EPISODE 238: SAFE — SOVEREIGNTY AND FEDERAL ENTERPRISE 1

  — GREAT EDRYAN, YEAR 7294. SEASON: CENTRAL.

  Deep breath in.

  Hold it.

  Hold it.

  And out.

  The sky was clear, the dragon slain, and the storm gone.

  It felt good. It felt good, to be back.

  A nightmare was over, and only good dreams were incoming.

  I glanced at Madria in my arms, her smile bright as we slowly descended from the sky—its red light our backdrop. Vertical pupils aligned with mine, she blinked, once, twice, thrice but it was only on the fourth that she managed to return her eyes to normal, circular irises.

  A storm of notifications flooded my vision, blocking the sight of my beautiful girlfriend and forcing me to acknowledge them.

  “Imperius,” I laughed, thinking of old words Margret said to me when naming things. “Name the bloodline Imperius.”

  The countdown halted, but the flood of notifications continued.

  Several more notifications flooded my vision, but I focused on the one detailing my new bloodline and its ability. In my arm, Madria seemed to be doing much of the same as me.

  Interesting. No wonder I felt a sudden urge to eat a part of the lightning as it descended. I focused my mind, shifting my body to forcibly retract my wings and turn my pupils back to regular non-vertical irises. Scales still covered my body as I wore no clothing or any other item to shield the world from seeing me. The only thing that stubbornly remained was my misshapen horns. One obsidian, with traces of ten different colors deep within. The other was similar but not quite at the level of grandeur as the first.

  A clear, sunset sky shone. Red hues danced across the horizon, its light like spilled blood.

  “The people,” Madria whispered, capturing my attention. “They’re…”

  Her voice trailed off, leaving me to wonder what she was trying to say. I focused below myself, not on the gathered nations for SAFE, but the citizens of Edrya who stood outside in awe. Slowly, gently, they kneeled, hands still outstretched. Their eyes were lit with desire and sacrifice, and a certain… transfixed expression remained. One that I found myself used to seeing, but never on this level.

  “They would die for me, without question,” I softly whispered. My body was slowly making its descent downward. Once, I found that thought scary.

  Once.

  Madria looked at me as if sensing something, her left hand reaching up to grasp my face. Her eyes searched mine, but I didn’t know if she found the answers she was looking for.

  “Status,” I called, it was best I adjust my strength before meeting the guest.

  Immediately, I updated my status and distributed my attribute points and levels. A notification prompting me to choose my new class appeared as Imperius Golemlord hit level fifty, and the same occurred for Divine Sovereign of Edryan. I could have experienced two class evolutions for a single class and unlocked the third class by immediately allocating all levels to Imperius Golemlord and allowing it to hit level seventy-five, but it was well known that the moment you crossed that threshold, leveling would significantly increase. It was best to upgrade all classes in twenty-five level segments.

  I dismissed the screen, a flash of pink appearing before me and sweeping Madria and me into a hug. A second flash occurred, and I found myself back before G.E.N.E.S.I.S.

  I smiled as I wiggled an arm free, dropping [Legacy] to return the hug.

  “Hi, Mom,” I laughed.

  My mom, Queen Titiana, immediately shrank, and I fought off a wave of several kisses as she planted them all over my face.

  “When will you stop doing such dangerous things,” Queen Titiana questioned.

  “When will you stop letting me,” I shot back.

  She sighed. “If I don’t, how can you grow? How can you be King? Yet every time I do… You come back hurt or changed.”

  She poked at my horn, her expression complex. My mother took a deep breath, glanced down at the egg we once resided in before speaking.

  I paused, and she did too as she glanced back at me. Our eyes met, but this time it wasn’t face-to-face.

  “You’re taller,” my mom said, examining me. “You’re stronger, nearly a third stronger than before. Your level increase must have been significant.”

  “Nearly forty levels,” I responded, turning my gaze to G.E.N.E.S.I.S.

  The egg continued its incubation. The six once-stone eggs now appeared to hold life and even grow past their initial soccer ball-like size. I could feel a connection to them that was deeper than blood.

  A moment later, a new figure entered the underground hall, their eyes aligned on the young woman in my left arm. Madria squirmed away and stood properly, her eyes moistened with tears. Both she and her mother moved at the same time, embracing one another with tight hugs and kisses. I smiled, then turned to my mother.

  “I sense those not from Edryan here… is it…”

  “It is your,” my mother waved her hand, a smile on her face at the sight of Madria and her mother embracing. “Sovereignty and Federal Enterprise meeting.”

  I paused, startled. “So soon? How long have I been…,” I gestured to G.E.N.E.S.I.S.

  “Two years. It’s been two years since the start of the Golden Age, Ardent of the End. Many things have happened… Minerva has been busy.”

  Saying so, my mother began to roughly inform me of the events that happened during my slumber. As she did so, maids and other personnel began to appear—tailors, physicians, and more were here to check my health, take measurements for clothing, and such.

  Two years… two years passed, and although we somewhat felt the passage of time in our Sols, in G.E.N.E.S.I.S., it was far from what I expected. At most, I believe a few months would have gone by. Not two years.

  I frowned. In 7291, on my sixteenth birthday and System Day, I received my life-altering quest from the Goddess Madris. Over three years and some change had passed since. Leaving me with barely six years before I would have to make a move. It also meant that in less than six years, everyone past level 220 would be forced into the Astral Above.

  I moved slowly, my thoughts concise on my next plans as tailors poked at my horns. For some strange reason, I couldn’t properly use (Polymorphism) to store them away. Every time I tried, I felt a large irritation that forced them out.

  I felt my connection to Minerva, understanding she was located at NARC, hiding away from the senses of any of the Path Walkers who appeared in the capital city. Great Edryan had opened her doors, and few accepted, but those few who came were powerful, and their senses were vast. She did the right thing by staying away.

  To the world, I was the [Chosen of Madris]. The enemy.

  I was the demon lord in the stories of old. The big bad wolf.

  I am the Final Dragon, End of Adventure. The final page in the book as the story ends.

  I smiled, my canines were sharper than before, and the red and gold of my eyes brighter— stronger. I felt a level of confidence I hadn’t felt in years. My connection to Madris wasn’t the same. There was no second party in the back of my mind constantly judging my thoughts and actions.

  I took a deep breath, admiring my new look in the mirror. Obsidian horns with ten colors deep within showcase my elemental control. A suit, as black as my horns, decorated me, playing into my new look and nature. My face still resembled my mother’s, but it took on a more mature, grown look. I now resembled a young man in his early twenties. Golden jewelry decorated me, with two rings on my left hand and a bracelet on my right.

  Those present stared at me in awe and reverence, their faith so much deeper than before. I could feel it. More than feel, I could see it. I could estimate the exact level of faith they held in the Goddess Madris. And, if I could do this… it meant I could manipulate them however I liked.

  Marna finished greeting her daughter before her eyes focused on me. They widened, golden-brown like her daughters, but a hint of age and wisdom within them.

  “You have…,” Marna faltered.

  I glanced at her curiously, uncertain of what she could see. The Prestige had completely devoted herself to the Goddess Madris, and that gave her rights and privileges I didn’t know of. She carefully studied me before a sudden look from my mother made her turn her eyes away.

  “It’s good you’ve returned, Lawruthian. The people have missed you dearly,” Marna finally stated, regaining her composure. She glanced between her daughter’s horns and mine, a concerned expression on her face.

  “Are you…”

  “Marna,” Queen Titiana warned.

  “I have to know.”

  “Are you still magi? Still one of the Goddesses? I… I can’t tell, I can’t see Her divinity within you as I once could.”

  I stroked my chin, not answering her question just yet. I looked at the faith around us, saw its fluctuations from her words, but still stayed quiet. They watched and listened even if they pretended not to.

  I laughed and reached up. “Goddess Madris… am I still your Chosen?”

  The answer came immediately, a radiance of divinity fell from the sky and into my palms. It was invisible to the mortals around us, but to those that mattered, those beyond mortality. It was clear and tangible.

  Pure, raw divinity—a complete expression of the Goddess in total. It was what resided within me prior, and I assumed it was what could access my soul to the degree previously. Rasheed or G.E.N.E.S.I.S. must have removed the connection to my sol, giving me this chance at freedom.

  My thoughts were complicated on the matter. Even after two years of pondering, I was still uncertain of the true extent of Rasheed’s ‘gift’.

  Marna’s eyes remained locked onto the divinity within my hand. Her body stiffened, and she immediately prostrated herself on the ground, not daring to look up, not daring to speak. She wasn’t the only one, as all movement within the hall paused, and many like her fell to the ground.

  This object, this piece of divinity...

  “Sol…” I chuckled. “So that’s what makes me the [Chosen of Madris].”

  I watched the raw divinity. It was a living, breathing thing—a piece of the Goddess Herself. A piece of her sol.

  I ate it.

  One bite, then two… three, and on the fourth, the last of the divinity was devoured.

  At the entrance of what I could call my sol… someone knocked.

  I laughed. Truly, I was free from the Goddess’s control… and it was impossible to let her back in. I wouldn’t allow myself to be compromised in that manner.

  My aura mutated, once again taking on its former strength and shifting into what was known as the Chosen of Madris. Yet, within, a conversation was taking place.

  “Interesting,” I commented, looking at the prostrated magi around me. “Well then, it’s best I don’t keep the guest who visited Great Edryan from such distant lands waiting much longer.

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  AN: Sorry there is so much notifications at the beginning, but this is a LITRPG and they were all necessary.