[Ouroboros' End]
Darganth paused when he saw the insectoid creature separate from the starweaver a few moments after both had come into view. The fact that he hadn't sensed the ship before its captain wanted, despite it apparently having been so close, made him hesitant, at least until he noticed the complete lack of surprise in Neandras and Scalladras' expressions. He suspected he'd see the same in Cehlya were she more than a distant speck hovering above the wall, all of which reassured him greatly.
'At least they can't fool their senses.' He thought to himself. Though the fact his own eyes hadn't picked up anything still stood as a stark reminder of how weak he still was compared to his past power.
With that reminder at the back of his thoughts, Darganth chose to stop a few meters further away from where the man was hovering. Not enough to be noticeable as anything other than accommodation for his true form's size, but still enough.
Neandra and Scalladras didn't need such caution when they arrived a heartbeat later, and they showed it. Neandra's form shifted as she came to a stop, compressing as she transformed back into a humanoid guise. Scalladras acted similarly, once again turning his form into one of flesh and blood. Furthermore, while Neandra still stayed vigilant and ready, his mouth curled up into an amused smirk and he came to a stop a few meters to the side as if wanting to have first-row seats to an especially entertaining show.
"I don't know whether I should be glad or saddened that I didn't get to bear witness to this form of yours the last time we met. On the one hand it is as imposing as tales of your kind promise, but I fear the situation that would've allowed me the sight." The starweaver captain said to Darganth once all four of them had gathered.
"You sound as if you never seen a dragon before. My kind is rare, but the nearby universes should be home to some of them."
"I haven't, not in their true form at least. Sadly, my mistress hasn't yet managed to convince one to join us as one of her believers. Thus it was only in the few meetings with kin of yours that was visiting this world that I met one of them."
"And she won't find success with me. In fact, it would spare her my annoyance if she didn't even try." Darganth declared in response.
Though the brief twitch in the captain's expression betrayed that it wasn't the answer he had hoped for, the man quickly hid it and continued as if nothing had happened.
"And your company appears to be a step above that which you kept a week ago. I must admit, I wasn't all that convinced of your words back then, but I can see why whichever of my colleagues you met before made grand promises."
"Should we take that as agreement that you'll facilitate a meeting with your goddess?" Neandra asked.
"A step further even. My lady has already agreed to the meeting you requested, I'm merely here as emissary to inform you of that."
"How? I doubt the first few days would've convinced you, not after what you said earlier." Darganth asked.
His question was promptly answered when a second individual flew out from the starweaver, their presence shining like a bright star that overshadowed the ship itself. From it, mana radiated outward in waves so dense that even without any intent for it, their pressure hit Darganth like a physical weight that caused a shiver to run down his back. Not even Neandra's proximity softened that blow, with the mana she herself emitted merely contesting the parts of the waves that crashed into her.
"Like this." The newly arrived woman said.
Though Darganth barely even listened by then. Neither did Neandra and Scalladras, now as surprised as Darganth already had been when the emissary had first arrived. All three had instinctively probed her mana signature the moment she appeared, allowing them to catch the unmistakable feeling of divinity radiating out from her form.
Predictably, Scalladras was the first to gather himself after the discovery. The smirk on his lips vanished in response, and the mana that had fallen dormant within him surged through his form to be shaped at a moment's notice. Darganth followed shortly after him, his experience beating out Neandra's power in shaking off the aftershocks of the woman's divinity.
It was only then that Darganth found the focus to look past the power emanating from her and at the woman herself. Unsurprisingly for a goddess of beauty, she was striking. A little over two meters tall, with bright but faint streaks of color mixed among her intrinsically woven brown hair, and clad in an exceedingly revealing dress that covered just the bare minimum, she carried herself with an arrogance that seemed to revel in the fact that eyes were undoubtedly drawn to her wherever she went.
When Darganth didn't follow that pattern and shifted his gaze to her face after little more than an appreciative smile, this expectation also showed in her expression. Eyes that had been focused on Scalladras until that moment jumped toward him for the first time after the initial sweep across their group, with her tongue briefly running over her lips as she studied him with interest.
"I'm surprised, your kind's reputation made me expect a more pronounced reaction. And even without it, most people drool after me the first time they see me."
Darganth could hear the excitement in the tone well before the suggestive smirk made it obvious when he continued, "Those two, I can understand. Ascendants resisting the pull the mixture of my presence and divinity creates is normal. But a mortal, even as powerful as one as you are? There is something special about you, and I'd love to know what."
"I wish you good luck with the guessing." Darganth answered with a smirk.
Hearing his retort, the goddess paused for a moment. Raising an eyebrow and meeting Darganth's gaze, she stared at him in silence until a smirk started to creep onto her lips. Then a chuckle escaped her, and with it, her mouth widened into an amused grin.
"I'd love to, but that will have to wait until we meet properly. Can't have the others notice that I'm here." The goddess said, her expression turning more serious.
"Afraid that they'd also discover us? Don't worry, there are reasons beyond simple opportunity that he approached you." Scalladras said, smirking and gesturing toward Darganth with those words.
"Now that I know you've got two ascendants, it's part of it. But what's more important is that I left an avatar in my palace, and I can't have them finding that out, so we'll have to delay this conversation until you visit me there."
"You're that worried about losing a mere avatar?" Darganth asked.
"Of course not, I'd have three others to replace it. What I can't have is the others learning of their existence. Right now they're operating under the assumption that once I try to take over, they can gang up on me while their forces destroy mine. If they learn that gods can create avatars, they might come up with a better plan, that could complicate things."
Darganth didn't miss the wording when she talked about taking over. Not that it surprised him. He doubted the other two ascendants would allow their subordinates to pray to her, so it was only a matter of opportunity before she tried to get rid of them. But her words implied a far more concrete plan than he had expected.
"When?" Darganth questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"My palace, there I'll explain. Until then, I'd like it if none of you let it slip that I have avatars. Maybe not even mention that that's a power gods have, I actually don't know if they've even learned of them."
"We won't." Darganth affirmed.
"Much obliged. Oh, and no need to send a message when you come to my palace, I'll have my guards instructed to let you in."
With those final words, the goddess' form began to fade. Limb by limb, her body dissolved into motes of crimson red light that scattered in all directions. Throughout it all, she held eye contact with Darganth, a flirtatious smile on her lips until the moment her head started to dissolve a second or two into the process.
The pressure of her divinity left with her, making Darganth breathe a silent sigh of relief. With it, he swore to himself to redouble his efforts so that he wouldn't be on the receiving end of such pressure again, at least not without having enough power to resist it.
Neandra seemed to think similarly, considering the conclusion she drew from the meeting, "She is stronger than expected."
Darganth nodded in agreement with her and was about to speak when Scalladras interjected with a correction, "Her divinity is stronger. Going purely by mana quantity and quality, she's roughly evenly matched with you. Maybe a bit denser mana, but not by so much that you couldn't overcome it through skill, allies, or simple luck. The divinity is what gives her this massive edge, in part because you are not used to facing one and in part because she has developed it far further than I'd ever have suspected."
"How developed exactly?" Darganth asked with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.
"Didn't get an exact picture, but enough that if you don't recruit her once we reveal our identities, I will."
"Seems like she's also hiding something. Well, it's not as if we could complain about that, but it is still amusing." Darganth said.
Already, two possibilities had formed in his mind. Either the goddess had believers beyond the realm fragment, or she was active in it far longer than the general history has recorded. Whether the second possibility was because she hid well enough or because she had already been a somewhat powerful goddess before didn't really matter for that, though if it was the second case, he was somewhat curious what had forced her to abandon her original power base. Gods that relied on belief, which were the vast majority, would typically fight to the end to keep their believers, as without them, their divinity couldn't grow nor could they replenish its energy, gradually eroding their power until they were no different than an ascendant without divinity.
Turning toward the emissary who was still floating just behind where his goddess had been, now slightly at a loss after she had simply vanished and left him behind, Darganth questioned him, "You wouldn't happen to know about your goddess' history before she established her church here, would you?"
"Before? Her grace's teachings and tales of her exploits only start after her ascension, so no." The man answered somewhat hesitantly and unsure.
"It was worth a try." Darganth said with a shrug, recognizing the hesitancy in the emissary's voice for confusion about why he posed the question in the first place.
Turning back to Neandra and Scalladras, Darganth found the former frowning, her gaze lingering on the spot where the goddess had dissolved into light. From her expression, he could tell that Scalladras' correction made her only more frustrated with the meeting. Even now, traces of the goddess' mana hung in the air, serving as a stark reminder that even Neandra couldn't have done anything had the woman acted against them.
Darganth could empathize with the anger that Neandra undoubtedly felt over that. Even after now having had years to come to terms with his weakness compared to his past self, it stung to be reminded of it. For her, who existed for centuries as the strongest being actively meddling in the happenings on Ikrus, it must be doubly so.
Though Scalladras' insight into the situation at least brought some positives with it. If he is correct, and Darganth had no reason to doubt that, Neandra's trouble with resisting the goddess' presence was partially due to her unfamiliarity with divinities. Luckily for them, they had two gods of their own, so that was something that could be rectified. It wouldn't wholly alleviate its pressure and it wouldn't help her in a fight if it came to that, or at least not beyond preventing her from freezing up under the divinities' pressure, but it would still be worth it, especially with how little effort it would cost them.
Glancing toward Scalladras, Darganth needed just one look to know that they were on the same page on that matter. A nod then fully confirmed it and assured him of Scalladras' help, leaving him only with the matter of broaching the subject to Neandra and making a concrete plan.
But that could be left for later. For the moment, Darganth felt it was time to enjoy their victory, a sentiment that already started to spread among those parts of the troops below where the fighting had ended the quickest.