Chapter 981: Faustian Deal
Life: the quality that separates a vital and functioning being from a lifeless body.
Death: the end of the life of a person or organism.
It had only lasted five seconds, but Arthur had been dead.
What made it worse was that the one responsible for his death and revival was the Primordial goddess, the one being he had been born as the antithesis of.
"Can...can you guys give me a moment?"
Arthur’s voice was quiet, lacking its usual energy or vitality, and the change darkened Celestia’s expression.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Arthur, his head still facing the ground, spoke first.
"Celestia. You and Lostvayne, too."
Celestia bit her lips silently, her expression on the verge of tears. She reached out to touch Arthur, but before her fingers could make contact, he called her name again, this time with a deep, commanding tone.
"Celestia. Leave."
Quinn seemed like she wanted to say something as well, but Aleksas grabbed her shoulder and silently shook his head.
In that way, Arthur was left alone, not even accompanied by his Ego Weapons, who were always near him.
He remained on his knees, his palms pressed against the floor, slowly clenching as the force of his fingers dug into the icy ground, cracking the planet’s crust.
For a while, he didn’t speak, his mind replaying the events that had just unfolded.
For five seconds, Arthur had been legally and existentially dead.
Luka hadn’t just defeated him. She had executed him and then used Life Law energy to resurrect him because she wasn’t finished "playing."
It was as if his existence wasn’t something he owned, but something she permitted.
He couldn’t put his feelings into words.
Anger? Despair? Humiliation?
He didn’t know which one he was experiencing.
Maybe it wasn’t just one.
Maybe it was a combination of all three.
All mixed into this heavy, inexplicable sensation that clouded his mind.
If Luka had wanted, she could have ended him from the very beginning.
There had been no need for that sham of a ’talk’ she claimed she wanted to have, nor was there any need for a ’fight.’
From the start, this had only ever been a game for Luka. For her entertainment. To satisfy her envious desire for a Slayer of her own.
The only real damage he had inflicted on Luka was that final hit, and that had come after he had drawn so much power from the Concept of Destruction that his mind had been pulled into the Conceptual Space.
Arthur drew in a deep breath.
’I’m still so fucking weak...’
This encounter had slammed that truth into Arthur’s face all over again.
His level of power was high for his age, but in the grand scheme of the Cosmos, he was still just one Deity Realm Existence among an endless number of them.
He had a long way to go.
Arthur understood that logically.
He was only 82, not even a full century old.
’There’s no way I can compare myself to old monsters like Luka, who have existed since the early years of the Cosmos.’
’There’s no way I can...’
’There’s no way...’
’There’s no...’
’There’s...’
"..."
"GAAAAA!!!"
**BAAMMM!!!
Arthur’s clenched fist rose and fell instantly, punching into the ground with immense force, sending splinters racing across the planet’s surface.
There was obviously no way he could hope to compare himself to them, but it didn’t change the fact that what had just happened still stung him physically, mentally, emotionally, and in every possible way.
Losing to an opponent was one thing. Arthur had lost battles before, so this wasn’t new.
But being killed and resurrected by his opponent?!
Arthur bit his lips so hard that blood dripped, the silver liquid staining the icy floor.
"...I need power."
That thought reminded Arthur of the power he had momentarily acquired in his desperation not to die again.
The power he had drawn from the Concept of Destruction.
He remembered the sensation of the power at the other end of the link to the Concept.
He wanted that power.
’If I became an Eternal...would all that power be mine to command?’
But that would mean participating actively in the Candidate Selection, pursuing Chaotic Conceptual power, even though his instincts warned that the decision would be a horrible idea.
However, his desire for power overwhelmed that instinct.
That ravenous hunger for power wasn’t limited to just the Concept of Destruction.
That was only one way to acquire power, and why limit himself to just one?
Why not the Concept of Time as well? He could start going after Candidates and killing any he found to gain their power.
Since he could grow stronger by devouring divine sparks, he could do the same with gods. He could consume every divine spark he came across, whether from a mere Master Realm Existence or a Deity.
Divine Sparks couldn’t be the only method to gain power from gods, could they? What about their corpses? There had to be some way to draw power from the corpses of gods as well.
Maybe he’d have to explore the Laws of Life and Death more deeply to figure that out. Deep enough to reach the Concepts they came from, perhaps.
What about the source of that Conceptual power?
Everything in the Cosmos was rooted in the Cosmic Forces, even the Concepts, so why not go after the ’siblings’ of the Concepts, the other things born from the Cosmic Forces?
’Wyndella said one of them was in Valmone, right? A Cosmic Horror.
Cosmic Horrors are born from the Void god, which itself came from Chaos, and if I can find one with divinity...’
The more Arthur’s thoughts spiralled down that path, the more ’CHAOS’ began to slip into his mind, and the more his thoughts spiralled.
’Why limit myself to Chaotic Conceptual Power? There are other Cosmic Forces, right? I can take power from all sides.’
But reaching the Dark Multiverse would be a problem since Candidates weren’t allowed to go there for some reason.
"But wait...I’m not a registered Candidate, so there shouldn’t be anything stopping me from reaching the Dark Multiverse, right?"
Just as Arthur muttered that aloud, a voice echoed across the otherwise silent snowy land.
"If you want to go to the Dark Multiverse, I can help you."
"..."
Arthur didn’t move, nor did he react to the sudden voice or the presence that came with it. He simply clenched his fists before demanding, |How the hell are YOU here?|
Turning his gaze, he met the brown eyes of the long-eared, olive-skinned man who was suddenly standing not far from him, leaning against the icy wall he’d slammed into earlier as he called out the name.
|Alkosh!|
The Chief of the Nine Divines of the Universe known as Oblivion.
A god King of Time.
Someone from the First Multiverse who should have absolutely no business being in the Second.
"A little bird told me about a certain Progenitor’s encounter with the Progenitor of Dragons, so I rushed here as fast as I could..."
Alkosh brushed some of the snow from his black robes, glancing around as he continued, "This overwhelming divinity suppressing my bloodline...the Progenitor goddess was here, wasn’t she?"
Looking at Arthur, he added, "And it seems your encounter didn’t end well."
Arthur immediately rose to his feet, extending his left hand toward the man, pulling him closer with gravity, and gripping his neck with a palm coated in destructive energy.
|Answer me! How are you here?!|
Despite being held up by Arthur, Alkosh didn’t seem troubled at all, even as the destructive energy inched closer to scorching the skin around his neck.
"How I’m here shouldn’t be your concern. You should be asking why I’m here, don’t you think so, Progenitor godslayer?"
Arthur’s fist clenched, and Alkosh continued speaking with the same ease.
"You want to grow stronger, don’t you? I can help with that. Help you prepare a feast of divine sparks for you to devour at your leisure. Several pantheons’ worth, in fact. Aren’t you interested?"
The man shrugged and added, "Well, they’d still be alive, so you’d have to kill them first, but the end result is a feast all the same."
Glancing at Arthur’s right palm, he went on, "As for the Dark Multiverse, you can’t enter there willingly while you possess a Candidate Sigil. But I can get you there, and it won’t be by your choice.
Someone else would be putting you there to get rid of you, after all. While you’re there, you can retrieve the two fragments of your lost Ego Weapon, and maybe pick up something for me as well."
Arthur immediately slammed Alkosh’s back against the icy wall, his eyes glowing as he demanded, |How do you know about that?!|
Alkosh was claiming Celestia’s fragments were in the Dark Multiverse, but what source of information could he possibly have to speak so confidently?
"How do I know that? Well, you told me, of course. A few centuries later."
Alkosh’s casual response made Arthur’s eyes widen, and noticing the realisation dawn in them, the man added.
"We both have things we want from the Dark Multiverse, so let’s work together. I’d throw in that feast of divine sparks as a bonus.
Let’s plan things out so we both get what we want. A plan that stretches across past, present, and future."
Raising his right hand and extending it toward Arthur, Alkosh said with a smile,
"Let’s write a little Script, shall we?"
"..."
Arthur was silent for a moment.
Then he released Alkosh’s neck, letting the man drop to his feet, and as Alkosh rubbed his reddened neck, Arthur spoke.
"I’m listening."
