Chapter 449 Maker's Punishment

Doevm sat at the foot of the bed, took in a deep breath, and called out a name: "Maker."

A few seconds passed with no visible change, and just as Doevm was about to call for her again, he sensed a subtle distortion in reality, like a tremor along a spider's thread.

Bar patrons drinking and cursing beneath the floorboards fell dead quiet. One by one the dust particles, careless dancing in the stale air, turned rigid under flickering light crystals which, in the intervals between light and dark, grew brighter. Doevm's shadow was repeatedly thrown onto the ground then swallowed within a sea of black, weaker with each interval. It dove away from its apathetic owner towards the door. Suddenly Maker was there, and Doevm's shadow was not.

Maker was as radiant as ever in her usual white dress, her flawless appearance more doll-like than human as her dainty feet hovered above the dirty floorboards. She was radiant, beautiful, and as dangerous as they come.

Doevm blinked through tears. Much like the sun, there was no getting used to her radiance, so he failed to notice her neutral expression. "I want to-"

Maker cut him off with a voice oozing with disdain, "If you planned all of this just to get my hopes up, then I'm disappointed in you, Lich."

Doevm looked up in confusion and, as his eyes met Maker's, his body tensed. In all the time he had known her, her abominable smile had persisted through threats to break her game, to kill her, and it nary even twitched as he threatened to murder her children. His thoughts spiraled into chaos as he struggled to keep to the script in his head. "W-what are you talking about? I called you here to-"

Maker slightly tilted her head to the side and an invisible force dragged Doevm to the ground. Doevm didn't know what was happening or even how she did it, just that something was wrong. Copper life essence poured out of his bulging limbs as he instinctively resisted, but he could only bring himself to the prostrating position, which was likely her intention.

"You seem to have confused your role in this game," Maker's spoke plainly, yet her voice resonated deafeningly. "You willingly stepped onto the game board so I am surprised you didn't expect this coming. I seem to have overestimated you, Lich."

The memory of Maximus's words echoed in Doevm's head. "You are a piece of the game, are you not?"

Doevm cursed at himself for his carelessness. How had Maker convinced him that she was just an observer? It was simple. It was because he could understand her, a part of her to be accurate. He knew firsthand how immortality numbed the sense of self and how goals acted as an anchor, and he naively thought that he could predict her behavior based on that fact. Or more accurately, he underestimated her role.

He was so used to interacting with powerful beings as a Lich that he forgot that he, currently a mortal, was dealing with the power of gods. Furthermore, Maker was the god of gods. As a Lich he had treated his pawns the same way (for he manipulated the dead and the living alike). Countless faces blended together as they all had begged for forgiveness whenever they were no longer of value to him.

Doevm opened his mouth. His first instinct was to do the same as his expendable pawns had done, but he saw the emotionless face of Maker and he thought better of it. An apology wouldn't change anything. Instead of pleading for mercy, he shut his mouth and waited while Maker vented her anger.

Maker tilted her head and strands of raven-black hair drooped over her long eyelashes. The weight increased and Doevm collapsed in agony. It took one second for Doevm to cough up the air in his lungs. They silently screamed for air. The next second, his face shifted colors and his veins bulged. Strands of drool escaped through his gritted teeth.

As immense as the pressure was, even though his bones threatened to collapse, Doevm slowly raised his head until his eyes met with Maker's. "More weight," he silently mouthed the words.

Maker seemed to understand as she slightly tilted her head even more.

Doevm finally could no longer hold up to the increased pressure as he coughed up a mouthful of blood and in that very moment, the pressure released. Maker stopped tilting her head as a smile returned to her face.

"It is good to see that you have not lost your will to continue," Maker said.

Doevm remained on the ground gulping down lungfuls of air, even though each movement of his bruised rib cage reignited the pain in his bruised body. He quickly regenerated using life essence, which only took a few seconds since Maker had been careful not to break anything. It meant that he was still useful.

"Why? What did I-I do?" Doevm sputtered.

"Nothing, you did absolutely nothing," Maker explained, her smile twitching.

Doevm wasn't sure if it was intentional or not so he kept quiet.

Maker continued: "When Kilot was in danger, you just stood there and watched, just like Elero. Actually I go so far as to say, even though Elero's mind wasn't present, she was far more useful than you. In the end, it was the thoughtless instinct of Frey that saved the day, was it not? At least he lives up to his family's legacy. Maybe he would be better suited to your role. There are other options. I assure you of that."

Doevm, who practically lived under the burden of Maker's expectations, could hardly believe what he was hearing. Had he not been drawn into this game in the first place by the gods' whims? Had he not refused her time and time again? Had he not just gotten his life back together? He had been a Lich who held life and death in the palm of his hand, and there he was kneeling before another.

The boiling rage in his gut fought to escape his lips. He bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood; it spread a cool, calming rationality over the bile. It was hard enough to resolve the struggle with his two identities, but in these rare instances where his Lich-self and his human identity overlapped, it was near impossible to control himself.

Doevm slowly explained himself, carefully choosing each word: "The situation appeared like a trap. I thought that no killer would just leave Kilot on the street unless he were bait. It was the only logical conclusion in spite of illogical gods. When I finally pieced everything together, the assassin took action. I wasn't hesitating; I was just too slow to act. The goddess was an unknown variable."

Maker listened to his entire explanation and nodded, quick to regain her composure. "I see. So that was the reason. Then, why did you call me here?" She asked if nothing had happened.

Doevm stood up, but the backlash of expending so much life essence had him leaning on the foot of the bed. "To make a deal," he said.

Maker's smile widened. "I am an observer, however, so do keep that in mind," she said without hiding her interest.

Doevm took a breath. He felt as though he were walking a tightrope, but there was no one else he could go to. "First of all, my hesitation will happen again," he began. Maker's expression twitched so he hurriedly followed up with, "Unless I get more information. I need to know how the gods can interfere with the game."

He carefully gauged Maker's reaction, but she didn't reveal anything, simply nodding and asking, "And in return, what will you give me?"

"Details of the newest soulmagic I obtained," Doevm said.

Maker didn't hesitate: "Deal."

'I should have asked for more,' Doevm thought, however what was done was done. Negotiation wasn't his forefront when he usually took what he wanted, and he couldn't think of anything else he wanted out of her. While he could have asked the exact numbers and positions of the incoming army, for example, there was no telling if she would skew the information to make things more interesting. His punishment had been a wake up call. It reminded him of who, or rather what sort of being he was dealing with.

"I'll go first," Maker said. "In regards to interference, the gods have no jurisdiction."

Doevm cocked his head to the side. "Is that all?"

Maker nodded. "Yes. It is one of the rules of the game.

1. A god must have a champion.

2. A god cannot directly interfere with any pieces.

3. A god cannot kill a piece without permission.

4. No god can directly harm another god.

5. Whoever wins the game will inherit my position.

6. The conditions for victory are to kill a single god.

7. A god can only give information with permission.

8. No god can descend into the mortal realm without permission.

9. A hundred years must pass between the births of all champions in play in order for them to be reincarnated.

10. A person must be willing in order to become a god's champion."

Doevm memorized them all as she spoke, but he'd have to analyze each rule later. They seemed like restrictions, however they allowed certain leeway with different interpretations. He focused on rule number two and asked, "The Goddess's assault wasn't direct interference?"

Maker shook her head. "She influenced, but she did not directly interfere. By the way, she can only do that sort of thing every once and a while. The same goes for her brother…or so it did until a little while ago."

'Is it because I killed one of his pieces?' Doevm thought. 'That might mean that, if a god's piece is destroyed, they lose power to interfere with the mortal realm.'

"Careful with that line of thinking," Maker warned as if she could see straight through Doevm's thoughts. "Don't go destroying everything or you'll suffer a backlash of fighting fate. While you may have the ability to, it's not as though you can just defy fate every day. There are consequences."

'There are unwritten rules as well?' Doevm guessed. 'That would explain why the world shakes when the hero comes of age when it's not a stated rule.' He rubbed his temples. 'It gets more complex the more I think about it.'

"As per your side of the bargain, what did you gain from Maximus's legacy?" Maker asked.

Doevm wasn't sure how much information he should give her, so he started with, "The power to separate soul and body."

Maker's expression didn't change as she slowly faded away with two words. "Poor thing."

Doevm stood there, dumbfounded. "That's it?" he asked.