B4 Chapter 25 - Teamwork (Patreon)

Questions immediately popped up in Vivi’s head. Most stemmed from her lack of knowledge. Shilman Fried studied her reaction, waiting for her to say something, while Vivi sat and thought.

She hadn’t heard of Freimar before now. Lucius hadn’t told her much about fifth elevation hunters, and she hadn’t studied, which was a mistake in retrospect. Shivenar had been a comfortable enough home that she didn’t feel the need to seek stronger hunters to sell her runeswords to. If anything, she was afraid of one of her creations ending in the wrong hands. And with Shivenar constantly gaining strength through inside-carving and new inventions, she hadn’t been concerned about studying possible opponents either.

As a result, “Freimar’s fifth elevation hunters” didn’t mean much to her. The phrase could have been common knowledge on the tenth level, but she’d never heard of it. She couldn’t know how many hunters were involved, nor what their chances of killing a god were.

If the remaining hunters were as strong as Shilman Fried, though, there was a chance Ythar was in real danger. It sounded like they had a plan already in action.

More importantly, Vivi herself was definitely in danger. If she wasn’t killed, her freedom would probably be stripped from her. Shilman wouldn’t let her walk home with her friends. She had to be careful with her words.

“Okay,” Vivi said calmly after the long pause.

That drew a grin to the archmage’s lips. “I was told that all human hunters worship their god. Many of whom I’ve killed have sworn that Ythar, the Fool God, would avenge them.”

“He won’t,” Vivi said.

Somehow, Shilman looked pleased as he spoke, like a wicked criminal explaining their plan with excruciating detail. “Ythar has many reasons to kill me, but his motive will certainly not be to avenge the death of an underling. You don’t seem to be afraid of his punishment either. You’re not fazed to hear we intend to kill him. Heretics like you are almost unheard of amongst the hunters’ ranks.”

I’m a heretic? Vivi thought. She never considered herself to be one, but now that it was mentioned, she couldn’t disagree. She had prayed under Ythar’s statue many times. She was forced to atone and apologize, and to thank him for providing safety on the surface. She’d performed the prayers as was asked, but thinking back, she’d never truly believed in any of the prayers she’d given. She appreciated safety, but more than that, she’d always, at the back of her head, despised Ythar for creating a village as cruel as hers.

“Worshiping Ythar is kind of a requirement,” Vivi said. “If humans don’t do it, they’ll be forced to prove their faith, or they’ll be exiled.” Or killed.

“But it’s always priests or zealots performing punishment,” Shilman said. “Ether hunters, as you call them. Ythar himself has not woken up to punish anyone in over a hundred years. In that regard, heresy is entirely acceptable.”

“I’m not a heretic on purpose,” Vivi said. “I just do what I want to do, and the humans usually don’t like that.”

“Indeed,” Shilman said. “Once the gods’ arbitrary rules are ignored, so much more can be accomplished. Much more strength can be obtained. Useless sovereigns can be overthrown.”

“Mm,” Vivi said, though she certainly didn’t agree with Shilman’s interpretation. When she said she did what she wanted to do, she referred to things like giving Senith a hug, which Ythar’s priests forbid because Senith was a demon. It wasn’t like she suddenly wanted to kill someone just because she wasn’t following Ythar’s rules.

“If I may ask,” Vivi said, “why are you hoping to kill him?”

“That’s an answer I cannot give,” Shilman said. “All of us have our own reasons. We share a mutual goal that we work toward. You, from the sound of it, also share qualms against Ythar.”

It sounds like he’s thinking of recruiting us, Vivi thought. That wasn’t good. She had never met Ythar. The God had been asleep for more than five times her lifespan now. None of the humans currently alive had met the god either.

Any bullying Vivi had lived through happened because she and Grandpa weren’t liked in Fellwater, and the shunning she received as a hunter happened because of the incident with her escaping. Nothing about that had happened because of Ythar, and nothing would be fixed by killing him. If anything, his death would probably lead to wars and bloodshed.

For all she knew, Ythar could have been a totally sensible god, whose rules were misinterpreted. She would like for him to wake up to see how he would react to the problems in his empire. That could be risky, if it turned out Ythar was evil, but she wouldn’t want to kill him while he was asleep.

Shilman would probably know more. He seemed like he was in a mood to answer questions. “Is Ythar actually a god?” Vivi asked.

“Ythar is a demigod, and thus, he is a spirit,” Shilman said. “He’s not some supernatural being, nor does he have omniscient powers. Demigods are, by definition, very powerful spirits, powerful enough to separate themselves into ten thousand pieces while still retaining godlike powers.”

“Won’t being a spirit make Ythar immortal?” Vivi asked.

“Ythar is immortal, yes,” Shilman said. “He can’t be killed the same way mortals can. We’re merely planning on draining him of ether and forcing him unconscious, before sealing him for all eternity.” He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “The last step presents a problem.”

“I would imagine every step is almost impossible,” Vivi said.

“Almost is the key word,” Shilman said. “Sealing him is the most problematic of all. Demigods aren’t like most spirits that require ether from their surroundings to stay conscious. Instead, demigods themselves generate ether. That’s what truly makes them immortal. No matter how hard you beat them to death, bringing their core to zero, in one night, they will have generated more ether than any hunter alive can collect from a storm. To incapacitate a god, one must keep beating them for all eternity, stealing ether as the god generates it.”

Vivi’s head perked up. “Are you planning on using Ythar as an infinite ether source?”

Shilman snorted, an amused smile on his face. “That’s hardly necessary. For a fifth elevation hunter, ether is already close to an infinite resource. Any ether generated from Ythar’s core is not necessary. We have a much simpler solution in mind. We plan on banishing him out of this world.”

“With Banishment Portal?” Vivi asked.

“No,” Shilman said, and the grin he directed straight at her eyes made her skin crawl. “Vivian. Do you know what is above the clouds, above the surface sky?”

She thought for a second. “The sun?”

“The sun and the stars, yes,” Shilman said. “Do you know how far the sun is?”

She had no idea. The sun wasn’t even visible for most of the year, and when it finally appeared from between the clouds, looking at it hurt her eyes. “It’s too far for me to think about how far it is,” she said.

Shilman continued staring at her with that creepy smile of his, while wisps floated in his robe. “If we attach Ythar to a missile with one of your launchers, an improved version, do you think his corpse will reach the sun?”

He is insane, Vivi thought. Completely deranged.

What kind of plan was that? They wanted to use her slingshot launchers to shoot a god to the sun? This was idiotic—utter madness. There was no way Shilman had actually calculated this with science. This must have been an insane idea he came up with that he wanted to see accomplished.

“What if I say no?” Vivi said. “Because in all honesty, I don’t know if that would work.”

“Shooting Ythar into the sky is most likely our best option,” Shilman said. “If he is launched far enough, even without reaching the sun, there is a chance he stays in the sky, without ever returning down.”

“I’m not certain,” Vivi said. And she was being honest. Freyven would probably have a more sensible answer, but she didn’t want to mention his name in case Shilman tried to kidnap Freyven and force him to work for this project.

Hell, she was fairly sure Shilman intended to kidnap her for this project.

“What if I refuse to help you?” Vivi asked. “I don’t worship Ythar, but I don’t believe I want to be involved in killing him. I won’t do anything to stop you, and I’m not going to protect Ythar.”

Shilman stared at her. “If you refuse to help us after hearing my plans, my most sensible options are to kill you, or to force you into submission.”

Of course… Vivi thought. That wasn’t a surprise. Shilman didn’t intend to let her go free, as expected. Somehow, she needed to defeat him.

The last thing she wanted was to build a slingshot launcher for him. The fifth elevation hunters were already way stronger than her. But if the other option was dying on the spot?

“We need to work with him,” Lucius said with concern.

Yeah, for now, Vivi thought. That was the only option that would give her more options later on.

“If you can promise that none of my friends get killed…” Vivi said, glancing at Alda and Cael, who were unconscious on the floor. “I’ll help you to try and shoot Ythar into the sun.”

“Your friends will be imprisoned, but they will be kept safe,” Shilman said, seeming satisfied with her answer. “I must now catch Loretta Nimwind before she can escape any further.”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you locate her,” Vivi said.

“Not an issue,” Shilman said. “I have a tracker on her precise location. I require an hour to sort out this mess. Until then, I shall place you unconscious. Do not resist. This is not harmful.”

He pointed his staff at her, and Vivi had the instinctive urge to let her void core loose and just fight. Her chances could very well be worse later. Right now, if she ascended to her absolute maximum, there was a small chance she could fix her problems by outright killing the archmage in front of her.

It was just too risky. If she summoned Dawnpour to fight and lost, Grandpa’s life’s work would be lost alongside her. Everyone would die.

The zap from Shilman’s staff came. It hit the light protective coating of ether around Vivi’s body that she’d subconsciously kept active throughout the talk. A small fight happened between her ether and Shilman’s skill, proving that a coating of ether did, in fact, protect her against this particular skill.

If she was brought to a smithy with multiple days to work, she was fairly certain she could create something to escape, if not defeat Shilman.

Her light layer was overpowered in nearly an instant, however, and Shilman’s skill made it to her core. The feeling was akin to her lungs clogging up, unable to breathe, except that feeling applied to her whole body and her core, every function shutting down simultaneously, before her mind went blank.