NOVEL NEXT Chapter 206: Diabolique
Instead of forcing his opinion on my sister, Sidolphus looks back at his colleague. “What do you think, Veanya?” He asks.
During this whole time, Veanya had been studying the bolt I had given her. She doesn’t really look too happy about what she is holding in her hands but she looks up at us nonetheless. “Hmm, I do not think your Earthly body would have been in any danger, nor do I think, apart from this slight blemish on your soul, that your soul would have been hurt either.” Veanya pauses for a second before she continues. “But the magic infused in this bolt is very powerful and I don’t want to just ‘think’ it would be alright, I want to know for sure.”
“Yes, that’s a good point to make.” Sidolphus nods. “The risk of us being wrong, as small as it might be, is not a risk you should be taking for the time being.”
“So I should not return to Haurchefaud?” My sister asks.
Sidolphus shakes his head. “Neither you, nor anyone else who has been touched by Amicia’s powers.”
“Not until we know 100% sure it would not harm you.” Veanya ads.
“And will the other players be alright?” It’s my turn to ask a question now.
“Of that I am certain.” Sidolphus nods. “The others are only connected to Haurchefaud in a minute way. Even though it might look similar on the surface. Your being works as a conduit between this world and the other and it makes that bond stronger for all those who are near you for a long time as well. See it as if you are a wooden board that gets hit by a water beam.”
“Uh… sure?”
“The water beam is the spiritual connection that binds your body to the one in Haurchefaud. For you that link is incredibly powerful. When the powerful beam of water hits you, the wooden board, some water will spray out from you and hit those close around you, making them wet as a result.”
“Hmmm…” My sister cups her chin. “I think I see what you are getting at. It’s maybe not the best analogy but if it works it works I suppose.”
“I don’t really like being compared to a wooden board, but I think I know what you mean as well.”
Sidolphus looks somewhat content with his explanation.
“But what do we do about the problem back in Haurchefaud then? If we are not allowed to go back.” I ask. “If it’s that powerful we can’t just let it fester there, right?”
“Well…” Sidolphus looks at Veanya again.
“We’ll need to go and resolve that issue with our own hands.” As if Veanya had planned it, which I’m pretty sure she didn’t. A very bright white light envelops the purple bolt and just completely obliterates it. “But you will need to get us there.”
“Wha…”
“Oh boy, Sam is not going to like that.” My sister replies. “And I’m not liking the sound of that either. Didn’t you just imply that it’s the strong connection to her body here that makes this so dangerous?”
“We are also putting our bodies on the line for this.” Sidolphus replies. “But we are Gods and it’s in our duty to preserve the lives of mortals when they are being existentially threatened.”
“And we need a healer as well. Which is mainly the reason why I am asking this of her. While we are stronger than you are because of our divinity, because it’s not our domain, our power won’t be as absolute as you might think it to be. Amicia knows the world better than I do at this point, she has the trust of the people, it’s just the most straightforward way of dealing with this issue.”
“I’m not necessarily against the idea…” I reply. “With you guys around I should be still relatively safe, right?”
“As safe as you can be, yes.” Veanya nods. “And I will manage to persuade Gamma to come with us as well. That way we have a party of four, that should be plenty to clean up this Diaboli mess.”
“I see you are on the same page about the bolt as I am.” Sidolphus nods.
“Uhh…. Diaboli? So you know what the purple bolt is from then?” I ask.
“The bolt looks similar to what pops up in other realms.” Sidolphus nods once again. “More often than not in Realms that have been abandoned by their Gods or where a more evil aligned God ruled in the past. The origin of them is somewhat of a mystery, but the theory our circle adheres to is that they are Realm crossing forces who came into existence after finding artifacts that were created by the most evil of Gods. That’s why we use the name Diaboli for them, closely resembling the vision people on earth have about ‘the devil’.”
“But exactly how they move and how those forces start to grow on certain worlds, we don’t have any clue.” Veanya explains.
“So it’s not being directed by a God behind the scenes?” My sister joins in on the conversation.
Sidolphus shakes his head, though not very confidently. “We don’t think so, but again, ‘thinking’ is the correct word here. We don’t know for sure.”
“To us it seems more like a kind of corruption than it does like an aimed incursion.” Veanya finishes the thought. “The way these Diaboli present themselves is also always very different, even though they do share some similarities. Like for example the magic infused in the purple bolt, that is specifically aimed at lowering the efficiency of divine powers.”
“I know it doesn’t sound good, but is it ultimately world threatening if these forces would gain the upper hand?” Lise crosses her arms and comes to stand up right next to me.
“Ultimately it would definitely not be good. But coincidentally, ‘ultimately’ is very fitting terminology.” Sidolphus agrees, it seems like he definitely likes to be very specific in his vocabulary. “It takes a long time for them to really get going, giving us plenty of time to discover them before it might be too late. We’ve been fortunate enough to not really have had it happen that a world fell to their influence completely.”
“It has never been unrecoverable at least. And this time it seems like we got them in their build-up phase too. So it shouldn’t be too much of an issue getting rid of it. Albeit that we rather play safe than sorry and take overwhelming force with us. However unlikely, things can always go wrong.”
“Okay.” My sister sighs a sigh of relief. “That makes me worry just a little bit less about the entire ordeal.”
“When are we going to go into Haurchefaud then?” I ask.
“It’s probably best if we go this evening. I still need to contact Gamma and as for you it might be best to just continue rolling with your regular routine.”
“Hmm, okay that works for me.” I nod. “I would like to at least talk to my girlfriend in person before we leave.”
“Yeah… I think she’s going to insist on coming with you.” My sister replies.
“But I don’t want her to come though.”
“Amicia, I think we both know your girlfriend well enough to know that she is not going to just accept that. She jumped in front of a knife for you, remember?”
“She sounds like an interesting character.” Sidolphus says. “Is it the Sam you mentioned earlier?”
“It is.” I nod again.
“If she really wants to come along we can still see about giving her some extra protection. But it’s still going to be riskier than I’d like it to be.”
“Yeah… I might be tapping out on this one, Sis. I’m afraid that I’ll hesitate subconsciously if I see another one of those bolts. As a tank that’s not good. I really want to be able to react in a moment’s notice. Hesitation kills.”
“I understand.” I give my sister a hug. “Just take Nikki, Hilda and the others to do something in a different game.” I look at my Divine friends behind me. “That shouldn’t be an issue, right?”
“No. Definitely not. It’s only Haurchefaud you really have a solid connection to. The rest should be perfectly safe.”
“Unless we run into an old grandma who is handing out candies after we save her, right?” My sister jibs at Veanya.
Sidolphus squints his eyes and looks at Veanya as she turns away from his gaze. “Veanya? Is that how Amicia got her powers?”
“You didn’t know?” My sister asks.
“We knew she had done something. That it specifically used candy, we didn’t.”
“Look, I just wanted to help her as she was being so kind and selfless at the time. Candy just fit my disguise at that time.”
“Also, not to forget that you also made me pray to you too.”
“Veanya.” Sidolphus crosses his arms.
“It is a valid, although extremely small, religion in that Realm.” Veanya starts pouting. “Amicia’s follower count has shot past mine in no-time. She even took over part of my followship.”
“As she should. You have plenty of domains already.” Sidolphus chastising Veanya was pretty funny to behold. Although it did make me wonder just how many domains Veanya had. It sounds like a lot…