by L. M. Kerr
The Farians were known to have developed a surefire way to track down the Vile King’s Seeds, yet a similarly precise method was never rediscovered, no matter how hard the collective geniuses of humanity tried.
The Beasts of Providence of the Second Layer were well known to have been unnaturally well-coordinated, many of their sweeping plans revealed to all in the annals of history.
Something clicked in Micheal’s head.
The powerful coordination and teamwork the Beasts of Providence possessed was something Micheal had always attributed to Constantine’s Seeds. This hadn’t been just his conclusion, but the conclusion of humanity as a whole on the later Layers, using the fragmented records people had to go by for what took place here.
It eventually became known that the Vile King could draw on what his Seeds had seen or experienced and, in the same manner, send information to them.
Given that, there was no reason to doubt this conclusion. The Vile King’s Seeds were the reason for their keen coordination. His Seeds were known to control the Beasts of Providence, they were his Beasts and his responsibility.
It made sense.
Perfect sense, in fact.
Why was that?
Of all things to believe with certainty, of all the information to survive the fragmented and confusing times that composed the history of the Second Layer, where entire species ended up being wiped out, what were the chances that several random facts about the Vile King’s incredibly secretive organization, one that he put great effort into hiding, managed to become common knowledge?
It would make sense if Constantine himself planned this release…
But… that wouldn’t actually make any sense at all. That wasn’t Constantine’s modus operandi. If handed a choice between the spotlight and the shadows, invariably, the Vile King would pick the shadows.
He did not seek fame. Micheal hated the man to the core, but also had to acknowledge that the man genuinely believed he was doing the right thing and was, in his own insane, twisted way, selfless about it. Constantine constantly pushed himself hard and asked for nothing in return. His only concern was the survival of the human race.
He would never do something without a reason, but Micheal could see no reason for him to spread this information. Constantine gained nothing from this. If anything, purposefully leaking details of his actions, again, stood for the exact opposite of who the man was.
Micheal quickly went over what he, and history, knew about both the Second Layer and the Beasts of Providence.
He knew of unnatural coordination, their mighty strength, and, in detail, of several of the diabolical plans they laid that culminated in the First Great War.
The fact that humanity learned of those plans was a huge part of what led to the discovery of the Vile King. These plans were definitely his, of that much Micheal was still certain. Constantine was absolutely the type of man to sic the Darmaton Plague on the entire Second Layer, killing hundreds of millions of innocents to ensure that humanity would be the chief survivors of the upcoming war he would unleash.
Constantine wanted to force humanity to grow stronger, but he was not willing, at least not yet, to risk humanity’s survival as a whole. The events that took place on the Second Layer were the Vile King’s first major experiment, the first truly grand scheme he enacted. Perhaps, as a result of that, he was slightly more reserved here.
And, as Micheal considered this, perhaps the vaunted genius made certain… mistakes, here. Maybe one of the reasons history was so fragmented was not so simple at all.
Some of what was known about the Beasts of Providence could be attributed to information gained from other Races, like the Farians and their goals to find a way to track Constantine’s Seeds.
Other things, however, could not. Information about past plans that had been far too detailed, facts that coincidentally had also been confirmed in one way or another, plans that even Micheal himself had already seen the truth of.
In his head, he repeated the mantra of facts that he’d focused on, his eyes narrowing as things began to come together.
Silverback's Artifact was too strong… the Farians’ Seed tracking method was never found again… the keen coordination of the warriors within the Beasts of Providence… impossible detailed information that shouldn’t exist… disappearing Spatial Rings...
It took only seconds for Micheal to process all of these thoughts and look through these memories, actions in real-time that were shortened even further thanks to his Time Bubbles.
It truly was a small period of time, hardly enough to think up a solid plan or analyze anything, let alone consider intricate details and hidden secrets that crisscrossed various Layers over a decade.
And yet it was here, in the midst of battle, when faced with his own impossible, devastating failure, that Micheal came to a stunning realization. He connected the dots, the pieces of the puzzle came into place, and the thing he’d been missing this entire time became clear.
It wasn’t the Vile King that had leaked this information.
It was someone else.
Someone, somehow, had managed to betray the Vile King.
Someone that knew every secret the Beasts of Providence held, that could convey truth with one hand while hiding certain details with the others, painting an image…
An image of the Vile King, doing his dastardly plots and evil schemes, taking advantage of innocent humans.
An image that, Micheal noticed, rather conveniently left out any mention of one thing in particular:
The man who led the Beasts of Providence, the so-called ‘Beast King’ that Micheal could recall almost nothing about.
The only thing he knew was what history said: that the man had a fearsome, awe-inspiring image such that his orders were followed without question.
He was renowned for his great power and fierce image, yet Micheal could never recall hearing what powers he held nor any battles he was confirmed to have fought in. Complex plans were leaked of the past actions of the Beasts of Providence, yet when it came to the Beast King, there was nothing.
Not even a hint of his identity, let alone his true strength.
Micheal had attributed this to the ruinous records of history that composed the Second Layer… but what if it was something else?
What if it was the leader of the Beasts of Providence himself, the secretive Beast King, that was the one who betrayed the Vile King?
As this thought raced into Micheal’s mind, he began to break it down, barely paying attention to the world around him. In the background, he sensed that most of the Farians were still down on the ground. The Wise Lady was just now recovering from her shock and rushing towards Captain Tanin, intent on healing her strongest defender and stabilizing the situation before anything else.
Down below, seconds ticked away as Silverback continued to regenerate in his hidden cocoon, cleansing his body as fast as he could. Micheal persevered in his thinking, instinctively sensing that it was of supreme importance that he figured this out now, not later, before making any big decision.
If the Beast King betrayed Constantine, all the information that found its way to the public eye made sense.
But how did the Beast King betray the Vile King?
This wasn’t some last breath refusal to give in, it had to be a detailed betrayal down to the core, pushed out over time. It was guided by a thorough hand that left no tracks and spread no trail.
The Beast King wiped his name from history even as he all but shouted out the Vile King's, sharing knowledge of the man's plans out for all to see. Because of this, Constantine lost his chance to stay a hidden cancer that grew in the shadows, his plots and existence becoming public knowledge in a remarkably short amount of time.
Constantine was not someone you could simply betray like that. His Seeds were nefarious. Over time, they could twist a person’s core itself. Micheal had witnessed that firsthand when he had been forced to kill the Godfather back on the First Layer, a good man he had tremendous resp
ect for, twisted to act against his own beliefs.
Good didn’t matter. Bad didn’t matter. Betrayal on such a scale should not be possible.
But what if it was?
‘If I had a Seed in me, how would I resist it?’ The thought was a horrifying one, one of the few things Micheal actually feared.
The Vile King’s Seeds broke men.
There was no escaping them, there was no defense, none that Micheal ever learned about. If you were infected by a Seed without knowing it, that was that. You would fall to Constantine, it was merely a matter of time.
If you were infected but did happen to realize it, there was only one real way to avoid falling into his clutches.
Suicide.
So...
What if he was infected and his Life Orbs proved useless?
How would he stop Constantine's influence, short of actually killing himself?
The first thing that popped up in Micheal’s mind had a type of stunning simplicity about it, drawing from his own rather immediate history.
‘What if I used a Contract Seal?’ He thought, eyes unblinking.
What if he took an Oath, an unbreakable promise to do certain things? He might be able to force bits of himself to remain free, artificially limiting Constantine’s influence.
‘No, not a Contract Seal.’ Micheal realized after a moment, his heart beating slightly faster.
A Contract Seal wouldn’t be strong enough. It was something you could still break, though with extraordinarily serious consequences. His mind was strong, but he was under no illusions that he could resist Constantine forever through willpower alone.
It would have to be something like a Contract Seal but even more powerful, something that could never be removed, even by the person that placed it.
And it was when that thought hit him that everything became clear.
Things that were almost impossible to remove from a person… Micheal knew of something like that, better than anyone else.
Abilities.
Many Abilities were impossible to remove, requiring humans to make careful, guarded decisions with which ones they chose to add to their repertoire.
An Ability that possessed or could gift such mental strength that it was impossible to go against, even if you later decided to change your mind...
Micheal didn’t know of any such Ability, which meant that none like it could be purchased in the Shop.
But that didn’t mean this Ability didn’t exist.
Micheal’s Temporal Bubble Ability could not be found in the Shop, yet the Brand of Janus rested on his Soul, all the same, and the Ability was quite clearly one of his 7.
Micheal slowly nodded.
The Beast King must have a way to resist the power of the Vile King, incompletely, perhaps, but enough to allow for betrayal in the future. He was able to command his subordinates across great distances and inspired great loyalty, not because he was as mighty as history claimed…
No, only one thing made sense here, given everything Micheal knew.
The Beast King must possess an Ability that was remarkably similar to the Vile King's signature power.
The Beast King had to have an Ability that allowed him to control, or otherwise limit, the minds or Souls of other beings…
An Ability that he ended up using on himself.
.
Chapter 56
‘That’s it!’ Micheal blinked furiously, his heart practically buzzing as blood pounded in his ears.
It wasn’t the Vile King that was actively coordinating the Beasts of Providence, it was the Beast King himself, through his ability to manipulate their minds!
Micheal guessed that his power was more direct in terms of control, but much weaker when it came to other factors. Among other things, given how history went, the man's power probably required a willing participant or something close to that, which effectively ruled out everyone except people groomed by one of Constantine’s Seeds. Given the relatively small scale of the Beasts of Providence, Micheal also guessed it was far more limited in numerical scope.
This realization swiftly led to another.
It wasn’t that the Farians found a way to precisely track the Vile King’s Seeds, a way that humanity never managed to rediscover.
The method Micheal was trying to find, the lost way that some claimed was the key to defeating the Vile King… it wasn’t a method to track the Vile King’s Seeds at all.
Instead, it was probably a way to track the trails left by the Beast King’s mind control Ability. The Beasts of Providence were under the influence of both powers at once, causing no end of confusion.
Regardless of whether the Beast King would eventually betray the Vile King in the future, once the man learned that the Wise Lady, Myla Hannis, had developed a way to track down his men, he was forced into action.
Constantine was probably irritated beyond measure that his plans had such a glaring weakness. Of course he would order her death; he would risk nothing interfering with his plans for humanity.
And for her to assuredly die, Silverback remaining alive was key.
Micheal could not be allowed to kill him.
It didn’t matter if all of Silverback’s subordinates died as long as Silverback lived, long enough to complete his mission. The Seeds of the Vile King were, if nothing else, expendable, though Constantine hated to lose any of his true talents.
Silverback’s last-ditch Defensive Artifact had been strong enough to stop Micheal, but it wasn’t because of something Silverback did.
No… it was because of something the Beast King did.
Not only did he have the power to affect the minds or Souls of his warriors, he also had the power to bring the power of his own Soul to bear through his subordinates. This power was only manifested at the very last moment, implying, to Micheal, that it was a trump card that the man could not use freely…
But it was a power the Beast King could use, even in an area where the Vile King’s Seeds could not escape.
When Micheal died and activated his Life Orb Ability, his Artifacts returned to him. This had worked even when he was in the middle of an active energy signal-blocked zone.
He hadn’t really focused on that fact, but when he did, he realized that the only way this could be possible was if his Life Orb Ability operated in a way beyond the normal constraints of space and time. His Ability, when activated, functioned in a way that transversed reality in unusual ways.
The Vile King’s Seeds, conversely, operated on a base, physical level at first. To infect a person, they first had to manually enter someone’s body, like a virus. They would then gradually meld with a person, becoming a core part of their being that appeared to be truly untraceable.
In order for those Seeds to send Constantine any information, either through the man focusing on his Seeds or the Seeds themselves returning after a host’s death, the Seeds first had to be able to physically manifest themselves. From there, they would search to establish a connection with the Vile King, something that could be prevented if you blocked the Seed’s attempts using an Artifact to trap and eliminate all energy-based signals.
On the other hand, the Beast King’s mind-controlling power appeared to operate a lot like Micheal’s Life Orbs: in unusual ways, wherein his influence, once ingrained, could not be blocked by ordinary means.
When the subordinates of the Beast Kings died, their Spatial Rings vanished because they were never truly owned by the dead warriors in the first place. The Beast King had bound them to himself, perhaps using the minds and bodies of his subordinates to support each individual Ring.
A power like this would be incredibly useful for both the anonymous Beast King as well as the Vile King. Not because one could use it to prevent the loss of any Spatial Rings, there were no Ring shortages yet, but because it was a way to minimize the mistakes their subordinates made, to help wipe away some of the trails they might leave behind, while risking essentially nothing.
The Beast King wasn
’t a proud warrior that led from the front as was claimed in history, Micheal realized in a moment of epiphany.
The mighty image the man had formed was a skin-deep disguise, a way to hide his true form from even those whose minds were under his control.
The Beast King did not exist.
That was merely a made-up name for someone that was never alive in the first place.
The man behind the Beasts of Providence was a vicious predator, but one that either hid in plain sight or stuck to the shadows. He was a cold-blooded killer that lashed out only when he was forced to, carrying unexpected power that could cut down those that underestimated him. His fate was one he railed against, one he tried to resist even as Constantine’s Seed wormed its way ever deeper into his mind.
In that moment of revelation, when the mire of confusion finally vanished from Micheal’s mind, he looked back down at the cocoon of energy that had encased Silverback with a heavy heart. The excitement of the realizations he’d made began to fade as he understood, then, the full ramifications of the situation he was facing.
He had used up the last trump card he had when it came to powerful attacks. The only thing he had left was his Master Tier Sword Energy, a power whose use would cause him to injure his Soul before he was prepared, setting him back anywhere from days to weeks.
Micheal bit his lip, his eyes blazing as he tried to think up a solution, staring down at the thin, silver barrier that separated him from the target he absolutely needed to kill.
Just as he was about to give up, unable to come up with anything else he could do...
A voice Micheal recognized appeared in his mind. It was an old, ancient voice that rumbled forth from within Micheal himself, sounding both weak and strong at the same time.
The voice of Yvvtal the Destroyer.
'It seems like you've found yourself in quite the predicament, young friend.'
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Back when Micheal had just begun his assault on the members of the Beasts of Providence, when the darkness of evening had yet to finish its fateful march and the stormy clouds above were only then beginning to drizzle down...