Chapter 20: Chapter 19

"uhmn? Huhn?" I woke up, rubbing my eyes and flicked off a caterpillar crawling over my nose as I looked around. It was already morning.

The sun was rising in the east, it's soft light diffusing against the dreary grey of the Northern sky into a curtain of light drizzling through the canopy of the heart tree.

How long have I been out?

[11 hours, give or take.] PK answered.

"Thanks, PK. You're a lifesaver."

I stretched and yawned, brushing off the dirt and leaves from my clothes, standing back up on my feet.

It was only then that I noticed.

"You've been drawing mana from the Godswood?" 

[Yeah. You just killed the god, gave your speech and fucked off. I had to stay back and do the cleanup. Who do you think has been holding his divine realm together? Do you want his divine power to be eaten up by the others? Because they have been poking and prodding at the seams of the bounded field I set up to protect his domain. Thankfully, with the increase in faith that your act has brought, the mystery in the Godswood has reignited and I could pull enough magic to sustain it, but as soon as the gods try anything more than lazy probing, it'll collapse. So while I don't want to push you, maybe make a decision, and fast, of what you want done with the divine realm of the Many Faced God.]

"Damn.... PK, you can hold off gods?" I exclaimed, genuinely surprised, "You're the best ring a man can ask for." I wiped a fake tear from my eyes.

[Hehehe, and don't you forget it!] PK preened, [But seriously, what do you want to do with the divinity?]

"Can I subsume it? Becoming a god should solve my problems."

[Yes, but you'll become the new god of life and death and get stuck in this world.]

"Yeah no. Not doing that then. Can I just use it as a power source and turn myself into a divine spirit?" 

Divine spirits are the highest level of nature spirits, a form of lesser, deteriorated gods. This was one option for me, a path to progress on given the closeness of my homunculus body to nature and nature spirits already. 

I was practically one step away from being a nature spirit myself. 

[You can but it'd be such a waste of power. And you'd probably be forced to conform to your legend, losing your personality and self as a result, being forced to act in line with your saintly and godslaying reputation as the Herald of the Old Gods.] PK explained, [And there's a not-so-small chance that you'll fail and get erased from existence from the backlash of the failure.]

I shuddered the thought, and shook my head.

"So no to that as well." 

[So what do we do about it?]

"We could refine him into a divine weapon but I don't have any experience in that. Do you?"

[Only theoretically. And even then I only skimmed it.]

"So not practicals. Then there's only one thing we can do." I touched the heart tree beside me, activating my magic circuits.

"Hey, Bloodraven." I knocked on his connection, "Get your crusty old, tree pegging ass here." 

Bloodraven, from what I had read in the books, was an exceptionally loyal soldier and spymaster during the Blackfyre rebellions who specialized in shapeshifting sorcery and warging. His expertise fit right into the domain of the Many Faced God, almost as if he had been born to fill the role.

And now that he served me....well, I treat my employees well. It's the essence of capitalism. Everyone wins. Sure, some win a lot more than others based on how much they put in and how smart they worked but a rising tide lifts all boats and everyone gets a cut of the company moolah. 

It's just good business. 

There was silence for a moment as I felt him connect but remain mute.

"You killed a god." He finally muttered, with what seemed like a mixture of dread and reverence. 

I smiled.

"Yup. And now I'm offering you the opportunity of a lifetime."

"To serve as one of your retainers?" He asked hopefully, "I am already in your service."

"No, no." I chuckled, "Think a bit...higher.

"Your exclusive herald?" He asked carefully.

"A bit higher." I nudged him.

"Your .... consort?" He seemed extra hesitant there. 

Also....

"What the hell, no! Ew! No. No. I don't swing that way." I cringed. 

"Then....." The realization dawned on him, "You don't mean....No, that cannot be...."

"Yup. I did promise you eternal life." I joked.

"But...why?" He was flabbergasted, "This is divinity. True divinity. No one gives up such power. No one can give up such power! Why would you-"

"Don't want it?" I teased, "I'll find someone else then, don't worry-"

"Wait! Wait...I mean.....my lord...I....am moved beyond words. This Bloodraven is eternally grateful."

"Yeah, you better be. I killed one god, I can kill another. Do not betray me." I offered a grave warning.

"Never." Bloodraven said, "This opportunity....I will never forget it. You have given these old bones a second chance to serve....I will serve you loyally, my Lord. I swear to you my eternal fealty, oh prince of sweet mornings, lord of second chances. I shall not disappoint." I felt his sincerity through the connection. He truly was moved. 

"Very flowery, very gay. A simple yes would have sufficed." I chuckled, "PK, help our friend ascend to godhood, will you?" 

And place a death geas on his subconscious, just in case he gets any ideas. I silently added.

A geas. A contract between magi that affected people to the very core of their being. It was sophisticated magecraft, the likes of which someone with a primitive understanding of magic like Bloodraven would never be able to unravel. 

It was a sort of dead man's switch, just in case he decided to let his newfound power get to his head.

[Gotcha.] PK replied and began pumping. 

That morning, the skies lit up with a monochrome divine aurora and the world felt with every ounce of it's being, the birth of a new god and with it, the ushering of a new era. 

.

"Well then...." I jumped to my feet and took in the fresh morning air. 

It smelled like my grandfather's old ranch, something I quite liked about this place. 

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"Let's get to work."

[What is the plan now?] PK asked, [You just shortened your lifespan again. How long do you have now?]

I checked and sighed.

"About a year and change by my estimation. One shot consumes in excess of nine months of lifespan. I can at most fire this one more time if I really have too." 

[Then have you decided what to do?] 

"Yes. I'll leave. It's a bit ahead of schedule but so was the assassin."

[You won't stick around for the king to arrive?] 

"No. As you pointed out, it will be hard to convince Robert on my own. And let's say I do manage to convince him. The first thing he'll do is rage out and put Lannister heads on spikes. And Tywin won't take that lying down. 

That will mean war. 

Now sure, I can convince the others lords to either rise up against him, forcing him into a stalemate or at least stay nuetral.

The Riverlands and the Stormlands will side with the crown as will the Starks.

But the moment the Starks march to war, the iron islanders will rape and pillage their way across the North, tying up the Stark forces in two. That will give Tywin the opportunity to crush their forces and seige the Riverlands.

Now the Martells will either remain neutral or side with the crown against Twyin, but given that Doran is still waiting on that schlub Viserys to get his act together, I'm leaning towards the former. He's too cautious to jump into a war feet first. 

Still, I have plans for them later.

Now it all depends on whether the Tyrells side with the crown or Tywin. They are the biggest force on the continent and as Napolean says, men march on their stomach. Without Tyrell grain, the armies will slow and the Long Night will be difficult to endure. 

Sure, I can sway the Tyrells with a royal marriage offer once I get my claws into Robert, and get Gendry installed as heir to the throne but if Tywin manages to get to them first, which is more than likely, this will turn into a full blown war.

The only wildcard here is the Vale, but knowing Littlefinger and his control over Lysa Arryn, Lady Regent of the Vale, he'll sow as much chaos as possible. He'll probably fake joining the crown's coalition and then backstab us for Twyin's favor. 

And finally, the worst part here is the fear of assassination. Varys has eyes and ears everywhere. His little birds. He will surely come to learn of my sorcerous deeds and knowing his utter hatred for sorcerers, he'll irrationally try and get Robert killed for conspiring with me. 

And once Robert dies, the crown will split between Renly and Stannis. 

All this will just spiral out of control till the continent is in a state of total war and all sides waste the precious few resources they have in a fruitless bid for power." I sighed, rubbing my temples.

"So the only way to win this rigged game, is to not play it. At least for now. Besides, I have bigger fish to fry. If I don't solve my lifespan problem, I'm dead within the year. There's no point in planning it all out then if I'm going to be dead, is there?"

[I suppose you are right.] PK shrugged.

"Which is why here's what I will do. 

I will go to Lord Stark, inform him that I am going to leave soon and brief him on what needs to be done once I'm gone. I'll set the plot back on track for now leave to solve my other problems. The next few months are frankly, inconsequential for me. The king will stay in Winterfell for nearly a week, maybe two. Then he'll make the month and a half long journey back to King's Landing. And add to that the fortnight or so that it will take to plan the Hand's tourney. 

That's a whole two months and change that I have nothing of worth to do. Wasting two months of what precious little time I have left on this medieval crapsack of a world is just stupid. I can do better out there."

[Finally! When are we leaving?] 

"In two weeks. Just before the King arrives in Winterfell." I sent my plans to PK and he hummed in agreement.

[Solid plan. I thought you were going to need another talk before you got it through your thick head.] PK giggled.

I rolled my eyes.

"For now, let's go meet Lord Stark and get the plot back on track before we begin the final preparations for leaving." I said, knocking on the heart tree.

"Bloodraven!" I called out, and instantly he answered, materializing out of the tree trunk like the T-1000.

He looked.... not old. He had returned to the form of his youth, rejuvenated by the divinity of the Many Faced God. 

His hair was white and his eyes were a blood red, filled with a deep cunning and ruthless savagery that belied his noble countenance.

With a lean and muscular figure, and an unblemished face, delicate and divinely alluring, he looked more like the main character of a xianxia novel than anything.

Yes, this was more like the badass Bloodraven from the books.

"I am here, my Lord. What is your command?" He knelt before me.

"Get me two direwolf pups, both snow white, north of the wall, just ahead of Castle black with their coordinates." I ordered, "And while you're at it, look into the history of the world and compile a list of all magic, spells, enchantments, everything and the locations of all magical materials and treasure troves that you can. Give priority to water element magic first. I want at least that done within two weeks." 

"As you wish, my Lord." He replied with complete devotion, "I have also made contact with the faceless men as you requested. They will soon fall under my sway. If you so desire, I can send a few to your side as guards." 

I narrowed my eyes.

Yeah, not taking that chance. He might be loyal, he might be not. But while the death geas protects me from his direct attacks, he could still use the assassins against me, if he got sufficiently clever.

Not risking that.

"No need. But I will need you to send an assassin to kill Varys soon after the Hand's tourney in two months. And make it look like an accident."

"It will be done." He nodded. 

"Good. You may return now. Consolidate your power and keep your guard up against the other gods." I warned, "By the way, did any of the other gods make contact?"

"Yes. R'hllor, The Lord of Light sent his congratulations to me as a fellow ascendant sorcerer."

That's news.

So the eruption of the 14 flames and downfall of Valyria was a massive blood magic ritual after all, just as I suspected. 

"He mentioned he is open to an alliance against certain other opponents. He however failed to mention who these opponents are." Bloodraven continued.

"I see. Keep probing. See who these opponents are. Map out the divine realms for me while you're at it too. I want to know everything about them. What gods there are, how powerful, how old, everything. In detail. When I return for the Hand's tourney, I want it all done and ready for me."

"It will be, my Lord." 

"But remember, don't risk your life for any of it." I warned, "You are far more valuable to me alive than dead, is that understood?" 

He seemed genuinely surprised I cared and could barely hide the surprise.

"Yes, my Lord." He smiled.

"Good. Now shoo." I waved him away and he disappeared into the heart tree again.

"Onto the second item on the list. Let's give Lord Stark a little visit."

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