Chapter 444 (2/2)

“Where the fuck,” Lucretia said, sagging with relief, “have you been?! I’ve been stuck in here, managing this shit storm-” Then she cut herself off and took a calming breath.

Randidly grinned. “I never thought you would be glad to see me.”

“Consider it a one time thing. It’s been almost a year, what happened? At first I thought you had…” A cloud passed over Lucretia’s face, and Randidly abruptly realized she had thought him dead. But she continued speaking, so Randidly didn’t press the issue. “But then your Blessings, at the right time… god, ha, literally god. Hopefully you can tip the scales in our favor, eh?”

“It was System shenanigans. Not directly, but they accelerated time here. And I thought-” Then Randidly paused, because everyone else was staring at him, with so much intensity that he couldn’t let it continue without acknowledging it. And as he shifted to look at them, he felt them all, somewhat, falter, looking away from him.

His head ached. The mental strain hadn’t had much time to heal, he was just so flooded with adrenaline that he hadn’t noticed it. And now… the weight of their expectations… it made him want to turn away, run and hide. But they would be the ones on the ground, fighting for the control of his Soul Skill. Although he had passed 1000 Progenitor’s Influence, letting him appear before them, it wasn’t enough to directly influence much.

So he activated Indomitable Will of Yggdrasil and stepped forward.

****

Tziech Exodus, the Monster King, lost himself in a memory as he stared at the Progenitor.

This was before the strange Skinshifts, before the great war, before he was grown. Originally Tziech was a baby that was abandoned due to the strange horns poking out of his head. Contaminated by the Energy Wells, people assumed, and they were likely right. But one haphazard bachelor had walked past the abandoned Tziech and picked him up on whim, changing the fate of the world forever.

Very few people, even in his monster inner circle knew it, but Tziech was raised by a Spriggit, and a rather pious one, at that. Growing up, Tziech wore hats to blend in, keeping his head down, trying not to draw attention to the way he was different. But that didn’t work all of the time.

After a particularly brutal incident where other kids had discovered his horns and wanted to use his head to carve their initials into the back wall of the school, Tziech had come home crying. Vallun, his adoptive father, was doing what he did most days, sleeping off all the liquor he had drunk the previous night.

Although generally, Tziech avoided waking his father during these times, he had so much fear and rage… and slowly hate, hate for the Spriggits, doing this to him.

“Do they think they are better than me?” Tziech yelled, glaring at Vallun. “I could-”

But his threats were cut off before they could even take form. “They don’t think they are better than you. Why would you think that?” Vallun had asked, scratching his stomach.

“Well-” Tziech paused. Then he thought about it for several seconds, and followed the fear to his deep, inner core, stemming from Vallun himself. Tziech looked at the ground and said, “...because the Progenitor made them. But I’m just a mutation.”

And, of all reactions, Vallun had laughed. “Why does being a mutation mean the Progenitor didn’t make you, Zeke? The Progenitor made all things. Some on purpose, some not, but always by giving of himself. Don’t take away your own worth.”

Those words had stuck with Tziech for a long time, making him stall in his violent vengeance for dozens of years.

Those words had softly floated to the surface of his mind when the blessings from the Progenitor came down from heaven, and one had descended upon him. Something had shifted in Tziech then, and he began to weep.

And now, standing before the Progenitor, taking in his emerald eyes, his strange ivory cloak, and his conspicuously bare feet, Tziech opened his mouth to say something. But he could find nothing to say. This was the being that he had spent years agonizing over. Did he exist? Was he out there? Had he… created the monsters?

Some on purpose, some not.

Tears formed in Tziech’s eyes. Then, slowly and deliberately, letting the strange, almost palpable aura of the Progenitor wash over him, Tziech got down on his knees. The rest of the council followed him, genuflecting before the Progenitor.

After several seconds, the Progenitor sighed, and the presence was withdrawn, as easily as it had arrived. “Get up. There is work to do. We will work together, but I don’t have much time to spare for this issue. Tell me what you need.”