Chapter 62: His Return

   The second army was rapidly approaching their destination, they easily passed the goblinoid territories without much resistance and then entered the Godless territory, most of which was shrouded in an incredibly strong low mana zone and in small pockets, it was a complete dead zone.

  Korin, who had left alone to find the first army, returned a day later with terrible news. "the first army has been completely destroyed." The four men sitting across from each other were shocked by the revelation. While they knew to be wary of the new god it was completely unexpected to hear that the first army was completely gone. Korin, seeing their shocked expressions, shook her head and reiterated, "a little more than three thousand men still live but their wills have been thoroughly crushed, its unlikely they'll be of any use in battle and in fact may be a detriment to the moral of the other soldiers. " she began to explain what Albot and Alcon had told her. The forced marches, their lack of resources, the constant harassment by the nearby monster tribes and then finally to the battle with the godless.

  Mephisto closed his eyes in contemplation, “I understand Korin. It seems we’ll have to go the long way around.” Mephisto had an extra weeks’ worth of rations, it was in case of an emergency but if he wanted to avoid a conflict with the godless he would have to go around them and attack the new god from a different angle. “it will be cutting it close, but I think if we move a bit quicker, we’ll make it with the rations we currently have.” Endrin calmly nodded, agreeing with Mephistos suggestion.

  "no, that may be difficult, the first army lost a lot of their resources when they fled, if we don't help them, they'll starve to death." If Mephisto gave some of their rations, they would lose no small amount and passing the godless territory would only hurt their chances of reaching the new god. Furthermore, he discovered that harpies were spying on them from high above the sky, the new god probably knew their position. Mephisto wasn't sure how big the new god's army was or if it was weak or strong but he couldn't believe it was weak, otherwise the godless would have already attacked. Then he remembered that Scitus was a god and had to follow the divine rules of war but that didn't apply to the godless. "that changes things." He said aloud.

  “go tell the first army we’ll wait for them here, after that we’re withdrawing.” The four generals looked absolutely stunned, they were retreating before a battle even began. “if may ask sir, why?” Deon said mildly confused.

  "The godless are strong, most of them are at minimum lesser war beast ranked warriors. And yet none of them have dared attack the new god. This could mean one or two things, the first is something caused them to be unable to fight the new god, or two, the casualties would be too high for them to reasonably decide to attack him." Korin seemed to understand where Mephisto was going with that. "we are not strong enough to face the new god, even if we kill everyone in his kingdom, it is unlikely that we'll able to take that god down. With the force we currently have, I think we could easily kill him but if we are unprepared like we are now, we are the ones that are going to be buried."

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  Mephisto had asked Mern to send scouts beforehand but Mern refused. Mephisto shook his head and muttered under his breath, "you use to be great, my king." The only one that heard him was Korin who looked downward in guilt and tried to remember those days when Mern was a gentle and loving god; now all that was left in him was anger and regret.

  The travel back to the kingdom was humiliating but they respected their leader's decision and they quickly fled the Oasis.

  When they returned some days later, they were not met with cheers nor smiles, it was simply an indifference as if it had nothing to do with them.

  Mephisto returned to the palace to make his report and to his surprise, it was Mern who greeted him. The god wore a purple robe and golden crown with embedded diamonds. He wore a strange smile, one that Mephisto had not seen for a long time. For a moment, Mephisto could see Mern's old self shine through those glimmering eyes and calculating smile.

“Bring Korin to me.” Mephisto bowed and left to retrieve Korin who was already in her small room in the barracks.

  "What do you want?" she said rudely as if not fearing his wrath. "Slyan is dead." He said with a smile, Korin took a step back, shocked. She hadn't expected Slyan to die. When they decided to return, they had assumed Slayn had other plans and so they left; after all, his army was all but disbanded. "that young god killed him." Korin looked downward as if searching for her courage and then with a stern gaze, she looked at Mern, "what does that have to do me."

  "I need his body, unfortunately, his soul is still quite attached." A revival was possible without a body, but only if the body was completely destroyed, only then could the soul be captured from a distance and even then it was a difficult task to accomplish: to capture a soul, someone had to enter the astral realm, a place where most souls would exist for some time before vanishing into nothing. The amount of mana required was immense but for a god with a nation the size of Mern's, it was a mild inconvenience.

  "is that all you want?" Korin said with a cold gaze. Mern smiled in return and said, "I'd like to make deal with you Korin, help me and by the end of it, I'll free you, isn't that what you've always wanted." Korin furrowed her brow in frustration and anger, "you know exactly what I want!!!" tears fell from her eyes as she shouted.

  Mern clenched his fists in sorrow, "I don't know if I can you give that Korin, not until…" Mern looked downward as if remembering something horrible, a tear leaked from his eye surprising Korin who hadn't seen such a thing in a long time.

  Mern raised his gaze to meet Korin, "I finally see a way Korin, This charade I've kept up for the last thousand years will end, will you help me."

  Korin looked at Mern, She didn't understand what he was planning but, for the first time in a very long time, she saw grains of intellect in Mern's eyes, as if who he once was had returned; but where once she saw selflessness, she only saw selfishness. Korin had once wanted to achieve his goals but every decade he would be more tyrannical, more terrible and more empty.

"I'll never help you again."

Mern smiled.

  "This plan is very different, Korin, it'll take less than a decade for this plan of mine to bloom, not three hundred or even sixty years, I believe in five years' time my plan will bloom into a beautiful destructive fire that will encompass the entire Feren continent.."

  It was at that moment that Korin realized that Mern The Wise had returned but not as he once was, it was twisted version of his formal self and for the first time in her life, Korin feared Mern.