Chapter 81

Raymond's "voice" continues to ring through the air and resonate in my ears. The sudden revelation that Raymond's connection to Isaiah Walls stems deeper than what I'd originally thought, and that Raymond could've possibly been spinning the gears the whole time only seemed to worsen my nerves.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

Suddenly the sun-charm began to vibrate again, and the necklace that Raymond was wearing began to shake as well. This has obviously happened before, because but now I was starting to deduct countless options and truly uncover the reason.

"After the little bout we had in the council hall when I tried to steal and utilize the Apocalypse properties, the residual effects on my body also seemed to affect you. Then you summoned me and you to that realm, and that deity stole a fraction of my authority over Depravity."

"Now, since you were still up there when you witnessed that, and that you were a Seeker over Order 9, you were able to semi-accommodate a portion of the Authority I possess."

The sun-charm vibrated harder and faster as he continued to speak, and the necklace around his neck continued to shake as well, but he didn't pay it much mind. 

"One of the only reasons I even did this little game to begin with is because I simply grew tired of my mundane existence. I was able to place literal errors in the press, and once everyone read that they knew that someone stole an artifact a few months ago."

"I stole and harbored Isaiah's characteristics and became him, and I was able to collude with Aaron, who wasn't aware his true body had perished yet. So technically speaking he doesn't even know that Isaiah is dead, he thinks he's still alive, and that he's…his own person."

Raymond then took the necklace from around his neck and looked at it with curiosity.

"This was manufactured to secure one's true intentions, a makeshift protection to say the least. Didn't Aaron say something about how he had all the artifacts from Maxwells' failed ritual?"

My eyes widened, it was like Raymond was pulling information out of nowhere at this point. The teenage boy looked at me and rolled his eyes in amusement.

"I don't need the physical artifact, but rather the authorities and symbolism within it. Upon my studies of the previous epoch, this probably contains some aspects and characteristics of the Concealment path."

I watched Raymond grasp his hand into a fist, crushing the artifact with surprising strength. Suddenly the sun-charm in my hand exploded too, coating my palm and hands in a thin layer of red blood that gushed forth from the wounds of the blast.

"And now that I had Aaron stitch these 2 artifacts spiritual existence together, the divine protections of the sun-charm have left both our bodies."

Suddenly a vast array of glowing symbols filled the air around us, and they started to slowly enter Raymond's body, similar to what Kaden was doing after he sprouted from his Spiritual creature form. The authorities and symbols in the air continued to slowly enter his body, multiple characteristics and aspects of symbolism of the Concealment path, all concepts of hiding, evading and thief entering his soul and mind.

Suddenly the symbol on my forehead started to glow a dim red. All of the sudden, all of the authorities in the air shrank back, only the 2 of us were left there as the last scrap of power entered his body.

"It seems that your own properties were able to override the authority of another Routeway, even at order 8 the Apocalypse path has many secrets that I'm willing to uncover."

The tiny semblance of the Concealment authority that Raymond currently possessed made his pupils appear a blue-purple color. He reached his hand out and made a gesture. Suddenly, the environment around us started to change. The library around us began to dissipate and erode away like it was in a dust storm, and a large, blinding ray of sunlight shot through the darkness and melted everything it encountered, the rest of the library.

Me and Raymond ended up in a large area of gray fog, and below us was a black and white tiled floor. Raymond flicked his wrist and conjured up his thick book used to dictate the environment and rules.

"All corresponding authorities shall be opened completely for the next 10 minutes."

"I'd like to ask where we are, and why you brought me here."

Raymond chuckled lightly and stared upwards at the endless expanse of white and gray fog above us, a concept that stretched to an infinite height. A small smile tore at the corner of his lips as he glared back at me and chuckled.

"We're inside my own personal divine protection, Apocalypse. Once someone enters another person's divine protection, their own abilities are substantially depleted due to the overriding control the user doesn't possess."

He looked back at the floating book and sighed.

"That's why I dictated the current situation to allow you to manifest a part of, and or control a certain portion of the Concealment path, along with possibly all my other certain authorities in my body."

I suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of energy and pain flood my mind, and my thoughts erupted with a boom. Due to the sun-charm's depleted effects from its destruction, both of our bodies were left able to be damaged physically, mentally and spiritually. 

"I didn't come here to fight you, but rather to have a simple discussion about our current situation."

Suddenly a large wooden table appeared in his mindscape, along with 2 high backed chairs with 2 runes inscribed on either end of them. The chair closest to Raymond had the corresponding sigil of the Depravity and Concealment paths. On the back of the chair closest to me, the sigil of the Apocalypse manifested on the back of the chair. 

"The only reason I'm not dead right now is because I merely summoned it through history. The Apocalypse sigil on your chair is merely a projection, an aspect or corroding symbolism. It's really just for idle decoration."

I instinctually gazed back at the book, and noticed another rule written below the previous one; "The other users authorities have been shown, but won't act unless the user indicates it should be done."

I sat down in my chair and crossed my legs. Before me on the table was a placemat with a fork, spoon, a plate and a small teacup. On the plate stood a delicious looking steak. It leaked juices and oils that stained the white platter beneath it. 

"Now, I'd like to state that my philosophy stems deeper than one might think."

Raymond suddenly spoke up and folded his hands on the table, looking at me with a glare that matched his overall attitude.

"I already told you that just because I see humans as worthless doesn't mean I like to play around, and right now is clearly one of those stated instances. I did tell you I like to stir the stew and see what happens, right?"

He suddenly picked up his small spoon and began stirring some sugar into his tea with it mockingly, a small yet tedious smile on his face.

"But why choose us of all people, don't you have the rest of the people in Seraphis Kingdom to toy with?"

I picked up my teacup and drank a sip of tea while still looking at Raymond. He continued to glare at me, and his eyes suddenly widened when he saw the 2 horns on my head.

"You already accommodated a certain property I see, you seem to know what you're doing, Apocalypse."

He sipped his tea as he observed the 2 horns on my head with curiosity. His snarled eyes then narrowed as he put the teacup down and looked back towards the book. Raymond didn't continue the topic as he previously recalled.

"I've heard things about certain Routeways being channeled within certain sections of the world. The Depravity Routeway stems back billions of years when everything first came to be."

"A being few call the Sage of Depravity was stemmed off from the personalities of The Pathfinder. He wanted to collude with another being, one who was a half-mad version of the second strongest avatar of The Pathfinder; The Almighty One."

I felt a sudden rush of fear and concern cross my expression and gut.

"Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't it be safer to not? Aaron told me that certain existences in the cosmos would destroy me if even a mention of them is whispered."

"I do things with a purpose, Apocalypse."

He raised his head slightly and gazed at me with a glare of superiority. The corners of his lips curled up even more as I felt a cold rush move in the air.

"I want you to help me, Apocalypse. The original goal of the half-mad variant of The Almighty One and The Sage of Depravity was to fuse and become a Great Ancient One. Those beings transcend the paths and rule over the authorities and characteristics that they originally had."

"Why would you want to do such a thing?"

I asked, cutting into my steak with a curious flicker in my eyes. Raymond's smile grew a little more and he leaned in closer, using his left arm as a place for his head to rest on.

"To reach my pinnacle."

"Your pinnacle?"

The last mention of a pinnacle was earlier today when reading through Kaden's texts, he mentioned the same concept, although I needed some clarity on what it truly meant. 

"Explain, please."

Raymond's hands twisted and moved around, and the Depravity sigil on the back of his chair started to glow in a blackish purple color. The sigil leaked a purple liquid that oozed down the chair and onto the ground below. 

In the puddle of glowing purple liquid, an inscrutable darkness instantly surged over and started to take over the substance's essence and consciousness. Raymond looked down at the puddle and sighed.

"The portion of the Depravity authority and characteristics in my body that was taken from me were diminished greatly by that figure in the fog. With my semi-control over the Concealment path and its corresponding authorities and characteristics, I should be able to enact a certain ritual to end this grasp over my abilities."

"The pinnacle I mentioned earlier is defined as one who reaches Order 0 of their Routeway, and has full control over all of its symbolism, split branches, authorities and characteristics."

"One of the split branches of the Depravity Routeway just happens to be yours, Apocalypse. If we were to merge our bodies, souls, minds, and characteristics, we'd be able to both reach our pinnacles by conjoining our paths. And I'll be able to break myself free from that deity's control."

I took another big sip of my tea and spoke again, raising an eyebrow.

"You're saying this like you wanna do it now, Raymond."

Raymond nodded and laughed.

"That's because I do, Apocalypse."

Suddenly the book that Raymond had floated over to him. He stared at the rules written down and waved his hands, erasing the rules to make anew. 

"The other users' authorities have been shown, but won't act unless the user indicates it should be done."

He said out loud. Suddenly the symbol on the back of my chair glowed a bright red, and the tips of the small horns on my head glowed the same color. Raymond raised an eyebrow and bit into his steak.

"It appears your small semblance of authority over the Apocalypse routeway is trying to fully unleash itself. It must hurt a lot if it's only you holding it back."

I felt the veins in my head begin to bulge and combust at the same time. A large pounding sensation filled my entire body as the voices started to mutter things and chant loudly, almost like they were straight up screaming at me in either anger or warning.

Suddenly, red and black pillars shot up from behind my seat and all around the table. The pillars shot up to an infinite height, and the throne at the end of the room materialized a few meters from my chair. The sigil of the apocalypse formatted above us in the endless expanse, beaming down a large amount of dark, cosmic essence and energy.

Raymond, who seemed mostly unfazed by the current situation, stood up and approached the pillars that previously shot up from the ground, touching one with his hand. He then spoke in a solemn and interested voice, clearly reflecting his amazement with how I was able to do such a thing.

"You overrode my mindscape's mental fortitude and conjured up your own one within my mind, I'd say that's a rather impressive feat, Apocalypse. I did notice your sigil glowing during my process of absorbing the concealment characteristics, so it didn't take me by much surprise. I'd say I actually saw this coming."

He then turned to me and smiled coldly, making the hair on my body stick up like grass blades. Raymond waved his hand and conjured up the knife that was sitting on his desk in his room. The knife glistened with a black, green and purple energy.

"I laced this knife with my 3 authorities."

I took a few steps back, almost falling back into the tile floor. Raymond threw the knife into the air before catching it and looking back at me before speaking.

"I take it that the original intent of you wanting to kill me was because you wanted to enact this ritual with me? How could you have done it if you had no way to reach me."

Raymond suddenly chuckled loudly and waved his hand. Suddenly a thing, or a figure began to materialize before the both of us. It was dipped in black cosmic energy, and it emitted a cold and foreboding aura. 

2 horns formed on its head and the cosmic energy seeped into his body. The figure that Raymond just materialized was me, or a historical projection of myself that he created. Raymond approached his version of me and tapped it on the cheek playfully, making me flinch without saying a word.

"I would've just summoned a version of you through history, but since you still have that damn symbol on your forehead and you don't have full control over your given abilities yet, I would've had my entire existence shattered like that.

Raymond suddenly snapped his fingers, the clicking sound reverberating across the infinite expanse. 

"Or through memory I would have drawn the symbol on paper and tried to consume and digest its uniquenesses, but only one that's on a physical being works. I would've also drawn it on myself, but I would have died too."

"In conclusion, I need you here, at this moment, right now."

Raymond waved his hand again and cast away the version of me he created, before gazing back at me and smiling softly.

"What will it be, Apocalypse?"