Chapter 778: The Divine Chosen

When Laz got off the ship, there was no one to see him off as the ship hadn’t actually landed yet. He left without saying goodbye to anyone, as it was easier this way. Because of this, he was surprised that there was a car waiting for him at the port when he arrived with a driver waiting with a sign for him.

"Really?" Laz asked, walking up.

"Lazarus Crow?" The man asked as Laz stood there with a questioning look. He spread out his senses and realized there were drivers up and down the coast for miles, each with a sign near the water with his name on it.

’Wow... apparently they figured that if I saw this, I would be interested enough to come check it out.... they were right.’

"Yeah. Let’s go," Laz said before hopping in the back seat. A small cooler was placed in the middle of the large car and Laz grabbed a bottle of water out of it, drinking it while staring out the window. Where ever they wanted to take him, he could be there far sooner if he flew, but there were reasons he didn’t do that, one that made him think that the gods of the past weren’t as big of assholes as history and myths made them out to be.

’Flying at full speed, I could circle the globe in around two hours. But the amount of energy I would use to do so would cause major problems to the land beneath me as the power waves coming off from me would scorch the land.’ This was unavoidable since using the power would make it impossible to keep the power within himself.

’Which explains why all those spirits and gods flying around right now were going so slow,’ Laz also thought, looking towards the sky. He had intended to leave the ship earlier and make landfall quickly, but once he gathered the power to fly, he understood just how dangerous doing so was. Previously, he hadn’t flown over land before and the damage done to the ocean wasn’t nearly as clearly defined as it would be on hard soil.

Once they got going, Laz could hear the driver radio the other cars and tell them the package had been collected, but he didn’t bother saying anything. The privacy screen was up and there were some markings on it that resembled runes, but different ones that he was used to. He assumed they were suppose to block out sound, but they didn’t have an energy source so whatever power they once had was long gone, making Laz think that whoever put them there didn’t understand how runes really worked.

After an hour of driving, Laz could see them pull into the parking lot of a massive building. Driving straight at the structure, they entered a well hidden tunnel and ended up in an underground parking lot. Stopping in front of the elevator, the driver came around and opened the door for Laz who stepped out. The man then went over and gestured Laz the enter the elevator before pressing a button and leaving Laz to ride alone.

Spreading out his senses again, Laz realized there was some sort of sealing power put on the elevator to block senses. While he could power through it, he didn’t feel the need to. There was no sense of danger reaching him so trying to get a closer look would have only been rude. Everyone has their secrets after all.

The elevator finally reached it’s floor, almost seventy stories up and came to a stop, only to open to a massive room that looked more like the inside of a church than an office room. Massive stone pillars ran the length of the room, evenly split apart while windows of stained glass rose from the floor to the ceiling. If Laz wasn’t sure he was in a high rise, he would have sworn he had just stepped into a one story mega church.

In the center of the room was a huge table in the shape of a rectangle, with seating for fifty two people who could all stretch out their arms and not touch the person next to them.

Currently, fifty one of the seats were filled while the seat on the end closest to Laz was empty. The seats were all high backed with solid arm rests and straight backs. They looked impressive and very uncomfortable. Seeing this, Laz strode forward, and moved his seat to the side, picking it up and moving it with one hand before setting it down at the corner. Laz then picked out a chair from his bracelet, a massively comfortable and padded chair that once belonged to an emperor, finished in gold and made of red silk that he had grabbed from one of the traitors who had sacked the palace before it had been destroyed.

Sitting down, Laz leaned back and only then finally looked at the people in the room, as though only now noticing them for the first time.

All of them were chosen and none of them were below the seventh realm, meaning, they were all at the level of gods.

The only real surprise to Laz was that among the fifty one, Annie and Tommy were there, seated close to the head of the table.

They, just like everyone else in the room, looked Laz’s way with anger in their eyes. But he didn’t feel a threat from any of them, just anger and annoyance, like they wanted to attack him, but didn’t dare try.

"Hello, Lazarus Crow. I am glad you’ve accepted our invitation!" The woman at the head of the table said, her voice carrying like a thunder in the hall, causing the other gathered chosen to hold back whatever things were coming to their mouths.

"Considering what you did to invite me, I figured it would be rude to ignore the invitation."

"Your participation in this matter... was necessary," The woman said, her face and most of her body was hidden within a shadow that seemed to shift when she spoke and moved, almost like it was there only to block Laz’s perception of her. While Laz was curious, he didn’t pry. If this was the game they wanted to play, he would play.

"I see. So... what exactly is it that the most wanted man in the country can do for all of you... fine people?" Laz asked, having some idea why this was happening. After all, the events that had happened on the ship weren’t exactly going to be kept quiet and neither was his involvement; that much was a given.

"There seems to be massive changes and happenings lately and we seem to lack a clear understanding of nature of these things. After your current... activities... were made aware of to us, we wanted to personally invite you and perhaps come to some sort of mutual understanding as to the current state of the world," She said, making Laz aware that his current conjectures were, in fact, accurate. What’s more, her voice sounded cold and soft, but carried a power to it, one that seemed to demand surrender just by listening to it. At the same time, there was no hint of malice in the voice, like it was natural and not a forced power.

Gods, spirits and even demons were flying through the skies, all heading in the same direction. What’s more, attacking any of them made all of the surrounding high level beings counter attack whoever launched the attack, leading to a lot of death and destruction before they finally understood that no good would come from attacking them or trying to impede their journey.

Laz couldn’t help but laugh, earning him even more angry glares in response.

"So this is what it takes to make you all finally see a hint of reason, hmm? I guess something like this is scary enough to invite your greatest enemy for a chat I suppose. Although, if we are being honest, I really don’t understand why I should explain anything to any of you, all things considered. If you were in my position, would you?"

There was angry murmurs all around, but the figure in the shadows responded quickly enough, shutting up all of those who were tempted to say something.

"I suppose not, no. However, considering you saved a ship full of regular humans that had nothing to do with you when you could have easily have fled tells me you’re not one who is unconcerned with the lives of others. And as this effects the entire world, the hope was that you could give us some information that could potentially prevent the suffering of many innocents in the event that things somehow escalate beyond the current conditions."

"Oh? So it’s my humanity that has gotten your attention. How ironic is that considering that in your viewpoint, I am not human?"

"Yes. Well... we have been forced to, over the past year or so, reevaluate our perception of your kind, all things considered."

"I see. Well then, before I say anything else, another question. Why me?" Sure, Laz knew the answers, but they didn’t know that.

"It has come to our attention that you are, most likely, the most powerful of your kind. And what’s more... the information that you gave one of our young operatives has sparked a lot of questions that demand answers."

"Yeah. I guessed that would get back to you all rather quickly. I’m surprised about your urgency though. I gave you the hint, didn’t I? Isn’t it your job to figure out the rest of the riddle? Wouldn’t be much of one if I just gave you the answer now would it?"

And with this, the table erupted as the other fifty people began to yell angerly at Laz.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"OUR PEOPLE ARE DYING!"

"MY PARTNER KILLED HERSELF YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

On and on the complaints and insults went while Laz just popped a drink out from his bracelet and let the abuse continue. It was a bottle of elven wine he had gotten from the elf realm. He had several barrels of the stuff, but hardly was ever in the mood to drink it. This, however, had put him into a rather cheerful mood.

"SILENCE!" The woman in the head seat finally said, quieting down the others.

"The degradation of us as we get stronger has effected everyone here in one way, shape or form and you seem to hold the answer to that problem. Please accept my apology on their behalf," The woman said, bowing. Despite, seeing her outline, the shadow of hers still followed her, not allowing Laz to see anything beyond the general form.

"Yeah. Must be horrible. When those close to you die and you are powerless to stop it? Almost like when those like you are being killed without mercy, just for being different. It’s a pain that stays with you, eats at your bones and gnaws at your soul. Painful... truly."

They wanted to get angry at him again, but knew they couldn’t. They could only accept his words as the hunting of infected was something they had all done. It was part of their jobs before becoming seventh level beings after all.

"We are aware of our mistakes and have already begun to rectify them, I can assure you of that."

"And who are you, exactly, to assure me of anything? You know my name, but I have yet to learn yours. And what’s more, you’ve yet to give me a reason to help you. Why should I bother doing something that would allow you fellows to live longer? That seems counter productive to me."

The woman seemed to consider Laz’s question before she stood up and stood in the light, revealing the crystal crown that circled her head, having grown right out of her scalp.

"I am Angelica King.... And I am the Divine chosen. And I beg of you... please help us..."