Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 76

Chapter 76

“Do you even have room in your bags for loot?” Sift asked.

Hamma pointed at Ruwen.

“Of course,” Sift said with a knowing nod. “Our other hoarder.”

“It’s not hoarding,” Ruwen and Hamma said at the same time.

Ruwen turned toward Hamma and they both laughed.

“My bags are full though,” Hamma admitted to Ruwen, “so we’ll need you to carry our treasure.”

“This library is about to get picked clean,” Sift said.

Ruwen’s face remained hidden by the Ink Lord Wraps, and he carefully controlled his posture so he didn’t reveal his anxiety. Lylan could pick up on the smallest tell. The fact was his Void Band was full with the loot from the leprechaun and vampire battle, and he’d been forced to put a bunch of things into his Soul Vault, including those same leprechauns and vampires. He really hoped they didn’t come across anything chakra related. Those caused excruciating pain when placed inside his Soul so he’d need to explain his full Inventory which would only validate Sift’s stupid hoarding comments.

Rami stepped up next to Ruwen and spoke over their bond. You and Hamma really are borderline hoarders, but you have more Inventory than you think.

You mean the Val’dor Vault from my Saraph form? It seems wrong to throw junk into that small room.

No, I mean your other Void Band. The one you took from Valora’s severed arm.

Hell’s bells, Ruwen said. I totally forgot about that. I took it off when I went to talk with Big D at the Worker’s Lodge forever ago. I wasn’t even a god yet.

Ruwen casually pressed his right wrist to his left, summoning the Dark Portal from his Void Band, and he felt it wrap around his wrist.

Overlord do you remember how to use that Dark Portal? I just equipped it.

It’ll come back to me.

How’s our perimeter?

If that other group shows themselves, we’ll know immediately.

Everyone gathered near Ruwen, and Echo was the last to join.

“What happened at the end of that fight?” Ruwen asked. “You all reacted to something.”

Hamma blushed and immediately studied the end of her quarter staff for damage.

“Surge of memories,” Sift said. “All involving you.”

“Same,” Lylan added. “It was the time you launched me from your Void Band at that skeleton guy on top of the tower. That was such a rush.”

“I got you prancing around naked in the lava pits,” Echo said.

Ruwen choked. “What!”

Hamma laughed. “Oh, that makes me feel better. I thought I was the only one that got memories like that.”

Ruwen studied Hamma. Just like the previous time the unfortunate naked situation with Echo had come up, Hamma seemed completely unconcerned about it.

Rami frowned. “When did this happen?”

“It’s when I tapped my chakras to help rebuild our bond. The chakra energy kind of sprayed everything.”

“Sprayed everything?” Rami asked. “Is that the technical term.”

Ruwen waved his hands around. “There were all these threads connected to me that stretched outward. I couldn’t see what any of them connected to. That chakra energy kind of stuck to the thicker ones.”

“I thought that was because of me,” Rami whispered. “I need to talk with Uruziel.”

“What are you talking about?” Ruwen asked.

“Give it a minute, Uruziel is checking on something.”

“Fine,” Ruwen said, trying to hide his irritation. He glanced around the chamber. “Bodies are all gone, but no loot.”

“We must still be in combat,” Hamma replied. “Maybe something is hiding.” She glanced over at Lylan.

“On it,” Lylan said and then disappeared.

Without Harmony, Ruwen couldn’t tell if she’d cloaked herself somehow or if she’d Blinked away.

Uruziel materialized in a Minion next to Rami.

“You were right,” Uruziel told Rami. “I found them.”

“Found who?” Ruwen asked.

Rami turned to Ruwen. “Those threads you saw are the bonds you’ve created with others.”

“I don’t know that many people. There were thousands and thousands of them.”

Lyra spoke up. “You don’t need to meet someone to form a karmic bond with them.”

Hamma nodded. “Exactly right. That’s how deities harvest things like faith from their followers. People can form a bond with you from just hearing stories about your life or by spending time thinking about you.”

Ruwen looked down at his chest. “I don’t like that at all. Like at all. Can I get rid of them?”

Hamma shrugged. “Probably, but you should understand the consequences before doing something so drastic.”

“What did you find?” Ruwen asked Uruziel.

Uruziel nodded at the others. “Them. That chakra energy altered the karmic ties with your strongest bonds. It’s not a bond like you have with Rami, but the connection is far stronger than what existed before.”

“You said something about anchors,” Ruwen said.

“I just made that up. We could call them doors or portals or—”

Ruwen held up a hand, interrupting Uruziel. “Are you telling me I just created a bunch of opening into my mind?”

Uruziel shook her head. “That’s why I didn’t call them doors to begin with. It’s the wrong context. They are anchored to a small area and have no access to your mental resources or power.”

“Hold up,” Sift said. “Are you saying his mind latched onto me like some sort of brain-leech?”

“No,” Uruziel replied. “It’s more like the existing connection between you and Ruwen is strong enough now to support more than just karmic threads.”

“Support what?” Hamma asked.

“We’d need to experiment, but I think with some training, you might learn to project a mental version of yourself into Ruwen’s mind. You won’t be a part of it like the Narrators, or Overlord, or me, but I’m guessing it would allow you to communicate.”

“No way,” Ruwen said, and pointed at Sift. “I’m not letting crazy into my head.”

“I’m crazy? You’re the one with—”

Lylan appeared next to Sift, which made him jump and interrupted his response.

“Stop doing that!” Sift said.

Lylan grinned but then turned serious. “I think whatever we still need to kill is just inside the Destruction Realm. I’m not positive, but the shadows in here suddenly feel different to me.”

Ruwen focused on the shadows all around them and then used Harmony to explore them as well. He was about to drop through his own shadow when hundreds of horseshoes exploded upward from a large central shadow in the middle of the chamber. They flew at immense speed and were in lines, as if launched from something.

The horseshoes ended, replaced by a tidal wave of water that erupted like a geyser. A moment later, a jet of lava spiraled upward out of the shadow and through the water, creating a cloud of steam and filling the chamber with the strong scent of sulfur.

Something thrashed in the shadow and as the steam disappeared, the top of a head appeared. It looked metal and rippled in an odd fashion. Ruwen frowned as a familiar clicking reached him, and he realized the metal wasn’t a head, but hundreds of thumb-sized round mechanical bugs. They looked identical to the Eaters that crawled on the scoring mesh in bandball games.

Ruwen turned to the right as he sensed a pressure change, in a dense set of shadows forty feet away. Something or someone was about to exit that shadow. It appeared the approaching group had finally reached them.

Two intense beams of red light emerged from the first shadow and reflected off the mirrored surfaces of the Eaters.

Horseshoes, a tidal wave, lava, Eaters, and now, Crazors. It seemed impossible, but Ruwen could only think of one person who could produce all that.

What was Crew Chief Bliz doing here?

Three figures emerged from the shadow to the right, and all the pieces snapped into place. Ruwen cursed himself for forgetting such an important detail about someone he cared deeply about.

Kysandra was only visible for a moment, before she either dropped back through the shadow or used a Shade ability to disappear. Tremine held a Chaos orb in his right palm, and it encapsulated a grain sized piece of the Void. Bringing up the rear was Una, one of the four Champions of Uru he’d met and saved in the Spirit Realm.

Tremine was Uru’s Ink Lord, and he was here for the Conclave.