World Keeper

Chapter 1026: One Ring To Doom Them All

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked hesitantly, looking at the ring within the glass display. Chelsea let out a long sigh, nodding her head.

“If you think that it’s a ring designed to automatically convert the energy of the void into the four basic types, then undergo the complex fusion process to create raw divinity. In which case, yes. Yes, that is exactly what you think it is.”

“I’m feeling that there’s a twist here.” I shook my head, looking back at the small kitsune. “If you made something like this and it worked properly, there is no way that you wouldn’t be using it yourself, equip one to Treisha, and send more to Olympus. You had me come here as soon as I descended. So… what’s wrong with it?”

Chelsea’s brow twitched faintly, but she nodded her head. “When I created that ring, I wanted to make an item that would essentially make a god immortal. As you know, divinity is basically a god’s life pool. With a steady stream of it from an item like this, they’d be invincible. No need for any worshippers, no need to worry about taking damage in battle.”

“Still waiting for the twist.”

“Getting to that.” She spoke up, glancing up at me. “There was… an incident. Are you familiar with the divine planet that tried to devour Sanctum?”

“...Vaguely.” I nodded, before hesitating. “Did the ring try to eat you?”

“The ring did indeed attempt to devour my divinity.” She sighed. “See… this is something that I only discovered after making the item. The process of converting the void into divinity essentially created a divine spark within the ring, giving it the semblance of a soul. However, without any form of consciousness, it attempts to devour all divine energy that it comes into contact with.”

“Is there any way to subdue that instinct?” I asked, to which Chelsea shook her head.

“If there was, I wouldn’t have had this sitting in storage for the last three months.”

“Three… if you had this for three months, and it was such a problem, why not simply destroy it?” When I asked that, the response that I received was a long groan.

“That was the first thing I tried. However… My plan worked. Not the destroying it part, the part involved with creating it. Because it is limitlessly generating its own divinity, it can instantly recover from any form of damage that I inflict on it. I put it in a system null zone, shattered it, dispelled its divinity, and was on my way to dispose of the remains when it fused back together. Good as new, as if I hadn’t done a single thing.”

“Have you tried throwing it into a giant volcano?” When I asked that, Chelsea’s brow twitched and she looked at me with an accusatory gaze.

“Udona asked me that, too. She then spent the next eight hours showing me what that was referring to. To answer the question, though. No. I am not throwing it into a volcano on the off chance that the divine instinct spreads to the volcano, awakening a volcanic divine monster.”

“True, that would be very bad… we’re just recovering from the last round of danger. Likewise, throwing it into space would be just as bad… have you tried getting Ashley to cut off its access to the Digital Conversion system? Permanently, I mean.”

“Thing is… it’s not actually using the DC system anymore. I incorporated the core mechanics of the system into the ring’s design instead, to prevent having an additional admin account floating about. Theoretically, the null zone and dispersing its divinity should have done the trick. The fact that it didn’t means that it has gone beyond what I can control.”

I gave a small nod, turning my attention back towards the ring. “Those weren’t the rules to convert energy based on our magic system, but from the void itself. Is it possible that creating the ring like that engraved its existence in the void, or something like that?”

“That’s an idiotic theory.” Chelsea immediately retorted, before letting out a long groan. “Unfortunately, it was the one that I came up with, too. I was hoping you’d have a better answer for me. Literally any answer would be better than that. Trying to overwhelm the ring with raw power to wipe out its instincts and subdue it would be a better answer than that. Before you ask, no, I tried that too.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, turning back to face her. “Though, if that’s the case, why didn’t your mana refinery repair itself? It was also made to use the DC system, right?”

“Exactly, it was made as an interface with the DC system.” Chelsea gave a weak smile, her ears drooping. “No matter how advanced the interface, it was just that. This was an item that was designed to replicate the system, endlessly creating divinity until it itself became a divine object. Now, because its existence is constantly creating the very thing that fuels its existence, it has become impossible to destroy by conventional means. At the same time, its instinct to devour divine energy means that I can’t give it to any god.”

“Have you tried having Jamees go to the void to find where it is ‘anchored’? It could be a void beast or anything, right?” When I asked that, Chelsea nodded her head.

“I tried, but he doesn’t even know what to look for. The mark in the void could be an insignificant speck of void energy for all we know.”

“Right… you’ve concluded that the thing can’t be destroyed. And you clearly don’t want to give it to me, because it would start to drain me dry… why did you call us here?” I focused on Chelsea, and she manifested a silver device in one hand.

“This is why.” She said, pushing the button. I felt a chaotic surge of energy within the display case, and could almost feel a cry of pain echoing out as the ring shook. Alarmed, my body instinctively entered battle mode after the recent invasion. Because of that, I was able to catch a small detail, something that I would have missed if I was perceiving time in the ‘normal flow’.

For the briefest of moments, a health bar appeared above the ring. My eyes went wide when I saw that, and Chelsea nodded her head in satisfaction, lowering the remote.

“It’s alive. Like I said, we gave it a divine spark. For all intents and purposes, this ring is now a living creature. Furthermore, it is recognized by your world’s system. Therefore…”

“You want me to smite it, right?” I asked with a sigh. Chelsea quickly nodded her head in confirmation. Smiting was an option that I very rarely used, but could completely destroy the existence of anything registered as one of my assets. However, smiting in this manner was an option available only to the Keeper themselves.

“Leaving this here is just begging for trouble to come knocking at our door later. It could grow more powerful, or develop awareness. Right now, it is just raw divinity, but if it is tainted by someone’s divinity and not purged fast enough, it might gain powers related to the person it obtained the energy from. I wouldn’t feel safe storing this even in our most secure vault where we keep the seeds of the planet slimes.”

“...I feel like I just heard something dangerous. But, fine, it doesn’t cost me anything to smite. Just give me a minute.” I said as I closed my eyes, choosing to ascend. Immediately, I found where my host was, and selected the ring contained in the cage in front of it. With a thought, I selected the option to smite the ring, watching it dissolve into nothing.

At the same time, I investigated the other items in the vault. All of them were similar to the ring in design, being items that intrinsically create their own energy type. Looking into some of the deeper vaults… “Wow, she really does have world slime seeds… but why though?”

I shook my head, realizing that this wasn’t important. The ring’s existence had been nullified from its core, so it was unable to recover even with its almost paradoxical properties. That said, I descended, finding a relieved looking Chelsea standing in front of a now empty cage. “Thank goodness.” She wiped her forehead. “I wasn’t sure how long I’d need to keep this thing in the vault before you stopped accelerating the world.”

“Right… now what about the other one?” I asked, causing Chelsea to blink.

“Other what now?” She looked over at me in obvious confusion.

“When I was going through the vault, there was another item that had the ‘smite’ option available. And no, it wasn’t the seeds. Why do you have those, anyways?”

Chelsea shook her head rapidly. “Not important right now. What item?”

I rolled my eyes, glancing towards the sealed vault door that we came from. “Bone wand. Looked fairly necromantic? It registered as a level three thousand entity according to the system.”

“Did it now?” Chelsea’s eyes narrowed, turning to walk to the other room in the vault. She walked over to the display case showing the necromantic wand in question, crossing her arms and standing in front of it. “Did you think you were clever, hiding like this?”

There was no response from the wand, Chelsea’s eyes narrowing further before she called out. “Deliver energy shock to case 8-32. Intensity level five.”

Immediately after she said that, there was a surge of energy within the case, and I could feel the energy of the wand trembling. However, it still remained silent. “Intensity eight.” Chelsea ordered, and the energy began surging stronger and stronger. Still… “Intensity-”

“Fine!” The wand suddenly shouted, surprisingly speaking in a normal language. “Stop, jeez! What is wrong with you, girl!? Can’t a wand take a nap in peace?”

“You don’t nap.” Chelsea said in a cold tone. “So what’s with the silent treatment? You have been in this vault for two months, three weeks, and five days. You could have spoken at any time before this, right?”

“With how you keep treating that ring? You think I’d want to just volunteer that I can talk? I’m made of death, kid, I don’t have a death wish.” The wand retorted, sounding like an angry old man.

“And where did you learn that kind of language?” She perked her brow as she asked. I was more curious about where it learned language, period.

“I’m made of souls. Some stuff just sort of leaked in. What, is it a crime to be alive? Or you going to experiment on me like the ring?”

“The ring was innately dangerous with its very existence. Are you?” Chelsea asked, and I could feel the wand shudder.

“No, no, I’m perfectly normal. Feel free to pretend that I don’t exist.”

Chelsea’s lips tugged upwards, unable to keep her serious demeanor. “So, what can you do, then? I’m guessing the tests weren’t the full extent of your abilities?”

“...You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”

“No. No, I am not.” Chelsea answered the wand, which seemed to let out a trembling groan.

“Fine… I can control ghosts like I showed you, or I can create spirits, or draw them out of the Underworld. I can also identify spirits around me. I’m really not all that useful for your research.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Chelsea said, her expression looking like a dark grin.

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