Mad God

In the deepest part of the Ents' forest, standing inside Allfather's actual body, Ren and Kai were looking at his spiritual projection. It still resembled Queen Catharine's appearance, even though her soul was already sent into reincarnation. Before them, Okto was naked, tied up with sneaking roots, holding him dangling in the air like the letter X. His eyes were rolled up into the back of his head as wooden tendrils were burrowing into his spine and brain, fully invading him through most of his body's holes.

"Brutal…" Ren murmured, seeing how effortlessly a demigod's body and mind were taken over by Allfather.

"Only from the outside. He is still resisting." Allfather looked back over his shoulder, turning towards Ren, floating before her. "His mind is reinforced by something I never met before, and so far, I could not break through."

"It should be a protective spell placed by a God." Kai scratched his chin, "A failsafe to protect their secrets. It won't be easy to crack."

"If it is done by a God, then even I won't be able to do so. His body will break before I can get through to his mind." Allfather shook his head. "His body is already close to breaking down, yet the protection holds itself perfectly."

"Then we may need a different approach. We could threaten him with destroying his core." Ren suggested, "It works most of the time."

"I tried." Allfather looked at the body of Okto. "I already threatened him to do so, but his fanaticism prevailed. I am afraid if I let him go, he would blow himself up just to wipe out this part of the forest."

"Brainwashing at its finest…." Ren put her hands on her waist while she shook her head, sighing loudly.

"He is convinced in his beliefs. 100%. It is my first time meeting a human like him! Truly fascinating. And…" Allfather scanned Ren once again. "You are also interesting. A human like you is terrifying."

"I don't know if I could beat you yet!" Ren shook her head with a grin.

"Me neither," he replied, also flashing a small smile. "Maybe one day we could spar."

"Can you even move?" She looked at his spiritual form, trying to imagine how it would work.

"I can uproot myself if I need to. I can sustain myself that way for a decade before I need to return." He answered honestly, "We are not so immobile as you think!"

"Don't spread the news outside…." Ren twitched her lips, "I think the rest of the demons would freak out…."

"Ahaha… no worries! We are a conservative bunch. Our strongest instinct is to remain rooted in one place; we rarely move even a centimeter from one spot to another throughout the centuries. But we strayed from our topic. What should we do with the human you brought here?"

"I hoped you could take control of him and we could see what they were doing here… but then Plan B it is!" she raised her hands, giving up.

"And that is?" Kai and Allfather asked at the same time.

"I'll use my gift." she pointed at her own eyes. "I expected something like this but hoped you could break his mind first."

"Will it work?" Kai asked, looking back and forth between Okto and Ren.

"It should! I did it multiple times in the past! Not with demigods, but… oh well! The brain uses electricity to communicate with the body. I'll hijack those synapses with my affinity and send through my own commands to keep them complying with my will. My mind then can forcefully enter his and read his memories, feelings, and whatever there is… the problem is the protection from Nilier… she potentially can intervene through the force she left in him. If she gets alerted, I must try and be… lucky!"

"Nilier…" Allfather murmured, knowing it must be the God's name who placed the protection inside this interesting human specimen. "Would it be dangerous?"

"Physically? No." Ren shook her head, "Mentally? Depends. It could cripple my consciousness or simply just kill me. Or worse…"

"Worse? Than dying?" Allfather blinked his eyes rapidly.

"Dying is simple!" Ren snapped her fingers with a grin. "You are gone like that! It would be worse if she could get into my head and read my memories or feelings! That… would be bad. Truly bad."

"How so?" He tilted his head, not really getting her thought process.

"Let's just say we have history." she spread her arms, walked past the two, and looked at Okto. "Well, we need that information, so whatever! What needs to come will come!" She laughed, floating up behind him, placing her hand on the top of his head. Ren's powers flowed into his body without any resistance, thanks to Allfather's roots. When she had complete control over the body, Allfather slowly retracted his tendrils, letting Ren do it without any interference.

Inside Okto's mind, he was sitting before a hazy, light-green ball of mist, meditating with crossed legs as a small string was connected to him like an umbilical cord. When Ren's figure, just as naked as him, appeared inside, taking a corporeal form. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at her with a smirk.

"What, the ent was unsuccessful, and now you are coming to try it? This is why you don't let an animal do a human's job!"

"Hm? You know about his species?"

"Heh, a little!" Okto snorted, not minding telling her, "Where we live, there are very few living demons. We made sure they did not populate our land; it would have led to chaos! We had some sentient plants in the past, and I must tell you… they burnt really good~."

"I see. Too bad." she shook her head but did not get angry.

"You are the same fool as those Immortals." he looked her up and down, turning more serious. "They are the only faction housing demons, even granting them… rights. They are just beasts; damned be them!"

"Who hurt you?" Ren tilted her head to the right. "Were you cheated on or something? With a demon?"

"Hmf!" he closed his eyes, not answering.

"No fucking way…." Ren gawked with genuine surprise, then she just burst out laughing for a straight, long minute. "Oh my! This was awesome, thanks! This now made it worth the hassle!" she wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Haaahh… look, just tell me what you are doing here, and I may even let you go home!" she took a deep breath, still trying to calm down her laughing.

"No deal," he answered without reopening his eyes.

"Eh… well, at least I tried it!" She walked closer, standing before the sitting Okto, who suddenly realized he couldn't move. His head forcefully tilted backward, his eyes opening back up, looking up at her.

"What is this?!" He panicked, but Ren's eyes were glowing with a strong, purple light inside their connected minds.

"Nothing. I'm going to rewrite your mind and forcefully extract everything you know," she said calmly while the greenish mist started to flow down the umbilical cord, strengthening Okto's mind.

"Hmf! You won't be able to!" He said through gritted teeth. "My faith shields me… the Goddess's priests are blessed by her!"

"Yeah, yeah… sucks for you!" She tapped onto his forehead, and the energy flow started to slow down. Okto only felt that something was off, but by now, he couldn't even speak as some of his memories were resurfacing, seeping out from the greenish mist. "Oh, my dear… you have not changed anything…." Ren whispered, feeling out the minuscule residue of Nilier's powers planted inside Okto's mind. "Your energies are still acting the same… this is getting really nostalgic, I won't lie. Heh, at least it makes my work easier; I know you the best anyway!" She continued influencing Okto's thoughts, and through them, the greenish mist started to recede, letting Ren read more and more memories.

Soon images of what happened started to flow into hers, but only after a few seconds did a shock hit both of them. When it hit, Ren flew backward, quickly cutting the connection, keeping her mind intact; still, in the real world, she vomited a significant amount of blood as her body continued to tremble. Okto was screaming with pain before slowly turning transparent as he was irreversibly damaged.

"Damn…" Ren clicked her tongue, watching Okto's mind slowly disappear, destroyed by Nilier's powers. Yet it was not the end as the mist gradually formed the green-robed figure of the Goddess of Purity.

"I commend your strength to break through my protective seal. Few can do what you just did!" She spoke with grace, watching Ren with a plain, somewhat even uninterested look. "You should join me. Every woman who serves under me has reached a height no men could dream about!"

"Oh, so these are just your throwaway pawns?"

"They are faithful servants." She replied calmly. "But my true followers are spreading my blessings, protecting the weak whose fate is dictated by others!"

"By men, you mean," Ren said with a smile, but Nilier did not reply.

"Your tone somewhat irks me." spoke up the Goddess in the end after a long silence. "It reminds me of someone…" she looked closer at Ren, but she could not feel anything that resembled Athos, the Mad God's aura or soul.

"Eh… I take it you have no good memories of him?" She twitched her mouth, watching her eyes scanning her and seeing through her effortlessly.

"None of your business." Nilier quipped back immediately, even surprising herself as the tone of the little girl before her really reminded her of Athos. "Whatever. You earned my respect for doing what you did; my suggestion stands. When you meet my priests once again, you can join my ranks!"

"Khm, as I said, thanks but no thanks! I was already married once~ I'm not that pure~" she stuck out her tongue with a playful smile.

"..." Nilier just furrowed her brows, getting angsty inside, somehow even frustrated, and she couldn't explain why. She was always calm and collected every time she appeared before mortals, yet this one little girl shredded all of her grace with only her mouth. "Then don't cross paths with them!" Nilier exclaimed with force, letting out a long breath, returning to calmness in the end before expelling Ren from Okto.

Back in the real world, she fell backward, caught by Kai, quickly teleporting a few meters away as Okto's body started to melt into a pool of slimy, sticky goo, leaving nothing behind, not even his demigod crystal.

"Are you okay?" Allfather floated there, watching Ren sit up, wiping the blood from her mouth.

"Yeah… I'm fine…" she smiled, just now feeling how exhausted her body was. "I just need a few days' rests, but I got it!" She stood up with the help of Kai. "They are here to check up on your seal," she said, looking at Kai. "They also have two side missions; to find more followers and keep an eye out for the reincarnation of the Mad God."

"Reincarnation…" Allfather murmured, now watching Ren with a stronger-than-ever light in his eyes.

"Yep, and they did find something interesting they want to assimilate! They found the humans underground… and they are helping them." Ren explained with a much more serious tone. "They are planning to return soon… and you are their main target, Allfather."

"The old humans?" He asked, stopping himself from thinking about the new, exciting idea he had in his head. "Then I need to call a meeting with the others."

"Do that… I'll rest until you speak with them!" Ren stretched while Allfather's projection disappeared, and the giant tree started slowly swaying and creaking in the forest.

…
….
…..

Nilier was sitting inside her wooden house, holding a cup of tea in her hands that had already gone cold while her eyes were fixated on the sapphire necklace on her shelf. She couldn't help but remember when she was not alone in this house, and another God was living with her. The two of them shared long, long years together, living in harmony and happiness, just the two of them. Sometimes they ventured out, making exciting mischiefs around the world that she usually would find stupid and useless, only wasting time better spent on something else. Yet with him, it was the most fun she ever had.

"Damn you…" She closed her eyes with a somewhat painful voice, catching herself smiling, trying to shake it off. "Why couldn't you sit still and just live with me here?! Always looking outside, wanting to go and explore the unknown… What good is that?! Isn't the world enough?!" She shouted, shaking the whole house with her voice, before taking deep breaths to recollect herself.

She wanted to go out and water the flowers, but even that was not helping. Those colorful flowers reminded her of him as they planted half of them together. She was just standing there, with her watering can in hand, watching the flowers gently sway in the wind.

"Married…" she murmured, biting into her lips and remembering Ren's words. "Maybe I should've said yes." she looked up at the Sky, watching the Tear, replaying many events in her head that led to that day. Watching him open up the Sky, seeing the cosmic chaos on the other side for a short glimpse, and being in genuine awe. Seeing Athos smiling and standing inside, the cosmic energies flooding the realm while a beautiful display of colorful images was dancing behind him. It was something that made her tremble. In more than one way...