Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Deliora's ghost talked about a flame that swallowed him whole but in truth, there are no flames...no visible ones at least, the pain he felt just obscured his senses greatly.

There is a distortion, and Deliora's in the midst of it. Said distortion is similar to the ones that flames cause when burning something. This invisible flame is what's burning Deliora and causing him immense pain.

This flame is called Vivic Flames...though in truth, it's not a flame. It is the manifestation of Cedric's will and the Prime Earth's vitality combined.

Cedric's will act as the Demonic Bane - an attribute that's extremely harmful to demons. If this element latches on them, it will not let go until they're completely consumed. It ignores the false immortality that demons have, and in Deliora's case, distance as well.

Even though only a piece of his soul was here, that was enough for the flames to consume his entire being - despite being nowhere near Cedric, because a piece of him had already fallen to the flames.

The Demonic Bane not only consumes the demonic entity, but it also converts their essence into something nourishing for the world. Prime Earth, or Acala's vitality; the very same one that flows to the Leylines, is there to consume that converted energy.

When Cedric said that Acala would for sure enjoy consuming Deliora's existence, he wasn't lying. Cedric quite literally fed Deliora to the land. What the piece of his soul was experiencing was also happening to the main body, that's why Cedric wasn't afraid of Deliora's retaliation - because he wouldn't stay alive for long.

'He'd also leave a bed of flowers on his wake. Not a bad ending for a creature like him.' Cedric mused to himself as he felt Deliora's existence disappearing completely.

The Vivic Flames is an evolved version of Ki Pulse, something that Cedric extensively researched during the past few months. His expertise in Laws and absurdly high comprehension ability allowed him to create this skill.

Since the Ki Pulse could keep the corruption at bay, even negating it to some extent, Cedric improved upon that when he was researching. With the Vivic Flames, not only would he cleanse the corruption he comes across, but he could even feed Demons to Acala to restore her vitality.

Since the Demons want to eat her consciousness, why can't she do the same? Cedric would be her agent to do that for her. If she consumed enough Demons, the world would recover faster and Humanity would have more edge against their enemies. This way, everybody wins!

"Acala?" Cedric calls out.

[Acala hums in a pleased tone with your recent offering, User Cedric. The System expressed its admiration for creating such a wonderful technique. Would you like to share this knowledge with other Superhumans?]

"I'll make a guide later." Cedric replied, "I want to ask, did you record our conversation like I told you to?"

[Yes, User Cedric. Would you like to review the footage?]

"No need, I trust you," Cedric muttered as he began walking out of the underground base. "I want you to send this footage to people of importance. Don't publicize it, though. Show it to only those that 'YOU' think are trustworthy. Am I clear?"

[Loud and clear, User Cedric. The System shall only send the recorded footage to trustworthy people. Is there anything else I could help you with?]

"Not for now."

[Very well, if you need the System's assistance, please don't hesitate to inform us.]

The System went quiet after that.

Cedric sighed as his thoughts recalled everything that just transpired. Initially, he just wanted to eradicate the cult. Who would've thought that he'd come across a Demon Lord?

It's uncertain if Cedric could actually defeat Deliora if they were to fight face to face. Cedric was strong but a Demon Lord is a Demon Lord, there's no denying that.

If it weren't for Deliora's situation, Cedric might not necessarily have had it this easy. If he fought a Demon Lord here, this city would've been destroyed from their clash. Even then, this will alarm the authorities so Cedric wouldn't be the one to face Deliora if that happens. Someone will surely interfere.

Fortunately, Deliora was just as prideful and manipulative as any Demon Lords were. Hubris was his downfall.

Still, Deliora was a treasure trove of information. The second half of the things he said were lies, but the first half wasn't.

The Demon Race wants Prime Earth solely because it gave birth to Acala. With how desperate they are to get her, it is obvious how valuable she is to them, which is all the more reason to defend her against them.

Not only will Prime Earth quite literally die if Acala extracts it, but the Demon Race will certainly do unspeakable things to her and become even stronger. If that happens, there will be no hope left for Humanity.

As he left the underground base and reappeared on the surface, Cedric paused in his steps and looked to the east. He then said:

"Come out. I know you're there. If you wanna talk, don't hide. That contradicts your intent."

Swoosh!

Cedric saw movement from behind the canopy. A man clad in priest robes appeared wearing a friendly yet nervous smile appeared before him.

"Greetings, Young Sage. Please pardon my actions, I have no ill intentions." He said.

"I know." Cedric replied blandly, "If you did, then your head would've rolled off from your shoulders by now. You've been following me since I arrived in this city, what do you want from me?"

The priest felt cold sweat pouring down his back as he heard Cedric's words. And here he thought he was being sneaky, it turns out that the Young Sage was already aware of him since he stepped into this city and began following him.

It's not that this priest was bad. Actually, he's one of the better ones in his department. There aren't many people who could sense his presence, especially when he's on a mission. He initially thought that he was safe from the Young Sage's senses, he even thought that Cedric was still a little green. It turns out that he was the fool all along.

"My name is Edward, and I come here under the orders of Archbishop Gabriel to invite you to our humble abode, the House of Light. We would be grateful if you could spare us a little bit of your time and grace us with your presence."

Edward was extremely careful and polite as he talked to Cedric. Initially, it's because the Acrchbishop who sent him ordered him to treat the Young Sage with utmost respect. His superior even said that in under no circumstance was he allowed to force or coerce the Young Sage from accepting the invitation. If Cedric refuses, Edward needs to accept that and return to the organization to report.

But after he experienced just a shred of the Young Sage's power, especially when he tried investigating what he did on that underground passage, Edward realized that the Archbishop warned him for his sake. The Young Sage's power is not to be trifled with. That's why he's extremely polite and respectful when talking to him and making his request.

"House of Light, huh?" Cedric mused.

Erica and Chrissy warned him about this. Well, that sounds ominous. The House of Light isn't an enemy. Besides, Cedric did say that he's willing to hear them out so long as they express some level of sincerity. And Edward showed some so...

"...sure, why not? I'm free, anyway. Where are we heading?"

"E-eh, uhm..." Edward wasn't expecting Cedric to just casually accept the invitation, he thought that he would make things difficult for him first. "...o-our Headquarters is located at the Fiore - the Royal Capital. It's actually very close to the Starlight Royal Academy."

"Oh, isn't that nice?" Cedric replied, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

"Y-Yes, of course!" Edward panicked. He then summoned his System Interface to send a message, he was calling for someone to pick them up.

"Are you asking for someone to pick us up?" Cedric asked.

Edward was stunned briefly before replying: "Yes, Sir. We are quite far from the Royal Capital after all."

"How long will it take us to arrive there?"

"Uh, not long I hope. Maybe within two to three hours?"

"Nope. That is too slow. Cancel it." Cedric shook his head. "I'll take us there, I'm way faster. It shouldn't take us more than ten minutes."

"E-Eh? Uhm..."

Edward couldn't even continue with whatever he was saying because he felt himself being picked up. He blinked as he realized that he was being carried by the Young Sage like a sack of rice.

"Close your eyes and cover your ears. This shouldn't take long."

He couldn't follow the Young Sage's orders and once he did, he felt his surroundings warping. He could feel the turbulence around him and obediently refused to open his eyes.

And just as the Young Sage said, 10 minutes later, the wild turbulence stopped and when Edward opened his eyes, he found himself standing at the entrance of the House of Light's headquarters.