Xion CH41: The Forest God's Ascension

I stood over a deep hole in the earth filled with seawater and floating golden river lilies. Like stone gargoyles standing atop a tall building, dozens of forest avatars remained frozen as they sucked in starlight and fed that power to their master, the forest god. The corpses of hundreds of different silver animals stared back at me from the bottom of the hole. A few elves even laid at the bottom forever, a part of something more. Some of them moved connected to each other in an unfathomable way. Unfortunately, the forest god wasn’t something I got a handle on quickly. Instead, bark and fish scales grew across the edges of the pit, revealing the true nature of the hole in the ground.

Even if God only meant really strong here, I wasn’t at the level of these gods. Try as I might, my power level only increased by increments.

I could feel the monster as it slowly adapted to the power of the sea god. It wasn’t just adding a little power to itself; it had absorbed all of the sea god’s potential. Once the forest god awoke, I estimated its PL could be between 500-700, by what I felt. That power increased a little every day until this last week. I had grown a hundred points in a day. If I wanted to get a handle on it, maybe it would be better to kill it while it’s assimilating the power. But, of course, the hundreds of avatars guarding the forest god made that impossible.

That’s where my problem comes in; how was I supposed to kill it. It wasn’t the same as when I saw it last. The God’s body wasn’t a collection of trees any longer; it had become a hivemind of living beings who shared in its power. Moreover, the avatars had begun stealing elves from the village and tossing them in the pond. Did that mean the forest god was ready to emerge, or did it need more time?

I envisioned a plan that could work, relying on Zosimael’s potions and the stolen flesh of multiple gods. A smile threatened to break across my face. Once again, I would rely on my regeneration to see me through the day.

“Leave my father be and follow close. I won't defend you if you trigger my father’s macro immune system.” Uriel said.

The avatar had agreed to help me since it wouldn’t affect his father. “Why do you even want a piece of that god’s useless shell?” Uriel asked.

“I think it could make a powerful weapon with the right amount of tempering,” I said.

“Don’t bother using it against father; he consumed the God that shell belonged to. The only part he couldn’t eat was the shell.” Uriel said.

We arrived to see a half-buried tree-covered mass of metal only partially glowing. I grabbed ahold of the mass and pulled with all my might, but it wouldn’t budge. My hand hurt a little, but other than that, nothing. Finally, I punched it with island obliterating fist, and the metal sang a long sad tune. Still, it didn’t so much as dent, much less crack. I turned to see the 6m tall tree man cross his arms in pure smugness.

Another blow capable of rocking the shell knocked a few beetles off it. Before I punched again, I saw something odd. The beetles had the same silver color shell as the metal. I gave the metal a closer look to see that it was covered in thousands of beetles, slowly eating away at it. That gave me an idea.

Instead of trying to take the metal itself, I knocked down a bunch of beetles and took them instead. Once they were safely in my inventory, I relaxed a little. While beating the gods still felt impossible, I might have a cool sword to improve my odds.

“Even if you manage to get the metal out of those beetles and make a weapon. You are still just an ant before my father. So remember to be humble before your betters.” Uriel said.

I sucked in a breath and let it out. My power had increased, but I couldn’t bridge the gap between mortal and God. Avatars were one thing, but I needed more time and another factor to fight a god and hope to win. But I didn’t have to beat them myself; all I had to do was guarantee the gods would fight one another. They were heading this way, and the forest god would fight for its territory. Unfortunately, as intelligent as those kaiju were supposed to be, they were limited to instinct, just like any other animal, including humans.