Chapter 79: Majority Vote

Several hours later, we were sitting and waiting for the Enforcers to finish helping the authorities.

The carnage in the arena was too much for some of the regular police officers and the Enforcers felt it necessary to aid them. They were curious as to why it didn't bother us, but...

We simply told them that we'd seen much worse in the past. And that was an understatement for someone like me. I still remembered the Lorelei sewers among other things like the Iratus estate, as well.

Not to mention...the horror we went through before we came here with the shadow dragon and the dwarven city.

Gore and carnage didn't really bother us anymore.

Eventually, everything was in order and Yakon was taken to a special holding facility where he would be interrogated. We were brought back to the Enforcer HQ to have a talk with everyone.

We stood in front of the five of them and Iris sat on her throne in the back.

"Enforcers, I propose that we add these two to our ranks. With their strength, we would be unbreakable," Iris said.

"Do they have the will to protect Ignitus?" Dante asked as he eyed us curiously.

"They are otherworlders. This remains to be seen," Leiso added.

"That's the exact reason we shouldn't let them become Enforcers. I'll never accept them as comrades. I will not give my vote," Gavin said.

"They show promise with their current powers. I wonder how they'd use Enforcer Aspects... I will consider a vote," Carlos said.

"Hey, I don't care as long as they help out. They beat an Overlord, so that's enough for me. I'll consider it," Michael said.

"Do you two have a willingness to protect our world?" Iris asked.

That was a difficult question.

We had no real attachment to this place as we'd only just arrived here. Besides that, they had tried to kill us multiple times since we came to this city.

Although, having the power of Enforcers on our side meant that we could potentially fight the Source of the Black Ooze.

Long ago, the Oracle mentioned that all of creation was in danger. I had a sinking suspicion that this world might also be targeted at some point. The thought of it terrified me to my very core.

And as much as I hated the Oracle, I couldn't deny that the information she gave us was accurate. The Black Ooze was a menace that had to be dealt with.

Regardless of how things were, we still needed more power. We wouldn't stop until we avenged our home.

"We are willing to protect your world as best as we can. But you must understand that we've only just arrived here. We do not possess the kind of attachment to this world that you do. Ignitus, however, is still currently our home. We will fight with everything we have to protect it," Isabella said.

"Interesting response. You're willing to forsake your old world for ours?" Dante said.

"That's not what she said. Eventually, we would like to avenge our world. But even if we do, Avernia is likely to be a desolate hellscape. We can't live there anymore. In other words, we will be staying here," I said.

"We will fight with every ounce of our strength to protect this world," Isabella said.

"Your battle prowess and willingness to protect Ignitus has impressed me then. I will give my vote," Carlos said.

"Hell no. I won't give a vote to either of these two. I'm out. Right Leiso?" Gavin said.

Leiso looked at us quizzically.

"I can safely say that they are easily the strongest otherworlders I've ever faced. They're still young and may require additional training, but if they will serve and protect Ignitus, I will offer a vote," Leiso said.

"What the hell!? You can't be serious! You're gonna vote for these damn otherworlders!?" Gavin said angrily.

"Look at the bigger picture, you dense baboon. These two took down Yakon. Someone even three of us would have had trouble fighting at the same time. Also, they're fairly reasonable despite the fact that we've just tried to kill them. I'd say they've more than earned my vote," Leiso said.

Gavin glared at us.

"Well, this is nice. You two are pretty cool, so sure. I can give my vote. Why not?" Michael said.

"Once again...you remind me of how far our standards have fallen, Michael..." Leiso said angrily.

"Aww, I love you too, Lei. You're so cute!" Michael said adoringly.

"DIE IN A FIRE! I'M NOT CUTE!" Leiso shouted.

"Are you two...married or something?" Isabella asked curiously.

"HELL NO! NEVER!" Leiso shouted.

"She wishes she had all this man to herself," Michael said proudly.

Leiso glared at Michael.

"Ahem...back on topic. The two of you show a ferocity in battle unlike any other and you are willing to protect Ignitus. I can give my vote, but...there is one other problem," Dante said.

"More like a GLARING NEON SIGN OF AN ISSUE!" Gavin shouted angrily.

"Gavin, by Iris, shut the hell up!" Dante said.

"Uhh...kinda rude to use someone's name as a swear... But I'll ignore it since it was Dante..." Iris said quietly.

Gavin stood up and made his way towards the door.

"If you need me, I'll be on patrol. When this farce is over, I'll be back."

Dante sighed heavily.

"The issue here is that traditionally, there can only be six Enforcers. The power that makes us this way draws heavily on Iris. Her power sustains us. And if it's overdrawn, it can cause her great harm," Dante said.

No. I won't have part in this then. Isabella is too important to me. I will not abandon her.

"Then Isabella should become an Enforcer. I'll be fine as I am now," I said.

Isabella looked shocked by this.

"I refuse to sit by and watch as you grow old and die! Never! You become an Enforcer!" She said.

"Hold on! Before you all start arguing, let me speak!" Iris shouted.

She disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared before us.

"I spent a lot of time examining you two during the previous talks and during your battles. My conclusion is that there's something different about you! A strange power connecting the two of you like a thread. It binds you together and provides a necessary catalyst for my power," Iris said.

"You mean the unknown skill?" I asked.

"Unknown wha...?" Iris said.

"We have a skill that's shared between us. We can't figure out what it is, but it connects our levels and exp tables," Isabella said.

"That's the...status magic thingy you mentioned before, right? I'm still not sure exactly how that works, but you have an ability that radiates the purest form of divine energy I've ever seen. I can't understand why, but it screams to me. Like it's the work of the Creator himself."

"Who is this Creator?" Isabella asked.

"The Creator is the mysterious architect of all creation. The God of gods. He rarely speaks to anyone though. Also, none of us lesser gods understand his methods or reasons for doing things. He's pretty much the reason we're all lesser gods instead or just Gods."

"So what is this ability then? Can you tell us what its called? Can you read it?" I asked.

"Slow down. The answer is that I don't know. I'm a lesser goddess compared to the Creator. I don't know everything like he does. I have to begin the process of converting you two to understand anything at all," Iris said.

Damn...I really wanted to know more...

"So...can you make both of us Enforcers?" Isabella asked.

"The short answer is yes. That ability provides enough of a catalyst and foundation for it to work. I can make you two the sixth, and for the first time ever, seventh Enforcers. Additionally, due to this power you posses, you will not be bound to my own energy."

"Wait...seriously? We can replace Jallah already!?" Michael said

"Looks like it. Well then, if Iris approves, then you two are now Honorary Enforcers," Dante said.

"Honorary? What's that mean?" I asked.

"You're Enforcers now, but you don't have your Aspects yet. You will have all of the authority that we do, except without the abilities," Dante said.

"Authority doesn't do us any good if we can't communicate with those who serve under us. How does this help?" Isabella asked.

"I can imbue the both of you with a blessing that'll allow you to bypass it. Follow me," Iris said.

We followed her behind the six thrones and she turned towards the other Enforcers.

"Cast your votes, Enforcers," Iris said.

Each one of them raised a small latch on the arm of their thrones and pressed a switch. After four of them had been pressed, there was a whirring noise.

The stairs leading up the throne where Iris usually sat parted to reveal a narrow hallway under them.

We followed Iris into the hallway and she placed her hand on a door at the end of it. Several runes glowed on the door and we were allowed inside. As soon as we entered, the door shut.

The room was small and kept lit by several lights built into the ceiling. They were placed around a strange crystal mechanism. The floor consisted of many complex rune circles carved into light gray stone with a pane of glass over it. As far as I could tell, there was a teal-colored liquid within the carvings of the magic circle.

The entire room radiated the same power as the Enforcers and Iris herself. Divine Energy.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"This is the awakening room. One of them, anyway... Your powers will be brought forth here," Iris said.

Iris directed us to stand in the center of the room.

"Now then. Remove your shirts. Isabella, you're wearing a bra, yes? That would be very awkward if you weren't... Well...only partially. Mizik is your husband and I'm also a girl..."

"Of course I am. I can't go out in public without underwear on, can I?" Isabella said as she began taking her shirt off.

I also removed mine as well.

As soon as they were off, we put them in our inventories and Iris stared at my chest.

"What the hell happened to you!? Are you a torture victim or something? You look...manly..." Iris said as she wiped a bit of drool off of her mouth.

"I...uh...yeah, actually. Isabella's sister did this to me. Also, I'm fifteen. Doesn't that make me a kid here?" I said awkwardly.

Iris started coughing be looking away from me.

"Did I say manly!? I meant...umm...oh geez that's awkward... I was just making a joke...oh..." Iris said as she looked over at Isabella.

Her expression went from nervous awkwardness to indignant rage as she glared at Isabella's chest.

"Is there a problem?" Isabella asked.

Oh crap...I forgot something...

"Tch, why would there be a problem, huh? are you trying to say something, Isabella? Just because you have so much extra useless fat on your chest!?" Iris hissed.

"Are you upset because someone might mistake you for a boy due to being as flat as a wall?" Isabella retorted angrily.

Iris gritted her teeth in rage.

Damn it, Bravery...

"You...fat bimbo! How dare you! How does a stupid girl like you have such big boobs and I don't!? I'm a goddess! I should have big ones too!!!"

Isabella mockingly puffed her chest and sneered at her.

"I don't know what a bimbo is, but I'm not fat as you can plainly tell. I'm well endowed. Just enough to make my husband happy. You, on the other hand, seem to have trouble getting Dante's attention because of your...lack of assets," She said.

"I...you....uwaaaaaaa!!!!" Iris started crying as she dropped to her knees.

"You might have overdone it, Isabella..." I said.

"Eh...maybe... But she has no excuse to insult my size! Is not my fault they grew so much..."

"Waaaaaah!! Dante doesn't love me! He won't notice that I like him because I'm flat!This is so unfair! Why can't I just make them bigger!?!? I'm a goddess after all..." Iris wailed.

"Umm...there there..." Isabella said while gently patting Iris' shoulder. "I'm sorry about what I said. My sword makes me blurt things out sometimes..."

"It's okay... I'm sorry too... I just really love Dante...but he won't notice me... He...he sees me as a mother! I want him to love me, but I can't get his attention!" Iris said.

He did look pretty uncomfortable when you were hugging him...

"Umm...how long has this been going on...?" I asked.

"Two thousand years," Iris said with a straight face.

We both stared in shock at Iris.

"HOW DENSE IS THIS GUY!?" I shouted.

"Really....really dense..." Iris said.

Dante is extremely old, but he looks like he's around thirty-five...

"Well...I would like to help but...I kind of want to put my shirt back on as well.." Isabella said meekly.

"I'll accept your help and your apology! Let's get this over with now!" Iris said as she instantly stood up and smiled.

That was fast...

"So here's how this works, I place my finger at where your heart is and draw out a fragment of your soul. Then I can begin to manifest your Aspects using that fragment. Depending on how long it takes them to manifest, your power will vary."

"How long will that take?" I asked.

"Like I said, it depends. Your compatibility is key here. You two both have absurdly high compatibility soooooo...it could take quite a while. In the mean time, I have to work diligently to ensure a proper manifestation. Despite my personality, you can trust me on this!"

"Very well then. We are ready whenever," Isabella said.

Iris placed one of each of her index fingers over our hearts.

Her eyes began radiating a golden color as I felt something shift in my body. Or was it outside my body?

I couldn't tell.

There was a stabbing pain all of a sudden and Iris slowly began to retract her fingers from our chests.

A long thread of silvery energy was drawn out of us and condensed into a ball that she held in each hand.

"Isabella...I'm not sure why, but for some reason your soul is horribly scarred. It seems to be missing pieces. Do you know why?" Iris asked quizzically.

Crap...that's a tough one to explain... The Black Ooze did that to her!

"My apologies, Iris. I had a run in with the Demon King's army in Avernia. They tried to infect me with his dark plague that was sweeping the landscape. Mizik was able to protect me but...I'm missing parts of my soul as a result," Isabella lied.

Once again, her acting and quick thinking were on point. She truly was a genius.

Iris raised and eyebrow at this and continued eying Isabella.

"A...plague you say...? What sort of plague could do this to a person...?" Iris asked.

"It's complicated..." I said.

"This Demon King...what is his name?" Iris asked.

"We don't know. He never told us his name. Actually we never had the chance to meet him in person," Isabella said.

"Any titles he goes by?" Iris asked.

I glanced at Isabella and she shot me a worried look.

"He's called...the Source. If that makes any sense," I said.

Iris shook her head confusingly.

"That's strange. That isn't a title you usually hear for a Demon King, but... Well, I'll mention it to my superiors. If Avernia has been taken over by a Demon King, they might attempt to transfer a hero to that world in order to save it," she said.

"Transfer...?" I asked.

"That's a very long subject to get into. I would prefer not to discuss it. Besides, that sort of thing isn't my job anyway. Although, learning about this 'Source' will probably be something I'm interested in..." Iris said.

"Well, we would like to get revenge on him one day for what he did to our world. So anything you could learn might be helpful to us," I said.

"Of course. Would you like to explain the situation to the others?" Iris asked.

"No. Leave them out of it for now. This is our battle," I said.

Iris simply nodded and looked at the two fragments of our souls in her hands.

"Hey, Mizik... Your soul is a bit strange too," Iris said.

"How so...?" I said.

I was a bit worried, but I tried to compose myself.

"Hmm...I'm not sure. It feels really familiar. Like I've seen it somewhere before. You haven't been to Ignitus in the past, have you?" Iris said.

I vaguely recalled something similar to the feelings I got a long time ago, but it faded instantly. Suddenly, I couldn't remember anything at all.

Nothing except those words again, that is.

My status menu glitched red again...but at this point, I had no reaction. I was certain that it was a hallucination. Likely from the severe amount of stress I had been dealing with since losing my father.

{Kill them all.

      Burn it down.}

I shook my head.

I'd been hearing those words faintly in my head on occasion for a long time...on top of seeing them all over the status menu whenever a glitch happened. I assumed I was just going crazy.

"No idea. I don't think I've ever left Avernia before. You might just be imagining things," I said.

"Maybe. It just feels like I've done this before. Weird sense of deja vu, I guess. Anyways..."

Iris held up the fragments of our souls.

"From what I can tell, your souls are amazing. I've never seen compatibility like this in all my years. This is truly spectacular!"

"So, do you have any idea how long it'll take our power to manifest?" I asked.

"Hard to say...but my current estimate is about...three years. And even that could be generous..." Iris said.

"Th-three years!? What are we supposed to do in that time!? And why so long!?" I said frantically.

We don't have that kind of time! We have to be ready in case the Black Ooze follows us!

"Sorry Mizik, but I don't make the rules. This is just how it is. I can't rush it. Otherwise, I could break you two."

"Three years is kind of a long time, right?" Isabella asked.

"Maybe, but like I said before, the greater your power, the longer it'll take. Dante's took over a year and a half to fully manifest. By default, that means you two will individually be almost twice as strong as he is. I'm getting super excited just thinking about it!"

"Well, what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" I asked.

"I already thought of that. First, I'll grant you two a blessing that will allow you to speak without a language barrier. Next, you'll be granted citizenship and rights. Lastly, you'll be enrolled in a school to teach you about our world," Iris said.

"School? Isn't that for rich people? Only nobles have that kind of privilege." I said.

"Schooling is granted to the general public on Ignitus. There is no elite class like a monarchy or aristocracy. Meaning everyone has the same opportunities. At least in Arcadia, that is."

Isabella groaned.

"I don't want to do studies again! I hate that! Ugh...why..." She said dejectedly.

"Don't worry, it's only until you learn about our world. And if you're concerned about it, I'll pull some strings and ensure that you and Mizik end up in the same classes. Preferably sitting next to one another too...right?" Iris said.

"Yay! That should be fine then. As long as Mizik is with me, I don't mind. Although...I have one other request..." Isabella said.

"Please," Iris said with a smile.

"Michael told us that we're too young to be legally recognized as a married couple. We have documents to prove it, even if they are written in Avernian. But we want to be recognized," Isabella said firmly.

"Why not just wait a few years and get married again? Wouldn't that be romantic?" Iris asked.

"Well, considering that the last time we were married, Mizik almost died, I don't want to risk it," Isabella said nervously.

I sincerely doubt Arvild will crash our wedding again, but once is more than enough for me.

"I...see. Well then. I'll put in an order to request a marriage certificate for the both of you. You'll have to sign a few things, but it shouldn't be a problem. Even if you can't write in our language, that is. Don't worry, being a goddess has it's perks."

"Thank you, Iris. Once again, I apologize for insulting you earlier."

"Think nothing of it. And I'm sorry for calling you fat. And for calling you a bimbo...and stupid...."

"I still don't know what a bimbo is, but...thank you?" Isabella said.

"Don't mention it. Now then, I'll apply the language blessing."

The two fragments of our souls disappeared and Iris placed her fingers over our hearts again.

I felt a small vibration within my head and got dizzy for a moment.

After that, she retracted her hands.

"That restriction is lifted. You two can go now. Talk to Dante, he'll get you started on the legal crap."

We both bowed our heads to Iris and put our shirts back on. After that, we headed back out of the room. Iris stayed behind.

Thoughts of our futures danced in our minds as we exited the hallway into the previous room.