Grotesque Lord: Ascension

Zerdall

Zerdall giggled seeing the red dots that were supposed to be Deors eyes flicker violently from confusion.

-Vwoo

The golden light vibrated softly around Deor shrinking him to the size of everyone present in the room.

When the golden light faded away Zerdall continued "Doesn't that look better? Hmm...? this is... interesting." She seemed slightly surprised seeing Deors' current appearance.

His face looked similar to how it did before he died, except much healthier. His hair and left eye were red while his right was golden-red, though it was slowly becoming completely red.

'Hmm, this is...? Ah, I'm naked...' by this time Deor regained a bit of his composure and was trying to analyze the situation, and he was overwhelmed 'H-how do I even react in this situation...? Maybe I should ask for some clothes...'

But before he opened his mouth, Zerdall continued as if she was ignorant to the fact that a naked man was standing in front of her.

"This is quite interesting, isn't it Marielle?"

"Yes, it seems he has domination over the power you gifted him?"

The woman named Marielle looked at Deor as if she was scanning every inch of his body.

Zerdall shook her head "No, no look closer it seems to be something even more interesting."

"Eh really, milady?" Marielle narrowed her blue eyes "...oh that is quite interesting."

"Indeed."

And then they both started nodding their heads.

During this conversation Deor just blankly stared at the two women, he had no context of what they were talking about making him feel incredibly uncomfortable throughout the entire process, nevertheless, he decided to open his mouth.

"Ahem! E-excuse me where am I?"

"Don't be so nervous Derygortheus and to answer your question this is Orthius."

"I don't think that's what he meant, milady," commented Marielle.

"I know, but it's quite annoying to explain 'where' we are... You understand right, Derygortheus?"

Right about now Deor almost screamed out, 'Of course not!' but decided to let it go and continue to ask his next questions.

"Why am I here then and are you really one of the two Primordials?"

"About that... let's see the reason you're here is that I Zerdall 'one of the two Primordials' made a 'reckless and irresponsible decision'. Would you like to hear more?"

Deor nodded wordlessly.

"Very well." Zerdall gestured for the two of them to have a sit. "It happened a while ago. I was monitoring my brothers' prison when I noticed something—"

"Prison...?" Deor couldn't help but ask in puzzlement.

"Yes prison, since the system you were born in was quite high-leveled you should know that in 'ancient times' me and my brother fought for the stability of the universe. After a very long and bitter battle, I barely managed to win, but of course, there is no way to kill my dear brother... not that I wanted to." Zerdall let out a sigh. One could tell she hated talking about this. "Anyway, during the fight, we destroyed countless systems and accumulated a lot of resentment from what you call 'the will of the universe'. I couldn't seal Urkshall with my power, especially after the fight, so I used this resentment to make him a special prison."

"I see... so the Grotesque Lord of Chaos is imprisoned."

"Pfft. Ah, excuse. Yes, yes, my troublemaker of a brother is imprisoned. So do still want to know why you're here, can I continue?"

Zerdall almost burst into laughter. She knew what type of senseless ideas and plans Eleanor and Deor came up with because of their arrogance, like; absorbing the Primordials Gods using their own power. Seeing him like this was really adorable for her.

Unaware of what was going on in Zerdalls head, Deor nodded obediently to her question.

"As I was saying, I was monitoring Urkshalls prison when I noticed a small breach. It wasn't enough for him to escape but upon further inspection I noticed he separated a piece of his soul and sent it flying throughout the universe. Seeing through his plan I did the same thing, the souls were attracted to each other like polar opposites and flew through the universe like this until they latched onto you and your sister's souls." Zerdall paused for a moment when she noticed Deors expression "Are you following me, you look a little lost?"

"Ah no, I don't really understand...although that explains a lot it also doesn't make much sense. For example, I thought 『Order』and 『Chaos』could not coexist, so how could the two powers be attracted to each other? Also, why didn't you just contain Lord Urkshall's soul fragment when you noticed it?"

"Well, to answer your first question it wasn't really 『Order』and 『Chaos』just our souls so they weren't that aggressive towards each other, plus when separating my soul I made sure to make it the same size as Urkshalls so it wouldn't dominate its existence. And the reason I didn't just contain his soul is simple, I just pitied my dear brother."

"You pitied him...?" Deor didn't understand. Is this the logic a supreme being should have?

Opposite Deor, Marielle was shaking her head with a palm to her face.

"Yes. Urkshall has been trapped for a long time in my prison, wouldn't it be nice if he saw the world through your sister's eyes?"

"I guess... but what if he's scheming something big?" Deor still didn't understand.

Hearing Deors question Zerdall took a small sip from a teacup that appeared out of nowhere "Hmm... whatever he's planning with the amount of power that child Eleanor has, it will not affect the grand scheme of things and if she gets out of hand, I'll just ask one of the people stationed nearby to deal with her."

"...I see." he didn't. Anyone who knew of Eleanor's potential definitely would not accept those words, but that didn't mean he was going to argue with Primordial Zerdall about it.

"Really? I'm glad you understand. Then moving on let's talk about you being here right now, Derygortheus." she took a slow sip of tea this time "...Originally when I noticed the plans the child called Sarkaima had in store for you, I thought it was game over but you proved me wrong who would have thought you would be able to create a soul body in such a short amount of time, very impressive." Zerdall gave Deor a look of adoration.

"...with your power, it wasn't much."

On the other hand, Deor was skeptical this situation was similar to how Eleanor would try to butter him up before asking for an irrational favor.

"Don't be so modest Derygortheus, I really was impressed, especially with how long you managed to keep your sanity in null point. That's why you qualify."

"... qualify for what...?" Deor was only growing more and more suspicious.

"I want you to give up your thoughts on revenge and become my apostle I'll grant you m—."

"No. I can't give up on revenge."

"E-eh? Marielle, he didn't even let me finish..."

"I told you he was extremely arrogant and don't forget your ideals are the opposite." Marielle also started drinking a cup of mysterious tea nonchalantly.

"J-just listen to me Deor, I promise it's not a bad deal."

'Why did she suddenly start referring to me so casually?'

Of course, he did not dare utter these words out loud instead he let out a long sigh and wordlessly beckoned her to continue; he had no real power here so he might as well hear her out and come to a mutual understanding and if that doesn't work Deor would just gamble it all and invoke 『Divine Reincarnation』from here, since all the shackles set by the Abyss were gone.

He had no idea if the spell would be negated by the two domineering women or where he would end up even if it did work but just as Marielle stated he was never going to work under anyone's orders, especially Zerdalls holy faction.

"There are actually two reasons I want you to become my apostle, one being the most obvious is that you're very compatible with my power and if you are willing to agree to move by my orders, I'll grant you even more power."

"What type of orders will you give me?"

"That would be maintaining the order and balance of the universe."

Deor already guessed as much but — "Aren't there countless Demigods and True Gods stronger than me in this city? I doubt you're understaffed."

"That brings me to the second reason. For an unknown reason, there has been a large influx in the number of Celestials being born. These newborn children are abnormally violent and are enslaving the inhabitants of local systems." With an exhausted expression, Zerdall continued, "Celestials are intelligent beings born from stars, planets, black holes, galaxies, or other celestial bodies once certain conditions are met. It's a process similar to how Urkshall and I were born during the creation of the universe."

She really wasn't used to talking to someone this clueless most of her aides were near-omniscient, so explaining things word by word to Deor was very annoying for Zerdall. Noticing this, Marielle stepped in for her.

"Every single one of the Celestials are far stronger than a 'normal' True God and to make matters direr a monarch seems to be born among them. Milady cannot move and she wants to avoid too many losses to our forces, so she intends to mentor and give you more power this way you'll be the one to take care of the Emperor."

"She can't move why?"

"Irrelevant," said Marielle to him in a cold tone.

"Come on Marielle, why are you so mean to him?"

"Maybe because he doesn't have the decency to conjure up some clothes? And why are you saying it like I've known him for more than 30 minutes?"

"Did you forget I can see your future?"

"Hmm...does that mean he accepts the request?"

"I don't know? No...yes uhh...definitely... not?"

"Please forget I asked."

As the two of them were going back and forth like this, Deors mind was in turmoil.

'How did my plan go this wrong? I really don't want to get involved in this mess, fight someone composed of an entire galaxy for some virtuous cause!? Would any sane person agree? f**k no!... I just want to go home to my small little world.'

"Can I just be sent back to my system?"

"Really?" Disappointment leaked from Zerdalls voice.

Deor nodded firmly "Yes."

"B—"

Before she could start her sentence Marielle interjected, "Milady, just let him return to his home system. We can use this as an opportunity to test him."

"Yes! A test to see my true character and worth!"

Both Zerdall and Marielle rolled their eyes at him, 'who is he trying to fool?' to be honest both of them already knew what type of person Deor was, Zerdall might have the patience to try and convince him to change his ways but how long would that take? They had millions of responsibilities that couldn't be put off even for a second. Thirty minutes was already stretching it.

Knowing this, Zerdall hesitantly agreed with Marielle "Fine. Then I'll help your plan come to fruition."

"You will help me avoid getting trapped in the abyss again?"

"That problem was already solved when I forcefully evolved your soul into its perfect state."

"...oh! thank you for your benevolence!"

Deor got up from his sit and kowtowed towards Zerdall. Seeing a naked man do this Marielle was a little grossed out, Zerdall continued unfazed by it.

"You're welcome. All that's left is to create a special purgatory-like space for you in your home system. I don't know why you thought you would be able to enter a normal purgatorial space, aren't you already a God?"

Deor scratched his cheek at Zerdalls reprimanding. "I was a little desperate..."

"Ahaha~ I'm just teasing you. Then I'll see you soon, Derygortheus."

By the time Zerdall finished her sentence, Deors body turned into golden specks before completely vanishing.