Chapter 681 (1/2)

Book 6, Chapter 73 – Godkillers

The wastelands were a vast, devastated landscape Tracts of cracked land spread as far as the eye could see Nothing lived, not a blade of grass – all was naught but death, wind and sand The harsh environe figure glided through the air above the canyons Its figure was perfect, like a work of art, constantly gleaht

The Cloud God had traversed the land, visiting rounds It had picked across countless ruins, finding old traces of what had been With each fragment learned, the more it thirsted for answers

Yet there was conflict The answer it sought was not the answer it wanted

The Cloud God kneas true; there was no going back Perhaps it was as the Shepherd God said and it… he… was no longer a God Gods were not solitary, they were a vast and connected entity – pieces of a united whole, like cohts was broken, he could never return to that perfect union It was like a human who discovers a part of the to fester The rest of the body could not tolerate this patch of skin, for the good of the whole There was nothing for it but to remove the disease and leave it behind The Cloud God knew his fate He would be abandoned – or perhaps destroyed – by his former people

Before that happened, he wanted to know the ultiins of the Gods such a mystery? When had the demons appeared? Both their species had incredible culture and power, so ere their histories absent from memory?

Gods weredecreed No God before the Shepherd ever questioned its authority Before the Cloud God was discovered and re

Flying over the vast sea of wind and sand, the Cloud God felt so Confusion Loneliness… In the thousand years of his life the Cloud God had rarely felt anything, it was disconcerting and yet… he had never felt truly alive until now

“I know you are there”

The Cloud God stopped and stared ahead A pulse of energy was released fro over dozens of kilometers like a radar scanner The power and ashed over every living being in the vicinity

A white-robed figure appeared, riding a winged creature that was half lion and half tiger In her hand was a glass-like sword and silver light flickered in her eyes Long, black hair danced in the wind and her beautiful face was marred by a chill born froht shudder in fear to look upon her

“The Cloud God's whereabouts where only faintly discernible You have certainly made yourself difficult to find” Selene spoke in her cold and distant tones “Skycloud cannot persist without its protector You need to go home”

The Cloud God did not respond The Avatar had not come all the way out here to convince hi's representative unfolded to him Cloudhaas not the one she feared The true threat to her was hie Selene's eyes allowed her to see through all physical and energetic attacks, but where powerless against assaults of the mind which occurred out of time If, for any reason, the Cloud God chose to help Cloudhawk it could spell the Avatar's doom

So her excursion to the wastes was for a simple reason: She had to eliminate this threat before Cloudhawk could reach it

The Cloud God was indeed strong, but was alone out here Without allies the creature could be slain However, should it join forces with Cloudhawk the act was far more difficult The Avatar could not tolerate another variable, especially not one as disruptive as the Cloud God It had to be culled

The Cloud God knew this He'd already felt several other consciousnesses nearby

Lucian, Phoenix, Ash and Bruno e Each had brought a shty all the saainst such a force even Cloudhaould find it difficult to flee

The Cloud God reached out with his mind “I can sense what is in your hearts I can feel the conflict You have turned your weapons on demons but never a member of your pantheon Now you see that the Gods are not infallible They can make mistakes They can betray their own They can be killed When it is shown that Gods are not perfect, will hued a the masters

The Avatar broke in “The rare aberration can exist, even a Gods”

“We are like you, but have been sealed away froreat intellect we have been robbed of freedo e I – in e For that I ah I have existed for a thousand years I have never truly lived Only in my freedom have I became alive”

The Cloud God's athered and then was suddenly released in all directions Those nearby felt as though reality was collapsing around them Suddenly they were in another world, but of course it wasn't It was an illusion created by the fallen God's incredible power