Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Chapter 808: A Divine Art, Indeed

—

“Yeah, it’s true. I actually can’t tell the difference. A Divine Art, indeed.”

This was Nicholas’ first thought when he laid his eyes on his first clone.

Controlled by his stray thought, the clone followed every single action with pinpoint accuracy. From the facial expression down to the tiniest habits, the clone has it all.

The best part? Controlling it was intuitive. No need to micro-manage anything; Nick just needs to think about what he wanted the clone to do, and it will do it exactly according to how he thought it was going to go, nothing less or excessive.

If he wanted to, he could even go on full immersion, sinking his consciousness completely into the clone, taking full and active control of it. And aside from being 10% weaker compared to the main body, all else was the same.

“And all it cost was a slight pinch on my soul? Unbelievable!” Nick let out a humorless laugh in awe and sheer disbelief.

He wasn’t exaggerating. The cost to create this clone was organic material to create the physical body—preferably one that has his genes and a sliver of his soul.

To someone like Nick? This was dirt cheap. No exaggeration.

The organic materials? A fistful of his hair, a piece of his skin, nail clippings, a glob of his spit, and a drop of his blood were all he needed.

A sliver of his soul? Done. Nick plucked it out himself and didn’t even flinch when he did it. The Bug Empress’ sharp screeches were more painful than this.

When were all of those materials ready? He just needed to do the ritual, and boom! The first clone was born.

It wasn’t struck by lightning, didn’t need to be taught anything, and doesn’t require waiting…as soon as it was born, it was good to go.

Seriously, if this wasn’t a Divine Art, what could it be?

Does the significance of a clone even need to be explained?

With this thing around, Nick can do all of his official work in the background while he, the main body, does whatever he wants!

Hell, he could create more, you know! He could create another clone, have it disguised as another person, and send it to the frontlines to start paying attention. This clone can immediately alert the main body if an emergency arises.

In fact, since the clones are only 10% weaker than the main body, they’re strong on their own. Nick can practically have them do everything in his stead!

He still remembered what Cedric told him when he gave this to him…

**

“Here.”

“And this is?”

“A cloning technique of some sort,” he says, ever so casually. “Something I made back in the day. It should be effective; my bodyguards are Heavenly Venerates, and they could use it, so I think you and the other councillors could, too.”

“The clones should free up your schedule, even just for a little bit.”

Nick was skeptical of its effectiveness, but he accepted it anyway.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sir. And please don’t lose hope. Humanity still needs you.”

**

Nick snorted and thought, ’’Free up our schedule’ my ass! He handed me a Divine Art and expected us to use it just to get rid of paperwork. That kid is nuts! ’

Whether Cedric actually meant what he said or was just humble-bragging, Nick couldn’t care less.

Does he even know that he created a Divine Art? Nick also doesn’t care about that.

What matters is that Cedric chose to share this with them when they truly needed it.

Urek said that with this, they don’t have to be afraid of the Bug Empress? He’s right.

The five councillors at 100% strength were enough to contain and chase the Bug Empress away. But this comes with a cost, and they can’t always do this, especially not within humanity’s territory, not if they don’t want to cause major damage to the Heavenly Star Chaos Realm.

Sending multiple clones to patrol around and chase away the Bug Empress, however, sounds better. Sure, they’re only about 90% as strong as the main bodies, but if there was an army of them, even the Bug Empress would have to respect their threat level.

Also…

When Urek said that this Divine Art could help them conquer other Chaos Realms? He was not exaggerating. Because the connection between the main body and the clones can bypass distance thanks to it being tied to the soul itself.

It doesn’t matter where the clone ends up. The main body will always know, and the connection between them will never be severed.

The best part is, if the need arises, the main body can swap places with the clone in a snap of a finger. It doesn’t matter how far the distance was between them; it will be done if the main body wants it to happen.

“HAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!!!”

This wasn’t Nick. It was Urek who’s staying in a room down the hall.

Nobody has to guess why. They know why he’s acting this way.

Although this was a little bit out of his usual character, nobody could blame him. For Urek, whose whole identity and skills revolve around illusions, deceptions, trickery, deceit, etc., this cloning was practically godsent.

Urek was about to become even more insufferable with this. He already was, but this art just gave him wings.

“Nick, this is really fucking crazy, man,” Gibson told him through thought transmission. “This is insane, you hear me? Insane! I can’t believe that this is real even though I’m already looking at it.”

This wasn’t just sent to him; it reached all of them.

“Preach it, brother!” Urek guffawed. “I could do so much more with this. Oh, I have so many ideas!”

“Finally, my children no longer have to be lonely. Either I or a clone can look after them.” Berk was practically giddy with excitement.

“I am finally freed from paperwork.” Patricia’s sigh of relief came next.

’Oh, Cedric. You have no idea what you just unleashed by giving this to us.’ Nick shook his head in amusement as he listened to the excitement of his friends.

“The Rising Sun Sector Domain is permanently exempted from paying tribute, as long as Cedric Stormrider, or any of his descendants, remains as its Sector Lord,” Nick declared.

“How’s that for a reward?” he asked his friends.

Nick’s declaration was unanimously supported by his fellow councillors. In fact, Urek and Gibson feel that it wasn’t enough, and they’re not really wrong.

A Divine Art with so much untapped potential and usage…contributing something like this to them? To say that it’s a lifesaver would be an understatement.

Exempting the Rising Sun Sector Domain from tribute so long as Cedric or his descendants remain at its helm was the least thing they could do to show their appreciation.

They’d give more, but Cedric wasn’t really lacking anything. He’s a Scarlet VIP of the Golden Bangle Bank. His coffers was only slightly smaller than theirs.

And since Cedric was a smart spender and a capable sector lord, there’s no way he’d blow all of his wealth on the development of his territory. In fact, all of his investments in his territory will eventually pay dividends, so he’d never run out of money.

Knowing this, there’s really nothing that the councillors could offer to him, materialistically, that is.

So, they agreed that should Cedric need help in other forms, the Human Council will hear him and help out in any way they can. They will be his largest and strongest backing, so long as he doesn’t betray humanity.

“One clone stays here to deal with the usual responsibilities.” Gibson’s voice returned Nick to reality.

“Another one goes out to key areas where the defenses against the Horde were placed. They have to be updated soon so that she can’t slip in again. Or maybe, instead of a clone, I’ll do it personally.”

“And another for exploring the areas outside of the Dimensional Gap. Maybe under a disguise; I don’t want the Bug Empress chasing it down everywhere—that’ll ruin the experience.”

Gibson may or may not be aware that his musings were being broadcasted to his friends.

“Wait, shouldn’t our priority be elevating our concept laws to the Origin Law level?” Berk asked.

“Oh, yeah! That too! But I’m not really in a hurry; I’m still sore from the failed breakthrough, after all. Pat and Nick, though, you two need to focus on that instead.”

“Way ahead of you,” Patricia stated. “I’m already creating a new seclusion room, one that should be able to endure the weight of Origin Laws, just in case.”

“Ooh, let me help you with that!” Gibson practically jumped at the chance, and Patricia wasn’t one to decline his assistance.

“Man, Origin Laws, huh. This is going to take so much time, I know it,” Nick complained.

“True. Especially since we’ve neglected it for so long.” Patricia sighed too. “But hey, it’s a direction at least. Besides, it’s what we have to do anyway.”

“Yeah. Alright, Gibby, help me build a room too. Meanwhile, I’ll make three more clones, at least, just in case.”

“Sure, sure!”