LBF Chapter 25 Plans

"Well-well, this person sure has a grand taste." Damien commented the moment he caught up to Nina. What he was complementing was the temple. It was glittering in gold, from the steps he was currently stepping on, to the pillars and finally the large slab being held up by the pillars.

He was sure it wasn't gold, but a synthesized material. He named it elemental gold.

"She was a very powerful powerhouse...the woman who opened up this dimension, she had every right to make everything grand." Nina had a gleam of yearning in her eyes when she said that. It was so obvious that he didn't miss it, though he was also debating in his mind whether she was showing it intentionally because she trusted him, or wanted to gauge something.

'Her ambition isn't something that's small.' He concluded. His gaze turned back to admiring the temple. The roof slab, was being held up by eight golden pillars. They were intricately carved with the images of lifeforms wielding various abilities.

'They must be gods, or people at the same level as the person who opened up this dimension.' Eric thought. Each pillar had a single lifeforms, some with multiple arms, others entirely beasts...like one which denoted a snake devouring its tail...

'Ouroboros...infinity. I wonder what these curvings represent. Do such mythical figures truly exist?' Damien questioned in his mind upon seeing a resemblance of one of the figures to a certain myth back in Earth.

After the stairs, he was taken aback upon reaching the pillars. He felt as if a faint pressure was assaulting his shoulders causing him endless shock. It originated from one of the pillars.

'A spatial illusion!?' He wondered. The pillars and the temple had appeared to only occupy an area of a few kilometers when he had been climbing the steps, but now, just a single pillar alone reached over 500km in width!

The pressure he felt came from one of the carvings...it was of a strange being. A goat humanoid. The fur was as dark as night, nine spiral shaped white horns rose from the crest of his head into the sky and a multitude of tails...nine to be exact, floated around behind him. The curving appeared to have been made when the being was standing in the void. The curving was so life-like that Damien could even make out a galaxy. It was floating in front of the being, specifically above its palm. Even though it was just a carving, Damien had already started sweating. He felt as if he was in its presence...it was honestly a very uncomfortable feeling!

"Snap out of it!" Nina's voice interrupted him. Even after her interruption, he didn't dare stare at the carving.

"What the hell is that?" He asked.

"Honestly, no one knows, but a theory was proposed that these beings carved on the eight pillars are pinnacle existences from where the person who opened up this dimension came from. Even the gods have testified that the person who opened up this dimensional space didn't give them as much pressure as one of the carvings here." Nina explained. Damien raised his gaze towards her face and found that even she was looking away, not daring to look at the carving.

The eyes alone had been creepy! Damien wondered how a being could have such eyes? The being had nine pupils in each eye with some being the regular human like ones, while others were of a bizarre nature coupled with the vertical and horizontal slitted ones.

After they passed the pillars, stepping into the temple itself, the pressure vanished, allowing him to take a look around. He noticed a detail immediately. It seemed that the carvings on the golden pillars faced outwards from the interior of the temple.

"That was terrifying!" Damien exclaimed while adjusting his red tie.

"Never stare at the carvings again before ascending to godhood or you will die from the pressure alone." Nina warned.

Damien nodded and followed behind Nina who moved towards the end of the temple where a gigantic golden throne awaited. It was roughly put together, clashing wildly with the intricate design of the temple. Damien started pondering the reason because it was too bizarre. It looked like someone had just picked up a few slabs of golden rock, uncut and un-curved...and then arranged them in the form of a throne.

"This is my throne." Nina said. She seemed abnormally happy.

"The design...is lacking a few things." He decided to to say something.

"Its ruggedness is great." Nina simply said. Damien shook his head side to side deciding to ignore her 'unique' taste.

The interior lacked any form of lighting, only depending on the stray light that entered through the spaces between the pillars, originating from the moon ring outside.

-----

"So...what's with this 'god fruit' that you threw at me, stirring up my curiousity?" Damien asked. The time for the exploration of the temple had ended and now Nina...the Nirvanic Flames Goddess, had taken her place at her throne. The moment she had sat down, Damien felt a majesty radiating from her. It had always been there but the throne had somehow amplified it.

"Before I explain that, let's first have a chat about our plans." Nina said, crossing a leg over the other. A stray thought appeared in Damien's mind at that...

'How I wish she was wearing something short!' The throne was around four steps above where he was standing.

"I have decided to separate our plans to become legends into phases...the first phase will be related to you mostly, of course, a tiny part will also be related to me..."

"Hmmm...hmmm...continue." Damien said. She had his full attention.

"You have to become a god in this first phase." She said simply.

"Oh...and I believe its related to this god fruit,right?" Damien asked nonchalantly. Nina was a bit shocked, though her expression remained the same. She had thought that he would be impatient, but he appeared to be taking everything in stride.

"Yes, the god fruit is something which first appeared around 3000 years ago. At that time, as you know, it was chaos. There are five white trees located somewhere in the center of each domain, specifically the middle of the inner states..."

"Every 3000 years, they bear fruit, but the first time it happened was three thousand years ago. At first a lucky automaton demigod took one and advanced successfully to become a god...though, an enemy god from another faction slaughtered it instantly before it could acclimate to its new status. For some reason after that, the news leaked and the gods themselves moved, but when they harvested the fruit, guess what happened?" The question derailed Damien's attention. He had been engrossed in the narration...and the question appeared like a lighting strike on a clear day.

"They failed." He answered instantly, trying to get her to continue as fast as possible.

"You are a boring man, anyway, the fruit turned into smoke the moment the gods touched it, causing four fruits which could have aided the advancement of four demigods to be wasted." Damied scoffed at her first sentence. She had been the one who had expressed interest in him in the first place, so her word made her contradict herself.

"So, only demigods are the only ones who can successfully harvest the fruits. Am I to snatch the fruits beneath the noses of the big clans ruling the domains, or will you act as a deterrent?" Damien reached a conclusion, but it also opened up more questions.

"No that won't happen. The clans ruling the domains had probably decided to harvest each god fruit and strengthen themselves...heh...they think it will be that simple, simply a couple of idiots." Nina scoffed from her throne, a playful grin on her face.

"They would have succeeded if it had been any other person on this throne, but I am different. I don't plan on being low key and ruling in the shadows, that's not my style...as I said, I must become a legend!" She continued.

"The fight for the god fruits will be a war! During the ceremony when the city is being handed over to me, I will announce the existence of the god fruit. Every demigod will be invited, even those in the galaxy outside. It will be a battle like never before! That will definetly diminish their arrogance...hahahaha..."

"If it's as you want, then I will have a very slim chance of taking away the fruit." Damien still didn't understand her thoughts.

"Heh...that's the most I can do. You will have to prove yourself. The god fruit is an opportunity. Many birds will be brought down with a single stone. And one of those birds is the opportunity to start your own legend." She said.

"Oy! Oy! Oy! These people have been hoarding resources, those which can strengthen their battle prowess! I will be instantly killed the moment I appear!" Damien protested.

"There is still time, about 16 years. You can still collect some. The fastest way is to become an Elemental synthesizer. There is also a task I want you to undertake...preparations to dethrone the Butwa clan."

"What? Don't be crazy! I am pretty sure many have tried and failed!" Damien complained.

"Don't you remember what I have just said? The ripening of the god fruit is an opportunity. We will succeed. We just have to lay the preparations and the battle over the god fruit will take care of the rest." Nina said, her voice brimming with confidence.

Damien was dazzled by her, yet he was also wondering how she would take it if she lost the gamble.

"Where am I to start?" He asked, deciding to give in. She was blazing a path forward...he shouldn't be the glacier that stood in the way.

"First, you must go back there, to Nino Butwa, you will start there." She said.

"Hmmm!? I thought I was going to stay here, seeing as you took me to that Elemental synthesis lecture. How will I practice exactly?" He asked.

"I will pick you up and bring you here when you have some free time. It will be up to you to make sure that during your infiltration, you make time." She said.

"Ohhh...sending me to the person who plotted against me...mmmm...so all I have to do is pretend to have discovered the poison. Then I will go to confront him, where he will use it as leverage for me to work for him...clever!" Damien paced at an angle to the throne.

"Yes, you will work for him. The poison he gave you.must be something rare, something a peripheral member of the clan can't get their hands on easily. Since he administered it to you on the first meeting, he must be one of the important members of the clan...someone from the main family. We shall use him." She said.

"Your plan is feasible. You said we will be equals but you are treating me like a disposable pawn..." Damien put on an aggrieved expression.

"I know you are faking it...the reason why you are doing all this is because I can't do it myself. I am too conspicuous, besides, I don't have the necessary experience."

"What about your clan members?" He asked.

"...those people aren't...useful. They..." She didn't finish.

-----

"That took too long! I thought my legs were going to fall off!" Exclaimed Damien. Right now, the ring was transitioning from the icy color to an orange glow signifying the beginning of dawn. The planning phase had taken all night.

"You should have asked for a seat. I thought you were simply too fond of standing!" Nina said. They had descended the temple and were gazing at the orange glow from the ring.

"Do you think we can succeed?" Damien asked offhandedly.

"Damien, why can't you be optimistic like me?" Nina asked.

"You must have never suffered the consequences for failure, so you don't understand. Let me give you an example of one of the worst outcomes if we fail...many gods will become our enemies and in the worst case, they might even gang up to kill you." Damien said.

"I don't care. If I take things slow and steady, it will take a very long time, for my name to resound across the entire galaxy." She answered.

"Why are you so fixated on creating a legendary image for yourself?" He asked.

"...I want people to remember me. I don't want to be just another goddess. Do you know, some people don't even know the names of the gods in their faction! Some gods are so withdrawn from society that their names have even faded from people's minds! I don't want that for myself...in my clan, before I came to this city, I was placed on a pedestal, but very few even knew how I really looked like...I don't want that to happen again. I want to be someone who can be remembered vividly." Damien sensed the pain that she had been concealing.

'So, even though she wields this much power, she is still vulnerable.' He thought. He didn't try to console her as he didn't know of her circumstances and he was even sure he probably wouldn't understand.

"Me, I have been in the limelight out there in the galaxy for as long as I can remember, mostly it wasn't by choice, but I understood one very important thing, the higher you climb, the harder it will be when you fall. You are still young, even by my standards, slowing down won't be a bad thing. Some of your plans...can take place after the battle for the god fruit..." A glare bore into him.

"...this is just a suggestion. I have confidence that even if I don't take the god fruit, I will still become a god eventually. Didn't you gauge my expression back there? Even when you mentioned the god fruit I wasn't too surprised...the reason, I am confident that I can get to that level through my own effort!" He continued.

"I will think about it." She said.

"Do you really want to return right now? Aren't you going to stay for the ceremony?" She asked.

"Nah! Such things don't suit me. I would rather be in the shadows. Besides, that guy, Nino might become suspicious if I appear later. I wouldn't want to sppok him, now would I?" He grinned.

"Yeah...I will send you back."

"Why are you looking at me like that? Will you miss me? Become lonely without me here?" He decided to tease her a bit after seeing her sad expression. Of course that didn't mean that he believed the expressions on her face. He had learnt a very cruel fact outside, those more powerful were meant to be the bosses, the weak, surbodinates. He was under no delusion to believe otherwise even though her emotions appeared genuine.

"Don't flatter yourself, even though I have taken a fancy to you, my feelings haven't become deep enough for that to happen!" She scoffed, her expression morphing into one of false ridicule.