Back at the black shores, Elishia finally regained the ability to speak. Once she did, she immediately let out a loud word of frustration.

"You bitch!"

The Prophet of Perfection didn’t let herself be fazed, instead she remained amused as she stared in the distance.

Elishia stood up and quickly ran towards the water, footsteps left in her way became covered almost instantly.

"It’s useless.." The Prophet of Perfection raised her voice, "Without my protection, you’d just be squirming as you find yourself lost in madness."

Elishia clicked her tongue, knowing that she was right. However, she still ran towards the waves.

With a sigh, the Prophet of Perfection shook her head. Then, after a second, she snapped her fingers—making a sound akin to a moth’s wing flap.

Right away, Elishia reappeared beside the Prophet of Perfection.

Bewildered, she scanned her surroundings and confirmed where she was. After a moment, she faced the Prophet of Perfection and glared at her.

"Bring him back, now!"

"I’m afraid I can’t do that at all.. You see, he’s finding something for me."

Elishia’s eyes flared, "Yeah, I heard you clearly before!"

"Good! Then you should rejoice, he’s trying to find a way out for the both of you.. It’s just a matter of time."

Feeling powerless at the grasp of the Prophet of Perfection, she could only frown.

The two went silent for a while.

The waves continued to flow to the dark sands, crashing down with an almost serene nature.

Then, as time went on, the Prophet of Perfection opened her mouth, "Say, do you know about the Rule of Divinity, young one?"

Elishia went silent, not wanting to talk to the Prophet. However, her curiosity got the better of her.

"The Rule of Divinity?"

The Prophet of Perfection nodded.

"So you know nothing about it? What has the Historian been up to? Aren’t you all his.. Apprentices?"

"Just spill it.."

The Prophet let out a light giggle.

"So fierce, but alright.. Well, the Rule of Divinity, in simple terms, means that the longer you climb upon the path of Zealots, the more you attract those with similar rank to you. The more you get stronger, the more you meet other people that are the same strength as you.."

"This is news to me.. But why should I believe you?" Elishia’s tone grew wary.

"You shouldn’t.. But this is free knowledge I’m giving out, so you should."

Elishia scoffed.

"You speak like a child." She insulted, "So.. what about it? Don’t tell me you’re merely giving out this information with no catch?"

"Seasoned too.."

The Prophet of Perfection smiled.

"Let me tell you a story, little child.. Once upon a time, in the age where Gods still roamed the land, a deity that can exist anywhere and everywhere at the same time bestowed upon two gifts to the world—Humanity and Divinity.."

"Humanity lets individuals strive for strength, grow emotions, become greedy, and succumb to their desires. They were the perfect source of power to nurture Zeal, in its purest form. Why do humans dominate in wielding Zeal, not Dreadspawns or any other race in the world? It’s simple.. It’s because they have humanity embedded deep within."

The Prophet of Perfection’s smile grew wider.

"Without that gift, humans would simply become mindless animals that let their instincts take over their bodies. A being close to a Dreadspawn.."

"As for the other gift—Divinity—it is the concept that connects us all together. It is how soulmates meet, how long friendships are forged, and how people make relationships. Similarly, it is also how Zealots keep meeting with Dreadspawns and other Zealots. All because of a single reason—to connect, and grow together. Sounds romantic, doesn’t it?"

The Prophet of Perfection stared at Elishia with a grin.

However, the latter just responded with a disgusted look.

"Erm.. In its early days, humans perceived the gift of Divinity as a means to connect the world. Yet, they didn’t know the curse that was buried within.."

"You see, the God who bestowed Divinity upon humanity didn’t do so out of benevolence or love.. They did so out of wrath."

Elishia grew curious.

"Why, you ask? Because humanity made a great sin."

The air around them grew silent, as if shushed by the Prophet’s words. Coincidentally, the waves retracted back in that same moment, creating a deep silence around them.

...

Elishia’s heart skipped a beat.

"Humanity killed a God and split THEIR Zeal into 7 pieces."

*

Cetas traveled through the lightless expanse with no sense of direction.

He didn’t know if he was headed up, down, sideways, or wherever!

He only let a single piece of a cream-colored dot lead the way.

He figured that if he can’t even see where he was going, then it would at least be helpful to gain some kind of aid using his Zeal.

And luckily, it worked!

The Sands of History flowed forward, guiding Cetas to an unknown destination.

So, he continued to descend.. Or did he descend at all?

Cetas didn’t know.

Right now, he focused on heading towards the grain.

His body felt cold, numbing at every second then regaining its vitality back in the next.

It was an odd sensation to have—constantly losing control then your senses flooding back at the same time.

Still, in the few minutes that he had been in the depths, Cetas grew used to it.

As he traversed further, he could hear a faint whisper in the distance.

Yet, knowing how dangerous the ravings are, Cetas chose to ignore it.

Eventually, his Zeal capacity grew scarce, forcing him to stop casting Sands of History.

In the moment that it did, Cetas merely stopped in the middle of the darkness.

His eyes blurred for a moment and then regained its sight once again.

He rested his body as it slowly floated around in the darkness. He felt empty, as if devoid of any reason to go—to live.

Within a second, all of his motivations came back.

So did his Zeal.

Truly an odd feeling..

He activated Sands of History once more, the grain of sand slowly moving towards his right.

I should get going then..

A few moments passed by and Cetas out of Zeal again.

"██████"

That whisper again.

He heard the unknown voice coming in the direction forward.

Suddenly, his mind turned blank, removed from all thoughts and memories.

I? Who am I?

He asked internally in the old language of the Depth-Dwellers.

But when a second passed, Cetas head almost exploded from all the information that it had just remembered.

He wanted to vomit.

But alas, he held it in.

With his Zeal restored once more, Cetas activated the Sands of History.

Again, he headed towards the direction of the grain—forward of where he was facing.

Cetas didn’t know how much time had passed when he finally ran out of Zeal again.

So, he remained still.

This time, he waited for the next thing to vanish from himself.

He waited and then waited..

Soon, he lost all sensation of everything from his neck downwards.

No, not just the sensation, he lost his entire body!

His brain remained conscious for a few seconds. Upon realizing what had just happened, Cetas wanted to scream!

But before he could do so, he lost consciousness.

His head floated in the darkness, slowly cascading down to an endless deep.

...

But within a second, his entire body grew back from thin air.

Cetas made a gasp underwater.

Huff! Huff!

This is..!

In a panic, Cetas hurriedly grasped his neck and jaw, hoping to see if they were still connected to his body.

Upon confirming it, Cetas jaw trembled uncontrollably.

Raising his hand again, he held his jaw tight so as to not make it tremble longer.

Then, he activated his Zeal and continued forward.

His heart thumped.

Cetas felt fear upon the thought of anticipating what’s next.

And once again, his Zeal ran out.

His only guide faded in the deepest dark.

Cetas was alone again.

His entire body trembled.

The silence of the depths was unforgiving, not letting him know when the next moment of disappearance would transpire.

Just then!

Cetas’ skin, bones, muscles, and many more disappeared.

Only Cetas’ nervous system remained. Naturally, a human wouldn’t live if this were to happen but in Cetas’ case, he remained awake!

His eyes would grow wide if there were any eyelids left to let it do so. His skin would shudder if he had any more left. And his joints would begin to weaken in fear if he had not lost it.

But Cetas felt the dark waters touching his nerves, literally.

His eyeballs could not move due to his unexisting body parts so, it merely gathered what it saw in front of it—darkness.

In just a second, Cetas regained his entire body.

He held his head intensely, piecing together his sense of self.

His mouth trembled open, inch by inch, paralyzed as it reached its limits. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Then, Cetas screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed in the lightless depths.

Until the tenebrous liquid entered his mouth, permeating his throat and filling his stomach with its coldness.

Due to that, Cetas couldn’t let out a single gasp.

He vomited the contents of his stomach, bubbles escaping from within his mouth.

When all of it was gone, Cetas remained in place.

With his fear-stricken eyes, he reluctantly activated his Zeal.

I have to go..

Manifesting a grain of sand in front of him, Cetas continued to swim.