Chapter 453 The Gift



POV Veren:

Craters and fissures littered the concrete ground of a small settlement. The simple cubicles built of hastily made concrete looked like they would collapse at any moment, their walls tattered with holes like pieces of old fabric.

Amid them, the tall exoskeleton-armed figures patrolled, their visors brightly shining and their sensors tuned to the maximum.

"What a dangerous world..." The chancellor and the general silently watched the still-smoking pile of stone that was, just a few minutes ago, alive and attacking them. The burned spots after the plasma bolts still glowed red in the residual heat.

Veren stood amidst the small crowd, ignored by everyone and watching the destruction of their new home. Anger quietly bubbled within his now fiery-hot blood vibrating with the newfound energy.

He could feel how shaken his people were, 'We have escaped a war only to get into another one.'

What was even worse was their enemies were the environment itself. He was as shaken as them as he had just witnessed the soil below their feet become alive. The air and atmosphere attacked them with invisible blades, and beings of nothing but a fire descended upon them.

'They shouldn't be even alive...'

At last, the chancellor, in his bright armor, spoke the only thing he was sure about, "It is obvious our hosts are in a war."

The voices of the officers and politicians surrounding the chancellor joined the discussion.

"We should stay out of this war."

"Yes, we don't even know the reasons behind this. We don't know who the enemies are."

"Maybe we should seek the other side?"

Observing them from a distance, Veren could no longer hold it back as his voice boomed across the small settlement.

"No, you are wrong!"

Everyone turned at him, visibly startled by the sudden shout, as they were still on alert after the recent attack.

The chancellor turned to look in his direction, "Veren, you are once again stepping out of you..."

"Shut the fuck up. Don't you have even a tad bit of decency? They have saved us and even gave us a home. Yet, now you want to abandon them. Have at least a bit of honor."

"How dare..." Veren raised his gloved hand, and the next moment, the annoying chancellor's feet lifted from the ground. His arms and legs flailed around, be he couldn't move even an inch.

Veren's eyes shone below his helmet. He could feel the power and energy of the blood he drank to circulate and nourish every cell of his body. For the first time in his entire life, he became aware.

It was as if he was blind until now and couldn't see how the world worked. However, now he could feel all the mystical energies whirl around him and even inside him.I think you should take a look at

At once, more than a dozen guns pointed at him, plasma spinning inside their barrels and brightly glowing. The guards and soldiers all surrounded him.

"Have you turned insane?"

"Just as I thought... you are all fools. You have just stepped in to protect a useless worm that failed as our leader, instead of me—a man that can bring us back out of the ashes of our civilization." He could hardly contain his built-up frustration at the useless old politician who brought his people to their knees with his incompetence.

He saw the vastness of the knowledge, yet, his kind was still blind. He could no longer just leave it like that, 'Even with the engineers and scientists on my side, the military and the... rest are still stubborn.'

It was finally his time to take over with the support of his benefactor and lead his people to the light, 'We will not prosper if we don't get rid of the old rotten core.'

It was sad that even amidst the destruction of his civilization, the rich families that brought the downfall with their incompetence found their way to survive.

'A better people should have been chosen to survive. Instead, those useless leeches of society bought the precious capacity of the wormhole device.'

"Have you gone insane?"

"Ohh, general. Look, at those... scumbags. Why are you protecting them? You have sworn to protect your people, but instead..."

It was even more painful to him as he was originally supposed to deliver the gift to help them survive the upcoming war; instead, he faced the harsh reality of his former leader already speaking about betrayal and defection, "My superior has offered you a gift." He raised his second hand and opened it.

Inside was a small ampule of barely glowing red liquid—the blood of his mistress, someone who supported his endeavor of exploring the laws binding the reality around them.

Even now, he could hardly suppress his excitement about its discovery, only his anger dampening his mood, 'It is a cure for everything, even aging.' It was simply too miraculous to believe it, even after he tasted its effects on his very own body.

"Do you know what we were even offered for our expertise? This vial contains immortality and power to war the reality to our will!" he intently looked at the general in the decorated red armor, "Darion, I know you also dislike him. Choose your side. Will you support me, a genius and someone with a connection to the rulers of this world, or this man without even a shred of honor or use?"

POV Vesuvius:

The dragon closed the interface and remained lonely in his divine kingdom—all the dracodactyls and war draconids away. Even his divine guardian was dispatched to the war.

'For my plan to work, I need to fight. Twenty is a lot of levels, but if some high-level enemies descend I will have a chance.'

Then everything darkened, and a rageful aura of fire hit against the gates of his two souls, knocking at them.

'Satanael, it looks like they will finally make their move.' He let the stream of aura in, and information, maps, and even images poured into his head, making his eyes glow with joy.

'I need to gather all my forces—it is time to welcome the armies of hell.' Vesuvius himself wouldn't trust demons. However, with angels being their common enemy, he would take the risk, 'An enemy of my enemy is my friend... or at least a neutral force. With the last barrier sabotaged by the gods on our side, my blood should be enough to invite at least their incarnation.'

To even resist the onslaught of the highest-tier angels, he would need someone to balance it as he was sure he couldn't even come close to fighting existences like the seven heavenly virtues. Luckily for him, one group was more than eager to do it in his stead.