Chapter 347: Alpha and the Omega

The God in Lizard form did not respond. At least, not with words.

The moment the word left Saige’s lips, the Lizards aura exploded. Surging outwards and wrapping itself around the cleric as the pressure increased tenfold. The immediate and sudden increase of the domineering and predatory pressure ripped the breath from Saige’s lungs.

His legs trembled as they tried to escape from underneath him and his heart, which had been palpitating wildly in his chest froze completely in fear.

Yet somehow, against all biological and logical reason, Saige remained standing. On trembling legs, with no breath in his lungs and a heart that refused to beat, Saige remained on his feet and his eyes remained locked onto those of his god.

Slowly but surely, as his body betrayed him at every step, Saige slowly rose. Each inch was like climbing a mountain, as his face started to shift colour and his extremities turned numb.

He rose to his full height, his spine as straight as an arrow, before he puffed his stomach out.

For not even a moment Saige dared to look away from those silvery pools. He stared not at his reflection, but at the being hiding behind those eyes, as if he was directly challenging them. Because that was exactly what he was doing.

Challenging a God.

It was not as idiotic and suicidal as it might sound, at least not in this case. The same could not be said if one was to challenge any other God. Some might laugh it off, and some might take it as an offence and smite you where you stand.

But this was the Beast God, and much like its language, Beastial Society was complex, strange and, as Saige’s party members had said, incredibly confusing in some ways.

It was a culture in which death was the norm. The Wolf ate the rabbit, the Bear ate the Wolf, the Dragon ate the Bear and the Vulture feasted on them all when they expired. In such a culture, concepts such as murder were considered idiotic and unnatural.

It was simply what had to happen for life to continue. Death and devouring was natural.

In such a society, only two things mattered. Place and Respect. The Scavenger and the Prey had no need to consider their place, it was obvious. It was the hunters, those in the middle of the food chain, whose place fluctuated.

In those cases, respect was above all. Respect came from many places. The ultimate defence, a devastating poison that could kill from the smallest touch, or overwhelming array of teeth made to rip and tear.

In otherwords, it came from Strength. After all, even if there were many varieties and sources of that strength, the one rule remained. The Strongest survived.

The cleric of the Beast God, however, had a strange place. They borrowed much of their strength from another, and were meant to bridge the gap of many species including the ’sapient’ species that thought themselves above the beasts.

They needed the respect of both, of sapient and beast. They needed to understand the place of many, and have the strength to back it up. They had to understand that there was things above them in strength, but that the source of their strength gave them a higher place.

In essence, they had to be both. The higher and the lower, the prey and the predator, the superior and the inferior. In the old world, one might have even said the Alpha and the Omega. But such a phrase was muddied by outdated, long disproven ideas of an ’Alpha’.

So Saige stood strong, keeping his back straight against the pressure that was crushing down onto him. He kept his eyes locked onto the gods, maintaining the challenge, whilst puffing out his chest. A sign that was not done in pride, but as a subtle show of submission.

As if to say that he understood that this being before him could gut him like a fish, and he was asking them to do so if that was what they wished. But even in that show of submission, he did not bow, nor prostrate.

It was a sign that he understood the vast power difference, but that he would not see himself beneath the one in front of him.

A truly insane thing to demonstrate to a God, especially the one that was lending you their power. At least, Had it been any other God.

The lizard blinked, severing the eye contact and with it, relieving the pressure crushing down onto Saige before it could kill him.

He immediately hunched over, gulping in lungfuls of air as his heart thumped in his chest, as if it was jumping for joy at being able to move again. If he had gone on like that for much longer, he would have died.

There was not a single shred of doubt about it. It was a simple fact. Just from this beings presence, he would have died. And there was a part of him, part that he could not deny, that felt that it was a death that would not be restricted to this body.

However, he could not dwell on that thought, as the being in front of him lifted its head and looked down at him with emotionless eyes. The aura that had been pouring from its body was completely gone, leaving only the smallest hint of divinity and a connection deep in Saige’s soul, which was a thing he had no considered existing until now, binding him to this beast and was how he was unflinching with his identification of the Beast Lord.

"You have served well Pup, and you understand my teachings even in the face of true supremacy." the Beast Lord rumbled, as the connection within Saige stirred at his words,

"Now you must serve once again

The Gods created this domain to use in their little game. They cared not for the events unfolding within. It disgusts me. You, my pup, will take this artifact to the depths of this domain, and pierce it into the very heart."

He slammed his foot against the cage floor, which crumpled not just at the point of impact, but all around them. As if it was being crushed by invisible hands, the heavy metal crumpled like tin-foil, breaking apart before it could crush Saige, as the entire cage was disassembled and crushed into a small metal ball like it was the centre of a black hole.

The ball warped, forming itself into a karambit, a dagger shaped like a beasts claw, which hummed with a deep, divine energy as it hovered before Saige.

"You will rid it of my pups and remind the Gods that it is MY CHILDREN that fill this world and give their whelps their power. It is my children that keep the balance of this world, and this FILTH will not be tolerated."

The Beast Lord roared, his anger shaking not just the entire cave around Saige, but the entirety of the dungeon. Those that were carrying out their own runs, whether they were on the same floor, fighting one of the bosses or simply stepping inside for the first time, all simultaneously felt the rumbling of the cave around them as a God roared in anger.

Reining in his rage, the Beast Lord lowered his head, looking into Saige’s eyes once again.

"Do this, and you shall become my Wing."