After delivering a brief explanation on energy cores, Arthur paused, pondering his next move. He wanted to absorb a divine spark fragnt to boost his strength, but he knew he needed the right one.
"Deity realms are beings who can crush planets in their palms and pluck stars out of the night sky.
Any random fragnt of one's divine spark might have Transcendent level energy...that's over my limit."
He eyed the fragnt in Artemisia's hand, but quickly realized it was too small.
"That might be enough for you but not for , I need sothing bigger."
"Enough for ?"
When Artemisia parroted his words with a confused ga, Arthur raised a brow and questioned her.
"You don't want to absorb so?"
"…"
"godslayers can get stronger by absorbing Divine sparks, but so can gods. After all, divinity is the signature energy of the god race.
You and Beatrix should carefully find a fragnt you can absorb."
Both goddesses nodded after hearing his explanation, understanding that while they could absorb the divinity, it wouldn't improve all their Existential Aspects as it would for Arthur.
Still, it would boost their energy reserves, pushing them to the limit of the Epic Level and possibly Legendary level while also providing so physical reinforcent.
Evan, noticing he was the only one left out, asked.
"What about ?"
Hearing Evan's question, Arthur's expression darkened.
"Never EVER try to absorb Divinity into your Dragon Heart, Evan. NEVER in your life."
Arthur's voice carried a grave undertone and he surprised them with the way he warned Evan against divinity.
"Why?"
Evan's curiosity was understandable, but when Arthur heard him, he pointed at Artemisia beside them and asked.
"Is she stupid?"
"...what?'
Confusion clouded their faces but Arthur ignored them and looked at Artemisia before repeating the sa question.
"Does she seem stupid to you?"
"...no."
When Evan replied, Arthur nodded to agree with him.
"Exactly, she's not stupid now and the her of 10,000 years later isn't stupid either.
Now, I want you to think carefully about why she chose to keep her divinity outside your body and not inside."
His words reminded Arthur of Future Artemisia's Divinity that lingered on him 24/7.
"She realised that you and divinity are incompatible. Very incompatible. If you try to put Divinity in your body, your body will reject it.
If you try to force it, then it'd be better to jump into a Volcano as that'd kill you faster."
Arthur then eyed Evan thoughtfully, while muttering under his breath.
"The current you might survive the insides of a Volcano though..."
"I'd survive WHAT?"
Evan's retort could not be held back and Arthur just shrugged upon hearing it, amused.
"You play with flas; lava wouldn't harm you much."
"Wouldn't harm much?! This is a Volcano we're talking about."
A second later, Evan shook his head, refocusing on the main topic.
"We're not talking about Volcanoes in the first place but Divinity."
That made Arthur refocus as well and his expression grew serious again.
"Just never try to absorb Divinity, okay?"
"...okay."
Evan backed down under the pressure Arthur released and responded, returning the usual bright smile to the teen godslayer's face.
With that settled, Arthur turned back to his search, finally spotting a fragnt with the perfect amount of energy.
Arthur eyed the fist-sized fragnt, realizing it held just enough energy to push his power capacity beyond its current limit.
"That one seems nice..."
He crossed his arms, his palm open and facing the ground as he spoke.
"I want that one."
He was rely expressing his preference and wanted to walk over to it when suddenly, his Progenitor Authority reacted.
It had been starving, and now Arthur said he wanted sothing it considered food, power flowed from him.
Before anyone could react, the fragnt Arthur specified shot through the air, landing directly in his open palm.
"..."
"..."
Silence fell as the two goddesses, noticing the flash, turned toward him. Evan, already facing Arthur, saw the fragnt hit Arthur's hand without warning.
Finally, Arthur silently looked at the fragnt in his palm.
"I was going to collect you...but for later! Why'd you enter my hand now?"
As Arthur spoke to the fragnt in his hand, Beatrix let out a laugh, but it quickly died as her expression shifted to alarm. Her eyes flashed, her face paling rapidly.
"Guys...we should get out of here now."
"?"
Artemisia glanced over with a confused frown, but Beatrix didn't hesitate, reaching for her friend's arm while keeping her gaze locked on Arthur.
"We need to leave his vicinity."
**KPAKK!!
The sound snapped their attention to the fragnt in Arthur's palm. Calmly, he spoke, though his words sounded more like a warning.
"You should do what she says."
**CCCRACKAKAKA!!!
Another ominous noise tore through the air. Artemisia seized both Beatrix and Evan by their hands and, with no more hesitation, sprinted in the opposite direction.
In the instant that followed, the crystal in Arthur's hand detonated, releasing its energy with the force of a nuclear blast.
***KABOOOMM!!!!
Shock waves rippled outward, sending the three of them flying, as the explosion's raw power overwheld their retreat.
A pitch-black surge of divinity swirled around Arthur, absorbing the blast's fury.
A vortex of power spiralled skyward, then arced back down, slamming into Arthur with crushing force.
Yet, through all the blasts and surging energy, the Titan god's armour beneath him remained untouched, without so much as a scratch. Only the scattered fragnts on the floor felt the shockwaves, blown away by the force.
Seeing Arthur enveloped by a cocoon of silver energy, the other three who'd just managed to pick themselves up after being blown away by the blast watched in silence.
"Um….is he surpassing the Legendary Level or sothing? What's with all the fanfare…?"
Evan asked and Artemisia infused power into her eyes, scanning the cocoon and nodding.
"He is."
Hearing this, Beatrix's expression turned difficult.
"How long is this going to take? Arthur has a high power capacity and Existence Realm power increases are always exponential. His body is going to have to rework itself to fit all that new power…"
That sounded like sothing that was going to take a while.
"If it takes longer than an Hour, then we might have to go back and let Alvey and McEnda know."
Evan muttered under his breath and the other two agreed.
Fortunately, they didn't need to wait that long as in under five minutes, Arthur's evolution was complete.
The silver cocoon shattered, fragnts scattering only to dissolve and flow into Arthur's body.
He floated down, landing softly on his knees, his head bowed and his wings draping around him like a shield. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled, releasing a silver mist that settled in a monochro aura within a five-ter radius, halting ti's passage.
"Give a few seconds."
He murmured, eyes still closed. Silence lingered for thirty seconds, then he opened his eyes and rose to his feet.
"That's a wrap."
He extended his right hand, and one of the divine spark fragnts soared into his grasp. As he held it, his body and Progenitor Authority remained unreactive, just as he anticipated.
Arthur had reached his current limit. His vessel was full and the next step was to gather the power needed to shatter this limit and ascend to his next level.
But first, he needed to allow his existence to acclimate to this new level of power.
Just like a motor needing to cool down after overheating, after a breakthrough in power, one's body requires a period to cool down so it can avoid breaking down.
In cases where one jumps multiple stages or realms of power; the bigger the jump, the longer the cool-down ti needed.
Non-standards like Evan and Arthur usually have shorter cool-down tis, but it's still there nonetheless; they could not escape the need for it.
It was an unavoidable step in the path of power, ensuring that each breakthrough led to sustained strength rather than a fleeting surge.
"Now then, I need to think about how I'd carry this thing with ."
Arthur glanced back at the massive divine spark, summoning the Staff of Olympian Authority and raising it toward the spark.
Nothing happened.
"I expected this as well."
He'd tried to pull the divine spark into his subspace, using the Staff's power, but its sheer weight—filled with Deity-Level energy—was beyond his mortal capacity to store.
"You want to take this thing with you?"
Artemisia approached, trying to gauge Arthur's power level but coming up empty. Evan tried appraising him as well, only to be t with a simple ssage:
[Unable to Appraise.]
"Yeah. Finders, keepers.
If I can absorb all the power inside this, I'm guaranteed at least, the Mid-Tier Deity Realm."
Arthur replied, eyeing the spark greedily. The issue was moving it, he couldn't shift it by an inch. Even the scattered fragnts held too much energy for his subspace.
"I need to get the help of a Deity.
Preferably soone with a Spatial Authority who can help isolate it in a way that its 'weight' would be reduced to the level I can carry in my subspace."
Hearing his condition, Beatrix and Artemisia exchanged glances, before Beatrix suggested.
"Um…maybe I can ask my mum?"
"Hmm? Oh, right. Your mother is the Main Entity governing Space."
Arthur nodded, though he wondered if she'd agree. Personally, he wasn't keen on getting physically close to any god Kings and Queens so he was actually thinking he'd ask a Demon King.
"Hold the thought.
Let Evan and I get back from the Summit first."
When Arthur ntioned the Summit—Gozon's Annual Interstellar Summit, Evan raised a brow in surprise as he didn't expect that he was going too.
"I'm following you?"
"Alvey has already reported your existence to McEnda II, and knowing that guy's personality, there's no way he wouldn't want to see you.
So even if we go to Gozon without you, he'd send us back to get you."
Arthur said with a shrug and before Evan could respond, he added,
"Worst case scenario, he'd co over and get you himself."
"!"
Evan froze. That was a scenario he wanted to avoid at all physically and spiritually possible costs.
'A Demon King coming over just for would throw massive star-sized spotlights on and I don't want or need that.'
As he thought this uneasily, he sensed sothing flying toward him and reflexively caught it—a fist-sized cube with the Chief Priest frozen inside. Looking at Arthur who threw it, he asked.
"Why?"
"Kill him and get the EXP you need to beco a Legendary. I've loosened the seal so just break it on the ground and I'd release him."
"…that's awfully nice of you."
Evan wasn't just referring to this, but Arthur's help in their earlier battle, where he'd weakened level 700 foes, allowing them to land the finishing blows and gain more EXP.
He'd done the sa thing he did for Evan for Beatrix and Artemisia too.
"I have my reasons for wanting you guys to be as strong as possible.
Besides, we're the sa."
Arthur's words held an unsettling implication, one that made Artemisia suspicious. She rembered his talk of Parallel Paths, linking her, Beatrix, and Evan to so larger purpose.
'It's also why he wanted us to remain on Aramis in the first place despite initially not caring…'
It felt like Arthur was preparing them for sothing, but she knew that if she asked him, she wouldn't get the answers she wanted.
Though she knew Arthur wouldn't give her answers if she pressed, she acknowledged the benefits of his company. Ironic, perhaps, since he was a godslayer—but he'd helped her hone her divinity and power control.
As such, she decided to be grateful for that.
"Thank you."
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