Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The Throat vault required a longer journey. Ruwen's map showed it resting beneath the Caribbean Sea, somewhere off the coast of Jamaica. The Infernal Realm had used this planet for thousands of years and he had a journal containing gate runes for many of their sites. It had come from Echo’s mom, and he wondered how Echo was doing with her Sijun Ash.

Without Rami here, Ruwen couldn’t check the journal easily. He had a mechanism to search for the book in his memory but he hadn’t used it in a while. Even if he did find it, he’d have to figure out which ones might help getting around on this planet. He had a better idea anyway. His map stored any gate runes that he’d seen, including the ones he’d glimpsed in the journal.

Ruwen expanded his map until Jamaica filled his vision. Then he quickly shifted his view scanning the display for any gate runes. He found a set right away off the coast of a country called Cuba. With a single thought he created a soul ring with the five runes down the center and stepped through.

Cold water and darkness greeted Ruwen and Survey confirmed what he already knew—he was a hundred feet underwater. Stone Echo and Sixth Sense painted Survey with his surroundings a moment later. He stood in the center of a ruined city.

Fallen stone pillars marked the Throat vault’s location and it took Ruwen a few seconds to find the opening that led deeper into the seafloor.

On the surface above Ruwen detected multiple beings. None of them had entered the water and they moved casually. They obviously thought they had plenty of time since he’d just been seen in the Andes mountains. It also meant the tracking magic in the debuff didn’t handle significant changes in location very well. He’d use that to his advantage.

Ruwen used his Divine Domain to speed through the water, and Survey coated all the surfaces before him despite the complete darkness. Twenty seconds later he entered a chamber lit with pale blue light.

A ten-foot cluster of gems floated in the chamber's center. Ruwen knew it included the Lapis Lazuli of Truth because his Throat chakra vibrated like a struck tuning fork. The debuff still hadn’t found him and to keep his advantage he decided against finding his gem right now. He could do that later and lose nothing by the short delay.

With a swipe, Ruwen claimed the entire formation with his Void Band. Since that triggered the timer for the sleeping Guardian, he immediately created and used a portal to the moon volcano. The water on the Scarecrow Aspect instantly froze from the cold only to turn into steam from the magically agitated lava bubbling around him. The water vapor froze again and the cycle repeated.

Five down, three to go.

The Third Eye vault lay in the Canadian Arctic, which Ruwen could see from his current elevation. He focused on the top of the planet and used the Architect Role to retrieve a set of gate runes that would transport him into the general area.

Ruwen appeared fifty feet under the surface, once again in water and surrounded by darkness. He Blinked to the surface and found the air colder than the frigid water. It would have killed an unprotected human in minutes.

Endless ice stretched in every direction, broken only by pressure ridges where massive sheets had collided and thrust upward into jagged barriers. Howling wind and the crack of shifting ice combined with the isolation to create a very unwelcoming place.

A minute later Ruwen arrived at a mound of snow the size of a hill. He stopped a hundred feet away and Harmony detected hundreds of leprechauns inside ready to defend the geode Six Sense and Stone Echo detected. The tracking debuff still hadn’t located him, so he considered his options.

Ruwen didn’t want to fight. He just wanted to grab the cluster of amethysts and leave. An idea occurred to him, and he removed a box from his Inventory. His favorite bartender Bliz had given it to him after they’d successfully repulsed the attack on New Eiru. That felt like a lifetime ago.

Opening the box Ruwen studied the seven differently shaped crystals that Sift had called Crazors. Amethysts were durable and would certainly survive a brief exposure to concentrated light, which is exactly what the crystals in his hand focused.

Ruwen didn’t know if his idea would work, but he wanted to attempt it. If it did, it would be epic, and if not, he would just fight.

Ruwen removed the smallest diameter crystal from the box. He wanted a tight beam, not a broad cone. Gripping it in his right hand he carefully aimed at the mound using Survey to aim. He activated his level five Glow in his palm which created a tiny sun that damaged his eyes every time he glanced at it.

The light from Glow filled the Crazor which concentrated it further and focused it into a searing thread of death. Ruwen drew a small circle in the air, and with his Demigod hearing, detected the sizzling sound of the vaporizing ice.

Dismissing Glow, Ruwen reached out with his left hand and mentally latched onto the cylinder he’d just carved out of the mound. Then he cast an enhanced version of Retrieve.

The first time Ruwen had cast that spell, he’d been laying in the extra bed in Sift’s room deep inside the Black Pyramid. He’d almost killed himself that night, and today he’d replicate that experience.

Retrieve latched onto the ice cylinder and Ruwen yanked it toward him. The plug of ice shot toward him the force shattering the ice almost immediately. Instead of a nice tube, millions of ice shards filled the air.

As the icicle daggers struck harmlessly against the Scarecrow Aspect, Ruwen cast Retrieve again, this time with far less force.

A twenty-foot violet egg flew out of the exit Ruwen had just created. He cradled the amethyst geode with Harmony when it appeared, providing support against the force of the air. He created a soul portal behind himself, snatched the geode with his Void Band, and stepped backward, disappearing from the arctic circle. The whole thing had only taken a second.

Six down, two to go.

Ruwen studied the Earth from the slopes of the moon’s active volcano. The purple marker for the Crown chakra vault sat among the Himalayan mountain range. The white marker for the Divine vault remained invisible, which concerned him.

Ruwen used a soul portal and appeared high above the snow-covered peaks. The thin air and bitter cold didn’t feel much different than the moon he’d just left. He descended toward the purple marker, pushing his Perception to its limits.

Stone Echo and Sixth Sense revealed a massive underground complex carved inside one of the mountains. Chambers and tunnels spread through the rock like a vast ant colony. At the center sat a large room where the purple marker pulsed.

Stone Echo provided the exact distance, and since Ruwen didn’t want to waste any time, he used a combination of Blink and his dimensional warping knowledge to just barely enter the cavern. He found a cavern filled with emerald light.

The throne room stretched hundreds of feet in every direction. Pillars of green crystal supported a ceiling that disappeared above Ruwen. At the room's center, an enormous throne made of emeralds rose fifty feet into the air. Green light poured from every facet, illuminating the room like a green sun.

On the throne sat what could only be the Leprechaun King.

Unlike the desiccated scouts Ruwen had fought, this creature stood eight feet tall and radiated health and power. His skin gleamed like polished jade, and robes of living moss covered his frame. A crown of twisted branches and glowing jewels sat on his head. The king had embedded a handful of gems directly into his skin and they made a line down the center of his head and torso.

"Pumpkin Spice," the King said, his voice echoing through the chamber. "The blood-drinker arrives at last."

The King hadn’t looked in Ruwen’s direction, but the tracking debuff probably made that unnecessary. The King knew exactly where Ruwen hovered.

Thousands of leprechauns materialized out of the pillars. These looked different from the scouts—healthier, larger, and armed with weapons that hummed with energy. Green runes covered their skin like tattoos.

The King spoke again. "You have stolen our sacred vaults and murdered my people. Finally, you’ve arrived to face the consequences of your foolishness."

A deep rumble shook the mountain, and Ruwen's enhanced hearing caught the grinding sound of stone on stone coming from every direction.

"Your presence here has hastened the Guardian arrival," the King continued. "Soon you will face the might of both—"

The King’s words cut off as the quaking turned violent.

The white marker appeared on Ruwen's map, not far from his current location, and he understood why the Divine vault had been so hard to locate.

The guardian had it.