Mad God Chapter 149

Published at 20th of December 2022 09:03:01 AM

It was a dark night as the moons hid themselves behind thick clouds. Ren left Thunder Valley under the veil of darkness and nobody noticed her leaving. She departed alone, quickly flying above the treeline, having a clear goal in mind. It took her only around an hour to arrive at the old home of the gorillas', where under the now flooded ruins lay a dormant God. Floating above the water that swallowed up the old cathedral in the previous years, she just looked at her reflection on its surface, before taking a deep breath and raising her right hand. The clouds started to churn and the wind got immediately stronger as the air started to fill up with electricity. Soon, high up in the sky, lightning bolts flashed constantly, gathering their strength before striking down, right into her hand. 

The giant column of lightning that came down, connected her raised arm directly to the sky. She just grabbed onto it, and with a powerful throw she sent into the ground. The power of nature was captured and transformed by her own powers as a purely electric obelisk has taken shape before her. It was cracking and pulsating, shining in an otherworldly light. She just floated to another point, repeating the same feat over and over again, until finally nine, exactly the same kind of energy totems hummed around her, forming a circle.

“Master.” A male voice came as 01 arrived, hurriedly followed by 02, 03, 04 and finally, Kitten. 

“You were quick.” Ren smiled, flying out from the middle of the strange 'circle'.

“We came as fast as we got your orders.” Eisen smiled who now proudly flaunted her new tattoo on the left side of her neck, showcasing 03 in a stylized form, made out of skulls. 

“We also brought her along.” Sezel pointed at the cat demon behind her, now going by the code name 04. 

“Good.” Ren nodded, looking at Kitten whose nonchalant expression suddenly turned serious. Her body shook involuntarily as she looked into her eyes at that moment. She unconsciously started growing out her fur, failing to keep up her human form. Her pupils turned into that of a cat's, just as her cat ears and her tail grew out from her body. By now she was backing up, panicked, even with her strange ability. “Relax.” Ren said but what Kitten felt was deep, primal fear at that moment. She started hissing and growling at her, wanting to run away, reverting herself back to that of an animal.

“Huh, I never saw her like that.” 02 whispered to 01 who just nodded, watching it interestingly.

“Keep an eye on her, we may need to restrain her.” 01 ordered in a voice transmission to everyone as they surrounded Kitten.

“Easy.” Ren chuckled. “I won't harm you. I am here to ask you to contact your master.”

“W-why?” Kitten stuttered. “Also I don't know how… We agreed that he is going to contact me when must and I will relay it to your Sect Head!”

“Look…” Ren spoke up as her voice went deeper and the aura she released even made her followers shudder. 

“Fuck me… I got wet…” 03 whispered, receiving a weird look from 04, while the others just rolled their eyes.

“I'll rephrase myself now.” Ren continued and even if her voice was calm her eyes were not. “I order you to contact your owner. Got it? I don't care how you do it. Go and find him! Tell him to come to the forest and meet me. If he can't do that, then do not come back at all. Both of you should hide, because if I see you again, you are dead. Both of you.” She said, looking into her eyes. “You have a year to reappear before me. Now go!” She turned away from her as she drew back her powers. Kitten, like a cat that got her tail stepped on, scurried away in an instant.

“Geez, Master, you are so sexy when you are this dominating!” 03 giggled, licking her lips.

“I am always sexy.” Ren answered with a half-smile before turning towards the nine electric pillars. “Your next assignment is going to be simple. You stay here and guard this formation.”

“What kind of formation is this?” 04 asked, watching it curiously, even though she knew nothing about formations.

“It's an old creation of the Mad God. More precisely a modified version of his last spell.”

“Shit, this is something from a God?” 03 gulped, watching the columns with more seriousness after hearing her words.

“Yep.” Ren nodded, crossing her arms, watching the flickering, violet lights. “It was called Soul Protector. It was a spell designed by him, the only formation he ever truly mastered. It was made for keeping one's memories, when going through reincarnation.”

“So.. reincarnation is real?” 02 mused but then furrowed his brows. “Then aren't we all immortals?”

“Yes and no.” Ren answered but then 01 continued for her.

“Would you still be you after forgetting everything?” He asked, looking at 02. “It would be a different life. You would be you yet you would not be.”

“I like being me.” 03 shrugged, hearing their exchange.

“Master, you said it WAS called that… but what it is now?” 04 raised her eyebrows, curious of the change that she mentioned.

“Hehe…” Ren chuckled ever so softly. “I would call it Soul Tearer now. Try not to prematurely activate it, okay? Because with my modifications, instead of protecting your soul, it is going to tear it to shreds.” She grinned while she looked back at them, scaring the color out of their faces. “Look at you! Don't worry, you'll be fine! The formation is still in its early phase! You really think I can build one, made by a God, with my current, measly strength?” She shook her head, watching their reactions.

“Then…” 01 gulped loudly, a bit afraid what may come next.

“I'll get us some demonic cores. Strong ones. I'll feed it to this beauty here, until it is powered up fully!”

“Where are you going to get… cores, Master?” 03 asked, mesmerized by the notion. “Won't our demon buddies get angry at you?”

“I'm not going to murder them you idiot!” She walked next to Eisen, kicking her butt. “But aren't there a wild kitty-cat tribe, prancing around in the north? They are readily flashing their claws at everyone, no? It is almost perfect~ I need a lot of energy anyway!” She laughed softly and excitedly.

“Savage.” 04 licked her parched lips. “Why do you need this formation, Master?”

“To kill a God.” Ren answered plainly.

“...” They just looked at each other, not really getting her meaning, thinking it is something allegorical or just a figurative speech. Seeing their confusion, Ren just laughed out loudly.

“Don't think too hard! What I said is exactly what I mean! Deep down here lies a dormant, defeated God! Hiding inside his own core! I need that thing but he is in the way, hogging it with his undead, corporal hands. So I need to make him… disappear.” She explained, watching the now sunken cathedral.

“Oh fuck… a real… God? We are going to kill… a God? Damn… I never even thought about that… Like ever! Even when I snorted some heavy shit! I think I just came… again!” 03 heaved heavily, rubbing her thighs together. 

“Killing a God…” The rest murmured. They were part excited, part scared to death at the notion their Master was putting forward before them.

“So you four stay here! Guard this place so that nothing interferes with my formation! Animals come close? Kill them. Demons? If they don't listen and leave, kill them. If you finish them off here, their souls are going to be absorbed by the formation and strengthen it anyway.”

“Roger.” 03 saluted with a grin.

“Good. Because if the formation gets trashed, it is going to blow up. It would… hmmm… Maybe vaporize… Around a kilometer of land by itself? Approximately speaking!” Ren chuckled before flashing away, leaving them there with a baffled expression.

“Well… don't fuck this up. Please!” 01 sighed with a half-smile. 

“Yeah. Don't fuck this up!” 04 repeated him, while 02 also chimed in.

“Don't. Fuck. This. Up.” 

“Hey! Why are you all saying this to me?” 03 pursed her lips. “I won't, okay? Even when I'm high as a kite, I'm not stupid enough to screw over something our Master wants! Relax! Geez… you fucking donkeys!”

“The only one among us who would fuck a donkey is you.” Sezel moaned as she held her head, shaking it softly.

“Huh… do you think there is a donkey demon around here? I am interested in their schlongs in human form, for sure! Different shapes for different days, niiiiceeee~” 03 said as she crossed her arms, countering her jabs. 

“Stop. Just… stop.” 02 groaned, grumbling with a pained voice while 01 sent a voice message over to him.

“This is why you don't put it in crazy, my brother…”

“I know… yet… it was the best night of my life… damn this bitch!” 02 sent back with a sigh as they started to explore the abandoned city. They were making themselves home as they all knew, this is going to be their base for the foreseeable future.

It was already morning when Ariana jumped down from the cultivation chamber, completely refreshed and filled with energy. Kyu was, once again, roaming the city, quickly making new friends left and right with the different demonic tribes' children. 

“Master.” She walked up to Ren, who was sitting at the window. She was going through huge stacks of papers, sipping on a cup of coffee.

“You look different!”Ren exclaimed, with a soft smile “Breakthrough?”

“Yes.” She nodded excitedly. “To the 6th stage and I did not even realize it! Not until it already happened! The funny thing is… I feel like I could rise up to the 7th stage too.”

“Because you could do it.” Ren said, signaling for her to sit down in the chair next to her. “You have been holding back yourself in the past. Your cautious personality never left you. I only managed to soften it a little~” She said, placing her hand on the top of Ariana's head who immediately shook her whole body. She was feeling her strength being condensed and suppressed by her Master's energy. “There! As you always took it one step at a time, it would be bad for you to start rushing! That is not your way~” She smiled, caressing her face. “For today, just relax! Empty your head and take it leisurely. Tomorrow, you can go back to the chamber and continue cultivating. When you finish, I'll suppress it for you once again. When you feel ready to truly attack the next stage, I'll be there to help you. After you finally reach Harmony, you are going to have a deep and unshakable foundation, Ariana. As your battle style is not explosive or violent, you would last longer than any other expert. With pills, you could outlast even me at my current state.”

“Plus my affinity can affect others' feelings! If my energy is thicker and more robust than theirs, I can more easily overwhelm them.” She added with a playful smile.

“Exactly!” Ren laughed, running her fingers through her hair. “But for today, you need to empty your mind.”

“To relax my soul, I understand.” She nodded.

“Not really…” Ren grinned. 

“Eh? Master?” Ariana asked back with surprise showing on her face.

“It is because otherwise you can't keep up with Kyu! She only slept a few hours and she is already back out there. Maybe she is causing trouble right as we speak! No… not maybe, surely! So please, go look after her. I need some things to quickly catch up on and talk with the tribe leaders.”

“No problem, Master.” She laughed softly, bowing towards Ren. “I'll go at once!”

“Thanks!” She also stood up, gently hugging her, fixing her clothing, making her disciple blush before she hurried away to find Kyu.

After she was gone Ren slowly sat back, reading through the last roll of paper, detailing the tribes that call Thunder Valley their home. By now the number of tribes went up to almost 20 different demonic species. In the past decade, multiple smaller tribes joined up with them and made the city their home. Thunder Valley itself was not only what people could see from the surface. An extensive undercity was also built below the soil, housing almost the same amount of demons down there as up on the surface. To keep everyone in line, the City Council was extended. The original, founding tribes became members of the High Council and the later joined groups had their elected representatives as regular Council members. The latter had a meeting every month as they governed their own tribes and tried to solve the problems that cropped up between them. If they couldn't, it got presented before the High Council so they could make a decision. Their words were law inside Thunder Valley… and by now, even outside of its natural borders.

“You really worked hard, huh?” Ren murmured with a smile, thinking about Niji and how it all went down all those years ago. How a naked chimpanzee demon rose to the head of a whole territory. 

Their influence did not stop at Thunder Valley and by now, they could sway a lot of tribes' lives in the southern forest. Even those who did not join them but were enjoying the trading and the trickle down of human inventions into their own ranks. 

“The only problem is in the east.” Ren stretched with a soft moan as Leinor's voice echoed out behind her. She even felt her late husband placing his hands on her shoulders, gently massaging them, just like he always used to.

“The eastern tribes refuse to acknowledge them, huh? They are probably already influenced by the tigers who live above them in the north.”

“Yeah, that is my guess too.” Ren nodded, with closed eyes, feeling as if he was there with her. “I asked Lady Rumira previously about how things were going between the wolves and tigers. She said it does not look good for the wolves. They had the advantage of numbers at first but they are slowly being pushed back. They already lost some of their strongest fighters. If they can't stop losing territory to the tigers' forces, the whole north is going to be occupied by the kittens.”

“Why doesn't she step in?” Leinor sighed with a small frustration in his voice.

“Because on the battlefield she would hurt her own people just the same. It would be her last resort only! Anyway, the wolves are going to lose solely for one reason! They don't have someone who can stand up to the Tiger King.” Ren shook her head.

“By human standards, he is at the same strength as Sect Head, huh?” Leinor's voice mused quietly.

“Yeah…” Ren bit into her lips, thinking. “I think he may feel confident in finally breaking down and exhausting the wolves. So he is probably already pressuring the independent tribes that are yet to be influenced by Thunder Valley to act. At least they are doing it covertly now! They learnt from their failure last time.” She mused to herself. “Doesn't matter! I'm here to flip the table on them! I'll travel east and bring the rest of the smaller ones into our fold.”

“What if they don't want to?” Leinor asked softly.

“Then they should stand aside and not oppose Thunder Valley. Easy as that!” She opened her eyes slightly. “Someone is going to control the forest either way… and now that I am here, it won't be the tigers. I'll make sure of that!” She smiled with a dangerous expression, watching the sun's rays shining through the trees' leaves.

Chapter end