When Somnus stepped through the rift, his surroundings did not change, as if he hadn"t been transported anywhere. However, this place, although it was still the highest platform of the city, it was no longer the Alfar Heaven. He proceeded onward, onto the gla.s.s and silver steps that led downwards for hundreds of meters. The stairway crumbled behind him, raining millions of gla.s.s fragments onto the ground; Slowly but inexorably.The districts began to fall, not plummeting, at first, but by the end they dropped like meteors raising kilometer high dust clouds on impact with the ground. This was not Somnus"s doing—not directly. Because the Alfar G.o.ds were dead, except for Hana, the magic that supported the platforms had faded away.
Beneath, he saw the elves watch the ruin of their Temple, and the lone conqueror descend the stairs. And the humans, demi-humans and monsters, watched the same thing but saw something else entirely. The destruction of the holy city was and its fall was symbolism for the fall of the Alfar nation. Without G.o.ds to protect them, they were nothing more than livestock or cattle, with no rights and no security.
Perhaps some among the Gram armies might pity the Alfar, but not Somnus. He thought that this was the right way to be—the right way to exist. Any living being must fight for its right to exist. There was no equality in this world—such ideals produce incompetent leaders. There was no right to a share in this world—those ideals produced lazy individuals. Everything had to be earned.
When Somnus reached the base of the stairs, both the elves and those that came with Somnus knelt before him. As most of the holy city was on the ground, people were not too affected by the physical impact of the fall of their holy districts, but the psychological wound was clearly visible. Some cried, but most of them looked like they had already accepted the outcome. Most likely, they had accepted the outcome long before Somnus even came to this world. As if they knew that this day would come.
Though their stoicism was remarkable, it still provoked Somnus"s ire. If they knew things would be this way, why not try to change the future? Why not resist destiny?
This was the core issue of this world. Living beings were not meant to be like this. When driven into the corner, they should be more dangerous than even Autonomous Machine a.r.s.enals. But because they relied on G.o.ds and magic, because their lives were constantly interfered with and manipulated, they separated from the basic principles of their existence.
Somnus could barely even consider them intelligent life-forms. Indeed; They were cattle.
"Where is Peron?" Somnus asked.
"I am here, my liege," Peron said, stepping out from the ranks of the soldiers that stood on each side of the main road.
"Make preparations," Somnus said. "We are departing immediately."
"Yes, my liege," Peron said and then fell quiet, telepathically relaying orders.
Somnus pondered Peron, wondering if the man even knew what kind of terrible weapon he possessed in telepathy.
"Sire, who should we put in charge of the Alfar kingdom?" Peron asked, after a moment.
"No one," Somnus said.
"Should we leave someone behind to act as liaison?"
"Negative," Somnus said. "We are moving out at dawn."
There was no Alfar Kingdom anymore. No one to liaise with.
"Your will be done," Peron said, bowing to the departing Somnus.
Somnus headed for the military camp outside the city. The camp was guarded but most of the soldiers were inside the city. Probably to protect Somnus. Even though they knew that they didn"t need to, it was a point of pride to be of service to their leader—even die for him.
Later that night, Somnus heard jubilation from the city. The Alfar celebrated their continued independence without truly knowing that this independence was a death sentence. Without Somnus"s protection, they were easy targets for other intelligent races and even monsters. Perhaps, some day in the distant future, they would learn how to fend for themselves and mature as a race worthy of existing in this world.
Somnus was curious to see how they would develop.
"Aeon, provide summary of suppressed notifications," Somnus said to the empty air.
[System: Levels gained: 349. Jobs improved: 7. New jobs: 2. Abilities improved: 18. New abilities: 6.]
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[System: Previous relative combat power: 1. New relative combat power: 7967.24]
Somnus pondered the revelation. The relative combat power used him as a reference, therefore he was now almost eight thousand times more powerful than he was before he suppressed the notifications.
"Aeon, provide defining factor in delta combat power."
[System: Acquisition of Paradox Mage job upgrade: Paradox G.o.d. New abilities unlocked: Paradox Dominion.]
[System: Subject no longer requires magic circles to interfere with the Information Dimension on larger scales. The ability to overwrite Information. Wide-scale magical jamming. The ability to distort s.p.a.ce.]
Somnus nodded to no one in particular. He knew that being able to jam magic and distort s.p.a.ce was not the greatest weapon in his a.r.s.enal. Rather, it was the ability to interfere with the Information Dimension. He had already used it once to erase the shard of a divine being. He even used the distortion ability to fold dimensions into what the G.o.ds called a "Protecta". Though their version must be different, as it was related to their court status, not their intrinsic abilities.
Then again, Somnus"s existence in this world was an anomaly. His understanding of the universe far exceeded that of anything or anyone in this world. With a meager ability to use the fire element, he could manipulate the powers of the stars. Plasma was just plasma, in the end.
Even without his old body, Somnus was still capable of immense destruction, even with the most basic magical abilities. The only exception to this were the Skills. They were inflexible in their application and even trying to use them as principles for spells ended up in disaster. Like Divine Magic, Skills must use a different power source and different operating principles to ordinary magic.
It was too late now to unravel the mystery of Skills. Somnus was already at the finish line. Tomorrow, in the morning, he would traverse the Gateway and put an end to Seraph and the Human G.o.ds.
Tomorrow, he would crush the heart of the world.
No mercy. No surrender. No survivors.
Even though the elves celebrated their independence in the city, it was still a long, quiet night. As if the world knew what was coming and held its breath in quiet, fearful antic.i.p.ation.