Celestial Plateau

"Um, just to be sure, I only have to activate the skill and wait, right?" Rakna asked Ceresta as they all stood outside the mansion of his territory.

"Yes," the AI nodded softly. "It is not exactly an ability, after all. It is a privilege. The System grants it to you once you call upon it."

"Well, here goes nothing," the therian and opened his hand. "[Celestial Gate,]" he intoned and an abnormal type of runic formation appeared above his palm. It wasn't quite a magical formation and had plenty of numerical symbols and geometrical shapes.

On cue, the air of the underground territory began to converge toward his location as a distortion of light was forming in front of him. Within a few seconds, the wind settled down and a large gate materialized where the blur was. It was made of gold and marble, releasing sickening amounts of divinity.

Rakna shuddered despite himself, almost in disgust. "I can feel my flames rattling," he uttered and waved his arm as if trying to shake off an uncomfortable numbness. His Ardent Soul flared at the tip of his fingers for a split second and he huffed. "I've felt this before but… pure divinity gives me the chills for some reason."

Nyx smiled faintly at his side. "It's because it is not pure," she retorted and he raised an eyebrow at her. "Think; do you have the same opinion about mine?"

"…now that you say it, no."

"Pure divinity is what I have, refined to perfection. But most lower Gods possess a mix of divinity and mortality. In a way..." She squinted her eyes at him. "That unpleasantness you suffer is because you have something purer than even them. Now even more so since your soul burns both divinity and infernity to fuel its flames. Strictly speaking, it's a natural reaction to be wary of pollution."

Rakna mused as he looked at the Celestial Gate. For a moment, he had an idea but decided against testing it on something he was going to use. "Anyway, all of you are coming?" He asked everyone around him, Lucrecia included, who was quietly standing with her arms crossed.

"Consider my presence as official cooperation between you and the Clan," she said. "Whatever the Mad God has to say, I will relay it back. Fin would have been more suited, but since you're going, I better tag along. With the Eternal Maiden, Karaskan might be interested enough to speak more."

Hans scoffed. "It is not her among us who will catch his interest," he rebuked and Lucrecia scowled at him.

"What do you mean?" She questioned and he shrugged, not deigning to answer.

"You'll see," Higure told her. "But just keep quiet about it unless he decides to reveal it."

Lucrecia eyed her suspiciously and naturally switched attention to Rakna. He was the only other person here that she could be referring to. 'Does he have something to do with Karaskan…?'

"All right then, let's go," the therian announced and touched the doors of the gate. Promptly, they trembled loudly and slowly opened up to them, a stream of light pouring out as if water. One after another, they entered and the gate closed behind them.

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You have stepped into the Celestial Plateau!

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The metaphysical stability of your surroundings has been set to its highest value. Beware of the environment as it may harm you if you are not careful.

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The residents of the Celestial Plateau are prohibited from harming guests unless they wish to incur severe punishment. However, any act of hostility made toward them will result in permission to retaliate.

The upper limit of such self-defense will be equivalent to the intention of the attacker. Shall the guest strike with murderous intent, the Celestial shall be allowed to kill them in return.

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❮ ◈ ❯

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"This…" Rakna pressed his temple in discomfort as his sight began to show him colors that didn't match the view. It lasted a moment before Eye of Symphony spun and cleared up his vision. There was also a strange heaviness in his body, but it didn't feel like a difference in gravity.

He turned around toward his group and noticed that a few of them were having a similar reaction to it. But they seemed to be better off than him somehow. Higure, Nyx, and Lucrecia were visibly acting fine, while Ceresta briefly had a frown until she manually calibrated her senses. Even Hans was unperturbed, merely grunting. All in all, only Pronos seemed to be as discomforted as him.

The lioness noticed his gaze and smiled. "The jump in metaphysical stability can be hard to adapt to if it's too steep. You feel heavier, but it's essentially just you requiring more power to navigate in this place. I once lived in the upper Plateaus, so it's easy for me. As I'm sure it is for Lucrecia as well," she added, to which the she-wolf nodded.

Nyx followed up, "It's similar to aura, only that it is produced by the land itself instead of a living being. It raises all aspects of durability by many folds. I'm accustomed to it, and to even stronger ones than this. It's not a problem."

"In my case, I simply have a unique power," Hans declared dryly.

"Likewise… I think," Ceresta tilted her head.

"…for once, I'm the underdog," Rakna muttered to himself and they snickered. He then finally took a better look at the scenery and hummed. "Still, this is quite normal… well, except that," he said as his eyes inevitably landed on a giant tree located at the center of the meadow they were in.

That singular tree felt taller than most mountains the therian had ever seen. Aside from that, the rest of the plain was as normal as it gets. Though focusing just a bit, Rakna quickly spotted various changes in terrain far in the distance. Some looked aflame, frozen, flooded, or stormy.

"This place is divided into private regions for each God," Ceresta explained. "A territory is shaped by its owner, and its size increases based on how powerful they are. I don't know where we are currently, but this meadow seems to belong to at least a Quasi-Ancient God."

"This is… odd," Lucrecia commented. "From experience, entering the Celestial Plateau places you in a neutral zone."

"That's true in most cases," Ceresta nodded. "However, if the Gate caster has a prior connection to one of the Gods, and the latter agrees to their presence, then they will appear here."

"A prior connection…? In this context, who would that even—?" Before Rakna could finish, a gust of wind blew past them and a shadow covered the sun for a short second. They looked up and saw a giant eagle fly above them and land nearby.

"We meet again, young wolf," the creature spoke with an audible smirk. "Was my heart tasteful?"

Rakna first blinked in surprise before letting out a huff in amusement. "I had better, honestly. But it wasn't all that bad," he joked and the eagle chuckled.

"I see that much has changed in you as well. Good, growth is praiseworthy."

"You're… the Divine Avatar from the Tutorial, right?" Nyx asked hesitantly. "Aquila?"

"Indeed," the divine being nodded. "Whom you stand before at the moment is my true self. So, it is a pleasure to meet you, finally," he bowed his head as a gesture of goodwill. "However, rather than me, there is someone else more eager to meet you."

Rakna didn't even need to ask, already sensing a terribly powerful presence approaching. He bent his neck to look up and an eagle even larger than Aquila with gilded wings landed in front of them in a spiral of wind. He could smell the divinity wafting off in waves, yet… his aura felt inexistent.

It was as if this creature belonged to a world he couldn't reach; incapable of being sensed, for his power was far too great for mortals to consciously grasp.

"Hahaha, so it is you, the wolfwalker who laughed," the God greeted cheerily and leaned his head forward, stretching his neck to look at the group closer with his golden eyes. "Hm… what a ragtag gathering of unique individuals," he said in a teasing tone and glanced at Lucrecia. "Oh? You… have we met before?"

The Wolf Matriarch respectfully lowered her head. "I believe so, yes, Lord Garuda. It was several years ago; our Clan visited this Plateau for our young to earn a chance to be blessed."

"Aah, I remember," he nodded. "A few of us went to see you out of curiosity. But as I remember, it was only one of you that received a blessing, no?"

Lucrecia smiled wryly. "Yes, sir. It was me."

"Hahaha," Garuda laughed. "No wonder then. Was it Rajudra? Ah, no, it was Aeolus, wasn't it? You carry the color of the storms with you."

"It is as you say."

"Mhm," the Eagle God nodded twice and then turned toward Rakna. "And there you are. You have intrigued me quite a bit ever since I heard of you. Not to mention, I ought to thank you for giving me such a good laugh," he cackled. "How funny it was for Aquila over here to come to me and say that one of the seedlings had consumed one of his clones and stolen a part of his divinity."

Aquila sighed exasperatedly. "Yes, Lord Garuda… it was incredibly funny, you've made it clear."

"Well, as long as you're not out to kill me for it," Rakna jested.

"Haha, of course not. I respect your achievement," Garuda smiled. "It was nothing serious. Aquila regenerated the divinity he lost to you in about a day anyway."

"Good to hear," Rakna hummed. "Though, you mentioned 'the wolfwalker who laughed'… is there something I'm missing here?"

The Eagle God chuckled. "Don't worry, I was referring to a wave of power we felt not long ago. It felt quite chaotic and malicious… no, a more accurate description would be 'wicked'," he narrowed his eyes at the therian. "Like a man taking the world down to the grave with him while laughing."

The corners of Rakna's mouth twitched upward. 'The Origin Explosion… He perfectly grasped the nature of 'The Last Laugh' from all the way here…' He snorted. "I see. I didn't expect it to reach even this Plateau."

"Hm, I understand your surprise," Garuda nodded. "But the truth of the matter is that the System is nothing more than a dimensional hive. Everything inside of it is connected to some extent."

"A hive, huh?" The therian mused. "Then, would it technically be possible to strike targets that are located on a completely different Plateau as long as the attack pierces through the hive's layers?"

Garuda and Aquila actually blinked at the suggestion. The former used his wing to rub his beak in thought. "I… perhaps?" He tilted his head.

"With enough raw power and the appropriate method, the idea might go somewhere. But chances are, the attack would die out during the 'travel'. Even I do not possess such raw power. If you wish to make it viable, it would be easier to place beacons in each of the Plateaus involved. I, for sure, could do it if a believer of mine called upon my name with faith as the beacon."

The Eagle God considered the thought seriously while Rakna's companions looked at the latter in utter disbelief. "What kind of horribly unfair ability are you trying to invent here?" Higure asked in a blank tone and he shrugged.

On the other hand, Garuda laughed heartily. "That's how you should do it! Break the mold; let your wings be free," he expressed. "Always go beyond what you can see, and always try to see beyond where you can go."

Rakna smiled. "Thanks for the compliment, I guess."

"Hahaha, you're welcome," the Eagle God grinned. "But now, if I may ask… what is the purpose of your visit to this Plateau?"