Chapter 80: Taking Responsibility

Two days after the dark clouds started appearing, black rain fell all over the human continent, two days after that all of the vegetation that had been touched by the rain had been killed off and turned corrupted. Normal trees grew a face on their trunks and attacked with their vines. 

The grass turned poisonous, even the ground itself became a dangerous place as it emitted a kind of poison that turned people mad, causing them to eat each other.

Just like many other places, the Wayne Kingdom wasn't any exception, and the whole kingdom had been turned into a death swamp of danger. All bit one place, The Soul Sect had a barrier erected around it that stopped even the air or sound from the outside entering. The only time this changed was when refugees came and Alex had to come down and open a hole in the barrier so that people could enter. 

He had predicted something like this, though the situation wasn't within his expectations. He made plans long ago for any situation like this and had already gathered all of the people around in the cities. Having sent people to get them a long time ago, and so 40,000 new people had joined the Soul Sect.

Alex already made new living quarters below the and separated them into six levels, and combined the living quarters extended till 10,000km (~6200 miles). If it had been his previous word, at this depth he would have long since reached the planet's core and even almost pierced to the other side. But in this world, during the build hadn't even reached any lava, except some small pools. 

The deeper one went, the higher the level of security got and Alex had doctors, Alchemists, and other important people living quarters be deeper and deeper. Though his bunker was at almost the deepest part of this building. 

With this, he had achieved the bare minimum of ensuring that some of the last humans on this continent would have a safe place to survive. It would be the sanctity that people who could survive the horrors of the new world would strive for. 

...

During this time an old monk at the Monastery was cleaning the grounds. He seemed so old and seemed like he would drop with just a simple push. His eyes were closed and seemed like he was either asleep or dead.

The monks all around went to help the people that had come to take refuge here. Though since the temple was at the top of one of the tallest mountains, not a lot made it. But the other monks went there to help the people unable to climb the stairs.

As the others were panicking, the old man looked at this with a look of worry and he extended his hand. Catching a dark drop of rain that was about to land on the ground. 

"Corruption…" contemplated the old monk. He shook his wrinkled head and looked towards the sky. One of his eyes opened.

BOOOOOOOM!!!

Though no sound of the explosion showed, a giant hole was created in the dark clouds. The clouds were engulfed with golden energy that purified the darkness out of them and once again the sun was able to land on the ground, hitting the monastery.

The people stopped and looked at this miracle, getting on their knees and spewing out mantras as a prayer to the Buddha. They had just witnessed something straight out of a miracle. 

No one noticed the old man as he went back to sweeping the floor. A lot of new residents had come to the Monastery, so he was busier than usual. 

"Hey, old man!" One of the children who had come here as a refugee came towards the old Monk and offered him a hand. "Do you need any help?"

The monk smiled in satisfaction and nodded. "Thank you, kind young man. Helping strangers in need is a virtue of its own. I am sure that you will make an amazing Monk."

"Heh? I don't wanna be a monk." Said the kid as he picked his nose. "I just came here as my family needed shelter."

"Fate works in strange ways," the old monk's smile never left his face. 

Even as the child seemed annoyed at something, he still tried to be polite to the elderly. "I don't believe in such things as fate or Gods. Why would they do something like this to us if they are all-powerful?!"

Tears came out of the young boy's eyes, and an image of his younger sister surfaced in his mind. The image of her getting ripped apart by Jack, the neighbor they had known for so long, had suddenly transited into a grotesque mantis-like creature and bit his sister's head off.

The old Monk patted the young child on the back for comfort. He knew how it felt when you lost someone important. 

Suddenly the newly purified clouds started getting corrupted once again and dark rain started to fall. But before it could hit anyone, a golden barrier appeared around the monastery as a flying figure was seen flying in the sky and releasing enormous amounts of energy.

People looked at this in fright, not knowing when this would be their last day and how they should spend it. Many had killed themselves once they saw the madness that had engulfed the world.

But all of this didn't seem to make the old Monk flutter even for a split second. Instead, he looked at the sky and a bright light of energy shot at such speeds no one noticed any slight movement.

...

The mortal world was in panic due to the strange happenings, but the divine world wasn't any different. Normal Gods were all in disarray, not knowing where this had come from and how it could escape their divine senses.

In a round table with twelve chairs floating around in the middle of the cosmos around them. Each chair was filled by one person, and in one of them was Ariel, the Goddess of Purity and all that is good.

Among her were other Gods too, as one of them was a blind man wearing rags and bloody bandages around his eyes. He had a golden scale in his hand and looked more like a disabled beggar. In actuality, his name was Ka, the God of Justice, and he was unreadable as he turned to Ariel. 

"You were supposed to watch this world, why did you mess it up? The humans there are close to extinction. Also that corruption, where did it come from?"

Though Gods were considered all mighty and could do whatever they wanted, that was far from the truth. Because they were led by the Council of Gods, which consisted of the 12 most powerful Gods in existence.

Most of the time the Council of Gods did nothing and let the Good and Evil Gods do their things. But this time a whole world's humanity was about to be extinguished by an existence outside of that world.

Ariel saw the look her fellow gods were giving and she had to relent. "I will accept any punishment intended for me."

"You must fix the situation first even if you have to give up your life." Said Ka, the God of Justice. "After that, you will receive the appropriate punishment."

She nodded, but inwardly Ariel wasn't worried. 'This doesn't matter, they won't punish me. Even amongst their guys, I am at the top. So my punishment will be just a slap on the wrist as worst. Also just a little more-'

"My vote will be for true death to be dealt to you and your God Core be shattered so there will never be a chance of resurrection," Ka claimed, immediately bringing Ariel out of her stupor. She felt like a bucket of cold water had just been dumped on her.

Last time they had met like this had been thousands of years ago, so she had almost forgotten how Ka could be.

The God of Justice smirked, feeling the uneasiness coming off Ariel. "I feel like you are hiding something. So consider this a light punishment, for if I find out that you were behind this and many people died due to you

Then-"

"Sheesh, can you just shut up," Ariel complained, acting completely calm. "As a Goddess of Purity, I could never even dream of corruption like this, or I will get a Divine Backlash."

Divine Backlash, was something that a God would suffer if they broke the rules of cosmos or their portfolios.

This was something that couldn't be dodged. So it acted as a good cover for many Gods, yet Ka still didn't seem satisfied. He used to be a mortal himself, so seeing them suffer made him want to help them.

"Well, just be careful Ariel… you are on thin ice," Ka warned her before he dissipated into mist and left the meeting.

Ariel sighed and her eyes gazed into the ones of a sleeping old man with a long white beard that seemed to reach down on similarly white hair. The old man wore an eyepatch, but the strangest thing about him was that he was sleeping in such an important meeting.

"So, what do you think about this Malekith?" She asked the sleeping man who immediately opened his eyes once his name was mentioned.

He was Malekith, also known as the God of Dreams, not a lot of information about him was around. Even to the other Gods sitting at the table, he was the one who they regarded as the most mysterious. 

"Heh~ I know what you did Ariel. No need to fake it from me," Malekith yawned before he too dissipated into mist.

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A/N: Just like when Alex got rid of Julie since she was in his way, his action had consequences, and humanity was weakened due to her disappearance and the Beasts would have been held back a lot more if she was there to fight against them.

The same with Ariel, she did something, and some Gods seem suspicious of her. The ones like Ka will give it their all to destroy her if they found out what Ariel did.

So yeah, actions have consequences. Of course, the actions also have reasons why they are done, this will all be explained in the future. As Ariel didn't do this all for nothing.

...

 Don't forget to throw some power stones :)

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