Book 9, Chapter 104 (1/2)
Into The Abyss
“Zeal...or…” Richard forced his expression back to normal. He could sense traces of Nyris from within this night elf’s soul, but he also knew that it was a brand new one that still reeked of divinity. Nyris had clearly fused his powerful darkthunder titan bloodline into the special unit that the broodmother’s clone had been making, giving up his life for the creation of this powerful drone. The ancient lightning destroyers were amongst the most powerful beings in the void, and her bloodline was amongst the purest in recent times. This bloodline was the reason the Millennial Empire had risked falling out with Apeiron just to secure a marriage with her.
Richard connected to “Zealor” and quickly found out just what had happened. After finishing her analysis of the Golden World Tree, the broodmother’s clone had set about making a special unit when Nyris convinced her to use her as a vessel. In the process, she had given up her womanhood as well, eliminating all gender to become a sexless being that was the only variant night elf.
A number of coincidences had resulted in an astonishingly powerful unit, but there was a heavy price to pay on all fronts. Nyris had disappeared forever, and the broodmother’s clone had dropped all the way down to level 10. The Golden World Tree that fuelled the process had lost more than half its leaves, and would take years if not decades to recover.
Forcing down the churning in his stomach, Richard jumped onto a wasp, “Come, we’re setting off.”
“Yes, Master.” Zealor hopped gracefully up behind him, taking his place as Richard’s shadow.
The other legends quickly jumped onto their own wasps, the terrifying army taking to the skies in quick succession and disappearing into the portal in tandem. The second human expedition into the abyss had begun.
Most people believed that every layer of the abyss was the same. It was all crimson skies, billowing smoke, cracked earth, and lava flowing everywhere. However, those like Richard and Greyhawk knew that even a single layer could have many different things within. Richard’s eyes glowed as he saw divine symbols scattered all about, a physical form of the abyssal laws that were different from point to point. These laws resulted in different levels of power, and those familiar with demonology could tell where a demon was from using characteristics and level alone.
Richard’s gaze landed on a magma pool that wasn’t far away, just in time to catch a dozen crimson rocks flying out from within. These rocks slowly cracked open to reveal their four limbs, with long tails and small, fleshy wings starting to form. They immediately jumped upon each other, fighting their first battle right after birth. Most of them were killed off within moments, leaving behind only four that arrived at a tacit understanding and began to eat their kin. Their bodies started growing larger as they feasted, and by the time they were done each one was a third bigger than before with the stubs of horns starting to protrude from their heads. Once those horns were completely out, they would qualify as the most common of demonkind.
Such pools were found all over the abyss, spawning an untold number of lesser demons that ate their own kind to grow. Only a quarter of these lesser demons would evolve into actual demons in their lives, and a tiny fraction of that number becoming greater demons. There were only a handful of lesser lords in every layer of the abyss, and not every layer even had an archlord. Such was the cycle of the abyss.
The four lesser demons that had just evolved suddenly looked into the sky, screaming with panic as they saw an enormous shadow flitting past them. That shadow was quickly followed by many more, and the auras radiating from within them were terrifying to these creatures. Even the greater demons around started to flee in panic, scattering in all directions as they looked for places to hide in.
Stood atop his wasp, Richard stared out into the boundless chaos around him. He didn’t pay any attention to the frantic demons who were trying to escape, his mind instead focused on following the changes in the laws here to locate a passage to another layer. In front of him was a strange picture made of dozens of lit spots, coordinates that the elves had marked during their search for Arbidis. He had to cross through multiple layers on his own before he could even confirm where he was in relation to these coordinates, and he would then have to find the closest one and start heading down towards the fabled deepest point in the world.
Standing beside Richard, Greyhawk suddenly snapped out of his own recording process and asked, “I’ve wanted to ask since Lithgalen, are you the most powerful human being now?”
Richard laughed, “Most powerful, huh. What do you think?”
Greyhawk started pondering after the rebound, considering the powerhouses of the Millennial Empire before speaking, “When we were in that final battle against the reapers, I could say with certainty that you weren’t. But now I can’t see through you anymore. What happened?”
Richard’s eyes lost focus for a moment as he sighed with regret. What happened? He had absorbed hundreds of millions of souls in the name of giving them salvation, taking on their memories, stories, and hopes. Those people had now fused into him and were inseparable from his own existence. These people had thus left a brand of their existence behind, refusing to die until he did. They would be scattered upon his own demise, most likely vanishing right after, but one could never be certain.