“Impossible!” From a distance away, Sayen softly exclaimed in disbelief as she gazed at the distant Belrug hovering in the skies.
“Time’s up. I see we failed to bring Razznik here by midnight.” Next to her, Cathek clapped his hands as he chuckled in frustration. “Refresh my memory please, Sayen-san, how long has it been since someone altered a future you proclaimed?”
Sayen chewed her lips, brows furrowed in apparent frustration. “Not since a thousand years, I believe. Not since Razznik twisted fate.”
“Mm.” Cathek rubbed his chin as he muttered thoughtfully, “I would have been inclined to believe that this is due to the unpredictability of the Summoned, but you have given a few prophecies since their appearance, and none of them have gone wrong.”
Cathek had a point. Sayen’s prophecies were not based on some magical phenomenon, but rather a manifestation of billions of calculations rendered by the Live No Evil’s system. These calculations took into account, player behaviors, developer and system interventions amongst many other variables.
Sayen’s prophecies came as a result of conclusions with a higher than 95% probability occurrence chance. Normally, Sayen’s prophecies occurred within a few weeks, so there might have been an argument that a six-month long prophecy had many more chances for failure. However, the system only deemed it fit to grant Sayen this prophecy because every calculation stated that this was the only logical conclusion, taking every variable into account.
“It’s Kashi’s decision that threw it off.” Bert, who had been dozing off, suddenly spoke, drawing everyone’s attention. “If I had to surmise a guess, no being in the universe could have predicted that he would hold off on summoning that griffin.”
“True.” Cathek mumbled in reluctant admiration. “He got captured soon after his interference in the mines. I did not think he would risk death just for the chance of keeping that trump card a secret.”
Rider shook his head. “No. From what I’ve seen of the daeben, you all are missing the point. It’s not that Kashi ‘risked his life’ to hide a trump card. It’s that Kashi decided to employ the griffin’s aid in battling Skyrm after Sayen’s prophecy. Once he made that decision, he erased any concept of the griffin’s aid from his mind. Nothing, and I do mean nothing would have made him summon the griffin before this moment – his death included.”
“That… is the determination of a mad man.” Cathek could not help but chuckle to himself. To think that all of their well-made plans would be undone by a mad man’s stubbornness.
“You’re all forgetting one other fact.” Fladnag suddenly chimed in. His eyes shone with a mischievous glint as he said, “I’m not certain if Kashi knows the rules of the Netherrealm or not, but what do you think would have happened if he Summoned the griffin earlier?”
“Ah! That is true!” Zeing’s eyes lit up. Finally, there was something even he knew the answer to. “’He’ would never permit a Netherrealm monster to constantly interfere in the realm of mortals. It would upend the balance of the worlds. If I recall, Netherrealm monster are only allowed a certain number of entries into our world dependent on their rank. Normal monsters can come in as many as ten times, and Divine monsters are only allowed entries once.”
Fladnag nodded. “The griffin, like Skyrm, was trapped in the sun like Skyrm for so long. A being like Skyrm degraded to this extent, can you imagine how much other monsters would have degraded while being in that ‘sun’?”
“I see what you mean.” Rider, the most experienced of the Seven quickly saw the big picture. “When the griffin first emerged, his rank would have dropped sharply - perhaps even reaching common or lower. If Kashi made a contract with him then, he would have been under the impression he could summon the griffin as many times as he wanted, or at least, quite a few times.”
“But the griffin regained most of its powers upon returning to the Netherrealm,” Cathek mused. “Indeed, if we were not wary of Skyrm regaining control of his body, we would also have sent Gunder to the Netherrealm to repair most of the degradation.”
“Yes! Exactly! Therein lay the trap!” Fladnag madly guffawed. “The cosmos calculated that Kashi would, under these false assumptions, summon the griffin at least once – if only to satisfy his curiosity. I know I would have. But then, Kashi would end up crying once he discovered that he summoned a Divine Monster that could never return.”
“But Kashi did not summon him – not even once.” Cathek’s gaze narrowed. The more he thought about it, the more it did not make any logical sense. The odds were stacked entirely against the draconian. No one could have been that lucky! “Unless… unless he knew about Netherrealm’s rules in advance. Unless he recognized the griffin’s true rank on first glance. But no Summoned should have this knowledge. Only one Summoned explored the Netherrealm enough to gain access to this.”
Cathek’s lip tilted upward as he glared at Rider. “Rider, Oh, Rider. Is there something you neglected to tell the rest of us?”
“I have neither informed Kashi nor his companions of any secrets pertaining to this world or the Old World. I detest your baseless accusation.”
“Haha, don’t be such a worrywart. I know you did not tell him anything. We both know it’s not that you didn’t , but that you can’t. ” Cathek’s smile deepened as he then added, “My concern is not that you said something, but that you hid something.”
“Not that it matters, really,” Cathek added before Rider could say anything. “Ultimately, we all have our secrets. You should see my closet. It’s a real bag of bones.” Cathek sighed at the stony faces that greeted his joke. Indeed, it was not easy to liven up a heartless crowd. “Well, I shall concede this loss. While it would have been nice to declare victory according to the prophecy, nothing changes if we declare victory a little later.”
Rider snorted in reply. “Do you really think things will go as you please?”
“Perhaps, perhaps not.” Cathek spread his arms and shrugged. One of the kafu’s most infuriating trait was that no one could surmise his true thoughts. “Either way, the outcome will surely be a sight to behold. Ah, but that’s enough about us.” Cathek’s lips spread in a wide smile as he glanced at the battlefield below. “I must say, looking at this, can any of you claim that Kashi is ignorant of the Old World?”
For the first time, the seven had no words to retort. The unbelievable event occurring before their eyes was not something a first-time invader could ever accomplish!
***
“Haha, I must I admit, I underestimated you, Kashi of the Maggots.” Queen Alia self-depreciatingly chuckled as she shook her head. To think the daeben still had something tucked away after all their careful planning. However, Alia would not falter just because of a minor setback. Her eyes regained their sharpness as she coldly spat, “Gunder. Finish the Gate at all costs. I will take care of these pests.”
“ROOAR!” In the skies above, Gunder let out a terrible roar as the injuries on its neck began rapidly healing. The Divine Dragon then turned to glare at Belrug with rage and hatred in his eyes. Tremendous amounts of mana rapidly gathered in its mouth, forming a giant plasma ball, which it then fired at the distant Belrug.
Belrug for its part, reacted quickly. He quickly flew upward, barely dodging the dangerous blast, and then retaliated with a claw swipe that sent three scythe ki-blades hurtling towards the Divine Dragon.
Gunder snorted and arrogantly bit down on the ki-images, snapping them to pieces. It then let out a loud roar as dozens of mandalas appeared around it. With a growl, dense beams blasted out of each mandala. Belrug, quickly attempted to dodge these too, but he soon found they were homing beams. Boom! The Griffin roared in pain when a few beams twisted mid-flight and struck his abdomen.
Belrug growled in pain, but his healing immediately kicked in ashe began dodging the remaining beams. The griffin was frustrated! He assumed Gunder could not utilize Skyrm’s magic fluently, which was why he dared fight a dragon with magic. However, judging by the rapidly chasing beams, Gunder at least retained eighty percent of Skyrm’s magical capabilities.
On the same level, dragons exceeded every other race in magic mana and control. Combating a dragon using pure magic was usually a recipe for disaster, let alone a former Divine Dragon.
Fortunately, Belrug recognized his folly right away. Recognizing that he would not win in a magical confrontation, the Griffin tucked his wings and made a beeline for Gunder! He chose to force a physical confrontation since magic was a no-go.
Gunder roared in anger when he saw Belrug approaching. This damned Griffin dared come into his presence!? Affronted by the utter disrespect, Gunder fired a massive twenty-meters wide fireball at the approaching Belrug.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Flames filled Belrug’s eyes for a second as the scorching heat scalded his furs from a distance. However, even faced with certain death, the Griffin did not lose his composure. Right before impact, Belrug suddenly shrunk, taking his humanoid form, before zipping flying along the curvature of the fireball, to circumvent the attack.
BOOM! A massive explosion rocked a hasty mana shield set up by Belrug as the fireball struck the chasing fireballs.
Unhindered, the Griffin exploded toward Gunder. Surging ki poured into his right fist as he shot down. “ Meteor Crash! ” A gigantic meteor ki-image formed around the griffin as he smashed into Gunder’s back!
“GRAA!” Gunder let out a pained roar as he contorted in two. If it weren’t for his powerful dragon bones, that strike would have shattered his spinal cord! Enraged, Gunder let out a Debilitating Roar . This omni-directional attack normally stunned weaker-willed opponents, but Gunder forgot one fact.
He was not Skyrm. Gunder’s willpower could not phase a Divine Creature like Belrug. Belrug, without wasting time, launched several punches on Gunder’s massive frame, while dodging the dragon’s retaliatory attacks. When two monsters with similar speeds and strengths like Gunder and Belrug met in battle, the smaller figure often found more joy because it had a larger target to aim for.
Gunder was not stupid. He quickly accepted his limitation, and transformed to his humanoid form. “Grr…” It was unknown whether Gunder’s mind was too deteriorated to format hume words, but he still did not speak despite entering his humanoid form. Instead, he diverted a stream of mana to repair the Gate, and then charged at Belrug, accompanied by fireballs and several magic beams.
Belrug, for his part, did not balk at the dragon’s charge. He was not delusional enough to believe he could completely overpower the greatest Divine Creature to every exist, regardless of Skyrm’s deterioration. It was enough to slow down the Gate’s repair for the few minutes he had in this world. He believed that Kashi had something else up his sleeve.
With a snarl, Belrug abandoned all thoughts and committed his attention to harassing Gunder as much as possible in a terrible battle for the ages.
“What the hell’s with Hektor? Was that kid always this strong?”
While the Divine Creatures battled above, Syèl’s eyes twinkled as he watched Hektor rampage through Alia’s Primates and warriors.
Blood blossomed wherever the young dragoon stepped, his ferocious axe tearing formidable opponents left and right. One such battle nearly caused Syèl’s eyes to pop out.
A Primate stabbed his spear towards Hektor’s head from behind. The young man, like he had eyes at his back, tilted his head ever so slightly, allowing the blade to wheeze past. Another primate happened to be shooting a fireball at him from the front, so he flung his axe with his right, and then grabbed the spear’s blade with his left before the Primate could pull it back.
Spsh! The ki-infused axe shattered the fireball on impact, but the mage beyond slapped it out of the way as he charged toward the young man with burning fists. Hektor, unfazed by the charging foe, flexed his left arm and lifted the spear along with the spearman above, and over his shoulder.
BAM! Hektor slammed the stunned spearman against the floor. He seized the spear which the man inadvertently released, and then took a few steps back. At first, his posture was all wrong, but Sram’s mark lit up, as it established a connection with the weapon. In the blink of an eye, Hektor repositioned his grip on the spear, and shifted his feet.
The charging mage sensed something wrong, but it was too late. Before he could react, Hektor’s spear shot out like a raging inferno, determined to raze everything to the ground.
The mage roared and flames coated his arms as he punched at the rapid spear thrusts. “Damn Brat!” The mage found cursed as he found himself getting sucked into the youth’s rhythm. In a desperate bid to regain control, he stomped his feet against the ground, sending columns of flames to shoot out of the earth around him.
BOOM! Common sense dictated that the devastating blast should have heavily injured, if not killed Hektor, but…
Ksh~
The battlemage stared incredulous as Hektor emerged from the geyser of flames with nary a scratch on him. The young man’s eyes burned hot with bloodthirst, but he somehow restrained his impulses within his trembling muscles.
“My turn!” Hektor roared as he shot off toward the battlemage. He pulled, his spear back, charged it with violent ki, and then burst forward with incredible speed!
The battlemage barely had time to raise a firewall to protect himself, but Hektor burst through without incident. “I don’t believe you’re invincible!” The battlemage roared as he took out a scroll and tore it in half.
A gigantic icicle blasted out from a rapidly formed mandala and shot toward the vulnerable Hektor.
The battlemage burst out in laughter. He did not think the icicle would slaughter Hektor, but the young man would definitely get slowed down even if he did not dodge. That would give him time to prepare his trump card. The battlemage had just begun channeling mana into his hands when his eyes popped in disbelief.
Psh! Instead of the expected impact, the icicle melted as soon as it reached Hektor, turning into water vapor that he charged through impeded.
“How!? No—Wait!” The battlemage belatedly realized he had no time to question how a warrior melted ice. He rapidly tried to set up his defences, but Hektor was not going to waste this opportunity.
“Vorpal Strike!” Purple mana burst out of Hektor, shrouding his figure from view.
The battlemage tried to guess where the attack would come from, but three spears suddenly burst out of the glow, stabbing at his head, heart and groin. “Damn it! An illusion!?” The battlemage cursed! At this juncture, he had no time to wonder how a warrior was utilizing magic-skills without chanting. Unable to determine which spear was real, he leaped into the air and to the side, barely dodging the spear meant for his groin. If it was real, it would at most strike his thigh. He then reached for the spear aimed at his head and chest. His jump did not clear him of their strikezones, so he had no choice but to push them away with his hands.
Whoosh~ “H-how!?” The battlemage stared in shock as all three spears harmlessly passed through his hands and body.
Puchi! Unfortunately, he would never get the answer to that question as a spear pierced his brain from behind, causing it to explode from the rampaging ki within.
Hektor, who had appeared behind the battlemage, quickly released the spear and then spun around as a massive broadsword appeared in his hand.
BANG! The young man clashed against a Nordic woman who wielded a gigantic axe. The woman’s eyes burned with hatred as she poured ki into her axe to pressure the young man. “I’ll Kill YOU!” It seemed like the battlemage was someone important to her.
Hektor, however, snorted as he met the Nordic warrior’s hatred with apathy. Unlike Kashi, Hektor did not particularly enjoy fighting – at least not like the draconian. He wanted to be the God of War so that no one he cared about would ever get hurt again. He had already resolved himself to the fact that he would kill many people along this path. Some of them would have lovers, children, family or friends who might seek vengeance.
Hektor did not begrudge them their grief, nor their desire for revenge. But, he would not let that affect his path. He would cut down whomever came for him, as only then could he face even stronger foes on the path to his dream.
“I will be the God of War.”
“What!?” The enraged woman could not bear to hear Hektor’s nonsense as she poured even more ki into her axe.
“I will be the God of War.” Hektor’s eyes grew sharp as he felt something shift within his heart. As his conviction grew, he felt like he was before a massive door that was slowly creaking open. “I am certain you have a story of your own, but this is my legend.” Wild ki suddenly burst out of Hektor, and the broadsword hummed as if in response to his surging will. “Heh, you think so too, ChaosBringer? Come then, let us paint our legend in blood!”
BOOM! Hektor’s ki suddenly exploded and ChaosBringer responded. It effortlessly sliced through the woman’s axe, before splitting her in two from head to toe.
Several eyes suddenly turned to look at Hektor, whose ki was fluctuating madly.
“STOP THAT MAN!” Many Primates noticed Hektor, who had suddenly frozen in place. Anyone in the know recognized what was going on. The young man had touched the doors of the Transcendent stage. They could not allow him to complete his comprehension or he might annihilate them all!
While the Primates went crazy with fear, Kashi laughed elsewhere as he dodged a punch from Alia. “I take it you did not like my surprise?”
Alia swung in place and then leaped over Sonic who zipped past with his dagger. She then shot upward in an unnatural angle, just as several vines swept past her past position. “No, I cannot say I am very much pleased.” Alia, who stood upside down on a stone suspended in the air, sent a sultry glare at Kashi, Sonic and Brilith. “But, I suppose it would be rude of me not to reciprocate.”
“No, I think that’s fine.” Sonic rebuffed with a lazy smirk. “I quite like our current dynamic.”
“Ah you foreign men are so assertive,” Alia licked her lips, but her eyes grew colder despite her sultry tone. “We daeben like our men submissive.” With those words, Alia tapped her feet against the boulder.
“Shit.” Kashi frowned as several waves of mana suddenly washed over him in rapid succession. He soon felt the air grow heavy like something sinister had taken root. “She just released her domain, be careful.”
Alia smiled as she dropped to all fours in a weirdly familiar pose. “Welcome to my Nest.”