Chapter 44: Chapter 47 – Oceanus Zero Elder

Theseus pondered his next steps carefully. In the eyes of the masses, the immediate threat of the Suzerain Lords was eliminated, ushering in an era of peace, but that was not necessarily the case. The Desolate and the Moirai threatened the existence of the Oceanic Realm, and their strongest powers were woefully unprepared if either party decided to make a move on Oceanus.

Theseus knew the Moirai treated the Oceanic Realm like a game, so the Desolate was a safer pick to face first. The forces at work in the Desolate were weaker compared to the Moirai, but they were still significantly stronger than the current Theseus as well as the other Elders. As the Aura Realm increased, so did the gap in-between each sub realm. Mortals and Sages could fight regardless of sub rank and have a fair chance at winning a battle, but it all changed in the Royalty Realm. For instance, it took every Royalty Realm person in the Oceanic Realm to take on one man who was a sub rank above them.

Even then, they only won because Lord Darkin was holding himself back. Given that Suzerain Lord Darkin was an anomaly with breathtaking foundations, but still, the gap widened with each sub realm because to the amount of aura it took to breakthrough increased exponentially. Foundations were important in the long term, but there was no doubt that a Deity with weak foundations was a much greater asset than a Mortal with infinite foundations.

Even if Theseus gained infinite foundations, he could never kill The Horror at his current level. Theseus heard the rumors through the history books of the Oceanic Realm. He knew the risks, so he contemplated how to make him and his subordinates stronger. Oceanus Founder was an astounding skill, but Theseus began to doubt its viability in the long term. Even if he raised a violently powerful army, the resources necessary were nonexistent.

In order to prepare for the Great Suzerain War, every ounce of resources was stripped bare from the treasure vaults and landscapes for the Captain Boot Camp. Before even attempting communication with either of the threats, Theseus knew one thing for sure:

He was too weak compared to the Deities.

Theseus knew in his heart that it was time to create a new skill to rely on, and he decided to create a skill similar to his and Leo’s Soul Link over months as the region stabilized.

Dubbed, the Oceanus Elder Skill, the only ones allowed to use the skill were the Oceanus Elders. Taking inspiration from Elder Taurus’s skill, Suzerain Sovereign, Theseus only allowed the Elders to use the skill through its design. Sharing a weaker Soul Link that allowed all the Elders to enter an imaginary meeting room, the Oceanus Elders could gain a specific amount of aura based on how long they were grafted into Oceanus and how many subordinates they imprinted on.

As the founder and creator of Oceanus, Theseus was Oceanus Elder: Zero. Meant to be the King’s position, the Zero Elder was inherently strongest Elder.

Able to encompass all Elders and subordinates into his skill, it was equivalent to gaining all the aura his subordinates would get from the skill combined. It was a clever work around for him, but the caveat was that if he were to die or voted out of the council, he would lose his spot as the Zero Elder. In the same way, if Oceanus were to fall, and every Elder died, he would lose the skill altogether. Oceanus’s wellbeing was directly tied into Theseus’s two main skills, and his selflessness became his own selfishness, in terms of power.

As Theseus explained to everyone how the skill worked, all they had to do was enter the Soul Link zone to become initiated as an Elder. Everyone then voted as to who would gain the First Elder Spot, since, this spot would give the most power. After days of discussion, a tentative ranking was cemented.

Elder One: Gemini.

Shocking Gemini and Theseus, the other Elders saw potential in him.

Elder Two: Gerald.

Because of his longstanding support and original chief of Oceanus Village, the other Elders deemed it acceptable to give this weak mortal with zero knowledge of aura a chance to grow stronger.

Elder Three: Aries.

As the one responsible for defeating Lord Virgo and establishing the Oceanus Territory, Aries was fit to be one, if not the strongest, Elder.

Elder Four: Taurus.

Surprisingly, Elder Taurus negotiated his way into the fourth spot because his territory was large, and therefore, he had to do a lot of work in the future.

Elder Five: Scorpius.

Similarly, Scorpius got the next spot along the same argument.

Elder Six: Jezebel.

Elder Seven: Capricorn.

Elder Eight, Virgo.

As a part of his penance, Virgo thought it best to remain in the lowest position. The last three determined their positions by their recruitment order into Oceanus. Obviously, this was Elder Virgo’s idea.

Sadly, since Leo was directly involved with Theseus’s Soul Link skill, he couldn’t use the Elder skill. This was yet another unintended consequence of the powerful Soul Link skill. The only reason Theseus was able to still use the skill was because of his fundamental role as the Oceanus Founder. Strange and unintended consequences of his well thought out skills emerged every so often, but Leo didn’t feel bad. Leo was happy enough that he was still considered an Elder despite his species.

Everyone felt bad since they could never talk to Leo personally and decided Leo’s authority as an Elder was on par with Theseus, if only in name.

When the skill’s primary phase was decided, the skill then took full effect, and the eights’ auras rose incredibly.

Every single Elder rose a whole sub rank, with the exception of Theseus. Rising from the low C Rank to the B Rank instantaneously, Theseus gained the power of the entire Oceanic Realm as an Elder as well as the Oceanus Founder. Basically, Theseus sneakily found a way to double dip into the same aura pool through intense technicalities through his skills because at the end of the day, the Oceanus Founder was fundamentally different from Zero Elder position.

Theseus wanted to bang his head against the wall in frustration. If only he had come up with a skill like this before, they wouldn’t have had to go through so much trouble against Lord Darkin, yet Theseus knew this skill was only possible because of the uniting of the Oceanic Realm. Without the full support of nearly thirty million ghosts, there was no way the Elder Skill would be able to imprint on civilians. If it were the past, less than ten million resided in Oceanus before taking the final three Suzerain Lords’ territories.

Because the Oceanus Founder skill had to be personally imprinted on soldiers, Captains, and Elders who supported Oceanus with Theseus in the near vicinity, it was fundamentally different from the Oceanus Elder skill. Oceanus Elder was connected to the very ideology and movement that was Oceanus. Because of this, its power could lessen if the passion for Oceanus wavered over time.

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Twice as powerful as before, Theseus felt extraordinarily impressive. As a B Rank King, he was officially the strongest ghost in the Oceanic Realm’s history. Civilians would feel at rest, but the Elders and Captains did not let up in their training. Most knew the existential threat the Desolate posed.

After the extreme power boost, Theseus continued to contemplate his next move. The Desolate was a death trap of mindless monsters, while, the Moirai were deranged old ladies with armies of monsters following their whims. Holding a grand meeting with the Elders in the Oceanus Elder meeting room days later, Theseus decided it was time to act.

“Wow, this is so convenient!” Elder Gerald looked around the Soul Link Elder zone happily. Because he never had much experience with aura, it was dazzling to be able to enter a meeting room like this in his mind while still being in his office in Oceanus City. It was like he was at two places at once!

Like Theseus and Leo’s Soul Link zone, they could enter and leave the zone whenever they wanted, and everyone else would be notified if someone entered. Sometimes, a few of the Elders would talk in the meeting room for fun, but when Theseus entered the zone, everyone stopped what they were doing immediately to see what was happening. Since they could look in to see who entered, the room was soon full.

“What’s the purpose of this meeting, Elder Theseus?” Elder Taurus asked cordially. As a former Suzerain Lord attempting to change his past ways, he felt this was a waste of his time. His territory needed constant attention!

“I’ve invited you all here to talk about the current conundrum regarding the Desolate and the Moirai.”

A few of the Elders nodded, but a few were still confused because the information was so top secret that even a few of the former Suzerain Lords had little intel on them. Obviously, everyone was aware of little fragments of the information regarding the Desolate, but the Moirai were more of a legend than a real threat to others, including the former Lord Scorpius.

“What’s the big deal? We’ve lived without any interference for thousands of years?” Elder Scorpius nudged Aries, but Aries wasn’t in a playful mood. Aries understood the ramifications and danger the Moirai posed because of his prior engagements under Lord Virgo with the Moirai Dungeon.

“Don’t joke around, Scorp, this is serious.” Aries glared.

“Oh, wow, really?” Elder Scorpius couldn’t believe it. Aries never got really serious unless something crazy was happening.

“Yes, and I believe the other silent Elders understand a bit more about the threats these two things pose.” Theseus nodded.

Gerald and Gemini were confused. As people who lived in the borderlands all their lives, they were unaware of the Desolate and the Moirai apart from the surface level history of the Oceanic Realm in history books.

“Yes, I believe there are a few here who are oblivious to the present threats surrounding us…” Theseus explained the current situation with the Desolate and the Moirai in great detail to fill everyone in completely.

“Who would’ve thought…” Gerald pondered.

“Goddess above the C Rank?” Taurus stood up in shock. He knew about The Horror, but the shock of learning the true power of the Moirai was astounding.

“Yes, I’m afraid the Moirai were playing with Lord Darkin and I like chess pieces, from the beginning.” Theseus explained.

“What do we do?” Elder Capricorn questioned. In this situation, they were at the mercy of the Goddesses. The Horror was mindless and could be avoided until its army grew too powerful, but the Moirai were erratic and dangerous. They could never tell just what these Goddesses would do next.

“I believe our only chance in survival is to seek an audience with the Moirai. Now that the game with Darkin has ended, they will want to move on to the next step in their game, I assume.” Theseus deduced.

“What a sick game.” Jezebel shook her head, almost making Aries burst out loud laughing.

“This bitch thinks that’s sick after all she’s done?” Aries screamed inwardly. Then, Aries remembered that Jezebel had had a broken core. For years she acted like a different person than she really was, but did that really excuse her actions? Sometimes, Aries wondered why Theseus was this merciful.

“Theseus, you’re a great guy, and in the past, your gambles all turned out well. However, this isn’t something we can overcome with Authority Skills nor training.” Aries spoke up.

“You’re right. Until I know their true intentions and what game they’re playing, I don’t think I can make a well-informed decision.” Theseus admitted. As Zero Elder and King of Oceanus, they all looked to Theseus for help, but Theseus hated the role and still wished to give the responsibility to his Elders. For that reason, he instigated this meeting.

“I concur.” Elder Virgo spoke.

“As do I,” said Elder Jezebel. Both of them were some of the only Elders to know a little bit about the Moirai before now.

“Is this the majority decision?” Gemini asked. Although he was young, he didn’t take the responsibility as First Elder lightly. In fact, it really freaked him out! Doing his best, he tried to take the leadership position despite his young age.

“I think so.” Second Elder Gerald replied. As more of an administrative Elder, Gerald was at the B Rank Sage solely through his power of the Elder skill. Not really able to control his aura, he rarely used it. Instead, he tried to support the First Elder Gemini and the rest of the Elders by focusing on domestic issues and policy. Only at the level of a mid-tier Captain, Gerald was more of a figurehead than a powerhouse, compared to the other Elders.

“Then, it’s decided. Tomorrow, I will take Elder Gemini and a few Captains to the only known entrance of the Moirai Dungeon, located in Virgo’s district.”

Gemini’s eyes grew big. As First Elder, his aura got a substantial boost, raising him to the D Rank with a peerless foundation, eight times as strong as normal D Ranks, almost as strong as Theseus during the battle with Lord Darkin. Gemini was a monster in terms of aura, but he was slightly lacking in experience.

Aries on the other hand, grew to the C Rank with twice as strong foundations as normal C Ranks. He wasn’t on the same level as Lord Darkin, but in terms of combat potential, he and Gemini were still comparable. Gemini’s ascension was truly exaggerated compared to the experienced Aries!

Everyone nodded in agreement, and preparations were made. Last minute, Ju Long begged to tag along. Soon, Theseus, Leo, Gemini, Centos, Vodyanoi, Naiad, and Ju Long headed to the Moirai Dungeon with a small guard unit of Sage Realm soldiers.

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