Chapter 291

“... so, you’re saying I’m now an actual divine entity,” Helga murmured as she lay in front of me, while I massaged her body. Partially to help her merge with her divine spark successfully, but more to continue touching her after our intense embrace.

As much as I wanted to continue, she needed a break. Not physically, as that was easy to bypass with magic, but mentally. As much as meeting again was elating for her, she still needed to process living in magical suspension for months, and experienced a close call with death due to an unforeseen magical complication with the wards.

So, while I massaged her naked body, I had given her a breakdown of my experiences, both the events that happened since my disappearance, and some of the pertinent details I had hidden from her during our encounters.

She took them better than I expected, which implied that their lives hadn’t been particularly easy in my absence — not that I needed evidence for that with the state of Silver Spires.

“Oh, you have always been a goddess for me,” I answered, which made her chuckle.

“You are a shameless flatterer,” she said, trying to complain, but it was hard to do with my hand caressing her sides gently. “I’m sure I can’t compare to that elven goddess.”

“Oh, someone is feeling jealous,” I said with a chuckle, leaning down to kiss her neck, and making her moan. “So cute,” I murmured as I pulled back, enjoying her shuffle. “But no need to be jealous. You’re already a pseudo-goddess, and we just need to find a location for you to complete the transformation to get away.”

“Does that mean we need to escape this plane?” she asked.

I frowned. ‘That, I don’t know yet. Running away is certainly safer, but that also means months of travel at best. Primordial Aether is not the friendliest place. Maybe hiding in plain sight is the better option, but for that, I need to know what exactly happened after my disappearance.”

“Actually, there’s not much I could tell,” Helga admitted. “We pulled back to Silver Spires after your warning, and organized the defenses. It was a good thing that we did, as it took just a day for the biggest monster horde we had seen to attack, sieging us nonstop for a month, and the moment we defeated it, they were replaced by the royal army.”

“Let me guess, they were much stronger than you expected,” I added.

“Yes, it was probably the Eternals supporting them directly,” Helga admitted. “That was much harder to defeat, but somehow, we still managed to do so ... but then, the System changed a month ago, giving us several levels, a lot of achievements, enhanced mana and HP regeneration, and promises for even more.”

“As long as you provided Divine Spark to it,” I said. Helga nodded. “I’m guessing you were the one that discovered the true source of Divine Spark and built that ward to steal the generated fragments from the main System.”

“Yes,” Helga said proudly, then wilted. “But it backfired. When we started absorbing the sparks directly, the Eternals decided to take a direct approach, and attacked with a small army of level-forty soldiers, each carrying weapons we had never seen before. Our wards were strong, and we managed to resist at first... But then, the System stopped.”

“Yes, that’s a nasty trick they have,” I said.

“I was in the middle of casting a Spark-Powered ward, so the sudden loss hit me particularly hard. I barely managed to ask the Princess to bring me to the safe house and set the wards, and I lost consciousness before I could arrive. The last thing I remember is a magical message from Titania, saying that they were trying to escape.”

“They are still alive. I can still feel them,” I explained. “I’m hoping that they are also free, as the search for them is still ongoing, but that, we can’t be sure about. It’s also likely that the Eternals captured them but didn’t bother actually informing the source.”

“And what are we going to do?” she asked.

I sighed even as I caressed her spine, making her shiver. “It’s your call. Retreating and finding a fragmented plane is the safest option. We can make your bond with the plane and strengthen you slowly, safe from intervention.”

“But it’s not the only option,” she commented, too smart not to notice my phrasing.

I missed teasing her.

Ten minutes later, her beautiful slender fingers curled over my shoulders and pushed me down. Her strength was barely more than an ordinary person, which was shocking considering she had already bounded with her Divine Spark, and it should have worked enough to empower her.

But it seemed that the distorted nature of her spark didn’t enhance her physically, leaving her vulnerable.

However, she was quick to show that while the physical enhancement might have been limited, the exact opposite worked for her magical attitude. Two magical chains appeared and pulled me down, pinning me on the ground, their structure completely novel ... and more importantly, rapidly shifting as she experimented on them.

Her experimental capabilities had enhanced greatly, but I wasn’t able to talk about that, as she used my bound state to climb on top of me. “My turn,” she growled as she pushed herself down, her warmth wrapping around my girth.

She was impatient.

—

{Strength: 45 Charisma: 45

Precision: 45 Perception: 45

Agility: 45 Manipulation: 45

Speed: 45 Intelligence: 45

Endurance: 60 Wisdom: 45}

{Purified Divine Spark: 33269}

{Pseudo-HP: 700 Mana: 2000}

{ADDITIONAL SPARKS

Light - Chosen 7.4

Nature - Chosen 10}

{MINIONS

GODDESSES

Elven Goddess

Goddess of Knowledge}