Chapter 112: book 3 chapter 14

Eryl stood silently, watching Amethyst vanish from the deck of the war ship after carrying out her “judgment” on Jacks. She had seen gods enact their domains countless times for reasons ranging from grandiose to spitefully petty; from stopping world ending disasters to scorned lovers… but this… this was different. 

It was no surprise to her that the young Deity’s judgment was quite “selfless” all things considered, though it was odd that the devil half of her domain would activate for the sake of others, it was not uncommon for the divine to use their powers in such a way. But what did stand out to her was the finality of it, the precision behind it, most divine train for hundreds of years to wield their domains with such… finesse.

A Hero’s soul is caged, bound to keep it from growing any more for the protection of the world and themselves. This cage also marks the soul as not of this world, so upon death, they can be returned to their point of origin. The only way around that as far as Eryl knew was either to damage the soul to the point that Interworld travel was not possible, much the way Hecatolite has done, or for the soul to ascend in its life here becoming a divine soul; the system removing the bonds and giving them the choice to stay reigning over this world. An option most refuse in all actuality, normally choosing to return “home” to join the pantheon of the world they are more acquainted with. Rare were the divine that would choose to reign over what Eryl knew was considered a “back water” world such as hers. Sure, her world was bustling with life but in all reality, it was… simple, lacking in luxury and technology most summoned souls are used to, even compared to other cultivator worlds her world was considered just barely above feral. The only thing that made her world “civilized” was the lack of monstrosities that could threaten all life.

But Amethyst had not done either of those, she simply… removed the cage and branded the man’s soul, replacing the system bonds with ones of her own. More importantly, why had the system not reacted, tried to stop her? is it possible that it couldn’t? No, Amethyst is powerful, maybe even strong enough to battle the system's safeties, but it hadn’t even attempted to warn her… is it possible that it deemed the spell safe? That can’t be it, there is no way to “safely” alter a soul that much…

A sharp cough broke her trance-like thoughts, causing her ears to twitch as looked away from the desecrated corpse of Jacks. 

Laying on the other side of the upper deck, propped against the railing was Baris. Hecatolite had not lied to Wolf and the woman they escorted when she told them they did not “kill” the Heroes, yet Eryl could not say her words were exactly truthful either. Yes, they were both breathing when Hecatolite had walked away yet looking at Baris, now it was clear that simply being alive was about all the man could muster at this point; even that was fleeting as blood poured from his mouth. 

A ping of guilt flashed through her as she looked at the crushed man across from her. She stepped over to him, shaking her head. She did not feel any pity for him, or Jacks for that matter; but some small part of her felt… responsible. It was her job, her duty to train the heroes; to prepare them to protect this world and its balance, but now, standing over the smashed body of a barely alive man… “I failed.” Her voice was barely a whisper as she knelt beside him. 

She could have done a million things differently, made different decisions that would have changed this outcome… but now… now she has failed to not only protect her world, but it was clear that she had left it completely defenseless against the brutality that she herself willingly let loose. With three dead heroes, the gods rampaging in the divine realms, and the mortal realm in complete disarray, it was painfully clear to her that Hecatolite… had been right. She had failed, failed to protect this world, failed to stop Valor from doing as he pleased, failed to prepare the heroes… 

For the first time in her long existence, Eryl felt a crushing weight upon her as the reality came to light. She had been ignorant, blind to the signs around her and now this world would pay the price. Her world will suffer because of her ineptitude, the heroes that are supposed to protect this land will raze it to the ground. The balance of power in the world was tipped so heavily now the possibility of destruction was completely possible, the checks have all failed; looking at the crushed rib cage of Baris was proof enough of that. 

Baris may not have been a particularly strong hero, but he was a summoned nonetheless. If Eryl remembered correctly, he was in something called the “navy” before, though she did not think he was a fighter even after training with him. She saw potential in him when they met, the potential to catapult her world's sea travel technology by century’s if given the chance… 

There is still time… to correct… She took a deep breath as she held a handout to heal him, only to stop when he sputtered again. “Don’t… bother.” He rasped causing her to freeze.

“You’ll die.” She said bluntly, letting her hand fall into her lap. 

He coughed again, seeming to be in a great deal of pain as he looked up to her. “Eryl…” a glimmer of recognition in his eyes as he finally saw her, a strange, bloodied smile tugging at his lips. “Not… cut out… I’m… tired.” He tried to take a deep breath only to cough up more blood as he spoke. Finally, after a minute he stopped, his eyes looking suddenly hollow as he looked across the ship to the body of Jacks. “So tired…”

“Why?” She asked the unmoving corpse before her, unable to understand the foolish human desire to die. Was it pride? Or some form of twisted comradery? Or just arrogance? She bit her lip as she shook her head, as the admin of the world once a soul had made its choice she couldn’t interfere; that fact did not stop the guilt of yet another failure from bubbling up inside of her. 

Mother, what am I supposed to do now? She closed her eyes as she sat contemplating everything. Was her world truly doomed? Had all the heroes been twisted by the church of Valor? Doomed to battle the unstoppable force that was Hecatolite and those who rose to power in her wake? The truth is, at this moment, Valor was the biggest threat to this world’s balance, stripping people of their free will, twisting his followers to rage war on the world, and dissecting souls in the divine. But Hecatolite… everywhere she goes, she leaves destruction in her wake, souls torn to shreds and devoured; dragging people into power behind her, turning her whole family into seeds and even shaping Amethyst into the strange twisted divine she is now…

No. I can still protect my world, I must. I may not have much but I still have allies, it may not be ideal, but I am not powerless…

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Her thoughts were interrupted again by a faint popping sound behind her, the smell of ozone filling the air as Amethyst called to her. “Eryl, I think it's time to go.” 

Eryl blinked several times, realizing the sun which was high in the sky when they boarded the other ship was now creeping down towards the horizon. She slowly rose to her feet, turning to the small woman who had come to retrieve her. “Amethyst,” she had millions of questions that only time would answer, but some did not have to wait. “Are you ok? After that?” She gestured to the cooling body of Jacks.

Amethyst looked back at the man, a look of disdain flashing across her face only momentarily before morphing into one of pain. “I… I will be.” She said weakly, confirming Eryl’s suspicion that killing the man in cold blood had not come easily to the girl. Though her next statement gave Eryl more insight to her true question, “Better than he deserved, but… even monsters deserve mercy I guess.”

“You cursed his soul, ended his life while damning his next. You call that mercy?” Eryl was a little shocked by the statement, unable to hold back her own concern that maybe she had misjudged Amethyst. She did not feel bad for Jacks, but to curse his next life and call it mercy? Eryl had hoped Amethyst could become a hero of this world, a paragon she could train to stand against her previous failures…

“At least he will have a next life.” Amethyst said causing Eryl to realize why it had seemed easy for her to alter the man’s soul; why the system had not tried to stop her

“I suppose that is true,” Eryl nodded, placing a hand on Amethyst's shoulder, “Thank you.” She said softly. What Eryl thought was just the domain of Judgment had in fact been the full blunt of Amethyst divine power, not only her judgment but her mercy as well. Because in truth, it had in fact been merciful. The mercy of not letting Hecatolite be the one to punish the man. 

Amethyst did not say anything, only nodding as she took Eryl’s hand and moved the two of them back to their own ship. 

Eryl, still contemplating what she could do to save her own world, a small amount of the weight lifted as she resigned herself to working on one problem at a time. the divine realms were currently out of her reach, but she could still “fix” the mortal realm. It would help having a Deity she could rely on to do the right thing even in such a stressful situation, with any luck Amethyst will be able to keep Hecatolite from causing too much damage. Just keeping her from destroying souls would be a weight off my mind.

Eryl went to work, busying herself with their own ship the moment they returned. Though she would have liked to have Wolf take stock of what they had “looted”, he was currently being berated by Hecatolite who would not let him leave his “pregnant bride’s” side. The woman, Saris, was clearly in shock but Eryl could not deny that Wolf’s presence seemed to calm the woman, apparently having some trust in the man; piquing Eryl’s interest slightly as she wondered what exactly happened between the two in the closet during the battle.

She made a note to ask Wolf when things calmed down as she took inventory herself. She was surprised to learn that the twins had apparently both been adamant about leaving enough supplies for the other ship to return to land with, though they had different reasons as to why. Amethyst felt it was the right thing to do, not wishing the other crew to starve on their return saying they had suffered enough damage during the battle. Hecatolite however, seemed to say it was an investment of sorts, saying that ghost ships don’t carry loot so they need to make it back to land so they can rob them again later. 

It was strange to Eryl, Hecatolite though ruthless in battle, seemed… tame once the fighting stopped. She had ranted about it for quite a while, saying something about some code that no one understood, leaving Eryl wondering just how insane Hecatolite was. She had forbidden the crew from killing or ravishing anyone who surrendered, and only to steal “most” of the loot from the other ship; apparently thinking if they left the other crew alive and with supplies it would make it less likely for other nations to retaliate against them in the future. Then again this was right before she abducted a woman and is now trying to thrust her into a wedding…

Eryl rubbed her temple as she took the Helm of the ship, not needing to sleep made it easy for her to take the night shift at the wheel; not only that but apparently Hecatolite had insisted on a celebration for their first haul that the young man at the helm seemed all too eager to attend. 

She pushed the world problems from her mind trying to focus on a much more immediate, and potentially more dangerous, issue, I will need to talk to Hecatolite soon about her bag. Eryl did not think she was in the wrong, but if the day was any indication, she would need to make amends with Hecatolite if she wanted to have any hope of keeping an eye on her.

Letting the calm of the night wash over her she set her mind on the task as she ignored the merry sounds of celebration below deck. Hopefully after a party Hecatolite will be more inclined to hear her out… I may not have to wait that long. She thought as the small white figure of Hecatolite came rocketing out of the lower decks, her red eyes glimmering in the darkness as they locked on to Eryl.

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