me.

“You rely too much on your undying nature. You must fight like you have one life, like if you were to make a mistake, then it will be your life. Don’t you dare rely on an option that you don’t understand yourself.” He said as the wave of sand swept me in its wake until it turned me to shreds.

I reconstructed my body and stood forward, heaving from inexistent exertion.

My mind was struggling to keep up with his onslaught.

I could easily destroy him if I were to use soul powers, but I made my promise, those abilities will do more harm than good, and if I were to harm the king’s soul he would have a hard time to recover, and I will have no chance at learning something new.

“Use all your potential, use what you have, use your underlings, kill and massacre but you must remain alive. There are beings that will not come for you if they know how powerful that curse of yours is, but they will come to those that are around you. You think yourself immune, your overpowered damage is indeed powerful enough to destabilize your enemies, but you must know you only lived but a fraction of the time that many had endured, that many had suffered through.” Said the king as he summoned waves of water to attack me, serpents made of torrents of water began to materialize in order to snuff my life.

I called upon magic to try and freeze the torrent, but it was too much for me. That it swept me across the void tumbling and drowning. Once the wave washed over me, I stood back up, drenched from inexistent water and said.

“What is the purpose of this? I can’t see status screens, I don’t know if I am improving or not. How would I understand if I am truly gaining skills and proficiency.”

“You don’t need those pitiful screens, especially here. You should grow without knowing where you are at, once you leave this place, you will know where you stand. Now survive!” said the king as he summoned etheral skeletons. Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? I didn’t know, they were many, too many for me to even make a proper count.

“You must suffer through trials and difficulties, you should know well that the divine will be much stronger than I am, if you are not able to conquer this pitiful trial then you will fail to face against the true terror that those bastard represent.” Said the king as his army charged forward.

Shit.

I called upon the metamorphosing blade and began a slaughter. Ripping shredding and destroying anything before me.

I felt like if I was fighting against an endless sea of enemies. Yet this was not the extent of this bastard’s power

He sent hail, fire, and thunder towards me as he commanded the undead army.

“How can the power of one defeat the power of many?” asked the king in a rhetorical way” There is only one way. Utter, and absolute power. You must grow enough to make your enemies tremble, you must grow to make those that have no fear feel utter despair at your hands, you must become a calamity that will threaten the existence of the divine. You must grow, you must reach, and you must attain what none had ever reached Herald. You must be what all fears, you must despair in order to show your enemies despair. Fight, die and rise to fight again! Your will should not waver, your heart should not crumble, and your objective should be clear.”

“Hunt the divine down,” I said as I changed the blade to an enormous scythe.

This is the weapon that shall reap the souls of the living, and for me to do it, I must become death incarnate.

“Come to me!” I roared at the incoming horde.

This will be a slaughter!

***

Haru POV

shit, shit, shit!

“We need you to give us Daiki!” said Haruka as she faced Solomon. He was powerful beyond measure, and she stood still in front of such an oppressive person without fear or hesitation.

No, she was afraid, her hands were trembling but her drive was much more than her fear, she overcame her fright and decided to face against a demigod for the sake of Daiki.

Man, when the hell had you, become so popular that a person was ready to give up their life for you. I said to myself as I thought about Daiki.

He had certainly changed, he was no longer the person I used to know, he made calculations before his every move, he feared and made precautions he made sure to understand where he stood before he ventured forward. But after he returned from death, he became ruthless, waged wars and led armies, he became inapproachable, yet that made people want to seek him, made people want to come closer and stand by his side, he tried to alienate people from him, but that only served to make them want to get closer to him.

“You dare look up to our king!” said one of the Jhins as he approached the girl.

“Javra, calm down.” Said the King and the Jhin that looked like a human that floated on clouds turned back to his corner.

“Woman, what bravery drives you to speak up to me?” he said

“I want Daiki back, and I will do nothing to stop before I get him.”

“Hmm,” said the king before he got closer to her. Beelzebub and the Archangel looked alert, probably readying up for a fight.

“What would you give for me to give him back to you?” said the King

“I, I have nothing to offer…” said Haruka in a low tone.

“Then why should I concede to your offer, you invaded my lands and now ask me to do you favors without proper compensation? Aren’t you shameless?”

“…”

“Then will you give your life?” said The King as he approached the girl.

“Will you give Daiki back if I do so?” she said with determined eyes.

“I might consider,” said the King

“Then my life is yours.” Said Haruka without hesitation.

“What are you doing Haruka this man is not to be trusted, guys say something!” I said speaking to the rest of our party. None of them wanted to say anything, they must have wanted to see how would this unfold.

“It is true that Daiki is our benefactor, but this man doesn't look like he will be giving him back.”

“Who are you to say that about me boy? Hmm, those are interesting artifacts you have with you, where did you get these?”

“It was Daiki that made them.”

I thought about it, if he was willing to let Daiki go for these things then it should be a better option than to let Haruka give up her life for him

“If you want them for Daiki’s safety then I can give-“

“No. that person’s life is valued more than mere trinkets.” Said the King as he got even closer and now he was the same level as us.

He wore blue colored grabs they were loos and had a splendid beard that gave him an Arabian look. His eyes were focused and were filled with mystery. And he looked at Haruka with an inspective gaze.

The floating spirit of a woman that was beside him on the throne floated down and began to hover around the King.

She was a beautiful person, though she looked like those Jhins she was a beauty to behold. She then spoke in a heavenly voice saying

“Dear Solomon, that girl is in love. Why not give her what she wants.”

“Jasmin, you know well the price I will pay if I were to give them the key to that man’s seal. They will come asking for revenge, and I don’t think I will handle them for long.” Said the King.

“Daiki is powerful, if he is here, he will help!” I said

“One cannot face against all of the divines.”

“He already defeated a god, and has slew a Pheonix.” Said Haruka

“Pitiful, I slew many myself. The collation of the divine is much more fearsome than what you believe it to be. One man cannot do everything.”

“He has the seals to hell, and already got the cuff of divination and the seal of binding.” Said the Archdevil. While it was the first time he participated in this conversation, his words held great weight as it made everyone besides our party look at us with a worried expression.

“He obtained three of them already? Quite interesting. Then if he already has the cuff of divination it should be quite easy to bring him back” said the king

“Then can you do it?” asked Haruka

“I can, but it is useless…” he said

“Why so?” I asked

“If he is to be released, he will be defeated instantly, the Divine will invade these lands and will wreak havoc upon the land. To obtain the key to the infernal seal.”

“What is the purpose of those trinkets?” I asked, “Daiki wanted to gather them no matter the cost.”

The atmosphere around the King began to dim down, instead of an oppressive ruler he began to speak and answer our questions without bothering with threats to show dominance. That woman that is called Jasmin is truly a blessing as she subdued his domineering aura with but few words.

“Those are a part of a key I made for the Divine to seal the depths of hell. If they are gathered, he can open the pits of hell and remove the restraints upon those trapped within it. If they join the fight against the divine, they can tilt the balance of power.”

“Then why can’t we just get Daiki and ask him for those items,” I said

“You think lightly about this matter.” Said the archangel “If hell breaks loose, most of its inhabitants will not fight against the Divine of their own volition. Hell will be linked to this world, and they will do more damage than good, and finally… the last piece.” She added

“Indeed, those filthy bastards will be more of a nuisance than a help, but the last seal is the most troublesome. It is situated at the end of the heavenly dungeon, without it, the key cannot be completed.” Said the King.

“Euh, actually, there is a way around that,” said Beelzebub “Not about the final piece but about the passage from hell to heaven, indeed they need to cross the lower realm before passing to the divine, but what if you anchor heaven and hell using the cuff?”

“You mean to create a link between hell and the upper realm? It should be impossible without bending space itself; I have no power over space I can only make seals.”

Beelzebub then pressed his hand in open air, and it disappeared, he grabbed back an apple from thin air and chomped on it saying with a full mouth

“That’s not a problem for me.”

Solomon raised his brows at the blatant display of power to bend space itself and began to laugh like a madman.

“Indeed, this is all I need! Alright, it was time to get off from this dull and boring place, let's bring some havoc to the upper realms.”

“This is more like it,” said Beelzebub as he shared the apple with his cockroach pet… I am sure his name changed again, but I won’t ask.

“Now, can you release Daiki?” said Haruka still insisting on the matter.

“I can’t, at least not now.” Said the king

“Then when?” I said

“I made the seal to be sturdy, so it should take some few years before it weakens.”

“Years!?” I said

“Well, you should be thankful I made it in a hurry otherwise it would have taken more than mellinas before it would show the first signs of weakening. Placing a seal on someone outside space is very difficult for me. So I just made it with the plan to repair it every two years.”

“Two years… we will only be able to see Daiki after two years? What ill we do in that time…” I said

“Well of course! Training!” said Beelzebub

“Huh?”

“What did you expect, you guys are weak, you will only be a liability, Daiki wants to overturn heaven there will be gods and demons fighting for supremacy, you will also be there, and I believe weakest people like you will be but fodder for the great beings. You must grow strong, and look around you. There are plenty of ways to become strong.” He added

I thought about the rock snakes and shuddered

“You may move outside, you will find plenty of prey to entertain yourself, but I must tell you. Those beings will not stop before they destroy you, and I have no intention of saving any of you. So survive and become strong, at least then you will be able to breach the upper realms without being destroyed.” Said the King as he summoned a magic circle that took us outside his temple.

“He did say that he is unable to use space magic right?” I said as I saw the vast sand desert that surrounded us.

“That was not space magic. Space magic is about bending the fabric of the world, he just moved us from a place to another.” Said Beelzebub

‘isn’t that the same thing?’ I thought to myself. But didn’t want to answer.

There was a snake of stone that emerged from the sand and began to glare at us menacingly.

Another basilisk

“Well, guys this is where our support will stop, you should handle this yourselves, yo archangel, I have wanted to have a spar against you, would you give me the hon-“ and before he could finish a jab was sent toward him that sent him a few hundred meters rolling in the sand.

The Archangel didn’t even bother with him finishing his words as she jumped forward trying to beat the devil.

“Well, they sure are lively,” I said

“We have to become strong if we want to see Daiki…” she said with longing eyes.

A year would be a long time if one spent it alone... I hope Daiki is doing alright. We are coming to get you, man, just don’t lose hope.

Misaka just nodded her head, she seemed to be in deep thoughts this entire time…

The stone snake hissed menacingly at us before it charged.

The battle where our lives were dependent on just started, a battle for survival. And hope to gain power. Power enough to defy the divine.