The Eighth Heaven was once a mess of glass and fire but now it was really quiet and beautiful. The purple light in the sky was pulsing softly above me and the glass on the ground had hardened into a see-through floor that went on for miles.
I was sitting on a throne made from the core of the Obsidian Sentinel. For the time in weeks the Sovereign's Spine was just resting against my knee not being used to fight. My body felt really heavy. The 7.3% Divinity was not a power it was changing my body. My skin had these black scales on it and they were humming with a low vibration that made the air around me shimmer.
Isabella and Elara were standing a few feet away from me. They were not getting ready to fight for once. Isabella was cleaning her sword with a cloth that seemed to be made of starlight moving slowly and carefully. Elara was sitting on the floor surrounded by hundreds of floating books looking really focused as she organized the Souls we had taken from the heavens.
"Master " Elara said, breaking the silence. "The amount of power we are getting is really amazing. By taking control of the Sentinel you have basically taken control of the universe.. Your human body is getting really hot."
"I know " I said, my voice sounding deeper and more powerful. "I can feel the heat of the Forge fighting the cold of the Mirror inside my lungs. If I go to the Ninth Heaven now the difference in time will tear me apart before I can even take a breath."
"We need to make our base stronger " Isabella added, looking up at me. Her eyes, which used to be just blue now had sparks in them. "The goddesses you have taken control of are not trophies. They are sources of power. If we do not connect them the heavens we have taken will fall back into chaos soon as we move on."
I looked at my hands. They were shaking a little not because I was scared. Because of the huge amount of information flowing through my Eye of the Origin.
"We will stay here " I said. "For the month the Sea of Glass and Fire will be our home. I want the Eclipse Vanguard to build a fortress. I want Sia and Veritas brought here. We are not a group of fighters anymore Elara. We are a Kingdom."
I leaned back. Closed my eyes. I did not want anyone to touch me now. I wanted to be alone. I needed to listen to the Void inside me and figure out how to stop being a man who kills gods and start being the God who replaces them.
[Status: Expedition Paused. Consolidation Phase Initiated.]
[Condition: 7.3% Divinity stabilizing. Internal Mana-Channels cooling.]
The Glass Fortress was being built by the Eclipse Vanguard their metal hands carving black glass blocks with perfect precision. At the center of this home in a hall made of cooling black rock the first Council of the Branded was meeting.
I was sitting at the head of a see-through table. For the time the women I had taken control of were all in one place. It was a beautiful and scary sight:
Themis from the 2nd Heaven had skin that still had faint purple cracks from our fight and her eyes now saw the New Law.
Lyric, from the Heaven had skin that was now mixed with black. She was humming a low strange tone that kept the room's frequency stable.
Sia, from the Heaven was sitting closest to me her black tattoos now showing patterns that mapped out the weaknesses of the remaining five heavens.
Veritas, from the 6th Heaven had skin that was like a mirror reflecting the room and acting like a living surveillance system for any spies.
Seraphina from the Heaven was the newest addition and she was sitting in complete silence her six wings folded like a grey cloak.
"The Eighth Heaven is the last of the worlds " I said, my voice echoing with a weight that made the table vibrate. "Beyond the Chronos Labyrinth the rules of cause and effect do not exist. If we go there unprepared we will be erased before we can even show up."
Sia leaned forward her stained fingers tracing the black rock table. "Master, the Ninth Heaven is not a place you fight with a sword. It is a loop. The Creator uses it to trap anyone who gets too powerful making them relive their failures until they give up."
"Then we change the rules " Elara said, looking up from her book. "We have the Law, the Truth and the Silence. If we combine their powers we can create a Temporal Anchor for Alaric."
The room got really cold. The goddesses looked at each other, enemies and rivals now connected by the same purple mark on their skin. There was no love here. There was a deep understanding of the Sovereign's power.
"I do not want your worship " I said, my Eye of the Origin looking at each of them. "I want your efficiency. You were the pillars of the Creators world. Now you are the foundation of mine. If the Eighth Heaven falls you fall with it."
Seraphina finally looked up her grey smoke eyes meeting mine. "You want to stop time itself Alaric. For a Sovereign at 7.3% the cost of stopping the clock is really high."
"I have already paid the price of my humanity " I replied, standing up. The black scales on my neck flared up. "Everything else is a deal."
[Status: Governance Established. The Temporal Anchor Project initiated.]
[Condition: Domestic tension between the Branded is high but controlled.]
The Glass Fortress was quiet except for the hum of the 7.3% Divinity flowing through the halls. The goddesses had gone to their rooms to start the work of making the Temporal Anchor. For the time since we started this journey I was alone in the dark.
I lay on a black stone my eyes closed. But in this world sleep is not rest—it is a mirror.
The dream did not start in the Heavens. It started in a candle-lit room that smelled of old blood and bitter medicine.
I was standing in the corner, a shadow of purple flame watching a boy huddle under a pile of old furs. It was Alaric von Valerius—the original. He was coughing, a hacking sound that shook his weak body. His skin was pale his eyes. Filled with the scary thought that he would not live to see the sunrise.
"Why?" the boy whispered, his voice cracking. He looked directly at me sensing my presence in the shadows. "Why did you take my name? Why did you use my body to build a mountain of bodies?"
I stepped forward my heavy boots silent on the floor. The Eye of the Origin glowed in the dark. "Because you were going to waste it. You were a part of a history book that no one would ever read. I made you a god."
"You made me a monster " the boy wheezed, a line of blood coming from his lip. "You did not save me. You just replaced my pain with a hunger that can never be satisfied. Do you even remember what it's like to feel... Cold? To feel afraid?"
I reached out a hand my black-scaled fingers hovering near his face. "Fear is a luxury for the Alaric. I have traded my heart for a throne. Every goddess I take control of every heaven I burn is a nail in the coffin of the fate you were supposed to have."
The room started to disappear. The walls of the house melted into the hot fire of the 8th Heaven and the boy's face started to break like the mirrors of the 6th.
"The Ninth Heaven is coming " the boy's voice echoed, getting deeper and mixing with the voice of the Creator. "Time does not. It does not forget. In the Labyrinth you will not be fighting gods. You will be fighting the 'You' that should have died."
I woke up.
My breath was a cloud of mist, in the cold air of the fortress. My heart—or the black engine that had replaced it—was beating in a heavy rhythm. I sat up the Sovereign's Spine flying into my hand at a thought.
[CURSE STATUS: 7.3% DIVINITY]
[INTERNAL MONITOR: PSYCHOLOGICAL THRESHOLD STABILIZED.]
The "Original Alaric" was gone a ghost finally laid to rest. I was not haunted by the past anymore; I was driven by the certainty of the future. I stood up. Walked to the balcony looking out over the Sea of Glass and Fire.
The preparation was over. My body was cool. My mind was sharp. The goddesses were ready.
"Elara! Isabella!" I called out my voice booming across the glass sea. "Get the Vanguard ready. We are moving. It's time to kill Time itself.