Chapter 34 - Yacova

  The short fox girl shook uncontrollably as she was led towards a large opulent golden door. It was the first time she had ever been to Al-Zora, but the riches on display hadn’t done the stories justice. As an orange-cored seer, her abilities lay in magic rather than strength so control over her body wasn’t as strong as her mind.

  The two guards opened the large doors and she was led in by a servant. The atmosphere was heavy with power. All eyes turned to her as she stepped foot into the large chamber with countless visibly powerful individuals to either side of the chamber and a golden throne straight ahead. Her feet struggled to keep her upright as she approached.

  “Welcome child of Involpo, your presence here is much anticipated” Said a tall woman dressed in white robes.

  Yacova didn’t recognize her at first, but understanding soon came to her as the figure was clearly a priestess of some sort. The only person who would be able to speak openly in this chamber was the famed head cardinal of Vashiva, the temple world protected by the being sitting on the throne straight in front of her.

  Yacova's legs finally gave in as she dropped to her knees.

  “I am humbled to have been welcomed by your greatness”

  “Please raise your head child, you reportedly have important information to share with us in exchange for permanent protection here in the great world of Al-zora.”

  She still had trouble believing this to even be real. It was only a few days ago that she was in hiding, when the message came to their backwater mining world that any information on the ripple would be rewarded with untold riches and personal protection from the great Rahama, she almost fainted on the spot.

  For most who know of the stories of Gesha’s one and only god, having him swear protection meant that entire worlds would burn before a single hair on the protected person's head could be touched. Such a prospect was the stuff of impossible fantasies in the minds of most, usually not for the protection, but rather the unquantifiable wealth that came with being associated with the god’s homeworld. As for herself, this unprecedented opportunity would perfectly fix her entire situation. After all, if she gained the protection of the only god of Gesha, the comparatively insignificant house that sought after her would be absolutely powerless over her.

  She raised her head and locked eyes with the god on his throne. A shiver of fear ran through her body as she immediately averted her gaze. Despite no one leaking any auras… mainly for her own safety, the power emanating from the void was practically visible as the air seemed to ripple around him.

  “Out of all the seers in all of Gesher, you are the only one to have discovered anything about the incident. Would you please recount everything you experienced on that day my child?”

  Yacova nodded without looking her in the eyes as she recounted being on the run and hiding out in the small crystal mining world. She explained the experience of having her psyche sucked into the ripple.

  “When my mind was pulled from my mortal body, the universe showed me a vision. I saw a small light in the blackest darkness. At first, it struggled against the encroaching void, but soon it began to grow. Then the light split off a small piece of itself that disappeared within a rift the fabric of the darkness.

  Each time the lights fragmented, the light as a whole got stronger. I saw the light grow so powerful and radiant that no matter how many pieces it split off, the main source always grew brighter as if nothing could suppress it.

  At that moment… I felt like I was watching the rise of something that defied the heavens. The strength it emitted to fight back the pure darkness seemed to surpass anything I could have imagined. In all honesty, it felt as though I was watching the birth of another absolute.”

  The room was silent at her words but many faces scrunched up when she mentioned a second coming. To many, proclaiming to be an absolute was not only blasphemy but also completely ridiculous. In all of the multiverse and in the time that countless universes have been born and died, only one Absolute had ever come to be. The thought of a second was so ludicrous that even the legendary Godkings of the highest realms would laugh at such claims and proclaim it to be beyond impossible.

  And they would of course be correct, after all, the Absolute wasn't simply a strong mortal who obtained godhood and immortality through mana… he was thought to be the creator of mana itself. He was the one who gifted the multiverse with magic, so who could possibly use the absolute's own creation to become his equal?

  “This vision of a growing light that drowned out the darkness… Did you get a feel for its intent? Or was it representing a natural yet powerful event like a cosmic merge?” Asked the god, speaking up for the first time.

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  “I believe it to have been the representation of an entity my lord. It felt powerful and intelligent, deliberate in its actions. When I was pulled out from the vision, I felt a feeling of awe and disbelief from the ripple, as if this entity had shocked the great Absolute that resides over us all.”

  Murmurs erupted from the hall as mentions of ‘so it was true’ and ‘they were right’ could be heard being exchanged.

  The man to the left of the golden throne stepped forward and addressed the members of the chamber.

  “It appears that the theory that an event that shocked the Absolute has truly taken place, this reaction therefore unintentionally caused a ripple in the sea of whispers. But it also means that the great Nafritese deliberately covered up the disturbance and blocked access to any further divination.

  If your vision is to be believed, then a being capable of growing stronger by dividing or multiplying itself has been born.

  Great misstress Yong, you have direct authority over the old Gesha records, what do you suppose this threat could represent?”

  All eyes turned to the tall white robbed woman by the god’s side.

  “There are two main possibilities as far as I am aware. Either the corrupted have made their way to Gesha, a scenario I find the least likely considering that they were pushed out of any nearby sector eons ago and no sign of them has been seen since.

  The second option is the emergence of a hive.”

  The god's eyes flicked from side to side as he stared at the ground, his mind clearly processing her words.

  “No, you must remember that a ripple like this has never happened in recorded history. No simple hive could shock the great absolute, they can definitely be formidable but overwhelming numbers with no divinity or conjuration magic will always limit any invasive hive.”

  The crowd all nodded along to the god’s words and silence beheld the room for a few long moments… Until Yacova hesitantly spoke up with a shaking voice, still at her spot kneeling two dozen meters from the throne.

  “Wh, what if that was no longer the case… My lord”

  All eyes jumped to her as she somehow sank even deeper into the floor.

  “That’s ridiculous, everyone knows that no hive can use heaven's powers, they are but mere mindless puppets with no individual will.” Declared an old man in a flamboyant robe decorated with many jewels and intricately carved mana stones that exuded barely restrained magical energies.

  “It is unlikely… yet also the most likely.”

  “My lord, what do you mean? You yourself said it would be foolish to believe a mere hive can create such disturbance” Argued the old man, his tone much calmer and speaking without raising his voice.

  “The reason everyone here had been on alert since the incident was because nothing of its like has ever happened before, as such, one can assume that something truly impossible has appeared. Something that can multiply and grow itself through its smaller minions, is most likely a cosmic hive. Beings that travel from world to world, devouring everything in their path.

  Such beings are restricted to simply swarming the worlds with their powerful yet disposable minions in a war of attrition. The queen usually controls their subordinates either through a hive mind or by having them as simple puppets. Many realms use them as a golden opportunity to grow stronger by hunting them for sport.

  But if the great Nafritese were shocked after discovering the existence of such a hive, they must have somehow overcome their limitations. A new hive, maybe even capable of conjuration magic for all of its countless minions.”

  Color drained from the faces of all the people in the room, and even the god seemed the have become uncomfortable at imagining his own hypotheses.

  Yacova couldn’t sweat since she was covered with tough flat fur, so she was inhaling and exhaling at a rapid speed as if hyperventilating.

  “Seer child,” Exclaimed the god after a few silent moments of contemplation. Her entire body froze as her heart jumped a beat. It was hard enough being in this room surrounded by all these powerhouses, but to have the god of Gesh address her directly, she wanted to run away but her body wouldn’t listen to her even if she tried.

  “Your service was most helpful, I will guarantee your and your family's safety here on Al-Zora as promised. In return, you will join the great mistress at the Golden Eye Temple, where you will work discover the whereabouts of this potentially multiversal threat. You may be young and inexperienced, but you are the only one to have not only successfully seen through the veil of whispers, but even returned unharmed, you have heavenly talent. You will be under direct tutelage from Yong.

  As for the rest of you, I declare that this threat is likely to be the greatest Gesha has ever faced his the blood ages.

  Each and every one of you is to form elite factions of all your experts and search the entirety of Gesha if needed. If this new being is truly as powerful as the great Absolute believes, then we must find and kill it no while it is young.”

  The people nodded along gravely to the god's words but the god's right-hand man seemed to have a confused look on his face.

  “Great Rahama, if this threat is as great as you believe, why not ask for help from the Allgard if this being will become so powerful, multiversal threats are their domain after all”

  The god’s face turned to a look of disgust for a fraction of a second before he turned to his grandson.

  “Foolish child, what do you suppose the Allguard would do if word of this was to reach them?!” Said Rahama, his voice not quite a shout but still louder than he would have liked

  He composed himself with a deep breath before continuing

  “Those fools only ever do one thing, they destroy entire sectors to punish individuals and commit countless genocides simply because a single god offends them. If they were to descend to our small realm, only death and destruction would follow

  Why do you suppose the great Absolute silenced his ripple in the sea of whispers? If he wanted to warn the Allguard of a threat he wouldn’t have done such a thing. No, he wanted to warn us in hopes that we can deal with this matter without having our entire universe purged.”

  The god’s middle-aged grandson looked like a terrified child as the god's aura leaked out slightly. He apologized and bowed deeply as the room was filled with a heavy atmosphere. To everyone here, it was a simple yet terrifying fact.

  They needed to find the source of the ripple and destroy the eldritch being that had been born before it grew strong enough to attract the attention of the higher realms. Failure to kill the being meant death, and so was failing to locate it. And for that very same reason, the always beautiful and graceful head cardinal of Vashiva suddenly squealed Rahama’s name with her hands covering her mouth.

  When the god turned to her, he rapidly sucked back in his leaking aura as he momentarily locked eyes with the tall priestess, before she dashed somewhat clumsily towards the now unmoving Yacova who had fainted after the god's small aura leakage.

  Rahama felt a little embarrassed at his actions, as he watched the priestess lift up the unconscious seer he had promised to protect only a few dozen seconds ago.

  “She is fine, simply unconscious. I will take her to rest.” Said the tall Yong as she walked out of the chamber.

  Best not accidentally kill the poor girl before she can ever get settled in he thought to himself as the god watched the beautiful diviner walk away with her newly appointed disciple.

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