(Spoilers ahead)Damn, I am on a roll. Hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter. I enjoyed writing it and even gave you all 17k words. That is honestly insane in my head. This chapter won't be nearly as long, but should still surpass 8k words. In this chapter I cover points and characters that are mentioned a bit on the fan wiki and some light novel content. It doesn't completely spoil the plot, but it may spoil some facts about the character. I tried to add my own twist on one of the characters so I didn't spoil too much on him. Anyways I won't leave you all hanging.
A/N: This is where the story shifts into the main plot. The plot I had planned. It starts off fast, but it will slow down in time trust me. The fast start is simply to get the introduction out of the way. I feel like if I go slow for this chapter it will get more boring way faster. The concept itself is already a bit sudden and may be off-putting to some of you, but when you saw the name of this story you kinda should have expected it. Enjoy
Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing at all
Chapter 7: The Beginning
One second we were consumed by the blue light, and the next second we were in an unknown land. I instantly checked on Cathy and Michael. Cathy looked just as confused as me, while Michael had fallen unconscious.
"You alright Cathy?" I asked, still unable to understand what the hell happened.
"I-I'm fine. What about Mike?" Worry struck her face as I put her down and showed her the unconscious boy. She quickly checked his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's fine. Whatever that was must have put him to sleep." Cathy explained. I nodded before taking a look at our surroundings. I couldn't see much because of a fog that was obscuring my vision. However what I could see was a mountain that seemed to stand above the fog.
"Let's climb that mountain over there to get a better view."
Catherine looked in the direction I pointed too and nodded. We made our way to the base of the mountain.
"Need a hand getting up?" I asked. She looked at me like I was dumb before vanishing from my sight."
"Dude…I can teleport." She reminded me and I facepalmed.
"Of course you can." I facepalmed before gripping Michael tightly and started hopping from rock to rock slowly but surely making ground. I hadn't noticed before, but it was pretty hard to breathe. Must be because of the fog.
I finally made it to the top where there was no fog and saw Cathy looking off the side of the mountain.
"Can you see anything?" I asked, hoping maybe we could have a better understanding of where we ended up.
She didn't answer. She just stood there.
"Cathy you alright?" Again, no answer. I put Michael down and walked over to where she was. Once I reached her my jaw dropped.
The fog we had been trapped in before was not fog at all. It was clouds. A sea of clouds as far as the eye could see laid in front of us with the occasional mountain peak that reached above it.
"Leighton." Cathy started with an indecipherable face. "Do you think it was the orb that did this?"
I looked at her, she was looking back at me. I nodded and hugged her. I had no idea where the hell we were, but one thing was for sure. We were very very far from home.
—-
Rudy POV
"So what's this saint class magic you wanted to show us?" Ariel asked with stars in her eyes.
"It's called Cumulonimbus. It's a spell that gathers clouds to your location and unleashes devastating storms onto your enemies. It's pretty effective if your opponent has a weak body." I explained.
"So you're saying we're gonna be able to make it rain!? Eris cheered. I nodded and chuckled at her happiness.
"Oh it's that crazy spell the kitten used." Ariel announced while stroking her chin.
"You've seen Leighton use this spell before?" I asked, honestly surprised he would use it when he has Sunshine.
"Yea when the mansion got attacked Leighton used the spell on our attackers." Luke added.
Looks like that muscle brain can really use other magic. I honestly thought he forgot everything Master Roxy taught us, but I guess I was wrong.
"Alright, watch and learn I'm gonna show you the pow-" Suddenly a large explosion followed by a beam of light erupted.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" Eris shouted. She looked terrified.
"Let's not wait around to find out!" Ghislaine ordered, before picking up Eris and running away. Ariel and Luke weren't far behind them. Sylphy was staring at the light in disbelief.
"Sylphy!" I exclaimed, snapping her out of her stupor. "We have to go now!" Sylphy nodded before taking one last look at the light. I grabbed her hand and started using wind magic to catch us up to the group. However, we were moving too slowly. I really wished I had a strong body right about now.
The light grew closer and closer to us, I knew we couldn't get away so I shielded Sylphy as the light consumed us.
Seconds later, I found myself holding Sylphy in a dark desert looking place. She had fallen unconscious. What the hell happened? One second we were in the middle of Roa, the next we're in the middle of nowhere. My thoughts quickly came to a halt when I heard growling in the darkness.
I couldn't see anything, but from the growling I could tell that there were a lot of them.
"SYLPHY! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP NOW!" I shouted while shaking her, trying my very best to get her up and conscious. The growling became louder. I turned around and made a fireball, throwing it in the direction of the noise. The ball of fire illuminated the area for about 3 seconds. In those 3 seconds I saw the scariest sight I had ever seen in both of my lives.
Wolves, with 3 eyes and a large horn on their foreheads covered in fresh blood. I had never heard of such animals being on the central continent. Where the hell are we? My thoughts disappeared when the wolves started to pounce.
"DEADLY WATERS!" Water erupted from the ground and formed a giant bubble around where I previously saw the wolves. I held out my hand adding more and more rotation to the water. I had to make sure these wolves would never get up again.
"ARGHHH!" Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I turned around to see a wolf clinging to me and chewing my shoulder. I released my magic and fired a stone bullet directly at the wolves head blowing it off completely. The bite still left a deep gash on my left shoulder and my arm would be useless until I got it healed.
"SYLPHY GET UP NOW!" I shouted once more, preparing to take on the rest of the wolves.
"R-Rudy?"
I quickly turned around to see Sylphy stirring trying to wake herself up. The wolves took the opening and lunged themselves at me. I knew I couldn't use Deadly Waters anymore. It wasn't good for this type of crowd. Once the wolves reached me I swatted at them with my staff the best I could. I was bleeding out, and fast.
"RUDY!" Sylph shouted after finally waking up.
"I'm fine Sylphy, but I need help with these wolves." I pleaded. She nodded her head and quickly raised her wand.
We started launching small beginner class water balls at them. With all the training we've done, these beginner spells have grown stronger with us. They were making short work of the wolves.
Finally it seemed like all the wolves were dead. I dropped to the ground in exhaustion.
"Rudy!" Sylphy instantly ran to me and started healing my shoulder. My eyes slowly closed until darkness welcomed me.
—-
Leighton POV
We spent the entire day walking from peak to peak trying to find someone, anyone to tell us where we were. Night swiftly came and we had to make a camp. Cathy sat with Michael on a mountain peak while I went down gathering as much firewood as I could. Once I returned, I lit the wood on fire providing warmth to the three of us. Michael woke up around this time.
"Cat, Big brother? Where are we?" He groaned, rubbing his tired eyes. Cathy was hugging him tightly.
I hesitated slightly and looked at Cathy. If he had to hear the bad news, it should be from someone he's known all his life. Cathy looked back at me and could tell what my eyes were telling her. She hugged him even harder before answering softly.
"We don't know."
Michael looked between the two of us. His face grew more and more alarmed.
"Don't panic Mikey. We'll figure it out." I reassured him. It didn't calm him down completely, but he seemed to stop panicking.
I moved in closer to the two of them and hugged both of them tightly. To say they were both surprised would be an understatement.
"I swear on my pride, I will get you guys back alive." I softly said, it wasn't more than a whisper, but they heard it clearly in the silence of night.
Cathy managed a soft smile, Michael managed to close his eyes again. We all fell asleep just like that, in the warmth of each other's bodies.
—-
When I awoke the next morning I slowly got up, and left the camp. I didn't want to wake them, but I wanted to do more scouting. I activated Sunshine and threw a ball of energy in the sky. It flew up then stopped a decent height above the peak. It was around the length of a truck. Its whole purpose would be a beacon so I couldn't get lost.
I looked at the two sleeping children before smiling and jumping off the mountain. Creating another ball of energy. Just before I made it to the fog I landed on the ball of energy and started surfing on the clouds.
"This is never gonna get old."
—-
Rudy POV
Suddenly I found myself in a world of white. No, white didn't seem to be the right word. It felt like I was in a world of nothing. After all there was nothing to see. Nothing to touch. Nothing to hear, to smell, or to taste. I stood there for what felt like an eternity, yet it was only a couple of seconds. I examined my hands. They were still the small yet stern hands I had come accustomed to. Well at least I wasn't dead, I think.
In front of me a figure started to form itself from the vast nothingness. Once it did, he too resembled nothing.
"Hello friend. Wow it's good to meet one. I knew sooner or later we would come across one another." The figure greeted me.
I didn't say anything, I just kept looking around as if no one was talking to me.
"Oh come on, don't give me the cold shoulder. I'm a friend. F.R.I.E.N.D." I continued to ignore him. He came off as one of those scammers in my past life. Usually friendly people don't have to introduce themselves as such. They let their actions speak for them.
The figure started to pout. "Well anyways it is good to meet you. To think I would be standing in front of future divinity!"
I quickly turned my gaze to the figure. "What?"
The figure appeared to smile. "Oh it seems I have said too much. Please forgive me for my slip up. It's just been so long since I've talked to someone. I almost spoiled all the fun!"
"Don't apologize. Keep talking. What the hell do you mean by future divinity?" My voice was stern and demanded an answer.
The figure shrugged at my tone. "I don't feel like telling you. Plus you're being quite rude. However I'll overlook your rudeness and start by introducing myself. I am the god of the human realm. The man god. You can call me Hitogami if you like. That suits your past perception of language better, correct?"
Shock plastered itself onto my face. I was standing in front of a god? A sketchy one at that. However, the open canvas of a world I was in was very real. I took a moment to gather my thoughts.
"I don't care if you're a god or not. Tell me what you mean by future divinity and send me back!" I was losing my patience, plus I had to get back to Sylphy. She was all alone out there, probably defending me with her life.
Hitogami looked deeply into my eyes. His eyes were also white like the rest of his body. Truly a creepy god.
"You wanna know? You really wanna know? Well I can tell you a little bit. However, you have to do a few things for me first."
Damn this guy is super sketchy. Forcing me to work for him. I sighed before answering. "Depends on what I'm doing."
Hitogami smiled once more. "The first thing I want is simple. When you awaken there will be a man watching over you and your friend. I want you to trust him, and help him."
I hesitantly nodded. That didn't seem too hard. Hell I probably would've done that anyways, especially if Sylphy had come to trust him.
"Number two." The man of nothing started again. "On your journey back home, you'll meet a boy by the name of Rell. Kill him."
"I'm good." I quickly answered.
"Oh come one. You don't even know if he's a bad guy or a good guy yet." Hitogami pleaded.
"I'm not your damn assassin. If he's a threat I'll take him down, but if he's not I have no reason to." Rudy shrugged.
"Good enough." The man god sighed in defeat.
"Finally. There is a man that roams the land by the name of Orsted the Dragon God. He and I don't fancy each other much. Avoid him until you outrank all the 7 great powers. Then take him down." The man god smiled.
I knew of the Dragon God all too well. Singing songs of the 7 Great Powers. He ranks number two among them and is probably the strongest out of them. People still spot Orsted to this day while the number one power, Technique God Laplace's location remains unknown.
"Once again. If I deem him a threat, I will do it. However, If he's not, no deal." I answered honestly.
Hitogami smiled. "Alright. Seems we have a deal. I'll tell you a little bit of information on that 'future divinity' everytime you complete one of my requests. I'll start off with one piece of info now."
He had my complete attention.
"Twelve candidates. Twelve people were, or will be reincarnated into this world with memories of their past lives, and even possess special abilities. You Rudy are one of the twelve.."
Shock.
I was completely taken aback. "I have an ability? There are more of us out there? Myself, Lei, and Catherine make up three of the twelve, but there's still 9 more people who are out there?"
"Don't misunderstand Rudeus." The man god started once more. "It seems like you already met two of the others, however just because there's 9 more, doesn't mean they have been born yet. Though to answer your first question, yes you have an ability. I would have thought you'd have noticed it by now."
Wait what? So this whole time I've had one. Dammit I could have been beating Lei's ass in those fights all this time, but instead-. I started calming myself down. "So how many of us have been born so far?"
The man god started skipping around and doing a few spins before stopping. "I Dunno."
Every fiber in my body wanted to attack him, but considering he's a god, I held myself back.
"Now what did you mean by future divinity?" I asked hoping I would finally have a real answer to my question.
"Complete my requests to learn more!" The man god said while skipping away.
That damn bastard. I can tell. He has the strings and I'm his puppet. However, I have to follow his lead. I want answers to my questions and I doubt I'll find them anywhere else.
—-
When I woke up, the first thing I felt was warmth. It alarmed me. I jerked back only to see Sylphy laying on me. It didn't wake her up, surprisingly. Guess she must be really tired. I examined our surroundings and suddenly saw a man sitting in front of us. He had green hair and ruby like-gem in his forehead.
All of a sudden Master Roxy's words flowed back into my head.
'Be careful of the Superd. They have green hair and red jewels in their forehead. If you come across one, they'll eat up your whole family!'
Fear struck my face, as the man made eye contact. He could see the look of fear in my eyes. He turned his head away.
Then I thought back to what Hitogami had said. So this is the man I have to trust.
"W-were you the one that saved us?" I asked to the surprise of the Superd.
"Yes. When I came across you, this little girl was dragging you through the rough terrain. You should thank her. You have quite the nice older sister." He informed me while recomposing himself.
Older sister? She's a whole elf dude. She's also around half a year younger than me. Older my ass.
"She's tough, been that way for a while." I said while stroking Sylphy's hair. The superd nodded, before asking.
"What are two children doing in the wastelands of the Magic Continent anyways?"
The Magic Continent? As in, The Demon Continent!? This was way worse than I had expected.
"We were on the Central Continent, in a town within the Kingdom of Asura called Roa. Suddenly a large explosion occurred and a bright light consumed the town. Once we had been consumed we were just… here." I explained.
The superd looked at my face, examining me closely. He did this for about half a minute before sighing.
"Well you're a long way from home." He finally said. I nodded. Didn't know I was dealing with a smart ass. We sat there in uncomfortable silence until he spoke again. "You're just children. You will not survive the harshness of this continent. I will escort you home."
I was taken aback. I didn't expect him to simply volunteer to bring us back.
"We aren't just children. We are both King Class Water Mages." I tried to explain. He simply shook his head in denial. "It doesn't matter how strong you are. You're just children no older than ten I'm sure. I will bring you back to your family."
I quickly realized that regardless of what I said I wouldn't be able to give this guy the slip. My focus shifted from the Superd to Sylphy who was still resting peacefully. Could I really protect her by myself? Maybe this would be good for us.
"Rudeus." I suddenly said. The superd directed his attention back towards me. "My name is Rudeus, and the girl beside me is Sylphiette."
The green haired man managed a slight smile. "Ruijerd. Ruijerd Superdia."
I got up and walked towards Ruijerd before extending my hand. He took a quick look and grabbed my hand firmly. Suddenly finding ourselves across the world, getting back home was going to be tough. I needed every ally I could get.
"Nice to meet you Ruijerd.
—-
Leighton POV
After soaring above the clouds for an hour I finally found a structure. It was a castle surrounded by a massive wall. Nothing I couldn't fly over though. Once I passed over the walls I examined the castle grounds. Unfortunately It looked completely abandoned. I landed at the entrance to the huge palace, and slowly pushed the doors open. When I did, they opened about half way before the hinges broke and the doors collapsed to the ground below.
"Well that's not ominous at all." The place seemed completely deserted, yet I had a feeling in my gut that I shouldn't be here. Like a carnal feeling deep within my beast instincts. However my pride forced me forward.
As I explored the castle, I saw destroyed tables and chairs, and even paintings. I examined one of the drawings that had a tear in the top left, however the rest of it remained untouched. In the painting was a monster with green dragon like scales on his face, and large green draconic wings on his back. He had five eyes, one pair of eyes directly under his eyes, and an eye on his forehead.
"Sukuna and Hiei have a baby?" The monster really did look like a demon straight out of Yu Yu Hakusho.
"BANG"
I heard a large noise come from below me. I would never admit this to anyone, but I damn near shit myself. I quickly recomposed myself before thinking about what I should do next. If someone, or something made that noise, then I had to investigate. Even if it was something. We haven't found any food this entire time, and soon we would become desperate.
"So how do I get down?" I walked around trying to find some stairs that would lead me down. After about twenty minutes and three trips around the entire castle my patience wore thin.
I started forming energy in my hands and expanding its density, giving it more strength.
"CRUEL SUN!" I threw the dense ball towards the ground, not even bracing myself for the explosion. As it hit, it surprisingly seemed to have trouble pushing through the ground, but after a few moments tore through it like paper. I managed a small smile before looking down the huge hole I created. It was a long drop. So far, I couldn't even see the bottom.
Making another tiny cruel sun to light up my way, I jumped down into the hole. I fell for about twelve seconds before my feet finally landed on the ground.
"Damn that was a crazy fall. What the hell was so loud that I could hear it from all the way up there." I knew I would soon figure out the answer so I started walking. It was so quiet. Not even a squeak from a rat, or the crawling from a bug. All that could be heard were my footsteps, heartbeat, breathing and the burning of my energy.
"To think you've found me so quickly."
A woman's voice? I quickly got on guard. My sword was drawn and I was looking around. Trying to figure out who the hell said that. After a whole five tense minutes of silence, I continued my walk. Finally I came across a pair of golden doors that didn't look decayed or dirty at all. In fact they shined brightly in the aura of my cruel sun.
I slowly walked up to the doors and pushed them open. It didn't take much force. The doors practically opened themselves. Inside was a massive throne room with hundreds of suits of gold armor leading all the way up to the throne. Upon examining the throne, I quickly drew my sword. Sitting on the throne was the same monster I had seen in all of the paintings. By his side was a golden ax embedded into the ground.
The monster's red eyes glared deep into my own bicolored eyes.
"What a surprise. To think one of the divine buds would come visit me." The monster said with a voice like thunder striking metal.
It didn't take a genius to tell. This guy was bad news. Seriously bad news. All of my instincts were yelling at me to run. They were fighting with my pride, and my instincts were winning.
The monster looked deeper into my eyes. It caused me to take a step back. Seeing this the monster smiled, each of his razor sharp teeth showing.
"Oh where are my manners? You'll have to forgive me. It's been a very very long time since I've had any visitors. I am the Ruler of this castle. I am known by many names, but the one I'm most fond of is Laplace."
My heart froze. However my body didn't. I instantly did a full one-eighty degree turn and dashed towards the door. I only made it halfway before I felt myself stop. I couldn't move! I couldn't even budge an inch.
"Oh come on now. Don't you know it's rude to leave when someone is introducing themselves? Have your parents taught you no manners? Sensing your energy I really thought you would be just like 'him,' however I guess I was wrong."
The monster talked but I wasn't listening. I was too busy caught in my thoughts. Where the hell am I? Why the hell is the Demon God here? To think we were unlucky enough to be teleported a few miles from the strongest of the 7 Great Powers.
"I can answer your questions. As to where you are, this is known as the heaven continent. Usually it's a place humans cannot visit, however over the years some very strong members of your race have managed to climb their way here. As to why I am here? I've been here for a relatively short amount of time. If I'm right, it's been around five hundred years. Oh and lastly. I do not rank number one against the great powers of this world. You seem to be thinking of my other half, the Technique God.
He…he read my mind. No that's not important right now Leighton, snap yourself out of this fear. He said we're currently on the heaven continent. Based on what I know, which isn't much, no one has really explored this place, or at least, not many have lived to tell the tale. This is bad. Really really bad.
"Calm yourself down. It's embarrassing to see you acting so fearful when his energy is radiating off of you so brightly."
His energy? Who the hell is he? I swear this guy is talking in code or something because his words are leaving out way too much information.
"Shouldn't it be obvious. I'm referring to the previous Sky God. The one that ruled the entire Sky realm. How the hell can you be a divine bud and not know any general history?"
Suddenly the paralysis I was previously restrained with vanished. I turned around to face Laplace again and simply looking at him forced me to drop to my knees. My aura was completely overwhelmed and dominated in his presence.
"W-what do y-you mean by sky god?" I asked, sweating profusely all over.
"Wow. You really know nothing. I'm quite surprised. I would have thought you'd have some idea, but I guess now that I can see your real body and not that bulk of muscle you were before I guess I can understand now. Young Bud. How old are you?"
I was shocked by the change in tone. His thunderous powerful voice changed into a more quiet yet still equally thunderous voice.
"I-i'm nine. T-turning ten soon."
"Yes I see, so your body is nine years old, but that's not what I meant." Once again his eyes looked deeply into my own. "What I meant is, how old are you mentally."
My eyes widened. He knew. We hadn't even known each other for more than five minutes and he already knew. I glanced down at the ground.
"Twenty seven, almost twenty eight." I said in a defeated tone. It had been a while since I acknowledged my true age.
"Hmmm. I had expected you to be at least a century older than that. Only twenty seven years? Well. Serves me right for assuming these things. You're definitely not like the other bud I met. She was way older from the moment we met."
I could've sworn I heard a chuckle from him, but I simply blamed it on nerves.
"You met another one like me?" I asked with slight disbelief apparent in my voice.
"Indeed I did, she came not too long before you. I believe it was only around two hundred years ago when I met her. She had to have been one of the most beautiful women I ever laid eyes on, truly deserving the title of divinity. Don't even get me started on her power!" Laplace looked like he was talking about his dog the way he looked so excited. Seeing him like this quickly relaxed me.
"So she was strong?" I asked hoping to gain a little bit more information.
"Strong is an understatement. Her ability is truly fit for her. I'm sure she'll make a great goddess."
"Goddess?" I was completely taken aback by the sudden appearance of the word.
"I said what I said, didn't I? She's a divine bud, isn't it just right she grows out of the bud stage and becomes a goddess?"
I slowly nodded. My mind was processing the information I was hearing, but it was very hard to believe.
"So all of us reincarnations are divine buds?" I asked. I didn't wanna stay here for much longer. Creepy Demon God aside, I needed to get back to Cathy and Mikey.
"Well not really." The demon lord sighed. "You only truly become one after awakening your true ability. For a bud to awaken their ability they must come into contact with their soul weapon. I knew it was only a matter of time before the wielder of Rhitta would show up." Laplace answered before grabbing the ax by his side with what looked like a great deal of effort and chucking it over to me.
I stared at the ax that landed in front of me for what felt like an eternity. An energy was radiating off of it. It felt so warm, so familiar. Just then I heard the woman's voice again.
"Come master. Take hold of me. Together you and I will realize your destiny. The destiny that was intended by my creator."
I slowly rose to my feet and walked towards the giant golden one handed ax. All the while wishing to feel its warmth. I stopped in front of it. Raising my hand I reached for the handle. All it took was a touch of my index finger. A bright golden light consumed me. The light swiftly changed to white. I could feel the very essence of my being changing. While this was occurring Laplace was simply smiling on his throne. It wasn't a heartwarming smile, but a more sinister one.
The light began to dim down, and as it did I knew I wasn't the same. The ax was gone. Nowhere to be seen. That was the least of my concerns though. I felt WAY stronger, but not only stronger, but more precise. I feel like my aura was contained, yet in a single second it could be explosive. I could also feel a few things on my back which alarmed me. I reached back and what I felt surprised me.
"I didn't expect your appearance to change so drastically. That didn't happen to the other bud. To think your hair, eyes, and even your limbs changed."
Taking in Laplace's words I quickly ran up to one of the golden suits of armor and started inspecting my appearance.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" I shouted flabbergasted at my new look. My body was normal size. My hair had gone from blonde and silver to completely white. My eyes had changed from green and brown to orange and blue, my ears were gone and replaced with human ones, and on my back were four large angelic wings.
"WAIT IS IT STILL THERE!?" I quickly felt for my tail, and relief drenched my face when I felt it.
"Simply becoming a bud made you this powerful. I look forward to seeing what a few centuries will do for you." Laplace speculated with a faint smile.
"A few centuries?" I asked not sure if he understood that beastmen and humans don't live very long.
"Yes. Now that you have ascended to divinity, you wouldn't really be classified as a beastman or a human anymore. You're simply a being of divine energy. You're immortal in the sense of eternal life.
The news hit me like a truck. I touched an ax and now I'm a god? I swear everytime this demon god talks it puts three more questions into my head.
"Divinity is far from perfection. Calling yourself a god is foolish. You can still easily be killed. Hell, even I could wipe away your existence, and I could think of about fifty others that could kill you without much effort as well."
A headache started to form in my brain. All this information and stupidity really put a strain on my head. Until about ten minutes ago, I was Leighton Greyrat, son of Paul and Ghislaine Dedoldia. Brother of Rudeus, friend of Sylphy, Eris, Ariel, Catherine, Laura, Rosaline, Luke, and Michael. The kid born with extraordinary power. Now all of that seemed so foggy. The reality of my situation felt so fake. Like it wasn't truly happening. Another look at the wings on my back quickly changed that assumption.
"Now that the seeds have been planted, what you choose to do in the future lies solely on you. However I have a suggestion. I gave the one who came before you the same idea, however she turned me down. I wonder what will you do?" Laplace chuckled once more.
I've heard so much crazy shit today that my mind was just drained. I sighed and said, "Shoot."
Laplace nodded before shifting to a serious tone. Killing intent started leaking dangerously out of his body. If I felt drained before I sure as hell didn't anymore.
"There is a being who calls himself Hitogami. Kill him. What you choose to do after that is up to you. Will you accept or decline my suggestion?" Even after Laplace finished his question his killing intent never ceased.
I started weighing out my options. He can read my mind so whatever the hell I decide I have to believe wholeheartedly or he won't accept it as a proper answer. I have never heard of a being called 'Hitogami.' I can't just kill someone I don't know. However, what do I do if Laplace doesn't like that answer. Feeling his aura now, I know for a fact if we fight I'll die. I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out a silver coin.
"Laplace!" I called out hoping to calm him down. He simply stared at me before slowly calming his killer intent.
"What is your choice?"
"I dunno, but we're gonna see!" I flicked the coin in the air. "Heads, I'll kill him, tails I'll meet him before I decide." I said before catching the coin. I slowly moved my hands to see the result. Laplace remained unmoving. I peaked in and a smile welcomed itself onto my face.
"Seems like it's tails." I voiced my satisfaction.
Laplace didn't say a word, in fact he didn't move, or talk. Hell it didn't even look like he was breathing. Then suddenly he spoke.
"Is that your final decision?" His tone was even more quiet yet the same level of base to it.
I nodded. No going back now. Laplace stood up from his throne, allowing me to see his true height. Around eight and a half feet with a body that screamed bodybuilder. Seriously, no man needs to have that much muscle! Still he looked badass.
I quickly controlled my thoughts as he walked towards me.
"Then it appears you're also useless to me. Perhaps the next Sky bud will be a little more promising." As he finished he blitzed me with his speed and gut checked me, launching me back out of the door and down the tunnel.
I started coughing up blood completely surprised by the power he possessed.
"Oh, I would have thought that attack would have killed you. Seems becoming a bud truly has increased your strength significantly. It's a shame. I was actually starting to like you." Laplace was still in the throne room, but I could hear his voice clearly.
Defeating him was simply impossible so I did the most logical thing. I ran as fast as I could. I only got about fifty meters away before I felt a hard hit to the back of my head. My body skidded further down the tunnel. My head was gushing blood and my vision was fading.
"You're not the first of your kind I've killed. I believe it's been about four now. Over the last five hundred years. Every single one of them has declined my request. The only reason I mentioned the girl is because she managed to escape with an inch of her life."
I crawled, hoping I could reach the exit. I couldn't die here. Not to the strongest. It would be like dying to Madara. Cool as hell, yet in the end completely pointless.
Laplace easily caught up to me and slammed his foot onto my back crushing my newly formed wings and pinning me to the ground.
"ARGGHH!" I roared in pain. I tried to look up to Laplace's face and what I saw horrified me. He was smiling. Not just any normal smile. One of a psychopath. He was enjoying this and getting his rocks off at the same time. As I felt my consciousness fading, I heard the woman's voice again.
"Reach deep within yourself and call upon the power of ARK. Only then can you save yourself."
I had no idea what she was talking about, but I knew if I wanted to live, I had to try. I started gathering as much power as I could muster to my stomach. It heated up, and the heat almost became unbearable, but I had to keep going. Catherine and Michael. They were waiting for me to return. Ariel. Rudy, Sylphy, Eris, Luke. They're all alive, I know it. So who am I to die here like some disposable background character. The light started to expel itself out of my body. Laplace noticed the power I was gathering.
"Yes. I like that. Give me a fight. It wouldn't be any fun if you were a weakling who didn't fight back at all! SHOW ME A GREAT TIME!
Jeez this guy is fucked.
The pain in my stomach grew and more blood poured out of my mouth but I didn't stop. Not until I felt it was enough, and then it was. A small smile came to my face.
"ARK!" The light erupted, consuming everything. Laplace, the tunnel, and even the entire castle were all consumed in the pure devastation of the attack.
The attack lasted for five whole minutes. The light never dissipated until that time passed. Once the light disappeared there was a deep crater left in the middle of the mountain we were on. I slowly got up. All I could see around me was devastation.
"Is…he…dead?" I panted out before coughing up more blood.
I took another look around before trying out my new wings to get a better view. They felt pretty wobbly and hard to control much like my tail when I was born, but I knew I'd get the hang of it. I flew high enough that I could see the entire mountain. I couldn't see Laplace anywhere. I started to speculate if he was actually dead, then a fact occurred to me.
"He's the Demon God Laplace. Of course he's not dead. Better not stick around for much longer." I decided before flying in the direction of Cathy and Mikey.
—-
Flying back allowed me to get a better grasp on these new wings. I wouldn't say I mastered it yet, but I definitely was starting to get the hang of it. In only twenty minutes I reached the mountain where we were staying. Only something surprised me when I arrived. The cruel sun I had left as a beacon changed from its normal reddish orange color to a vibrant white. The transformation must have changed my energy on top of my appearance.
As I descended I could see Catherine and Michael sitting on the ground beside our campfire. It brought a smile to my bleeding face. I landed right next to them.
"LEIGH-" Cathy started before quickly stopping herself. She looked confused. I guess seeing someone that looks almost unrecognisable would do that to you.
She raised her sword and pushed Michael behind her. "Who are you!"
"Calm down Akame, it's me Cathy." I started trying my best to convince her. "I ran into a bit of trouble." I quickly sat down hoping to rest my body up a bit.
"Lei?" Cathy knew only reincarnations could make those types of references. "Oh my god Lei what happened to you!" Michael came out from behind Cathy and hugged me "Big brother we were scared without you!"
Blood was dripping down the side of my head, my shirt had been completely torn, and I had bruises all over my body.
"Don't worry Mikey, I'm here now. As for what happened to me? It's a really long story."
—-
"So you're telling me you fought the strongest of the Seven Great Powers and survived?" Cathy asked not buying it for a second. She was healing my wounds with some healing magic she had learned from Sylphy in case of emergencies.
"I told you Cathy, it wasn't that Laplace. The Laplace I met was Demon God Laplace. Your thinking of Technique God Laplace. Also fought? Really strong word. How about I survived Demon God Laplace?" I explained, while adding a joke at the end.
"I mean how do you expect me to believe any of what you're saying. You suddenly tell me you've become an immortal with the power to hold back even Laplace?" She sighed completely burnt out of my bullshit.
I grabbed her hand, stopping her from healing me and looked into her eyes.
"Cathy on my pride, and everything I hold dear I'm telling the truth. Please believe me." I pleaded.
Catherine looked back into my eyes, while I stared into her beautiful bicolored eyes. Suddenly she looked away and ripped her hand out from mine.
"I see." She didn't say anymore and went back to healing me, but I noticed that her face was burning red.
Wait. Is there a chance Catherine has a thing for me? I looked closer at her, however she didn't make eye contact. She might, but I have no real way of knowing. Plus she's not some casual teenager. She still has about nine years mentally over me, so I have no idea if she'd even be attracted to a guy that much younger than her.
I decided to let it go. Right now it's not important. Once Cathy finished I got up.
"Where are you going?" She asked. I looked at her, then at Michael who was playing around with my sword.
"WE are leaving." I informed them.
"Why are we leaving now big brother? You should get some rest." Michael offered, but I swiftly declined.
"We need to leave before he pursues us." I warned, while grabbing my sword back from Mikey.
"You think he's in any condition too?" Cathy asked, worriedly.
"I don't know. Never met a demon besides Master Roxy before, and I never tested their limits. I'm sure the attack did damage, but I don't know his regenerative capabilities." I answered honestly.
Catherine didn't need any more convincing before she got up and picked up Michael before following me down the mountain.
Carrying them would be convenient, but I'm not super great with flying yet. I don't wanna mess up and accidently cause their deaths.
"Do you know a way off this continent? You said it was the Heaven Continent right?" Cathy asked, ready to get the hell out of the waste of land.
"Yea, and I think I might know a way out. The two continents that surround the Heaven Continent are the Magic Continent to the east, and the Central Continent to the west. The castle I came from is the castle of Laplace. If I'm correct, that castle should close to the Magic Continents north-western point also known as-"
"The Demon King Kingdom." Cathy finished my explanation to which I nodded.
"So you wanna go towards the Magic Continent instead of the Central Continent? Why?" Cathy asked, unable to understand my logic there.
"Our goal is the Central Continent, so it's a huge detour to go to the Magic Continent, however we can't make it to the central continent if we're not alive." I started. "I have no doubt the longer we are on this continent the longer we're in danger. Thinking back to the world map and how big the continent is, it would take us about three weeks to get to the Central Continent, and that's with you and me going full speed. Don't forget we still have Mikey to take care of. Reaching the Magic Continent should take a day at most considering it took an hour for me to reach the castle at sprinting speed."
Cathy looked saddened but nodded anyway.
I attempted to put away my wings the same way I would try to curl up my tail, and it actually worked. Now that I had space on my back I offered Mikey a piggyback ride which he accepted. I started running, while Cathy used her teleportation to stay slightly ahead of us. In due time we would be off this hellhole of a continent.
—-
Heaven Continent Castle
As we passed by the castle I tried my best to suppress as much of my power as possible. I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary, but at the same time, I knew something was bound to happen. I destroyed his castle, and that was after he wanted to taste my blood. He probably wanted to consume my entrails right about now.
We didn't so much as utter a single word while we passed by and after a few minutes of tense silence, we had gone far enough to where we could relax a bit. We didn't stop moving, but we did start talking again.
"Big bad monster Laplace must really want us badly, Lei." Cathy joked much to my annoyance.
"Trust me. He's terrifying. My guess is he must not have healed from the attack yet. We got lucky. Really lucky." I looked down as we kept moving.
"Hey Cathy?" I called, scanning my surroundings.
"Yea Lei?"
"Can you teleport with other people?"
"Yes I can, but it's a lot more draining. Why?" Cathy was intrigued by my sudden shift in attitude.
I started to slow down. Cathy noticed and also slowed down. Then we came to a stop.
"Why did we stop?" Cathy asked.
"I guess you don't feel it huh?" I asked while looking back.
I let Michael down and grabbed his shoulders.
"Mikey. You listen to your sister okay. She's gonna get you home safely." I told him with a small smile on my face.
"I know she will, and you will too, right big brother?" Michael asked with a smile. I didn't answer.
"Lei what's wrong?" Cathy question. Confusion overwhelmed the two.
"Cathy. Take Michael and try your best to make it off the continent. Don't slow down for a second."
"Why are you doing this, Lei!? We can go together, come on!" Cathy tried to pull me along to no avail.
"He's stalking us." I suddenly admitted, thoroughly scaring the two siblings.
"He recently raised his power ever so slightly. Right now he's walking towards us. He's enjoying every bit of this."
Cathy backed up slowly while holding my hand.
"Then we have to go now! If we don't he'll catch up to us!" Cathy tried her best to convince me but there was only one way any of us were getting out of here alive.
I brushed her hair out of her eyes softly and smiled the best smile I could, even if it was fake.
"He could reach us all whenever he wants to. He's toying with us. Giving false hope. Once we all reach the edge, he'll show up and kill us all." I started. Cathy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Michael even at his young age started to understand where I was going with this and he started sobbing.
"I'll buy as much time as I can. I can't promise too much, but I'll for sure make it hard for him, don't worry." I explained with a sad smile. I didn't want to die. In fact I wanted nothing more than to live. However, This threat was simply unbeatable.
Cathy was going to say something else but I put my hand over her mouth.
"You two need to get going. Now!" I said sternly. Truth be told, I could only buy so much time even with this new power of mine.
Cathy's eyes started watering and then tears erupted out of them like a fountain. It hurt me to see her like that but this was for the best. She turned around and took Michael's hand.
I smiled and turned my back towards them. Facing the direction of where my killer was coming from. Just as I was about to power up, Cathy turned me around before kissing my lips passionately. She wrapped her arms around me and I did the same with her. In this moment despite the situation we were in, with my own imminent doom minutes away, I was happy. We stayed like that for half a minute before she broke away. Her face was a complete mess.
"You b-better live, Lei." She said in between sobs before grabbing Michael's hand and disappearing from sight.
I inwardly smiled.
"So selfish."
"You'd give your life for theirs?" Rhitta asked.
I looked to the sky. It was clear. After all, the clouds were below us. Then I looked back to the direction Laplace was coming from. "Always."
"You're interesting. It would be a shame if we were to depart so soon after merging."
"Not much I can do about that. This must be done." I reassured not only Rhitta, but myself.
"Indeed it must. However if you only wish to buy time, I believe I can help you with that.
—-
Five minutes after Cathy's teleportation, I finally saw the figure of Laplace on the horizon. He was trudging very slowly, all the while a wild smile on his face.
I didn't move a muscle. I was no longer terrified of him. I was terrified of what he would do to Cathy and Michael if he caught them, and I'm sure he caught on to that already. After all, he can read minds.
Another three minutes passed. He had finally reached me. We were about twelve feet apart.
"Miss me?" He let out a loud and very annoying cackle that increased my headache.
"You really want Hitogami dead that bad huh?" I asked sincerely.
His laughter came to a halt.
"More than you can comprehend." His tone was serious. I couldn't detect even an inch of a lie.
"Must've done some bad things." I sighed drawing my sword in my left hand.
"Bud. You have no idea."
Laplace wasted no more time. He blitzed me and threw a powerful left handed uppercut. I raised my right hand and instantly a golden axe appeared in it. Swinging the axe down I cut the Demon Gods arm up to his elbow. Laplaced stood there completely unfazed that his arm had been cut in half.
"Fast learner. It's a shame you made the wrong choice."
I quickly reeled back my blade, as used his right hand to try and snatch it.
"You're wide open!" I used the sword in my left hand to pierce Laplace's chest right where his heart should be. I followed it up with another slash from Rhitta, this time aimed for his neck. It made contact, but it couldn't go much deeper. I struggled trying to force it deeper, but it wouldn't budge.
"Even though you're completely outclassed, you look for weaknesses and try to capitalise. I'm starting to think killing you is a waste. Since you destroyed my castle you owe me. If you swear that you'll live with me here until I rally enough buds to my cause and also vow to aid me in killing Hitogami then I will let you live." Laplace offered.
Honestly it was tempting. Hell it meant I'd live. Anything would be tempting as long as that condition was included.
Ripping Rhitta out of his neck and pulling my sword out of his chest I gave my answer.
"Hard pass."
"Then you'll die here and now." His speed grew with his threats. He lunged forwards landing a spin kick on my chin sending me soaring into the air, before jumping up and kicking me back down to the ground hard. I could feel myself fall down several hundred feet through the mountain. I clung to my weapons hard while I continuously crashed against hard rocks and metals. Eventually my pain finally came to a stop. I looked up and there was a single hole about a thousand feet above me. It was so small I could barely even see it.
There Laplace stood. I could see a black energy cover the hole, and slowly approach me.
"Master, you must move. That's Laplace's decay aura. If you are hit by it, your body will start to rot from the inside out. It's terribly excruciating."
I tried to get up but I couldn't budge. It was a tight hole and I was about eighty-five percent sure my left leg was broken.
"It's fine. With Cathy's teleportation and no one to wait on, I bet she's already off the continent. I did buy about thirteen minutes."
"Master. Did you already forget the last words she said to you?"
'You b-better live Lei'
Damn I'm an idiot. To think I was about to just lay down and accept death. The black fog was growing even closer. I quickly tried to shift myself so I was looking downward. Raising Rhitta as high as I could I slashed downward which brought me down about ten feet. I slashed again, and again, and again, and again, one hundred feet, two hundred feet, three hundred feet. I didn't let up. I was gonna live. I was gonna get the hell out of here. I wouldn't lose to some ugly ass monster with a man god fetish. The fog was getting closer but I didn't care.
"MY NAME IS LEIGHTON GREYRAT. IF YOU THINK THIS IS ENOUGH TO KILL ME DEMON GOD LAPLACE YOU ARE DEAD WRONG!"
I started using my sword as well to cut down.
'CLANG'
Suddenly I started falling down again. I landed hard on my broken leg. I looked around and couldn't see anything so I made a cruel sun to illuminate the area. What I saw shocked me. A cave? I started limping, looking around for an exit. If I stayed here the fog would definitely consume me.
As I searched, I could no longer sense Laplace.
"Rhitta, can you sense Laplace?"
"Yes, I can. He seems to have returned to the ruins of his castle."
Does he think I'm dead? Or is he just playing games with my mind again? It doesn't matter. This is a chance.
"Rhitta do you think you can find an escape?" I asked the axe who I now considered my closest ally.
"That isn't in my field of expertise, Master. You'll have to find your own way out."
Just great. I quickly got to work limping around the cave using my sword as support. I stored Rhitta back with my mana where I drew her from. As I walked around the cave I was slowly starting to lose hope again. Tears of frustration and pain started to obscure my vision which didn't help anything.
Then I heard something. A light splashing. It was calm, but loud enough for me to hear. I limped over to the sound as fast as I could. In front of me was a patch of water. I dipped my sword in, and it didn't touch the bottom.
"This could lead out!" I almost cheered with how happy I was. However I wasn't out of danger yet. The fog had long ago entered the cave but it was nowhere near my position. Even if this didn't work I could still try something else. Without wasting another second I jumped in. I opened my eyes and surprisingly it was a whole underwater network! This was my ticket out.
I swam through one of the tunnels going as fast as I could. I don't know how long I can hold my breath now, but before when I was a beastman, I could hold it for about half an hour. After about three minutes of swimming I still didn't feel even the least bit strained. Seems I've retained that aspect at least. Rudy is gonna be mad when he sees me now!
A sudden flash came to my mind. Rudy. I wonder how he's doing. Hopefully not as bad as me. I wonder who he's with. Eris, Sylphy, Ghislaine, Luke, or even Ariel? I wish I could see them all again, but I feel like it's going to be a long time before I see any of their faces. How is Michael doing now that he's escaped? The last moments I spent with Catherine popped into my head. I need to see her again.
—-
After seventeen minutes of swimming, I could see that the tunnel was finally ending. My guess was I would end up in another cave, further away from that monster. However I was delightfully surprised. Open Ocean. The different emotions flooded me quickly. Soon I'd be free. I swam as fast as I could to the surface. Once I was mere feet from it I felt something wrap around my leg. I looked down and froze. A tentacle. I hurled my cruel sun at it, cutting it off, freeing me. I quickly swam to the surface before bringing out my wings and flying out of the water. I stared down for a while waiting for the monster to make its move, but it never did.
"Rhitta, do you know what that was?"
"Based on the size of the appendage, I'd say it was a baby kraken, Master."
I breathed a sigh of relief. Just a baby. Had it been an adult I had no doubt it would have come ready to fight for its lost limb. Krakens are no joke. They are easily a king class - emperor class threat. In rare cases the older ones may even be deemed as god class threats, but those are very very very rare.
I quickly started flying towards the Magic Continent. My goal? Reunite with my lil bro and my lil lady. That's what we are now right? She did kiss me after all. Well I'll know when I see her!
—-
Catherine POV
It's been three days since Michael and I reached the Magic Continent. We thought we would be safe once we got here, but it just ended up being another hell. Everywhere we go, monsters attack. Michael is too inexperienced to fight so I have to keep us both safe. I've been trying to forget what happened in the Heaven Continent.
As of right now it's a distraction, and I'll have plenty of time to mourn later when Michaels safe. We have been traveling east hoping to find a town, or a village. So far we've been unlucky. Everything hurts. I want nothing more than to drop and give up, but that would mean damning Michael to death as well. He's what keeps me going after losing Leighton.
"Cat, I'm hungry." Michael whined.
"I am too Michael, but we don't know if this food is okay to eat." I answered my little brother. I've killed countless monsters since we got here, but I wasn't sure what we could eat and what we couldn't so we ate nothing.
"Can't we just try it Cat?" Michael pleaded as his stomach started growling again.
"Please Michael just wait a little long." I asked hoping he could settle down. Hearing him complain about his hunger only made me more nodded, and we kept walking.
A few minutes later we came across a small village. I instantly grabbed Michael and teleported to it. Once we arrived a blue haired man who looked like the gatekeeper started talking to us
"Zaik hok ze la shia" He said in a serious voice.
"No speaka demon language." I answered back before trying to step by him. This seemed to anger him because he pulled out the that was on his back and pointed it at me
"Zaik…hok…ze…la…shia."
"Saying it slower doesn't help jackass." I drew my sword ready to fight if need be. I was gonna feed my brother and no one was gonna stop me from that goal.
"Wait!" I looked over the gatekeeper's shoulder to see an older blue haired man coming our way. Once he arrived he bowed. "I am deeply sorry for his lack of knowledge of the common language. I am the elder of this village. Please, you are most welcome here. Plus we already have guests. The more the merrier."
I was surprised by the sudden politeness I was being shown. Most of the demons I met in the demon king territory were rude and savage.
"Thank you. I'm Catherine Boreas Greyrat, and this is Michael Boreas Greyrat." I introduced myself while pushing Michael from behind me.
"Wait did you say Greyrat?" The old man asked in shock.
"Yes, have you heard the name before?" I wondered if the Greyrat family name was known even in the Magic Continent.
"Yes, actually one of the guests here shares your name." The old man announced.
My heart stopped.
"TAKE ME TO THEM!" I shouted much to his surprise. He nodded before hurrying over to one of the houses. I quickly followed, with Michael right behind me.
We arrived at the house and the old man went in first.
"It seems one of your friends was closer than you thought, kid." The elder chuckled. I walked into the house. In front of me were two blue haired people and a green haired man with a red jewel in his head but I didn't even take in their existence. Sitting in front of me was Sylphiette and Rudeus.
"Sylphy, Rudy." Tears overflowed as I couldn't believe I had found them so soon.
"Catherine?" Sylphy got up. Her hands were covering her mouth and tears of joy were freely flowing down her cheek. I wasted no time in hugging her, squeezing as tight as I could. I did it, Leighton. I found them.
And that'd do it. This chapter was a bit short, you'll have to forgive me for that. I had intended on making it longer, then I felt like it would just drag on. There are a lot of plot holes in this chapter that were purposely made to be explored in later chapters. It would be boring if I made everything so straight forward from the beginning. Anyways let's talk about the end of this chapter. Catherine, even though she wants to believe otherwise, thinks Leighton is dead. I decided to reunite these two parties because sometime when I was writing the chapter I decided to completely change Leighton's direction with the rest of the characters. My original plan was to have him meet back up with Catherine and Michael but that idea didn't bear as much fruit as my current decision. As for the whole divine concept? I wanted to kinda poke around. I think it's a good mix with the gods of Mushoku Tensei and SDS. If you don't like where the story is going, I understand, but as I said in the beginning, look at the title of the story. You had to see this coming. I wrote these last two chapters this weekend, and I am exhausted. I had tons of fun though. Anyways hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review as long as it doesn't directly address a plot hole. Like I said I have those saved for later. Enjoy yourselves.