Chapter 369: Miracle Plan

Chapter 369: Miracle Plan

"Are you sure you don't want to visit other Celestials?" Garuda asked Rakna, back in his territory after their talk with Karaskan ended. Lucrecia had been really quiet since, glancing at the therian as if he was a dangerous bomb about to detonate.

"There are plenty of Gods stronger than I who would be willing to bend the knee for you and offer whatever blessing you demand," the Eagle God suggested and Rakna snorted.

"I'm fine. Borrowed power isn't my thing," he rejected it. "Maybe if I'm in dire need of it, but right now, it doesn't appeal to me."

"Hah, well, not like any of us could offer something that matches up to Eternal Night," Garuda said with a hearty laugh. "At least, take this with you," he added and extended one of his wings toward Aquila who immediately understood why.

The Divine Avatar calmly stood as one of his feathers was infused with divinity by his Patron God and detached itself from his body. It shone brightly and shrunk to the size of a human hand before flying into Rakna's grasp.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Feather/Tribute

Name: Feather of Aquila

Rarity: N/A

Description:

A feather of the Eagle God's Avatar blessed to allow a one-time summoning of the Divinity to the user's location, no matter where in the System. Aquila's power will not be penalized by the summon, but will only be able to remain out of the Celestial Plateau for ten minutes.

❮ ◈ ❯

The therian smiled faintly. "Thank you, I appreciate it," he replied gratefully and stored the feather inside his soul storage. At this point, he didn't even need Spatial Rings anymore. Using the soul as a pseudo-dimensional pocket was far more efficient thanks to his mastery. Though, he also could store those same rings inside of it. If anything, it gave him convenient sub-storages.

"Well, I'll be counting on you when the time comes," Rakna said and Aquila chuckled.

"The pleasure's all mine."

"Frankly, I wish I could leave this place and accompany you right away," Garuda said gravely. "The kind of threat Karaskan spoke of is not something I can nonchalantly put aside. Of course, I realize my contribution wouldn't matter much against something like the Abyss Empress but..."

"I don't think you're alone on that one," Higure said sarcastically. "Even my devourer here would not be optimistic enough to deal with something of the same caliber as his uncle. The best we can do is hope Eternal Night finds a way here on time or we somehow create that 'miracle'... whatever that is supposed to mean."

Rakna shook his head wryly. "Hans, stop bullying the poor girl," he said and the azure-haired boy raised an eyebrow at him as if asking where such a thing was happening. "More importantly, does the extraction kill the target?"

"...technically, it should not," Hans answered. "However, they will be weakened. I could not predict how exactly, if you ask me. Would it be crippling? Unlikely. Harmful? Possibly."

"At least, that's that..." The therian sighed. "We could always try to talk it out with the Ghoul King and negotiate a cooperation. Stocslke is a Wilden... so that might be complicated by nature. And as for Nesslyria, we're already in 'war' against her along with the Téra anyway."

Rakna turned toward the Wolf Matriarch. "If parlays fail, it shouldn't be hard to gather forces from across the System to fight, should it? Both the Church and the Basilica wouldn't be hard to convince and I am also a member of Throne of Glory. Guilds like the Wiccan Guild which Nyx, Flavia, Evelyn, and Marie are part of shouldn't be hard to get assistance from either. Finally, I'm a member of the Myth Council and I'm sure I can count the Nine-Tailed Clan's influence, right?"

Lucrecia squinted her eyes and slowly nodded. "If you put it that way... I suppose so. Considering the situation, we can amass enormous support. No matter how selfish, cautious, or doubtful Hosts can be, it wouldn't mean much in front of impending doom. Even if our cry for arms is refused by most, the portion that does answer should be more than enough..."

"There are Wilden who would answer the call too," Higure chimed in. "Locals too. They too have a stake in this, obviously," she said and looked at Rakna. "At the end of the day, it depends on what the Myth Council decides to do. They have the authority to move the majority of people."

"Well, I'll be sure to put in the word. But since Kaelith's father is a member as well, it shouldn't be a problem," Rakna shrugged. "For now, spreading word of what is happening is the most pressing issue. The rest will come together naturally."

Lucrecia exhaled tiredly. "Once I return to the Clan, I will relay this to Fin. The Raccoon Branch has the means to spread this all over the System in no time. As for those three 'objectives'... it will have to wait for further consideration," she stated. "Though, I will try to contact King Temat. He's the most accessible of the three and is known to be a level headed person."

The therian nodded and turned toward the Eagle God. "All right. Thank you for the help. We'll be going back now. I have a few things I'd like to do and I shouldn't put them off for too long."

Garuda smiled. "The pleasure was all mine. It gets a bit boring around these parts after a while. It is not so bad to receive visitors as unique as you," he chuckled. "Also, I will try to communicate the situation with the other Gods. Perhaps if we band together for once, we can try something."

Rakna snorted. "I look forward to it," he said and once again summoned the Celestial Gate. He left the Plateau soon after and Garuda turned around.

"Well then... I suppose it's time to put my social skills to good use," he chuckled.

Aquila glanced at his patron deity blankly. "...you don't have any, Lord Garuda. Need I remind you all of our neighbors refer to you as the 'annoying bird'?"

The Eagle God creaked to a halt and his eye twitched. "...it's no problem. I'm sure my charisma will spin their opinion around once I try properly."

"..."

"...stop looking at me like that."