Chapter 534


    CHAPTER 534


    FLAMES OF DESTRUCTION (V)


    n stared interestingly at the massive construct floating in front of him . It ran long on the side, well over five miles,rge chunks extruding up and down, forming up the exoskeleton of the ship . It was quite reminiscent of the ones they designed on Earth, just actually realized and on a muchrger scale .


    It was designed to be their mode of transport from here to the small corner of the cosmos where Noterra resided since it would allow them to enter the battle at their most optimal . A small river of creatures slowly began streaming into the ship, n among them, though reactions of the most were rather lukewarm . n himself had traveled on muchrger and more extravagant ships, though he imagined this one would be the fastest of the bunch .


    He was led through the winding,plex corridors of the ship by a floating sphere of light, all the way toward his room lined up against the hull of the ship, in the row of over a hundred others . Insides werepact and dull-looking; gray, metallic walls surrounded a single bunk bed, illumination provided by the overhead string of bulbs shining in cooling cyan .


    His bunkmate was already waiting for him, and as fate would have it, it was someone he knew – the Vampire he’d talked to prior to departure, who he learned was called Jonttar, was looking out of the massive window of sorts that provided a view of the that they would soon leave alongside the rest of the cosmos beyond it .


    "Hoh?" Jonttar grinned faintly and eximed as he turned around, noticing n . "It is like it was meant to be, no?"


    "You could say so," n shrugged, sitting down on one of the beds . "I know you said you’de, but I’m honestly surprised to see you here . "


    "You may doubt my courage," Jonttar said . "But don’t ever doubt my greed . "


    "Oh, my bad . So, what inspired your greed?" n asked .


    "... I’ve a feeling you’ll jump me and try to kill me the moment I tell you . " The Vampire said, still grinning .


    "You n on bing a turncoat?" n asked with a disinterested expression .


    "Hoh? Is one of your powers mind-reading?"


    "I don’t need to be able to read minds to see it," n sighed . "A great deal of the rest is probably thinking the same . For most of us, we’ve hit our ceiling; either we’ve dried up our personal talents, or are barred from ascending by powers that be . Most of us don’t share heart-bound devotion to the Creator, and, most importantly, anyone who’se up this high... is rather selfish and self-centered at their cores . "


    "... it’s still a gamble," Jonttar said, walking over to the other side of the room and leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, meeting n’s gaze squarely . "Perhaps we’ll be treated even worse on the other side since they won’t trust us . "


    "... if the Agent is as smart as he’s powerful," n said . "He won’t turn them through trust, but through promises . Get a grip on them through affording them the power they otherwise would never obtain, and it’s enough . "


    "—you seem rather experienced in manipting others . "


    "Not really," n shrugged . "I was just exposed to it for a long period of time . It would have been weirder if I hadn’t picked anything up . "


    "So? What are your ns?" Jonttar asked .


    "... I’m not a maverick, I’m afraid," n smiled bitterly . "My options are rather limited . Don’t worry though; I’ve no ns on exposing any of this . Furthermore, I think powers-that-be already know it, so they’ll most likely set up some barriers . "


    "... well aware of it," Jonttar chuckled . "You’re wrong about one thing, though . "


    "Hm?"


    "It’s not because I’m looking to get stronger that I want to switch sides . " Jonttar said, his words surprising n somewhat .


    "... it’s not? What is it, then?"


    "... I grew up on a small called Areon," Jonttar said, looking out of the window once again . "By the time Ashening caught up with us, we’ve barely started developing as a civilization . We had the most rudimentary technologies, our Manaflow was at the level of magic tricks, and, like with most other Ashenings, we failed to win . "


    "..." n remained silent as the ufortable memories started flooding in; it was a story he was all-too-familiar with, after all .


    "Besides me, there were only four other survivors," Jonttarughed mockingly, shaking his head . "One of them was a kid who hid in his basement for ten straight years, hibernating . Our race... was done . The two others swore vengeance on the Adul’ris, the race that conquered us," he continued, his tone growing dark . "However, neither were able to transcend past Tier 1 Divinity in the end . Not because of theck of talent, but because their chances were ripped out of their arms time and again . Eventually, they did a suicide-rush and, well, died . "


    "..."


    "I’ve no idea what happened to the kid, so, as far as I’m aware, I’m thest of the Vampiric Dragonkin of Areon," Junttar said, looking back at n . "I’ve endured silently all this while because, well... because I’ve had no other choice . But now... the opportunity has presented itself . "


    "..." n had already pieced together the motivation, but he said nothing . He could see in the Vampire’s crimson eyes the determination that wouldn’t be quashed, no matter how many warnings n gave out .


    "I know you think it’s idiotic; even if the Destroyer does get resurrected, its impact on the cosmos will be minimal for billions of years . But... that’s the hope . It’s the only variable that’s able to counteract the corrupt reality of our lives, little human . Since I was exiled from my home, I’ve watched thousands upon thousands of ’heroes’ emerge from the ashes of their own homes, unted as the chosen, yet each more broken than thest, burying down the hate and the anger . It’s the vilest form of control that I’ve encountered in my eighteen billion years of living . Even if it’s a fool’s errand, I’ll hang onto any straw I see . "


    "... from what I heard, Noterra was scheduled for Ashening only half a billion years down the line," n said after a short silence . "If you want the proof that it’s not about giving opportunities but controlling, look no further than this expedition . "


    "So you see—"


    "Even still," n interrupted quickly . "Whether we are devoted to the Creator or not is irrelevant, in the end . What matters is that he’s quite real and quite invincible . Even if you turn to the other side, who says they won’t be the same? If the Destroyer does gain the same power, who’s to say he won’tmence Ashening after Ashening as well? If I’ve learned anything in my life, it’s that those who gain power are terrified of losing it . It doesn’t matter whether they’re wise or whether they’re idiots; it doesn’t matter whether they’re saints or sinners – power is absolute . "


    "As I said," Jonttar said, his voice low . "It’s a gamble . "


    "..."


    The silence fell between the two as n lied down onto a rather ufortable bed . Ashening... he hated the word itself, yet it was perhaps the mostmon word spoken in the cosmos . No, in the cosmoses .


    It’s been a long while since he himself had experienced it, yet the wounds were still just as fresh, with the scars still aching every time he thought about it . Whenever he closed his eyes, he could practically rey the day when the sky of Earth burned, when the rtive peace was turned upside down, and the world was turned into a literal hell overnight . It’s not as though he didn’t understand Jonttar’s imperative and his motives; however, n himself couldn’t hang onto the hatred .


    He had a family that he put above all else, and while the thoughts of vengeance did emerge inside his mind every once in a while, he was quick to dissipate them . He couldn’t be like Jonttar, or even like Caleb; to him, even the current stretch of things was far better than if the Destroyer truly did resurrect . Wouldn’t that signal a full-on war? Ashenings would increase in quantity as a preemptive measure against losing control over one of the worlds over to the influence of the Destroyer, while all the newly-ascended ’heroes’ would be sent half the cosmos away to fight in a war they didn’t even know about until a few months ago .


    n was going to stay behind but changed his mind when he saw that three Agents would be apanying them . No matter how strong the newly-appointed Agent of Chaos is, it was all rtive . Strength didn’te only in the rawest of forms; it had countlessyers, just like everything else .


    A part of him wished Caleb hade along; not as an assurance, because nothing was ever certain around him, but simply to see how he’d align when it came to the matters at hand . Even as far back as the downfall of Earth, Caleb never bent a knee to the powers-that-be . As a matter of fact, he was the only one to kill a Divinity sent to ’support’ them during the Ashening . Because of this, unlike n, he was never recruited directly and was forced to roam the cosmos on his own . Yet, time and again, n would hear rumors and whispers about the crazed human pulling off all kinds of insane stunts .


    That was what hecked – that fire, the defiant spirit that never kneeled before anything or anyone . There was a time when Caleb was much weaker than him, yet their attitudes were still the same . It was simply a difference of who they were at their cores, and those things wouldn’t change even with the passage of countless eons .


    Aah, he sighed inwardly, closing his eyes . I truly hope we win... please... just win... that’s all I ask...