Mad God

Levictus was back in the Sect, hosting lessons for disciples and for his own personal student Wyland. Between the teachings, he could finally work again on his teleportation formation, finalizing it with the experience he gained in the previous months' events. Now, with the right amount of resources, he could build one that would be stable and could be frequently used to transfer people between two points. At this moment, under the twin moons' light, he was relaxing his mind with the possible implementations of Zelig's formation. Having the formation plate, it was easy to understand its workings and replicate it if he wished, but with the current requirements of sacrifices, it was out of the question. He was juggling dozens of ideas on replacing the needed human sacrifice with materials to make it usable and transform it from a killing formation to a breakthrough facilitator.

"I'll need to wait until Father is out…" he tapped on the table before him. As for now, the only reference he got was Ren; all things considered, she was an anomaly. She was not a reliable source for ironing out details so it would not kill its user. Just as he thought that a transmission crystal lit up in his pocket, and when he picked it up, the caller was Ren.

"Sleeping?" Ren asked with a chuckle.

"No, I long ago eliminated the requirement of sleep for my body. It was a nuisance."

"Geez, it is one of the best things in the world… besides eating. And sex."

"You called because?" Levictus cut in before she could go on a rant, just like his father used to.

"Oh, yes, yes! Can you contact Ophila?"

Her question was a surprise, plus he was not sure he ever mentioned his own Master's name to her… but it was not impossible for Ren to know. Especially considering she was his father's disciple. Even if in name only.

"I can. But I can only do it once; it was left for me in case of serious trouble."

"I need you to contact her for me." Ren's voice turned severe, "If not, we risk the possibility of facing a God by ourselves. We can't do that yet."

"What happened?" He sat up straight, asking with the most serious tone possible.

"I made contact with demigods in the mountains, interrogated one, and it turns out he was Nilier's little missionary. Plus, I had a chat with her. She offered me a place which I refused! We are safe for now, but she warned me not to interfere. But I am going to as her priests threaten not just the whole forest, but us too."

"I see…" he closed his eyes, thinking through it multiple times. "I'll make contact immediately."

"Tell her one thing," Ren said slowly. "My three little sewer rats~."

"I will… tell her," he answered, a bit confused why she asked that, but in the middle of a delicate situation he knew Ren would not joke around like this without a good reason. Hopefully.

"Thanks! I'm off! We need to prepare for war!" She replied, cutting the connection quickly.

Levicuts only paused for a brief moment before closing his eyes, focusing in on himself, drawing forward the left behind energy by his Master, Ophila, the Immortal. It only took a brief thought, and he could almost feel her standing before him in his mind.

"What happened?" her worried voice echoed inside his head, "I don't feel any injury in you, or it would have activated earlier…."

"I'm fine, Master; I contacted you because we ran into the Goddess of Purity."

"Tsk…" She clicked her tongue. "I hoped their attention did not turn to your side yet! What's the extent of the damage? How many died?"

"None yet, but we were warned. Sadly we can't back down," he explained most of the things that happened since he came back, summarizing it to Ophila.

"Hah… she is interesting; our Master would've liked her!" Ophila laughed with a cheerful voice.

"One more thing, she said to give you a message!" he said, reciting Ren's words, feeling the other side suddenly falling deathly silent. "Master?"

"..."

"Master?" He asked again, now even thinking something was wrong and the connection was cut, or Ren really did play a prank on him. Yet suddenly, a delighted laugh burst out from Ophila, lasting for minutes.

"Finally!" she took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her eyes that Levictus could not see but still felt. "Stay put! I will collect my two brothers, and we will be there soon!"

"Ah, Ma-" but he could not finish as the feed was cut instantly. "What the…" he blinked his eyes, confused, but soon thoughts started to swirl in his mind, forming a complete picture, just like a formation.

…
….
…..

Nilier was sitting at a small pond filled with crystal clear, blue water. She was seated on a small tree stump, resting her chin in her palms, watching the calm water that was not just like a mirror but a real mirror to the world below her. She was overlooking the rolling hills and the crowded cities where humans swarmed everywhere like ants. Every region was completely different from the other, taking on its own sects' unique telling signs, forming a colorful mix of civilizations. The multiple sects had their restricted territories, cultivating by their own methods or worshiping one of the gods for a possible favor. As her eyes moved, so did the picture on the small lake, one time watching a blood sacrifice atop a pyramid as a man's heart was cut out with a rusty dagger, presented to a statue of Skoorn. Blinking her eyes, the image once again changed, showing another sect hosting a massive orgy in a blindingly white square, honoring their recently deceased elder. The thousands of tiles under them were decorated with multiple, conjoined images of Alfina and Oynega. Their disciples mimicked those poses while humping like rabbits, forming a circle around an open coffin. She only watched it for a moment before, blinking her eyes again, seeing another sect where her statues were worshiped by men and women, silently kneeling before them amongst a serene, flower-filled meadow.

"The amount of faith they produce is still not enough…." She murmured, sighing softly.

Since the Sky was torn open, they knew they had to repair it. It may even mean that one of them had to sacrifice his or her own Godcore to be successful, just like how the Mad God opened it up. None of them was willing to take that step. Especially as it was not guaranteed to work. So they came to the second option, using the realm's faith to repair it, but it would take a long time to gather enough faith for it. Even though they started to implement it from the moment Athos died, it was still only in the phase of spreading worldwide after more than 2000 years. Not to mention Athos's disciples. The number of people they turned away from worshiping them to their own side further slowed down the process, and they were still growing yearly. The first huge setback was when the old House of Ein, which was the first to be converted and started worshiping all of them, was eliminated by the demonic trees. All of the Gods agreed it was best to leave them be as it was also the hiding place of Kai's sealed core. An extra layer of protection from his possible discovery was an acceptable trade-off in their eyes. From that moment on, all four of them choose their own kingdoms and sects to groom, to convert so as not to make the same mistake and have their supply of faith cut off by only one enemy.

"This will take at least 9 or 10 000 more years to finish. Haahhh…" She shook her head, a bit frustrated.

The amount of faith they had to collect was immense, and for Nilier, it seemed only she was the one who did any work amongst the four. The twins were doing nothing besides fooling around, sometimes causing trouble down below, supporting a dark sect that was focusing on bringing back the dead… just for fun. Out of boredom, as they would say. Skoorn? He was barely seen as he spent most of his time under the dark ocean, only paying attention to his blade since the day it pierced Athos's body. Yet somehow, the demonic beings in the water started worshiping him, supplying him with fresh sacrifices for his blade every time he asked for it. Nilier felt like she was the only one actively trying to recruit more followers to speed up the process of repairing the Sky.

"This is so frustrating!" She swiped her hand over the pond, changing the image she was looking at. What it showed next was a hazy image; the figures were blurred, the background was only colors washed together, and soon it became even more distorted and fuzzy.

"Spying?" a male voice echoed out from it. It was strong, confident, and full of energy. He was questioning her with a firm tone and with a tinge of eagerness to fight.

"Don't get too cocky, Firelord," Nilier replied with an equally as strong of a voice.

"Heh, that is a title bestowed upon me by my people! I am Invictus the Immortal, the disciple of my Master, Athos! You may be his ex-lover, Nilier, but that still means nothing before me! If you want, we can settle it right now!"

"I'm not in the mood for it, and keep your fiery temper down, please!" She answered without a change in her voice, "It is not like you ever won a fight against any of us."

"Neither did I lose!" He quipped back immediately, "But now that my Master is back, I have no more reason to hold back. We can do it! Even right now!"

"Did you find him?" Nilier asked suddenly, surprising even herself with the question. Same with Invictus, as neither of them knew why the hell she even bothered to ask.

"Why would I tell you?" The Immortal laughed after a brief pause.

"So you did not…." She whispered, sighing softly.

"Even if we would, I would not tell you! Just wait patiently for his return, Goddess of Purity! Then we will tear down the Sky and-" but he could not finish as Nilier just swiped with her hand, changing the image to reflect the Sky above her own little world, standing up from the tree stump and walking away without a word.

Back on the other side, at the precipice of a volcano, Invictus stood proudly, only wearing shorts, enjoying the heat coming from behind him, looking up at the Sky with a grin. His long, chestnut-colored hair spewed tiny embers as it waved behind him like a cape. Below him, around the giant volcano, lay his own home, the Everlasting Flame Sect. His strongest thousand disciples were living here, mastering the art of different flames and enjoying the neverending warmth. The stronger one was, the higher one could live on the slopes of the fire-spewing mountain. Sometimes, the heat was so severe an average cultivator in the harmony realm would burn his lungs to a crisp with only one breath.

"Hey, Kaizer!" Invictus called out in his head, and a sleepy male voice replied to him.

"What is it…? Mhm… you know I'm not good while the sun is out…." He asked with an annoyed voice. He was his younger brother, one of the other Immortals, Kaizer, Sect Master of the Midnight's Shadow Sect.

"I was spied on by auntie!"

"Why bother? Our powers are unknown to them; they can't see either us or what our disciples do! Until they comprehend our way, they are blind to our workings!" He yawned loudly and was a bit annoyed. "You should go back and continue searching for Master!"

"I had to come back; the baldie's worshippers launched an attack on one of my allies. They had to be put down!"

"Weird, I had the same thing happen but by the twins' pawns!"

"Hey!" Ophila's voice cut in suddenly, almost deafening both of them.

"Bwahaha! Good morning little sis!" Invictus laughed, matching her voice's strength.

“Ugh… ‘morning sis… you are in a good mood, eh?" Kaizer replied with a chuckle, not showing any frustration, not like he did toward his brother.

The trio were blood-related siblings orphaned a long time ago in a war between families. Once, they were nobility but had to run for their own lives after a successful coup that their home suffered. Everyone was killed around them, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their bodies, running from one rat hole to another, trying to survive not just the hunger but the assassins that were still looking for them for years. The eldest, the then only 10 years old Invictus, took on the role as their leader, protecting his younger brother Kaizer who was only 7 at the time, and their youngest sister, who was only born a few months before the coup. He was the one who was fighting off wild animals and bandits the same in the first few years. Later on, as they aged, Kaizer became the strategist of the trio, not just perfecting the art of stealing but laying traps and robbing robbers so that if they made it out with the goods, their targets would be hard-pressed to look for the authorities' help. Everything was to protect their little sister, who was only a baby when they had to run for their lives.

When Ophila turned four, they met a strange, drunken man. They managed to steal from him, yet he found them in their secret hidey-hole in the sewers in a crowded city. It turned out that the man named Athos was an interesting guy. Or weird. He started living with them, teaching them multiple things that helped them survive. Later on, the things he taught them turned out to be the foundations of how to start cultivating. Whatever they managed to steal and gather, he never took his portion, giving it to them completely. He was guiding them without wanting anything in return.

Soon, their little sister started to call the man "daddy," which he never found fault in, happily indulging in raising her and her brothers. By the time Ophila turned six, they had realized their strength was on par with any normal adults. When a robbery went wrong, being cornered by the bandits they were about to rip off, in the ensuing fight, they easily defeated the group of armed warriors.

Athos said nothing, only watched it play out with a smile, continued living with them, teaching them, seeing their lives slowly improve, moving from the sewers to a dilapidated building, then onto forming their own gang as they aged, year by year. By the time Invictus became 18, they were one of the strongest and biggest gangs in the city, controlling the slums and its people. They were starting to show signs of turning more and more despotic and cruel. It was that time when Athos made them choose their future. Live their lives as it is now or follow him, starting from nothing again. It was Ophila who made a choice for them back then. The brothers hesitated, but their little sister was adamant about following Athos, no matter where, no matter what, glued to him completely. The brothers were not willing to be separated from their little sister, so they followed the still mysterious man who had lived with them for years. The rest… became history and the most precious memory of their lives. The world opened up for them, and for the next handful of centuries, they were appropriately raised and not just by cultivation. Athos made sure he taught the kids well, instilling his own moral values in the trio.

"I found him!" Ophila's laughing voice echoed in their minds, stunning them for a brief moment before they immediately disappeared from where they stood, heading straight for their little sister without asking for any details, only with the fire in their eyes to meet their 'father' once again.