Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Overlord created a sword in each hand and stomped the sand to summon a Sandpede. “I’ll demonstrate a few of the basic forms.”

Ruin rose into the air while Overlord jumped ten feet away.

Overlord continued as if he’d given this talk a hundred times before. And maybe he had. “The Bamboo Sword forms aren’t about winning through brute force but through resilience, adaptability, and endurance.”

A Sandpede Liquifier exploded out of the sand.

Overlord’s blades weaved an intricate pattern, and Ruin felt the hypnotic pull of the blades.

The Sandpede lunged, its acidic legs clutching eagerly. Overlord sidestepped the attack, his blades deflecting and redirecting the creature’s force. Almost like an afterthought, the blades sliced off six legs.

“Willow Whisper,” Overlord said. “Redirects an opponent’s attack and leaves them vulnerable. Force is dispersed like wind through the branches. The enemy’s aggression produces a self-inflicted wound. Bending, not breaking, the swordsman survives the storm. A blade in a forest no wind can fell.”

Before the Sandpede could turn, Overlord lunged, his sword flicking through a series of quick arcs and acidic blood sprayed the surroundings.

“Ruthless Blade,” Overlord continued, “Relentless strikes using precision and speed, each attack building upon the last.”

Overlord performed another series of lightning-fast thrusts, each one targeting a weak point in the Sandpede’s armor. The final strike drove deep into the creature’s head, killing it instantly

“Venom Lash,” Overlord explained. “Overwhelm an opponent with a barrage of attacks, each one designed to destabilize until the fatal strike lands.”

Ruin studied the Sword Minions across the battlefield. “The Viper based forms are brutal,” he said, “and they require precision. If the timing is off—”

“Failure,” Overlord finished. “They demand speed and absolute control. They’re not for the reckless. If you desire artistry,” Overlord continued, “then perhaps you’ll enjoy Phantom Edge. It strikes the enemy when they think they’re safe.”

Overlord vanished, dropping into the shadow of the dead Sandpede. Only the sword reappeared behind a nearby creature and plunged into the creature’s exposed underbelly before disappearing once again.

Overlord returned and stepped away from the shadow. “A technique of confusion and illusion. The strike comes from a blind spot the enemy never knew existed.”

“I like these foundational forms. How many stances does each contain?”

“Bamboo, Viper, and Shadow each have eight forms, and each form has eight stances. It’s not perfect yet, but I’ve been working on a combined Harmony form that weaves all of them together. I’m still working on the balance though.”

“That would be incredible,” Ruin said.

“I imagine a swordsman who can defend with the adaptability of Bamboo, strike with the savagery of Viper, and finish with the precision of Shadow. Such a swordsman would be unstoppable.”

“I love where this is going. Thank you, Overlord.”

“It’s fun.”

“When you get it a little more integrated, let’s spar, and you can teach me.”

“Deal. I take it you and Uruziel got your core figured out?”

“We did, and it’s worse than a bandball match with Bliz.”

Overlord whistled.

“I know, but that’s probably because I’m actively controlling everything, and normal Destruction beings do most of it like breathing.”

“What are your plans now?”

“I’m going to mass Harvest this place and get my core to tier eight.”

“Good luck. Please don’t accidentally consume my Minions. I’m very fond of them.”

“I’ll be careful.”

Ruin ascended into the sky and took a moment to refresh his memory on the Harbinger’s Call quest.

Name: Harbinger’s Call 

Description: The Harbinger speaks for their Verse. 

Step: 2 of Unknown 

Step Description: Complete two of the following: 

1) Core Density > Rank 7 

2) Pathway Efficiency > 99% 

3) Essence Seed > 6 

Origin: System 

Allocation: 2 of 3 

Difficulty: Egregious 

Risk: Deadly 

Duration: Extended 

Restriction: Foundation equal to or greater than Tier 3 Level 2. 

Reward (Step 2): Faction-Specific Advanced Foundation Manual 

Reward (Final): Title of Harbinger 

Reward (Final): Invitation to the Spire 

Reward (Final): Prime recognition of Harbinger’s Verse with corresponding protections, processes, and rights for said Verse.

Ruin guessed ‘Essence Seed’ referenced the mini cores he was building inside each of his Meridians. He navigated to his Spiritual network to see what had changed.

The left side contained the Divine Circle with the twelve Meridians arranged like a clock. A sphere represented each Meridian, and Ruin glanced through them. He compared his Death and Life Meridians.

Death Meridian

Fortification: Archangel 

Progress to Demigod: 99.9% 

Fortification Type: Destruction 

Capacity: 3% 

Density: 2% 

Purity: 1%

Seed: 3%

Rank: 1

Life Meridian

Fortification: Archangel 

Progress to Demigod: 99.9% 

Fortification Type: Destruction 

Capacity: 1% 

Density: 1% 

Purity: 1%

Kernel: 58%

Rank: 0

This time instead of all the Meridians containing the same information they each varied. The five Meridian’s associated with the Destruction Realm all had a rank of one and listed ‘seed’ instead of ‘kernel.’ Seven Meridians remained at the ‘kernel’ stage. If Ruin wanted to advance the Harbinger’s quest he’d need to increase two of these from ‘kernel’ to ‘seed.’

In the middle of the display sat a large circle, Ruin’s Center, with twelve smaller circles surrounding it, his Meridians. Two pathways attached his Center to each Meridian, one for the route into his Meridian and the other representing the return path. Each of these pathways contained details, and he studied the return pathway from his Air Meridian to his Center.

Scarring: 4% 

Inflammation: 9% 

Width: 55%

Durability: 20%

Efficiency: 16%

All the pathways still glowed yellow except for the four that connected his Dark and Chaos Meridians—they burned an irritated red. Ruin studied his returning Dark pathway.

Scarring: 80% 

Inflammation: 92% 

Width: 4%

Durability: 2%

Efficiency: < 1%

In just two days the Dark Pathway had deteriorated considerably. Scarring had increased by two percent, Inflammation had surged a massive thirty-two percent, and both Width and Durability percent had decreased by a percent. Ruin needed to use a Refinement Cocoon just as much as his friends did.

Those cocoons required money Ruin didn’t have. He considered the issue of using his core and Pathways to farm the money he needed, while not completely destroying his Pathways. After some thought he decided to continue farming until his Inflammation reached ninety-five percent, or width and durability dropped to one percent.

Now that Ruin could mostly control his Meridians separately, he slowed the flow of Destruction Packets to his Dark and Chaos Meridians and reduced each of the Meridian Seeds rotations to a crawl. That should slow their decline considerably.

A black sphere filled the right side of the display, and it contained information about his Core.

Core Type: Special - Apocalypse 

Energy Type: Destruction 

Core Rank: 6 

Density: 30% 

Velocity: 40%

The density had decreased by three percent and velocity, which was really pressure, had increased by forty percent. He needed to increase his rank by two and he didn’t know how long that would take.

The safest route was to allow Overlord, Uruziel, and Sivart to slowly work their way through the desert killing whatever approached. Ruin could follow behind looting and Harvest Destruction Essence. He tried this for three hours, but when his Core Rank remained at six and showed no signs of advancing, he decided to participate in a more active manner. He’d keep an eye on his pathway values to make sure he didn’t do any permanent damage.

Ruin marched through the desert, the apex of a thousand Minion wedge. Sandpede Liquifiers eventually disappeared and packs of vicious dogs the size of horses replaced them. Past the dogs, angry wind elementals appeared. On and on it went, the environment and creatures changing, but his process never wavered.

With every kill, Ruin Harvested the Destruction Essence and compressed it into his Core. He experimented with Core and Meridian Velocities until getting his desired energy output didn’t take exhaustive calculations and became intuitive like a form of muscle memory for his core.

A twenty-foot line, only detectable through Ruin’s Mind and Divine domains, appeared thirty feet in front of him. A charging boar struck the line and split itself in half. This gave him pause, and for the first time in he didn’t know how long, he broke out of his hypnotic grind.

The line widened suddenly revealing the grey nothingness of the Void. Ruin’s outer-mind retreated reflexively, and his Divine Domain dissolved around that location. Both occurrences troubled him because the rip in reality had effortlessly overcome his control of the area.

Overlord, Uruziel, and Sivart retreated to Purgatory to observe, and Overlord dismissed all his Minions. In a blink, Ruin stood alone as all the creatures fled the region, eager to distance themselves from the Void.

Unnatural and gut-twisting sensations poured outward as the slit widened into a smooth sided rectangle. Ruin stopped himself from vomiting and dismissed his Ink Lord’s Wraps of Shadow so it didn’t get damaged by the unnatural forces. Then he pushed himself forward.

Ruin admitted defeat while still ten feet away. The size of the opening allowed so much of the Void through that it took a significant amount of Mental energy to keep from retching and all his Willpower to not flee. The beasts that hadn’t fled quickly enough had collapsed and died.

Varthon emerged from the large opening in his human form, and he studied Ruin impassively. The Void Wyrm couldn’t completely hide his surprise at Ruin’s proximity.

Ruin gritted his teeth and violently suppressed the terror laced warning that every cell in his body screamed. Harnessing his Willpower and supporting it with Mental Energy, he took a step forward. His vision swam and he paused to let it recover. Then he took another step.

Rami exited the Void opening when Ruin had gotten to within five feet of Varthon. With a snap, the doorway to the Void vanished.

The sudden disappearance of the Void caused Ruin to stumble forward as nothing remained to resist him. The outpouring of Mental Energy and concentrated Willpower warped the surroundings, and he immediately created a bubble around Varthon and Rami while he tried to reel in the immense forces he’d marshaled.

Varthon transformed into his Void Wyrm form and curled around Rami. The two wyrms studied their surroundings in shocked silence.

Like a massive star pulling everything into its fiery embrace, Ruin’s power ripped and distorted dimensional space. The black, grey, and white environment of the Destruction Realm was flooded with color as dimensions warped, merged, and disintegrated.

Ruin slowly released the power he’d brought to bear against the Void. Visibility returned as the savage dimensional twisting abated. Ten seconds later he’d calmed the violent ocean of power that had spilled from him in a torrent.

Everything in a five-hundred-foot circle, including the dead beasts, was now covered in rainbow colors. Even Varthon’s wings hadn’t escaped.

The Void Wyrm studied Ruin, fear visible in his eyes.