WILL DIVINE

Lynne sat in a corner of a small tavern, silently observing the fist-fight occurring in front of him with a smile on his face. In one of his hands was a halfway filled cup of ale, while the other hand rested on his knee. As fists and blood flew, the surrounding two dozen or so people cheered and screamed, causing the already burning atmosphere to heat up.

After about ten minutes or so, one of the men finally fell as blood oozed out of his mouth like a small river, his eyes rolled backwards in their sockets. Cheers erupted ever so louder as fervor slipped into even more drinking, singing and dancing. Just as the midnight bell tolled, the tavern’s doors creaked open as a woman wearing nearly nothing walked through. She had golden hair and fair face coupled with a seductive smile. Her emerald-green eyes, faintly shining underneath the lanterns’ flames, quickly scanned the tavern as her eyes almost immediately landed on Lynne. The latter raised his cup slightly and drank, smile never leaving his face.

The woman, drawing lustful and envious gazes from every corner of the tavern, slowly walked through and stopped next to Lynne’s table, glancing at him once more before sitting across, licking her lips lightly as though expecting a response. However, Lynne remained calm and seemingly indifferent, putting down the cup onto the table.

“You called?” the woman asked in a low tone, smiling.

“I did?” Lynne asked back, faking innocence. “I’m afraid it is beyond my power to call someone as beautiful as you.”

“It is,” the woman said, leaning closer in. “Yet, you still dared to. Either your brain’s been eaten by maggots, or your balls are the size of mountains. Tell me, boy, which is it?”

“Neither,” Lynne said. “I was merely sitting here, praying silently to god to give me a fair maiden, and then you walked through that door. ‘Tis the first time my heart’s prayers were answered.”

“Hah, you’re funny,” the woman chuckled lightly as she backed off slightly. “And you clearly know who I am, yet you’re not either beginning to lick my toes, or shaking in your boots. I’ll ask you again, boy: who are you, and why did you kill my Sisters?”

“Let’s take a walk.” Lynne said after a short moment of silence, getting up.

The woman followed behind silently and the two left the tavern and ventured forth into a clouded night. Compared to the tavern, the streets were empty as the village slept, only occasional window burning in light. The two walked slowly, side by side, in complete silence for a while, until they reached the very edge of the village where Lynne suddenly stopped.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“… it’s Tanya. Yours?” she asked back.

“Irrelevant.” Lynne said, turning toward her. “You already know you can’t defeat me, which is why you came up and talked to me and not went for my throat immediately. You have some confidence you could take me with all ten of you here, but you’re also hesitant because you aren’t sure whether I’m alone. How am I doing?”

“Who are you?” Tanya asked, frowning as she took a step back.

“Ha ha, no need to be afraid,” Lynne said, smiling. “I didn’t invite you to kill you.”

“…” she remained silent and on alert, still keeping her distance.

“Ah, you guys are really cautious when at disadvantage. Kind of irksome, but, oh well,” Lynne said, sighing lightly. “You know something I don’t. I’d very much like to learn that as well. And, in return, I’ll leave you guys alone and throw in some resources as a payment for your loss.”

“… hah, you think we’re afraid of you?” she scoffed as her alertness softened. “Perhaps I can’t do anything to you, but I’m far from the strongest. Do you really wish to provoke us?”

“As I said, I don’t,” he said, smiling innocently. “Callous as you may be, at least the men that die under your hand die with a smile on their faces. It’s much better than dying surrounded by heaps of corpses and foul stench of war. I respect that.”

“… what do you want to know?” she asked.

“My friend here,” as Lynne’s words left his lips, a space tore near his shoulder as a small monkey leapt through and landed. Startled, Tanya suddenly flickered dozen or so meters backwards, but as she’d seen who appeared, she relaxed slightly and walked back forward. “Has been very good to me over the years. I’d like to fulfill his lifelong wish.”

“…” Tanya’s eyes widened slightly as she took a closer look at the monkey.

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“You recognize me?” the monkey asked, snickering.

“… Divine War Ape.” Tanya said, swallowing a gulp of her saliva. “I… I thought your species had gone extinct during the last Great War…”

“Not quite,” the monkey said. “Some still stand.”

“… I know what you want,” Tanya said. “But I can’t give it to you.”

“We just need you to point us in the right direction,” Lynne said, smiling. “That is all. No one will ever know what transpired here.”

“I swore an Oath of Loyalty.” Tanya said. “If I break it, I’ll die.”

“That little thing?” Lynne chuckled as he snapped his fingers; a mere moment later, from his very own shadow, a shape formed into that of a young man donned in black. “My other friend here can take care of that for you.”

“… j-just who are you?!” Tanya stuttered in shock as she felt the aura coming from the black-clad man, aimed directly at her. She felt as though every inch of her being was being devoured into endless darkness, and she felt there was no way to escape it, no matter how hard she tried.

“Eh? I should have just opened with this,” Lynne said, sighing. “Intimidation always works, after all.”

“We did tell you so.” the monkey said.

“Oh well. A new lesson for another day.” he said. “Well, Tanya? Are you willing to reconsider my offer?”

“… y-you, you won’t tell anyone?” she asked.

“What for? It’s not as though we’ll give anyone enough time to ask anyway, so you’re safe.” Lynne said.

“… h-here.” Tanya suddenly extended one of her arms and aimed with her index finger at Lynne who remained motionless. A blink later, a brilliant array of light flew from top of her finger to in-between Lynne’s brows. The linked light remained suspended in the air for a brief moment before collapsing into ash swept by the wind. Lynne closed his eyes as his lips curled up in a smile.

“Heh, they’re really clever,” he mumbled as he opened them back up, looking at Tanya. “The Oath’s about to take place, Ryuuk.” the black-clad man shifted into shadows and danced through the air like smoke as he enveloped Tanya’s body. A blood-curling scream echoed into the night a brief moment later as the shadows dispersed and reformed into the young man, standing back next to Lynne. Tanya was kneeling on the ground, her body swept in sweat, still shaking.

“So? Where are they?” the monkey asked anxiously.

“Someplace we can’t reach at the moment,” Lynne said. “I’m sorry Tanya. It seems our partnership must continue.”

“… b-but, you… you said…” she mumbled weakly.

“I know, I know,” Lynne said, sighing. “But, it’s not as though I knew it would turn out like this, right? Don’t worry. No harm will befall you.”

“You’re really light on promising difficult things, aren’t you?” Ryuuk asked with a smile.

“You jest, terrible thing.” Lynne said. “My word is my bond.”

“Right… sure…”

“From now on, of course.” Lynne added, smiling.

“W-what about… about my Sisters?” Tanya asked. “The ones w-who came with me?”

“Ah, don’t worry about them pretty things,” Lynne said. “They’re safe and sound. We’re not monsters, after all. Well, these two technically are, but hey, semantics, right? Just a way for a fool to sound clever.”

“… so? What now?” the monkey asked, frowning.

“Well, first, I’ll have to break through,” Lynne said. “Meanwhile, the rest of you will be making preparations. But, let’s first get our new party member cleaned up and, well, dressed. As much as I love nearly seeing a nipple, it’s too great of a distraction.”

The small group quickly returned to the house Lynne and others stayed at the night before, where Y’se, Ely and nine other women who were lying unconscious were at. Tanya quickly raced over to each and every one to check on their status, sighing in relief when realizing that all were alive.

“Did you get what you wanted?” Y’se asked.

“Yeah,” Lynne said. “Where is Retch?”

“Turning a blind eye.” Y’se said, smiling.

“… eh, better than being here and lecturing me.” Lynne said. “I know where Han Clan’s main base is, but, as we are now, we can’t get to them.”

“It’d be idiotic to even go after them at the moment,” Ely said. “They have at least one False God and one Divine Magus in their reins. We aren’t equipped to handle that.”

“She’s right.” Y’se said, sitting down.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Lynne said. “That’s why I’ll be going in closed meditation tonight.”

“… Retch said it’s too early to attempt and break through.” Y’se said, frowning as she glared lightly at Lynne.

“Well, yeah, but remember that he also said spending time with women is wasting time that could be spent on training.”

“It is.” Y’se said quickly.

“… anyway,” Lynne said, shifting his gaze away from Y’se. “In the meantime, here is what I want the rest of you to do: Y’se, you’ll find a way to get us each a Bloodline Medallion. I’ll take care of the re-inscription when I come out.”

“What are you planning?!” Y’se asked somewhat angrily, but Lynne ignored her as he continued.

“Monkey, I’ll give you a map later where I’ll mark places where you’ll make mini Spacial Locks. Don’t hold back on resources. Ryuuk and Ely, you’ll be in charge of finding homeless and abandoned people. Whatever age they are, whether they’re men or women, it doesn’t matter. Just bring them into our, uh, Tettar Clan.”

“Lynne?!” Y’se interrupted again, and was all the same ignored.

“Our new friend here, Tanya, will be in charge of spreading rumors of the great Tettar Clan, with lineage as ancient as whores themselves. And Retch… well, I’ll leave a note for him.”

“… you’re not going to tell me what you’re planning until the last second, are you?” Y’se asked.

“You’re a smart woman, you’ll figure it out.” Lynne said, smiling.

“Go and combust.”

“That’s not nice.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

“Ouch.” Lynne chuckled for a moment as he turned around and headed upstairs. “You all have roles. Fulfill them, and don’t disturb me unless Y’se is dying.”

“What about the rest of us?” Ryuuk asked, chuckling.

“Die for the greater good.”

“Go and combust.” the monkey said.

“I’d rather not.”

Shortly after, Lynne found an empty room and entered, laying down several dozen protective formations before settling into the center and sitting down cross-legged, closing his eyes as he took in a deep breath. He had already learned all the basic points about the crossing into Divine Realm. The main key lied with whether the pure Flames of Source would accept him and rebirth his body in Divine Form. He also knew it was a bit too early, as he wasn’t certain whether his body could endure the rebirth, but he decided to gamble, as he felt it was well worth it. As silence breathed in and out of the small room where he stayed, his mind transformed into endless entropy lost in the vastness of his own thoughts, lingering somewhere in the back, attempting to break through the will divine.