Within the Seers Rest, a grinning Shaman sat triumphant. ‘I have him. At long last, I’ve located Dei Grrata.’

  He’d spent the last half-hour cementing the Seers Rest’s connection to the man, and now there was nothing that could sever it. Dei was within his grasp.

  Standing up, he made slow, calculating steps to the exit of the room, thinking over all the resources wasted in trying to find him.

  For a while, he was hopeful that the combined efforts of every Shaman and Hunter within the Gem Dweller system would be enough to locate him. Dei had a very distinctive look after all, making him easy to spot. There were not many Gem Dwellers with heterochromia, and none with one Ruby and one Amethyst. This trait helped avoid a lot of confusion or false leads that might’ve popped up, giving way to a much more efficient search.

  When the searches turned up empty though, he slowly lost hope in a brute-force method, but decided to keep up with it. Less because he thought it might bear fruit eventually, and more because it irritated Justin.

  From the very start, Justin was Oura’s real plan. His actions were simply too predictable, following in the footsteps of his Foresight predecessors. Oura wasn’t exactly sure how Justin would find a way to Dei, but he knew Justin would eventually, and Oura made the rest up along the way.

  Oura didn’t know what would happen if Dei was killed before the Void Beast hatched, so he intended to collect the rest of the Council and blast him to nothing, erasing every trace of his soul. Dei would not even pass through the plane of Death.

  Reaching for the door to the Rest though, he felt a flicker at his karma.

  Then a crack.

  Eyes opening wide, he sat down immediately, scouring the karmic connections.

  ‘No… No no no NO!’

  He was gone! There was no connection to Dei any longer, the karma severed. That had to mean he was dead, but Oura thought the timing was too coincidental. Justin met him, then Dei dies? That was… actually, fairly possible. If Justin figured out what happened, he might’ve chosen to end Dei’s life himself.

  Oura’s gut twisted though. Something told him that’s not what happened. But where else could Dei be? There was no possible way he was experienced in karma enough to cleanse his own past.

  Oura needed answers.

  Locking on to Justin’s signature, Oura waved his staff and disappeared.

  * * *

  POV: Justin Tabrey

  He swam through the stone straight back to civilization, uncaring if anyone followed his path. Dei would be gone from the universe soon, untraceable.

  As this thought popped into his head, so too did Oura appear before him. A rush of displaced air sounded his arrival, and Justin froze, calculating all possibilities Oura would be here.

  “Where is he!?” Oura screamed at him, the experienced elder absent, replaced with a spittling fool.

  “Gone.” Justin responded easily. He didn’t know how Oura found him, but the details could be worked out later. Whatever Oura’s plan was, it had clearly been derailed. Justin had no reason to panic.

  “WHERE!?”

  Justin cleared his throat. “Oura, I, Justin Tabrey, hereby accuse you of obstructing justice, abandoning your duties, and creating a hostile Slaughterer. You will stand trial before your fellow Council-”

  “I don’t care! The trial can be delayed, you fool! Dei is-”

  “NOT! A! VOID BEAST!” Justin lost his cool, screaming at Oura in response to the man's aggression.

  Oura opened and closed his mouth several times, trying and failing to form a sentence as his thoughts were laid bare.

  “Oura, you’ve made a mistake. Your final mistake. Your hubris led to you ignoring all other Council members, and now you’ve caused irreparable damage to a gifted child that would have served as an incredible Shaman otherwise. I’ve deduced what monster you thought he was, and that you are wrong. Not by my testament, but by the glorious word of the System itself: this boy is not infected with a Void Beast.”

  Justin could see when his words set in as a flicker of despair passed through Oura’s eyes, but the fire returned quickly. “There are ways to fake that, and the System has no care for a single random boy. You lie.”

  “I suppose we will see at the trial. Want to know where Dei went? Too fucking bad. Teleport us back home and let us finally put an end to this farce.”

  Oura said nothing, but the anger was clear. For once, Oura was dancing to Justin’s tune, and there was nothing he could do to change that. As Oura raised his staff, Justin heard Whisper in his ear.

  “I’ll see you back home sweety, I’m taking the long way.”

  He made sure to not show anything on his face, it would not do to expose Whisper, as he might need a hidden dagger soon. In the next second, Justin was back in the capital.

  * * *

  POV: Fou Grrata

  Fou bolted upright, throwing the covers off her body and jumping out of bed as a new message came through her Love affinity. Pacing, she quickly decoded it.

  “Hello mom! You’ll never guess, but I just met Justin! He said that you and dad sent him, so thank you! He was very nice and collected enough evidence to prove Iora is lying and that Oura is mistaken. I don’t really know how to take things from here, but I figured I’d tell you that I’ll soon be traveling far away from where you left me, and I don’t know if my messages will still reach you. I will, of course, be back after the legal battle or whatever happens between Oura and Justin, but for now I have something I need to do. I can’t wait to see you again some time soon! I love you, and I’ll always be grateful that you and dad are my parents.”

  Letting out a squeal, she jumped in joy. Not only had Justin found him, but they finally got confirmation from a Shamanic Council member that they were correct. Aside from the obvious fact that Dei would be back soon, a sadistic grin spread across her face that she might soon be legally permitted to slay Iora.

  “Buh- Huh? Fou?” Gor sleepily said, causing her to look at him.

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  He grimaced. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but if you’re possessed, I’d suggest leaving my wife’s body. Didn’t stop me last time.”

  “GOR!” Fou cried, blushing. “I’ve never been possessed and I’m not now! Good news from Dei!”

  Gor laughed. “Maybe, but the ghost wouldn’t have known that. Mighta scared em.”

  Still blushing, she lifted her husband from the bed and pulled him into a hug, getting a gentle caress in return. “So? Not afraid of speaking about the message now?”

  “Nope!” Fou said happily. “They’ll be dead soon anyway, why be afraid now? We were right!”

  The remnants of drowsiness fled from Gor’s mind, and he let out a barking laugh. “HA!” Lifting Fou and twirling her around himself, he said “Just a little longer” then let out a manic grin to mirror Fou’s own.

  Their bottled up emotions finally flooded out in anticipation. In the other room, two children were woken up as an aura of bloodlust startled them.

  “What’s that?!” Ben asked fearfully.

  “Ugh, just mom and dad kissing. Go back to sleep.” she said, disgusted.

  “Eww…”

  * * *

  POV: Aloran of Eternal Refuge, shortly after blessing Dei

  The stone walls fell away, replaced momentarily by a blinding darkness before he was finally dropped in the middle of a dense jungle. Loud, dangerous calls surrounded him, and he quickly dropped the regal posturing he’d kept up in front of his followers and Dei’s group.

  “Danger?” Jasmine asked.

  “Maybe…” Aloran responded. “From what I know from a few of the ascended Gods I’ve spoken to, we should be in dangerous territory. The animals and plants here are born of divinity and each contain a small amount of faith. Killing them will grant any God faith, but it’s just as likely that the God will die and be returned to the ecosystem in turn. We have to be careful. We need to find an established pathway to somewhere with Gods, big or small. They will know where to go to reach a nexus plane.”

  “And this means…?” Amaya asked.

  “Big city of Gods.”

  “Kay! Anyway, Aloran!!! I didn’t want to interrupt you with your followers…” Aloran continued to listen to Amaya ramble, and the others started joining in as well. In seconds, the cacophony of animals were drowned out by her words, the others soon joining in. As he moved through the underbrush, their conversation moved to less and less productive topics, quickly transforming from catching up with one another, to aggressive bickering, with little to no input from Aloran himself.

  He couldn’t keep the smile off his face. Even if they were in the most dangerous place they’d ever gone, he felt no fear.

  His family was together again.

  * * *

  Two days later, he sat back, relaxing with a drink in his hand after he’d run into a nexus plane- one specifically for Gods of Prime Crawlers, a Race of underground primates. The surrounding Gods listened to his story, and they were unhappy. Incredibly so.

  “Oura hid a potential Void Beast incursion?” the Commerce God of Crawlers asked.

  Aloran nodded.

  “Unacceptable,” War of Crawlers said. “We’ve allowed Gem Dwellers to remain mainly atheistic for too long, it is clear they must be civilized. I understand that they might not want help from Gods due to their culture, but it is their duty to report such a threat to the universe”

  Love, Commerce, Growth, Thievery, and Travel all simultaneously rolled their eyes.

  “That kind of thinking is precisely why Gem Dwellers rejected Gods long ago, along with the few others that have,” Travel said. “It was only a single year since the potential infection, so there was no risk of it hatching. Oura would likely have requested help if he was unable to find Aloran’s follower within the next two or so years. He simply did not want to give outside Gods a reason to send missionaries.”

  “And now he has given reason to send conquerors” War replied haughtily.

  Commerce laughed, “Yea, like that hasn’t been tried. Gem Dwellers are built for avoiding divine influence. How many attempts at conquering them is it now? Nine? Ten? Their Shamans just blast away what they can and run from what they can’t. It’s an impressive sight when the Gem Dwellers go nomadic to avoid larger threats. They’ve moved millions of people before in mass migration, they would just do so again if they couldn’t beat our followers. And I am not confident in battling the Shamans at all. Especially not with a blossoming Slaughterer in their midsts?” Commerce said, looking at Aloran again.

  Aloran nodded. “While it is true that they’ve hurt him, Dei is profoundly logical compared to any other Slaughterer. He, surprisingly, holds no grudge against the Race as a whole, just the two that were responsible for his downfall. If you attack the Gem Dwellers, you’ll get a domestic Wrath-based Slaughterer on you in a heartbeat.”

  War frowned. “Reign him in then. You may not be a God of Crawlers yet, but you are powerful. I’m sure the others would be fine with adding you to the pantheon?” he said in question to the others, getting slight nods from all around.

  “Wouldn’t mind having him here,” Thievery said. “But I still think trying to attack the Gem Dwellers is a lost cause.”

  “And, I’m not reigning Dei in. My loyalties lie with him more than any of you, and I can tell he would regret falling into line, if he did at all.”

  War didn’t like Aloran’s tone, but Love, Growth, and Thievery smiled approvingly at Aloran’s loyalty.

  They talked in circles for a much longer time. Aloran was granted temporary sanctuary and food in return for a more in-depth review of everything that’d happened to shackle him to the mortal plane for such a long time. Though he was recently ascended, he was a step above half of them in power, an unheard of feat when he should have made his way up to the Divine Realms long ago.

  Lying back that night and staring at the ceiling, he couldn’t wait to get caught up again with some of the more familiar Gods. he was in a Crawler nexus now, but there should be a clear path to the Human ones later. He’d have to pay a visit to the insect, monster, and protection-based pantheons soon to see which he fit in with the most, but he would probably not end up with humans. That was fine by him, he could still chat with his friends whenever he wanted to, even if they were in another pantheon.

  It might’ve been a hard few centuries, but things were looking up.

  * * *

  POV: The Demon

  He sat on his grand throne of flesh, tubes entering and exiting his body in places, carrying nutrient paste in and the seeds of cursed abominations out. He was unable to move in his current form, but that was fine. It had been so long since he’d taken to the field himself, and his status as more of a general and biological engineer suited him well.

  A hundred thoughts raced through his head, plans for more destruction and despair were formulated and dismissed or put into motion. Distantly, an old report came in. Two scouts near the Gem Dweller humans sent the summarized collection of information they’d collected of a particular human.

  ‘Oh? A little Slaughterer being born? It’s so rare to catch them early, how interesting. It has been a few decades since I’ve launched an attack on the Gem Dwellers, they may have forgotten my fury. It would do good to remind them, but what to do with this little Slaughterer? Kill or harvest? Hmm… the information within this report is quite extensive, and his behaviors and abilities are well documented. Harvesting would be quite easy, and Slaughterer paths tend to make for such powerful demon-kin when their souls are consumed. Very well, I will make a direct counter to him, but what to pick?

  ‘Let's see… he is a Wrath-based fighter, very physical, lacking in magical damage yet with an unknown ability to attack the concept of something directly. Magical enemies would fare better, but not perfectly. It must be magically composed, yet physically strong. Something with tough natural muscles? Intelligent, as this Slaughterer will outsmart it otherwise. Something that can fight in enclosed spaces.

  ‘Something Wrath-resistant, magic based, physically strong, and elusive. It will be expensive, but I have just the thing… but it would be a waste to make this demon-kin simple. Its intelligence will be boosted, it will serve as an elite for the charge and harvest the Slaughterers Skills for its own under the guise of the army.

  ‘What is the minimum level I can make it to let it win, but not waste resources? Let's see… four hundred and fifty should do. Without any Skills or affinities, it will not be easy for it to harvest the Slaughterer, and it will have to rely on Racial and Physical abilities. Now, where was that genetic sample again?’

  The demon went over its old records, centuries past until its early days, when it was far angrier and took to the field frequently. The sample he retrieved from the ancient museum was millions of years old, the story of the beast told in myths and legends.

  It was said that this beast hailed from another universe, one with different laws of physics. An absurd notion, yet one he could not discredit due to the fear still spoken by the Gods of this ancient monster. It had to be special in some way, and it was time for him to bear witness to it with his own eyes.

  The legend said that a Beast God had reached through an impossible veil, pulling the monster from nothing and placing it on the planet to serve as its mortal champion. The monster quickly gained intelligence and conquered the planet for thousands of years, eventually ascending to Godhood and slaying its once master, before moving on to other universes in search of more dangerous battles.

  He remembered the ancient plaque below the single shadowy quill he’d retrieved, a name spoken in ghost stories to scare young Gods away from hubris.

  “Tyrannosaurus Rex - Tyrant of Lizards”