Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 30

[Author's Note: This is very rough. I haven't even re-read it.]

Chapter 30

Ruin raised a hand to stop Deryssa’s questions. He felt overwhelmed himself and wanted time to think before discussing it.

“Let’s discuss this later,” Ruin told Deryssa. “Do you want to stay here or go back to the vault?”

Deryssa glanced at Overlord, Uruziel, and Sivart. “I wish to stay here. I’ve been isolated for so long, and I don’t want to be alone if I can avoid it. This place is a miracle, and I wish to understand it so I can increase your odds of surviving.”

Ruin pointed to his friends. “They’ll find a place for you. For now, your ability to move around freely here will be limited.” He turned to the trio. “If you have time, talk with Deryssa and learn all you can about what we face. Especially you Sivart. Conflict comes for us.”

Sivart nodded curtly. “War breathes anew with every sunrise.”

Ruin released Last Breath as he returned to his body.

Only a moment had passed in the outside world and Zylkin still supported Ruin as he wavered on his hands and knees. The blood running from his ears and nose had stopped and he pushed himself to his feet. The blue color of the runes caught his eye again.

“You said the tower shook?” Ruin asked.

“Violently. I thought it would collapse, but I couldn’t move you. It was like the tower wouldn’t let you go.”

“And you didn’t leave me?”

Zylkin paused. “I guess it never occurred to me.”

“I know it didn’t,” Ruin said, placing a hand on the Shadowmancer’s armored shoulder. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. You are no coward.”

Zylkin stood taller, and Ruin turned, striding back the way they’d come.

“Where are we going?” Zylkin asked.

“I want to check something outside. It will only take a second.”

Ruin stepped out of the Dark Tower and the other four Towers came into view. Zylkin stopped in shock, but Ruin kept moving, his head craning as he looked into the sky. He turned slowly, and confirmed the Dark Tower mirrored the others.

All five Towers stretched thousands of feet upward and they had shifted location. Now the base of each tower rested on the edge of the island on one side and the far shore on the other. The towers spanned the sea and appeared like five massive trees growing out of a shining moat of energy.  All five glowed with blue runes.

“Void take me,” Zylkin whispered. “Did you do this?”

The Towers appeared identical to the ones Ruin had seen surrounding the Emperor’s palace in the Destruction Realm capital. What did that mean? He stretched his senses to the top of these towers, but he didn’t detect any mighty Wardens.

“I’ve seen pictures of these,” Zylkin said, his voice still low and reverent. “They’re the Towers of Vyrelion.”

“They cheated,” Ruin said absently as he studied the looming structures.

“What?” Zylkin asked.

Ruin turned to the Shadowmancer. “They cheated. When they tested me they grouped up, and then they pulled power from those Towers of Vyrelion.”

Zylkin’s form froze for a moment before slowly turning to Ruin. “Are you saying these Towers are connected to the ones in the capital?”

Ruin shrugged. “They were, but I tried to destroy the connection as I retreated.” He looked back at the towers. “They’re probably still attached though. I think they’re clonal like aspen trees. Each set of towers scattered across the Destruction Realm acts like a grove, but they all come from the same root.”

 “Grandmother never mentioned anything like that.”

Zylkin turned and dashed back into the tower and Ruin hurriedly followed.

“My family,” Zylkin said as Ruin caught up.

Ruin understood. Zylkin mentioning his grandmother had reminded him of his family and the very valid concern for their safety. The Towers had all moved significantly, not to mention their immense growth. What if that had affected the dimensional pockets attached to the towers. If he’d orphaned, or worse, killed, all the people who’d come along with this Destruction Realm it would be a tragedy of staggering proportions.

Zylkin had taken three quick turns after entering the tower and Ruin now stood in a chamber that stretched upward two hundred feet. Tunnel entrances dotted the higher wall sections with no stairs or other means to reach them.

“I’ll wait for you here,” Ruin said and Zylkin nodded thankfully, immediately turning into a shadow that climbed the interior wall and disappeared into a tunnel fifty feet above.

Ruin had decided to stay back because he didn’t want to encounter a situation he knew nothing about. He’d already altered the circumstances of the Towers significantly and jumping into an attached pocket dimensions might have unknown effects. With people’s lives at stake, it paid to take a more cautious approach.

Stepping to the nearest wall, Ruin sat cross-legged and leaned back against it. Now seemed like a good time to see what items remained in his Inventory. When he’d looted the tens of thousands of creatures he’d killed with Prelude of Stillness while fighting Lalquinrial, he’d ended up with a mass of duplicate items which he’d donated to Hamma so she could gain Prayer Points. He’d only kept the rare items.

Ruin opened his Inventory and studied the items there.

Name: Veilbreaker Crown
Description: A crystalline circlet containing purified Dark essence. Cold to the touch.

Tower: Dark

Quality: Rare

Armor Class: 150

Effect (Passive): +10 Willpower
Effect (Passive): Immune to light-based illusions under Tier 3.
Effect (Passive): 10% bonus damage to Ethereal and Spectral beings.

Name: Combustion Bracelet
Description: A bracelet of molten gold granting the wearer dominion over flame.

Tower: Fire

Quality: Rare

Armor Class: 100

Effect (Passive): +25 Charisma
Effect (Passive): Fire-based damage decreased by 90%.

Effect (Triggered): Combust - Envelops the wearer in a fiery shield, dealing 100 fire damage per second to all enemies within ten yards.

Name: Warping Shard
Description: A jagged black crystal covered in shifting colors.

Tower: Chaos

Quality: Rare

Damage: 20-40 Piercing.

Effect (Passive): +25 Nimbleness, +20 Constitution
Effect (Passive): All damage decreased by 20%.

Effect (Passive): 25% of damage taken reflected at attacker as random elemental damage.

Name: Storm Chaser Stud
Description: Small diamond stud.

Tower: Air

Quality: Rare

Effect (Passive): +25 Intelligence, +20 Wisdom, +15 Charisma
Effect (Triggered): Forked lightning – Six balls of lighting orbit the caster. Once per ten seconds the next attacker within three hundred feet is struck by lightning for 50-100 elemental damage. Damage jumps to all enemies within ten feet of attacker doing half damage.

Effect (Triggered): Sheet Lightning – The caster’s skin is coated with lightning. Once per second all enemies within six feet take 4-12 elemental damage.

Restriction: Only one effect may be active at a time.

Name: Grimoire of Mourning
Description: An ancient tome filled with forbidden rituals. The pages are bound in flesh, and the ink extracted from the blood of the damned.

Tower: Death

Quality: Rare

Effect (Passive): +25 Willpower, +20 Intelligence, +15 Wisdom
Effect (Passive): Reduce enemy damage within 50 feet by 15%.

Effect (Passive): Reflect 10% of damage taken back to attackers as their lowest Resistance.

Effect (Triggered): Fellowship of Unrest – Temporarily reanimate all enemy dead within 1,000 feet to fight for the caster. Duration and cooldown based on caster’s level, stats, and number of reanimated corpses.

The remaining Inventory items didn’t compare to these five objects. Ruin guessed they’d come from the generals leading each of the Towers’ defensive forces. He’d look at the magic items again before entering the dungeons here.

That out of the way, Ruin opened his Merchant interface. Zylkin had told Ruin that he should shop in whatever Tower he had the highest Reputation with. That meant the Death Tower. One of the perks of his Class, however, was access to this remote merchant. He’d wait to buy anything too expensive until he could test the difference in prices between his mobile merchant and the ones inside the Death Tower.

The interface for the merchant didn’t display anything and Ruin surmised it needed a little direction on what he wanted to see. His available Destruction Needles, the currency here, was listed at the bottom.

DeN: 102,399,455

As always, Ruin’s first thoughts turned to books. Zylkin had said a book existed that contained all the runes on the Towers. And just like that, the interface populated with the very book Zylkin had discussed.

Name: Enigmatic Sigils – a comprehensive Iconography of the Towers of Vyrelion

Author: Royal Circle of Aetheric Illuminators
Description: A compilation of the sigils found across the Towers of Vyrelion grouped by Tower and cross-referenced by the holy five churches.

Cost: 100 DeN

Enigmatic Sigils sounded like an academic text, but it was a serious topic so that didn’t surprise Ruin.

The five churches mentioned in the description gave Ruin pause. Deryssa had just told him minutes ago that when the tribes had escaped the Void through Heaven’s Gate there were six churches. Did one disappear? He’d need to ask her about that.

Ruin purchased the book and it appeared in his Inventory. When Rami discovered how easy it was to buy new books, she’d want to spend all his DeN on them.

Thoughts of Rami reminded Ruin of the querying mechanism she’d built that allowed him to make requests against the books in his memory. She’d made that so he could research Fighter Subclass and Specializations as he prepared for the war to defend New Eiru and the Third Temple.

Ruin wondered if something similar might work with the merchant interface. Instead of asking for something specific, he kept the request more general.

Display the items most helpful to my survival right now, Ruin mentally commanded the display.

Nothing happened for a moment and then hundreds of entries appeared. The first few in the list consisted of weapon training manuals. The System must have compared the weapons he had access to with his skill level.

Ruin expanded the details on the first listing.

Name: Bow Tutor’s Prism

Description: A six-inch multifaceted crystal sphere, glowing faintly with silver light. Tutor Prisms are advanced training artifacts, often found in the armories of royal academies and combat guilds. When activated, they project detailed illusions that demonstrate weapon techniques tailored to the wielder's current ability.

Cost: 1,500 DeN

Ruin purchased the Bow and Blade Prisms.

A shadow dropped from above and transformed into Zylkin.

Ruin stood. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, thankfully. Noone detected the change. I’m afraid I caused quite a stir, and many are coming to see the Towers for themselves. This place will be crowded shortly. Especially once news spreads to the other dimensional pockets.”

“Can you still take me to the first rune dungeon?”

“Of course. This way.”

Zylkin strode away and Ruin followed.