An Elder in Despair

Devoid of any particular earthling or entity, the realm was shrouded in darkness. A combination of mist and dark arcs of lightning hovered around, giving no room for the naked eye to see. The aura emanating from the whole path was suffocating enough to incapacitate in one go, especially if an earthling were present.

Rasmus suddenly appeared. Its gear-covered body could be seen in one piece. Dark shadow-like substances dissipated from behind it, a clearing of the mist made right in front of it. It immediately went down on a knee, a hand on the other knee as it bowed its head toward a direction.

The direction it was facing had something extraordinary exuding from it. It was the main source of the lightning arcs, generating an unprecedented energy to the whole realm. Something like a shadow was beneath the source of the arcs, far darker than the void realm itself.

"My lord, I am here." Rasmus said in an obeisant tone, one that has never been heard from it.

"Arise, my brave subordinate!" A domineering voice resounded throughout the entire realm, a rough tone by the edge, stating the words slowly. It alternated from different angles but was actually produced from the source of the arc.

Rasmus stood upright but still had its head bowed.

"What do you have for me this time?" The voice from the source came out deeper than before.

"Reports, my lord," Rasmus finally had its head up as it looked directly at the source. "I think I might have found the chosen one."

"Have you? Good. So, who is it?"

"Ryan Stones!"

"What!?" the voice thundered, "That cannot be possible! Leigh Dickson should be the one. He possesses more qualities of such and this is made predictable from the previous timeline. How can it then be attributed to Ryan Stones?"

"That, I presumed too. But there was something I perceived from Ryan Stones that I could not perceive from Leigh Dickson no matter how hard I tried. Ryan Stones had a strange demeanor to his person and I could not even get to access his inner system, something that I have never encountered before with a mere mortal. It felt more or less like the vision blockage put in place by the—"

"I forbid you to mention that name here!"

Rasmus hastily bowed its head again. "Apologies, my lord." It said.

"Go on. Tell me what really makes you believe he is the one."

"He was able to see through the disguise I put up on the host. He discerned the physical features even with the force of manipulation made present. Such has never happened before. My power seemed to have been totally useless in that aspect."

"Did that happen with the other mortals at that time?"

"No, my lord. This is more reason why I think he is the chosen one."

"Hmph. We need to find out if he is truly the one. You already know what to do in any situation like this as I have prepared you for such," A groan could be heard from the unseen entity after the words were uttered.

"Yes, I do."

"My presumption might have been wrong, and so might have yours. Like before, we might have been deceived again by those rotten power holders. But not to worry because this time, we will show them what power surge we now possess." A groan escaped the voice of the entity again.

"Urrgh... it has been hours now, almost a day at best, but I am still finding it difficult to replenish my life force. I never knew infusing my energy to create the rest of the main cores would take such a great toll. However, I can feel it somewhere. The hyper-core is working. And soon, I shall get back double of my life force."

Rasmus bowed its head once more and began vanishing slowly from the realm. "For a greater cause, my lord."

"Yes," the voice said, "for a greater cause!"

.....

The realm of nowhere.

"Permit me to speak, my lord,"

"Speak, Lucian!"

The voice of the supreme being instructed the being standing right in front of the sight-blinding light. The being, with its head slightly bowed, was dressed in a white robe with a gold plate around the neck and a cloak behind it. It was the celestial elder called Lucian of the Heavenlies.

"I believe the host is in danger of being attacked," the elder announced, its folded hands trembling in fear of its own statement.

"Attacked? Who would dare try to harbor such thought toward him?"

"That has been the problem, my lord. We do not know who or what might be attempting to instigate the attack but the present path of the host screams danger."

"Are you sure of what you utter or is that only an assumption from your jurisdiction?"

"No, my lord," the elder shook its head. "An untimely aura could be felt when Apollo, my direct subordinate, was with him at one time. That was when the host made a trip to a certain mortal for some uncertainties. The aura, although not too provocative, had a deadly vibe to it which Apollo made to intricate back to the jurisdiction. And truly, by the time I personally made use of the suppressor, it was a deadly vibe."

"What do you really want, Lucian? Why are you really here? State your reasons now!"

The elder trembled in fear. As expected of the all-knowing, there was nothing that could be hidden. It had a specific reason for its visit but an attempt to strike out the words seemed to be a bit elusive for it to say.

"For– Forgive me for saying this bu– but I think it is time we reveal my direct subordinate to the host." The elder uttered the words incoherently, expecting a thunderous reply from the overall lord. But the answer it got caused it to be totally dumbstruck, almost looking up in the process to confirm if there was another entirely different entity present in the realm.

"And you believe that is the right to do?" A calm voice came out in reply, questioning the speculation of the elder.

Several milliseconds passed before Lucian got a hang of itself. "I believe so, my lord."

"Why?"

"Dalki. The power of the aura felt like the one harnessed by the jurisdiction of Dalki. I cannot help but think that the host has been found out already which also prompts me to think he should begin his teaching on understanding the whole concept behind his rebirth."

The bright light overhead moved from the spot, inching a bit closer to the elder before it stopped. In a louder voice, the supreme being spoke, "What if I told you the greatest ploy of Dalki in getting rid of the host is doing the same thing I instructed you to do from the initial stage?"

The elder's jaw dropped as it seemingly came to a realization. "A rebirth?"

"Yes."

"But how? He does not possess either of the other main cores in his jurisdiction. And the Transmigration core which he possesses has a seventy percent chance of the mortal being used on to take on a persona in an alternate universe. Even then, it cannot effect the full task of the rebirth. Is there a tendency of him being able to recreate the other cores?" Lucian reasoned.

"You are right," the supreme being affirmed, "he has no possession of the main cores asides the one he possesses. But remember that what can be built by one can as well be built by all. You, for one, might be the master keeper and builder of the Time Manipulation core but that does not mean it cannot be achieved by another second order entity of the Heavenlies. And Dalki, being the vicious one, will definitely go as far as creating one himself."

"I understand. But the activation? It is something only you, my lord, can program. Is there any way Dalki can also create one?"

"Lucian, as long as the activation is made on at anytime, it can be tapped from any source in the Heavenlies. Even by Dalki. He might have been unable to activate the core in time to complete the 49 days of ascension, but that will not affect anything. What you need to do now is to find out who Dalki used the core on. However, I am sure you will get hold of that information in time."

"I hope to, my lord."

"The vision blockage, after the rebellion, did you put it out in place as instructed?" The supreme being asked.

"Yes, I did as instructed."

"Then have no fear, my humble servant. As long as the energy of the vision blockage keeps on withholding, Dalki will never get his hands on the host no matter how hard he tries. Just ensure your subordinate does not reveal his aura lest something goes amiss."

The elder bowed its head more. "Your message, I will relay, my lord."

Just before the light completely demitted, the supreme being said, "Lucian, until I summon you, do not show yourself here. I am counting on you to make things right. Make sure you do not fail me!"