Chapter 359 Changed

"What are you talking -""Fight me, Master Vestic!" Dr'ul raised her head beneath his palm with a blush. "I am grateful for being thrown in that environment, it has helped me grow where I thought growth was impossible before, it forced me to constantly face my fears, day after day, week after week, I have overcome so much since entering that terrible place!"

"It ended up being the perfect environment for reflection and self-improvement."

"Only you could say something so absurd about the realm of nightmares, I hope to the highest power that be that I never make any decision that will cause me to end up there again, death is far more pleasant," Cecelia shook her head, but then went quiet after Ikaris gave her a side glance.

"Cecelia and Dr'ul are such vastly different beings, are they not?" Ikaris asked, and Sol who had been put on the spot chuckled and raised is hand off the goddesses head, allowing her to stand after a gesture to the others.

"

Vast

might not even be big enough a term to describe their differences anymore," Sol responded, thinking how one was banished there and the other chose to go, and then one that was banished came out wishing to never return while the other that had voluntarily entered had seen the entire ordeal as an opportunity to better herself.

Dr'ul was simply too pure of heart, as a goddess that benefited from the worst outcome of conflict; she was an awfully optimistic deity.

"Did you hear that, she thinks she can win against Lord Vestic," A spectator was finally able to speak after he had been subjected to the mana of both Cecelia and Dr'ul. "Even is she is strong, and I have no doubt that she is, isn't is presumptuous to ask that of her Master as soon as she exits confinement, isn't that what got her there in the first place?" The man chuckled with his brows furrowed and his shoulders relaxed.

"Presumptuous?" Dr'ul turned to the eye floating nearby. "Who said that, who dares call the goddess of war presumptuous?" She glared causing the man who was in a factory on the industrial world to shake his head and hold his mouth.

"What is happening here, anyway?" Dr'ul began extending her senses again. "So many people connected to Alpha's system, where did all these people come from, this is over seven times the amount of Arkadians when it was at it's prime and fully populated before the demons attacked us."

"They are..." Cecelia's eyes widened after she too began extending her senses, something else that Dr'ul had taught her inside of the [Nightmare Prism]. "Vatui and Godslayers...?"

"Indeed," Arla turned to her smiling. "While the two of you were confined, we managed to rather easily usurp the Resistance, they were entangled with the Emporium and involved in many wrongdoings, that was two weeks ago." She explained briefly. "If you wish to know more, Alpha has created a codex with all the information we have gathered since-"

"Hold your horses there, Arla," Dina looked across Ikaris's shoulder at the elf and then at Cecelia who stood staring at her. "She lost use of the system before she was sent away, and by the looks of it..." Dina's eyes narrowed. "She hasn't gotten it back just yet, which means Ikaris has not made a decision."

"Ah," Arla looked at Cecelia again, and indeed, there was no indication of the system's power inside of her body augmented or otherwise. "I see," She lowered her head to Ikaris. "I apologise for speaking out of turn."

"Wait," Cosmo stepped forward standing closer to Cecelia. "If Lady Cecelia has yet to be pardoned, then why is the Arkadian Queen already using the system?" He asked, in his eyes, just as Sol and Ikaris had discussed a month ago, it looked like favouritism.

"That is because, the Realm of Nightmares was not my original punishment, I have seen what it does to a person when they dwell there by themself, so I cast my title as queen aside, I abandoned my duties and turned my back on the pride of Arkadia and requested that I recieve the same punishment as Cecelia, we were both the cause of the rift between our people, I did not want her to bare such a heavy burden alone." Dr'ul confessed and their spectators all went silent.

"What?" Cecelia's eyes widened in horror.

"That's right, she requested to be treated equally-"

"But..." Cecelia slowly began tearing up. "The things you saw... and what you experienced, what we..."

"I overcame those fears and horrors thanks to you, Cecelia," The goddess stood proudly. "We entered as enemies, and now I consider you a good friend and my partner in battle, as you call me sister so too do I; you."

"I am honoured to have spent the time fighting at your side," Dr'ul turned to Ikaris and took a knee. "This is why, Ikaris, I will lay my life as leverage and declare that the Éloén Cecelia that entered, and the woman that emerged are two different people, she has changed, please have mercy on her!"

"Wow, Dr'ul has never put her life on the line for anyone other than Sol and Ikaris... to think it would be someone that isn't even Arkadian; our sister seems to have changed a lot as well," Adonai was the most taken aback as the eldest and most observant of the entire Arkadian race.

"Interesting..." Ikaris turned to Adonai and the other two when they slowly went on their knees as well.

"If my sister is willing to lay down her life for another, then I no longer have a shred of doubt in that person, please, Goddess of Balance, show mercy for her sake." Adonai declared his stance.

Along with them the Vatui all took to their knees as well, leaving the only people standing the original gang of Sol, Ikaris, Dina, Arla and Sara who held Talia, with Keele and Jenifer at her sides lowering their heads out of respect as Cecelia's former Juniors.

The woman under trial dared not move or speak a word, she just stood there quietly praying with her eyes locked onto her boots.

[The system recognises Éloén Cecelia once more as a user].

Seeing the message, Cecelia sucked in a breath of relief and balled her fists, lowering herself to her knees and clasping her hands tightly together before herself.

"Thank you," She whispered. "Thank you for believing in me again..."

"I am not the one to thank, Cecelia," Ikaris gestured to everyone else. "You made a change and they have seen it."

"Thank you, everyone."

***

"Haha, I never imagined this could be so much fun, if you asked me five years ago what I expected to be doing today I would never say that I would be skipping across stars, this is like a childhood dream I never imagined!" Dina laughed, standing on the calm surface of a dwarf star in the final stages of it's life before explosion. "This is amazing~"

"Keep going," She heard Sol's voice in her head. "You have to get used to this as soon as possible, I already told you, I'm gonna be gone for a while," He stood atop another star across the galaxy staring in her direction.

"Right," Dina started concentrating again, utilising [Divine Sight] to lock on to stars in the distance and then closing her eyes to make a map of them in her mind. Sёarᴄh the nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Have you found me?" Sol asked.

"Not yet, you've completely suppressed your mana and I can't even sense you through the link right now," She complained.

"There are beings out there with no signature at all, completely invisible to even myself, but that same invisibility is how I am able to find them; you are trying to find a presence, Dina, but instead you ought to be searching for the lack of a presence, search for nothingness."

"Master, that makes no sense," She leaned forward, locking on to the nearest star and tethering her mana to it, appearing an instant later with a sloppy crash-land across the surface kicking up a solar storm in the shape of a ring from the lack of traction as the speed she was travelling at prior made her orbit it twice before she could gain her footing again, stopping with with a loud huff. "We are in the void, there is nothing but emptiness everywhere!"

"Naturally, but these beings disturb the flow, use [Divine Sense] again, seek the disturbance in the flow of mana that keeps the void from falling apart," He instructed, doing the same as he watched her.

"Master," Dina spoke after a minute of silence. "What did you find out there that has you so eager to leave?"

"I found an entire collective full of beings of the Celestial Divine and Primordial Tier."

"What?"

"Ikaris already knows, but I haven't told anyone else yet, the thing is; they lie just outside of the Grand Collective which we happen to be on the edge of, the same as my collective was not a part of the grand and instead resided just on the skirts of it."

"When I was searching for other beings like the Primordial deity at Umbra's side, I discovered an area so dense in energy that it was impossible to view it with my sense alone, I have to see it in person."

"And you are sure that this is a place with Primordial beings?" Dina asked, appearing at his side sloppily again resulting in Sol holding on to her arm and righting her.

"There is no doubt about it; inside of that collective are beings of pure primordial essence, there may even be a few Divine Primordial beings there as well." Sol ruffled her hair praising her for figuring out how to search the void for something without a presence.

"How long will it take?"

"Does time flow differently there?"

"What will you do if you find others like yourself?"

"Dina," Sol rested his hand on her head again ruffling it once more causing a pout when she hurried to fix it a second time. "If I get even the slightest incline that something about that place is off, I will immediately return home,"

"What about Alpha?"

"I am leaving her with Ikaris and taking her present copy, Jenifer's adopted daughter."

"Can I come?" Dina held on to his hand. "I don't want to be separated again-"

"Ikaris needs you by her side, Dina," Sol shook his head and placed his palm on her cheek.

"Come on, let's try again."