Free Web NovelChapter 2126: Palace of Still Ice
When Arad walked into the main hall with Alga still in his arms, he could see Isdis and Eris sitting around a large table with a few tens of angels, talking about the ongoing constructions. They all seemed too busy, but from what Arad could see, all of those angels were ones he had seen in the private quarter before, the same ones who worked on Eris’s heaven. They should be able to lead the construction with ease.
For now, they didn’t notice Arad due to his draconic presence masking his existence alongside Alga, who was in his arms. He didn’t want to bother them while they were working, but he had to get Alga settled in as quickly as possible, so he took a step out of the shadows.
When Arad’s foot landed on the ground and his presence became clear, it was as if the entire hall plunged into darkness, and everyone immediately glared in his direction, horrified that he managed to sneak up on them like a ghost. "Isdis! I’m back with her."
"She really let you take her?" Isdis couldn’t believe her eyes. She had just asked him to see if Death herself would let them have Alga if no one wanted her, but she didn’t expect Death herself to actually agree. But with this, Isdis could use Alga as the first resident in her heaven and learn the ropes with her.
"First..." Isdis stood, pushing her chair aside with a gentle touch, and when she did, the entire storm outside shifted with her. It wasn’t supposed to, but that was just how clumsy she is at this now, having just become a divine without even being a demigod first. She could barely understand how her divine magic worked, let alone use it. She could only build this place thanks to Eris and the angels of peace, who had experience.
As she started walking toward Arad, each step she took caused the ground beneath her feet to freeze, and her sharp blue glare was enough to make Alga shiver. Isdis didn’t look anywhere near how she looked in the mortal world, and Alga could clearly tell that she was a divine now.
Isdis’s body looked as if it were made of pure light, with skin as pale as pure snow. Her blond hair burned golden like flames, and her eyes looked like two gems, pristine sapphires. But the most striking part was the way she moved. With each step, she left several afterimages of herself training behind, frozen in time.
"Is she naked? Her body is a bit blurry..." Isdis gave Alga a quick, confused stare that made her shiver to the bones, and then she immediately saw something that horrified her. Alga’s soul was slowly melting into the surrounding divine magic; she was being slowly consumed, not by Arad’s stomach, but by Isdis’s own divine magic.
"Wait! Is she fading away if she isn’t bound to anything?!" Isdis immediately reached and touched Alga’s head, pouring a bit of divine magic into her. "Now... you should be bound to this heaven." Seeing Alga’s soul stabilize, she sighed in relief.
This was only a temporary solution, since Alga lacked all faith in Isdis; she didn’t have a steady stream of divine magic going into her soul and so nothing to passively bind her to this heaven.
Eris watched them with an amused face and then burst out laughing. For once, she knows about something more than Isdis does.
"She wasn’t disappearing; she was just losing her humanoid look. Souls don’t just disappear into nothing. They’ll turn into sentient orbs, like wisps." She stood and looked at all of the angels sitting around the table. "We were already wrapping up this meeting, so you can head out now. We’ll continue tomorrow. We already planned almost everything."
The angels stood, bowed once, and then flew out without saying a single word. It only took a few seconds, and they were left alone. Arad, Isdis, Eris, and Alga. This was for one reason, and it was that Isdis still didn’t know anything about using her own power or running this place; even Eris still struggled, so there was no way for Isdis to ever be on top of everything.
"Isdis!" Eris called, "So first, she has no faith in you. For her to be able to stay here, that faith is a must, since it determines the faithful’s standing in heaven. First, we must get past that hurdle just like you did before. Give her divine magic directly for now." With a single step, Eris was standing beside Arad and Isdis.
"As this heaven is made from your divine magic, anyone unmarked by it would eventually be consumed and erased." She gave Alga a smile. "You better start working on that faith quickly, at least get enough to not freeze to death." She then pointed at her with a long, sharp, red nail. "Since you’ve already died, what you’ll experience here is getting frozen, staying conscious, and suffering. Without faith, this place is no different from hell to you."
Arad put Alga down, and the woman looked around, still a bit confused. "This is heaven, right? I was fine until now."
Arad put Alga down, and the woman looked around, still a bit confused. "This is heaven, right? I was fine until now." Surprisingly, Alga didn’t care one bit about herself being naked. Probably since this entire thing still feels like a dream to her, as she still hadn’t fully gotten acclimated to her soul body.
Isdis sighed, "You were fine because Arad carried you. He didn’t put you down because the moment you stopped touching him, my heaven would’ve frozen you." She then stared at Arad, "But... does this mean that I don’t have enough divine magic to face you?"
Eris patted Isdis on the shoulder. "You’ll get used to it. Divine magic hardly works on him." She smiled, and then clapped her hands, causing an angel to appear behind them. "This is Alga, the first of the faithful staying here. Please lead her to one of the castle’s finest rooms, and make sure she is served well until the heaven is built."
The angel stared at Alga for a second and then looked back at Eris. She is an angel of Peace, so she pretty much didn’t like getting ordered around by Murder, yet she couldn’t just refuse. Eris was clearly trying to help Isdis here, so the angels of Peace are temporarily doing her bidding.
"But... she has no..." At that moment, the angel closed her mouth when Eris stared at her with a smile. That was no ordinary smile but a sadistic grin saying I’ll enjoy every second of ripping you apart.
"Sorry, I’ll handle that." Dealing with Murder was hard, dangerous, and exhausting.
"There are many reasons for this. Just do your job, and everything will be fine. You don’t have to worry about anything." Eris approached the angel, touched her neck with her fingers, and then slowly traced her shoulder down with her sharp fingers. "Remember, I still don’t trust you angels of Peace. You tried to attack Arad after my fight with him. Now that we’re on the same side, show me that you can support Isdis no matter what."
She then tapped the angel on the shoulder, and the angel immediately grabbed Alga and flew away with her. She won’t ask questions, and will never try to cause any trouble. Even if Alga had no faith and shouldn’t be here, if Isdis and Eris say she stays, then she stays.
Eris waited a second, then turned toward Arad and Isdis. Her eyes were sparkling with light. "Ah! I saw it! Death’s face through my butterflies when you showed up! I bet she almost pissed herself when you appeared out of nowhere!"
"Really? I don’t think Death feels fear." Isdis looked at her with a passive face for a second, but then smiled. "But you know what? Even if she didn’t feel fear, I’m certain she was worried that Arad would break something and cause a massive disaster."
Arad walked with them toward the frozen ice throne that belonged to Isdis, looked at it for a second, and then back at the two goddesses behind him. "Take a seat; when you’re around, it’s yours. It also make it much easier for me."
