SWNOVELXO Chapter 650: Divinity and Mortality
Daniel travels to the Syndicate Union's New Atlantis branch with Loki. At first glance, the branch appears to be a standard hotel establishment. However, hidden beneath its surface is a secret basement that serves as a hub of illicit activities.
This underground space houses all sorts of entertainment, including a bar, a brothel, a gun shop, and even a bounty board. The bounty board operates 24/7, displaying the most wanted individuals for bounty hunters and assassins to assess. It allows them to determine which target carries the highest price and organize teams to claim the reward.
The bounty board has a variety of individuals on it, including mages, businessmen, some middle managers deemed too troublesome to be left alive, and those who know too much for their own good. These kinds of targets are displayed prominently on screens throughout the room.
The lively atmosphere starts as bounty hunters and assassins cheering when lucrative bounties appear, jobs promising payouts that's enough to last them for months after their successful completion.
"Welcome to Syndicate Union, This must be the first time you've arrived here, Lord Emberweave. This is the core business of the Syndicate union." Loki introduces the secret section of the Syndicate Union that only the high level members, Assassins, and bounty hunters under the Syndicate Union would have access to.
"Tell me the truth, Mr. Loki. Does my bounty appear here at all?" Daniel asked. This was the only question that mattered to him. He didn't care what Loki did for a living, he could be a junk collector or a pimp, for all Daniel cared. He wouldn't judge.
"Oh, if you mean whether there's a bounty on you posted, the answer is no," Loki replied with his trademark suave smile. "But as for requests to put you on the bounty board and the monetary reward involved, I must say… your head is the hottest commodity. Especially considering recent events."
"The conflict between you and those from the old energy giants, as well as the Hightower. The price for your head already exceeds a hundred million Origold. Yes, you heard me right, Origold! the mage currency, not dollars."
Daniel nodded in acknowledgment and then asked, "Why didn't you post it? Isn't that a lot of money?"
"It is a lot of money," Loki admitted, leaning back with a meaningful glance. "But what would happen if I posted it? Hmm?"
He paused, then continued, "I'd have you coming after me. Several Syndicate Union branches would be destroyed, and we might find ourselves in a state of regression, much like the Hightower right now. I may be the god of mischief, but I don't think stupidity is one of my divine domains, Mr. Emberweave. Your next read is at empire
"When the odds are stacked against me, I know better than to push it. And besides, it's not necessary, you and I are not enemies." Loki explained.
Daniel nodded in understanding then followed Loki deeper into the secret section of the Syndicate Union.
Loki led Daniel deeper into the facility via another elevator. Finally, they arrived in a moderately sized room filled with various artifacts and medical devices designed to prolong life. The object that caught Daniel's attention the most was the large transparent tank in the middle of the room.
Inside the tank floated the body of a gray wolf. In front of it sat an obese man in a wheelchair. Despite his size, his muscular arms and chest suggested frequent use, and his rough palms hinted at years of wielding a hammer, clearly, this man was a master blacksmith.
Loki approached the middle-aged man in the wheelchair and then turned to Daniel. "Let me introduce you to my friend and the one who has done the most to help sustain my son's life, Lord Emberweave," he said, gesturing toward the man.
"This is Hephaestus, the god of smithing. You've probably already heard of him. He's also the founder of the Hephaestus Institute," Loki added.
"Nice to meet you, lad," Hephaestus said, extending a hand toward Daniel.
"Likewise, Mr. Hephaestus," Daniel replied, reciprocating the handshake firmly.
Daniel glanced at Hephaestus's wheelchair, wondering why a god would need one. He remembered myths of Zeus often changing his form, such as when wooing mortal women. Yet Hephaestus seemed different. Was his disability the result of a curse or something else?
Hephaestus noticed Daniel's eyes lingering on his clubbed feet and wheelchair. It wasn't the first time someone had stared at his apparent flaw. Smiling faintly, he spoke.
"Are you curious why, as a god, I still have this… imperfection?" Hephaestus asked with a knowing smile.
Daniel was startled and quickly averted his gaze. "Oh, how rude of me. I apologize, Mr. Hephaestus."
"No offense, Mr. Emberweave," Hephaestus replied warmly. "I know anyone with even a shred of knowledge about gods and magic would wonder why I still carry this flaw. Since it's you who's curious, I'll tell you." Hephaestus lifted his clubbed foot slightly, drawing Daniel's attention.
"This disability isn't the result of a curse," Hephaestus explained with a calm smile. "It's the consequence of a sacrifice I made to an entity within the Akashic Records, in exchange for vast knowledge of smithing."
Hearing the word, Akashic Records Daniel was startled. It's the place where he gets his power, the place he seems to be connected to. Does this entity that Hephaestus said have something to do with the Keeper?
"What did you sacrifice?" Daniel asked. He noted that Hephaestus's feet, though flawed, were still intact. If Hephaestus had sacrificed his legs, wouldn't they have disappeared entirely?
"What I sacrificed was my divinity… a portion of it," Hephaestus said, gesturing to his upper leg and moving his hand downward. "From my upper leg to my feet, these parts of me are considered mortal. And, as such, they carry the flaws of mortality. You know who my parents are, don't you?" Hephaestus asked, not elaborating further.
"Zeus and Hera," Daniel muttered, then froze as realization dawned on him. Both Zeus and Hera were siblings, born of the same parents, and their incestuous union had borne Hephaestus. If parts of Hephaestus were mortal, they would reflect the genetic imperfections of his divine parents' union.
Noticing Daniel's expression shift as the realization struck, Hephaestus nodded with a smile. "It seems you've figured it out. Good. That saves me the trouble of explaining further," he said. "Divinity serves many purposes, one of which is to nullify the flaws of mortality."
"Which brings us to the current situation with Lord Loki's son," Hephaestus said, turning toward the Graywolf floating within the tank.
"He was afflicted by a curse that reacts to his divinity, preventing him from recovering from his injury. As a result, he will be in this state, neither truly alive nor dead, until the end of time." Hephaestus paused, allowing the information to sink in before continuing.
"On the other hand, if we were to remove all the divinity from his body, his injury and mortality would immediately kill him," Hephaestus explained.
Loki nodded, his gaze shifting to Daniel. "Can you heal him? Or could we remove his divinity and have you resurrect him?" Loki asked, his eyes filled with a flicker of hope.
"I won't promise anything, but… let me see first." Daniel stepped toward the tank, closing his eyes as he sank his consciousness into the mindscape to assess Fenrir's condition.
Within the mindscape, Daniel saw Fenrir bound by countless cursed enchantments. The curses had multiplied over time, clinging to Fenrir's body like parasitic vines. There were millions of them. While Daniel could destroy the curses, doing so would take an immense amount of time… years, perhaps even decades.
From what he gleamed in the mindscape. The curse was self-replicating, multiplying once each day. After thousands of years of unchecked multiplication, the sheer number of curses had grown far beyond what Daniel could handle individually.
Daniel furrowed his brows in thought, weighing his options. Then his gaze fell on a simple spell card in his mindscape: the Planar Shift Spell.
—
Card: Planar Shift
Picture: Image of a man silhouette shifting through a dimensional rift, then returning to reality with lingering power from the dimensional void.
Rarity: Common
Type: Quick Spell
Mana Cost: 1 Water, 1 Non-Element
Description: Exile target creature, then put target creature back onto the battlefield at the end of the turn. Then put a strengthened counter onto the target creature.
Flavor text: "Between dimensions, power grows. What was lost returns, but forever changed."
—
"I'll dispel all the curses from him. Make sure to bring him to an abandoned island far away from civilization," Daniel said firmly.
Loki's hope intensifies as this is the real chance his son gets. He nodded. "Of course, I'll arrange it right away!"
After that, with just a phone call, people came in and moved Fenrir's tank out of the basement, and Daniel also called the VTOL here for transport; there is an abandoned island not too far from New Atlantis; if it's that place, he could quickly quarantine the place.