A talk with god (2)

"What about the heart?" the god asked, his voice echoing through the vast, silent chamber.

"It had disappeared," answered the newcomer.

At that moment, Rangyl felt his own heart skip a beat.

Rumble Rumble

Suddenly, the entirety of the temple began to wildly shake, its very foundations threatening to collapse. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling, and ancient pillars seemed to groan under the strain.

Meanwhile, Rangyl and the newcomer were pushed to their knees by an overwhelming pressure that seemed to emanate from the very air around them, crushing them with an invisible force.

Although the pressure was most definitely heavy, to Rangyl, who had just climbed the heavenly stairs, it was still bearable.

The newcomer, however, seemed to be having the worst time of his life. His breathing was shallow, almost stopping entirely, nearly stopping altogether, while the sickening sound of his bones snapping echoed through the chaos, cutting through the relentless shaking of the temple.

"Rangyl," the god suddenly spoke, the menacing tone of his voice sending shivers down Rangyl's back, "how could you allow intruders to take the heart?"

'Huh?' Rangyl blinked, a dumbfounded expression making its way onto his face, 'how is this my fault?'

The very reason he couldn't capture Amelia and had to leave, giving Alex and his companions time to plunder their treasury, was because his god had summoned him at the most crucial moment. How could it be his fault?!

More than once, Rangyl had caught himself thinking that his god was unreasonable, and right now, he was thinking the same. He was even more convinced of this when he considered the fact that they had means to track the heart. If that was the case, why was he making them suffer right now?

Meanwhile, the man next to Rangyl groaned a little and added, "it's not all...those people had also freed the abductees...Among those abductees, there was also subject #A09."

Rangyl glanced at the man next to him with a disbelieving expression, 'is this fool a masochist?'

Rangyl couldn't fathom how someone who was likely in excruciating pain, with bones snapping and agony writ large upon his face after delivering bad news could find it in him to drop another piece of news that was just as bad as the previous one.

As Rangyl thought, the words barely left the man's mouth before the pressure they were subjected to increased.

Boom!

The man collapsed face-first, blood oozing from his mouth, yet somehow, he remained conscious.

Feeling that he might seriously injure, or worse, kill his subordinates if he continued, the god retracted the pressure placed on them. As he did so, the shaking of the temple finally ceased.

Free from the pressure, the man next to Rangyl released a sigh of relief, while Rangyl bowed to his god, "I'm terribly sorry if, because of my incompetence, the heart was stolen, but I believe it's a good opportunity!"

"How so?" The god inquired.

"Since the base has been destroyed, there is a high chance that the woman with the golden ability has escaped. It could take us a little time to find her, but since she and her companions took the heart with them, we can easily find them by tracing the heart's location!" Rangyl explained.

"Hmm, that's true," the god approved, "Disyo, what is the new location of the heart," he ordered.

The newcomer, Disyo, looked towards his boss, a fearful and hesitant expression appearing on his face.

"What is it? Speak!" The god demanded impatiently.

"U-Um, well, we have lost track of the heart. I think it has been absorbed by someone."

The instant Disyo uttered this, he firmly closed his eyes, bracing himself for the oncoming pressure. Rangyl followed suit, mirroring Disyo's actions.

Meanwhile, to their astonishment, instead of flying into a rage, Rangyl's god began to laugh uproariously, the temple shaking as he did so.

"Ehh," Rangyl and Disyo looked toward one another with confused expressions.

"Today is a marvelous day!" The god exclaimed through his laughter. "Not only have we discovered the one with the golden power, but also someone compatible with that damned heart!"

After a while, he finally calmed down, though the last echoes of his laughter could still be heard throughout the temple.

"Umm, why is the news that the heart had been absorbed a good thing?" Rangyl inquired, seeking clarification.

He had been tasked with hiding and protecting the black heart for over a decade, yet he remained clueless about its origin and purpose, much like Disyo next to him.

The god chuckled lightly before explaining, "Simply put, this heart grants a specific ability to its host. However, it's not something that can be transplanted into just anyone; we've been searching for a compatible host for over a millennium without success. And now, hearing that someone has absorbed it, how could I not feel joy?"

Rangyl nodded, his expression serious. "I don't believe it's mere coincidence. It's highly likely that the woman with the golden power has taken possession of it."

"That's most probably the case," the god nodded his head, "that woman sure is gifted, not only possessing the ability to control cells, but also being compatible with this particular heart."

"'This particular heart'? Are there others like it?" Rangyl's eyes sparkled with curiosity as he inquired.

"Cease your inquiries on that matter," the god commanded Rangyl.

"Yes!" Rangyl nodded, though the curious glint in his eyes remained.

"Anyway, we need to catch that woman as fast as possible. If we give her too much time, she might end up growing too strong. By then, it would be more troublesome to catch her," the god emphasized, his tone grave.

Disyo, who had been listening attentively, grasped the situation and suggested, "If we had a portrait of that woman, we could distribute it to all the members of Night. That way, it wouldn't take us too much time to find her."

"Well, Rangyl is the only one who has seen her," the god replied. "If that brat were here, we could have extracted her picture from his mind. Unfortunately..."

Understanding whom his god was referring to, Rangyl shivered a little. "Glad that she's away. I wish she'd stay wherever she is."

"Anyway, send the Jaiku #001. It should be able to find her pretty quickly," the god ordered.

"B-But sir, this is only a prototype. It might not work as-"

"Are you questioning my orders?" The god's tone grew displeased.

"N-No sir, I would never," Disyo stuttered.

"You better not. Now leave," the god ordered, "oh, and Disyo, not a word to anyone about what was discussed here."

The god snapped his fingers, and Disyo's body disappeared from the temple.

"Rangyl," the god called out, "this is the last time I'm warning you. Unless I give you permission, never transform into your true form."

Rangyl gulped in fear and nodded his head.

"Good. Now go, and like Disyo, don't speak of today's events to anyone else."

"What about subject #A09?" Rangyl inquired.

"Forget about her; focus only on the one with the golden power for the time being," the god ordered.

Rangyl bowed his head, but even after several minutes passed, he remained standing by the doorway of the temple.

"What is it? Do you have another matter to discuss?" the god inquired.

"No, I have nothing to say. It's just that, are you not going to send me back?" Rangyl wondered.

"No, descend via the heavenly stairs; that's your punishment for allowing the base you are supervising to be destroyed."

'What the hell?' Rangyl's eyes opened wide in disbelief. 'How come it's my fault if the base got destroyed?' Rangyl thought in frustration.

Rangyl grumbled in displeasure but ultimately obeyed.

Fortunately for him, descending the heavenly stairs is easier than climbing them, though it was still harrowing.

Just as Rangyl began descending the heavenly stairs, his god snapped his fingers, and Disyo appeared once again.

"What is it again, Disyo?" The god asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Disyo, who had once again come to deliver bad news, felt like crying.

"Sir, the tenth base got destroyed," Disyo informed.

"When?"

"A few weeks ago?"

"Then why the fuck am I only learning this now?!" The god bellowed, immense pressure emanating from him.

"Ugh..." Disyo collapsed on his knees, his bones that had just been healed snapping once again.

"That's... because the supervisor of the tenth base... got severely wounded... and has only awakened now... he just sent us the news," Disyo managed to say through his agony.

"What?!" The god was quite surprised to hear that the supervisor of a base had been defeated and severely wounded.

The ones chosen as base supervisors were not to be underestimated, even among their own kind!

The god waved a hand and suddenly, hundreds of screens appeared before him. Each of those screens showed a different base, the most shocking thing being the fact that there was a base in each and every power of Imperion!

There wasn't a single empire, kingdom, sect, or major power within Imperion's domain that didn't have a Night's base on its lands, not even one!

*****

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