Godslayer Lysette: Chapter 265

Chapter 265: The Foundation of Lake Ciricu

Lysette and Mirae remained on the rooftop, holding one another’s hands in silence.  Lysette continued to let her thoughts drift to the impending war and all the savagery it would entail.  Plans for defending the people of Ciricu, and to a far lesser extent, Domaria, from any and all who would threaten them.

But when she could, she did as Mirae instructed.  Focused her considerable mental faculties on Creation, not on destruction.  On building, not on breaking.  On life, not on death.

Mirae was absolutely right with their comment about Lyon.  The light in his study was still on, flickering a bit out of overuse.  It was occasionally occluded by the man himself pacing about, no doubt letting his mind wander with possibilities.  Glorious possibilities, undoubtedly.  Not so different from those first few days after her rebirth.

Getting her revenge— her Reciprocity, though she didn’t know that at the time— was never far from her mind.  But at the time, it was distant, something to work toward in the future when she was strong enough to reach out and claim it.  The immediate challenge— and opportunity in equal measure— was to embroil herself into the vast world of Cultivation.  Learning what she could do, developing the techniques that would serve as the backbone of her fighting style, and honing that edge through combat.  A lot of combat, sparring matches and battles with realer stakes alike.

That wonder, that thrill of possibility, the chance to leave a mark on the world.  The chance to create something better than what was there before, to leave something behind after one died.  Lyon had Ambition for certain.  He might not have been a disciple of Serrena’s as sealed by her pact, but when it came to seizing opportunity and proposing grand ideas, he was cut every bit from her cloth.  And Solanna’s as well, when Lysette thought about it some more.

She chuckled.  Mirae followed suit.  They rolled over and planted a quick kiss on Lysette’s lips just as the first lights of the sun streamed outward from the horizon at their backs.  Such was the worst part of war.  The endless waiting.  That, more than anything, was the hardest adjustment after having left the Academy.

There, days and tasks were structured and regimented.  Battles against Asterion’s forces came as scheduled, each full moon and its crimson rays heralding another battle for her life and for the fate of the world.  Even when the Chancellor revealed himself as an enemy, he was polite enough to wait until the promised day for their confrontation.  And then there was quiet until the next blood moon arrived.

Not so anymore.  Dawn arrived as surely as it always would, and with it came not a soldier in sight.  No grand army, no soldiers slinking around just outside the city walls, not even a spy who thought themself clever sneaking into the village under the guise of a common traveler or merchant.  Just a day like any other.

And with that day, Lysette got to work.  Soon after everyone else arose from their slumber, Lysette began her task of moving more trees out of the way.  The others wouldn’t arrive for quite some time, but she had the most daunting task of all still ahead of her when they finished.  Though she knew she could not save all the trees currently growing in the field that would soon become Lake Ciricu, she still wished to make use of as many of them as possible.

“I still don’t see why you don’t just burn them and be done with it.”  Serrena’s voice dropped from out of the sky.  Even without turning around to greet her, Lysette’s aura picked out that scowl, those crossed arms, and those judgemental eyes blazing down upon her.  “It’d be a lot faster.”

“And we’re not far from the foothills, Serrena.  I understand quick and convenient.  Trust me, I do very much.  But if I start ripping trees out, we’re that much more likely to have a lot of big problems in the future.  Avalanches, rockslides, rivers of mud barreling down on Ciricu.  We already faced one up in the mountains.  If you want to take responsibility for the chance of a catastrophe, that’s on you.  Otherwise, we’re going to handle the river construction project correctly.”

Lysette paused to collect her cool.  “On matters martial and strategic, I will defer to you and your grandmother.  I know you know tactics and strategy better than I do.  So please, defer to my judgement on this matter.”

Serrena sighed.  “You had me at ‘avalanches’, Lyse.”

Lysette was unable to stop a small smile from creeping onto her face.  “Thanks.  I don’t mean to insult the man, but I’m almost as excited about this project as Lyon is.  I was going to say Passionate but I don’t want Solanna to get offended.”

“You are certainly something else, Lyse.  Anyway, what about all those trees?  Surely they’re all downhill and out of the way.”

“Those?”  Lysette thought for a moment.  “How confident are you in putting out fire?”

“As easily as conjuring it.”

Serrena conjured a sphere of flame the size of her palm and dropped it onto the ground at Lysette’s feet.  She waited a few seconds, sending a bit of smoke into Lysette’s eyes and earning a bit of her ire, and then snapped her fingers.  The remaining smoke dissipated, leaving only a blackened patch of grass two feet in diameter as evidence that there had ever been a fire to begin with.

“I would demonstrate again with a larger fire, but I feel you would find your precious plants’ sacrifice to be unbecoming.”

“Fire is part of the cycle of life for forests.  Pyriscence.  I believe I taught you that the last time we went all out against one another.”

“Like I’d forget that humiliation.  Always one step behind Her Magnificence, Demon Queen Lysette.”  The obvious sarcasm dripped off her every word.

“Ideally, try to let the ashes spread.  Other than that, by all means, Serrena.  And thank you.”

Serrena paused for half a second.  “You’re welcome, Lyse.  And if I see any signs of trouble, I’ll let you know.”

Lysette opened her mouth to thank her comrade in arms, but Serrena was long gone before any sound would come out.  Instead, with a smile on her face and the golden glow of nascent flames a third of a mile to the north, Lysette returned to her task of moving trees around, lifting them up and guiding them to their new homes and helping them settle back in the dirt.

By the time the others had arrived to join in the efforts, it was an hour after dawn and the sun’s light to the east was being occluded by a thick cloud of gray and black smoke from the north.  The fire was well-contained in accordance with Serrena’s boasts, and Solanna had joined in her great-granddaughter’s task to ‘let loose and have some fun’, to use her words.

Lysette was more reluctant to speak with the Terean twins Rolf and Beatrice, who approached her about ten minutes after Jules, Katie, Gerald, Amalia, and Lilia.  Both were filled with uncertainty in their eyes and trepidation in their fingers and legs.  But notably, Beatrice no longer had the feeling of overwhelming disgust toward Lysette that she’d shown yesterday.  A good sign, at the least.

“Good morning to both of you.  And give me just a second,” Lysette said.

She plopped one tree down and finished setting it back into the ground before continuing.  Moving three trees at once instead of four opened up more than enough of her mental focus to have even a difficult conversation.

“And to you,” Rolf said.  “The two of us had a long talk about everything.”

“You’re an absolute monster,” Beatrice said, though the hostility from the previous day was gone.  “Being able to fight an army by yourself is the talk of legends.  Though, seeing as though there’s already one of those right over there, I suppose that all tracks.”

She pointed to Solanna out in the distance as she said that.

“But what you did, not just not killing us, but also taking away our Cultivation?  That’s not just legendary, but unprecedented.  I’ve never heard of anyone doing what you did.”

Lysette nodded.  That much made sense.  Most deities weren’t demonic.  Few were those who gained divinity on their own while harboring sufficient enmity toward divinity itself.  And fewer still were people filled with that enmity who were sponsored divinity by another in the pantheon.  Lysette happened to be the right pawn at the right time, to use the term Zarielle was so fond of.

“Have you made a decision?” Lysette asked.

“Not a definitive one,” Rolf said.  “But we both want to know more about divinity and what steps we’d need to take to embark down upon that road.”

“And you, Beatrice?”

“I’m not going to stand here and break bread with you and pretend that everything between us is all well and good and water under the bridge just because you tempted us with the prospect of power.  A Cultivator has her pride, after all.  But–”  Beatrice’s face contorted, as though she were fighting to force the words out.  “But if you truly meant ill will to us, you would not have told us about our heritage.  And though I find the prospect of asking for your help loathsome, I find the prospect of remaining at this level of strength to be even more so.”

Lysette nodded.  Pride indeed.  Your nascent Domain, I imagine.

“Alright, Solanna will probably know the details better than I do, but here’s what I do know.  There are two types of Deities on Aimarion.  First, you have the primordial deities, who govern aspects of physical reality.  However, when Aimarion was created, the creator god Omnia didn’t know how mortals would act and what–”

Lysette paused, struggling to think of the right words.  “She didn’t know what guidance they would need or how best to help meet whatever spiritual needs they would have.  So she created a system that would take the feelings, prayers, and desires and use them to empower deities that could inspire the people and help carry out their will.  That’s what we are— the manifestations and embodiments of human desires and impulses.”

“So, a history lesson is all we get?” Beatrice asked.  “If that’s all, I’d rather you stop wasting my time.”

“I’m getting to my point.  Context is important.  In order for a mortal to ascend to divinity, there are three paths to follow.  Be sponsored by another member of the pantheon, gain enough worship and prayer to change yourself spontaneously, or be born with a so-called Seed of Divinity within you from your bloodline and learn how to awaken it.”

“And how do we do that?” Rolf asked.

“Hence the reason for the explanation from before.  You need to meditate and Cultivate and reflect upon yourself and your deepest impulses.  A concept that you embody down to your very Spark, and then allow that concept to fill you and become part of you.  That, coupled with a sufficient amount of Divine Essence accrued from people praying to and venerating you, will catalyze a change to your very being, causing you to be reborn as a deity.”

“Well, that seems simple enough,” Rolf said.

“That seems simple?”  Beatrice scoffed.  “Absolutely nothing about anything that lunatic just said is simple in any way, shape, or form!  Seriously, Rolf!  Have you been bewitched by this demon’s fiendish charms?”

“Tricia!  I–”

“Forget it.  I don’t have time to waste dealing with this asinine woman’s mad ravings!  I need to get back to my Cultivation if I ever want to reach even half of what I was six months ago!”

Beatrice stormed off, huffing and puffing and muttering curses under her breath.  Once she was out of earshot, Rolf turned back to Lysette.

“I’m sorry about her attitude, Lyse.”

“There’s no need.  She’s still upset, and I think she has every right to be.  I did what I felt was right in the moment.  With that said, I want to offer you both one more piece of advice.  People are naturally attracted to great deeds.  The people who push themselves to accomplish great deeds that seem like nothing short of, well, divine intervention, to speak frankly.

“If you wish, I can and will help you with your Cultivation.  For Tricia and anyone else, as well.  But I won’t tell you whether this path is right for you.  That’s for each of you alone to decide for yourselves.”

Chapter 264: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115603517

Table of Contents: https://www.patreon.com/posts/101896170

Chapter 266: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115715615