Chapter 3!

With both goddesses installed as Administration Supervisors and each now in possession of a transport totem like my own, Destruction and I returned to Far Reach.

Peace remained in the Admin Hub to familiarize herself with the system and to bring her people out into their new home, temporary or otherwise.

My intention when I arrived at my altar was to release Destruction from the void Storage immediately. I hadn’t counted on being inundated the moment I appeared.

Questions through my bonds and the resurgence of thousands of prayer tendrils attempting to latch onto my core had my head reeling for a moment, but the temple hall was also filled with our most powerful people.

The Demon Lords still bonded to Destruction, Karius, Rakle, and the more recent additions that I’ hadn’t met yet, Hizo, and Ulka. They all had a similar look, and even though they’d shrank down from their natural size, they still loomed over the others.

Andalar, Aslin and Devotion’s ex followers, Harle, Gabrielle Quensela and Karius were all there too. A brief scan told me Life’s Chosen were not here yet, though I knew at least one of them was on Galess. I would have to visit her when I had a moment. Right now I had enough to contend with as I took in the same confused and haunted expression on each of their faces.

Joining them stood Sania, Danivra and Natom. They watched me expectantly. A desperate hope lit their eyes.

It was Andalar who spoke first, almost the second I arrived. "Lord Clive, I must first ask. Is it true? I know that our bonds have been broken, but I can scarcely believe a god as powerful as Death could have been killed so suddenly."

I swallowed at the question and the look in his hollow eyes.

"It is true, Andalar. He's gone. I went to reclaim his body, but there was nothing left but dust and ash.”

“Then it is as I feared. Thank you for letting me know." He bowed, but continued. "While the circumstances are grim, it would be my great honour to return to your service, Lord Clive."

“As would I,”  Aslin added with a bow of his own.

With a sad smile, I clapped them both on the shoulder. “I’m afraid I can't accept your generous offer, though I’d love to have you back.”

There were a few surprised gasps around the room at my refusal. Danivra wasted no time in speaking her disagreement.

"Lord Clive, I do not understand your reasoning in regard to this. We need you to have every follower you can gather. Each one will bring more Ethereal Neuma to you, which will only help our cause."

"Oh, I fully intend to gather all of Death's other followers, Danivra. “I want as many as I can get my hands on because you’re right. I’m going to need all of the ethereal Neuma I can get my hands on.

“But Andalar, Aslin…” I turn to gesture at the other Chosen. “I have much larger expectations from them. With the loss of the bond to Darkness their cores are now unlocked. They can develop their own abilities and learn to manipulate the Neumas they have access to. Which means they’re far too valuable to our survival to be stuck as followers. I need them to help me fight Hakan on the front lines.”

She nodded, her eyes practically sparkling with understanding. I took in the other Chosen with my eyes and continued to speak. “That goes for all of you. Your cores are open, and I need you to learn what that means. Most of you won’t even notice the difference as very few of you will have ever invested in Internal Connection.  That means as soon as I’ve gathered enough Ethereal Neuma from the steady influx of followers I’m receiving, I'm going to gift each of enough to level the stat.

“I have ten in Internal Connection, Lord Clive." It was Aslin who’d spoken. As I turned on him, I found Andalar looking at him, too. A hint of irritation on his smooth, dark purple features as he spoke to his brother. "Really?"

Aslin gave a nonchalant shrug. "I was curious. I didn’t do it again, but I wish I had now.”

“It still puts you ahead of the others here,” Natom said, though his intense eyes never left me. I could see the question in them. Hell, it was written in every fibre of his being, but he wisely remained silent as I continued my talk to the others. “I need you all strong and competent. Once we’re ready, I will teach you all of what I can. Natom and Mal should be able to help in this regard to.”

Natom took his chance. “Except I can’t create new powers since I became a follower of yours.”

I acknowledged him with a nod. “We need to talk before I let you free of the bond Natom. You’ll be one of our strongest weapons against Hakan, so I hope you can convince me that it’s safe to do so.”

He kept his expression neutral, which was impressive for the mad bastard. “I can and I will, Clive. Just let me help.”

Rather than reply, I moved on to Danivra. “I’ll need to free you too, Danivra.”

"No, Lord Clive. I understand your thought process, and it makes perfect sense. But you cannot supply us all with Ethereal Neuma immediately. I think you should invest in the others first and train them while I continue gathering followers for you.

“I gain a great amount of experience from bringing them to your side. Then…” she said with a terrifying smile that would have put Destruction to shame. “Once the others are seen to and you have enough Ethereal Neuma stored to push me all the way up to the Divine Core evolution, I will accept."

My eyes must have goggled at her words, and I couldn't fight a small grin. "You wily old Dokalfar. I can absolutely agree to your request. Though that does remind me that I need to remove the follower demand for the Ethereal Stages."

“Yes! That would be a good idea. I would also like to add that I do not want you to break the bond but recreate it as a Soul Mate bond and I will continue to serve as I have.”

“What? You really don’t…”

“Do not speak those words Clive. Until Hakan is vanquished, I will remain by your side as I have. Who knows what our future will hold beyond that, but if we survive this, then we will face it together.”

“I definitely won’t stop you,” I replied. “I could really see you as a waitress!”

She gave another of her rare and very dangerous smiles. “Good. Then I will take my leave and continue my work, gathering the followers of our dearly departed pantheon."

Without another word, she created a portal and swished out of the temple with supreme confidence and purpose. As the portal closed, I turned to find Kraeyuk giving me an odd look.

"Everything okay?" I asked him.

"Destruction isn't dead. We heard her briefly and she said she was okay. But I don't know what's going on with her. I can’t sense her and…”

“And?”

“I will also admit to being envious of the offer given to the others. Though I love my goddess, I love power more. Please do not tell her I said that when you see her."

“You can tell her yourself,” I replied with a subdued laugh. "She’s in my Storage and she’d probably love to hear you say it.”

While Kraeyuk frowned as if he’d just somehow been played, I opened the void storage and peered inside.

Destruction was in the main area of the well-lit Void Space talking with Light rather than in the auto cabin this time. Life and Devotion’s bodies had disappeared, which was both a relief as it hurt to look at them and a disappointment. I’d found it odd that they hadn’t disappeared like Death’s body, but it meant I could give them a proper funeral. Now that had been taken from us.

A gentle push from my mental inventory told me I was wrong. The bodies hadn’t disappeared, they were in one of the Auto Cabins.

When Destruction noticed me, she cut off her conversation with Light abruptly and flew over to me. “I put their bodies in one of the auto cabins. It just seemed a better place for them to be.”

“Thank you, Destruction. I can’t say I don’t appreciate it.”

"You might want to speak to her as well, Clive,” she said nodding back to Light. “She might be useful to us."

"We’ll see. Right now I’m still considering draining the last of the power from her and feeding it to the others to strengthen them. Now come on. Kraeyuk and the others are waiting for you."

Once out of the portal, she headed directly to her most powerful Chosen. Kraeyuk bowed deeply. “My goddess, you have been missed.”

To my surprise, she offered the slightest of bows in return. "Lord Kraeyuk.”

The demon lord gaped at the gesture.

She ignored to speak. “I have grave news. As you no doubt already know, there have been casualties among our pantheon in the fight against the Hakan. The God of Creation.

“I only survived because Lord Clive was able to rescue me. Twice. I have gone from being invulnerable to very vulnerable in a very short space of time in light of this threat and the only way I can gain the power to stand against our enemies and survive future battles is to surrender my followers so that I may access the true power of the Nexus.”

She paused to allow her words to sink in. When the reaction she was expecting didn’t materialize, she glanced briefly at me and then pressed on. I intend to rebuild my main altar here and tell all of my followers that I must let them go. I’m sorry if you feel deserted by this, but the best way I can protect you all is by focusing on my own strength. It was Kraeyuk’s turn to glance over to me this time. The slightest of smiles played on his tusked mouth, though he maintained a serious expression for Destruction as she continued.

"I’m not deserting you entirely. I will always be here for you, and I am technically sending you to a far stronger god.

“Who knows?, perhaps one day we will find a way to recreate our family. But I doubt it will ever be through follower bonds again."

Kraeyuk nodded. "I understand my lady, and no matter what the future holds, you will always be my goddess. However, I have already briefly spoken to Clive, and he has made an intriguing offer to all of the Chosen here."

Destruction spun on me, her eyebrows high on her forehead. "You have? You were supposed to bring me out as soon as we got back, Clive!"

"I was attacked from all sides," I said gesturing to all the people around me. "I got you out as soon as I could without being rude."

She shook her head and smirked. "So what have you offered the Chosen, Clive?"

"Simple. They need to help me mop up all of the followers who’ve lost their gods and convince them to follow me, so I have lots of EN. Then with that EN, I will gift them Mortal Neuma to invest into Internal Connection. Destruction, meet your new class mates.”

I swear I heard a low growl from her though her expression barely changed despite moving from outrage to something like excitement. "It is a sound idea. The more people working to create new powers the more likely we are to develop. I do not know if it will be enough to defeat Hakan, but it is an intriguing proposal. I support this."

"I thought you might. Now would you like to create your temple and inform all of your followers of your plans? I need to speak with Sania and Natom.”

"Of course. Is there anywhere in particular you would like me to set up?”

“That’s a question for Joel. I’ll give him a shout.”

She waited patiently while I talked my friend through what was happening.

“Alright, he’s coming back through from Earth. He said for you to meet him down by the portal ring.”

“Thank you Clive. I promise I won’t make my temple bigger than yours.”

“So thoughtful,” I replied.

Once she’d left, I spoke briefly with the others before they all went back to their own homes and preached for me. It hurt like hell watching the brave faces barely covering the heartbreak that hid underneath as they all left through portals until finally only Sania and Natom remained. I spun on the latter.

"So, you mad bastard. Sell it to me. Why should I trust you enough to set you free of the follower bond?"

He shrugged. "I want to be the most powerful person in the universe, Clive. And that hasn’t changed. But! And I hope you believe this; I hold no animosity towards you any longer. I don’t understand how your methods work, but I have to admit that I've learned a lot from you. If you let me go, I swear, on my soul, I will be an ally. I will not come after you again in any way,” he gave an insane little chuckle. I’m not sure I could if I wanted to. The gap between us now is immense and I truly understand what your Alo-im race provides."

I knew without a doubt that he meant what he said. But he was still a risk.

"I think I’m going to need more than that." I looked at Sania. "What do you think?"

She glared at Natom. " I think he's insane. He doesn't think like the normal people of any race I've ever met. I also think he's been very useful and very well behaved for us. He'd be one of our best weapons against Hakan, but,” she said prodding him in the chest, You also hunted us and tortured Clive to steal his power. While we got stronger from the hardships you created for us, it’s hard to forget.” She turned to me. “I say he needs to make a Soul Mate Bond in place of the follower bond like Danivra had, at least until Hakan has been defeated. He also needs to promise on that Soul Mate bond that he will work with us and the others until we’re free of the threat and not just disappear.

“Done and done!” Natom said rubbing his hands together with glee, visibly having to restrain himself from dancing a caper.

She continued to glare at him, and raised her pointed finger again. “And if you ever cross us again, I'll make sure Clive kills slowly and in such a way that you can never be reborn in this universe or the next."

I could feel his doubt, but it passed quickly. His resolve to be free of me, of the bond, was far greater than having to remain my friend.

"I’m all in! Let's do it."

There wasn’t much else to say, and I had a lot of other things to do beyond this, so with a thought, I pushed more Neuma through his follower bond to forge the Soul Mate bond. He looked fit to have a heart attack as he felt the change, but he accepted it quickly. Then came the notification came:

Congratulations:

You have forged a Soul Mate bond with Natom Hilgresh.

The momentary pang of surprise that I received no experience from the skill was quickly replaced with the obvious acknowledgement that bonding Natom in this way really wasn’t much of an achievement.

“Right then. You can fuck off and practice while I speak with Sania. I’ll be in touch soon to organise team training."

"I look forward to it,” he chuckled with delight and then, to my very impressed eyes, recreated one of my own portals with his own power. Then he was gone.

"Wow," Sania said. "I hope we didn't just make a massive mistake.”

I stared at the space where the portal had closed, following where he’d gone and how he was feeling once away from me.

He appeared somewhere in Knuntang and all I felt along the bond was pure joy, excitement, and burning desire.

"Yeah, me too," I agreed, turning around to face her. "Now, what are we going to do about you?”

He nudged me in the shoulder, a wry grin evident. “Why? Are you after my followers too?"

“Not at all, I just want you to be open to the Nexus again and you can only do that if you cut the ties.”

"I would, Clive,” she replied pacing away from me as if she needed space to think. “There's just one problem."

"Yeah?" I asked a little worried by her manner.

"I already have freed them all."

"You what? Really?"

“Really.” She said beaming with bride that she’d managed to mask earlier. I hadn't understood it at the time, but after a few days I realized that part of being an Ardumis is the bond I have with Beast-Kin. I’m already connected to them all on this planet. I don't need to have the follower bond that everyone else does. Plus, even if I don’t get Ethereal Neuma from them all of the time, I still gain it when there are Beast-Kin in my Temple Sphere.”

As she spoke, I eyed her core and what I saw amazed me. She was entirely right. There was a river of different bonds flowing out of her, but they looked much more like the Soul Mate bond if substantially weaker.

"I have been working on this for a while,” she continued. “I was going to tell you a couple of days ago  when you had a few minutes, but then Hakan arrived and spoiled the surprise. I have access to Neutral, Stone, Air, Nature, Water, and Light."

I still had her core in view, and I could see everything she’d said was completely true as she continued to speak. "I just need to learn how to manipulate Neuma and develop more powers. The only problem is that you won't be able to take my people on as followers because of that bond they still have with me."

"That doesn't fucking matter at all!" I replied. "Sania, this is amazing. That link you have with them, it’s beautiful. That’s what a connection between people should be."

She smiled. "That's exactly what it is. It's a connection. Like our Soul Mate bond, but on a slightly less intense level."

I nodded at her words having already made the same observation myself. "All I can say is, wow. This is the best news I've had in a long time." I hugged her tight as the notification sprang up.

Your Soulmate, the Goddess of Destruction

Is attempting to open an altar within your sphere.

Do you accept?

Yes/No

I selected yes immediately. And just like that, Destruction, had a temple and altar in Far Reach. I couldn’t wait to see it.

“So what should we do now?” Sania asked, bringing me back to our conversation.

“Simple. Find Hakan and kill him while I still can. Though I don’t expect to be able to find him unless he shows himself and right now I’m the only one who can stand against and any he grants the manipulation powers to. I can only imagine he’s gathering more people to him right now. If I can’t find him soon, I’m going to spend all of my time training you all up, and training myself.

“I’ll come with you to hunt him down. It’s a speciality of mine.”

“At the risk of sounding like bastard, no. Not yet. If he comes,5  you’ll be a weakness he can exploit, and I can’t risk having any.”

My words were harsh, and I knew it, but Sania wasn’t stupid, nor unnecessarily emotional. She nodded. “It hurts to accept, but you’re right.”

“It’s only temporary. You’ll be standing side by side with me in no time. Honestly, that’s why I need Mal back here. Of all the people we have, he’s probably not too far behind Natom at it, and better at the external Neuma Manipulation. We’ll go get him, call Natom back and the three of you with Destruction can share what you know. By the time I’ve either killed Hakan, or failed, you guys should have the basics out of the way.”

“Of course,” she said with a mocking frown. “We wouldn’t want to waste your time with the basics now would we.”

With a laugh and a shake of my head, I linked her arm. “Come on. Let’s go see Destruction’s new temple and then head to Earth for Mal.”