R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 28 (Patreon)

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 28 (in editing-v3) 

The new day dawned without much fanfare.

As the early morning light crept over the horizon, Micheal looked back at the Rushing River Sect headquarters with a small frown on his face.

‘What is it?’ He thought to himself silently, plagued by a subtle feeling that he couldn’t quite describe.

His intuition, the subtle sixth sense he had developed through constant years of battle, was flaring.

The Nirvana Saint had let them shelter the night over in one of the newly made barracks that had been constructed within the territory of the Rushing River Sect. The rooms were nice and clean, intended for use by the Church’s Grey Knights.

Micheal, alongside Captain Sprel and Serena, had talked to the Nirvana Saint at length last night and today in the morning. Captain Sprel had taken on the position of the official representative of the Farian Race and raised the idea of forming an alliance with the Purgatory Church, while Micheal had reaffirmed his own plans and emphasized the danger posed by the Six Lords.  

In this timeline, the Vile King had taken targeted actions to suppress the Church, ranging from infiltrators purposely mismanaging the Church to weaken it to the attempted assassination of the Nirvana Saint. Constantine had several plants within the Church’s Grey Knights and upper echelon, giving him widespread capabilities when it came to interference.

Thanks in part to Micheal’s actions, however, the Nirvana Saint had enacted a sweeping, bloody purge and a thorough internal restructuring. He even faked his own death, taking advantage of the assassination attempt against him to help ferret out his foes.

That, combined with the fact that the Vile King had pulled out of the Second Layer for reasons unknown, meant that the power and influence of the Church stood at the peak of humanity on the Ancient World. The current upper echelon were firmly in the Nirvana Saint’s grip and the Church’s military forces largely untouched.

This put the Purgatory Church in a prime position to represent humanity for the Second Layer.

The only other notable human power, the 4 Syndicates controlled by the 4 Barons, were currently in no condition to say otherwise. Both Baron Rex and Baron Sansa had vanished from the Second Layer, alongside Baron Lux, the Beast King, implying that the first two were Seeds.

Baron Fortuna, the last remaining of the 4 Barons, was currently merging the 4 Syndicates into the singular Human Alliance that he now controlled.

Fortuna was a monstrously powerful human in his own right. He possessed the Hyperion Blade Tiger Transformation Type, an Ability that couldn’t be directly purchased in the Shop. Fortuna won it by chance when he purchased the 300,000 Point Mystic Variant Transformation Type, a lottery-like Ability that dispensed different Type Abilities for each person.

While he might not possess the raw power that Baron Rex held, Fortuna had been an Olympic Fencing Instructor on Earth. A Spaniard born and bred, he was a master of the traditional martial art known as Destreza, and had perfectly integrated his knowledge and skill from Earth into his life here in the 7 Layers.

For all his strength, skill, and leadership, however, there was nothing Fortuna could do to make hundreds of thousands of humans integrate together faster. Merging the 4 Syndicates into the Human Alliance was something that was bound to take weeks to stabilize, in a long, drawn-out process.

‘Everything we talked about made sense…’ Micheal’s frown deepened as he stared at the headquarters, his eyes narrowing.

‘So just what is it? What is this odd feeling?’ The Nirvana Saint was someone that prioritized the welfare of humanity over all else. Micheal was confident the man wouldn’t betray him.

A few moments passed as he stood in contemplation.

Before he could make up his mind, however…

“Hey Micheal! Ready to go?” Serena’s voice chimed right next to him.

Micheal’s frown vanished as he looked up, replaced with a smile.

Serena stood next to him, dressed in tight leather pants and a long-sleeved, billowing white shirt. A necklace shaped in the image of a butterfly gleamed on her chest, a small green gemstone glimmering with faint light. Her previously frosty demeanor was nowhere to be seen as she smiled back at Micheal, excited for the journey ahead.

“Yeah, I’m all set over here.” Michael nodded, his eyes flicking to the side as he sized up the rest of the group.

Behind Serena was a full company of Shadow Guards, 100 in total, dressed in their customary grey leather armor. No matter how much the Farians trusted Micheal, the Disciple Apparent of the Wise Lady could not travel anywhere unescorted. The army of Farian warriors had split into two, half staying with Shadow Captain Sprel as he negotiated with the Nirvana Saint, and half coming with Serena.

Micheal turned away from Serena, looking southward as steely determination filled his eyes. 

“It won’t take long to reach the Soul King’s Inheritance.”

.. .. .. .. .. ..

“Well, well. Our newest guests have finally taken their leave.”

In the depths of the Rushing River Sect headquarters, in the same room Micheal and the Farians had spent hours talking, the Nirvana Saint sat alone, resting on a wooden chair.

Lying on the table in front of him was an electronic tablet with a live feed from a camera outside, picking up the image of Micheal and Serena leaving, alongside 100 Shadow Guards.

Compared to Earth, gravity on the Second Layer was around 35% stronger. This had a significant impact on things like common electronics, especially for complex vehicles.

For objects like tablets, cameras, and smartphones, however, the difference was negligible.

After a moment, the Nirvana Saint waved his right hand, materializing a book out of thin air. The book was beautiful to behold, covered in gold leaf and intricate carvings along its back and front. Faint white light glowed out from its pages as the Nirvana Saint held it.

This was the Nirvana Saint’s unique signature Ability: Solomon’s Book.

The Nirvana Saint’s eyes lit up, emitting golden light as he spoke aloud, his voice causing the air to tremble.

“As one journey ends, yet another shall begin. To take one’s First Step, you must open the First Door.”

A split second later, the outline for a glowing white door appeared in the air. This outline gradually solidified and transformed into a real, physical marble door, complete with carved symbols and lines running up and down it.

That door promptly opened, glowing brightly as a figure emerged from it.

“Your methods are impressive, human. That man has eyes like a hawk. To hide us under his very nose… how absolutely beyond the norm!” A deep voice echoed out in the air from the man that had just appeared, followed by chortling laughter.

If Micheal had been present in the room, even his all-encompassing self control would have failed him at the sight of the man in front of the Nirvana Saint.

It was the Celestial Silverback Type user that Micheal had fought, a member of the Beasts of Providence.

Or, to be more specific…

It was Yvvtal the Destroyer. 

Yvvtal had leapfrogged his Spirit Body from Micheal into the body of the Silverback just moments before he died, taking control of it and becoming independent once more.

“By the 56 Hells, if I had to spend one more second in that damnably white room...” Yvvtal stretched his arms before frowning, looking down at his body with distaste.

“This body ill suits me. The sooner we can come to terms on our cooperation, the better.”

While Yvvtal was speaking, a second figure emerged from the glowing door. Yvvtal moved away from the figure with a look of disdain, his face scrunching up in annoyance.

The new figure was a man with shoulder-length golden hair and a strong, matching beard. His face was handsome, with a powerful jawline and glowing tan skin that appeared to be the very picture of health and masculinity. He had eyes that shined a mix of gold and blue, powerful vitality itself seeming to pulsate from his body.

“Distasteful as always, that scent. I still don’t know how you managed to convince me not to kill you… common enemy, my left foot.” Yvvtal grumbled.

“Director.” The Nirvana Saint’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the man, ignoring Yvvtal’s outburst.

“Saint.” Director Prime returned the greeting with one of his own, giving the leader of the Purgatory Church a small nod. His gaze drifted over towards the electronic tablet, to Micheal’s rapidly fading figure.

His eyes went flat and impassive, giving away nothing.

“As promised, you have heard everything he said... his goals, his purpose. My Truthseekers have confirmed he did not lie to us a single time.” The Nirvana Saint’s words flowed out of him, each one rich and full of meaning.

“A man of your talents could do so much good in this world. I don’t know the full story between you and that Seer, but…” He continued, standing up from the table as he turned to directly face Prime.

“There was a saying back on Earth. Before you embark on the journey of revenge, dig two graves.” The Nirvana Saint’s eyes flashed as his gaze drilled into the Director.

“In this case, you would need to dig hundreds of thousands, nay, millions of graves.” He went on,

“That man, Micheal, hides many secrets… but I have judged that he is a necessary existence for us, and for all mankind.” The leader of the Purgatory Church took a small breath as he paused, his eyes missing nothing.

“Aye, he’s a right bastard, but a smart one, nonetheless. You humans could use a man like him, for what is to come.” Yvvtal interjected with a nod, his eyes growing cold as he thought of the future he had seen.

Prime shifted his impassive gaze to stare at the Nirvana Saint.

The Nirvana Saint returned his gaze with one of his own, resisting the urge to narrow his eyes. Nothing that Prime did indicated he was stopping time to think but, after reading intelligence reports brought up from the First Layer about the man, as well as meeting him face-to-face for the first time several days ago, the Nirvana Saint had a fairly good idea how the Director operated.

‘There’s no more information he can possibly need to gather. If he’s going to make a decision, this is the time for it.’ The Nirvana Saint waited patiently for Prime to respond.

A second slipped by.

…

Only a single second passed and yet, the look in Prime’s eyes noticeably changed. The Nirvana Saint missed nothing, seeing the subtle shifts in Prime’s expression, as if the man had just spent weeks by himself in contemplation.

After that second ended, Prime took one last look at the tablet before turning his eyes back towards the Nirvana Saint. The man grimaced for a split second before his face turned impassive once more as he spoke aloud.

"...let’s discuss the terms of our agreement.”

.