Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 65

Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 65

Chapter 65

“Hell’s Bells?” Ruwen asked.

Overlord’s helmet disappeared to reveal a grin and gleaming eyes. “A modified Formation K-1. We got the idea from the fight earlier. I never thought we’d get to try it so quickly.”

The helmet reappeared as Overlord turned back to the fighting and took control of the battlefield.

Sivart leaped into the air and a golden dragon formed under him. Twelve of the six-winged golden Grove Guardians from Purgatory appeared and followed Sivart into the sky. Five more guardians appeared and surrounded Uruziel as she strode forward onto the battlefield.

Thousands of Warrior Minions materialized, forming a ring around the crater and ensuring nobody left. Hundreds of Fallen Hero Minions appeared, each controlling ten Warriors and providing Overlord with an immense amount of tactical flexibility.

The air cracked as Launch Minions catapulted Sentry Minions into the sky. As each Launch Minion finished with their deployment of the airborne scouts their catapult arm morphed into a massive bolt as they became Siege Minions.

The vehicles hovered a foot off the ground and their bolts rotated to offer support to the Warrior Minions ringing the crater. More cracks erupted as the Siege Minions released their massive bolts which arced through the air and landed in clumps of leprechauns and vampires before exploding violently.

The clones across the battlefield disappeared only to reappear around the rift between the Material and Creation Realms. The Angelic Field Guardians immediately took control of the area and prevented any of the fae from approaching the rift.

In seconds, Overlord had taken control of the ground, Sivart and the Guardians had herded the winged fae into a giant clump, and Uruziel moved across the battlefield, quickly intimidating anyone dumb enough to offer resistance.

“It’s mostly the same as before,” Overlord admitted, “but we wanted a new name since the Grove Guardians wanted to help.”

“It’s overwhelming in a very impressive way,” Ruwen replied. “It’s scary all that can happen so fast.”

“We can’t risk losing any loot.”

Ruwen studied Overlord, trying to determine if the comment was meant sarcastically. Between the helmet hiding Overlord’s face and him knowing Ruwen better than probably anyone else, Ruwen couldn’t tell.

A red sixty appeared in Ruwen’s vision, and a second later it flashed and became fifty-nine. He immediately activated Last Breath but instead of the world freezing the countdown ticked to fifty-eight and a Notification filled his vision.

Warning: Time dilation, dimensional manipulation, and Realm modification are prohibited in final minute.

“What’s wrong?” Overlord asked.

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“I think I triggered some kind of loot countdown. Oh no, what if it all disappears at zero?”

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“You better hurry up then.”

Ruwen’s glanced at his Inventory and found the problem immediately. Many of the cards didn’t stack.

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Earlier, Ruwen had stuck one of the chakra related items in his Soul Vault which had been incredibly unpleasant.

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If Ruwen’s understanding of the different magics was correct he didn’t think his Soul Vault would react that way with items from the Creation Realm.

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So placing the cards and other Creation Realm related loot into his Soul Vault should be fine until he cleaned out his Void Band.

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Sift spoke in Party Chat. Does anyone else see numbers they can’t dismiss?

Ruwen froze.

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You have the timer, too? Ruwen asked.

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I thought that was Sift’s Spiced Ale, Hamma said.

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Hamma continued. But I just cleansed the alcohol debuffs, and the numbers are still here.

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Ruwen, check your log, Rami said.

Ruwen pulled up his System log and it turned out the timer wasn’t related to the loot.

Conclave Summoning Imminent!

Opening Ceremony commences in 43 seconds.

Group modifications, as detailed in emergency instructions, are restricted, and will be locked in 13 seconds in preparation for final passage.

Ink Lord party: 6 of 200 slots activated.

The message repeated, but this time only twelve seconds remained.

Ruwen tried to disband the party, but it didn’t work. He read the Notification.

Group modifications, as detailed in emergency instructions, are restricted. Ink Lord party disbandment is prohibited in final minute of passage. Window for individual add and drop closes in 10 seconds.

Another timer appeared next to the first and they both had labels now.

Opening Ceremony: 40 seconds

Group Modifications: 10 seconds

Everyone leave the party! Ruwen yelled in Chat.

Why? Rami demanded and then quickly added. I have a second timer.

Opening Ceremony: 38 seconds

Group Modifications: 8 seconds

What’s going on? Hamma asked.

Ruwen tried to hide the worry in his voice. The Conclave is starting! Leave the group! I don’t know what will happen!

Opening Ceremony: 36 seconds

Group Modifications: 6 seconds

Leave! Ruwen pleaded. Leave!

Sift, Echo said, tell Ash I’ll check on him later.

Opening Ceremony: 34 seconds

Group Modifications: 4 seconds

Roger, Sift responded.

Who’s Roger? Lylan asked.

Opening Ceremony: 33 seconds

Group Modifications: 3 seconds

Sift didn’t respond, presumably because he was relaying Echo’s message to Ash. Ruwen’s stomach turned as he realized his friends had no plans to let him face the Conclave alone.

Opening Ceremony: 32 seconds

Group Modifications: 2 seconds

You guys are so dumb, Ruwen said.

Opening Ceremony: 31 seconds

Group Modifications: 1 seconds

We learned from the best, Hamma replied.

The group timer disappeared, and the Conclave timer lost its label, leaving just the large red numbers and their relentless countdown.

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Who’s Roger? Lylan asked again.

Oh, Sift said, that’s something Ash taught me. He says “Roger” for yes. I like it. “Roger, roger.”

Stop that, Lylan said.

10-4, Sift replied.

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I’m going to stab you in twenty-five seconds, Lylan said, without any trace of humor.

Ruwen laughed out loud. He hated that his friends had gotten sucked into the Conclave. It seemed he’d missed some emergency instructions in the past few days and that didn’t bode well for what they’d find there. Still, part of him was thrilled to have them along. He’d really missed them.

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Ruwen turned to Overlord. “You get all that?”

Overlord dismissed his armor and gave Ruwen a wry smile. “I haven’t been in a real library since my birthday.”

Ruwen laughed again. He certainly hoped they wouldn’t find anything as traumatic as they’d experienced in Malth. The Ink Lord’s traps there had been painful, but, as Overlord pointed out, it had given birth to him. And that had turned out all right.

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“Okay,” Ruwen said, “summon the troops. I’m going to do this the old-fashioned way.”

Ruwen jumped into the air and used his Divine Domain to hover a hundred feet over the battle. In a blink all the Minions, Clones, and Guardian’s disappeared leaving the leprechauns, zombies, vampires, and the flying fae momentarily frozen in shock.

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One of the positives that had come from battling the Zealot was Ruwen’s level four Soul. He had broken his Soul by carrying an entire city and its inhabitants in his Soul Vault. Even though it had only been for a second or two, it had done irreparable damage.

Ruwen had used the Zealot’s attack and the highly purified Soul Power it contained, to mend and then improve his own Soul. The difference between then and now wasn’t even comparable.

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Soul Power blasted outward from Ruwen, saturating the area in a fraction of a second. He could feel every piece of his loot along with all the combatants.

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Ruwen pulled all his loot into his Soul Vault, and just as he figured, it hadn’t harmed him at all. Which made him wonder about the limits of his power.

Blinking in front of the largest vampire, Ruwen gave him a friend wave. “Hi.”

The vampire lord with eyes like silver coins glared at Ruwen. "Pumpkin Spice," the creature hissed, its fangs dripping with green leprechaun blood. "This bounty belongs to the Blood Courts."

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Ruwen touched the vampire’s shoulder before the creature could react. “Tell me if this hurts.”

“I am a Lord of—”

Then Ruwen pulled the vampire into his Soul Vault, cutting him off in mid-sentence.

Uruziel, do you see anything weird with my Soul?

No.

Ruwen carefully searched for any discomfort, but he felt nothing.

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Ruwen removed the vampire from his Soul Vault. “…the Blood Courts. How dare you—”

The vampire hadn’t even known he’d been stuck in Soul storage. He’d just continued his sentence when he’d returned. It didn’t appear it affected him at all.

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Ruwen considered the risks and decided the benefits outweighed the danger.

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“How do you feel about libraries?” Ruwen asked the vampire lord.

1

Ruwen pulled every leprechaun, zombie, vampire, and flying fae into his Soul Vault.

0

Ruwen’s world turned white.