Chapter 282

I felt myself split between excitement and fear as I found myself about to face my first proper Divine opponent, even though I was feeling that the powers it displayed, even in the half-gathered state, were strong enough to impress me.

Unfortunately, fighting against an Avatar directly was not a good idea. Not because I was particularly afraid of myself, confident in my ability to defend myself if I revealed some of my secrets ... but I was reluctant to trigger such a battle this close to the capital.

I could retreat back to the capital, the wards giving me the chance to retaliate against them ... but after a moment, I decided against it.

I could feel the connection the Avatar slowly building with the rest of the Necrotic Sparks ... which gave me an. Interesting opportunity. I could easily locate the locations of the other Necrotic Sparks. Even better, from the shape of the connection, I could sense whether those sparks were currently passive or active...

"I see I have a cowardly god that wants to delay me while you hunt for my innocent elves. You are too young to trick me," I said as I suddenly teleported toward one of the larger gatherings of the undead that was currently in a state of active battle. I found an elven tribe, surrounded by the Guardian Trees that had currently turned into treants, desperately fighting against the undead that surrounded them.

It was a large tribe, about ten thousand strong, struggling against the undead attack. "Go and worship me, my children," I shouted even as I waved my hand, and a huge tree appeared, growing to reach a hundred feet of height in just two seconds, and another second later its center shattered, revealing a gate at its center.

A portal for the elves to travel — a new ability I developed after examining the device of the Eternals — leading it to the capital.

The portal itself was made of pure Arcana mana, but I made sure to create the connecting tunnel through nature mana. It was far less effective in terms of mana efficiency, but mana was much less precious than my secrets.

The tree itself was unnecessary as well, just another layer for my deception.

While the elves retreated, I consumed the Nature Spark of the Guardian trees, and the attacking undead.

{+3882 Purified Spark}

The amount I got wasn't enough to enhance my stats once more, but before I could lament about that, the Aether plane was breached once more, and six liches appeared in front of me.

With one great difference. This time, six of them stood side by side, covered by the shadow of a dragon made of necrotic spark. A shadow that gave me an intimidating feeling ... containing far more than I managed to steal despite my extended battle.

And, considering the relative benefits they drove from the Divine Spark were far superior to mine, it didn't feel like a battle I could win.... "Let's see if the ancient gods truly deserve their reputation," the shadow spoke, the voice alone radiating power...

"I don't have time to waste with you, dog," I called as I teleported, just as the huge necrotic bolt passed where I had been.

I expected him to follow me to the Aether dimension immediately, which was the reason I appeared in a relative opening, but he appeared several seconds later. "How dare you insult me despite being a coward," the Avatar shouted, the desolate landscape shattering under his cry...

"Do you think you deserve to fight with me? A coward that doesn't even dare to show himself and sends an Avatar to fight me," I said. "Here, a worthwhile opponent for you."

With that, I raised my hand, and a huge treant appeared in front of him, attacking him recklessly. I connected him with the remaining stored nature mana, which made him grow to a threatening degree as it rushed toward the Avatar.

I doubted that it would hold it for more than a minute, but then, that was all I needed. I created an illusion of myself before slipping away, and started hunting the undead forces that were currently fighting against the retreating elves — though luckily, most of them were already close enough to the capital to make my involvement unnecessary.

With my attempts to facilitate their escape getting faster and faster due to repeated practice, the Avatar failed to catch up with me. And, luckily, he was arrogant enough to chase me rather than attack the capital to force a confrontation.

With Seldanna still going through Apothesis, the last thing I wanted to disturb that, especially with the great gap between the direct might we were capable of applying. Technically, I had a dozen ways to equalize the situation in a direct confrontation, especially from a bunch of safe wards, but that would only reveal my secrets.

And, while the Eternals finally stopped pumping necrotic mana into the Aether Dimension, that didn't mean that they were still not spying.

I continued bouncing around, transferring more and more of the tribal elves back to the capital ... which had an interesting, but welcome, side effect. After being saved by their 'god' they were more than willing to worship the Tree of Life, which currently belonged to Seldanna.

Through the portals, I took the occasional glimpses, and noticed a similar connection between her and the nature spark that was held between elves was occurring, showing the process was getting even faster.

All the while, I continued to get stronger by hunting undead while saving more and more elves.

{+18291 Purified Spark}

{-20300 Purified Spark}

{+3 All Stats}

Soon, I realized that I wasn't the only one that was trying to use tricks. Occasionally, the Avatar of the Undead God showed speed fast enough to trap me ... but he did not, probably still assuming that I was trapping the Necrotic Sparks for his convenience and exhausting myself at the same time.

Pity that was a lie.

As I continued my escape, I felt Seldanna's reach touch at my God Forest. That didn't surprise me. I could have fought for control, but I needed her awake as soon as possible, and not to mention, she would be able to use its power without constant soul damage.

Divine Abilities were not jokes.

I let the chase continue, even after I managed to save all tribes I could find, dealing with smaller and smaller undead clumps, unprepared for my attack.

Ironically, the presence of their god sealed their defeat. Without his presence, I could never have discovered them with such ease, each discovery empowering me further, until I felt that I could finally rival my old self.

{+17291 Purified Spark}

{-16250 Purified Spark}

{+2 All Stats}

I still didn't have access to the convenience of Skills, of course, but the near-infinite mana was more than enough as a substitute.

And, finally, I received the message I had been waiting for. "I'm awake!"

Seldanna was back.

"Excellent. We have your test here already," I called. Even after her Apothesis, I could feel a faint connection with her. I felt that she could snap it if she wanted, but she maintained it, and from that, I could feel her state.

She was strong enough to contend against an avatar...

"You want me to fight against a god!" she gasped.

"Come on, sweetie, You're a goddess, you can handle it," I called. "And, feel free to cut loose, I'll make sure both the dimensional wall and the capital is safe."

With that, she rushed forward, soon appearing next to us. "Wait, why there is a goddess here!" the Avatar gasped, his shock almost enough to make me pity him.

I disappeared, and focused on repairing the dimensional barrier. The memories of elementals invading a plane were still fresh in my mind, and while they didn't seem to be caring that much about the planetary fragments, that didn't mean they wouldn't invade the place ... and I much prefer not to deal with them without the assistance of the System.

Instead, I watched as the Necrotic God fought against Seldanna in a hopeless battle ... but just because it was hopeless didn't mean it was quick. The battle lasted for days, the Avatar's ability to create endless hordes matching Seldanna's life-creation abilities.

I ignored many opportunities to strike, for one simple reason. Seldanna had the adjusted memories of Divine Abilities, but using them required practice.

In contrast, the Necrotic God was much stronger, but the difference between having an avatar present versus being present directly was much stronger. He tried to retreat several times, but each time, I blocked him, not willing to let go of that much Divine Spark...

Worse, the more he drained the necrotic mana from the Aether, his biggest advantage started to disappear. As the Divine battle consumed more and more mana, the Aether Dimension turned even more sparse, like a deflating balloon.

I had a feeling that, without my intervention, the plane would have collapsed, but I worked hard to support the planar barrier with a constant feed of Nature Mana I had hidden away...

"You win this time..." the necrotic god suddenly shouted. "But don't think that it'll be free."

With that, I felt his body, made of Divine Spark, ready to explode. I waited until his hint of consciousness finally disappear, then before the spark could disperse, captured it with a cage of Tantric mana, first stuffing it into a crystal, then absorbing it.

A fascinating amount ... far more than anything else I had got.

{+230490 Purified Spark}

I had just received a fortune...

Now, it was time to celebrate, I thought as I looked at Seldanna's Divine visage...

My first time with a goddess.

{Strength: 30 Charisma: 30

Precision: 30 Perception: 30

Agility: 30 Manipulation: 30

Speed: 30 Intelligence: 30

Endurance: 30 Wisdom: 30}

{Purified Divine Spark: 237555}

{Pseudo-HP: 1103 Mana: 2410}

{ADDITIONAL SPARKS

Light - Chosen 7.4

Nature - Chosen 10}

{MINIONS

Elven Goddess - ???}

[Level: 36 Experience: 631374 / 666000]