Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!-Chapter 179

Following the Aeldari goddess through a series of disused pathways, she came to a stop before a sealed doorway bearing Khaine's symbol. Attempting to use her divine power to forcefully remove the barrier, Lileath collapsed from exhaustion as she nearly used up everything she had. Catching her before she hit the ground, I scooped her up into my arms and cast Dispel on the doorway.

"I can appreciate your willingness to help, but you should really wait until more of your power returns.", I said as the barrier faded away. "If you are not careful, you could put yourself into another coma."

"My apologies, since Khaine's power has been greatly diminished, I assumed the meager amount I had was sufficient to open the way. Clearly my assessment was wrong.", Lileath commented with an embarrassed expression, "The forge should be in the first room on the right."

Cautiously walking into the divine smithy, we mortals were taken aback by how pristine the space looked. As no one had been here for tens of thousands of years, I had expected to see cobwebs and thick layers of dust all over the place, like Erebor's forges in The Hobbit. Wandering a bit further into the workshop, we heard chains rattling near where the forge was located. Peering into the room to figure out where the noise came from, the five of us froze as we saw a withered Aeldari man staring back at us.

"No... it... it cannot be. Great-uncle Vaul, is that you!?", Lileath gasped, horrified by what she was seeing. "I thought you were devoured alongside the rest of us! Did she never come looking for you here?"

"No, I was deemed too helpless and weak to be worth the time and effort. Aside from the occasional daemon passing by, I have not seen anyone else since our pantheon collapsed.", Vaul answered, mustering the strength to give his great-niece a warm smile. "It is good to see you again, my precious Lileath."

Leaping out of my arms, she staggered over to him and tightly embraced the smithing god. Bawling her eyes out, Lileath began to profusely apologize for the part she played in his imprisonment and suffering. Wishing she could go back and stop herself from telling Khaine about her visions, the guilt she had been carrying all these years came pouring out all at once.

"None of what transpired back then was your fault, Lileath.", Vaul assured her, holding her tightly. "Khaine's bloodlust had been boiling beneath the surface for centuries prior to your conversation with him. Your silence might have temporarily bought us time, but eventually he would have given in to his urges and gone on a rampage anyways. While you may think it is all your fault, what you did saved a great many lives. Do not forget that."

"But I- ", Lileath began to say.

"I am truly relieved to see that you did not lose your beautiful, kind heart during your internment within that vile monster. Had she managed to steal it from you, all hope for the revival of our pantheon would have been lost.", Vaul remarked, acutely aware of his kin's agonizing suffering all these millennia. "It was the hope that one day I would see Isha and you again that has kept me going all this time. While the others quickly forgot about me after I lost my duel against Khaine, the two of you always made time to visit me on a regular basis. Those happy memories are something I will cherish until I draw my last breath."

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Letting go of her great-uncle, Lileath wiped away her tears and walked away to fetch some water for him. Bringing back an ornately decorated copper cup, she gingerly pressed it against his cracked lips before slowly tilting the cup back. Making sure not to drown the frail deity, once his thirst was quenched, she helped him up onto his feet so he could introduce himself to us. Giving Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, and Samus a warm greeting, when he turned to me, his demeanor and tone shifted.

"You must be the mortal that brought that vile beast to heel; I can tell just by looking at you.", Vaul remarked, lowering his head in respect to me, "From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for freeing Lileath and the other Aeldari deities. Words cannot begin to describe how happy I am to see my great-niece's smile once again. She may be a bit mischievous and pigheaded at times, but she is a good woman at heart. Please cherish her as much as Isha and I do."

"Hold on a second, Vaul. You are making it sound like you have no intention of coming with us. Are you not eager to put this place behind you and roam the universe freely once again?", I questioned with a confused look.

"Even though Khaine's power has waned greatly, the enchantments he used to bind me to my anvil are just as strong as ever.", Vaul answered, raising his right arm to show us his shackle. "I have tried many times over the years to break my chains, but nothing I did could even scratch them."

"Oh, is that all?", I chuckled, relieved it was nothing serious. "Give me a second; I will have them off in a jiffy. Gron Meyz Kren!!"

(AN: Bind Become Shatter)

Watching his shackles fade into the ether, Lileath and Vaul struggled to wrap their heads around what they just saw. Turning to me for an explanation, I explained that I had used powerful, ancient magic to dispel Khaine's enchantment.

"You would not have happened to learn it from another deity, did you?", Vaul inquired, rubbing his wrist to confirm it was not an illusion.

"No, I actually acquired the knowledge through slaying an ancient dragon named Alduin. He was the son of a Dragon God, so I guess that kind of makes him a demigod now that I think about it.", I replied, "Anyways, their native tongue enables them to bend the very essence of magic itself to their will. Thanks to my heritage, I am also able to tap into this power as well."

"Interesting, I had heard whispers of other pantheons being able to bend reality to their will, similar to the C'tan, but I had never met any of them.", Vaul commented, "So tell me, what brought the five of you here today? Judging by Lileath's reaction, it was not to free me from my prison. Is there something you were looking for?"

"We came here to use your forge. I have a divine weapon that is in dire need of reforging.", I said, retrieving Stormbreaker's pieces from my inventory.

Setting the pieces down on his workbench, the smithing god's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the Asgardian relic. Reaching out to touch it, before I could warn him not to, Stormbreaker gave him a good zap as a warning to keep his hands away. Laughing heartily in response, Vaul nodded his head with a stupid smirk on his face.

"It has been a very long time since I have seen fine craftsmanship like this. The Dwarves of Asgard have really honed their skills during my internment here.", Vaul stated, his eyes taking in all the little details they put into its construction. "Whatever destroyed this beauty must have been extraordinarily powerful. Any idea what it was?"

"The All-Black Sword.", I told him, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Damn that bastard Zeus... He told us that the coalition of pantheons had destroyed that blasted thing millions of years ago. I cannot begin to fathom why he would lie to us about it.", Vaul grumbled, fearful of his great-niece's safety, "While most of my strength has long since left me, I will do all I can to assist you in remaking the weapon."

Using the spells Dispel, Divine Healing, and Regrowth on Vaul, the extensive physical damage Khaine dealt him began to come undone. Mending bones, muscle, and sinew, the smithing god felt his old strength rapidly returning to him once again. Watching the miraculous change take place before her very eyes, Lileath ran up to me and planted a kiss on my lips. Swearing to repay me tenfold for this someday, Vaul began to chuckle at how adorable she was acting.

"Alright then, kid. Since we are going through the trouble of completely reforging it, are there any improvements you want to make?", Vaul asked, walking over to the wall to retrieve his tools.

"Actually, I have a rough sketch of what I am looking to do.", I advised, pulling the drawing out to show him. "In addition to hammering enchantments into the metal as we work it, the gem sockets on the haft and head will hold a few gemstones I have collected in my travels."

Gingerly setting down a shard of pure Argent Energy and several kyber crystals, Ahsoka rushed over to have a better look at them. Informing her that I purchased the kyber crystals on Tatooine, I inquired if there were any issues with me using them. Shaking her head, the Jedi Padawan had no qualms about it, as I was part of the Jedi Order.

"It just surprised me to see you had a Christophsis crystal, Ghostfire crystal, Krayt Dragon pearl, Seeker crystal, and Zophis crystal in your possession. Most Jedi nowadays have Ilum and Pontite crystals in their lightsabers; I have only seen a few of these in textbooks before. Purchasing one is a pipe dream for someone of my pay grade.", Ahsoka laughed dryly.

"If you want one, I have several spares. The black market vendor I visited had several fine specimens.", I offered.

"I... I really should not...", Ahsoka answered, sticking her right hand out with an apologetic smile, "Since you are being so insistent though, I have always been interested in possessing a Christophsis crystal lightsaber as my secondary weapon."

Handing over one of the extras in my possession, I also gave her the necessary components to build herself a second lightsaber. Graciously accepting them, she wandered over to a corner of the room and plopped herself down to begin building it. Taking a seat next to her, Bo-Katan and Samus sat back, eager to watch the reforging process.

"Alright, kid, you ready to get to work?", Vaul inquired, taking his shirt off as he activated his forge. "It is going to get super-hot in here. If you cannot take the heat, you had better get out now."

"Do not worry about me, I can take it!", I chuckled, retracting the upper part of my armor. "Just out of curiosity, what do you fuel this thing with?"

"Hehe, several C'tan fragments from someone called Nyadra'zatha.", Vaul answered, in a chipper tone. "Kurnous, Lileath's father, and I nearly killed him when he invaded the Webway many eons ago. The fragments we lopped off him became the fuel source for my forge. If you hear some unintelligible screams during our work, that is just his fragments lashing out. Do not worry about it."

'Damn, I should think about using the souls of future enemies to power something like this. That would be pretty badass!', I thought, placing Stormbreaker's many fragments into Vaul's crucible. "Stormbreaker, please bear with us as we make you whole once again. I promise you will get to taste combat once again very soon!"

While we waited for the metal to melt down, Vaul and I started making a mold for my new divine weapon.