Capítulo 1195: Visit
Kaahaal and Loimos exchanged information, but the undead never actually revealed why he had been so interested in learning about Apostlehood and The Purple. Loimos have no indication whatsoever of what this knowledge was to be used for. Was it just for the sake of accumulating knowledge? Or was there sothing more at play?
The Cloaked One desired to know of the skeleton’s thoughts, but he did not dare to question the being across from him.
The eting eventually ca to an end, and sohow, Kaahaal actually walked away with his life intact. It seed like he would truly get to beco a living agent of the Empire–At least for a ti.
It was hard to fathom that a being was able to take in the entire knowledge of a deity dedicated to researching the truth. Knowledge was powerful. It was not sothing to be taken lightly, absorbing too much knowledge–Or knowledge that you shouldn’t know–Could very easily topple even the mightiest.
The Bearer Of Harsh Truths himself had co close to succumbing due to treading too far, but Loimos seed simply unfazed by the burden of knowledge… Was he truly immune, or was it simply impossible to notice the strain forbidden knowledge was having upon him?
Kaahaal did not know. This was a truth he did not have access to.
The deity rose from his seat, and Loimos did the sa. Speaking up as he did so.
“Take a step to the left”
Kaahaal inexplicably felt compelled to do as the undead said, and in the next instant, the roof of the great hall was shattered, exploding into countless pieces of debris.
A stray, condensed burst of divine energy flew right by Kaahaal. It would have struck him head-on in the chest.
A dented laughter filled the room. From the smoke, a figure Kaahaal was familiar with erged. Another mad god, a prisoner of the sa sub-realm. This one, Kaahaal, would not hesitate to qualify as truly insane. There was only one situation in which this divinity appeared to truly possess the full extent of his wits, and it was when in a fight.
“Boy, oh boy… I thought I had spread my divine influence in a sneaky, oh so sneaky manner… Seems like you noticed anyway, though”
The intruding deity was nothing short of monstrous. He was garbed in flowing garnts covered in nonsensical patterns that ant absolutely nothing, from his shoulders, two thin arms extended. However, at the portion where the elbow should be, both arms instead ford into three distinct arms, each ending with three-fingered hands.
His head was a sh of dull, fish-like eyes accompanied by a wide, elongated maw filled with small, sharp teeth. It was twisted into a grin, and he rely stood there with the tip of his eighteen fingers touching one another.
“Hynemtopep. I didn’t expect them to actually be able to work out a deal with you”
“ neither, Kaahaal. But they know how to speak to … You know how bored I am without a good challenge–I was promised a challenge, and its na is Loimos! I could sense your skill from even my cage in the sub-realm! Let us see which one of us is capable of coming out on top!”
It did not take long for the commotion to bring out a few more people. One, Maliah, Vietna, Amanarie, and even Faraday showed up. Though for so reason, the skeleton of steel ca from the hole Hynemtopep had blasted through the ceiling.
“Quite brave to co directly into undead territory like this”
“There is no bravery at play here, Mister Shiny! I have already extended my divine domain, layered with the full scope of my divine authority and personal power, all over the area. Reality is mine to decide. Shall I show you why even the God-Kings did not wish to face under such conditions?”
Much like when Thor had exerted his authority, everything seed strongly restrained, but sothing was odd. The restraints were even stronger than what Thor had been capable of, but Hynemtopep seed far inferior in all aspects.
To Loimos, the answer was as clear as day. The conditions were not only enormous, but so sort of innate ability possessed by the monstrous divinity was also at play here. Loimos could tell that his perception and reflexes had dropped by an enormous margin.
Enormous wasn’t a good word to describe, actually. Loimos’s senses were basically those of a mundane human. The sa was true for everyone else… Even Hynemtopep himself.
“I would love to see what you can do, but we can’t really fight properly under such conditions, can we?”
The six-ard deity clicked his teeth-covered tongue, walking over to the table and casually taking a seat with the tip of his fingers still touching throughout the whole action.
“A fight? How brutish. How unrefined! Violence is for those of lesser mind. For brainless barbarians! My confrontations are fought with wits! Wits alone! That’s why the God-Kings are afraid. They are too foolish to stand a chance against !”
Faraday tilted his head to the side.
“Very well then… What is this battle of wits about… Whatever your na is?”
“Ah, silly . I forgot to give myself a formal introduction, didn’t I? It has been so long since I last did this…”
“…Aherm. I am Hynemtopep, The Agonising Salvation. My believers once enjoyed calling The Collective. A pleasure to make all of your acquaintances”
For the first ti since his arrival, Hynemtopep’s fingers lost contact as he spread arms wide upon the table, his grin growing longer for a mont.
“Well then, I am Faraday, just an advisor to His Majesty”
The undead sat in front of the deity.
“Faraday, heh? The battle of wits is very simple. We will make a bet, and the winner will claim his due”
Kaahaal and Amanarie both tried saying sothing, but it seed like Hynemtopep’s divine domain was preventing them from getting a word out. For what it was worth, the many-eyed god’s domain was effective.
He knew how to bend reality to his will very efficiently.
“A bet?”
“Indeed, you can choose any to make a bet on anything”
Faraday turned to the gaping hole in the ceiling, pointing to it.
“Why don’t we bet on which piece is going to fall off the hole you made in the roof?”
“Interesting. I’ll leave you the honour, Undead”
Hynemtopep’s divine domain restricted all forms of violence. Faraday knew it since he had already tried to kill the god fifty tis during the beginning of their exchange. Nothing had even manifested at all. That was a pretty good indication that he couldn’t just deal with the problem using good old physical violence.
That was fine, as brutish a mage as he may be, Faraday was still a learned man. One does not beco an advisor by being a foolish warrior.
“Wait!”
The god spoke up again before Faraday could say anything.
“It would be best for us to actually go and take a closer look before making our decision, shouldn’t it?”
“Not confident you can make a good choice from all the way over there?”
The skeleton retorted, but the divinity just smiled.
“Can you?”
With everyone’s senses limited, it was indeed true that actually making any form of a guess on this was actually complicated, especially when they were a good distance away from the entry point.
The deity and steel skeleton stared one another down for several seconds before the undead shook his head and agreed to the demand.
“Splendid. Go ahead, Mister Undead. Keep your choice hidden for when I am done checking, alright?”
Faraday was deprived of most of his powers, but he was still able to do small things without problem. Such was manipulating the steel of his body to float up to the hole.
After several minutes of inspecting things, he ca back to the table, and Hynemtopep stood up, also floating up to the hole.
For around the sa amount of ti, the deity inspected the holes, using his bizarre arms like he was using them to do calculations, circling around the fragile pieces of stone like a hawk.
Only then did he return to the table, his face still bearing the sa grin.
“Your choice?”
“This one right here, that sticks on the right, and yours?”
“The rectangular piece on the opposite side”
Faraday was certain that he had picked the right one. In fact, he had paid close attention to each interesting piece of debris, and Hynemtopep had picked the one most likely to fall second.
As they spoke their choices, the two lumps of stone were highlighted by the god’s domain.
No, they just had to wait to see who was going to win the bet.
The undead may not have access to his superior senses and all that business, but he was still certain of himself. Destruction was his forte. He knew where to hit structures to make them collapse, and as an extension, he knew what a fragile area looked like.
There was no doubt in his mind that the god across from him had bitten off more than he could chew…
Until the rectangular piece fell off first, crashing into the ground and exploding into countless pieces.
The god had won the bet.
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