Chapter 295: Chapter 290 – Echo

It was a heated and bloody battle as the Imperial Army held the shoreline for four days, nonstop beating back the coming wave of demons. Their lines were exhausted, and the shoreline had been turned into a glass field along a 30km long section of the Calm Blue from the initial landing point. The sand was simply melted under the constant green fires of the dwarfs' weapons.

"Your relatives are not playing around!" Lulu said, wielding a rapier made out of light, stabbing through two mermaids while Yanda was also fighting with a group on the shores, wielding his trident as a spear.

"They are completely crazy!" He answered with a shout, which was not a stretch or just a wordplay. He was 100% correct.

The demons worried not about their safety. They threw themselves at their lines without breaking, killing, and devouring humans and their kind alike. If a mermaid fell, and others had a chance, they devoured its flesh, growing stronger in the process. Lulu and Yanda had been fighting nonstop for the past few days without a break. Without the abundant pills they had on them, they would be already exhausted and sleeping for weeks on end. Through their battles, they finally realized the demons' minds were influenced by their faith and its fundamental law; The weak must perish, and the strong must remain! Skoorn's rage afflicted anyone who followed him, and the demons in the oceans were the closest to him both physically and in mind.

"How's the retreat?" Yanda asked, sending a voice transmission out that was picked up by Kirch, who was responsible for guarding their backline and organizing the retreat with Sylvett. By the time his answer came back, Yanda had already killed four other demons and was drenched in blood and water as he fought alongside Lulu, their backs facing each other.

"Everything is going to plan; we still need about half an hour!"

"Too long!" Lulu shouted, "They just don't stop coming!"

"We still need time!" Kirch replied with a troubled voice. "The Emperor is setting up an ambush to bombard the shoreline with a combined spell of four hundred people! Elder Levictus said he is ready with the linkup formations… it just needs time to synchronize the people's affinities!"

"That amount of time is still long…." Lulu grumbled.

"Okay… half an hour then it is!" Yanda groaned, cutting the connection. "Don't grumble, girl; you were a slave driver back then!" He joked with her while he formed a spell with his right hand, boiling the blood of multiple fish demons who just came to shore, making them explode, while his left hand held his trident, fighting off another mermaid.

"You won't let it go, like ever, huh?" Lulu laughed, dodging the attack of two demons, blinking behind them, stabbing her rapier through their skull with a precise blow. "Fine! Let's focus on the battle; we can argue it out in bed later!"

For the time being, their situation was the most serious as the closest force to the land was situated right in the depths of the Calm Blue. It was led by the same demon who once had a talk with Ren. For it, time barely passed, viewing the surface dwellers, the humans, the same as just before. Not even thinking that the girl she met once was already at a level capable of challenging its own God. When receiving the order from Skoorn, there was no question about what would come next as every demon in the Calm Blue was mobilized. Those giants of the ocean Ren once met were now washed away with berserker rage, throwing themselves onto the shore.

Their first plan was to break through, focusing at one point on sheer numbers, but they soon realized it was more challenging than they expected. Mainly because their numbers throttled how quickly and how many of them could reach the shore. Still, for now, it seemed they would finally push out the humans from where they chose to build a forward base. For the Empire and Feynor, it was quickly evident that no matter how advanced the demons became in intelligence, they had no experience with battle, neither on land nor in large-scale invasions. They were giving them enough time and chances to counter their moves.

While the battle was already ongoing on the southern border of the continent, the eastern part, alongside the Storm Coast, was relatively calm. But everyone knew it was simply the calm before the storm. With the lead of Aerthus and Rumira, the mix between disciples and demons, the rugged shoreline was being reinforced and barricaded, making it extremely hard to come ashore. They were making sure to funnel the incoming invasion towards their chosen points, not giving the sea demons any easy pickings. While they were responsible for establishing the front, at their back, the Kings, with the lead of Seya, organized the supply lines. They were making sure that whatever happened next, whatever they requested to be delivered, will be there.

While the home of Ren was ready for war, thanks to the warnings from the west, the other side of the colossal desert was engulfed in a completely chaotic mess. Battles raging between sects from one end of the lend to the other. Right then, Ren was having a meeting with Invictus, Kaizer, and Ophila, discussing how to get into the Realm of Skoorn.

"The main problem is, we don't know where it is…." Kaizer crossed his arms, "I sent out people centuries ago with the exact reason for finding it… none proved successful in the process! Your attack pierced it; anything you could tell us?" He looked at Ren, waiting for her answer.

"Nothing yet." she shook her head. "I was acting in the moment, but you are right; I did pierce his Realm. So it should be easier to find it! But instead of meditating and me trying to trace back to it, I could go and capture a demon with a high enough level so it has information where it should be!"

"Why not just go and open up the Tear?" Invictus asked, clearly, serious about the idea. "They most certainly wouldn't let you do that!"

"Because I can't be so callous about it!" Ren answered sternly, "Previously, I knew they were going to seal it away, so I went for it. For the second time, I am going to be precise about it! I need to create a stable gate into the Cosmos, and there has to be ZERO interference for that! So they must go first!"

"Oh… okay!" Invictus nodded, already forgoing his plan, returning to the original of finding Skoorn.

"You worry about the war; I'll go get Skoorn!" Ren clapped with a reassuring smile. "When I got him by the balls, make sure the twins have no time to arrive to his help! The rest I'll deal with!"

After their brief meeting, Ren just stepped outside, wanting to travel towards the sea, when a surprising message reached her, coming from Reignar.

"You should come to us! As soon as you can!" his voice echoed in a way that was clearly disturbed.

"What happened?" She asked back, already flying towards them, taking a sharp turn in the air.

"It… It's… just get here!"

"What the hell is going on?" She murmured, with zero ideas what even happened and why he was sounding... weird.

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…..

In the pocket realm, where the twins lived, they finally managed to separate once more after days of spending time in one body conjoined as they were at birth. Neither of them was in the mood to joke or even talk. They were scanning their creation; the reincarnation circle that they were building. They worked on it since way before Athos even became the Mad God, right after they defeated Kai. Now they were thrown back so far; they would have gone mad if not for the fact it was not completely destroyed. As they used it to seal away Nilier's ability to escape her dimension, giant chunks from it were torn off when it exploded outwards. Millions of accumulated, circling souls escaped at that point, back to the Realm, gobbled up by the natural cycle of old.

"We need his soul!" both of them said at the same time, looking into one another's eyes. They knew they were talking about Skoorn as he was now injured, still recovering, and his sword was destroyed… everything was perfect for the reaping.

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"It won't recover to the level it was before… but it will get close!" Alfina thought aloud, crossing her arms as their creation surrounded them. Their Realm was submerged into it, healing it, calling back many 'disciples' souls from their followers, killing thousands with a thought every time.

"After we get it, we need to go into hiding!" Oynega continued, "We could merge into it too and disappear from the eyes of the Immortals! Let them prance around for a couple of million years; when our cycle replaces the natural one, we will be the true rulers of it all!"

"Even if they opened up, Sky or not!" Alfina nodded, "Whatever would die here would be ours to mold and be rebirthed! Hmph! Gods? Immortals? It does not matter! Their souls would be ours to play with!"

"Now I feel a bit better!" Oynega let out a long sigh, looking at the swirling souls around them, only visible to their eyes. "Damn… the funky one was also lost!" He clicked his tongue.

"The weird looking one? The one that was wrapped up with a piece from another's? Like a baby in a swaddle?"

"Yep! I was fond of that one!" he shook his head. "I wanted to keep it and nurture it myself! It was a great catch!"

"Don't worry, when we are done," she hugged him from the back, snuggling up against him, "I'll craft you some like that! As many as you want! Let's plan out how to fish out that bald bastard first~."

As they were starting to discuss their plans, what they did not know was that one soul, swirling with the rest around them, was gobbling up the incomplete ones, growing stronger and stronger, attentively listening to their every word.

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"What happened?" Ren landed at the God's Blood Sect, meeting with Reignar, who looked troubled or, more precisely, confused.

"A lot!" He shook his head. "When that God died, the people here went into some kind of shock… or a trance! They became erratic and confused! A lot of them even dropped dead! Their eyes were still open, yet their souls were gone!"

"Does not sound good…." Ren furrowed his brow, walking alongside him, checking the villagers who looked sick. All of them were weak or completely out of it, living some kind of a fever dream, being there yet not.

"Orsi has been trying to bring them back to reality; for now, only a few have succeeded, but they are… not stable! The moment they go to sleep…" he snapped his fingers. "They may wake up with entirely mixed-up memories and emotions! One fighter went into a panic after a short sleep, and I had to subdue him with force!

"Any ideas?"

"Whatever splintered their souls originally, something had to happen to it." Orsi appeared, with big bags under her eyes, coming to Ren to explain what she had learned so far. "Those who dropped dead, their other part, the original chunk of their souls, were reabsorbed into the real reincarnation cycle! Moreover, the part that was here got also ripped away to rejoin with it; that is why they simply fell over, dead!"

"So it was really the twins doing… when Nilier died, their creation was also affected, just like Baldy's sword!" Ren nodded, watching the confused bunch around them. "What about the rest?"

"Still trapped wherever they may be. But the shock was so big it affected the part that is here, on the outside… plus… There is something more interesting! Come!" She grabbed her hand, drawing her away hurriedly.

Orsi led them into one house where the town's leader, Zakku, was sitting, with a somewhat confused look, trying hard to think and ground himself, in reality, not to lose consciousness.

"Zakku!" Orsi said, with a soothing voice, drawing his attention towards them.

"Ah…" He shook, recognizing them as his eyes landed on Ren, throwing a childlike, innocent smile "The Goddess…."

"Ugh…" Ren twitched her mouth but chose not to argue about it.

"He said he had a message… for you! By name!" Orsi explained, looking at Ren with an excited face. "I tried to make him say it, but I was unable to make him; he insisted it can only be told to you!"

"A message?" Ren asked, looking at Reignar with puzzlement.

"Yes! A message!" Zakku fell to his knees, looking up at Ren. "The twins are planning to kill the remaining God! I have grown strong enough to maintain my consciousness!" He started to speak, and his voice was flat and mechanical as his eyes went dim, simply reciting the lines, clearly coming from another soul, from inside Alfina and Oyenga's cycle. "I have awoken those who were like me, able to grow, absorb… evolve. If you can buy us enough time, I can sabotage this abomination, Ren! Then I can be back sooner than expected!"

"Oh, that had to be the message! Whoever it is, he or she knows about you! But that is not a surprise, especially if it can contact the souls out here!" Orsi clapped her hands, excited, but as she looked at Ren, she could only see her trembling, with widened eyes. A thought struck Ren that she could not shake off. She had no evidence; she immediately thought it was just her sudden, naive wish. But… she couldn't believe otherwise. The moment this thought rooted itself in her mind, it grew stronger and stronger by the second.

"Ren?" Reignar asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Try to contact him… do anything you must!" She looked at Orsi, her voice almost faltering. "I want to know the name of the one who sent this message!" She looked into Orsi's eyes with a look that was anything but calm. As she spoke, thunder and rain covered the whole region, and even without her realizing it, the powers she wielded were going out of control.

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