CHAPTER 102: GHALDON: PART II

The Ghaldon was tall and thin, its body stretched abnormally, like an anomaly, long. Its skin never stayed the same; it always shifted between scales, stone, and fur as though it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.

Its arms and legs were bony but strong, with claws that were strong enough to tear through steel in its base form. Its head was narrow, but its mouth was full of black, rotted teeth. And instead of eyes, it had deep pits of darkness, with cracks along its sides, sucking in light as if they were blackholes.

Spikes and ridges were carved along its back, sometimes curling into wings or blades, or whatever it wanted, before transforming into something else. It was like a lootbox; you didn’t really know what you were going to get until you got it.

Every part of it felt as if it were its own individual living thing. Its shadow, included, moved on its own, trapping Nova’s shadow in its place.

"Why? You ask. Such an interesting question. Though I’m not sure myself, since my superiors haven’t mentioned my true purpose. Even that friend of yours is very mysterious, defying the Order of the Ascended, as if they were toys. Such a pity, really, that his execution is planned down the line, though not official yet."

Nova was shocked to hear the news that even though his friend wasn’t officially on the list to get executed, the Order of the Ascended had already determined that he needed to be executed. He couldn’t let that happen, but at the same time, what could he do?

He had only reached divinity, and now he decided to live as a mortal to conquer the mortal realm. But then, he realized that his friend wouldn’t want him to give his journey traversing among the mortals, to play house. He wouldn’t have liked it if Nova had suddenly abandoned a quest that he had set out for.

Nova looked down, feeling an intense fury burning through his body, waking up his ego from its slumber. The Ghaldon smirk turned into a malicious grin as Nova resisted its possession over his body after hearing the news about his friend being executed.

The Ghaldon tried to tighten the possession, but he could only do so much as a D-rank creature; he needed to die first before being able to resurrect himself into an A-rank Ghaldon. It loosened up its grip, not wanting violence between the Supreme God of Destruction, since he knew the Supreme God of Destruction had a lot of potential to climb through the Hierarchy of Cosmos, sometimes referred to as the Hierarchy of Riches.

Nova fell to the ground, but quickly landed on his feet like a cat. The Ghaldon’s expression eased, softening slightly, though still making Nova cautious, as even dropping his guard for a second could result in a very different situation, unlike the one he was in currently.

"To answer your question," the Ghaldon spoke up abruptly, his voice echoing throughout the dungeon. "Wth what I think the Order of the Ascended wants with me is to inspect you and assess you. You have a lot of potential, Supreme God of Destruction, especially since you have that Divinity of yours that can bring forth so much chaos, that even the Ascended have turned afraid of you."

"Don’t flatter me, I know you know that can’t be the only reason," Nova replied, his voice cold and distant, thinking that the Ghaldon was bullshitting him. "If it were just to assess, they wouldn’t send a creature like you, who doesn’t even blend in. I sensed you from that cave instantly. That wretched smell of acid and venom mixed, with something otherworldly, betrayed you in an instant."

"That is true that I don’t blend, but you don’t even know what I’m capable of. So, jumping to a conclusion so fast doesn’t really seem very intelligent." Ghaldon replied with a smirk.

Nova’s face hardened, but he controlled himself. "Are we done here?" he said aggressively, which the Ghaldon seemed to enjoy.

Every Ghaldon was a masochist (if you couldn’t tell), and the amount of pain and hatred one felt towards them only boosted their morale and made them stronger, so this Ghaldon was eating up Nova’s disgust and hatred for him.

"Very well, I will unfreeze your friends, but let me give you a piece of advice: The Infernal Realm is marching and combining with the mortal realm at a rate you won’t understand as a mortal, so I suggest you get stronger; otherwise, you might just lose one of them, forever."

The Ghaldon disappeared just after its last word. Nova had his eyes wide open and still couldn’t see him vanish. A vast amount of strength and speed from a single being who was also Ascended was something frightening, even for the Supreme God of Destruction.

Nova swallowed hard, realizing he needed to get even faster than expected. Meditate twice as much, just to try to keep up slightly with the Infernal Realm, which was marching at an unprecedented rate.

Elesch and Adam stirred up, as Nova looked down, clenching his fists hard, as his daggers automatically manifested themselves before him, something that shouldn’t be possible, unless the ability, the duplicate version of the individual, and the real individual were connected on a level far deeper than just soul.

His face softened, realizing that he wasn’t alone, and that he would never be alone. He had Freya, Elesch, Adam, Marcus, and his new child that was coming his way in the near future. A being forged between the love and power of two supreme dualities.

"Nova..." Elesch called out, enough for him to hear.

She still didn’t have much energy, as both of them, currently, felt as though all their stamina and mana had been drained, leaving them feeling like they were on an empty stomach. Nova helped them both get up, and as soon as they got up, they felt energized. All their earlier fatigue washed away as if nothing had happened.

They exited through the checkpoint, stepping through the gate, to see Elena chatting on her phone, with the kittens still tucked in the car, resting.