(Written while listening to: "Into the Unknown" by Starset on YouTube)
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'Welp. At least I know it's not "the future". Laito made the conclusion.
Although Laito did know the fate of the Eternal City from the novel, it was already implied that it would be completely obliterated by Sunny and Nephis.
It still stood there, untouched and pristine so the main cast's excursion here still did not happen.
Unfortunately, the Flesh of Kanakht was also there.
A fucking Great Terror.
It was a parasite-like Nightmare Creature that was currently inhabiting the immortal bodies that were once the citizens of this city.
And apparently it was perfectly capable of sensing Laito, even in his ethereal form.
And not speaking even of any potential horrors that might nest in the city at that point in time.
It definitely wasn't a "starting zone".
But Laito knew that once upon time there was a Sleeper that survived it.
The founder of House of Night. The Nightwalker.
Not only that, but Nightwalker received the bloodline of Storm God hidden on the top of Eternal City's lighthouse and then claimed for himself potentially one of the most OP citadels that was drifting nearby the Eternal City, one made by the Daemon of Repose herself. Rime.
Great Citadel: Night Garden.
The Night Garden was also the only actual citadel nearby that housed a Gateway… so if it wasn't there…
Laito was essentially fucked.
And as he soon realized after floating up closer to the barrier that protected the city from the crushing weight of Stormsea's water, he was indeed, fucked.
Laito couldn't see the Night Garden anywhere close to the city itself.
Only endless expanse of Stormsea depths… and potential for some ungodly abominations to show up and eat his soul.
It was absolutely terrible.
Thankfully Laito's incorporeal form and ability to fly allowed him to escape the Flesh of Kanakht that already targeted him.
But there was nothing Laito could do to that monstrosity so at best they were in relative stalemate.
Anyways, there was nothing much Laito could gain from the Eternal City itself.
There was no Gateway there and all creatures there were immortal, so no Memories and Echo farming there.
The only thing Laito wanted to check out was the Lighthouse that contained the lineage of the Storm God.
Any boons from greater beings were welcome… even if they were dead, like the gods were… at least most of them.
Laito flew in the direction of the lighthouse.
It was very noticeable. At the top of it, it had a literal star trapped within.
It was quite bright.
By being covered in its silver light, one would absorb the lineage of the Storm God, or die trying.
This was a way better gamble than the one in Godgrave, so Laito was willing to risk it.
The Eternal City was huge so even with Laito's speed it took him a bit of time to get to the lighthouse, while having to evade the attention of Flesh of Kanakht.
He reached it without any major event though.
Laito lowered his altitude and approached the lighthouse top from above.
'Alright… let's dive in!... I still hate it.' The constant feeling of disgust didn't leave Laito even for a moment.
Laito phased through the lighthouse's roof and directly into he stars silver light.
And then he felt…
—
—
Nothing at all.
Maybe except for the same repulsion he felt since entering the Nightmare Realm.
But despite the star's light coming into direct contact with Laito's soul…
Nothing.
'Maybe I do have to have a body for it to work?' He wondered.
'I can summon Steve… but…' Laito hesitated.
The Keeper of Souls, the dove that Laito casually called "Steve" was the only body Laito could currently use himself, but there was a problem.
Laito remembered that while he created Steve, he had a strong feelings towards "compatibilities" between elements used in the process.
It was related to those mysterious "Affinities".
The Spell described Steve as an "Avatar of Order", and everything about Steve's abilities and theme screamed relation to Sun God. Not the Storm God.
Laito worried that Steve was also not "compatible" with the lineage of the Storm God.
That seemingly left Laito with no options.
'Summoning Echoes would be even worse, both Bona and Apollyon are not for starlight, that's for sure… the only option left…' Laito didn't want to end up empty handed so in the end he decided to try with the last option.
He summoned a Memory.
After creating Steve he was left with almost none.
But in a situation of potentially gaining(with low chance) a power from the divine he had to at least try.
A beautiful cavalry sabre manifested from the motes of white light.
It just laid there on the floor, bathing in light of the star.
Laito waited for a while with a bated breath.
For a moment nothing happened, but then…
Something happened!
Sabre flashed with silver light and simultaneously Laito heard the Spell talking:
[Your Memory grows stronger].
'Yesh! I knew it!' Laito didn't know anything, but with him things often didn't make sense, so apparently he managed to gather the divine lineage… into his sword.
—
That's not how it works!
But it worked.
Laito quickly summoned S-WORD'S runes.
The name changed, and also its rank!
Memory: [Astral S-WORD].
Memory Rank: Ascendant.
'Awesome!' Only a single rank up from divine blessing, but actually that was most optimal. Laito currently would not be able to even wield a Transcended weapon…
Not that he had hands to do that anyways.
The description didn't change much. There was only one additional sentence added at the end:
Memory Description: ["S" shaped sword. Sharp. Slim. Sturdy. Also enhances the user's "Sorcery Words Magic". My rating: 8/10. Made by "THE GOATS" Incandescent Smithy. Blessed by Stars and Storm.]
'Blessed by Stars and Storm…' Laito repeated in his mind.
'I like that. That's the first thing I didn't find disgusting in this realm.'
'Even this star is abhorrent… I wonder if I can break it…'
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[16 months left until MHA plot beginning]
[Chapter End] The story is not over yet
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