[Sol Date: Unknown | Location: Divine Realm | Marcus Terno, Bellona, Elina]
"First, we will bless you," Bellona said and waved a hand; suddenly, several other Gods and Goddesses appeared in the room. "With more Divines, the blessing is stronger, so these will help."
The gods chanted for a moment in a strange language, and Marcus felt a strange energy wash over him.
"Next, it is my turn," Elina said and waved her hands over his head. He felt the energy again, less this time, but still there. "That is all the divine energy I have managed to accumulate in the last decade. I am sorry I can not help you more, but once you start to help my followers, I should be able to assist you later on."
Marcus had not liked the use of his daughter's image that Elina had partaken of when they first met, but he found himself liking the seemingly apologetic Goddess. Suddenly, he felt a wash of energy many times stronger than the others combined wash over him. He knew at that moment that Ah-Nu had kept their agreement.
"Now we will activate the system," Bellona said, and the gods all raised a hand, and Marcus felt energy flow into him.
Suddenly, something popped into existence, something he instinctively knew only he could see.
[https://bluebox.akmedrah.com/VV_Notification-001.png]
"Well, that's different," Marcus said, noting the usage of the First Solar Legion emblem.
"You should be able to access your status. As you will not be able to verbally speak, like we discussed, you should be able to simply think about it and open your status." Bellona said, waving her hand and sending the other gods and goddesses away once more.
Marcus thought, "Open Status," and it opened.
[https://bluebox.akmedrah.com/VV_ToonSheet-INITIAL.png]
After a quick once over, Marcus dismissed the status. Elina smiled at him. "As we discussed, you will gain immense power in exchange for limitations."
Marcus understood that he would have a significant amount of time where he was waiting, so he decided that he could go over his status more in-depth then.
"Now we need to begin the process of reshaping your soul and replacing the technologies you have in your body with sou-structures that do the same," Elina said, frowning. "This will be incredibly painful, Marcus."
He smiled at her, "I know, you have warned me many times. Pain I can deal with. Just please make sure that I don't lose her again."
Both of the Goddesses nod, and a bed-like table appeared behind him. Marcus climbed on and lay down. Bellona began sending waves of power through him. Elina looked hesitant, "Marcus, in all reality, there is no upside for you in this. This is the last possible moment you have to back out. If you regret it later, there will be no undoing anything."
Marcus smiled reassuringly to the Goddess he would be serving. "I understand. I also know what I am. I am a warrior in one form or another. That is all I am. So if I can still be of use and fight for a cause, I will go where I am wanted."
With that, Elina waved a hand, and Marcus fell asleep.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
----------------------------------------
[Sol Date: Unknown | Location: Divine Realm | Bellona, Elina]
As they worked, the silence weighed heavily on Elina. She opened her mouth, feeling how dry it was, "Bellona... I..."
"No," Bellona said, not looking up from where she used her powers to transcribe an unconscious Marcus's soul into the blank Dungeon Core. "I had told you I would find you someone. I promised you that I would solve this problem! He was not to be used again. He is solely responsible for the rise to power that Mars and I have had and that, of all things, as you know, is worthy of the afterlife. He has a daughter and wife who Mars is currently entertaining and desperately trying to convince that this is a good thing."
"I know, I just... I don't know how long I have. I..."
"You are impatient. Have I not been supplying you with the required divine power to hold off the nullmana?! Have I not held up every end of our agreement?!" Bellona stopped working for a moment, anger flooding her face as she looked up at Elina. "I made you agree to one thing! One fucking Thing! Do not meddle with Marcus Terno! Do you have any idea why I make that a stipulation in all of my deals? Do you know why it is the only thing I asked of you?"
Elina's eyes were wide. She had never seen Bellona like this. She knew Bellona was a Goddess of War, but Elina had never seen her wrath before.
Bellona took a breath, and the room shook slightly at the influx of power that Bellona flexed. "It is because he is not normal! He is something else! He is..."
Bellona was cut off when a form that neither goddess had seen in millennia materialized. "That is enough, Bellona."
The entity was a tall man with pitch-black eyes, a dark purple skin tone, and clothing reminiscent of a white zoot suit from Earth. His name was simply the agent. None of the Gods were sure who he was an Agent of, but he was the one who showed up to execute wayward gods and punish divine beings.
Elina's face went white as a sheet of paper. She looked down. "Welcome, Agent."
"Hey, Elina! Haven't seen you in a while." The Agent saw how tense they both looked, and he took a breath, "Look, I am not here to punish anyone for anything today. I was tasked by my boss to simply tell you both a couple of things. Firstly, Bellona, you have every right to be angry about Elina breaking your agreement, but you do not need to spread the particular tidbit that you know. Secondly, Elina know that Bellona is not wrong. While I can not exactly tell you why, just know that Marcus is of special interest to several people. And finally, my boss wanted me to tell both of you that he approves of this move, so if that means anything, maybe you should give Elina a break here, Bellona. I mean, if it was Earth, wouldn't you do the same thing she had done?"
Bellona considered for a moment before locking eyes with Elina. "I'm sorry for my outburst. I would have done the same thing in your place."
"Thank you. And I hope you know that if I were not in such a dire situation, I would never have broken an agreement with you." Elina responded in a heartfelt manner.
"There, see, everything is all better." The Agent said, "Alright, now I have things to do. Best of luck to you both."
The rest of the work that went into binding the being that was Marcus Terno, his implants, and his soul into the dungeon core went by rather smoothly.
When they finished, Marcus's body was gone. All that remained was a level 0 dungeon core, a core that had taken on the color of Marcus's cerulean blue eyes, perfectly round and roughly 10 inches in diameter.
"Well, let's transport him and then wake him up," Elina said.
"This is where I part ways. Tell Marcus that it was my honor to meet him." Bellona responded and then vanished without another world.
Elina scooped up the Dungeon Core and opened a portal, stepping through to the temporarily time-locked world of Avardum. She placed the dungeon core down and felt him immediately begin to purify a tiny amount of nullmana, producing mana and using that small amount of mana to create an anchor that would hold himself in place. Elina smiled, then waved her hand over Marcus.
"Good morning, Elina, so this is my new home and my new body," Marcus said. The Goddess next to him only heard him due to her own divine nature, as he could no longer physically speak.
"I can not stay long, Marcus." Elina said with a smile at the blue orb, "Just know that I appreciate you, and I wish you strength. Look for quests from me as my primary way of communicating with you. Be strong, Legatus. The pain of nullmana will commence as soon as I leave."
The goddess turned to leave, and Marcus said one thing. "Tell Mars to tell my wife and daughter that I love them. Tell them that I had to help someone else. And I forgive you, Elina. Now go, save what power you have."
Elina looked back through the closing portal with utter shock on her face. "How did you..."
The closing of the portal cut her off, and suddenly, Marcus was screaming.