Mad God

"You really do not hold back!" They were having a meeting after the day of Corvux's defeat. Keina was shaking her head, sitting before Ren inside her Spire.

"It was my disciple's idea." Ren chuckled while Ariana, who just came in, bringing in snacks and coffee, blinked her eyes with question marks in them.

"Displaying Corvux's body above the gate to his Spire in a cage... Asking for families to come out and redeem compensation if any of them had people taken by the Spire of Corvux...." Keina said, looking at Ariana; she was stunned when she first heard the news. "His unresponsive body has already been the target of sling-shots, rotten tomatoes, and whatnot… Haaaahhh! But I understand. He deserved that." she said, taking off a muffin from the tray she had just put on the table.

"He would have done way worse things to anyone in my shoes," Ariana replied, pouring coffee for them.

"I am also sure of that…." Keina nodded, still feeling unbelievable that someone at Ariana's level was serving her coffee so nonchalantly. "I'm also surprised by the actions of the Brightseed family."

"It is all thanks to that one decision of Veponia." Ren smiled, leaning backward on her chair. "If she does not buy my technique, she would probably be dead already. The same with two-thirds of her family."

"I heard there were many men who wanted to march and help out Corvux when the forcefield appeared," Keina said, munching on it. "Yet by the time your battle had ended, those people's heads were hanging from the gates of their homes."

"It was a clean sweep; my men just helped Veponia to restructure her family. They have a chance to renew themselves now. Until they are stable again, my men are going to safeguard her."

"I have no objections at all." she grabbed another muffin, clearly enjoying the delicacy yet remaining somewhat cold and prideful in appearance. "What are your plans next? The only one who remains in your way is a lone Spire. With my and Rabout's support, you could walk up and take the throne."

"I am planning to do so, but not right now. I need some preparations first."

"Trouble?" Keina asked, leaning forward, looking more seriously at Ren.

"Don't know yet, but my hunch says yes." Ren stretched with a moan. "I want to ensure there are no hidden, deadly dangers ahead of us."

"Us?" Keina asked while watching Ren play with her hair.

"I have a hunch it is not just me who is in danger in this city but everyone else living here."

…
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…..

As they were having a friendly meeting back in the Immortal Wonders Sect, Levictus was holed up inside his spacious workshop. Every piece of furniture was moved outside, and the floor was entirely covered by a crude formation design, with squares representing each Spire in Rozex. Four circles out of the five had another formation drawn up into them, and Levictus had already figured out that they were connected. If the ones under the spires were drawn up on paper, they would form a perfect circle, being a formation inside another formation. The only missing part was the one under the last Spire, yet it was not something Levictus needed as he had already cracked its code. He was coming up with a possible pattern by connecting it to the rest.

"Why does this feel familiar…" he murmured, walking circles at the currently finished pattern, feeling like he already saw it once. Somewhere. "Hmmm…" he sat down in the middle, falling back into his thoughts, flipping through his long years of memories. It was like flipping the pages of a picture book, looking for the correct image. As he was meditating, hours passed, and the day turned into the night when suddenly his body shook. He stood up, barging out of the room, almost running, arriving at his father's room.

"Father." He tried to turn the handle to his room but was stuck as the simple wooden door did not budge at all. Even with his full physical strength behind his grip. "Hm." he stepped back, and under his leg, circles formed, one after another, before kicking the door, reinforced by his father's powers, blasting it into splinters as he walked in.

"Son! What the hell?!" Aerthus screamed out, who was leaning over Rumira. Both of them were naked, sweaty and the foxes' Queen had her legs locked around his waist, lying under him.

"He is just as forceful as you…." Rumira chuckled, gasping for air while her plump breasts were still jiggling, even as Aerthus stopped moving.

"You can continue; I can explain it in the meanwhile." Levictus nodded, without a change in his expression, even cupping his hands towards Rumira. He was completely unfazed by her aura and scent permeating the room. He even waved his hand, forming formation circles around them, reinforcing the room, not letting Rumira's aura escape into the air. It would easily 'corrupt' some disciples in the Sect, that was for sure.

"Damn it… Son!" Aerthus clicked his tongue, but he could not get off Rumira as she did not loosen up her legs… and another muscle was trapping something dangerous inside her.

"Mmmh~ Don't pull out… it was just getting good… let him talk!"

"Fine…" the Sect Head rolled his eyes while his son walked to the side so he could look at him. "So? What is it?" Aerthus asked, holding onto Rumira's breasts, happily fondling them. At the same time, she moaned with a satisfied voice, even excited by the fact that someone else was watching them, letting her natural affinity flow out from her without restraint. Luckily, Levictus was not just Aerthus's son but a complete weirdo, not finding any interest in not just the opposite sex but in sex itself at all. He was looking at it the same way someone looks at eating, drinking, or going to the bathroom. This way, he was even more resistant to Rumira's powers than his father. His eyes immediately realized that their joining was helping them with cultivation, as both were on the threshold of finally stepping into the Demigod Realm.

"There is a formation under Rozex. It is an ancient formation with unknown origin, designed to trap and slay demigods of the old times." Levictus explained calmly, "I once came across a badly damaged copy of it in my Master's library. My guess is that Zelig has its fully intact version and even built it when establishing Rozex."

"Slaying Demigods…" Aerthus turned serious, stopping fooling around, and even Rumira listened, looking at him.

"Demigods before the actions of the Mad God were weaker. My Master always said that the current Demigods would mop the floor with those old fools without any effort. Still… it would be dangerous to be trapped in it. Even for you."

"Would it be a danger to the Mad God himself?" Rumira asked with a soft smile, already relaxing, thinking it through.

"Huh?" both of them looked at her, but she just chuckled.

"Nothing. Continue~" She said, caressing Aerthus's sturdy chest, even tickling him.

"The formation requires great power to even activate and to maintain it… It needs sacrifices." Levictus explained.

"Sacrifices?" Aerthus tilted his head before flinching. "You mean the people of Rozex?"

"Yes. It is a 99% possibility, knowing Zelig. The fuel for it will be the entire population of Rozex."

"Not good! We need to warn Ren!" Aerthus exclaimed as Levictus continued with a nod.

"I need you for the most stable energy source for the teleportation formation."

"What are you sending over?" He nodded back at him immediately. Even Rumira lowered her legs, letting him slip out and get up, after which she gently helped Aerthus clean himself and dressed him like a doting wife.

"Myself." He answered thoughtfully, shocking his father.

"Would the formation hold…? Would you… survive?"

"..." Levictus remained silent for a little as his eyes moved, calculating multiple things at once "85% chance of everything going smoothly."

"Good enough!" Aerthus laughed while Rumira asked with a tinge of worry.

"Are you sure it is fine, Levictus?"

"I need to be there. I need to see the real formation so I can counteract it. Others would need too much time, which is one resource they don't have."

"Go!" Rumira smiled, lying on Aerthus's bed. "I'll wait for you here~" Aerthus just nodded with a small smile as an answer as he left the room with his son.

"You need to get me a new door," he said to his son as they walked under the night sky.

"My student will make you one."

"Don't pass down your responsibilities to your disciple!" He flicked the back of his head with a sigh.

"You did it too when you left me as Emperor. You knew I hated that position. It was full of nonsense and the need to interact with people." Levictus answered with a somewhat raised voice.

"You were too reclusive! You did not speak until you were 4! You were even worse than you are now! At least it had some effect! I honestly thought you were retarded at first."

"..." Levictus closed his eyes, and if others could see him now, they would be amused to notice the minute changes in his expression. "I had nothing to say. To you. You always talked too much anyway. Mother was more understanding."

"Yes… yes, she was." Aerthus smiled, looking at his son, seeing features of his late wife in him.

"She resembles her personality a lot, no?" Levictus asked, looking back at his father's house.

"Mhm." He nodded heavily.

"Should I call her Mom next time?"

"Oh? Have you learned how to joke? Impressive! No, you should not. Nobody could replace her in my heart and what we have is only friendship."

"That is a deep friendship, Father."

"Nah, you would be surprised how tight and short she is! I can't even fit in all of it!"

"See? This is what I meant; you talk too much." Levictus looked at him with a deadpan expression.

"Come on, boy!" He slapped his back firmly, looking at his crotch, "No reaction? None? Zero? Null? What, are you impotent? Impossible, I have a bloodline going strong to this day… what happened?"

"I made one because it was necessary to leave a successor behind. That is all."

"Damn… You remind me of my father… you inherited his personality of all things…." Aerthus grumbled.

"Grandpa?" Levictus stopped for a moment before catching back up, clearly curious, "You never talked about him."

"Because I killed him. Scumbag of the earth." Aerthus clicked his tongue.

"Now you are making comparisons between a scumbag and your son? Flattering."

"Lucky for us, you turned out different in the end. But he was a calculating, cold-hearted tyrant. When I heard about Erterion, I even thought it was his reincarnation."

"I see. Then I should thank you for raising me right."

"Nah… don't, it is a father's job. Plus, your mother should get all the praise, not me…" he stretched his hand out, ruffling Levictus's hair for a moment. He was even looking like he was embarrassed by it, but he still let it happen.

…
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…..

In the middle of the night, Ren hurried down to the basement with Ariana in tow.

"What happened?" Sentios came out of his room Sentios, noticing the commotion.

"Got a message from Sect Head," Ren replied while they rushed down to where the teleportation formation was set up.

"I'll get it ready." he walked to his spot, Sentios, but Ren was already standing there.

"No. This time I'll do it. Stand guard and reinforce the Spire, so no energy escapes outside and gets noticed by any other parties."

"Yes!" Ariana and Sentios answered at the same time, not questioning her at all.

When Ren was ready and started up the formation, she quickly got used to its energy consumption. It took only a few seconds, and she felt connected to the other side. She was coming in contact with Aerthus's abundant flow of energy, full of vital and lively lifeforce. Ren's eyes closed as soon as they were connected, and her face wore a sad smile while tiny tears trickled down her face from the edge of her eyes.

"Master…?" Ariana asked worryingly as Ren slowly opened her misty eyes.

"Nothing… it's just… Master's energy is almost exactly the same as how LeiLei's used to feel… I missed this feeling… very… very much so…" She whispered but then took a deep breath, regaining her composure and the mirror-like door now looked more clear and stable than ever before. There were no voice distortions or delays between what they were saying or doing in front of it.

"Good." Levictus nodded, checking it out. "The time delay is negligible."

"Time delay?" Sentios asked on the other side.

"Yes. Connecting two places is not an easy feat. Demigods may 'teleport,' but it is more like an instant movement to a point they perceive and see. This is a completely different thing; this is physically connecting two points inside our realm. Not even Immortals or Gods can do this."

"Oh…" Ariana and Sentios exclaimed at the same time, with enlarged eyes. "So…" Sentios spoke up again. "What are you sending over now?"

"Myself," he replied immediately, still checking out the stability of the gate before him. "It is important to not have too big of a time delay between the two places. A few nanoseconds would be okay, but even a second delay would kill a living being. An inanimate object has no life; it can withstand even minutes of passing between non-existence and existence. Anything that has life would be obliterated on the spot."

"If only you could speak this much to a girl…." Aerthus cut in while everyone else twitched their mouths.

"It is fine," Levictus said, but to whom was a question that remained unanswered as he had already stepped into it.

Before anyone could exclaim, he was already standing before Ren on the other side. The mirror-like gate started flickering and cracking. It instantly became distorted, and the image was filled with disturbing static noises.

"See you later, Father." He nodded before the whole thing disintegrated, and Ren gasped for air. Sweat dripped from her forehead to the floor as she leaned forward, supporting herself on his knees.

"Damn… that was intense!" She grinned, looking up at Levictus. "I assume you learned something crucial to come here in person?"

"Yes." He nodded heavily. "If I can't come up with something soon, 99.99% of the city will die."