Divinity: Massacre
Quiet spatial turbulence was stirred as a crack opened up between planes. Fierce elemental energy surged through it, annihilating everything in its way.
A floating city stood tall in this region, as if a powerful fortress that was indestructible and eternal. Only after entering the ghost city did Leylin heave a sigh of relief.
“Welcome home, Master!” Shaylin, the fairy who was like a housekeeper, appeared to greet Leylin. Only this place had arcane spell formations that rendered him immune to the spying of the gods, as well as other divination spells.
Once he tossed his coat to an attending golem, Leylin turned to the skeleton lich Ilyo, “You did well.”
“It is my honour to serve Master!” Ilyo pressed his right fist to his chest as he spoke. He was in his crystal skeleton formed, but he was wearing something akin to a black suit. The clothing formed a vile harmony with the skeleton.
Although he knew Ilyo wasn’t speaking from the bottom of his heart, Leylin felt it was enough for the lich to act upon his commands. Sensing the immense power of the God of the Hunt, he’d contacted the necromancer through his phylactery, commanding him to stay concealed and ready to act at any time.
It seemed like the lich truly was experienced. His grasp of time and usage of skills was split-second perfect. If not for the coincidental suppression of the ghost city and the phylactery, Leylin definitely wouldn’t have been able to deal with him.
“You won’t be recognised by others, will you?” Leylin asked without choice. Skeleton Lich Ilyo, was a name synonymous with trouble and death in the prime material plane, and in recent times his name had even been connected with the ghost city.
“Please don’t worry, Master. What I used were common death-type spells, and I even left behind little details that might point to other liches…” Ilyo’s skeleton snickered, “If they really did try to pursue me using the clues I left behind, I’m sure it would make for an extremely interesting situation…”
Seeing his expression, Leylin could not help but mourn for the paladins. He sent him away, and turned to the fairy. Shaylin immediately flew to his shoulder, beginning an incessant report.
“I’ve been working hard to help manage the ghost city ever since you left, Master. That lich has been diligent as well, and the city is now restored...”
Shaylin was once the intellectual core of the ghost city. Once its owner had died, she’d managed it independently for tens of thousands of years, and she was obviously very practiced in matters like this. Leylin nodded along as she spoke.
Time was now on his side. With the restoration of the ghost city complete, it finally began resuming is usual operations. The Mise energy core was stockpiling energy, and soon enough it would regain the powerful ability to match up to the gods.
“Good. Bring me to the core restriction room, and prepare 20% of the Mise energy core reserves for use. Additionally, get me the arcane energy powder and golem rainbow crystal from the storehouse.”
Leylin looked at the large green web in his hands, it was now time to deal with Malar’s avatar. Still, this was the avatar of a god and could have some hidden abilities. It was best to be on the safe side and absorb him in the floating city.
“Even if I let some of it get away, the divine force and divine will here, as well as the information on domains should be enough for me to refine a trace of divinity in massacres…” He brought Malar’s avatar to the core restriction room, and once all defences were operated he revealed the avatar’s true form within the web.
It was currently a large pool of golden gelatinous matter, an unmoving huge slime that seemed dead.
“While I did give him some rough treatment, it shouldn’t be to this extent…” Leylin shook his head, “Perhaps the most fundamental divine will and conscient is still waiting in there, ready to devour me…”
Compared to the gods’ inconceivable strength, even a high-ranked legendary’s soul seemed fragile. Many people had been deluded into thinking they could absorb divinity in the prime material plane, but they were instead absorbed by the gods and turned into avatars. Some were indeed lucky enough to succeed, but they experienced a great change in their temperaments and turned into lunatics.
“What a pity… Your plans will not come to fruition!” Leylin touched the semi-solid divine force on the ground with his finger, “Is the origin conscient of a mere beast trying to swallow me?”
In the instant that Leylin’s mind and the avatar’s conscient made contact, the image of a terrifying giant serpent flashed in Leylin’s eyes. Having absorbed the power of the Nightmare Absorbing Physique, the Targaryen seemed to have reached a more inconceivable level. It even seemed to echo within the World of Gods, and its strength continued to grow.
Sensing this conscient, the pile of slime quickly shrunk back. Yet, Shaylin was prepared and restrained it, leaving it with nowhere to go. Leylin took hold of it, and powerful devouring strength exploded forth from his body.
“It has begun…” Leylin closed his eyes, beginning the contest between their conscients and the transformation of divinity.
……
There was little to say about the battle between conscients. Malar’s avatar couldn’t even begin to resist the Targaryen before it was devoured, and he even leaked some information about divine domains. When Leylin opened his eyes again, a trace of dark gold divine force twined around his arm.
“Is this the power of the divinity of massacres?” Leylin looked at the divinity of massacres, which seemed as thin as a hair on one’s head. Sounds of slaughter filled his senses the moment his thoughts made contact with it, causing his eyes to redden slightly.
“This thread of the divinity of massacres contains about 10% of the law of massacres. There’s a great amount of divinity, as well as the power of faith from Malar’s followers…” Leylin identified the components of the thread.
Divinity was very important to gods, and even true gods would take some time to recover after a portion of their divinity was cut off. Malar had lost most of his avatar, so he would likely be in a terrible state right now.
“Stepping into the realm of the gods using the power of massacres? I like it!” Leylin laughed slightly. A thread of the divinity pounced forward, fusing with his body seamlessly. The process was simple; he’d long since tamed this thing.
Bits of comprehension of the law of massacres emerged in Leylin’s mind. An intense, qualitative change occurred inside his body at the same time.
[Beep. Host body beginning to absorb divinity. A.I. Chip upgrading…] The A.I. Chip’s robotic voice sounded, and what followed was silence.
After an unknown period of time, the A.I. Chip’s voice sounded once more. [Beep! Auxiliary system successfully upgraded. Detected large changes to host body’s stats. Recalculating…]
Afterwards, numerous prompts shot out.
[Beep! Host has successfully absorbed the divinity of massacres. Has been changed as a life form, transitioning into a divine being.]
[Beep! Host has absorbed divinity. All stats +1.]
[Beep! Host’s spirit has advanced, arcanist ranking increased. Currently rank 22.]
[Beep! Analysis of level 7 Weave at 100%. Host has unlocked all rank 7 spell models, and will no longer forget spells. No materials needed to cast rank 7 spells.]
[Beep! Host has obtained divine body feat: Epic Adaptability.]
[Epic Adaptability. Divine beings have a great tolerance for various extreme environments. All divine beings can survive in lava and frost, be suffocated, or starve. Note: This feat overlaps with Intermediate Perfect Body, and is now encompassed under it.]
Leylin also found that his stats were refreshed again.
[Leylin Faulen. Race: Human (Divine Being), Rank 22 Arcanist (Legendary). Strength: 16. Agility: 16. Vitality: 16. Spirit: 22. Arcane Energy: 220 Status: Healthy. Feats: Legendary Sturdiness, Scholarly, Intermediate Perfect Body, Dreamscape Vision. Specialties: Origin Force Detection, Origin Force Amplification, Illusions.]
[Analysis of Weave: Level 0 100%, Level 1 100%, Level 2 100%, Level 3 100%, Level 4 100%, Level 5 100%, Level 6 100%, Level 7 100%, Level 8 87.56%, Level 9 57.72%.]
[Spell Slots: Rank 9 (4), Rank 8 (6), Rank 7 (???), Rank 6 (???), Rank 5(???), Rank 4 (???), Rank 3 (???), Rank 2 (???), Rank 1 (???), Rank 0 (???)]
“Divine being? A change to my state?” Leylin looked at his hands. Golden veins appeared under them, and then died down.
“The progress of analysis has increased as well. With the analysis of level 7 complete, I’ve met the minimum requirements to cast the legendary rank 12 arcane spell, Karsus’ Avatar…” Leylin recalled the powerful model that Distorted Shadow had given to him. It was a terrifying arcane spell that would release all the conscients of the ancient Magi, and could steal all of Mystra’s strength in an instant and cause her to fall.
“If this was in the past, Distorted Shadow would definitely have appeared and used all sorts of methods to distort my senses, forcing me to become arch enemies with the Goddess of the Weave and then make his move.”
A smirk rose about Leylin’s lips. He was now no longer a pawn to be used as others pleased. While the Weave Goddess’ church was slightly hostile to him, they weren’t mortal enemies and their differences weren’t irreconcilable. Naturally, there was also no need to make any moves yet.