This one feels like it needs another pass through to expand on some concepts but it's almost there so I have posted it! Will update next chapter if I make any significant changes. Hope you like it!
The moment Hump returned to reality, the sounds of war crashed into him once more. The howls of demons droned even here. Dragons roared. Somewhere far below, thousands fought and died beneath storms of essence powerful enough to be felt even in Heaven itself.
Yet compared to the Divine Sparks surrounding him, it felt insignificant. They radiated throughout the chamber, filled with divinity. Hundreds of them waiting to be claimed. And now, he possessed the means to take them.
His party straightened when they noticed him return to his senses.
“You’re back quick,” Celaine said immediately. “Is that a good sign or a bad one?”
A grin broke out across Hump’s face. “A good one.”
Dylan stared at him in open disbelief, shaking his head slowly. “Incredible. Honestly, I struggle to believe it. You truly broke through the seventh barrier.” He laughed under his breath. “How does it feel to reach the impossible rank?”
“Not as impossible as I thought,” Hump said. “And powerful.”
Nisha hurried over and pressed her snout against his face excitedly. He sensed her exhaustion and lingering pain, but also excitement and pride. Her scales shimmered in the chamber light. A little of the black had returned to her scales, but she was far more golden than before.
Hump laughed quietly and scratched beneath her jaw, earning a pleased rumble, but he forced himself to focus.
“How much time has passed?”
“Not even five minutes,” Emilia said. “Nobody’s arrived yet. There’s still time.”
Bud eyed him uncertainly. “Are you really going to do this?”
Hump nodded.
“And you’re sure you’re up for it?” Bud pressed. “We’ve survived this much. We can stop here.”
“I can do it.” Hump glanced toward the Divine Sparks surrounding them. “I think.”
“There it is,” Celaine said. “At this point I think you only say that to annoy me.”
Hump gave her a look at shook his head. “I would never.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I guess we’ll soon find out.”
Hump held out a hand and Bud dragged him to his feet. “You should all brace yourselves. I don’t know what this is going to feel like from your sides, but at the very least, it shouldn’t harm you.”
“What shouldn’t?” Celaine asked.
Hump grinned at her, unable to hide his excitement. “You’re about to experience the Soul Domain of a Rank 7 wizard carrying half a Divine Spark.”
Instead of concern, challenge lit Celaine’s eyes. “You make it sound fun.”
Emilia rolled her eyes. “Please… let’s save the flirting for when we’re not minutes away from disaster.”
“Better now than never,” Celaine said. She nodded toward Bud. “Maybe you should give it a go.”
“I will not! Not here. Now are you doing this, Hump, or waiting for the old gods to show up?”
“I’m starting.” Hump stood beside the throne of Kelisia, drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
His soul spilled outward. White fire ignited around him in slow-burning wisps, drifting across the floor. The deep rumble of a dragon vibrated through the chamber, not so much heard but felt in the bones.
Violet essence mixed with white as his Soul Manifestation rose first.
Then as it reached its peak, Hump imposed his authority upon the world.
The chamber changed instantly. Molten cracks split the marble floor in every direction. Lava flooded through them in glowing rivers that spread beneath the thrones of the gods without harming them. White flames erupted across the molten stone, burning bright enough to cast the entire chamber into white and shadow.
The air darkened as pressure descended. A white sun ignited overhead, shining down on them. Ash drifted through the chamber in slow spirals while the Divine Sparks blazed like stars within.
And suddenly, essence carved lines into the air. Spell formations unfolded in vast layers of glowing runes and channels. Every blessing, every enchantment, every hidden working in the chamber revealed beneath the Authority of the White Flame.
Emilia inhaled sharply. “By the gods…”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this, Hump,” Dylan said. “This power… How could your soul have reached such heights?”
Bud stared around in awe. “Is this truly the power of your soul?” His eyes lifted toward the blazing white sun overhead. “It feels as strong as Godfrey.”
Hump closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, letting his soul seep out. White fire gave it colour. The air rumbled with the dragon’s quiet roar as his soul manifested.
Then, with a thought, he imposed his will on the world.
The ground cracked. White fire kindled.
“By the gods,” Bud said. “Is this the power of your soul? It is comparable to Godfrey.”
“In terms of the soul alone, I may have surpassed him,” Hump said. “Though we never saw him at full strength.”
Celaine took his hand, her fingers interlocking with his. She smiled at him warmly, but there was sadness in her eyes.
“This will work,” he assured her.
“I know,” she said softly.
It clicked then. Her eyes saw better than the others. Laced into Hump’s domain was everything he was and that had made him. Every scar, every hardship. A soul didn’t change into this in a matter of a couple of years without losing something too.
The Book of Infinite Pages trembled at Hump’s hip. Essence encompassed it. With a thought, it floated before him, the pages opening to reveal a pages flooded with blue essence. New formations inscribed themselves faster than he could follow.
Above, suspended just beneath the ceiling, the grand formation revealed itself. Thousands upon thousands of golden runes spread through the air. Countless channels connected the Divine Sparks together in a web of complexity so far beyond his understanding that he could hardly comprehend where to begin to decipher it.
Yet one thing stood out—this was Loften’s work. The Maker himself had created this, which meant that Hump could connect to it with his staff.
It came so easily. A little essence to the right runes of his staff and a thought, and suddenly he felt the pathways flowing all around him. Essence surged through the runes like rivers of liquid gold, carrying intent rich in the desire to bind and seal. Not just the Divine Sparks, but something else.
The sheer complexity of it dwarfed anything Hump had ever seen. Even with his domain revealing its structure, much of it remained beyond him. It was enough though.
“The prison of the old gods is not here,” Hump said. “This seems to seal them away in some far-off place.” He frowned. There were runes he didn’t recognise in the formation too, but he could sense the essence of Vesta, goddess of travel. “Though perhaps that distance is irrelevant. Vesta helped to create this.”
“If they’re not here, then where?” Bud asked.
“A distant fragment,” Hump said. “This formation is anchored somewhere else entirely. I can’t understand much, but it seems to have altered time, similar to my Time Stop Hourglass. Perhaps they are trapped in some sort of stasis.”
Bud ran a hand through his hair. “And we’re going to free them.”
“They’re going to be free soon enough anyway,” Hump said. “With Ordana’s spark gone, I can sense the formation unravelling.”
He could see his mistake with the other Divine Spark too. Before, he’d tried to overpower the formation and brute force the Divine Spark away, but the formation created a layered defence against such efforts, utilising the energy of the Divine Spark itself to hold it in place.
What he needed was precision.
His attention went to Kelisia’s spark. Immediately, the channels anchoring it became clear beneath his authority. Every rune supporting it. every pathway feeding into it. All of them filled the air, fully exposed.
It was so simple. So simple that Hump paused. The scale of what he was about to do suddenly hit him.
For a moment, there was doubt. He was about to throw his people into chaos.
No. I’m severing the chains that have bound them all this time.
The gods were dead or had fled. Nothing he did now would change that. What he could do was keep this massive store of power out of the hands of the evil that sought it. For too long, all people had been bound to the will of the Pantheon, their souls used to feed this great formation and fragment. The altari had their marks, the Chosen their blessings, and then there were those that got nothing but false hope.
The old gods would be free, but so would everyone else. Free to pursue the Will of the World like the gods of the Pantheon once had, before that power had twisted them into what they had become.
It was ironic in a way. All the way back in Bledsbury Dungeon, Kassius had tried to sell him on the idea of overthrowing the world order. Now he was doing it.
With careful intent, Hump wielded his essence to severe a few connection points. The effect was immediately. The formation lost its pull on the Divine Spark, and suddenly its essence softened. The divinity it radiated before was no longer on display. Now, it was just a floating light suspended over Kelisia’s chest, a subtle icy aura to it.
As he pressed his essence and will into the spark, it didn’t resist at all. It moved with ease, responding to the touch of divinity in his power. The spark wanted freedom. It wanted to be released from this formation binding it in place.
He could offer it that.
Hump released Celaine’s hand and took out the phylactery, holding it close to the spark. He guided it gently this time, surrounding it in the authority of his soul. White fire wrapped around the spark as it drifted free of the formation and vanished into the phylactery effortlessly.
There was no resistance this time. No struggle. It was like moving any essence—working with the intent, not against it.
“Got it, kid,” Walt said. “Nice work. This one was far less explosive.”
Hump stared for only a moment before a laugh escaped him. “That was so much easier.”
“Kelisia’s spark is gone,” Bud said.
Hump looked at his friend and nodded. “Sorry, I should have checked with you first. I thought it would be easier for you this way.”
The knight shrugged. “It’s done. We’ve committed now. You can’t stop here.”
Hump refocused. With the process understood, it was easier after that. Again and again he reached other. Another spark separated, then another. Soon he was doing multiples at a time. The Divine Sparks drifted free beneath his authority, white fire severing their bindings and guiding them to him. Their essence would flow through his body like it was a conduit and was easily guided into the phylactery.
Suddenly, Hump paused. One spark felt different. The instant his senses brushed against it, a familiar warmth and killing intent flooded through him, wild and predatory, while comforting at the same time.
There was no mistaking it. hump turned toward the upper tiers of throne, where before him, floating over an empty chair burned the Divine Spark of Owalyn. Just as Loften’s wife’s spark had been stolen from her for the formation, it seemed that Owalyn’s had been claimed too.
Hump’s mind raced. Owalyn was close. It was only a matter of time before she arrived, and no doubt this was her objective. Despite his accomplishments, she was still far beyond him. But this? This would matter to her.
His eyes flickered briefly toward Celaine. Or I could give it to her.
She would never take it. And it would only give Owalyn a reason to come for her. No, he would take it like the others. At least with this, he would have one bargaining chip—another reason for Owalyn to help them escape.
Before he could second guess himself, Hump wrapped the divine spark in white fire and drew it into the phylactery alongside the others. What was the spark of one more god amongst so many?