Child of Mercies

Darius's mind was all over the place. He had absorbed all of Vesnia's memories, so he knew the collective thoughts and memories of his mission after his summon, but that wasn't going to stop him from freaking out.

In comparison to the high rank Vesnia was in, Darius's only experience in was his past memories as a king. That's the only reason he could still act calm when faced with soo much otherworldly information. In his mind, just an hour ago, he was in his capital throne, and now he's here. Told to take command of an entire ship filled with the only hope of their so-called dead god, cruising through an Allure Sea made up of souls, with only the memories of a now-dead consort.

Darius's turned to Zachiel, the captain of this ship, and dismissed him. Watching Zachiel leave, he finally returned to the isolation of his own mind, or to better understand, the mind he inherited from Vesnia.

DARIUS'S POV:

'I didn't sign up for this. How could anyone want this?!'

Darius stared at the Benovelent Seas in front of him, his mind still cursing through his frivolous thoughts, knowing all too well they're headed for certain death. Right past the Benovelent Seas lies the Spiral Graveyard. A dead god's decaying domain. How would someone like him manage to pass through it? How didn't the rest of the ship's crew think this was anything but a suicide mission?

'My mind is tired of it all. Once I get out of this, I'll surely make you pay Vesnia. For bringing me to a war that isn't mine to fight.' He waited a bit before the words slipped out of his mouth:

"Even if it means resurrecting you back to life."

***

Out of everything that is happening, he still felt like he's forgetting something very important. But what is it exactly?

He scratched his head a bit, but failing to remember it, he just chose not to think too hard. It won't be wise to waste the number of calories his current body has to such a menial task. He had better things to do. The most important thing in fact. To keep himself and everyone around him from not dying in the Spiral Graveyard.

At the far bridge of the front deck of the large ship, Darius stood lost in thought. He had to make a plan to succeed in such a suicidal endeavor. Every success he has ever had in his long history as a king would be tested here. They all came from great planning. Look at the Battle of reclaim the black marbled ship - Deus Falcona, he planned the layout and all the minions' battle stations, he had to set the stage for the near immense war on the seas. He medicated the risks, and even approximated the lower chances of success. Moving all set pieces as arranged he was able to defeat the Tyrant King of the North - Mosard.

His current obstacle was almost similar to that war. As in both they were drifting on the sea. The only difference was the enemy. That of the past were humans, but today's enemies was the Spiraling Sea itself.

But their was one thing they had to take account for this time. And that is the number of enemies they had. Through Vesnia's memories, Liandra was not to be considered the same as a friend, but as a temporary partner in this current occasion. Liandra's only goal here is to retrieve the Seed of Destiny in the depths of the Spiral Graveyard. As long as she doesn't have the Seed, she won't compromise their plans. But what happens after she retrieves it, no one truly knows but her.

All that he knows is that Liandra is to be dealt with within the Spiral Graveyard. Which is the only way Darius sees them winning against the Apostle of Sin.

'Vesnia used the Church of Night and Day, one of the few School of Thoughts left that follows the original Lord of Storms worship, to summon me; one of the few beings who houses an attribute from the Lord of the Allure - the Lord of Storms, into this world.' Darius laughed a bit in his heart. 'I wouldn't even call it a world since it's just an endless combination of Seas. The only lands being the dead gods' corpses floating on this Allure Sea.'

Darius pulled back from the edge of the ship's front deck and started walking around, lost in thought still.

'The summon was too great to house two souls, so one was pushed out of the body. That being Vesnia's. The remaining soul absorbed everything about the earlier soul, fully cloning itself as the one before, until this body formulated from it. Meaning that this consort body manifested from something that was originally there. But what? Both my past self and Vesnia's body don't seem to look this this from the memories.' Then it hit Darius's mind.

'A third party was involved.' But what would they want from any of this? In all honesty Darius has nothing to gift them. He is a purely new soul not even accustomed to this world. What purpose would a third-party have to try to invest their time in? The thoughts moved across Darius's mind, and like a hot needle imbued with wax, everything became clear to him.

'It was Vesnia they wanted. Something in Vesnia, something important to their cause. But what exactly?'

It was hard to think of anything about Vesnia as a whole. She was an anomaly to even her own mind. Vesnia was considered a Child of Mercy. A soul that came from the Forgotten Ruined Realm of Kaiserslautern. She was originally the next heir to a ruined kingdom - Becena, but to escape the shame to her name and that of her people, she became one of the consorts to the Lord of the Allure World - the Lord of Storms. Bringing with her both servants for the new lord, and her loyalty as well.

Darius thought for a moment. Vesnia's one of the few who were the most closest to the Lord of Storms. It was only natural she'd be the one to know more of him, and his endeavors, and secrets. So what this third-party must have wanted, was something to do with the Lord of Storms.

'I would wager it has something to do with Liandra being here. And if so, I have to be extra careful with my planning.'

'If the third-party had achieved what they were seeking, then it means everything that now is, was already thought off by them. I have to say they are formidable in an extent.'

Darius stared at the dark clouded skies above. Looking around, he finally remembered the important thing he had forgotten when coming to this world. That the Allure Sea had an awakened part of its own soul that, to a minority, was known as the Chaos Sea. This large sea was indeed considered what birthed the Allure World. It was a True Calamity that existed outside the Veiled Allure World. And what bonded the Empyreans inside the Allure World to the worship of such beings.

Having lost the Lord of Storms in a past Great War against these calamities, the Order to the Lord of Storms chose to shift to another god's protection, choosing the closest god to theirs, the True Calamity that is The Formless Mother. And since Darius had absorbed everything from Vesnia, he too was involved in this pact. Meaning he has absorbed all attributes gifted to Vesnia's soul. All he needs is a powerful surge of power, for his awakening or birth to a Soul Anchor.

A Soul Anchor is an Empyrean who has chosen to inhabit the worship of a deity and thus gain the attributes and characteristics of one. To become a Soul Anchor you have to have inhabit the properties of one and manifest a Soul Corridor; which is a version of the Chaos Sea that exists within each Empyrean. After which the Sea would gradually stay dormant until its awakening by absorbing a powerful surge of soul essence that will push the awakening factor forward. And the empyrean would be birthed as a new Soul Anchor.

There are two ways to attain a Soul Corridor. One is to be born with the properties that would go on to manifest its own Soul Corridor, and the other is to craft your own within your soul. The second one needs a craftsman who can trace the soul properties of these deities and trap them into your own soul. Which is not the safest way cause only a countable people have succeeded on this route. Most of them losing their sanity through the corruption from their own worship.

For someone like Darius, who's already an empyrean, he only needs to gain an awakening factor that will catalyze his birth faster.

Darius stared at the location at which the Sinned Witch Liandra was, and a grin formed on his face. It was wide from ear to ear.

'What better way to rush the process, than the Seed of Destiny itself.'

At the end of the day, Darius's mind was that of a king nonetheless, he had chosen that those no in favor of him, those like the enemy Liandra, were not to gain anything from him. To feed his own ego, Liandra wouldn't get the Seed of Destiny from the bottom of the Spiral Graveyard.