251 Chapter 209: New Species
The gate was an ominous purple with golden-etched engravings lining the baseline of the doors. Golden patterns, shaped in the form of runic formations, pulsed with a radiant white glow. A rainbow-like radiance seeped through the gates in the hinges that connected the gates to the pillars holding it upright.
The rainbow light was the brilliance of the bridge that was on the other side, unseen to the naked eye. In reality the gate was merely a Sixteenth-Rank "Runic illusion". Only the Gate Guardians know this. It's a form of magic that works on a being's knowledge to grant them access to what lies beyond the gate. It's a powerful magic that's completely unbreakable unless a seed of doubt arises which questions if the gate is even real.
Rumors can also influence and change one's perception of the gate. This kind of magic is considered one of the most powerful variants of the arcane.
Why is this? Simple: create a powerful spell but keep it a secret from outside forces and it will become the most unstoppable force, defying all common sense people know about magic. The gods forced the Progenitor to create this Runic Illusion spell for them.
If someone very knowledgeable about runes and all ranks of magic were to stand in front of the gate then they would know that the runes are fake, basically granting them access through the gate (they could just walk through). The runes are randomized by the Sixteenth-Rank illusion that was cast to create the gate. Even demigods can't destroy the gate even at full power.
It has unlimited durability unless you're the aforementioned genius who somehow has knowledge that rivals The Progenitor itself.
In any case, that's how Yorm has been able to protect this realm for thousands of years. You can't exactly call the things on the other side intelligent so why would you expect them to have the ability to doubt something not actually being what it seems?
'The human boy's presence vanished just now.' Yorm looked in the direction of her house, 'I wonder what he wanted from the girls for him to take that long to leave. Don't tell me…'
She had only seen snippets of his memories but some of them had a lot of women in them who he seemed intimate with. Maybe he took a liking to the recruits?
'Does that mean Vatria succeeded in the ritual? She seemed quite confident before I left the house.'
Vatria had asked Yorm if she could perform said ritual in her home, to which she agreed on the condition that they "clean up" afterwards. It would be dangerous to let them take Arnold to their tribe or the human villages since other demigods or angels could be prowling around nearby. The emergence of the Blight Things caused quite a buzz throughout the realm from what the fairies told Yorm. Patrols and security will definitely be increased. Yorm can also expect more recruits to volunteer to help her like Vatria and the others.
Yorm suddenly detected someone's presence at the foot of her stronghold.
She quickly teleported to where the presence was located.
"Gederick?" she lowered her weapon when she saw her old friend.
"I wanted to come bid you farewell." He turned around to face her.
Yorm harrumphed, "You didn't do that the last time we saw each other, which was almost two centuries ago."
That was around the time he had been exiled.
"Forgive me," Gederick averted his eyes, "I… I was not in the right state of mind at the time."
"It's fine. What I'm angry about is how the two of us met up again. You stormed into my home in a fit of anger. Asking how I've been these last two centuries would've been nice."
"…." Gederick leaned against the wall silently.
"Well, let's forget about it. It's not like you'll stay any longer to hear about what I've done after all this time. What will you do now? Will you go back to the empire and offer your services as a soldier or perhaps a knight to a new lord?"
"I will not bow down only to be granted such a low-ranking position."
"I know. Regardless of how you feel, things have changed. The kind of position you hold is determined by your leadership abilities, reputation and," she emphasized "and", "—combat abilities."
"Does my past reputation mean nothing to the present-day council of gods? My soldiers followed me for my strength. Each of them chose amongst themselves who will lead the armies under my banner."
"Unfortunately, you are not invaluable anymore. There are others—even if they are few in number—much stronger than you who hold the same might and number of soldiers you had centuries ago. They achieved far less than you have in the thousands of years that you ruled the battlefield but they are perceived in a better light by the people than you are, Gederick. The divine race has been restored and warriors aren't in decline anymore."
"…What changed, Yorm? Why did the greatest general become a mere soldier in such a short span of time?"
Yorm closed her eyes, "We faced countless wars, buried millions of pureblood demigods, lost allies who once fought alongside us in war… The population of pureblooded demigods was in decline, all because we were too stubborn to allow ourselves to spread our genes to other races—especially humans. Things changed ever since it was discovered that copulating with humans wouldn't cause us to lose that which makes us demigods. We are a homogenous race no more. If the Valkyries could do it then so can the demigods."
Valkyries had been copulating with humans for hundreds of years and have never lost their potential to become gifted warriors, even at the expense of their demigod blood and legacy (which had grown thin since the first half-blood demigod had been born into their race.)
That half-blood demigod was still alive today and leading the demigods into battle.
He is also now engaged to the High Valkyrie's heir.
"All of the suffering could've been avoided if the Dark Forces keeping our realm separated from the Between Realm, wasn't weakened," she spoke with a sorrowful gaze that slowly panned over to the setting sun in the distance, "It happened shortly after it was revealed that Aedri had made contact with the Monarch Watcher years before the Demon Human War took place in the Mortal Realm. Something took advantage of her absence to weaken the magic between the realms. As none of us possess the kind of power she is capable of, we couldn't stop the plague from spreading throughout the lands, weakening the protective barriers that divide our worlds from the clouds of the Dark Forces."
"Could it have been the Progenitor?"
"I'm not sure. If so, then the Progenitor must be capable of communicating with its vessels that are spread throughout the Nine Realms and had managed to grant it the power to weaken the Dark Forces."
Gederick subconsciously tried to stroke his beard (which wasn't there anymore in his youthful form) before folding his arms instead, "Have the gods questioned the Progenitor regarding this?"
"No, they're keeping an eye on It instead. It could try something similar in the future. We'll be able to stop whatever's coming since we now have a primary suspect."
Yorm doubts that the Progenitor is responsible for what happened. Its entire being is spread in 17 fragments across a prison world, which means that it's too weak to plan something like that on its own. It might've had help, like she theorized.
"Let's talk about something else: What did Arnold and the others encounter in that forest?"
"They didn't tell you?"
"They couldn't articulate what they saw. I can't draw a conclusion to what invaded my world if all I hear is that it had the body of a slime but is shaped like a humanoid."
"Hoho, yes that does indeed sound confusing," he wet his lips before continuing with a dark shadow over his face, "They didn't encounter a mere humanoid slime. They encountered a new species of Starkin."
A chill went through Yorm's body, "…You're saying the gargantuan variants aren't the only ones out there?"
Gederick nodded, "I've faced their kind several times in the past. I've never seen one quite like that. Even with my divinity attacking the cells within its body, it could still somehow regenerate pieces of its body which wasn't affected by divinity but still scattered throughout the area. If I removed the divinity from its body then there's no doubt it would've been back to full health in mere seconds." With a grim expression, he said in a low tone, "They are evolving."
"An enemy that can regenerate in a blink of an eye would be troublesome to those who are incapable of using divinity. Not even the giant variants have that level of regeneration."
Yorm was one such person. Or more like she didn't have divine-oriented skills but could use divinity to heal or bless (buff) others. Her abilities focused more on magical prowess and physical strength or both in some instances.
"Indeed. If a horde of those entities were to show up here then even the Valkyries would be wiped out. It's best if the empire sends angels to patrol these lands. Archangels too if they must."
"How can we even prevent them from coming here…? I've set up countless measures against interdimensional travel. The only phenomena that can bypass my countermeasures are natural teleportation phenomena like dungeon storms and space pockets. The chances of them showing up in droves with those methods is close to zero."
"I have a hunch about something but it needs some investigating before I can draw a final conclusion."
"And that would be…?" Yorm eagerly looked at him to reveal his findings.
Gederick's mouth moved. With each word coming out of his mouth, Yorm's eyes grew even wider.
"…Such a thing could prove disastrous for all the realms… The losses that could result from this will be astronomical. We must act before something happens that will lead to yet another Realm War."
A war close in scale to the wars that occurred after the Dark Forces were weakened has to be avoided at all costs.
"What will you do then?"
"Me? You aren't joining the fight?"
"I am not at full strength yet. Until then I shall roam the realms in search of strong warriors to become even stronger. I do not want to become a casualty if a Realm War were to occur."
She could understand his reasoning. He wanted to go into the fight at his fullest potential. Prime Gederick from his glory days was already on par with the most of the warrior gods in strength. He could exceed that level of strength and reach his "level cap" if given enough time. Would he then attain the godhood which he was stripped of centuries ago? The godhood that stood above the realm of demigods but below that of gods?
Gederick looked at Yorm with a meaningful gaze.
Seeing that, Yorm lowered her head and smiled thinly, "I understand… How can I ask you to lend your strength to fight for the very gods who exiled you. I will make sure to inform the council of what you found out."
Gederick merely nodded.
Yorm then continued, "Where will you go now?"
"I do not have a destination in mind. I can't bear the sight of the castle where I kept myself captive for decades, let alone set foot in it."
"So, you'll become a vagabond then?"
"Of sorts, yes… Unlike a vagabond who has no goals in life, I will seek out the strong and challenge them to the death. You shall only see me again once I have attained my true strength."
Yorm wanted to tell Gederick "Why don't you stay a little longer? I can make some of that ale you like so much" but she couldn't. Both of them have their duties.
Gederick sought strength and to redeem himself.
Yorm had to protect Ofore as it is the last line of defense between the Between Realm and the Divine Realm.
Don't go, she wanted to shout. She wanted to tell him to stay.
"I'm so lonely" echoed a voice deep within.
"I want to be free of this duty" another said.
"I want to experience freedom" yet another whisper. This voice yearned the hardest and sounded the loudest.
Forcing those feelings down, Yorm cracked a gentle smile at Gederick.
"I hope we see each other again in the future."
"Mm. Let us hope it is not the far future. A threat looms so I cannot waste a single second in my training." Gederick summoned his spear, "I shall be off now."
With a final nod, Gederick vanished after a rainbow light embraced him.
Yorm, now left to her lonesome again, looked up at the Realm Gate with sad eyes as the life she could've had flashed past her mind.
A greater threat looms yet she still finds herself daydreaming. What else is there to do? Who else is there to talk to? There is no one here but her.
Of course, there are little fairies flying all around the stronghold but they're not intelligent beings like humans. They don't understand emotions like humans do so a heart-to-heart conversation would be impossible.
"I wish I was born a human," she looked down at her hands, "No responsibilities to the divine realm. A simple creature that won't need to confront calamities or worry herself over a Realm War that can wreak havoc on worlds. I desire a weak body that will die of old age, a body that will be vulnerable to disease..."
If a day may come where the Between Realms would no longer be a threat, she'd gladly accept her wish to become a mortal--wherever it may come from.
