Chapter 462 - A Refrain of Broken Chains

  Cire continued to watch over Olethra as her flesh was turned to dust. One little bit at a time, it drifted into the air, melting away into the darkness of the night. She didn’t shift her gaze until the goddess was all the way across the river. Only then, after the st specks fluttered from between her fingers, did she turn her eyes on the starry night sky.

  She had been certain of her victory from the moment she stepped onto the battlefield. Not everything was thought out and pnned. She knew that Kael’ahruus would intervene, but the incarnation was beyond her expectations. Still, she had forcefully veered the pn back on course.

  It almost didn’t feel real.

  But her log—Flux’s voice—attested that her victory was no delusion.

  Log Entry 919119You have sin Olethra, Goddess of Weights and Measures.

  For this unlikely feat, you have inherited her divinity and concept.

  The divine energy flowed into her as she listened to the goddess’ voice. It was a faint trickle at first, but breaking the dam, it quickly became a torrential downpour. Her body was flooded with such power that she thought that she would be overwhelmed, but the sensation faded as quickly as it surfaced.

  The divinity didn’t vanish. She could still feel it, and she could easily tell that she had more of it at her fingertips than she ever had before. But somehow, her body took it in stride.

  Log Entry 919120You have unlocked the Accountant, Appraiser, Breast Appraiser, Calcutor, Chartered Accountant, Closet Pervert, Criminal Prosecutor, Fraudmaster, High Revenue Agent, Insider Trader, Justice, Lawyer, Layabout, Master of Finance, Master Revenue Agent, Mathematician, Merchant, Metal Appraiser, Metal Mage, Moneymonger, Muscle Hater, Peeping Tom, Phallus Appraiser, Philosopher, Physicist, Precious Metal Mage, Revenue Agent, Secretary, Sloth, Spreadsheet Witch, Supreme Justice, Tax Consultant, Theoretical Physicist, and Witch of Scales csses.

  There seemed to be a few odd entries mixed into the otherwise functional csses, but for Olethra’s sake Cire decided to pretend that she hadn’t seen them.

  Log Entry 919121Sovereignty over weights and measures has been revoked. (Error Code: 7. Incompatible concept detected. Entity compatibility of 0.000024% is less than the required minimum of 75%.)

  Log Entry 919122Seeking alternative sovereignty.

  Log Entry 919123Sovereignty acquisition aborted. (Error code: 41. Requisite ascension not yet achieved.)

  The longmoose popped open her log and followed along as the system vomited one entry after another. She scanned each entry carefully, just to make doubly sure she didn’t miss anything important.

  Log Entry 919124Achievement Unlocked - At the Cost of Order

  Have you ever paused to consider the concept of showing restraint? Evidently, you would return a resounding no. Mortal or otherwise, few would look favourably upon the opportunity to sy a god, and even fewer would dare to take action. For any individual with a functioning frontal lobe, such a deed would register as one of inordinate insanity, the benefit of which you have failed to fully extract. Had you broken the thousand-level wall, you could very well have taken the next step in one leap. Perhaps you should have considered this possibility prior to wasting your time on the winter festival. The consequences of both these choices will prove dire in time.

  Cire smiled as she listened to the bitter commendation. Clear insults aside, she didn’t doubt the goddess’ words for a moment. Olethra’s death would come with its fair share of consequences; she wasn’t so delusional as to think that she could simply walk away after ending a goddess. The ruler of weights and measures didn’t have enough of a following for any mortals to take note, but other deities certainly would. A divine assault could very well have been around the corner if any of Olethra’s friends thought themselves close enough to seek vengeance, but that was about the extent of it.

  Or at least that was what she thought.

  NoticeCire Augustus has sin Olethra, Goddess of Weights and Measures.

  The system-wide experience multiplier has been raised from 35% to 40%.

  Cire Augustus has not elected to inherit Olethra’s divine authority. System-wide bonuses for financial computation have decreased in effectiveness.

  Individuals with the Accountant css are no longer capable of learning the appraisal skill. This skill has been revoked for individuals cking additional csses capable of providing this functionality.

  Accountants and Merchants are no longer capable of accessing the universal ledger by default. A minimum of two ascensions is now required to unlock this functionality.

  The Accountant, Lawyer, and Merchant csses no longer gain bonus experience from remediation.

  The Appraiser css’ requirement count has risen from 3 to 17.

  It wasn’t Flux who spoke the announcement, but another familiar voice. It took Cire a few seconds to identify it as Flitzegarde’s, and a few thousand more to sit through all of the accompanying changes. There were hundreds of css-reted entries, exactly none of which benefited the individuals affected.

  The Lawyer skill, Judgement, has been disabled. Lawyers no longer deal increased damage to individuals denoted as criminals.

  The Merchant skill, Fair Valuation, has been disabled. Merchants no longer deal increased damage based on the amount of currency carried on their person.

  All affected abilities, csses, and skills will return to their prior states upon the death or final ascension of Cire Augustus.

  It wasn’t just Cire who heard the goddess’ words, but everyone hooked up to the system. Case in point, Lana looked around with her ears twitching while Arciel lightly tapped her fan against her chin in amusement. Krail was mouthing off, questioning the voice, and confirming the accompanying changes.

  Cire, in the meantime, breathed a sigh. Not only had everyone learned of her achievement, she even had a bounty pced on her head. She could only imagine the schemes that merchants the world over would consider to get their skills restored. She didn’t mind their attention or hostility. If anything she was happy to cim all the free experience, but Rubia would no doubt be embroiled in trouble.

  Log Entry 919125You have leveled up. Your health and mana have been partially restored.

  Your racial css, Caldriess (Enlightened) has reached level 1000.

  Your titur css, Witch of the Seventh Tempest, has reached level 3740.

  You have gained 7113740 ability points.

  The next few entries outlined the growth of her skills. Like her css levels, they shot through the roof, boosted by the copious experience that the goddess’ death awarded. She wasn’t about to compin, but it was excessive for how easy Olethra was to manipute. It almost felt like the many more difficult tasks she had accomplished were pointless, entirely irrelevant. And perhaps, in the eyes of the gods, they were.

  Log Entry 919132You have reached level 1000. Further racial progression is halted until you attain systemic or divine approval.

  Log Entry 919133The system has acknowledged your might. You have earned the right to ascend to aspect.

  Cire closed her eyes and initiated the process as soon as she spotted the log. She knew how. It was exactly what she’d done with Boris.

  Her divinity swelled. Strength bubbled up from her core and flooded her circuits.

  Log Entry 919134Vel has overridden the system value and revoked your right to ascend.

  But the process came to a halt before she could see it to its completion. She was left gawking at the message with her hands in her face and the goddess’ name long spoken in vain.

  Log Entry 919135Builledracht has overridden the system value and restored your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 919136Vel has overridden the system value and revoked your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 919137Flux has overridden the system value and restored your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 919138Vel has overridden the system value and revoked your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 919139Flux has overridden the system value and revoked your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 919140Vel has overridden the system value and restored your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 919141Vel has overridden the system value and revoked your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 919142Flux has overridden the system value and restored your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 919143Vel has overridden the system value and revoked your right to ascend.

  She could feel a headache coming on as a series of identical messages flooded her log. Flux’s voice echoed over and over, repeating the same two lines so many times that she felt like she would lose her mind.

  Log Entry 930937Flitzegarde has overridden the system value and restored your right to ascend.

  Log Entry 930938You have received a divine revetion:

  Cire Augustus,

  I have temporarily revoked Vel’s access to the ascension subsystem. Please complete your ascension within 24 hours to avoid further systemic disruption.

  Flitzegarde

  Cire breathed a sigh of relief as all of the system’s nonsense finally came to an end. Closing her eyes, she fell back in the snow, ying down beside Olethra as the rest of the brigade approached. They were still a fair ways away. They had retreated a full kilometer to keep themselves from becoming colteral damage.

  She could more or less guess what they were going to say when they finally closed the distance, and with everything that would follow, she was probably better off ascending immediately, but she stopped shy of committing.

  Something felt off.

  It just didn’t make sense.

  Vel was no doubt an enemy. But even then, her actions were inexplicable. She was the type that wanted her enemies to grow stronger. If anything, Vel should have happily endorsed Cire’s growth in the hope that she would challenge her.

  “What do you think?”

  The words were muttered to the faint, glowing object hovering in the space beside her. About the size of a fist, the orb spun a circle around her before returning to its previous position.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” said Cire. “She has to be up to something.”

  The sphere bobbed up and down, silently voicing its agreement again.

  She still couldn’t decide what she was meant to do with it. Consuming it was the most intuitive choice, but she didn’t see the point. Olethra’s soul had already squeezed itself dry and offered her everything it could. That was why it was so dim, so translucent in the first pce. She would gain little from absorbing what was left.

  The soul itself was happy to await its fate. It happily danced around her, not at all concerned with her deliberation.

  That was half the reason she wanted to let it go. She didn't particurly dislike Olethra. In fact, she wouldn't say that she really disliked her at all. She wasn't the sharpest spear in the shed, but neither was Sylvia, and they got along just fine. Their positions on the opposite side of the battlefield had existed only because they were arranged by the hunter—all the more reason to do everything except for what he hoped.

  “Would you like to come along?” Eventually, that was the question she arrived at. The spirit didn't quite seem to understand, so she continued with her eyes across the horizon. “I want to see the world once I wrap up my business. You can come if you'd like,” she said. “It won’t be all fun. I’m sure awful things will happen. You might be better off reincarnating and trying your hand at life again. You don’t know what you’ll get either way. But this, at least, takes out some of the guesswork.”

  The spirit hesitated for a second. It pondered for a moment before bobbing up and down in front of her.

  “It’s settled then.”

  Cire lifted the soul in her hands and pulled it into her chest. Its light slowly returning, the orb accepted the embrace and vanished into her body.

  Log Entry 930939You have assimited Olethra, Goddess of Weights and Measures.

  Log Entry 930940You have acquired a new spirit guardian.

  It didn’t disperse as it would have, had she simply consumed it. Remaining as a whole, it bounced around her circuits and harmonized with their contents before emerging again in an altered form.

  She didn’t look exactly as she did in life. The wood that possessed her was gone, and her colour was a translucent blue. Most notably, however, was her less-than-comparable size. She had gone from a standard humanoid to a tiny creature about as tall as a finger. Even fairy Sylvia would have towered her over like a giant.

  She was small enough that she could bance on Cire’s colr, her back fitting snugly in the gap between her armour and her neck.

  “I guess that makes you Colrsaur,” said Cire.

  Olet—Colrsuar blinked in confusion.

  “It’s tradition.” Offering no more expnation, the moose stretched her back and got to her feet.

  Her allies were at the bottom of the hill, almost within reasonable speaking range, but Cire turned her attention to the lone foe who had survived their encounter.

  The tiger was slowly inching away, sneaking from the battlefield to the best of its ability. But try as he might, he couldn’t help the fact that he was a giant orange furball in a field of snow. He froze when he sensed her gaze, resuming his movement again only when she looked away.

  There was probably some merit in recruiting him, but Cire dismissed the idea as quickly as it popped into her head. Turning a blind eye, she allowed him to leave unbothered.

  Any grudge he might have held was entirely one-sided.

  She, at least, didn’t feel like there was any reason to butcher him. Aside from maybe his pelt. It was a really nice pelt.

  “I was under the impression that someone else would be dealing with our deity problem. Not for a moment did I consider that you would defeat her without assistance,” said Arciel. “And I do believe congratutions are in order.”

  “Thanks,” said Cire. “I should be the one congratuting you. For ascending.”

  “Thank you,” said Arciel, with a wide grin.

  “Congratutions, Cire,” said Allegra. “You've come so fa—”

  “You shut up,” the snake-moose’s eyes bzed in red and gold as she shot the rabbit a gre. “Don't ever talk to me again.”

  Her eyes open wide, Allegra slowly lowered her half-extended hand and stumbled backwards. She didn’t dare push her luck or voice any further questions. A gnce at the all-too-familiar expression told her everything that she needed to know.

  She didn’t know if Panda had leaked the truth, or if she had seen in Aurora’s mirror. But either way, Cire knew.

  Arciel took a moment to look curiously between the pair before breaking the awkward silence. “I presume that, with this battle, you have achieved your ascension as well?”

  “Sort of,” said Cire.

  “Are you perhaps in need of a deity’s approval? I struggled with precisely that myself.”

  “Something like that,” said Cire.

  “How curious. Given the dispy, as well as the deed that followed it, I would expect the system to offer its approval. Though I must say, I found it rather difficult to ear—”

  “By the fucking gods, can you shut up already?” grumbled Jules. “You’ve told this goddamn story three whole ass times already.”

  “Perhaps, but I have yet to tell it to Cire.”

  “Do it some other time. I’m not listening to that shit again.”

  Ciel sighed. “I suppose I shall refrain this once.” She averted her gaze and covered a pout with her fan, no doubt well aware that she had been a little too keen to brag.

  “I don’t mind,” said Cire.

  “Yeah, because you haven’t heard it three fucking times!” shouted the cm. “She’s literally fucking told it every time we regrouped!”

  “Four, technically,” said Chloe. “And I don’t really mind either.”

  “You shut the fuck up.” Jules massaged the bridge of his nose. “No one cares what you think.”

  Cire ughed. It hadn’t been that long since they went their separate ways for training. But somehow, the party’s interactions felt oddly nostalgic.

  “Let’s head to the castle,” said the snoose. “Sylvia is waiting.”

  “You’ve got some expining to do along the way,” said Jules.

  “There’s not much to expin,” said Cire.

  “Perhaps you could begin by justifying the extent of your growth?” suggested Arciel. “The amount you exhibited is strictly abnormal. I cannot for a moment fathom the method of its acquisition.”

  “I’m rather curious as well,” said Krail. “From what I’d gathered, you were certainly ahead of us, but the difference wasn’t quite that dramatic. ”Even knowing that your circuits have healed, I did not think that it was even remotely possible for you to sy a celestial, let alone a goddess.”

  “I’m not that strong,” said Cire. “My father was still stronger, at my level.”

  “That’s gotta be bullshit,” said Jules.

  “I wish it was.” She turned her armour back into a dress as she started towards the castle. “He killed a few celestials before he ascended. All of them were stronger than Olethra. And almost all of them were killed in just one hit.”

  “Didn’t you just off the goddess the same way?” asked Jules.

  Cire shook her head. “I couldn’t have killed her without using her own strength against her. My father would’ve downed her with one of his own strikes.”

  “If he’s that strong, why doesn’t he just conquer the continent?” asked Chloe. “That’s what the Cadrians want isn’t it?

  “The rest of them, maybe, but him, I dunno,” said Jules. “Me and Krial ran into him a few times back when we were in Valencia. Didn’t seem like nearly enough of a bastard to try any shit like that.”

  “He did make for quite the impression during our encounters as well,” said Arciel, “He remained perfectly reasonable in the face of Chloe’s discourtesy.”

  “Enough about him,” said Cire. “I don’t want to hear it.”

  “You were the one who brought him up,” said Jules.

  The moose rolled her eyes. “Let’s talk about something else.”

  “Does the castle have snacks?” asked Lana.

  “There were a few different kinds st I checked,” said Cire.

  “I can’t wait,” said Lana. “I wonder what snacks goddesses eat…”

  “Good ones, I bet,” said Chloe. “We’d better get ready to steal her recipes.”

  Lana nodded vigorously. “I’ll try my best.”

  “Am I a dumbass, or are we getting even more sidetracked?” muttered Jules.

  “Both,” said Cire.

  “Both,” agreed Arciel.

  “Oh, fuck off.”

  “I do believe you arranged for that one yourself,” said Arciel. “Now let us be on our way. I look forward to receiving this trial’s rewards. Perhaps, we may grow stronger yet.”

  Her eyes turning briefly to the moon, the Vel’khanese queen picked up the pace and urged the group towards the goddess’ castle. Though perhaps not a catch-all solution, her blessing would certainly increase their odds of overcoming Cadria’s elites.