Chapter 513: You Are Not Empty

Pure rage... is quiet. During my many lives and deaths, I had known pain and loss, and underneath all of that was my rage. This world was breaking apart. I have been to the past and I had seen the glory that we have lost... all those races, places, people, countless histories gone like the wind, and in all this tragedy I had seen one constant... the sheer greed and hubris of the powerful.

I stopped myself from thinking, and focused my rage on the Sovereign in front of me. Caldus Thorne was in the way, and I had a city filled with people about to die, and a demon about to get stronger.

I had seen arrogance, from gods and Sovereigns, and I knew there was only one answer for moments like these... I would hurt this man, and if he keeps standing in front of me, I will kill him.

With that decision done, I let my perception go out past him, seeking the edge of his domain. Previously I was a bad matchup against a Sovereign, my weakness was my soul at the Arcanist level, something that a Sovereign exceeded me at many times over.

But that was before...

I was not a Sovereign yet, but my soul had been refined three times, becoming an Absolute Soul, and my body was filled with power.

My perception kept spreading, and all I could see was a city made of fire that seemed to extend for an infinity. There was no heaven above or earth below, only endless flames.

’How is this a domain?’

’It is not.’

I froze. The voice that spoke was my own, and I had not heard that voice in my head for a while now. I thought it would take a while before Hollow returns, but he was always full of surprises.

’You are not in a domain. Correct your assumption before it kills you.’

"Hollow," I nearly said this out loud before I stopped myself.

’This is a door to another world, separate from... Terra. You have glimpsed the insides of this place before.’

My memory flashed to the previous loops where Sovereign Caldus had placed me in the center of a circle and had me watch the battle between him and the Pale Matron. I had burned my soul to ash to glimpse some of the laws inside this place, and it was this same hunger that I saw in the eyes of the Sovereign.

The only difference between us is that I would burn myself for knowledge, but he would burn the world for knowledge, because to him and his kind, everything else was expendable.

So, the Sovereign could not catch me with his domain and he used his Grimoire... I was inside the book.

I had tried to create my Grimoire in the past and I had not finished gathering all the materials I needed, in fact I don’t have a single one. Finding myself here was kind of bitter sweet, but I reminded myself that while an average mage would need an aid like this, I was far from average, although calling any mage that could reach the height of a Sovereign average was kind of stupid.

However, what was important was that I knew that barely any time passes inside a Grimoire, and while I was here, I did not have to worry that the Pale Matron was going to succeed or the demons would ravage the people in the city below.

I had barely spent one second in my mind and Sovereign Caldus cocked his head as he looked at me, "Are you... Elric Voss?"

My eyes widened a bit and he smiled, "So that crazy bastard is right, inside those Caelith is the secret of Transcendence."

He laughed and then looked at me, "Oh, don’t act so surprised. I have the records to every expedition we send out, and I know that Orath is a pig of the Conclave, I just did not know that out of everyone, he would be the one to succeed." He paused, "I like the long white hair, and the... added muscle and pretty face but you still wear the robes of an Acolyte, and your face has not changed. I followed the trail of destruction all the way from the desert, and what do I find at the end of it?"

He gestured and a glowing rune appeared below me, and suddenly it was as if gravity had multiplied dozens of times and although I could resist the pressure, I did not, and allowed it to pull me to one knee.

"Hmm, your body is strong as well..." he muttered, "Too strong, wasteful for a mage, it would be much harder for you to reach the Sovereign level with such a powerful body hindering your knowledge of laws."

He had said this to me the last time, and he was wrong then, he was even more wrong now.

’He has made an error.’

’I know Hollow.’

’I am not talking about his wrong assumption of the state of your body and soul. He has made a grave error bringing you into this place.’

’Why?’

’Because you are not empty.’

∞

"Elric Voss, second year Acolyte, and I find you here, a Proto-Sovereign, an hour after whatever plans that he has made. Tell me something boy..."

Sovereign Caldus held out his right hand and golden flame that poured like water arose from it and he began to bring it slowly to my face, "... and you better tell me the truth or I will burn your soul for a thousand thousand years. This place is not like anything you have ever known and you play with powers beyond your pitiful comprehension. Are you part of the Conclave, or a beautiful mistake?"

My mouth twitched as I tried not to sneer, truthfully I had been able to stand a few moments after the rune brought me to my knee. My body had adapted to it and he would need much more to hold me down. The last time I met him, my body had just broken to Sovereign, and I had Adamantium for flesh, now my body was at the peak of the Sovereign level with an upgrade, having a Celestial body, and it was more difficult to pretend that this level of force was holding me down.

I grimaced, trying to keep my rage inside my chest. I had quietly hoped that the Sovereign would have mentioned the dying and the dead from the rampage of the demons, but he was more focused on what had given me my powers and how I could transform from an Acolyte to a so-called Proto-Sovereign in what he considers no time at all.

"Come closer Sovereign," I whispered, "Let me tell you the secrets of eternity."

He cocked his head to the side, and I heard a whisper near him saying... "He does not lie."

His glowing red eyes turned to me, "That is odd... did you just hear my Grimoire speak to me?"

He straightened and took a step back and I sighed. It was hard to pretend that I was a helpless Acolyte. I shrugged and stood up, causing the rune underneath me to brighten before it flashed and collapsed.

I grabbed the edge of my robes and made a mocking bow. "I am still an Acolyte at heart, Caldus, do my robes no longer fit me?"

The Sovereign took another step back, and I heard the Grimoire whisper to him again, "There is something wrong with this... this... thing. I am purging it from my body this instant."

"Oh, you don’t want to do that," I said, and I grinned, and from my mouth poured darkness, "You have invited me into your home without my consent, and I am not here alone."