1229 Prelude To The Birth Of A God
A large phantom head materialized beside the corpse. Unlike the solid body, it was just a soul. But even the soul was incomplete.
The battle between the headless corpse and the temporary allies was about to end in a defeat for the corpse.
But the appearance of the phantom, whose power was as good as the headless corpse flipped the situation.
"F-Fuck!" Hollow, who had always been calm and composed, was the first to break out of his shock and curse. "Great Harvester, how are you even alive?"
"Why not? The thing I came for is finally about to be mine." The phantom head's gaze turned towards the guardian who was only getting up now.
"The thing you came for?" Hollow repeated in confusion before his eyes went wide. "E-Everything was a lie! You killing a hundred rank 9s and stealing their essence to create a divine crystal for your deification! Then escaping into the tower! It's all a lie!"
The expressions of the heirs also turned ugly at his words.
A long time ago, a man named Great Harvester, created his own legend by hunting down a hundred rank 9s of the Alliance. But during his time, some rank 9s of the Jai Empire also mysteriously died.
Once his kill count crossed a hundred, a rumor that he was using them in a special sacrifice to forge his divinity spread. He was said to be chased down and escaped into the tower, dived into the Lost Spiral where he ultimately died.
But to protect the 'thing' he created for his deification, the 'Divine Crystal'—as the rumors called it—he asked for an exchange.
He sacrificed his own life and put a heavy restriction on who could enter for the next thousand years.
"It was only half truth." Harvester admitted with a smug chuckle. "I had always been aiming to enter this tower."
He flipped his hand and a purple forcefield formed around the guardian, imprisoning it.
The guardian slammed against the forcefield but it was powerless against the tremendous strength of a powerhouse that nearly touched the divine ranks.
"Quiet," He glared at the guardian and snapped his fingers. The guardian froze like a statue and fell limp to the ground.
His voice rang straight in the guardian's head, hidden from everyone else.
'I have things to ask you before I end you. Why did the legacy choose you? Who the hell are you? I'm in a good mood now, so prepare to reveal everything while I'm still in a good mood. Maybe I can let you live. As my slave, spreading my glory. Hahahaha!'
The guardian tried to resist but against the overwhelming power, it couldn't even move its finger.
Harvester turned to the royal heirs as well as the Jai Empire spies with a smug smile. "I am feeling generous today. Become my slaves and spread my glory. What do you say?"
"You are the member of Jai Empire and I am under the command of the 4th Prince. You want me to come under you? Are you sober?" Hollow spoke in an incredulous but also intimidating tone.
Harvester shook his large head. It felt like a star was moving to and fro and then he started laughing.
It was louder than the greatest explosion, a million times more resounding than the roar of thunder, and sounded like it was straight from hell.
Varian covered up his ears instinctively, shut down his hearing faculty with his Adet power, and yet. Yet, the laughter still overwhelmed him.
The treasures and the phantoms of the spies and the heirs protected their masters from suffering any harm.
But that didn't stop them from covering their bleeding ears and collapsing onto their knees.
Hollow looked up with horror as did Maria. At this moment, they finally understood why this being even bothered to talk to them instead of killing them in the first place.
Harvester was certain. No matter what happened, he'd win.
He'd already weakened the phantoms and the treasures of the ones that came for the 'Divine Crystal'. Even though it might take some effort, he could defeat all their treasures himself.
"B-But why? Why wait so long?" Sohan yelled. "What are you hiding?"
His provocative words drew no anger. In fact, they caused another wave of deafening, eardrum-rupturing laughter.
And then he stopped. Looking into the distance space with a longing smile, he said. "There are myths of where the Ares tribe has gone after the War of Tribes."
His words silenced everyone on the field, including Varian.
"They were chased down by their rival tribe, the Sera. They stole the order sliver, the myth says, and were weakened beyond measure in doing so.
They should've gone extinct. But they came to this tower, to this place, and begged for the exchange. They wanted the survival of their race. I don't know the full price they paid but they did give up something very, very precious."
A chilling silence was all that was heard.
The gazes of Hollow, Slaughter Shade, and even the royal heirs turned towards the guardian. Unlike before, they were full of desire and madness.
Varian was more confused than anything else.
'System, is he speaking the truth?'
[Yes, Host. The Ares tribe was on the verge of extinction. Not just from the Sera tribe but it was also chased down by the remaining three tribes. They didn't just steal the sliver, they stole some very precious things. But they had to use it as the price to leave.
It's been mortgaged to the Lost Spiral for more than a billion years. After that, anyone could come and challenge it. But few know of this truth.]
"The six tribes worshipped the six gods. But there were three main gods before these six false gods. And from those three gods came precious things the world doesn't know about. The Ares tribe stole those things and were said to have created a path straight to Godhood." Harvester leisurely narrated while everyone listened.
It wasn't that they didn't want to fight and kill him. But these truths were so secretive that they wouldn't be able to learn them elsewhere.
'Y-You're kidding. They stole from all tribes? Are you fucking kidding? They're insane.' Varian was dumbfounded.
[What did you expect from a tribe who worshipped Chaos and follows Chaos? They wanted a path straight to Godhood and came close.]
"And that thing, the legacy of the Ares tribe, is left with Well Of Exchanges. The hundred rank 9 lives I claimed were just the price for me to challenge the Well Of Exhange and have a chance to obtain the legacy."
Fog enveloped everything before twisting and showing a huge titan fighting against a guardian in black and white.
The titan—the Great Harvester—in his peak was defeated, yet was left alive.
But he didn't return. He knew that people were after him because of the rumors. If they entered this place, there's a good chance they might learn the secret and take the legacy for themselves.
So, he did something crazy.
He sacrificed his own life to lock up the entire Eternal Spire for beings above rank 6. But the price wasn't enough. He had to sacrifice most of his soul as well.
Even that wasn't enough. His corpse was also sacrificed and got corrupted.
Harvester needed someone to subdue his own corpse so that he could resurrect once again.
That's why he waited for centuries and spread rumors that steered the Alliance as well as the Jai Empire into the direction he desired.
After 1,000 years, the restrictions on the legacy would further weaken and this time, he was sure of winning.
That was the master plan.
"But I had a surprise. The last time I fought, the guardian of the legacy was a peak rank 9 who might as well be a divine ranker. I know that the seal will weaken over time and that's why I stopped others from entering but…"
He turned to the guardian with a suspicious expression. "I didn't expect this."
Everyone thought that Harvester was surprised because the guardian weakened so much over time. From a peak rank 9 to a rank 6 in just a thousand years? That was insane.
"Enough talk." The phantom head of Harvester reached its headless corpse. The corpse resisted but it was too weak to put up any fight. So, it was quickly controlled by the dead powerhouse.
"Final choice. Become my slaves, the first believers of this new god and the first citizens of New Eden! Or…" He looked at them with an impassive expression. "You all die."
An explosion more devastating than the death of a star shook the space. The phantoms and the treasures attacked the Harvester without any hesitation.
"If this is the choice you made, then live with the consequences."
Varian covered his eyes as a series of blinding explosions filled the space for the next ten minutes. But secretly, he slipped his sliver powers into his storage ring and got an important work done.
When he was barely able to see, the space was once again cracked apart like a broken black mirror.
The phantoms that the royal heirs summoned faded away and the treasures summoned by the Jai spies scattered into dust.
The Harvester's body was now riddled with foreign aura, slowly eating him away. His phantom head was also fluctuating violently. Yet, somehow, he was fine. And exuded the aura of a strong rank 9.
Hollow, Slaughter Shade, Maria, Bella, and Sohan were on all their knees, crushed by the great aura of the being beyond their rank.
"Very well, meet your fa—" As he raised his hand to deliver the final bow, a voice came from the distance.
"Oh, Great God! I want to be your first believer, to spread your glory and name! To live in the heaven you're going to create!" Varian said with a fanatical expression.
