Ragnarok replied with disdain. "I might be a little crazy but I am sure that I am in full possession of sound mental faculties. It is your state of mind that needs scrutiny here."
Marlinto stated as a matter of fact. "Vampires don't fight in the day."
"You're stating the obvious. I know that Vampires don't fight in the day. They go to sleep. Except for Primogenitors. You are not telling me anything that I don't already know."
"If you know, then why are you asking stupid questions?"
Ragnarok ignored the question. He looked at Marlinto with anticipation and said eagerly, "I have never seen how weak Primogenitors get in the day. I am looking forward to it."
Marlinto asked incredulously, "What about you? The sun will cripple anything with the heart of Carnage. This domain of yours will break when the sun comes up. Are you suicidal? We should hide ourselves away or the wood elves will take advantage of our weakened state."
"You are misunderstanding something."
"Why don't you enlighten me?" Marlinto asked.
Ragnarok shook his head. "I'd rather not say for now. Experience is the best teacher. It is better that you experience it yourself. You will remember it better."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Marlinto doesn't understand what Ragnarok is saying. But Ragnarok refused to clarify things. The sun came up soon after. The supply of blood power was cut off from the Vampires. Every vampire fell asleep except the Primogenitors.
Everything happened just as it should. Marlinto became weakened when his supply of blood power was cut off. He is still stronger than Ragnarok though since he has a lot of blood power within himself. The only weird thing is that nothing seems to have changed about Ragnarok. His domain remained. So the fight continued.
----
The primogenitors became silent and solemn. The way the fight is progressing is out of their expectations. Apparently, Ragnarok is a monarch who doesn't rely on the demon god for his existence. Or more accurately, he looks like a monarch but he isn't a monarch at all.
They thought he got most of his power from the heart of Carnage and that he had only disconnected it from the demon god. Apparently, they thought wrong. That halo on his head is just for show and he doesn't have their weakness to the sun. What's worse is that they have just got word of a massive movement of the wood elves. The wood elves are attacking.
"What can we do?" Someone asked.
Drastoic answered. "There is nothing we can do. He is within a domain so we can't interfere. It is also in the day so we can't act even if we want to."
That silenced all of them. There's nothing they can do but watch as everything unfolds. Even the demon god was moved. It finally joined their conversation. The red world of the mind space quacked as it spoke.
"So that's how it is. He didn't keep the heart of Carnage. He must have converted it somehow. That would have required something powerful to do. It would have required power at the level of an Origin god to steal my heart of Carnage. Considering that he managed to push me out of his existence then it might as well be a power on the level of a supreme."
The demon god had its suspicions about Ragnarok. All it had were suspicions after all, it had never encountered this sort of situation before. No one has been able to steal its power. But things are becoming clearer now. Ragnarok not only has the power of a domain, but he must also have soul force and a supreme law.
Unfortunately for the demon god, it realized this too late. It made it laugh. Its laughter caused the mentalscape to quake.
"I have been fooled. I stayed with him for years and I didn't realize that he was hiding so much from me. I knew he must have had a great secret because of his powerful soul but I didn't know it was so great."
It laughed some more. It is not the laughter of amusement. It is the laughter one would use to mock themselves.
"He fooled me. All that time, I thought I had him cornered and desperate. He must have been mocking me for my foolishness. He listened to me drone on and on as if he was helpless and then he stole from me."
The Primogenitors put in extra effort to be quiet. They didn't say anything or show any emotion as the world quaked around them. They still kept quiet even when the laughter died down.
"Secula was right. Ragnarok will win. Marlinto was also right. Ragnarok should be made an ally instead of an enemy."
The attention of the demon god caused them a surprise. But that did nothing to raise their spirits. The confirmation that Marlinto will lose has dampened their mood. It seems that Secula has noticed that Ragnarok doesn't possess a heart of Carnage and wouldn't be afflicted by the sun.
"Will Marlinto be able to resurrect?" Drastoic asked the demon god.
The demon god didn't answer. Instead, it asked a question. "What do you think about that, Secula?"
The ever-silent secular replied because he has to. "No."
Even so, he only said one word. It made the demon god laugh.
Then it said to Drastoic. "There you go. You have your answer."
Drastoic face became rigid. "I see. I think I understand why he is to be our Champion."
"Yes. You will see it happen and you will know why." Then it said to every one of them. "Look before you. Remember this moment. History is being created right in front of us. Have you been blind to it? Ragnarok is the first creature of his kind. There is much that is unknown about him. But what we do know is enough to tell that Marlinto is doomed. Ragnarok used the heart of Carnage to upgrade his existence. He did that without my permission. He certainly doesn't need my permission to kill Marlinto."