Prelude to Book 4: Heist of Lady Vermillion - Part 1
Sounds of chirping birds echoed throughout the outer gardens around a rocky, yet modern-looking structure. Many vast and precious trees bearing ripe fruits of all kinds were making rows of valuable assets. On one part, they were there for aesthetics and style, though they were far from any eyes because of their location. On another, it didn't matter if the lacking eyes were there or not, as they weren't abiding by their purpose.
Gardens weren't important since they were outside of much vastness. Above them, the walls held an open hallway with large windows where a person could stand and barely see them. Partly inside and outside, it was just a small part of an unfathomable rich and vast castle. Windows were just openings that directed the potential eyes to a much more impressive distant horizon.
The castle itself was hard to see from this position. It was so tall, that the city's buildings below weren't visible. That wasn't because of the size, but something else.
If one leaned out, one could see a rare piece of land, which was anything but a man-made garden in a lifeless and rocky castle. There was hardly any land to grow crops, yet the trees flourished anyway. It was true that the castle was like a sword protruding from the flat lands, surrounded by white clouds as far as one could see, and hiding an impressive city that wasn't that small underneath.
Bright thanks to the considerable altitude, rich in aura, and clear air, this castle was a special place of interest in an even more special world.
Located in one of the many Divine Kingdoms beyond the Battleworld, it was large, unusual in premises and visions, but all made up of godly interest. Unlike many places on the Surface, where mortals took their time for granted or pride, this place was where Gods ruled in heat, steps, and direct eyes.
Divine Kingdoms differed from Hells or rare instances of Gods residing on the Surface, yet many mortals were everywhere, here included. Gods ruled such places with heavier hands, managing their subjects who wished to follow them here. Most of it was about the land itself. This planet was a divine one. Powers, politics, and worth in, a Divinity-filled world were hard to come by. With godly touches that the Surface could never hold, although, with complicated deepness, this place had its issues at another level.
Owned and created by Gods like their own lives, Divine Kingdoms were about the land and people. They weren't easy or simple places. Partaking and living in numerous activities, Gods held them in various visions, ideas, and premises. They were hiding secrets, benefits, and worth that they desired, stole, or took for themselves. There was no room for mortal discussion, as Pantheons were rising under such lands, and Gods could rise or fall.
It was creating homes and fuel to empower their Divine Spark, which gave rise to Divine Power. It was the kind of energy that was deemed above mana by many Gods, giving their Path a brand new direction. It was a different style, premise, and worth than mana. In the current Epoch, it was the power exerted by the greater Divides, but was it all? The depth of the universe was deep after all.
Divinity was an overall empowerment. Gods had their rules, and what depicted their vast potential was Authority and how they handled their Path and godhood.
All Gods needed a Divine Kingdom if they wanted to be something more than a weak God. Some needed it more; some less. Some were much vaster since their growth to godhood was hard yet successful. Others were easier.
Surrounding the Battleworld, Sky Gods, as history depicted their names in the Battleworld, resided in the three Divine Spheres that glowed in the light of the universe, mana, and divinity, creating suns in the sky above the Surface.
On them, Gods created or established Divine Kingdoms away from the Battleworld, but close and watchful. Some forced or stole some lands on the spot, as they were empty when they came here to establish a new age. Albeit it was dull and weak at first, it grew over the last tens of thousands of years, while the Battleworld itself was like a backyard for their interest and people.
It was a home, reputation, and potential expansion for their mortal subjects, families, friends, lackeys, and various other people that these lands required.
Such were the places where people and Gods lived together, and where ego and power moved at alleged peace. It wasn't simple, however, because many sorts of beings of various desires lived there under the Pantheons of Spheres, divided into groups of politics and expansion.
There might be a Ruler amongst them, but it wasn't as bright and celebrated.
With Gods having their priorities, it was still one of the safest places around this part of the universe. And when numbers mattered like safety, the established Pantheons were an incredible force to reckon with. Outside forces, foreign Authority, or something that most of them didn't want to accept or acknowledge., wouldn't come blindly at them.
Some unhinged demonic gods thought otherwise, but these assholes from the Depths weren't fit for the Divine Kingdoms of the Sky. Those should eat dirt and have their peace below the Surface or disappear altogether into the Void or Chaos Space and never return. It was more than fitting for them to thread the politics like a game. At least under the opinions and unarguable political power of the Divine Spheres.
They would be dealt with. Unsurprisingly, such a place had unfathomable wealth and protection to outlast their issues or the whole world. It was enough for their subjects, albeit it might be far from enough for Gods themselves.
Vermillion knew all about that, even if she was taking a different route in this place, Sphere, and time.
It was bound to shift. Vermillion stood in a split of Fate and she was taking one step. She was a relatively carefree-looking lady, overlooking the surrounding vast clouds from a lonely hallway.
Alone, there was nobody here because this place was sensitive and kind of tough ordeal.
The openness let a subtle breeze at her face, swaying her crimson hair that was dancing behind her back and sides, and annoying her keen eyes. Observing the clouds like the sea, she stood in the most influential organization in the surrounding universe.
The reason? All Gods had some reason to invade something private in secret. It was a time to change the tides, or completely annihilate it, even though she wasn't forced to do that in the slightest.
Murai caused that. It was an excuse she thinly believed in for the sake of appeasing her future actions. She repeated that in her mind dozens of times a day, figuring that time and Fate was a joke like Murai's unwillingness, or perhaps it made sense. Perhaps he was just her excuse that she kept hidden in her heart.
She waited a long time to crack her reputation and power, yet Murai bricked that by changing her outlook and giving her time that she took for something separate.
It wasn't his fault nor his problem. Yet. Murai would refuse her advances at any day, time, age, or life. He hated the definition of this nonsense that others wanted something out of him while he didn't want to even see their faces, let alone hear their voices. There weren't even that many grudges between him and the Gods. They didn't deserve him for the most part, but who knew the truth? Gods? Murai?
At least Murai, as a Cursed One, held a sensitive course in history, so he knew that the universe was ridiculous. Most Gods, if they ever wanted to think of him in some unfilial or weird idea, would never achieve anything, let alone get his reputation, unless they would become unhinged and went far into nowhere like crazy bastards.
Vermillion thought of it otherwise. It was an opportunity that was natural like when acted in the Endless Skies. Gods could be unhinged to begin with if they wanted to grow or do things outside of the box, or when they held no alternative.
And Vermillion wanted something like never before! She couldn't wait. This won't come twice. She was hiding far too long, so she would force anything out of Murai's head, mind, soul, body, or anything else. She will force him to accept his inevitable Fate. Same as her. There was no going back if she would do what she wanted.
She will become something better than a Taboo Maker, or Breacher, or thief. She will gladly become a blight that will turn this Sphere and the world below upside down, cascading its effects like a house made of cards.
She made up her mind, standing close to the windows of a castle that depicted a major place for the Divine Sky Faction, best known as Battlewill Division by Gods.
These were simple names for this castle-like location that was hiding an extensive interest in Lordis, Battleworld's Ruler.
Vermillion didn't care for him or this place. She called it simpler out of spite. Divine Camp was a more fitting name, considering the way it worked for so many generations and methods.
Nice as the castle looked from the outside, what was occurring inside was a mess that only Gods wanted, created, and desired. It was their little palace of influence, authority, and hopes, and it wasn't exactly for them to rise in power, but for mortals to do so. It was a double-edged sword, similar to tossing a single pebble and killing two flies.
Since empowering mortal's desires gave Gods some edge and various benefits, there was a side of greed, interest, and system that this place labored. It went like no emotions, soul constructs, fools, or other things could ever achieve. It was all about worth, power, and greed. Even some Offerings, Blessings, and all sorts of other things worked to their advantage, growing their reputation, Divine Power, and other things.
The Divine Kingdoms were also important, but ascending mortals from the Surface was not a simple occurrence. They have to be powerful to survive in this place. Both mentally, politically, and physically. Having natives born into the Divine Kingdoms was a better chance, while trials to the ascension were a different story.
As a God older than the current depiction of Battleworld's Pantheons, Vermillion was a small rarity in this world, because she played her cards far too safely, choosing to act as a neutral party.
It was her desire that was slowly changing, or it did long ago, but she was choosing to remain free of any problems. By now, Levandis or others probably understood that something strange was brewing.
Vermillion changed her mind after all and comprehended the worth and danger of her actions. She also knew what greed and power were capable of, changing or guiding to nowhere. It was something she saw numerous times, even in different words, or in different people.
Lordis created an interesting premise and tides, and she was about to touch that premise with her own hands. A Rank 2 God, all by herself, she planned to challenge the system.
She wondered what would happen if she cracked it apart completely, but perhaps it was her wishful thinking that was far outside of her choices. Who would hate her and hunt her, or what chances did she even have in that idea? There were doubtful and questionable worries in her head, yet once decided, she began to move.
There were only a couple of ideas, honestly, or chances that were feasible. A pair was a fine start, and if one failed, she would take the other.
It was a gamble. A lone one, that should be capable of taking her decision and changing the flow she selected.
Dressed in a simple uniform unfit for her status, she changed her complexion with a quick breath and stepped from the window inside. White was the primary color of her uniform, depicting a neat upper suit with blue ribbons and a high collar. The lower body had long trousers that she kind of hated. They were too tight for her, but it was no wonder.
It wasn't something fit for a God. It was a simple uniform for a relatively high-ranked officer, so fewer issues would come her way in a mission she was bound to endure. She stole it to infiltrate a place that was extensive with people, protection, and all kinds of defense systems. The fewer people noticing her, the better. That was the first plan she had and an idea that had to settle. Having a low-ranked costume wasn't good. Seeking too high one wasn't perfect either. It added some worries; she didn't want to stand out too little or too much.
Vermillion didn't complain about the style that was close to workers.
There were a lot of people she was about to see, and a lot of people were about to see her too. The kind that worked with an unfathomable machine that this entire castle required. Thousands of workers were there, if not more. There were also many more problems besides them. She wasn't worried about people.
Outside and around the stretching sight beyond the sea of clouds, there were hundreds of towers around the castle's various sides, walls, and heights. They surrounded one immense pillar that stretched from the middle of the castle, pushing for dozens of kilometers to the sky, aiming at the Battleworld that was above, looming like the foreign universe that was a few thousand kilometers away. Tides of shimmering fog and energy were coming from the inside of this pillar, connecting this place with the Battleworld, and working on something that she would describe as a blissfully ignorant treasure of unimaginable exploits.
Everything glowed in weird light, yet Vermillion focused on the interiors of the castle instead.
Her hair was too eye-catching, and so was her status, red eyes, and godly aura which were kind of hard to Veil. But she had to control herself unless what she was about to do would fail as quickly as her gaze at the sea of clouds.
Most of her kind should be utter masters in the magic of any shape or form, but what's the truth? Not every God was the master of everything. As long as mana mended to their Path like a fine uniform, and as long as no dangerous infiltrations were put into their position, veiling or using their Authority would do enough. Then, Vermillion's mana was also fine. She was in tune with the Greater Sky's River of Manaflow.
Against her could be many sensors, formations, arrays, and various defensive mechanisms that could detect and work even against a God. It didn't matter if one was from the Depths, Surface, or the Sky. Any unauthorized access or status was not fit to meddle with this castle.
Lordis ensured that, obvious by hundreds of Gods and many other things living among the Divine Spheres.
Vermillion was one of them, so she kept her Divine Power at bay as much as she could, veiling it to her best capacity. In that sense, her Authority was also up to her benefit, since it was a power that essentially tempered all of her Path and self, and influenced her acts and reality. Godly Authority was mostly known as an indication that could end a single life or a whole army. The truth was worse. Authority was endless. It had no end in sight. It was the person who was the limiting factor, while Gods were the same. In a large playground formed long ago, kids were playing without the adults.
It made Vermillion nervous. She was in the middle of the most influential Divine Kingdom, so many checks, guards, and other defenses were in many places. Especially in the workplace that she had to infiltrate first, before seeing further dangers ahead or down.
She knew why this idea was silly, but not that dangerous in the first half. If she was found now, others would question her at best first. Few fools would truly seize some ideas against a Rank 2 God who infiltrated a job for mortals.
But if she went deeper, to the place of true importance, things wouldn't be so good.
Gods were lofty, often unwilling to bend a knee or compromise even if they were in the wrong. Some of their subjects were the same.
However, Lordis was in a position that was mighty and proud. He could punish those that pissed him off regardless of some complaints. Be it Rank 2 or Rank 1 God, he was able to handle them, as long as the whole regiments wouldn't knock on his door or discussions, or demand something silly.
This castle aimed at the center of the world above, defining hopes to countless souls who wanted things that the world couldn't grant on its own.
It needed a system. An outlet. Lordis forced one into creation, forming something few would dare to take under their grasp. He was the first to do so, so Vermillion wasn't finding it that problematic. What she was about to do was a different idea, similar to spitting at his rules, views, and this place in general.
It wasn't her idea to see the flow of greed or other problems. It will affect her in many ways anyway, but she was about to charge right into this den.
Why? She desired the next steps, so she decided to take on the mantle few would bear. A lot of things in the universe happened because of that simple idea and desire that often had small chances of success or feasibility.
It went right there with ego, confidence, or stupidity.
She wasn't foreign to those ideas, nor to the power that many other Gods wanted, feared, or witnessed. Lordis was just a fool. A fool who was the first to clutch his chances and it burst out of him like the finest of blessings, carrying him to the point where he had almost no equals.
Making a quick bun out of her waist-long hair didn't help much, but it was enough to hide the contrast of her current appearance. Her skin wasn't pale, but her eyes made her weird. She had yet to make a move, so she had to prepare.
Until she dived into this place' core, cracking the desires that kept Gods and Battleworld always connected, she kept her hopes hidden. Success would take its toll anyway, while a deeper loss meant she could lose everything.
Keeping her emotions intact was another step besides her uniform and heart, so Vermillion readied herself.
The same could be said for her aura and godly power. Thin layers of the light surrounded her body like glowing mist, but it was vibrating and flowing around her skin and even her uniform. It was slowly decreasing in efficiency under every breath, displaying her control of Divine Power.
The Ranks of Gods had the power to influence others, themselves, or the world around them. It depended on their Path, bodies, and the quality of Divine Spark, Power, and various other things. Magic was also somewhere amid this power, as Paths often worked with mana and magic very closely.
But Divine Power changed it all, turning mana into a lesser tool, even if some believed that mana was much stronger than Divine Power. It was true, but the benefits of Divinity alone weren't in power. It was about the sheer presence and ability to influence this growth.
Vermillion turned to some breathing technique that calmed her down. Veiling was hard for most Gods since they were at the stage where few wanted to hide. She accomplished it until the thin shivering glow was gone. It was one of the hardest things for her.
Hiding and squeezing such power inwards wasn't fitting for those like her. It was like lying to their Path, berating everything they owned, or who they were.
Unless the Path suitable for Veiling wasn't under one's possession, godly powers were usually evident under other Gods. They would feel when one made some sensitive moves or visits, or if not, specific senses, formation, and watchful eyes would do it instead. Presence or Authority were also good tools for this.
Vermillion had a good position to not worry about it for the time being. She trained her Veiling for numerous Chaos Cycles. She won't lose. She also had treasures and experiences to accomplish this heist. Having a few trump cards helped her to ease her anxiety.
“Alright. Calm and steady. It's not like I've stolen things for the first time. Not as if a God needs to steal, but not as if it is that different from a trip to afar. Right. A trip sounds good like a heist. I am going to borrow something anyway. From the Ruler. Depths too.” She whispered to herself, her voice carried calmness, softness, and heat of many emotions. She made up her mind.
Turning around, she was in a sector outside of this castle that wasn't under any ridiculous sensors. The way in and further down was the start of the corridors and her start. There were official entrances there, with countless defenses afterward. Even some walls had many sensors and formations.
She went on a stroll as if she went to a garden.
She can't just Warp her way into her desired location, unfortunately. There were far too many possibilities for things to go wrong, so she had to take her chances and use the layout of this castle itself. Her Authority will do the rest of the work, but that wasn't helpful by itself. She had a plan in mind, insider information, and a route onward.
Thankfully, she was prepared. All that was left was the infiltration, not being caught, and warping through reality under the eyes and numerous important sectors of this large castle.
Walking ahead, she found a suitable spot after counting, sensing, and checking her time. She used her Divine Power in the simplest terms to affect reality, which then meddled with her Authority. It was like a breath. Halted Divine Power flowed out of her mouth and her palms. She pressed them into the wall, bending the space and turning the world strange. It was like a sneeze into the dimensions.
“Warp...” She looked as if acid drowned her when she stepped through the warped space, appearing in new hallways with white colorful walls and black-marbled floors. Normally, she would be able to do so much more than this. A simple Warp through space or Void would let her reach quite far.
She could've gone with the official route, of course. Most workers had cards and shifts all the time, cycling the workforce. Thus, identity cards were important, but she would get recognized even with a forged identity or without it, so locating a route into the official sectors was the first step, while not being noted was second.
It was true that she could visit this place after paying some attention to some people, but then, she would be watched by hawks and eyes under every corner, followed by some authorities she didn't want to involve.
Thus, resorting to this idea was her only choice. Looking around and behind, the reality calmed. No alarms came off, and her little "sneeze" went barely into the walls. In this way, none knew of her arrival, and there were some regions that even Gods couldn't visit, nor some officers.
The hallway was a shiny place, even with the black floor. Bright thanks to the light flickering walls of warm marbles, there was clarity and minimalistic design to everything. And there was no one around her, so she veiled herself straight away and stopped herself from being too obvious. As she expected, she looked suspicious. Calmness and being suspicious didn't go hand in hand.
Too much stress was pain. If someone saw her, she had to remain clearheaded, so she stretched her arm and got something out of her pocket.
Black glasses. It was a rather dumb way to assert some secret identity, but it was better than nothing. Mana was under the control of her Path, even though it was a power of the universe, and Divine Power was very self-centered and individually fixated on Divides. It could, or might not meddle with too many things at once. A God was still differentiating or focusing on their specific needs. Learning, teaching, and training were still up to their benefits.
Letting some of her power into the glasses, she turned them translucent, apart from the edges. She put them on and her eye color changed from red to blue.
Veiled Divine Power was her most important tool and problem. A single mistake of anyone noticing it would crash her plans.
So far, her acts made her special, even if all Gods were heads of their respective Path.
Hers involved mana as many Paths did, so her Mana Core was equally important to her like her Authority. It all changed and fused with the Divine Spark, giving her Path the change and power of a proper God of her Path.
Around the corner, people in a similar uniform as hers appeared, talking to one another as they were about to leave the castle, and putting some nerves into Vermillion's mind.
They were regular people with some powers of Shapers or Handlers. They were as normal as they would be on the Battleworld, though their home was here in the Divine Spheres.
Nothing much changed in the Divine Kingdom for those without godly powers, but there were still some small changes one had to think about. One could still grow old and weak, or take this planet for a sacred curse. A lot of underlying characteristics were different from the worlds unaffected by Gods. Their core idea was to serve and do work for some Divine Kingdom. Being free here for them was almost impossible.
There were many generations of people. They were ordinary yet born out of unordinary, as their ancestors either Ascended or took some people out to the Divine Spheres. New births and cycles of mortality did the rest, causing the Divine Spheres to have a big population, even if no one was allowed to the Battleworld unless it was their job.
When directly living in the Divine Kingdoms, one's flesh or mind would catch and start processing some form of Divine Power, giving rise to mutation and special talents, and even mortals would manifest some divine powers close to mana. Well, they were still mortals, so they could handle some Paths or become mages.
Thus, a lot of changes came with some costs and rules. People adhered to the basic principle of not leaving these lands as long as their God judged it so.
Most weren't free for a good reason, but no one was a true slave either. Most were citizens with responsibility, families, and connection to one Divine Kingdom and its rules. One would pledge to them, change citizenship due to work, or change of heart.
Safety and acts of Gods were one of the clearer reasons why they were like that. The primary reason was power. Gods can promise and gift them their desires in exchange for servitude or work. Most citizens took that without hesitation since there was never enough manpower.
Vermilion also knew it, so when the group of people walked beside her, nothing happened. They ignored her, conversing with one another as they left.
Cheering internally, she had an absolute certainty that her glasses worked wonders and they even looked good on her face. She fixed their position with her index finger, adjusted her bun and uniform, and skimmed through her plan.
She wasn't wrong in the look, but not right in the workings. It was just eye color anyway. Her face was the same. Slim and spotless, the addition of the wider glasses did make her eyes different alone.
Walking through more halls and rooms, she slowly found another place good for her Warp. No one was around, the corner was empty, and nothing bothered her Divine Power.
Warping the space after she made sure it was right, she found her target. Maintenance routes were spaces in the walls, or on top of them. They were as secure as she envisioned, even when she had yet to take her ideas through high-security areas.
This surprised her.
Well, I thought this sort of protection would appear later. Did something change? Warping seems like a gamble...
This wall will need more attention from her Authority and time, while the warp itself wasn't as easy. She wanted to be slow and hypersensitive, which was close to choking herself.
So far, so good. Her Authority tampered with the walls and hidden corners where nothing would hinder her Warp. She was like a snake in an extensive network the size of a sea. She went slowly, touching on the principles of space and looking for scrips of some defenses in the wall.
Not everything went within her plans. The defenses were much more complex for this room and had fewer cracks for her unique Warps. These cracks acted like they were teeth snatching at her Authority. A bite would crumble the network and set an alarm off. Her Warp wasn't entirely safe for one single reason. Areas were protected, even when she effectively didn't move through the walls. Her first Warp was typical. This one required enough room to find a way to the route she devised.
A couple of careful Warps later, she reached the middle portion of the castle, which depicted one of the biggest, and most intense places in this Divine Camp.
The difficult part was before her.
The middle portion of this castle was a place that was incredibly open and close to being an independent realm. The ceilings were hundreds of meters tall, enough to house many tall structures, buildings, and places. The place was warm and light as if it was the day. Called Office Realm, the little dots for skylights were like shimmering little suns. This was where work happened.
There were many towers with various responsibilities and departments filled with offices. Those had private, or very specific divisions, workforce, people, and officers within them. Thousands, if not more places depicted places for superiors and mortals to work in, while all of it went through numerous arrays, careful eyes, and monitoring.
It was also incredibly open, so she could move her legs for a while.
Vermillion bid for her time and took a calm breath as she stepped around the corner of this realm. She took her Warp through a maintenance site of an old building wall, so not only she wasn't spotted by some workings in the walls, but nobody saw her either. Her face was tense and her hands twitched. If it hadn't been for her specifically trained Warps and care, something would've detected her for sure.
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Or her secret identity. She was a worker and an officer right now. She had to think and act like one. There were thousands of them in this place alone, so it won't be that hard.
She was pretending, however. She can't touch or do anything like proper officers, lest she alarm the superiors that ran this place like divine crows. Identity cards were important for a good reason, similar to general surveillance and checks.
Phew, this is nothing, she sighed and thought. It was difficult but here I am. Thanks to the Authority, even the small routes of networks couldn't contain her. It was essentially a very sensitive formation akin to a labyrinth between the floors, walls, and this castle as a whole. It was touching Chaos Space as well, despite how working with any dimensions was hard. Thus, she guided bits first, found the ending route, and squeezed her Authority thought while utilizing as small undulations as possible.
She was just touching air and space around her, while the Warp itself had no physicality towards the walls beside her first contact. It was her Authority and Divine Power that did the rest.
Too much of anything would ruin her plans, same if her look and status got exposed, or if her route was wrong. Well, she had no idea if her looks were better than her Warp or Divine Power. She was confident in both of them, unlike her plans which seemed weren't enough.
But since she was already halfway there, it was too late for regrets.
She walked on foot for the time being, knowing that Office Realm was completely different from the previous places. Hoping to get to the bottom of this place wasn't an option, however. She knew the walls were the problem. Most buildings and walls were filled with far too dense workings that were thin and managed for this realm. She had to find broken or repairing spots first, which might involve some nastier gambles.
While she was on her walk, she was acting as if she belonged to a place that ran the Battleworld like Gods. Right. She was an officer. Straight and tall, she glanced around and seemed way too tough and busy looking.
There was an evident hierarchy in the Office Realm. Workers and officers ranged from many departments that touched continents, particular powers, or races and species, to those that handled dungeons, beasts, or Blessed. Even with this system, they had ranks of importance, ranging from touching minor mortals to Blessed beings, kings, or worse. Pretty much anything in the Battleworld was contemplated by the Will of the Battleworld, which was this entire realm.
A huge machine. A work of people and... the world beyond them.
This right here was the epitome and center of that awareness, depicting an engine that was part of the Battleworld for a long time. Nothing will change it. Nothing should. Not even Vermillion and her idea, although she could influence it if she succeeded.
It wasn't a singular thing that made it all possible, but a vast process that lived through work, immense Codexes, and even more insane possibilities, readings, and crews.
Walking to an unknown destination, she walked like an officer and even found some papers to bring nowhere. Her steps were firm, her posture straight, and she tried to be as normal as she could be. Wondering if she was even good at it, she could only hope her glasses wouldn't betray her.
She went through less populated and popular places, buildings with offices, and other places. She overheard expected voices when she had to go through a street that was as large as a city. That one in particular depicted a place with ideas and readings from Dungeons around the continents.
Those who managed these topics were Toners, Speakers, Voicers, or other organized workers in vast office buildings. Everyone had their respective table with screens made of light and grey colors that depicted pictures, words, and ideas for their missions. Work, assignments, and premises that depicted an individual in the Battleworld were mostly about it. They didn't need to know more, since they were regular workers.
More complicated things required whole teams under a single banner.
Here, many ideas on their screens acted as clarity, information, and their voice. Around them and through the screens and walls, lines of light and azure energy flowed like cables, connecting everything into much thicker sizable strands that went to other floors, buildings, or much more important places. It went far, into the floor, or through the air, looking like the veins of a living organism.
“It sure remains the same,” Vermillion whispered to herself. “Do I wish it wouldn't?”
It wasn't mana, Vermillion knew. Each table had either a microphone to speak to, special screens to write into, or other means to get the Will of the Battleworld's ideas to the other side.
Voicer Departments were the most prominent component because their benefits and urgency were always neat and collected. Their skills were fast to hone and their efficiency was the greatest. Voicers were in most regular office buildings since Dungeons required that sort of attention, and most mortal kingdoms and continents were the same.
“Congratulations!” a lady shouted to the microphone in an overly excited tone. “Adherer of Justice. You've completed the Rudiclad Dungeon of Level 73, Hell Difficulty. Rewards have been collected and relocated under the success and accomplishment. Gate awaits like enemies, while be aware of those watching you from afar. I smell betrayal... Also... ” She was an excellent Voicer and spoke quickly while looking at everchanging screens full of flickering light, connecting dots and lines, words, more little screens, and various other information gatherings that poised as messages in real-time. It was changing due to calculations, so one had to have wit and quick mouth and eyes for this job.
Vermillion heard and saw many of these people doing their best and speaking nonsense. Offices such as these were chaos. They weren't private or quiet because they weren't as important.
Those strange cables went around this entire realm and streets, before going through some computations and flow, until dipping to the unknown depths or sectors before returning into the cycling. They seemed slow, or they were far too quick for normal people to grasp their movement or truths.
It was no wonder.
It was not of this world.
For Vermillion, they were mesmerizing treasures that worked beyond the realms of sounds, but not light. If they did, this place wouldn't work.
She wished she could use them, but that was impossible. A single touch of her Authority wouldn't end well.
Human elements were everywhere thanks to this endless flow of ideas that mortals could learn and solve thanks to these screens. And since the bigger rule of this place wasn't up to humans, but in how it was possible from the very beginning, the rate of error was... near impossible, yet close to a questionable level.
Mistakes were close to a Breach of this system. Workers either ignored, overlooked, or caused them. Or it wasn't their problem at all, but a task for superiors that were taking care of these problems.
For most parts, work for regular workers was carrying out tasks, desires, or acts caused by mortals or godly desires. Everything went through these screens and cables, displaying missions, and flowing acts through the greater Codexes where these cables went.
Breaches were something else. They meant a mistake. These workers weren't meant to chase them. They were mostly caused by beings in the Battleworld, followed by an error between the worker and the Codex. How bad it was depended on many calculations of immense flow and interest. Any action of a person from the Battleworld would set into motion many things, ending in a domino effect, which would then go toward this place in a heartbeat, back, or onto countless other ways. It was like a game.
The cause and effect this place worked with was enormous. It was guaranteed that Battleworld would keep going in its premise and time. But not Fate. That thing was a Taboo in this place, which always followed the written rules of what those cables described.
Each Voicer or Toner was unique, but at the end of the process, the Will of the Battleworld was publicly known as a single thing: a mechanical voice of reason, a mumbling tone of dull tones, a shimmering ghostly voice, or other things. Rarely, there were also written forms of this voice, depicting adventure cards, mercenary badges, and so on. This required more human work or less inhuman work.
Every worker here was under a strict oath, and very few beings in the Battleworld knew this place existed, how it worked, and handled human lives beyond. Even the consensus of Divine Spheres, Divine Kingdoms, how Gods operated and worked with mortals, or how their lives were under a certain flow, were all close to secrets.
Well, the certain flow wasn't fine. It had its limit. The flow was under surveillance, touching all mortals that were changing the flow of many acts and reasons. Rarely did the godly desires change it. Gods would ensure it under their unique superiority, while some insignificant things didn't matter to them.
Superiors to these workers were enough. They could interfere when something was dubious. They were like watchful crows or owls, while mortals in the Battleworld were all causing problems, troubled the flow, and functioned all the time.
They didn't know it, for it was a blissful ignorance.
Vermillion knew how it went, and that was why she had to go into the place this realm adhered to. To a place that wasn't in this Divine Kingdom, nor the current Divine Sphere. She had to go into the Battleworld. The Deepest Depths, or so she recalled the name of it. Nicknamed The Core, or... well, the name didn't matter.
She continued hearing many people recite, shout, whisper, or mock some voices and tone out their voices or grunts. In some cases, even animal sounds and all kinds of languages went out of their mouths. It was laughable, irritable, or hilarious. It wasn't automatic, but an accomplishment of their skill and specialization. Everything worked for the greater power, which workers had to learn and work with.
Vermillion thought there should be mortals who knew and learned the Anatidae Tongue and other various tongues of various species because they had to learn it in one way or another. This place needed it for no sake other than for Battleworld to function properly.
Vermillion saw hundreds of people emitting sounds alone, but also many people walking around, resting, going through some screens in the street, walls, shops of all kinds, or open offices. It was quite crowded, so she wasn't out of place because of her uniform and Veiling.
She kept it real by occasionally stopping by some walls or offices, taking a notebook out of an ordinary spatial pouch, and writing a report about something random. She doubted it did something, but one was never sure if someone was observing her or not.
There were so many workers, there was almost a guarantee no one would question her, as long as her officer rank uniform went without any checks.
Which worked. No one even approached her because everyone had work to do. Even a party of Voicers and Toners, who got out of their offices, laughing and joking right beside her. They hadn't thought of her as someone weird, nor had they thought of her as a God in disguise.
They even bowed to her, which she returned with the stern face of a superior.
“What a thrill! Heard my report? I've got the chance to cover the Wolfbears again.” said proudly a male Voicer to a female Toner, tossing his arm over her shoulder.
“You will bark like an animal again? How proud can you be about it?” she mocked him with a smile. It worked. The man scowled, pinched her cheek, and got depressed.
“At least it works both ways, and I've got learning lessons from Lady Dohatera,” he laughed at her face.
“Poor God,” she sighed before he continued.
“Don't worry. I've got some neat readings and rumors from Noah again. Tides are shifting and crazy people are moving. There is gonna be a storm too, so we can expect some great dungeon work soon enough. What are some languages? So what if they aren't clear, while some are worse than barking, chirping, and Gods know what else someone communicates with? Chirping? Laughing? How about moaning?”
“You are so unlucky with getting those kinds of fools. Animals are dumb. Let's not pretend that Boosts need their respect. Everything is clear when souls and intellect go far. Humans are masterminds of it all! Animals shouldn't be included in this at all. Toners have it tougher because of them... bullshit animals,” Another man gave them his idea.
“You speak like the true Zeanor,”
“Hah!”
“But the rules are rules, you know. It won't go anywhere,” The depressed man said and cheered himself for a better future. “I will growl some nice messages at them! For a better future. Let's get some lunch before those wolves make another mess.”
The woman laughed and pinched his cheeks. “Cheeky brat hadn't heard me? Wolfbears are nothing. Have you heard of the Blessed Department's recent problems and who got involved? How abotu the Radagan, huh? Those are the problematic units. We have it easy in Somalis. We should cheer and take pleasure by handling it well.” She forced his hand away.
The man laughed at a problem that wasn't his. “Sure. Sure. Toners or Voicers, we all work in the same category, but heights and ceilings are tall like my...” He stopped speaking when she clutched his cheeks tighter.
“So much for the hopes and clarity, eh? I will bark at you and call you weird names today. How would you like to be called? A dog?”
The man scowled. “Will you like it, eh?”
“Oh, I bet my area of expertise would make you very happy.”
“Speaking of other mess.” another Voicer said, speaking in crips and a nice heavy tone.” Breaches are getting frequent in the Somalis continent for unknown reasons. Superies are so tight about it, it is suspicious. Is it even some Toner's fault like I've heard from rumors and those wanted posters? He even fled, poor bastard. It seems completely unrelated to general rules, yet... who was he? Some animals or problems are nothing to the overall management or errors we can't see.”
“Listed, Big Brute...” The man with a red cheek wanted to say something, but the one who held him thought otherwise.
“Not as if it is our problem,” the woman said. “Superiors take care of these problems for a reason, and if some fool caused a Breach, then punishments are due. The ways of the Surface or Depths are like living beings. We don't influence shit. They do, or... What was it again about that poster?”
“No idea. Everything is restricted in the highest locks.”
“Means more reasons to care less about that. Now, let's get the lunch,” she slapped their shoulders. “I am getting hungry, so let's not preach a Breach on an empty stomach.”
“Breaches are nothing out of the norm. Every department has them. Take some Bloodlines to the picture and Blessed shitheads, and we have a shit ton of work to do or cater for.”
“Tell me about it,” the woman said dejectedly and kicked the red-faced man to his ass, “at lunch!”
Vermillion heard them enough as they walked away, and such situations weren't rare throughout her walk on this street. It gave her a new perspective and knowledge, even though her view of Codex wasn't small at all. She was aware of things these people could only dream about.
She had a certain authority over it as a Rank 2 God. Every God had some privileges to seek, create, or influence, but none of them were private if one used this place. One had to voice and get access to what one wanted, which then went through conceptual reviews by some specific godly group of workers.
That was a pain in the ass, so she always preferred to do things the old way; the Old World way.
It seemed what this group talked about was quite sensitive if too many restrictions surrounded it. Vermillion figured it must have to do with what she recently learned, or was it some weeks-old history? At least she knew what was up, as she glanced at the wall with wanted posters.
Those were unfortunate workers that either made a blunder, problem, some crime, or other problems. At the front was a large poster depicting a stern-looking man with glasses, glossy hair, a shaved face, and a nice black suit uniform. He looked intimidating.
There was no justification for his wanted poster. Only a picture and rewards depicted divine currency called god coins. He held a massive bounty at seven digits, which was impressive since no one knew who he was, where he worked, what he caused, and what this was about.
Vermillion knew some bits herself, fortunately. She knew a couple of high-class personnel in many departments, as some were her subjects or little friends. But she wasn't sure about this person's disappearance or this poster. He caused some trouble, so a lot of rumors spread. There was no name for his poster, so workers decided to call him Sternface.
It didn't change anything in her mind, so she turned away and went back to her route. It was her first time taking a proper stroll in some places. She knew more than well how this place worked and what these people did, but hearing their voices and lives was different.
Her walking was quite lengthy. This whole Office Realm was hundreds of square kilometers large, and quite vast in terms of elevation, so there were a lot of people and offices.
There were dozens of divisions varying in problems, validity, and restrictions. The better ranked a worker was, the more problematic cases they held, followed by authority and benefits. In return, their rewards, values, protocols, or ideas went through more screenings. Simply put, a lot of things in the Battleworld were complicated, so this place was the same.
Vermillion could only imagine how the Blessed department proceeded with Murai's existence, but it wasn't about him alone. There were a lot of Blessed beings, and also worse beings.
Murai was the most recent problem, and for some Gods, the most intriguing. There were countless other problems, while many Gods had fleeting minds.
The divisions that depicted the Hell Havens held many remote and kind of separate departments from others. At least at the highest ordeals. Some Hells had their departments below the surface, but those were much different than this castle.
There was no way that Vermillion would ever be able to visit them, due to the Lords and Gods of these places. In many ways, Hell Gods were much more savage and unyielding than those from the Sky.
She figured it must be due to the lack of light and good air.
Hells held uncountable souls that were prone to the Will of the Battleworld. This place didn't restrict their flow or go against any Divides. Office Realm involved Hells or the Surface in what everyone deserved. It was there to balance things out, but most Hell Havens had their clear validating prospects that Lordis accepted, overlooked, and viewed as a bother that was inevitable.
For the most part, workers for Hells were a private issue that went to special departments, so the Sky, Hell, or Surface, had fewer clashes in the Office Realm.
The majority of problems here were still under the Gods of these lands. Battleworld was vast, so many people were required to work through chaotic ranges of possibilities and claims, and nothing was ever simple because of this place itself and mortals in the world above.
It was like a cycle or a loop. Interest from this place looped to the Battlewold and back, Codex or those screens, causing a flow that never stopped. Hence, work was always getting higher, and problems and errors were meant to happen with such quantity and quality of work and flow.
It was no wonder there was unfathomably large interest here, along with defenses, weight, and problems.
An error caused by a Voicer or Toner was harsh and difficult to solve since each decision and reading followed the Boosts in the Battleworld. It often happened instantly. The Central Codex always ensured everything went well, but when millions of things were happening at the same time and some errors were bigger than others, some information got overlooked or flooded. Sometimes it was even a true error caused by the system or Codex itself. In those cases, it was a little bit more complicated than normal.
That's where high-ranking departments came into sight. Those were the Supervisor Department, Judge Department, and Rules Division, which worked with Breaches and errors in particular, followed by complicated tasks.
It was kind of a tough job because once the Boost happened, it never came back. That was a rule so either it had to be fixed by a counterweight, or something else. It was no surprise that everything that came before the Boost was set to high standards.
And this Central Codex wasn't powered by man or any division, which Vermillion knew, as every human element here was a far cry from the origin. At points when an unfathomable large amount of information came into the same source, before dividing across the Battleworld, these people were nothing.
Hence, making sure that fewer Breaches occurred was a work of art and inevitability.
Vermillion understood how much this place mattered. Perhaps too much, as some Boost could put a worker and whole teams, or departments in a frenzy if problems occurred. Some were more problematic or complicated than others, while many needed special supervision because of Blessed and other various overlapping issues between the departments.
The biggest problems were the Encounters, Major Tasks, Missions, Hunts, and all kinds of different ideas that differed from continent to continent. Wars were also included.
There was a whole division for Blessed and their readings, history, or causes. Only the best of the Voicers were allowed to go there and do their job. It went without a surprise that Voicers were one of the better variants for them.
Speaking was the most popular vision of Will of the Battleworld, and each Blessed had either a team of Voicers over them, a single potent Voicer, or many supervisors at the same time.
Vermillion wondered who or what team contained Murai of all things, but she had no idea. Everything about him was top-secret that she couldn't get. All his readings, even when she was willing to spend a fortune, were strictly locked. She wanted reasonable motivation and excuses. Not the public ones, or rumors that these workers spread around the Divine Kingdom daily in real time.
Circumstances in the Battleworld changed very often, flowing into the public eye. Some of those were public events, depicted by numerous companies and entertainment districts. That was what made Blessed popular across many Divine Kingdoms. Their acts, facts, and fights were all monitored and when some bigger plays happened, the better attention they obtained.
Encounters or Mortal Wars were the greatest. When Mortal War would change into the Holy One, that was an occurrence that would put fans into a frenzy. Thinking of them as entertainment wasn't far from the truth, although the sensitive facts of this place—that Vermillion was seeing in her heist—were tight.
What to let to the public of these Spheres was going through some process. Supervisors and prominent officers took care of and moved within the countless adhering rules and motions, oaths, and limitations. Rumors still spread, but such issues mostly stayed in this place. A lot of that adhered to the authority that Gods possessed. Those were the unknown problems, Breaches, and so on. Public didn't need to know their fuckups. Those rarely went to the public information gatherers.
And if they did, then some nasty officers would get involved.
For Encounters, it was no surprise they were very public, vivid, and very interesting. Some of their details were private, but they usually started because some high-rank God desired it, thus some particular Divine Kingdoms always rose in excitement about them.
However, for some folks, they were the most problematic thing that stressed many workers whenever they happened. It often turned whole departments into crunch and torment, while many rumors that followed this place alone became much bigger.
In a sense, what should stay here, stayed here.
Pretty much everything around this place moved because of people, formations, cables, screens, runes, laws, divinity, and individuals of all kinds.
And Vermillion wanted to ruin it. Take it hostage.
Excitement crept into her heart until she noticed a man following her from behind. She kept herself clear and sharp in this hour since she started this walk.
A lazy-looking, yawning, and chiseled to the bone, his uniform was open and revealing his chest. It was some high-ranking officer but he looked like a thug instead. It was a good play. Vermillion recognized her little key she ensured not because of her persuasion, but by the willingness of other party.
He walked over to her when she took a rest beside some pillar. The man was on the other end, looking less suspicious as if he wanted to rest from the street noise.
“Thought you would bait out, miss officer,” he said to her politely and in whispers. “Nice glasses by the way.”
“Thanks.” Vermillion adjusted her glasses and pretended to look through her notebook. “You found me quicker and weirder than I thought. No way I would bait out at this point. Got the card?”
“Have a good fateful nose. Unfortunately, the security has recently increased, so I was waiting for you in doubt instead. Not sure why. I think it's validating concern for some ideas that might be too late, but not as if you can afford it if you are here. I doubt you don't get how, or why it is a problem. Someone warned someone, or it is a general warning or change, or... some unnamed Ruler is careful about something.”
“No surprise. Which troubles or departments are up at arms?” Vermilion asked, not finding some security increases weird.
“Not as if it is important. Not here. There are so many problems recently, you don't even know them all.”
“Not every one of them is important to me So, it is down then? Have no worries. I will take care of my end of this deal and your concerns are invalid.”
“Listen,” the man hesitated and scrambled his face and hair with both hands when he got visibly uncomfortable. “I am taking a gamble in this too. Not for you either. It isn't that simple, but take the security for what you can. Now.... my end...” He tossed her a card after pretending to sneeze and losing something out of his pocket. It was a seamless and confident action as if he had done it numerous times.
Vermillion clumsily lost the touch of her notebook, which she used to get the card.
“Thanks,” she whispered and walked away, holding her notebook and the card. “Your future will appreciate it.”
The man glanced at her departing back, worried but not afraid. “What one wouldn't do for a God in need and their blessing? But what if God goes against Gods and mortals are left between them or behind? Or... not anywhere. With that said, who is the insane one here? Me or her?” He wasn't sure, so he walked away, knowing that her future might be fucked either way.
Vermillion had a clear plan ahead. This simple card was the last thing she lacked. His worries didn't matter to her. Discovering and seeing the security was her problem to solve, and she already saw and noticed it.
Right now, she wasn't even in the first half of this whole castle.
Office Realm had its implications, but at its core, the whole castle was one large formation connected to the Battleworld by that huge pillar, or to be specific, what was above, below, and within that pillar.
She aimed to use this connection to get to the other side, which was much more protected and important than she could understand. She had never been there in her life, so getting there wasn't easy.
It was the reason for this castle's existence, which was the main problem before or now. With this unauthorized card pointing to that portion of this castle in her grasp, Vermillion settled to get into the second portion of this castle right away. Some tight touch of her Authority should do the rest of the work in some fitting walls before she would do the same with this card.
The moment her card will reach its premise, and when her veils will go away, the clock will turn against her.
Security should be quite high because Lordis was a cautious God and many coveted his position. Vermillion didn't. Her sight was on the different Sky, realms, or different in simple weight. She wouldn't be satisfied with the satisfaction of seeing the current Epoch rise or fail. She wanted to see the future from a different perspective. Lordis could be whatever he could or can't be.
Advancing further into the Office Realm took another hour. She Warped to the lowest possible point through half a dozen Warps in suitable locations, where she sweated, shook, and pivoted her tight attention down. It wasn't easy even when she was careful and bid for her time. After all of that, her Divine Power was turning restless in her Veiling, but she squeezed it tight to not reveal an unnecessary speck of it outwards.
It was a delicate process where her Authority touched reality and space, right behind her Divine Power. It wasn't the same thing. Authority was a power and influence over one's existence, Path, and pursuit of the Divides. The walls couldn't cope with it all the time simply because she devised a technique against them. They always had some layers that forced her to change or alter her paths in some ways.
Going deeper, she Warped into a bright basement the size of a massive hallway. That name hardly fit for that phrase, as it was a facility on its own merits and rules. Few regular workers could ever come here.
Surrounding all the walls were bright light and countless flickering lines and cables made of some energy. They were flowing on in their brightness and round space that looked like a sewer or a tunnel rather than a hallway.
Vermillion ended up where she wanted, huffing for breath and seeing what she wanted. It was close and anxiety grasped her heart. She couldn't see if someone had been there before, so she carefully looked at every corner right after her Warp. Her body was shivering because this was the most intense Warp so far. There were more justifications for it than in any other place.
“Well, this is the last Warp... is it not?” she mumbled as she took a deep breath. “Kidding. There are still two ahead, or those could be Void Warps? Well... the name doesn't matter...”
Around her was the flow manifestations of all information that went from the upper parts of this castle, guided to a single place.
Glowing like a bright sun where the lines became denser, thick chunks of them looked like mana, and every one of them moved as if alive. Down, up, or at the side of the walls, there was a sea of incredible flow.
She wasn't standing on them, or hindering them in any way. At the edges and middle portion of the floor, there was a stone floor where these lines didn't reach, forming a path ahead or back.
It all flowed naturally, reaching where the workers worked with them, or where the data or decision went out of this place. There were only two ways of the flow. Onwards or backward. It worked not because of the Central Codex, but because the divided parts of these lines went where they belonged in all directions. Those were various departments, individual workers, buildings, and other places before reaching something at the end, or the one who held the biggest control over everything.
Vermillion hadn't visited this place many times in her long life, nor did she know how many Gods were partaking in their care, details, or ideas about running their policies. But she knew how and why it worked, or what or who caused it.
Whenever she saw this sight, it was mesmerizing. This intense space of something few could get into their minds felt like a forbidden fruit of many legends.
She bet if she took this flow for a fraction of a second, her mind wouldn't be able to take it at all. Caused by the physical limitations of her flesh, she couldn't complain. Even Gods had some shortcomings, even if their Divine Power was set in place, flesh, and Path. Everyone had some form of limits unless their AUthority was abnormal. Not every God was the same. Vermilion knew it all too well since not everything followed the norm.
This light was exactly that.
Looking at the sight for a couple of moments, she aimed her focus at the card in her hand.
“What an intensity. I feel young and stupid again. That silly duck caused it! Forward. No time to turn back.” She stretched her senses next because there were fewer workers here, or there shouldn't be that many of them. Instead, the things that were here were much more complex. This flow worked for itself after all, or was it because this place was dangerous?
Vermillion knew this flow could become invasive, harmful, and crazy to many lifeforms. Human workers wouldn't take it well at all. They would fall unconscious by sight or presence of this aura, or they would turn stupid. For her, it felt like a slight breeze thanks to her Authority.
There were fewer problems for it when she reached this location. This flow was affecting reality, senses, and space itself. Thus, she could work with fewer limitations, as long as nothing touched the walls, or someone else wouldn't get too close.
There were hardly any regulating runes or formations inside the walls or in the room because this flow should operate unrestricted. But it was still secured and observed in a different light, notably by the weird lines of constructs around some walls that looked like cubes. There were also guards from what she knew as well. Those were her main concerns. These cubes were just alerts if the issue came up with these tablets.
The hard problem was that not just anyone would come here. Not uninvited.
They shouldn't have felt her yet, but if she will stretch her senses, Divine Power, or Authority far too much, they will. She still used her Authority next, followed by a mist of her Divine Power to sense where she should go next. It went like a strand through the middle portion of this tunnel. It made her quiver so much more because she felt the pressuring existence of all these cables.
If there were some changes like her little friend whispered to her, she should be cautious before the card in her hands would turn useful.
Nothing and nobody was near, but as tough as it could be, physical eyes were different than sense.
Around the corner, a security guard appeared out of nowhere and noticed her straight away. He saw an enigmatic figure standing among the cables that would eat his mind. He saw how flowing power of existential workings flowed out of her hands like strands of the river.
“Eh? An officer? What are you doing here? Who are you? What are you doing with...” he demanded, confused because she looked hazy and he couldn't see her face. He wore a green uniform, depicting lower security guards of this area, yet he had a bunch of important components and workings on him.
Not only was he strong physically, but he worked here for years. No one should be sneaky around here, and he heard no reports. He wasn't that shocked to see an unfamiliar figure, so he asked if this was some check. Perhaps some maintenance superiors came here without asking him first, or no one informed him about it. With the amount of sensitivity around this place, its dangers, and its officers, mismanagement was rare.
Even if Vermillion was hazy by the use of her Authority, she had a notable uniform of the Office Realm. Here, it was ineffective and suspicious.
She was out of place, and even if she had his uniform, she would be found out because there were only dozens of guards here, and each knew the other.
So it was time to be a bit ruthless. She seeped her Authority and guided her steps. She went forward without speaking and even dared to touch some cables, though the guard wasn't sure if she moved through them or not. Either way, she forced him to draw a construct in a bad premonition of danger. His eyes didn't usually fool him, so he opted for the alarm formation in his pocket and not the offensive-based construct that could cause chaos. In this place, he shouldn't use these willy-nilly, lest he hinder the flow.
Alas, before he blinked, a nasty force slammed his construct away like a pinch of gravity. Then, his vision turned, burned, and changed. Vermillion pinned him to the wall, grasping his neck and whispering a demand a handful distance away.
“Sleep.” Her power washed over his mind until he fell to the ground, limp and unconscious as if he consumed a barrel of wine.
Then, the alarms crashed and sensors detected an anomaly.
Not her, or the construct, but the man's condition. The construct that flew away was safe and not active.
Vermillion didn't panic by one win and one loss. She thought of thousands of errors and possibilities for how to solve this in a heartbeat. She came here so she won't back down.
As a proper God, her ways were clear. All she had to do was to get deeper before loosening her desires. Killing or not, she didn't care to get her point across.
Veiling herself deeper than ever, her Authority became clear. It seemed as if something was hugging herself, but it felt more like crushing of the Void itself.
Right. She wanted to disappear yet remain. It went against the logic, so it hurt her more than she was willing to admit. Like a seen-through flow of lines, curving waves, and thinly resembling the flow of flames or wind, her face contorted as she wrapped her surrounding existence over herself.
She couldn't breathe, sense others, or see. Funneling everything inwards, she felt like she weighed one infinitum. Her Authority was just all around her, but not all over her. She still had to walk, so she used it more like a blanket. Someone familiar with Authority could notice her.
At least her body was no longer visible to the naked eye and even some potent eye techniques. Through this space, she stepped forward at a much slower pace, meeting a bunch of guards wearing blue or green uniforms. Hiding in the blanket of her power was enough to invalidate something; she hid and stepped into the cables just when she noticed them. Weirst powers mixed but they passed her. Hiding, she remained in reality, albeit half away.
Guards arrived in a couple of dozen seconds after she dealt with that man. They found him unconscious because Vermilion couldn't do anything else any further like wiping him from existence. Cubes around the room were unable to detect her if she wasn't acting like an idiot. But if she would...
“What happened?” one of the guards asked the others, looking at the man resting by the wall. He was sleeping for real.
“He is out of his wits. Not sleeping. Sensors detected anomalies because of his condition. Perhaps he is tired.” The blue-clothed guard was the boss here, so he looked around in suspicion and even used some bits of his power to scan the surroundings. By now, Vermillion was away from his reach, not even glancing at him for trying to see her walking in the cables. It was nonsense.
Frowning, he turned his eyes to a flickering screen around his wrist, which was informing him about the security of these tunnels and his job.
Nothing was showing, though something did because of the alarm that wasn't automatic.
“Sensors could be wrong or that thing is playing with us,” the other blue-clothed man said. “Don't worry about this, man. Look at where we stand. Long proximity can lead to trouble. I would do you better. Doesn't he look drunk? No. This place could defy Extremes like us like adults do ants,” He gestured to the flow of lines and cables, making a valid point.
“Security and drunk? We are all Extremes for godly sake!” The leader argued and trusted his instincts.
“In a place where our power matters so little, or where a god's sneeze can freeze us, what are those cables weighing us down like whole mountains?”
“Dude... You are too obsessed with Whitesnow. Get your hands over here. Help me out with him and check the corridors. You all too!” The leader demanded the green robbed guards to work. “Check everything, alert he constructs into overwork and ignore the screens for now. Fly through the tunnels and activate your constructs but remember your job. Don't affect the flow.”
All in all, they did their job poorly, because they had their own set of sensors and special case constructs that could detect Vermillion in no time. But those required activation and close range, nor were they cheap or suitable.
Vermillion already left them in dust and found the end of these tunnels that went for dozens of kilometers.
Eternal, majestic, and glistening in the appearance of thousands of rivers and stars. That was the start and the end of the flow before an abyss and her eyes, depicting a large hollow pillar dozens of kilometers tall that seemed bigger than it was.
She was shocked to see that she got here so quickly and without any further troubles.
It was as if she was pulled by a string before an Entity itself.