Trillia still didn't dare turn her head to Stas. Their procession through the city hadn't yet continued.

Cordaos approached the abomination. It was apparently some four feet to the side of Trillia, despite one of these 'legs' being next to her.

"Any word from Lord Darktone? Or Lady Alliyah?" Cordaos was looking slightly down at whoever he spoke to. That put Trillia's mind at ease a little.

She silently cursed [Unwavering Determination] for not being a stronger trait. Though she knew it wasn't entirely its fault.

"Lord Darktone fought the Primordial God of Dragons. During that fight, some rules were broken. As punishment, the deities were barred from intervening in mortal affairs in this realm. Lady Alliyah and Lord Darktone had three children. To my extremely limited and flawed understanding of Divine Law. Once all three children have ascended to become deities themselves. [Scorned Divinity] will fade."

"A young immortal by the name of Arlyss Darktone was the first to ascend recently. I think he became a deity of knowledge? But, seeing as he's the son of the axle. He should still be plenty powerful enough to fuel divine skills in the pursuit of ending the [Primordial] threat." Stas continued. The leg near her moved, and she couldn't help but flinch. She felt a little better about doing so when she noticed Amelia do the same.

The abomination walked further forward, finally into view.

It looked...

It looked... normal? Well. Not nearly as terrifying as her mind was constructing. The red body of a goblin hung in the air, two arms hung limply at its sides, both seemed to have no bones, and their only movement was the sway when the rest of the creature moved. Instead of the normal eyes of a goblin, both eyes looked reptilian, and they also held a faint glow of mana in them. Dragging behind the body was what looked like a scaled cape, dark obsidian scales with veins of bright orange flowing through.

It reminded Trillia of her mother's armor. As they shifted when Stas moved, Trillia realized the cape was actually a set of wings. Two more sets of arms had been attached to the goblin's body. One set just below the armpit of the dead set and another set on the back shoulder of the dead set. Most terrifying of all, perhaps, were the eight long segmented bladed legs that came from the center of his back. They moved...wrongly. Seeing them each wave and move hesitantly made her skin crawl. His teeth were black and sharpened into points. His legs dangled under him as the segmented legs held him nearly ten feet off the ground.

Stas turned his head to look at her. "[Limitless Mana] what an interesting trait." In the span of a second, all of the legs shifted, and the 'goblin' was face to face with her. Trillia's heart froze in her chest.

Stas wore a smile. That only made him even more terrifying. "You've taken an interesting set of classes, young lady. I suppose you get those bad habits from your Mother. I'm sure you'll be a great warrior someday." his eyes turned slightly, and his body seemed to levitate up so that he was face-to-face with Amelia. The segmented legs moving his actual torso entirely too smoothly.

"A musician mage? I believe Maeve held the same classes. I'm sure your Mother would be very proud of the woman you are becoming. Truly, Alirast is a little darker without her light to shine upon us." The smile on his face softened. Despite his terrifying appearance, Trillia felt a little more comfortable around him. He extended a hand to Amelia, who gingerly took it.

"A pleasure to meet you both. I am Stas the Abomination." After shaking both of their hands, his body spun in place as the spider legs twisted and turned around his back. Cordaos was looking at them both with an amused expression. Stas had turned his attention to Ralrouk and Tormash next.

"The twins! Amara told me one was a scoutmaster and the other an exterminator." Stas poked at each of them with a segmented leg. Trillia was in awe of their bravery in not flinching or pulling away. "Huh...healing based on your mass. That's unique. If you ever feel the need for more healing, I can rip out your heart, and we can find a Troll heart to replace it with. A Troll's regeneration comes from its heart. Quite valuable. After the loss of my arms, I decided not to lose any more body parts due to lack of healing."

Stas reached up with his hands and motioned to two parts of his body, one where a person would think a heart should be. The other was lower down in his abdomen. "I have two of the things. People have a tendency to try and stab me in the heart to kill me. The poor fools. I'm glad to see you both growing so well. Come. Enough pleasantries. Cordaos, let us discuss a plan of attack. I've met our newest deity. I believe if we are smart about it, we can utilize his divine power to seal the [Primordials]."

Cordaos nodded, and the two turned to continue walking toward the command tent. No one moved to follow. Each of them had been holding their breath as the abomination moved through them. Trillia heard him continue speaking as they moved further out of sight.

"Unlike you and Amara, who have grown lazy with your families. Alliyah and I have continued leveling and gaining strength and power. I think Amara is trying to pull Brutus out of the bottle to pick up a sword. I don't think it will be required. I've gained well over a thousand levels since we last fought the beasts."

Once they were fully out of sight. Tormash took a deep breath. "What the fuck was that? I didn't sense him. None of my skills worked against his aura. "

Ralrouk nodded weakly. "And that level. I wonder if he could take Cordaos and Amara."

Ba'Shoon spoke softly as if not wanting to invite his wrath. "I've heard stories of him. He used to help run the city of Kincairne, but a failed experiment when he created [Explosive Mana Manipulation] caused the city to force him to leave. Since then, almost no one speaks to him. Because he can move between realms freely, he never lacks enemies to fight. I heard the stories...everyone said how dangerous and powerful he was. But seeing it? In-person?"

She shook her head. Tormash knew where the command tent was and began leading them there. Trillia spoke up. "Why didn't his aura trigger a message from the system? Uncle Cordaos and Mom's auras all do."

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Ralrouk spoke softly now. "Because. His aura is divine. A deity's aura. Most of what a deity can do ignores a lot of rules in place of the system."

Trillia frowned at that. "But everyone keeps telling me that everyone has rules to follow. How can he be a deity yet still walk around with us and use his abilities?"

Amelia shook her head next. "I think it's because he isn't a deity. My scan showed he had an ascension available. I think... I think that means he has the option to become a deity. But is choosing not to."

Trillia thought about that for a second. "I guess. I guess that means he's really powerful but doesn't have to follow the same rules. So he can maneuver around Alirast like a mortal but is strong enough to also deal with deities?"

Everyone shrugged. No one really had a strong grasp on the situation. Nor had any of them met a creature quite at that level.

About an hour later, they finally arrived at the command building. It was a large multi-floored granite building. The guards posted outside let them in without question. They recognized Tormash if nothing else.

The inside had no decorations or frivolities. Everything was smooth-cut stone. A dozen maps had been hung on the walls on the first floor. Depicting various supply lines. What parts of the Shattered Plains were known to have monster nests. As well as a much, much older map. This one had a single mark on it, a little skull, near the coast where God's Watch would be. In the orcish runes, it was labeled 'Primordial'.

Things made more sense to Trillia now. That was why God's Watch had fallen so quickly after the cataclysm. Because it woke up the [Primordial] sleeping under the city. But why would they build a city there in the first place?

Tormash led them upstairs. Trillia could hear Cordaos' voice before she saw him looming over a table. Stas standing on the table itself, looking down at another map.

"I don't know if I'm capable of fighting the thing and all of its spawn alone. My power is not limitless. I believe Lady Alliyah is fighting the central prime on her own. But she's also searching for her children."

Cordaos gave him an odd look, nodding to those who were finally joining them. "They have been kidnapped?"

Stas shook his head. "No. When the cataclysm happened. The four blue orbs that streaked through the sky? Those were souls. Alliyah and her three children. Evidently, her physical body had been destroyed in the fight between Lord Darktone and that dragon god. He sent their souls off, creating a new body for her in the process. But from what she's said, she gave birth to one live child and two stillbirths. "

Stas shrugged as he said it. "I'm not really sure how it works for immortal children, but Lord Darktone sent their souls to inhabit the bodies of two children that were going to be born dead. I'm not sure why we would split his own children up. He refused to elaborate, citing rules. I know enough about such things to know when I'm out of my depth. He hasn't been allowed to say much of anything. The only reason I know of any of this is because I can realm walk into the palace. When I'm there, Lord Darktone will 'explain' things to another immortal nearby. Which I can conveniently eavesdrop on."

Cordaos snorted and shook his head. "Fucking divine loopholes. Lord Darktone is nothing if not clever. Do you know if all of the [Primordials] are waking up again?"

Stas shook his head, and his feet came off the table as the spider legs took over, moving his body to touch each of the continents where one might be sleeping. "Only the central and northern ones have shown any signs of waking up. I believe it's because of the dragon god's direct attack on the realm. His claws dug deep into the ocean near Kadessa and dragged themselves out over the Shattered Plains. Causing enough divine energy to reach the [Primordials] sleeping and cause them to begin waking up early."

The others, at this point, had joined them around the table. Trillia standing on a chair to get a good look at the map. It was the most detailed map she had ever seen before. Twelve giant swathes of land filled in the map surrounded by water. She realized just how large Alirast really was. The 'northern' continent that housed the Shattered Plains was the smallest of the land masses. Even the plains themselves only made up a tiny portion of the continent as a whole.

Stas tapped the spot near the plains where the mana rift was. "These things are a damn nightmare. The bottom of them is swarming with mana-warped creatures." Stas turned to look at the others. 'Amara said that she and Cordaos have fought them. If any of you run into a mana-warped creature during this war. Turn and flee. Do not attempt the fight. I don't care about your honor or other such nonsense. You will lose."

The others nodded, not daring to argue with the creature that was over level fifteen hundred. Stas looked to Cordaos. "My mana type still works against them. So do some abilities tagged with [Divine]. Otherwise, you must use raw brute force to kill them. If you use skills that have a hint of mana in them, the skills will just fail. I think Amara made that connection when she fought hers."

Cordaos gave an affirmative grunt as he looked at the map. "I think. I think our best course of action is to get you, Amara, and I together. We march on God's Watch to reach the [Primordial] itself. Let Brutus stay behind to safeguard the city. Once we start the assault, the city is going to come under heavy attack. Will Kincairne be ok without either of you there as guardians?"

Stas laughed at that. Reaching a hand into what seemed like thin air, he pulled out a large contraption that looked like a crossbow. But the thing was massive. It stood as tall as Cordaos did. "I brought twelve of these with me. They can be operated by anyone with mana. They create bolts out of the mana dumped into them; the more mana, the bigger the boom. Kincairne has a hundred of them lining its walls. Even if I'm no longer welcome in my city. I'll be damned if someone will ever take it from our control."

Cordaos walked over to the ballista. Ba'Shoon had lost any signs of fear, now totally enamored with the thousands upon thousands of runes etched into the thing. Even Trillia herself walked over and began inspecting it. Stas wore a little grin, obviously quite proud of his creation. "Trillia. It will be best if someone carries you to the wall under the heaviest attack. Should the city come under attack."

Trillia turned her head to give him an odd look. He continued explaining. "Your nearly endless mana pool. Start stockpiling mana now. If a horde of enemies comes. Use the ballista and dump a hundred thousand mana into a bolt. You'll wipe out thousands of the damn things. Remember, the more mana, the bigger the boom. Most of the experience will go to me, but it should still net whoever is manning the ballista a good chunk."

Stas turned his head to Tormash. "Tormash. You should be the one to carry her from ballista to ballista. You're the faster one between you and your brother. You can keep any flying enemies off of her while she charges. Ralrouk can put himself at the second-worst attack point. His regeneration and healing will ensure he shouldn't die. Besides, with the [Brawn] most of you fucking orcs have, coupled with tenacity. I'm pretty sure he has an hour or so of tenacity before he falls."

Ralrouk smirked a little and nodded. "More than that. Some of my classes and passive skills have boosted my [Brawn] even higher."

Stas shook his head with a smirk. "And people tell me I'm breaking the rules by replacing body parts. I wish I knew what body part gave tenacity. I'd steal it in a heartbeat."

That gave Trillia pause as another shiver ran down her spine. The conversations continued, talking more and more about what each of the leader's roles would be. It seemed to be accepted that the three of them would attack the [Primordial] themselves. Stas knew where Arlyss was but couldn't realm walk other people around. Approaching a deity and demanding they come with you was folly. Even for a mortal as powerful as Stas was.

Trillia couldn't wait until her mother returned. With every day that passed, she grew more and more worried.