Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Speaking of Hamma,” Ruin said, “do you remember that blessing she gave me? It let me harvest the good and bad luck from what I killed?”

“Yeah,” Rami responded. “The Mythical buff. She created it out of the priceless luck potion you gave her.”

“You know how I couldn’t use that luck before—I could only redistribute it on others. Check this out.”

Ruin projected the new luck-based ability.

Name: Fate’s Balance 

Description: Collect and distribute the accumulated fate of your enemies. Borrow a percentage of the pooled luck for personal use based on level. Skewing the balance of luck too long will cause disastrous consequences.

“Break my scales, that’s incredible. I understand you’re upset about your body, but it really came with a lot of powerful abilities.”

“I hope I keep them in my real one.”

Rami started to say something but stopped.

“What?”

Rami shook her head.

“Say it.”

Rami’s shoulders slumped. “What if you can’t go back? What if this is your body now?”

That thought had only occurred to Ruin a few thousand times in the past few minutes.

“This is what I think. I’ve been working with all these different magic systems because I think they’re interchangeable. I know some of them are for sure. Converting Conceptual Power into Soul Energy is what allowed me to save that city. I think this is no different. I’m pure destruction now and my inability to access Harmony proves I’m out of balance, but since I didn’t lose Harmony, I think it means this is reversable.”

That shocked Rami. “You’re saying you can switch between bodies?”

“Think about it. I’ve learned over and over again the secret to everything is balance. Why would my physical form be any different?”

Ruin’s Cleverness Attribute still functioned because a surge of insight struck him.

“In fact, isn’t your True Form an echo of this theory? That magic allows you to temporarily not only take the form of something else but also use the associated abilities. You took the form of that Havoc Sovereign, so it’s not limited to the Material Realm. We need to study that spell.”

Rami brightened as if a weight had lifted. “You’re right. That is logical, even necessary.”

Ruin frowned again.

“Now what?” Rami asked.

“I’ve been paying more attention to my feelings and motivations since the Conceptual magic discovery as I try and grasp it and I just had an uncomfortable realization.”

Rami waited quietly as Ruin gathered his thoughts.

“I’m always so anxious to get to the next level, a higher tier, or the final stage. Even before my Ascendancy, all I thought about was becoming a Mage and then, after my parents disappeared, finding them. You said yourself this body has a lot of advantages. We agree a path exists to transform between forms. If we can get a message to the gang that we’re okay, we could spend some time getting familiar with this shape. The Ink Lord Conclave isn’t for another month, so we have time.”

“I agree. You should at least know how to function in this body. Does it have a System? When I took the form of the Havoc Sovereign, the System looked different.”

Ruin’s eyes widened. “I haven’t told you the craziest part yet. Whatever Lalquinrial used to make the Scarecrow Aspect obviously still had some self-awareness as it stopped me from leaving. It acted like that because I think it oversaw this place. Their essence mixed with mine when my destruction body formed.”

“That doesn't sound good at all.”

“I know. It makes me feel a little weird when I think about it. Anyway, this person’s family must be important in the Outerverse because it unlocked a Mythical-Mythical class called Destruction Emperor. It had a ton of redundant checks like it couldn’t believe the circumstances. Let me show you.”

Saraph: True 

House: Val’dor 

Citizen: True (Shadow Step Pact) 

Royal Heritage: True (Val’dor) 

Ordained: True (Unknown Blessing) 

House Eligibility: True (Val’dor) 

Existing Emperor: False 

Verifying Emperor Status: None Found 

Confirming Emperor Vacancy: Confirmed 

Validating Emperor Vacancy: Validated 

Competing Emperorlings: 0 

Eligibility Ranking: 1 of 1 

Unique Emperor Class: Unlocked

Rami studied the text quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Ruin asked.

“Did you have any other choices? Like something that didn’t scream danger.”

“Danger? What do you mean? It’s the only Mythical-Mythical class. That’s a no-brainer.”

“Exactly. Which means everyone would want it. It doesn’t make sense that the number of competing emperorlings is zero.”

Something Lalquinrial had told Ruin suddenly came to mind. “Oh no.”

“What?”

Ruin leaned forward and placed his head in his hands. Rami slapped him on the shoulder.

“Tell me!” Rami said.

Ruin looked up. “In my defense, I had just returned to my mind and the shock of this body made thinking everything through difficult. Especially since the Notification appeared right away.”

“Ruin,” Rami said quietly. “Quit stalling. What did you forget?”

Ruin grimaced. “Lalquinrial tried to convince me to join him, and he explained how he’d worked with that Havoc Sovereign. They’d told him that in the Outerverse, only the Destruction and Creation realms existed in the void originally. Then as the two Realms fought, their battlefields created universes. No surprise, that’s what Lalquinrial considers true existence.”

“Okay, that’s very interesting, but I don’t see how this relates to the obviously suspicious Mythical-Mythical class.”

Ruin rubbed his face. “The Havoc Sovereign confirmed for Lalquinrial that our Universe is not one of these natural ones and that it was temporary and an aberration.” He sighed heavily. “The Havoc Sovereign said that our Creation and Destruction realms aren’t part of the originals but tiny offshoots. Temporary realms paid for by the creator of our universe so it could support magic.”

“Temporary,” Rami repeated.

“Yeah, that’s what Lalquinrial said, and he had no reason to lie.”

Rami understood immediately. “So when the System did all its checks, they weren’t against the real Destruction Realm but ours. It means the real Destruction Realm in the Outerverse already has an emperor. I’m not saying creating a Universe is easy, but it seems like an obvious evasion of the unique restriction.”

Sivart mentally offered his assessment to Ruin.

“Sivart says considering how large and powerful the Destruction Realm must be for its battles with the Creation Realm to birth universes, no one in their right mind would take the Emperor Class even if they figured this workaround out.”

“Can you undo it? Pick something else?”

A thin ten-foot line appeared fifteen feet to Ruin’s left. A man emerged from it and for just an instant, Ruin’s stomach turned from the void energy that escaped the portal. The line disappeared as soon as the man exited.

The first thing Ruin noticed was the man’s clothes. They were identical to the set Blapy had given Sift. The newcomer stood ten feet tall and his grey skin shimmered. Angular features gave him a predatory look and his bald head imparted an air of wisdom despite his young looks.

“Mythical classes cannot be undone,” the man said, his voice striking Ruin like a fist. “You are an abomination in the Destruction Realm and if I don’t kill you, the royals will spend eternity hunting me down.”

Ruin and Rami both stood as the man stepped forward.

That’s when the next unbelievable event occurred.

The man froze like he’d stepped on a trap, and he slowly looked down at his foot.

Ruin followed his gaze and recognized what the man had stepped on. The powdered throne covered half the drawing, but the winged bird-like stick figure and three of the five towers remained visible. The details of the drawing immediately sprung to mind.

Name: Stupid Guardian 

Quality: Legendary 

Restriction: Shadow Realm only 

Restriction: Single use 

Effect (triggered): Last Word: Display to the guardian of the spires to gain entrance. 

Description: A more accurate description of “Last Word” is “Last Words” but an artist’s vision is not something to alter lightly. Only at the bottom can one be sure their next step leads upward.

Ruin pointed at the picture. “Are you the Guardian? If so, that Last Word is for you.”

That triggered the magic in the picture, and it flared brightly before shredding itself into thousands of pieces. It swirled in the powdered stone around them, creating a dense cloud.

The man took five quick steps backward.

The massive dust cloud began to settle, and Ruin wondered how powerful Blapy’s magic must be for the picture to have survived in such dense destruction essence.

A faint outline appeared, and Ruin’s eyes bulged as he recognized it.

Rami and Ruin both jumped away as a massive black head swung through the air and locked eyes with the man.

The last of the dust settled and a massive black wyrm remained.

Ruin had seen it before. At the end of the semi-final match of the Step Championship.

It was Miranda’s true form, and she looked especially fierce.

Relief flooded Ruin. He was only level one and certainly no match for this ten-foot guy that wanted to kill him. With Miranda here though, even if it was just a clone, things would work out fine. She would know what to say to lower the situation’s tension.

Miranda hissed at the man and spat out her next words. “Varthon, you despicable shadow of a wyrm.”