CH574 Evil Gods and Eldritch Horrors Part Six

It’s time.

They’d done all they could, prepared as much as possible for the task before them all, and now they finally needed to begin. Naloth could feel his heart pounding in him at the thought, even as he used his own dark magic to help still it.

It was the culmination of his life’s work about to be put to the test. Decades of study and research, reading untold books and history and legends, even going so far as to steal classified information to make his vision a reality. How could feelings not try to overcome him in such a pivotal moment?

Even as he clutched at his chest, feeling his mana seeping back into it and calming him down, it didn’t change his buzz of thoughts. It needed to be perfect and all of that work had gone to ensuring it would be just so, with the brave looks of those he was leading focusing his thoughts.

Every one of his people was there because they were willing to place trust in him beyond anything they’d give to the gods, it was his job to validate that trust, and it was with that new frame of mind that he spoke up, giving them all a confident smile.

“I won’t ask if you’re all ready, I’ve seen your efforts and know you are. This is what we’ve worked and struggled for, what we threw everything away for. In a world that isn’t willing to make the tough choices it has to in order to survive, we’ll be the ones to bear the burden of it and claim a power even gods won’t touch for ourselves. Now get to your positions, it’s time we start this.”

Not the most elegant of speeches but it was enough. The people felt the confidence and determination in his words and all of them moved to their places in the warehouse they were practicing in, joining hands to begin as Naloth did the first of his many roles, using his dark magic to partially control the lot of them, not overwriting their will but to instead aid them in the casting of their outrageous spell as they began.

Mana was mixed and aspected by one before moving to another who repeated the process, passing it on again and building it up each time, growing the monstrous power as the effect began to leak out, making the world at the center of them all shift and crack before shattering entirely, a hole in space opening to infinity below.

Yes!

None of them dared look for fear of the effect that would bring to their minds, nor did they let themselves dwell on their success. They still needed to focus on keeping it open so that pleasure was reserved for Naloth alone, who had only played a more minor role in the first part of that spell’s formation and now had to devote himself fully to the next as a flood of souls spilled out, enraged ghosts all trying to get their freedom after untold millennia, only to instead feel themselves be guided to him, sinking into his flesh and binding to his will.

With each soul he felt being warped into his own he felt himself grow, becoming more than he’d ever been before and changing from a proud, awakened mage to something more. He felt like a weapon. He felt like a god.

Every attribute he had was exploding to a greater height and notifications were ringing out in his head, telling him of sudden skills gained and levels acquired in a result that he’d never expected but was happy to take. While the gods would be sure to scorn him for what he’d done, their system was impartial, only aiding in growth as it was designed to and what was he in the middle of if not a massive burst of it? He was even hearing it sing of the acquisitions of magics he had no affinities for, telling him that among all else, even those unchanging things were growing within him too.

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It wasn’t all peaceful though. The souls he was consuming were powerful things in each of their own rights, none of them content to be dominated and overwritten by another and each of them fought against the whole process, making him turn each bit of new strength he was taking for himself and turn it back against them all, reinvesting it into the spell.