Chapter 270 B4 Chapter 26 - Heretics

What the hell? Vivi thought. Kill Ythar?

At first, she thought she’d heard something wrong. Hadn’t she just discussed that spirits couldn’t be killed, let alone gods? Had they figured out some sort of trick to defeat immortality? They were fifth elevation hunters.

More concerningly, Shilman, this disgusting man, assumed she’d agree. That killing Ythar was a mutual goal. Vivi hadn’t even met him.

Shilman grinned, like a wicked criminal explaining their plan with excruciating detail. “I knew you were a heretic. You’re not fazed to hear we intend to kill him. What do you think? Wouldn’t it be about time to end his tyranny for good?”

I’m a heretic? Vivi thought. She never considered herself to be one.

Considering Shilman’s proposal was difficult. Mostly, Vivi wondered how she’d get out of here alive. She wasn’t strong enough. I need armor. That will help me survive the discharge. Otherwise, he’ll just burn me. Shield of Nature won’t save me.

“Or perhaps, am I mistaken?” Shilman asked. “Despite every wrong the god has done to you, and every blasphemy you’ve committed, you still worship your god, like the others?”

Ythar hasn’t wronged me, Vivi thought. He hasn’t even been awake for over a hundred years.

Sure, Fellwater forced her to pray under Ythar’s statue. She was made to atone and apologize for being a burden, and to thank him for providing safety on the surface. She’d always pretended to perform the prayers as asked, but in the back of her head, she’d despised Ythar for giving her a curse, and creating a village as cruel as hers.

But Ythar wasn’t the one who’d done anything wrong. For all Vivi knew, he could have been entirely sensible when he was awake. Generations of hunters had passed since then. It was the priests of her village that forced her into everything.

“I’m not a heretic,” Vivi said. “At least not on purpose. I do what I want to do, and the humans don’t like that.”

“Indeed,” Shilman said. “You’ve broken rules, and the zealots have chosen you as their mutual enemy. Yet, once the gods’ arbitrary restrictions are ignored, so much more can be accomplished. Much more strength can be obtained. Useless sovereigns can be overthrown. Just like how you invented a weapon to break levelstone.”

Does he actually think I’m going to agree with him?

His aura still pressured Vivi’s head, as if to urge her to bow and comply. She kept her head up. But she knew she absolutely couldn’t anger him.

“I am not here to threaten you,” Shilman said. “I truly wish to talk like regular, sapient beings. You are free to ignore my ethereal presence. I have no reason to kill you.”

“If I may ask…” Vivi said, “why are you hoping to kill Ythar?”

“That’s an answer I cannot give,” Shilman said. “All of us have our own reasons. We share a mutual goal that we work toward. You, from all logic, should also have a problem with him.”

I have problems with the hunters, Vivi thought. For all she knew, Ythar could have been a totally sensible god, whose rules were misinterpreted. She absolutely wouldn’t want to kill him. If anything, she’d like to wake him up and see how he’d react to the problems in his empire.

That could be risky, if it turned out Ythar was evil, but she wouldn’t want to kill him while he was asleep.

“If you’re going to kill him…” Vivi asked. “I thought they were invincible. Is he truly a god? Who is Ythar?”

“Ythar is a demigod, and thus, he is a spirit,” Shilman said. “He’s not some supernatural being, nor does he have omniscient powers. Demigods are, by definition, very powerful spirits, powerful enough to separate themselves into ten thousand pieces while still retaining godlike powers.”

“Won’t being a spirit make Ythar immortal?” Vivi asked. “How will you kill him? And what do you need me for?”

“Ythar is immortal, yes,” Shilman said. “He can’t be killed the same way mortals can. We’re merely planning on draining him of ether and forcing him unconscious, before sealing him for all eternity.” He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “The last step presents a problem.”

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“I would imagine every step is close to impossible,” Vivi said.

“Close to impossible is the key word,” Shilman said. “Sealing him is the most problematic of all. Demigods aren’t like lesser spirits that require ether from their surroundings to stay conscious. Instead, demigods themselves generate ether. That’s what truly makes them immortal. No matter how hard you beat them to death, bringing their core to zero, in one night, they will have generated more ether than any hunter alive can collect from a storm. To incapacitate a god, one must keep beating them for all eternity, stealing ether as the god generates it.”

Vivi’s head perked up. “Are you planning on using Ythar as an infinite ether source?”

Shilman snorted, an amused smile on his face. “That’s hardly necessary. For a fifth elevation hunter, ether is already close to an infinite resource. Any ether generated from Ythar’s core is not necessary. To get rid of him… we have a different, much simpler solution in mind. We plan on banishing him out of this world.”

“With Banishment Portal?” Vivi asked.

“No,” Shilman said, and the grin he directed straight at her eyes made her skin crawl. “Vivian. Do you know what is above the clouds, above the surface sky?”

“The sun?”

“Outer space. An endless sky of nothing at all. A place where no gravity will pull you back down to the planet. A sky, where a being can drift endlessly, away from the world.”

Oh… Vivi thought, having a hunch about what Shilman was hinting at. That’s insane.

Shilman’s creepy smile stayed on Vivi, while wisps floated in his robe. “If we attach Ythar to a missile with one of your launchers, an improved version, will his corpse pass the sky, and float away, never to be seen again?”

He is insane, Vivi thought. Completely deranged.

What kind of plan was that? They wanted to use her slingshot launchers to shoot a god out of the sky? This was utter madness. Could it work? Maybe? Vivi really had no idea. Shilman couldn’t have calculated this with science. This must have been an insane idea he came up with that he wanted to see accomplished.

“What if I say no?” Vivi said. “Because in all honesty, I don’t know if that would work.”

“Shooting Ythar into the sky is most likely our best option,” Shilman said. “The current iteration of your launchers is probably not strong enough. It must be improved.”

“How do you know about it?” Vivi asked.

“Shivenar is full of the stuff,” Shilman said. “I paid your allies a quick visit. Shame that the pact still remains.”

A chill ran down her spine. “You didn’t…”

“Everyone is alive,” Shilman said. “I merely tested one of the weapons myself.”

She felt sick inside. This man was utterly deranged.

“What if I refuse to help you?” Vivi asked. “I don’t worship Ythar, but I don’t believe I want to be involved in killing him. I won’t do anything to stop you, and I’m not going to protect Ythar.”

Shilman stared at her. “If you refuse to help us after hearing my plans, my most sensible options are to kill you, or to force you into submission.”

Of course… Vivi thought. That wasn’t a surprise. Shilman didn’t intend to let her go free. If she disagreed, she’d be forced to work for him. Somehow, she needed to defeat him.

The last thing she wanted was to build a slingshot launcher for him. The fifth elevation hunters were already way stronger than her. But if the other option was dying on the spot?

“I would appreciate if you worked as requested,” Shilman said. “I have no reason to cause you any harm. For now. In fact, I could defend your home of Shivenar. If you disagree, however… you should know, that Freimar’s pact will be disbanded. I will have all the power to burn your home and everyone near it.”

“We need to comply,” Lucius said with concern. “There’s no other option.”

“If you can promise that nobody more will be killed…” Vivi glanced at the rubble, where the dust was settling. She felt sick. “If you promise that… I’ll help you to try and shoot Ythar into the sky.”

“Your friends, including Loretta Nimwind, Cael Darkwind, and Alda Darkwind will be imprisoned, but they will remain safe until you fulfill your end of the promise,” Shilman said, seeming satisfied with her answer. “I must now catch Loretta Nimwind before she can escape any further, and I shall build you a smithy. Until then, you will be placed unconscious. Do not resist. This is not harmful. Once you wake up, we will be ready to get to work immediately.”

He pointed his staff at her, and Vivi had the instinctive urge to let her void core loose and just fight. Her chances could very well be worse later. Right now, if she ascended to her absolute maximum, there was a small chance she could fix her problems by outright killing the archmage in front of her.

It was just too risky. If she summoned Dawnpour to fight and lost, Grandpa’s life’s work would be lost alongside her. Everyone would die.

A zap from Shilman’s staff came. It hit the light protective coating of ether around Vivi’s body that she’d subconsciously kept active throughout the talk. A small fight happened between her ether and Shilman’s skill, proving that a coating of ether did, in fact, protect her against this particular skill.

If she was brought to a smithy with multiple days to work, she was certain she could create something to fight back. Armor. That was what she needed, something even tougher than the protection the magma mound had held. A layer of protection that Shilman’s discharge couldn’t pierce.

Her protective layer was overpowered in nearly an instant, and Shilman’s skill made it to her core. The feeling was akin to her lungs clogging up, unable to breathe, except that feeling applied to her whole body and her core, every function shutting down simultaneously, before her mind went blank.