854 Words
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Quin proudly looked at his comrades. They followed him through untold hardships and joys. They cultivated together, fought together, had fun together and later they ascended to godhood together. He would give his life for any of them and they would give theirs for him.
This belief would never really be put to the test, since survival didn't seem possible anyway. They had offended the guild master of the largest trading guild for divine weapons when they beat up his son, because the little shit had tried to force himself on Petra, the elven healer of their group. One would think that since he had trained to immortality he would have at least that much restraint, but that was apparently not the case. Spoiled little brat.
Surrounding his little group of 20 were the 100 elite mercenaries hired by said guild master. Another inconceivable thing. Why would immortals let themselves be hired for a few weapons and put their lives on the line to fight against other immortals they had no grudges against? He had no idea.
"We should take the pills." Was his only comment. Every one of them put their hands to their mouths and swallowed an inconspicuous little pill. These pills were the reason he and his comrades and friends could stand here so relaxed. They found an ancient pill formula in the depths of an ancestors tomb in some backwater region.
The resources they put in these 20 pills would make anyones heart bleed with sorrow over all the rare ingredients, but the effect was well worth it.
They spent years to look through all the races that they could find to discover the one race that would bring the absolute best profits for rebirth with full consciousness. And then one day they found it by sheer coincidence. They were short on a few materials to complete the last pills and decided to obtain them in a little dungeon that popped up near the little enclave they build themselves.
As expected they breezed through the dungeon and decided to take out the core in the end since that was a premium resource and they had decided to leave the region in the next few weeks anyway. But just as he was about to grab the core he heard a little girl crying and begging someone not to kill her. Immediately everyone swept out with their divine senses but they could neither find the girl nor her supposed attacker.
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Then the translucent image of a crying little girl emerged from the dungeon core they were about to take. Everyone was stunned as they had completely forgotten that dungeons were sentient beings since most dungeons get a twisted personality over time as the loneliness erodes their mind and most also had the temper of a spoiled, murderous little child when they were young. They then proceeded to pepper her with questions and learned that the dungeon was born on the divine plane and because of the especially calm natural mana she had developed the personality of a timid little girl. That was the eye opener they needed.
After donating half their divine power each as payment for the invaluable information the dungeon had unknowingly delivered they returned to their enclave and collectively decided that this was the most promising candidate for rebirth. Afterwards they proceeded to gather information on dungeons and the optimal paths to take when advancing towards ascension.
"Attack!" The roar of the enemy leader ripped him from his thoughts.
"Let's meet here again.", was the only thing that came over Quins lips. He didn't need to say anything else since they wouldn't part for good. Not this time anyways. They would meet again, that much he was sure of. And then they charged into their enemies. Each in a different direction, trying to take as many enemies down with them. Slowly they felt that their souls tried to leave their bodies as the pill began to take effect. When they reached their breaking point they just let go.
Twenty mushroom clouds consisting of debris and body parts sped through the air. What their enemies didn't expect was that they had turned all their magitech and precious resources they had left into divine power that they stored in their bodies. With this much energy they had at most 24 hours before their bodies would have exploded anyway or they would have had to release it and loose it all. Thankfully their pursuers didn't know this.
With this act they became legends in their little backwater part of the divine plane as nobody there had ever heard of anyone being strong enough to take 5 gods with them in death, not to speak of a whole group of 20 with each achieving that miracle.