Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Shocked silence followed Uruziel’s statement.

Uruziel frowned. “Well maybe not alive, alive. But we’re definitely experiencing the outside world directly now. Your turn, Sivart.”

Uruziel returned to her Risen Queen Minion and Sivart appeared wearing clothes not much different than Overlord. He pulled a sword from the sheath at his waist and swung it as his Minion. The weapon passed through the Minion without damaging it.

Sheathing the sword, Sivart closed his eyes for five seconds, arms extended outward from his sides. In a blink he returned to his Minion.

“The sensations are odd and overwhelming,” Sivart said simply.

“It’s like we’re wraiths,” Overlord said. “We just pass through things.”

“I noticed,” Ruin responded. “I guess that makes sense. You’re made from mental stuff which works out here in this mental field. To interact with the real world you need a container like the Minions.”

Overlord couldn’t hide his disappointment and even Uruziel’s shoulders slumped a bit.

“What’s going on?” Ruin asked.

Overlord shifted his weight between his feet, his discomfort obvious. Uruziel remained silent as well.

“Knowledge waters the seed of discontent,” Sivart said softly.

“You’re unhappy?” Ruin asked a little confused.

Sivart shook his head. “Not exactly. We are happy and grateful. You gave us life. Gave us everything. Including the desire for understanding in all its forms.”

Ruin studied Sivart. The man reminded him of Padda and very occasionally Sift in that he had a gift for distilling truths down to a handful of words. That required a deep understanding that Ruin knew would come with experience. It was another reminder of how people viewed the same things so differently. Time spent seeing the world as Gunder did and discussions with Hamma had vastly increased his emotional intelligence. He was humble enough to know that despite his gains, he still lacked the ability to detect the depth and complexity some words contained.

Ruin turned to Overlord. “You know how I think. Help me.”

Overlord shook his head, but just slightly, as if an internal argument had spilled over and revealed itself. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Uruziel whispered to herself.

Overlord glanced at Uruziel and then locked eyes with Ruin. “You have literally given us everything. We are deities here.” Overlord frowned and stared into the sky as if looking for the words to continue. Eventually he found them. “I’m part of you, but I see the outside world and I want to experience it by myself. Apart from the cradle of your mind.”

Ruin tried to keep his voice level despite the frustration that surged within him. “There are two dead gods in the Shattered Sun and I offered them to you and Uruziel. The God Stone Fractal and Blapy are working on would work for you right now since you don’t have a soul, making revival a real possibility. You refused.”

“I know,” Overlord replied rubbing his face with his hands. “Even if we could make those bodies work with Uruziel’s Soul based energy, they’d never feel right. It would be like driving a used wagon around.” Overlord paused for three seconds before meeting Ruin’s eyes again. “Plus, what about Sivart?”

Sivart started to protest but Overlord placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and Sivart’s response died.

Ruin knew from experience how difficult discussing his feelings was. Doing it in front of people you cared about only made it worse.

“Thanks, brother,” Ruin said. “I think I understand. You’re worried about the wear and tear on those bodies. Listen, they’d come with a warranty. Parts and labor included for three centuries. Free wheel rotation, so to speak, every decade on the house. With the new models arriving, we need to move these wagons. Let me talk to my manager and see if we can lower the cost so you can take that wagon home today.”

Overlord’s expression turned horrified. “No, that’s not—” He stopped suddenly and grinned. “Ah, deflection. Our favorite. Well done.”

Ruin returned the grin. “Glad we’re still on the same page after all this time. I got you.”

Uruziel looked confused and a little worried. She turned to Overlord. “Wait, I’m not sure he—” She stopped speaking when Overlord turned toward her.

Overlord stood up straight, and he looked like his old self. Almost carefree. It reminded Ruin of their time on the floating shed around the star Shiny.

Leaning close to Uruziel, Overlord spoke in a loud whisper. “When he gets back from talking to his manager, we walk away no matter what he offers. I’m sure we can get the warranty up to five centuries.”

Overlord leaned back and met Uruziel’s eyes, his face earnest.

Uruziel’s confusion was clear. “What?” She whispered.

Sivart clapped his hands. “Glad we got that out of the way. Let’s go finish that fight. The dungeon boss is dead, but a few thousand creatures remain.”

Ruin released Last Breath and his friends returned to their Minions to continue the fight.

Before Ruin could move a Notification filled his vision.

Mental Overlay Detected!

Your mental boundary overlaps with dimensional reality. Domain condensing options available but limited by Harmonic level.

Reflection (Default): Controlled mindscape extension with limited dimensional integration. Mental entities remain intangible but gain environmental context.

Nascent (Locked): Partially solidified domain with lower dimensional integration allowing rudimentary physical forms.

Emergent (Locked): Structured domain intersecting mid-level dimensional mesh capable of basic spiritual support.

Proto (Locked): Complete dimensional framework with common spiritual support.

Partial (Locked): Femite integration with full spiritual support.

Complete (Locked): Integrated higher and lower Realms with advanced spiritual support.

Ruin dismissed the Notification since the only option available was the default choice. Before he had a chance to process what he’d read, a new Notification appeared.

Warning!

Summoning a Mind Tower or Body Tower in this mental overlay violates the “Transcendental Pact of Segregated Manifestation.” Which specifically prohibits the formation of cognitive and corporeal towers beyond the boundaries of the Material Realm.

Ruin reread the Notification three times. The information implied that he had the ability to create the Mind and Body Meridian Towers in the Material Realm just like he’d done with the five Towers here in the Destruction Realm.

Since the Destruction Realm had five Towers, Ruin had guessed that the Creation Realm would too. He’d wondered about the remaining two Towers and what they might be. Now he had his answer.

Hundreds of questions fought for attention. Did that mean the Mind and Body Towers would contain hardening runes for their respective Meridians? Did their current universe have these two towers somewhere already? Ruin always missed Rami, but he especially felt her absence now.

Even if those two Towers existed in the Material Realm right now, based on Ruin’s experience with the five Towers here, he could manifest another set and those would connect themselves to the original ones. If they had a similar root system he could possibly use them to travel to those original Towers.

Ruin kept his thoughts away from manifesting anything, not wanting to discover what happened to those who violated that Pact. He dismissed the warning and more appeared.

Warning!

Mental constructs detected in current overlay. Harmonic level not sufficient for spiritual actualization.

Current Harmonic Level: 0

Harmonic Level 2 required for Basic Spiritual Network (Center, Twelve Meridians, and Pathways).

Warning!

Reflection Domain lacks sufficient integration to support spiritual networks.

Warning!

No Mind Tower detected!

Warning!

No Body Tower detected!

All the warnings overwhelmed Ruin. Each provided a piece of the puzzle he desperately wanted to understand, but they also generated countless questions with no answers. One thing stood out, however, with the right levels and knowledge, he could materialize different kinds of spiritual networks.

Did that only work on things Ruin created like Minions? Or could he create networks in entities like Overlord? Ruin needed to gain Harmonic knowledge for those answers.

The Harmonic level of zero surprised Ruin. He had three quests that related directly to the Harmonic faction and possible access to their knowledge.  The first was the Maker quest which the current System had given him because he’d triggered some mental threshold. Its reward was a dumb trip to see the master System in the Outerverse though and wouldn’t help him now.

Ruin had completed two steps in the Path of the Harmonic quest line and he’d assumed that made him a level two Harmonic. If he interpreted the warnings correctly, completing steps in this quest didn’t translate into levels at all. He glanced at the current quest to see if it provided any answers.

Name: Path of the Harmonic

Description: The Verses bow to your music, Harmonic. Dissonance transformed into harmony—peace into conflict—a sacred duty resonates within the symphony of existence, balanced between sound and silence. Commitment a bow—insight an arrow—purpose a crescendo of strength.

Step: 3 of Unknown

Step Description: Resonate with an area at least 20 miles in diameter (Complete) and exert a Harmonic force equivalent to a Tier 1 Level 4 Foundation.

Reward (Step 3):  One item from the Harmonic Conductor Armor Set

Ruin suppressed his excitement about Harmonic related armor. He needed to regain his ability to wield Harmony if he wanted to advance this quest. Even if he did make progress on it, the reward wouldn’t provide any answers.

The last quest had far more promise.

Name: Forbidden Unity

Description: The Sentinel, by activating this quest, validates my hope that a different tomorrow remains possible. My importance to the Prime will not shield me from the heresy I have committed, nor will my age provide sympathetic mercy. Even so, I embrace the risk; after all, purpose is a crescendo of strength, and I desire to topple “truth” itself.

Step: 1 of 3

Step Description: The towering trees of faith and enlightenment, their roots deep in the foundations of existence and watered with Harmonic balance, spread their canopies, starving the Truth hidden in the shade of their boughs. Find the smothered notes, discover a different harmony, and the path to destroy the “truth.”

Reward (Step 1): Heritage Manual

Reward: (Final) Hate, contempt, and violence from the expanding Verses.

Reward: (Final) Assuming my survival in this foolish scheme, a drink on me.

Ruin understood this quest far better than when he’d first received it after transitioning from Peak Diamond to Divine Angel. The most important being that the Outerverse deity Aeonrial had created this quest and it related to the fact he’d populated this Universe with people and creatures that contained all the Outerverse factions spiritual networks.

While the final rewards of contempt and a drink were the dumbest Ruin had ever encountered in a quest line the reward for completing step one held great promise. It would give him a Heritage Manual.

Now that Ruin understood blood magic better he knew Heritages related to a concept that limited the type of gems that could go into an Array within his blood. But he sincerely doubted Aeonrial foresaw Ruin’s current predicament. If Ruin had to bet, he’d go with the more traditional definition of heritage.

If Ruin was correct, finishing the first step of the Forbidden Unity quest would reward him with a manual to Aeonrial’s, or his family’s, Harmonic knowledge and training. And that would certainly set Ruin on the path to increasing his Harmonic level.

Once Ruin advanced enough, if he understood all the information he’d just been bombarded with, he could fulfill his internal friends’ dream. Someday he now believed, he could, like Aeonrial, take the people inside his mind and place them in the real world. Place them with fully functioning bodies. Bodies that included souls and chakras.

Ruin refocused on the present as a barely detectable pressure slid into his mental overlay. He didn’t bother looking around the battlefield. If this was who he suspected, he’d never find them out here. He’d expected some type of investigation, although the speed of the attempt surprised him.

In a blink, Ruin returned to the place he’d prepared just for this type of encounter. Shortly he’d know if it would be sufficient to protect his inner mind.