World Keeper

Chapter 864: Gluttony’s Arrival

“And here we are.” Aurivy said as they emerged within a wide meadow next to a small river. The serpent that she had collected from Tower sat on the ground beside her, lifting its head up to look around. “If anyone bothers you, there is a house directly east of here. You’ll be able to recognize it by the trees growing golden fruits. That’s where Julia and I live. You can go there for help, and we’ll make sure they stop harassing you.”

The serpent looked up at Aurivy’s sweet smile, its tongue flicking out again. I see… then, is it fine to make a burrow anywhere here?

“As long as it’s not already in use by someone else! Sanctum is a world that can only be altered through the application of divine energy, so any building you see will have been created through divinity in one manner or another. Most people can only dream of living here, since it’s entirely restricted to gods!”

The serpent tilted its head, seeming to find her words agreeable. It didn’t say anything else before starting to move along the grass. As it did so, Aurivy turned around to begin walking to the east, towards her home. She managed to take roughly a dozen steps before her body froze, eyes going wide. There was a burst of golden mist before she vanished from her position.

The halfling god emerged in a small apartment within the city belonging to Philia after escaping from the cosmic monstrosity that he had faced just moments prior. He let out a sigh of relief, noting that the other two had likely all been transported to their own homes as well. However, before he could enjoy his newfound freedom, golden mist wrapped around his body, teleporting him away from the scene.

When he appeared again, his eyes were wide in shock, as if fearing he had been brought back to the monster. On either side of him were the two goddesses that he had been traveling with, looking equally surprised. It took a moment for them to all realize that they were standing atop a stone roof, and there was another goddess before them. None other than Aurivy herself, with an almost furious look on her face.

“What have you done?” She asked, her voice dark as she stared at the three, her divine aura raging around her. Aurivy could vaguely sense whenever someone used the commands she set up to transfer to Sanctum, and she could similarly sense what was following them, tearing through space to approach Sanctum at a speed beyond any sense of reason.

“G-Great Goddess Aurivy!” The halfling cried out, falling to his knees. “We encountered a terrible monster on our journey through the stars! We had not the time to ask for aid, as it followed us even after we escaped the first time. Our only hope… the hope of any who face such a thing, was to beg for the assistance of a greater power.”

Aurivy looked at the other two, who had similarly knelt and were nodding their heads rapidly. “You’re not begging. You’re throwing the problem at us. Do you know what you just did? If that thing consumes Sanctum, there will be no force in this realm that can stop it.”

The faces of the three gods went pale, the halfling lowering his head. “M-My deepest apologies, Lady Aurivy. It was the only thing I could think of at the moment. I knew that, surely, the Greater Pantheon would be able to do something.”

Aurivy let out a long groan. “We’re not done here. I’ve got to figure out how to clean up your mess. Word of advice, though? I’d suggest running, now. It doesn’t have your scent anymore. It has mine, and Sanctum’s.”

After she said that, Aurivy vanished again. The three gods were left there, shuddering from the weight of the power that they had felt. “What… what do we do now?” The felyn asked, only for the elf to shake her head.

“You heard her… she said we should run. That means that she’s not even sure if they can deal with this. Shouldn’t we leave, then?”

“N-No.” The halfling spoke up in a quivering tone, slowly rising to his feet. “If you want to go, you can. I am the one that came up with this idea. I brought the fight here. You heard her… if that thing consumes Sanctum, there will be nothing left that can fight it. I won’t ask you to fight with me, but I’ll do whatever I can to stop it here.”

“You’re crazy…” The elf said, before looking at the felyn, who seemed to agree with him. “You’re both crazy. You saw that thing, right? If the Greater Pantheon can’t stop it, what good could we do by helping?”

“I don’t know!” The halfling shouted, his shoulders shaking. “But I would rather be here and fight than to leave, knowing that a defeat here means everyone back on Earth, everyone…”

The elf hesitated at that for a moment, biting her lip. “Okay, fine. Let’s do this. They’ll probably be meeting at the Palace of Light, so let’s head that way first.”

Aurivy stood atop the tallest mountain of Sanctum, her eyes gazing far beyond the sky, towards a blue dot that appeared in the far distance. If not for her divine sight, she would never be able to witness the thing moving beyond the speed of light, slowly catching up to the world of Sanctum. Udona, Tubrock, Leowynn, Ashley, Scarlet, Irena, Keliope. I need all of you here yesterday.

She didn’t wait for them to finish their business, using that message as their only warning before she summoned the seven deities to her with her divine energy. Most of them staggered back for a moment, surprised by both Aurivy’s unusually serious tone and her actions that were most unlike herself.

“Aurivy, what’s going on?” Alena asked gently, looking down at the halfling. It was hard to tell if Irena was in control at the moment, or if this was Alena’s true personality.

“We need that killed.” Aurivy answered, pointing towards the sky. Everyone turned their gazes upwards, focusing their divine sight until they saw the seemingly ordinary water planet whizzing through space to chase after Sanctum. As they were using divine sight, they naturally saw the planet’s domain of Hunger.

“A god… planet?” Udona asked, furrowing her brows. “But, it has Hunger as a domain. If we don’t kill it in a single hit, it could become even stronger by devouring our attacks. It might even be able to gain our domains.”

“I know.” Aurivy nodded her head solemnly. “However, if it eats Sanctum… you all know exactly how much energy this planet is made out of, and what would happen if something like that consumed it all.”

Her words caused the seven deities around her to fall silent. Udona hesitated for a moment, before closing her eyes to extend her senses. “I can’t help you here. I would if I could, but my Life domain is useless. I’m looking at it through the system, and it isn’t classified as a living creature. I can’t kill it.”

“That… probably means I can’t, either?” Alena said, the felyn girl looking around at the gathered group. “Lady Irena might be able to send it to the Underworld… but it would just eat everything there, wouldn’t it?”

“Probably.“ Aurivy nodded, letting out a groan when she realized that her two best contenders were useless against the enemy. “Leowynn, I need you to at least keep Sanctum moving faster than it. I’ll cooperate with you with my Travel domain, so let’s just make sure none of our divinity touches that thing.”

“Oi, how’s it a god if it ain’t even alive?” Tubrock suddenly questioned.

“That’s probably Accalia’s area of expertise.” Keliope pointed out, before focusing on sending out a prayer. There was a brief pause as Aurivy and Leowynn controlled the trajectory of Sanctum before a response came to the collective group.

Sorry, I just looked into it as fast as I could! Apparently, that is an actual planet. However, at its core is the primordial relic of Hunger. Ever since the planet was first formed around it, it’s been eating any type of life or energy that neared it. It got to its current level by eating some powerful monsters that had been drawn towards the relic, including a few monster gods. Just to let you know, it does get the domain of something it eats, but only temporarily! Call it a digestion period or whatever before the domain is lost.

“Think we can give it a stomach ache if we all throw energy at it?” Tubrock suggested, the others seeming to consider that.

I wouldn’t bet on it! The planet might take some damage, but the strength it would gain would be too great to be worth it.

“Aye, lass. Just thought it was worth the ask.” Tubrock grunted, staring at the blue marble in the sky. “My domains’ll probably be handy to deal with the enemy this time, but I doubt it’ll be enough to finish it off. And as they said, we need ta take it out in a single hit.”

Scarlet looked up at the planet, musing. “Dad said that three trinities make up the ultimate expression of divine balance, and can create more powerful abilities. Do we have nine domains here that could create an effect strong enough to do this?”

The others all looked towards Scarlet in surprise at her words, causing the smaller goddess to blink. “What? If we need to kill it in a single shot, nothing can beat nine domains at once, right?”

“No, no, you’re onto something.” Aurivy said with a smile. “Nine domains… before that thing manages to overtake our speed, we need to think of a nine domain combination that can destroy a divine planet.”

“To keep it balanced, we should only take one domain from each person.” Scarlet added on. “Otherwise the power will lean in favor of whoever has the most domains. But… there are only eight of us here. Nine if you count Accalia. And neither Udona or Irena would be of help here. We’re going to need to call in support.”

“Let’s figure out what we’re doing, and then we can figure out what domains we’re lacking.” Aurivy said, though she was loath to admit that Scarlet was right. She had called all of the Greater Pantheon that could be directly effective against the monster, so the rest wouldn’t have good domains to contribute. No matter what plan they settled on, they would need to find help.

“I can contribute either my Technology or Darkness domains. Fire wouldn’t kill it fast enough, since it’s a water planet.” Ashley volunteered, Keliope grinning afterwards.

“My Strength domain will supercharge whatever power we come up with, so sign me up!”

Tubrock furrowed his brow. “If the lass is using Technology, my Innovation will work well with her to give it form.”

“Then I’ll join Keliope’s group.” Scarlet nodded her head firmly. “My Ki can work together with her Strength to serve as the firepower.”

“Anyone else making any offers?” Aurivy asked. “Whatever we make here… if we’re doing it through Technology and Innovation, it’s going to become a permanent installment in Sanctum. At most, I can offer my Evolution domain to have whatever we make able to grow with Sanctum. But I’d like to reserve that slot for something that could make for better firepower, if at all possible.”

“So we need at least four more domains?” Scarlet mused. “One more to join Ashley and Tubrock for the construction, as well as an additional trinity. And, if we can, one more to add additional firepower with myself and Keliope.”

Aurivy’s brow twitched. “Do we have to call Chel again? Poor girl’s not had a moment’s break, but her Security domain would honestly be perfect here.”

“We can’t.” Scarlet refuted Aurivy’s suggestion. “Chelsea isn’t a widely known goddess, and is fairly new, so she doesn’t have the kind of energy that we need.” After saying that, she fell deeper into thought. “What about… Jonas? He has been around for a long time, and his Community domain could work as the foundation for the third trinity.”

“Jonas?” Aurivy blinked in surprise. “It’s been… ages since I last went looking for him. I’ll have to see if I can get him here safely.”