Chapter 47: The Pillar of Sorrow

The Oceans of Lumina were beginning to shrink under the influence of the unknown presence, but something was wrong. No matter how much it shrank, something about its nature refused to become finite.

Infinity divided by half was still infinity.

Elias knew that he could not understand a fraction of what was happening here, but he knew that he needed to store everything inside his memory… he was looking at powers at the peak of this world, and he would be lucky if he saw such sights again in centuries.

He could not understand what was happening as the presence kept pouring more power into the Oceans of Lumina until it shone like diamonds, and yet, Elias thought it had shrunken by half, and it could no longer be reduced.

[CONTAINMENT PROCEDURE COMPLETE. RISK OF VEIL FRACTURE ERASED.]

[ANOMALY DETECTED—LUMINA POOL EXPONENTIALLY EXCEEDS THRESHOLD. HOST POTENTIAL SEVERELY AFFECTED]

[ADJUSTING PARAMETERS #ERROR# UNKNOWN FRAGMENTS OF DIVINITY COMBINED WITH LUMINA POOLS AND ELDER TALENT.]

[TRANSFERRING HOST’S FILE TO HIGHER AUTHORITIES… #ERROR# NO MATCHING FRAGMENT OF DIVINITY IN RECORD… ORIGIN UNKNOWN… REQUEST FOR ARBITERS DENIED.]

[CONCLUSION: HOST IS IMPAIRED BY A MUTATED LUMINA POOL. POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH AS A SIPHON SET TO BRONZE.]

[PREPARE FOR ASSIMILATION WITH DIVINE FRAGMENT– PILLAR OF SORROW.]

With those last words, the almighty presence vanished, and a heavy blow knocked Elias’s consciousness back into his body.

His eyes widened when he saw that the hundred-foot pillar had shrunk and was sinking into his stomach, and before he could even gasp, he fell unconscious… for a brief moment, before his mind that could not be suppressed even in death awakened.

He wished he didn’t.

It was not the pain, Elias was used to those by now; it was the intense feeling of wrongness as something alien integrated itself into your body.

His flesh and bones shifted into weird configurations, and he was aware that his body was changing in a way that he could not describe.

His skin was shedding, and his bones were cracking, and in a few moments, he knew he had grown taller. His red hair, which he loved to keep short to minimise his beautiful appearance, had grown long until he could feel it on his waist, and his fingernails had grown long and sharp, including his toenails.

Elias blinked when he noticed that two spots of green light were reflecting on the rough stony ground he was lying on after the strange silver walkway had vanished along with the pillar, and he was astonished when he realized that this light came from the glow of his eyes!

Would a mortal go blind if they were to look into his eyes? Thankfully, the glow on the ground vanished as his eyes must have returned to normal, and suddenly, it was all over, making Elias gasp in astonishment. This had been the strangest and most thrilling change he had ever experienced in his life.

He leapt to his feet, his body feeling ten times lighter, and looking around him, he could only see the massive cavern hidden by shadows. Elias suddenly felt a bit disoriented as his vision unexpectedly extended, his senses sharpened, and his heart beat were so loud he could hear it like a drum.

“What is happening to me? Is this the result of the Fragment or my Lumina Pools?”

Looking down on his naked body, Elias blinked in surprise. He had grown in all areas, his muscle tone sharp enough to cut, and he felt so full of energy that he thought he could run forever and never grow tired.

The weight of the Lumina Pools inside his chest had reduced, and Elias blinked when he saw nine purple birthmarks on his chest.

“Where did this come from?” he stroked his chest; the feeling of his skin on his palm was like silk and yet had a firmness that felt like steel. “Now, this is getting ridiculous. How much did I grow?”

Touching the purple birthmarks on his chest seemed to activate them, and they began to glow as a scent of sandalwood began to emerge from his body. Elias looked at the glowing marks with avid curiosity, noticing that the birthmarks were not entirely purple; at their centers glowed a golden sun that felt like divinity.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar stir in his consciousness, and he looked up, amazed as he knew that what he was feeling was the Green Swarm and they were heading towards him. This was the first time that they had returned to him without him summoning them first.

The swarm travelled faster than he expected as he was dimly wondering how he was going to leave this Fragment. His eyes widened when he saw a faintly glowing purple moon descend.

’When did the swarm turn purple? Could it be related to the…’ He glanced at his chest, and he shrugged, then he gasped as he felt tens of thousands of minds touch his own.

It was not overwhelming, and he had only been surprised as he looked at the massive swarm that was hovering above him. He suddenly knew that the swarm numbered 52,000. They would never exceed that number, and if any of them were destroyed, they would return after 52 years.

These were all the thoughts that entered his mind before the Swarm went silent, and they descended lower until they covered him entirely like a cocoon.

Elias did not feel suffocated; he felt a deep sort of kinship. Their relationship had changed, and he almost felt as if they had all become part of him, rather than tenants living in his body.

He felt the nine purple spots in his chest begin to tingle, and he did not need to look down to see that the Swarm was beginning to enter his body through those nine shining marks, and in a few seconds, all of them were gone, but something was different.

Usually, he felt a weight inside his body and slight pain when they began to feed on his blood; however, what he was feeling now was different. Instead of feeling drained, he felt filled with vitality, and he felt… dense, as if the purple swarm had reinforced his body.

There was also another strange feeling at the back of his head, and when Elias explored that feeling tentatively, he jerked backward as all ten of his fingers suddenly twisted and transformed into purple blades, twelve inches long.

Each of the blades gleamed like profound iron, and he could feel his connection with them, and he knew that the swarm inside of him had transformed into these claws.

He watched with fascination as the claws flowed back into his body when he touched that strange area in his head. The feeling began to rise inside him, and he gave in to it, and he looked down to see that a pair of purple knee-length breeches had appeared around his waist, covering his nakedness.

They looked like clothes, yet he knew that when he was a mortal, he would not be able to tear off one thread even if he had to spend years. It reminded him of the Commander’s clothes, but unlike her own, which had runes that glowed white, he had golden runes all over the breeches.

He had so many questions, but knowing he had put it aside for too long, Elias called up his Status screen, and he was shocked by the changes he saw.

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