Chapter 815 – Madness Of The Highest Calibre

We did not kill Arascus because we fundamentally could not kill Arascus. Whereas Olephia was too dangerous to engage with, when it came to Arascus, it was a battle of exertion. Whereas I am certain that the God of Pride can be killed, eventually, it is that ‘eventually’ that becomes the problem word. His regeneration is closer to Maisara’s or my own, compared to the natural rebuilding of Kavaa’s or Fer’s. It is based on willpower, rather than being some physical fuel that the body has to exhaust.

No creature in existence has infinite will. Likewise, ever creature can be physically destroyed. Allasaria’s beams destroy matter, but they leave the soul unharmed. We would need Neneria to capture Arascus’ soul and send it running from this realm, or we would need the God of Pride to give up physically. A plan had been made, to bring and kill his daughters to him, but Elassa did not want to give up Anassa, no one of us wanted to purge Kassandora for her own usefulness, and Olephia carried far too much of a risk of waking up if her body was disturbed.

I think the count got to about four hundred individual destructions of Arascus’ body, his soul taunting us, as it slowly rebuilt his body and came back for more. It was not until we managed to grab him, lock him in the Godstone cube, and get rid of the problem in that fashion. He can be killed, and it takes roughly a month for him to rebuild himself from nothing, but that was no solution. Ultimately, we could overpower and kill him successfully every time, he simply had to win the fight and escape once to be free.

I am certain as I write this that Arascus is beating his own body into that Godstone, breaking his arms and using the bones as chisels. I am certain it is not even hope that drives him to escape, but rather just the fact that being captured and locked away is a situation unacceptable for him. It is not that Arascus is particularly dangerous to fight, this has been written of before. I could potentially cause him to retreat, and Arascus pales in comparison when we get to Divinity’s largest power players: even down to Zerus, whereas everyone from Elassa and up are just their own league.

Nevertheless, for Arascus to truly die, he would have to give up. Someone, somewhere, or something, would have to actually break his will. And that is an entire war that would have to wage, and I am not sure if it even possible.

No creature has an infinite amount of will, but if one ever came close, then I do assume it would be him.

And also, I did not really want to kill him. I am certain he would not kill me either.

- Private writing, written by Goddess Fortia, of Peace.

Arascus looked around this new wooden room. He had not been in this one before, the table was missing, the usual suspects weren’t here either. There was no stone fireplace. Arguably, it would be worse to stay here without any sort of interaction with another being than being brought into there. Arascus wondered if the original watchers would want to talk to him again. Surely Elassa must have given the game away when she started questioning them? If he could get them talking… Well surely he would be claw more information than Elassa did.

Noah suddenly appeared besides Arascus. The man’s ever shifting face was still the same here, at one point, he was old, at one point, he was young. His body changed just at vividly, from stout to fit, to round and then to so trained his veins were bulging. “We have finished rewriting your new binding, I will take you to sign the King’s Pact now.” The ever-shifting man reached for Arascus, slower this time. Arascus took a step back and reached for his power. Supposedly, Elassa had cast her own magic up here. He thought more about Of Magic, and less about Fer’s cry. This creature was going to die.

Nothing happened and Noah took a step towards him. “I am not signing anything if you take my powers away from me.” Arascus said. He would, he would have to get back to the Empire to lead it. His powers were a small price to pay, but a lie never hurt in the quest for information.

“It is my presence.” Noah said dryly as Arascus backed up further to the wall, the movement, at the very least, was making it easier to control the rage in him. “You still do not age, your body functions the same, I simply cut off your reality breaking from you.”

“Do not touch me.” Arascus said and Noah stopped, shaking his head.

“Arascus, I have all eternity to wait here. As do you. We can stand here as long as you wish, but the only way for you to get back to Arda is to sign the King’s Pact again.” And where was that on Arda? To have the gall to ask for Fer’s life? And Fortia’s? And Maisara’s? and Neneria’s? Where was that now? He was talking now was he?

“And if I don’t?” Arascus forced the killing intent out of his mind.

“This is not a negotiating position Arascus.” Noah said. “You either will, or you will stay here.”

“Where are we exactly?” Arascus asked.

“Wouldn’t you like that answer?” Noah asked. The thickness of the horsehair of the blade that appeared above Arascus’ head when he had signed the pact the first time was thickness of control that Of Pride had left.

“Is this your soul?” That was the proper question. Where they as Elassa said? Somewhere in reality? Or was this a place that you could search every star for in the universe and still not reach? Noah stared at him dryly, idiotic look.

“No.” Noah replied.

Arascus spoke for the sake of speaking, the moment this conversation ran out and he couldn’t justify holding back, he knew he would snap. “Mary’s then?”

“Are you going to list off every name you know?” Noah asked. Maybe they weren’t in a negotiating position for the terms of the deal or the pact, but that was irrelevant. Arascus was not here to negotiate terms and deals.

“I may as well.” Arascus said. “We have all eternity, do we not?” He threw the creature’s words right back at him. Helenna was easier to read, Noah was obviously getting annoyed, that was visible from the crossed arms, although the shifting was as steady as it always had been.

Noah smiled at him. “I suppose we do. No. We are not in Mary’s soul.”

“Samson’s?” Arascus asked quickly.

“I doubt there is any creature alive with a soul as boring as this one.” Noah said. Slip-up, Arascus gave no tell, but then they were either in reality, or they were in a soul that was dead. Arascus changed topics without calling it out or pressing Noah on it. The spark of information was remembered, and Arascus took a deep breath. That was something. Maybe Noah could have a minute left to live.

“Why must I sign it?” At this point, he knew well enough. They were scared of humanity and so Arda was a prison.

The reasoning was much the same. “The new rules are that you not allowed to speak of anything I have shown you, likewise, you shall not be allowed to delve into the ruins again. You already know about the blade above your head. It appears when you venture close to breaking the rules.”

“And when it drops?”

“Then it will be a death of your own making.” Noah said. “A suicide, effectively.” Arascus took a deep breath and shook his head.

“That’s it?” Here there had been theories that it would cause a world to break. Noah stared at him as if he was crazy. “Why is it not falling now? I have been bound to Arda, never to leave it. I am obviously not on Arda right now.” Unless…

“Do you really think we cannot write an exception?” Noah asked dryly, then held his hand forward. That made enough sense, and the man sounded as if he was just tired of explaining. “Come.”

For a moment, Arascus thought of chopping that hand off, but now he was searching for information, he would not give up so easily. “Why do you wish to destroy Arda?”

Noah sighed and shook his head. “We do not wish to destroy it, in fact, we go so far as to not destroy it.”

“Then what the Sun coming down to scour all life from Arda?”

“A culling.” This time, the answer was fast and snappy, that was good, Arascus was obviously getting him mad.

“And that’s not destruction?” A stupid question just to get the man talking.

“Arascus.” And there it was, he was about to spill something. “Let me explain it in a way you understand, because I know that you know what a wolf is. Wolves are dangerous, are they not?” Enough talk had been had with Helenna to see through the metaphor immediately. Frankly, it was disappointing how low it was.

“They are.” Arascus said.

“Yet you do not seek to exterminate all wolves in the world?”

“Of course not.”

“And yet you would not let one into your home.” Arascus thought of how to answer without stating the obvious, that he had just been brought to Noah’s home.

“Depends, I care not for wolves in my home.” Arascus threw the words out for the sake of speaking.

“No.” Noah cut him off. “We both know what I meant. Wolves are not allowed to walk into homes else they bite.”

“Wolves stay in their forest.” Arascus half-agreed with him just to keep it going.

“Wolves stay in their forest, and your forest is Arda, and you shall stay there.” Arascus smiled.

“There is the better answer, if the forest is filled with too many wolves to hunt, that you should just move away.”

Noah stared at him dryly. “And when the forest spreads? When the wolves leave? When you have one place and one place only to build a home?”

“Then you better start hunting.” Arascus replied.

“That is what you do on Arda, and you still have wolves.” Wolves were not killed because the concept of a wolf was fundamentally not an issue. Arda did run its own exterminations though, how many diseases have had permanence stolen from then? And the monsters themselves? Half measures had not been taken there.

“Then you venture into the forest, and you turn the wolves into dogs.”

“And when the wolves follow you home?” Noah replied quickly. “What when there are a million wolves for each of you?” There it was. So he could get a population figure. There were not so many of these watchers that they could risk their own lives as hastily as humans could.

“From what I know, wolves don’t leave their forest.” Arascus said.

“And from what I know, the wolves are currently looking at the edge of the forest.”

Arascus made the call. He had gotten to the end of this metaphor. “And you are not so far away.” Noah stared at him dryly. His shifting mouth worked, but he took a while to respond. What was send in a meeting was as important as what was not said. To truly be able to work a room, you had to know how to steer a conversation.

“I see why the other Godlings listen to you now.” That was a confirmation if Arascus had ever heard one. They were somewhere in the solar system. Tartarus and Paradeisius confirmed it. This was another world. He just needed to know which one.

“Which planet are you on?” Arascus asked and Noah smiled.

“The entire policy of ignorance revolves around you not knowing which planet we’re on.” Arascus stared at the man and raised his hands to his side, palms facing Noah in a gesture of peace. He had what he came for already. They were in reality. They were on another planet. This was not some star and incalculable distance away. This was within a century, maybe within two centuries, he had spent a thousand years locked away in box.

They were all dead. Arda would bring Worldbreaking upon this world. Arascus would oversee it personally. Fer would never cry like that again. “Cheap of me, wasn’t it?”

“It was.” Noah said. “Come, are you ready to sign now? Or not?”

“We have all eternity.” Arascus said with a smile. “So give me some time to think about it.” The ball was in his court. It was the most basic administrative principles applied to all these legalisms. They did not have a prison, they had a magical binding. That was evident entirely through the fact that they bound, and then send people back to Arda. Wherever this was, it was small enough, or there were not enough jailors, to maintain a massive prison population. They had some aversion to killing as well, through the sword statement and Noah calling it a suicide and not their own death. Arda handled things differently back home, if you handed a child a knife that the child fell on, the person who gave the blade was responsible. Not here, apparently.

Noah shifted, his legs grew as thick as the tree trunks on a brawler, and then withered as if he was about to keel over and die. That was the answer he was obviously not expecting. “Your other Godlings are waiting for you back home.”

“They will be fine.” Arascus replied. And Noah did not want to leave him here either. Arascus turned his back on the man, then pressed his hand against the wood of the wall. It was a box, much like the inside of a crate. The wood though… They should somehow trigger sending Iniri up here, she would be able to tell what it was. To him, it was just wood. Elassa had said it was indestructible. Arascus pushed with more force, until his feet slid away.

“Alone? Against monsters?”

“Most of them are stronger than me in battle. Your pets are negligible.” Noah’s mouth twitched. Fat lips on the bottom, thin ones on the top, the next bottom, they swapped.

“Since you obviously know more than you give on.” Noah said. “Answer my questions, how did you know to avoid the copying ritual?”

“What copying ritual?” Arascus asked and Noah narrowed his eyes.

“The copying ritual surrounding Arda. How did you know to avoid it?”

“I have no clue what you are talking about.”

“Fer, Fortia and Maisara stepped on. Neneria did not. And you did not send Anassa or the magician to investigate.” Arascus didn’t bother containing the smile. The actual tell was that he called Elassa the magician, and not by her name, unlike the others. They did not have instant communication.

“I had to give them a job, so I sent them into the catacombs.” Arascus said. “Purely accidental, I did not know what was down there.”

“Mmh.” Noah said. “I somehow doubt that.”

“Why?”

“You send down a Divine about two years ago too.” Paida’s expedition that she had retreated from. “Here I thought you didn’t know what was down there.” Arascus did not, they had found it. He shrugged. “A weaker Divine first, then stronger ones, to make me calibrate wrong.” Noah smiled in satisfaction. “How conniving.” Of Pride genuinely had no clue what he was talking about. How could he…

Arascus stared down at the floor, narrowed his eyes, and then jumped. Jumped as he would have back on Arda, his dark hair brushed the ceiling but then he fell back down. Fer was fast, Fortia and Kassandora, but agility had never been strong on him. He looked back at Noah. “What was that for?”

“I thought I could break the floor.” Arascus lied. They were on a world slightly smaller than Arda. This was not the weightlessness of space. It couldn’t be a moon either, that was too small. Back on Arda, he could report this. Then men more versed in other worlds would be able to run the numbers.

“Are you going, or are you not?” Arascus’ mind searched for something else to question, and now, all that his thoughts could muster up was Fer’s cry.

It was over.

This planet could come later.

Noah’s time was now.

“Elassa talked of this place reflecting damage.” Arascus said. “Is it this place? Or is it your ability?” Noah’s eyes immediately narrowed. They were young at this moment, sharp, and entirely focused as if the creature had just felt the danger spike.

“So you know why you cannot attack me then.” Noah said. He stretched a hand out forward, as if wanting Arascus to take it. “Come. Now.” Arascus stared at the fingers as he listened to his own heart beat. Was it pure reflection? It seemed to be for the Goddess of Magic, although Elassa, just in general, was fairly frail. Physically, Arascus was sure that even someone like Kavaa or Helenna could overpower that deity, not that they would ever get a chance to. Magic was part of Elassa just as skin was a part of Arascus.

Something in his mind did not add up though. Noah was fairly hesitant around him from the start. He was fast, as had been demonstrated in the tunnel. But… Arascus took a deep breath, held it, released. In a flash, his hand shot to the ceremonial sword on his and he brought it up. Two sets of hands, severed at the wrist, hit the ground a moment later.

Noah collapsed onto the ground as Arascus grit his teeth and put his own arm into the air to stop the bleeding. The creature before him screamed and fell backwards as he immediately tried to put distance between himself and Arascus. Of Pride closed the distance before Noah could disappear or escape, slamming his boot onto man’s thigh and locking him in place. “ARASCUS!” Noah screamed.

No attention needed to be made to that. Of Pride looked up at his own arm. Nothing like Asmodeus’ blackfire. The pressure on his, coming from the press of his own boot upon Noah’s leg, increased. Arascus did not take his weight off. “Now, we wait.” Arascus said, his voice slow and deep. “Are you a God?”

He put the ceremonial blade to Noah’s chin and tilted his head back so that the man could look up at him. The skin on Arascus’ chin split with Noah’s. “Madness!” He shouted and reached forward to punch Arascus, and then flinched himself. The God of Pride stood there, eyes narrowing, as he saw the man jolt slightly to the left. So it worked both ways. It was for this area definitely.

Arascus brought his arm down, the blood had stopped flowing, his veins were beginning to close. He saw Noah scrambling in the corner, holding his wrist still, as he took heavy breathes and tried to calm himself down. “Creature of whatever planet you are. You do not know the madness of humanity.” Arascus said. “Nor do you know the madness of me.”

“DIE!” Noah screamed out. “HELP! SOMEONE!” Arascus stabbed the sword into Noah’s abdomen. Under the lung, through the ribs and Noah screamed out again. Pride’s boot dug in deeper as he felt his shirt go wet with his own blood. The blade was twisted to make a gash, and then Arascus pulled it out. The tell had been there already. Violence, immediate action, was reflected. But his arm had closed up as Noah’s was only beginning to stop. He wasn’t human, that was for certain. But if he was a God, then they would test it.

“If you do not wish to answer the question, then do not.” Arascus said. “But know that I have beaten my head into a rock for a thousand years. We have all eternity here.” He wouldn’t let the arm heal. The blade came down again.

Two sets of wrists hit the ground, both without their hands. “STOP!”

“When there are wolves in the forest, you leave them alone.” Arascus said as the blade that he always for ennobling men on the spot was thrust into Noah’s shoulder. “And you do not bring them home.” He twisted the blade, hit a nerve, and felt his own arm spasm as the wound was repeated onto his body. “Whose blood will run out first?” The grip never left the sword. He pulled it out and let the wound stay open.

Noah screamed in rage and in pain. “ARASCUS! STOP!”

Arascus put his foot down, tore through bone, and had to steady himself by reaching for the wall behind Noah with his sword hand. “You made my daughter cry Noah.” He said and stopped to steady himself. Breaking the bone had been a mistake. It wasn’t an open wound, it should heal faster than a severed limb. The pain was a burning fire in his leg, but he could tell that the fire he felt was a thousand times hotter on the other man. “And I don’t do half measures. As the Emperor of Arda, know that you will never get a chance to curse one of our souls again.”