"Shit." Jaden watched dragon fire come straight at him like a flamethrower. "What do I do to defend against that?"

A memory flashed through his mind. Before his eyes, he saw his mother futilely defend against the sphinx's paw coming down. "There is no defense. And in the air like this, dodging it isn't even an option." His eyes trailed down to the spear in his hand. "Better than doing nothing, right?"

Jaden moved the spear over his head. He spun it. Faster. Faster! Faster! He yelled internally. His efforts pushed him down and out of the line of the fire. The heat radiating from the fire set him into a fierce sweating frenzy.

Sasha, your moment is up. Jaden complained as he crashed into the ground. Isa leaped towards him, furious he was still alive. She swiped with her legs, tail, and tried to bite him. He weaved through her strikes as best he could, jumping over and ducking under, just barely avoiding her flailing. His clothes quickly turned into torn rags and his blood dripped on the ground. Isa, you've grown since then. What do I do? I don't want to hurt you, but I can't allow this to continue either.

"Come now, if you don't fight back you're going to die eventually." Hemloc taunted, sitting in a recliner and sipping a drink with a miniature umbrella in it.

There is truth in his words. Damnit. Jaden looked upon Isa sadly. Jaden hefted his spear, spun it around, and threw it.

Hemloc was mid-drink when the spear broke his glass and pierced into his shoulder. He frowned and ignored the pain, "I wasn't finished with that!"

I need to work on my aim... but it's not bad considering I haven't trained with thrown weapons. Jaden thought to himself as he backed away from Isa, putting some distance between himself and her long forelegs.

Crack. Clunk clunk.

Jaden's eyes drifted to the direction of the sound. Hemloc had pulled the spear from his shoulder and snapped it in half, discarding the two pieces. "Sherisa, what are you waiting for? Eat him already."

Jaden watched as she gathered flame in her throat, Shit, I'd hoped she ran out of the fire. But, on second thought, does a dragon truly exhaust their breath? Jaden shook his head, More importantly... what to do here. I'm at a size and strength disadvantage... and I'd prefer not to use [Divine Void] any further. That recoil hurts.

Jaden bet on his speed. He pushed his mana into his [Heat resist(weak)] skill, spending a good piece of his pool to gain the protection from [Heat resist(immune)]. He circled Isa as she released her fire. He smiled that he was able to keep ahead of it and saw a valuable opportunity. He slowed down and stuck his hand into her breath. There was no scalding heat, but it still ignited. He smirked and quickly put the fire out.

Skill [Dragon Fire resist(Weak)] acquired.

The notification shocked him slightly, Dragon fire resist...

"Sherisa, seriously, stop playing with your food. I'm getting bored." Hemloc complained, holding a new drink.

Jaden pushed his mana into this new skill, activating [Dragon Fire resist(Advanced)]; any further and the drain on his mana pool would have been too great to sustain for long. He rushed Isa while keeping his feet on the ground so he could evade as necessary. Stepping deliberately into the tail end of her fiery breath, he slowly conditioned his passive skills into their better versions.

Sorry for this Isa... Jaden drew back and punched her jaw. She reeled back from the impact, but there was no roar of pain. I see. You are locked away quite deep within yourself. He quickly retreated as her forelegs swiped for him. Can I even render her unconscious as she is? I have to try.

Skill Heat resist(weak) improved to (Immune).

Skill Dragon Fire resist(Weak) improved to (Moderate).

Jaden felt the burden on his mana pool lessen as the passive portion of the skills grew. He cut the mana drain into Heat resist(immune) and pushed it instead to further increase his [Dragon Fire resist].

Isa reeled back and unleashed a widespread torrent of her dragon fire. Hemloc watched on, clearly bored. A smile graced his face when he saw a look of dumbstruck fear on Jaden's face. Isa controlled the spread into a more concentrated and direct line and blasted him as long as she had air to exhale. Jaden rushed forward through the fire grabbing her jaw, he clamped it shut, removing the main exit for her fire. Some spewed forth from her nostrils, but most of it went straight back into her own lungs. She coughed and sputtered completely from shock. He stared square into her blank eyes, his own black pupils swirling into a black hole. Unable to quickly find what he was looking for in the vast emptiness of her soul, he forced her unconscious. Her body slumped to the floor and he released her.

Hemloc frowned, "Enough nonsense already. I should be enjoying my new pet."

Jaden frowned in return. "So the manticore was talking about you. You think you're refined, but you're less than an animal."

Hemloc laughed, "In this world if you are strong enough to take what you want, why not?"

"I've heard enough." Jaden retorted and rushed the Liralau. A knuckle sandwich, followed with a right cross and ending with an upset punch in quick succession forced him to take a step back.

"You've got some strength, don't you? You could have a lot yourself if you just had the willingness to take it."

"Well, let's consider that option. In this city, I could kill all the guards, and take the families for labor and slaves and sell the rest off." Jaden stated. "Would that sit right with you?"

"Wouldn't bother me in the slightest, they're just pawns in my game." Hemloc shrugged, "You won't get the opportunity for that though."

Hemloc's body blurred and phased as he dropped his illusion, reverting to his true body. "Out of curiosity, are you the one who destroyed Othello?"

"If I am?" Jaden asked.

"The god will be pleased with me for killing you." Hemloc gave him a toothy dragonic grin as red and gold flames danced in his throat.

Do not get hit by that. Stop him from using it.

I'm open to suggestions on how you'd like me to carry that out. I am NOT about to get up in his face and clamp his jaw shut.

And why not? It worked on Isa.

Isa wasn't in control of her body, that was just a mindless husk. This one would tear me in half if I tried it.

The best course of action right now: Use Isa as a shield. Scanning target for weak points...

New feature? Let me guess Mother inspired that one too? Jaden dashed Isa's prone body and wormed his way under her.

Yes, worried about your condition with Void, she requested I prepare a map of you.

Will I ever be on par with her intelligence?

No.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

But I didn't...

Nevermind. Sarcasm is a foreign language to you.

I will learn sarcasm and you will regret it.

Jaden smirked as the temperature around him became unbearably hot. Seconds turned into minutes. Sasha, no resist for this heat?

Working on it. To you, it is just a matter of 'I have felt the bite from it, now I have a new resistance.' But you do not realize all the painstaking effort I put into making that resistance. A little 'thank you' would be nice, but nooo. All I get is 'hey, where is my new skill?' Ungrateful swine.

Oh.. right, sorry, thank you for all your hard work. Jaden stayed hidden beneath Isa. I don't want to nag or anything, but how long is this going to take?

I would like to see you create a skill. You would not understand, but I will try to put it in terms you can. This heat, and the fire it comes from. There is not a natural resistance for either. Even Isa that you are currently using as a shield will perish in this.

I need to do something about this. Jaden crawled out from under Isa's body. He gazed at the source of the heat. "That's familiar. A divine...? No... It's similar but not quite the same."

Something stirred within Jaden. He screamed in agony as pitch-black goop oozed out from every pore in his body. It created a thin, skin-tight layer around him. It gave off a feeling of discomfort and awkwardness, causing his skin to crawl in disgust.

"Are you still alive in there or did it take you over completely?" Hemloc's tone turned serious as he disrupted his 'true flame' with a frown. Encountering void here wasn't something he'd planned on, let alone a dense enough concentration to manifest itself physically.

"I'm still here," Jaden responded as normal, however, the void turned his voice raspy and guttural as it passed through.

"Put the void away and we'll talk this over." Hemloc took several steps back and reverted to his Liralau persona. His frown deepened when Jaden mechanically turned his back to him and approached Isa instead.

"Stop! You'll kill her if you let that touch her." Hemloc warned.

"I'm not exactly in control here, best I can manage is to slow myself down."

"You'd best figure out how to control it, and quickly." Hemloc's tone was full of worry. "If you don't, you'll become a catastrophe."

Sasha, I need you to find a way to bind and contain the void within me.

... Jaden. Stop asking for the impossible, Void is something that consumes divinity. At best I will be lucky to find a way to suppress it.

Then do it. More than Isa's life is at stake here.

You had better figure something out too, I am not going to have a quick solution.

Jaden closed his eyes and drove his consciousness within himself. He encountered a barren place, oversaturated with the smell of death and rot. Walking through the festering decay, ignoring the pungent aroma, he searched. This is the effect of the void? Where does it originate... He pressed on.

He came across a dim light in the darkness, drawing his attention immediately. Divinity, or what's left of mine. He rushed forward finding a ball of light chained, surrounded, and assaulted by shapeless and ugly creatures.

A weak, strained voice filled the air, "There's nothing you can do here, run. Run before they catch you."

"The strong oppressing the weak. Why is this a recurring theme no matter where I go?" Jaden asked in frustration, then turned his attention to the ball of light. "Hey, what is their weakness?"

"If I knew that, do you think I'd have been caught?"

"Yes. You're outnumbered."

"I just know they're attracted to me, but you also figured that out didn't you... since you used me as bait once."

"I'm sorry about that. What are they?"

"Cleansers. Destroyers. Devourers. They are the beginning of the end. They undo the work of the gods, presenting a clean slate for them to begin anew. They are void."

Jaden looked at the grotesque creatures, "That doesn't seem to be the case anymore."

"They've had a taste of divinity thanks to you. Now that is all they crave."

"Why haven't they eaten you?"

"They're trying. We have a... complicated relationship. [Divine Void]. That tied together two entities that should not be linked. Every time you invoke that skill, I lose my protection. And when you used me as bait, you forcefully removed that protection. I'm but a husk of a shell of my former self."

"Is there no way to repair this?"

"Why do you care now? When all hope is lost."

"Hope is never completely lost."

"Then you'd better stop yourself." the ball of light hit Jaden with a beam, expelling him from his mind.

Jaden opened his eyes, seeing his hand reaching for Isa's neck. Yes, you are void and beyond my comprehension for now. But I have gained some understanding of our relationship. His body stopped moving, the void membrane encapsulating his body vanished. Maybe I'm destined to become a monster. But it will not happen this day. Jaden backed away from Isa and turned his attention to Hemloc. Sasha, forget about containing the void. [Divine Void] is a container.

"You're a coward, aren't you?" Jaden asked, "Frozen in fear, or prepared to flee instead of acting on another's behalf."

"For starters, I know when I've got no chance of winning. I won't throw my life away pointlessly in defense of another when their fate won't change with or without my death."

Jaden looked at him in shock as he remembered his mother. Time and again she beat the odds, even when she had no chance for victory she still managed. "You're outclassed now, so I'll give you my demands, and you can go when you've completed them."

"Shall we discuss this over a drink?" Hemloc asked.

"This won't take long," Jaden stated flatly. "Release her from the contract and then get out of my sight before I change my mind."

"Well, the thing there is... only the god can release the contract now." Hemloc felt his fur stand on end as he spoke.

"You've got ten seconds to get the contract annulled. After eleven seconds your life is forfeit just to make sure you're not lying to me, and then I'll go take care of the god. One..."

"I am serious, I can't do it." Hemloc frowned as he attempted to communicate to the Liralau god.

"Three..."

"Four..."

"Five..."

"It's done." Hemloc wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Is it?" Jaden flipped Isa's right eye open. The blank look hadn't vanished. "Try again. Nine..."

Hemloc fearing for his life, dropped his illusion and took off flying. "I can't believe the god lied to me...bitch."

"Eleven." Hemloc craned his neck and sure enough, Jaden was standing on his back. "Normally, I'd have some reservations about killing anyone. But you... calling you scum is insulting scum."

"Please spare me!"

"And how many have you spared that begged for it? I don't want to imagine how you've taken advantage of that only to go back on your word. The strong take what they want, isn't that right?" Jaden's cold gaze pierced into his eyes. "I can't in good conscience let you live. The darkness in your soul is too much to bear. Be glad for a painless death."

Hemloc felt his soul leaving his body, drawn into the deep abyss of Jaden's gaze. Having lost control of his body, the mirage dragon crashed into the ground. A blink and oblivion welcomed him. His body disintegrated into nothing. Jaden felt the void within pulling him. "Hmm, craving divinity?"

Jaden waved his hand through the air, the void grew more agitated. Jaden inhaled sharply.

Divinity 40%(25%) Void 60%(75%)

"I'm not sure how I feel about that." Jaden couldn't argue that the feeling of death receding from his body was a welcome improvement, but having to kill for it...

A wretched scream pierced the silence. The Liralau god paced her throne room with agitated, fearful steps. "That's my second pet gone now. I don't want him to visit me just yet. I'll release the dragon from the contract, make him think Hemloc lied. A pity though, I need a new pet now."

She navigated through her system interface flipping through pages upon pages of contracts.

Release [Isa] from contract? [Yes]/[No]

Yes.

"Just wait you dirty foreign god. I'll have my vengeance." she slumped heavily upon her throne and pulled a glass vial from her extravagant robes. She peered at the light within. "I'll find a way to reincarnate you, Othello. And when I do..."