A few minutes later, everyone was seated on chairs in the entrance area which they could call the living room as well. Lakshman sat with Lagron sitting in one side while Dominic sat the other and had Nara sitting next to him. Meanwhile, Amaranda sat opposite to them with Sevedant, who opted to remain standing, and Ash who had her eyes closed.
“Okay. Let's do the proper introductions,” said Lakshman with a smile as he looked around. He started with Lagron and introduced them in this order.
* Dragon Titan: Lagron Rodraigun
* Magic Titan: Amaranda Lefrity
* Demon Titan: Ash
* Death Titan: Sevedant
* War Titan: Nara Simhara
* Sword Titan: Dominic Rutherford
“As for me, everyone should already know by now that I'm Lakshman Chand and am the Phoenix Titan,” said Lakshman with a smile on his face as he looked around at them. “I hope we work together for the future.”
They murmured softly while not making eye contact with each other as Lagron snorted and said, “Honestly, I doubt we'll work together for long if we're so damn silent!”
“With someone like you around it's hard to speak up,” said Nara in annoyance, who seemed to have taken it personally when Lagron practically ignored Dominic's good will.
Lagron understood that he was taking shots at him whenever the opportunity presented itself and he sighed before saying, “On second thought, I actually prefer the silence rather than deal with remarks, like that one, coming from an idiot.”
“Says the guy with a lazy short temper and loud mouth because he has a stupidly filled head,” retorted Nara in a firm voice.
Lakshman knew their argument would last forever and opened his mouth before Lagron did and said, “Will you two stop firing off at each other, otherwise, I'll kick you out and make you freeze where you stand until tomorrow morning!”
It was a threat that he was ready to carry out if they were to test his temper, which was the exact message he sent by stating at them with a serious face. Lagron, who had already been at the mercy of the Movement Zone and knowing that he could not repel it, closed his mouth and stared at him with a disgruntled look on his face. Nara, on the other hand, was a bit sceptical as he eyed the Phoenix Titan with a disbelieving look on his face.
He turned to Dominic and asked, “Can he really do that?”
Dominic, who had never seen his best friend use the spell before, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Why not? He's the Phoenix Titan after all; the strongest warrior in here.”
Lagron, upon hearing his words, raised an eyebrow in indignation and said, “Excuse you, but I'm the strongest warrior in here because I beat the Phoenix Titan. Well, technically, but I'm not satisfied with it!”
Dominic was not believing his words and he turned towards Lakshman before he asked, “Hey, uh, he's joking, right? Right?”
There was a moment of pause before Lakshman smiled at him and said, “In a sense, yes.”
Dominic was shocked and said, “No way...! I don't believe this!”
“Believe it, but don’t accept it cause’ I’m not!” Lagron said angrily and Dominic stared at him in confusion as the Dragon Titan turned to glare fiercely at his rival. “I didn’t actually beat him, he fainted because he overexerted himself and that’s completely different to how I pictured my victory! So, when I get the chance, I’ll re-battle this idiot and obtain what’s truly mine!”
“Um… Victory?” Dominic asked in a puzzled voice as he did not quite get it.
“Yes and the fact that I did it by beating the smack out of him!” Lagron said firmly with a determined look on his face.
Dominic raised an eyebrow in amazement and turned towards his friend before muttering quietly, “Does he hate you or something?”
Lakshman chuckled lightly and replied in a mutter, “You could say that.”
Dominic straightened up in his chair and sighed before turning his attention towards the other two facing him. He sensed a strange power coming from Sevedant that felt like death and it made him smile a little in recognising that he was indeed the Death Titan that he claimed to be.
“Hi. I’m Dominic,” said Dominic with his hand held out.
“Yes. I’m Sevedant,” replied Sevedant in a flat voice while nodded his head at Dominic.
The Sword Titan was a little taken aback by the simple nod of the head and retracted his hand while feeling a little embarrassed. Nara was clearly offended that his friend’s hand was not shaken and he took it upon himself to figuring out why the reason.
“Hey! My friend held his hand out in goodwill and you ignore it? Is that how you show your mannerism, even if you’re the Death Titan?!” Nara exclaimed sharply.
As Dominic looked at him in surprise, Sevedant held his masked head down a little and replied, “I’m sorry. Cannot shake hands. Not with this.”
While saying that, he raised his skeleton hand out from under his cloak and startled both Dominic and Nara. They could not believe that the Death Titan was an Undead and watched him in silence as he hid his skeleton hand under his cloak.
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t think you had that problem,” replied Nara with an apologetic look on his face.
The red light from Sevedant’s eyes glittered for a moment before he said, “No problem.”
He sighed as Dominic smiled a little before turning towards the Demon Titan, whom he remembered her name to be Ash, and found that she was staring fixedly at the ground to avoid making eye contact with anyone.
“Um… Why do you have your head down, Ash? There’s no need to feel nervous around us,” said Dominic in a reassuring voice with a smile on his face.
She shook her head and still kept her head down before Lakshman said wryly, “Actually, the reason she doesn’t make eye contact with us is because she has the ability to turn any man into stone just by looking them in the eye.”
His words caused Dominic and Nara to widen their eyes in surprise and they Dominic exclaimed, “What?!”
Nara turned to look at her in amazement before saying, “Oh… She’s from the Serpentia Demon Clan. That makes sense why she isn’t looking at us.”
“Yes and that’s why I told her to spare her ability on your two for not being aware of it by avoiding making eye contact with anyone,” said Lakshman while looking sadly over at her. “That is, until I meet up with Wolfenstine and get him to make some sort of eye contacts or mask to suppress that ability of hers until she truly needs it.”
“Mmm. That is a good idea,” said Dominic in agreement.
Lagron, on the other hand, was unfamiliar with the name and asked, “Who’s Wolfenstine?”
“He’s a Hybrd of part Vampire and Werewolf and lives in the kingdom by providing supplies with equipment, magic enhancement and making inventions,” explained Lakshman and he pointed up at the Crystal Clock hanging on the wall in front of them. “He’s the one that made that clock to tell us the time instead of the traditional methods.”
His rival looked up at the clock and upon noticing it, he realised he had noticed it several times before, but never gave it much thought. Now, with the explanation his rival had given him, he finally understood its purpose and realised that it was telling them the current time of the day.
He was impressed and said, “That’s some impressive invention this man made, but I thought you’d be making your own inventions like me, who made the Dragon Control Ring.”
Lakshman smiled and replied, “I had ideas and I shared them with Wolfenstine because he is more of an expert in inventing them than me. As for whether I can do it or not, I think I can invent these stuff on my own fairly well, but am busy doing other things to focus on them completely.”
“What stuff?” Lagron asked suspiciously.
“Oh…?” Lakshman said and he made a serious face as he turned to his rival and said firmly, “I keep ending up in battles and am currently focused on gathering the Nine Pillars of Power for the war we’re going to face in the future! Tell me how exactly I’d have time for anything else? I even left the paperwork, back at my office, to my wives because I’m preoccupied with this.”
Lagron was momentarily surprised before he became annoyed and retorted, “Why are you getting mad at me for?”
Lakshman sighed deeply and turned back to face the front as Dominic quickly said to change the subject, “Anyway, seven of us have gathered and that laves just two more warriors to join our ranks.”
“Sun Titan and Storm Titan,” said Nara quietly with his arms crossed in front of him. “They both live in the Spirit World, or Spirit Realm if that sounded familiar to you people.”
“Spirit Realm. Ruled by Spirit Emperor,” said Sevedant in short words while Dominic eyed him curiously.
“Spirit Emperor, huh? Well, I think he’ll put me through some trails to measure me up to his expectations,” said Lakshman with a small smile appearing on his face. “I hope it doesn’t come to a fight.”
“Huh? Is that a joke or something cause’ I’m not laughing,” said Lagron with a stern look on his face.
“You never had a sense of humour,” replied Lakshman with a light grin on his face.
Lagron became irritated and responded by saying, “That’s beside the point!” He leaned forward and said in annoyance, “You sounded just like any warrior who was near their retirement and nothing like the mighty warrior that were supposed to be!”
Lakshman gave him a glance before saying, “I might’ve sounded like that, but you’d understand how I feel considering how tired I am after fighting you. Also, you’d realise it yourself with how easily you got overcome by the sleep spell Amaranda used on you due to your own tiredness.”
“Weakness are something to be fought and overcome, not ones to be set aside and accepted,” replied the Dragon Titan with a firm look on his face.
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His rival smiled and replied, “I know that, so don’t worry. When the time comes, I’ll step up to my name.”
Lagron pulled his head back and stared at him with indifference before Nara asked, “Okay. What’s the next plan of action? Like, what’re we supposed to down now that the seven, out of the nine, are here?”
There was a moment of pause in which Lakshman was thinking about what to do when, all of a sudden, a voice was heard from the entrance asking, “Perhaps I can help?”
They all turned towards the entrance and Lakshman widened his eyes in amazement by the person he saw standing there. It was a man who had visited his house many years ago and brought him much information regarding his past as well as explaining a few things about his future.
“Hey, Lakshman!” Engraut, the God of Energy, said with a hand raised in the air as a greeting.
He quickly rose to his feet and exclaimed, “Engraut?”
“Yup! That’s me!” Engraut replied with a nod of his head while grinning broadly in happiness as he saw his reaction. He looked around at the seven of them seated in a group and asked, “Am I interrupting some kind of meeting?”
Lagron was surprised to see his rival’s reaction upon seeing the man and the name he called that name rang a bell in his memory. He remembered it to be the name of the God of Energy that he was told by his rival and wives yesterday.
So, feeling a little puzzled, he looked up at his rival and asked, “Engraut? I thought it was the name of the God of Energy.”
“It is and that’s him,” said Lakshman and he gestured towards Engraut at the entrance.
Lagron instantly widened his eyes in shock and jumped to his feet to stare at the man with a disbelieving look on his face. At the same time, comprehension dawned on everyone’s eyes and they also rose to their feet to stare in his direction with looks of surprise. All of them were startled to think of him as a god, but his strange eyes were nothing like the eyes they had ever seen or known their entire lives.
“He’s the God of Energy?” Nara asked quietly with a shocked look on his face.
“A god?!” Dominic exclaimed with an equally shocked look on his face.
“Mmm… I sense a small fraction of presence from him as if he isn’t even here,” said Amaranda telepathically in a serious voice.
Sevedant looked Engraut up and down before nodding in understand as he slowly said, “Interesting. First time. God presence. Never felt before. Fascinating.”
Engraut stared around at them with an amused look on his face before he asked, “Okay? So are you people done with checking me out and welcome me in?”
They nodded and just as Lakshman was about to walk forward, Lagron raised an objection.
“Hold up!” he said and they all turned to look at him as he eyed Engraut suspiciously and asked, “I don’t mean to be rude, but no god that I imagine would look so much like us. Mind showing us a kind of proof to clarify, for certain, that you really are a god?”
The others were shocked and Lakshman eyed his rival incredulously as Engraut smiled and said, “Oh. You need proof? Then, I guess this should do it.”
In an instant, they suddenly felt an immense pressure coming from him and it suddenly felt unease as if the ground was shaking violently. They turned to look at him and widened their eyes in shock to see him surrounded by black light with red eyes glaring fiercely at them, causing Amaranda and Ash to fall to the ground in utter shock.
Lakshman, Lagron, Dominic, Nara and Sevedant remained standing while staring towards him while forcing themselves to stand against such an abnormal pressure. Very soon, Dominic, Nara and even Lagron knelt down while having difficulty standing upright. It seemed that Lakshman and Sevedant were the remaining ones standing with the Phoenix Titan smiling as he folded his arms with ease.
At that moment, feeling anger for making him kneel, Lagron pushed himself to his feet while thinking, “Finally…! A god is in front of me and I can finally prove my worth!” Standing firmly on his feet, he glared at the black shadow with red eyes and bellowed, “Hey god! If it’s a fight you want, then you’re going to get it!”
He surged with wild power and roared like a wild dragon before kicking off the ground and soaring straight towards the black shadow. Engraut, shocked at the sudden sight of the Dragon Titan flying at him for an attack, instantly widened his eyes and dropped the pressure, making everything return to normal.
As Lagron drew closed to him, he clapped both of his hands in front of him and bowed a little forward while shouting, “I—I give up!”
Lagron, who felt the pressure suddenly recede and heard the declaring words, stopped himself in mid-flight and landed on his feet with only a few meters from attacking Engraut. Seeing that the Dragon Titan had stopped, the God of Energy breathed a deep sigh in relieve.
“What…?” Lagron asked slowly as he straightened up to look confusedly at the man before him.
Engraut looked apologetically towards him and stated, “I’m sorry, but I’m the God of Energy that’s only capable of giving energy and taking away that same energy. I’m not evil and I certainly don’t know how to fight. So, please don’t hurt me.”
Lagron blinked at him in disbelief before straightening up and said with a truly ugly look on his face as he said, “Just when I thought I finally got the chance to fight a god, he turns out to be a weakling! Damn!”
As Engraut sighed in relief, Dominic spoke up angrily and said, “Hey! You felt his pressure and clearly knelt down just like the rest of us!”
“Still, I got back to my feet and rushed in to attack, unlike the rest of you weaklings!” Lagron said with his arms folded while showing his back to them.
Dominic raised an eyebrow in irritation and replied, “I guess I’m a being that capable of knowing those that deserve great respect unlike you, who doesn’t possess anything for anyone but himself!”
Lagron actually laughed at his words and replied, “That’s simply because I’m awesome.”
“And an idiot with doesn’t admit the utter humiliation he faced by kneeling,” said Nara as he rose to his feet while glaring fiercely at the Dragon Titan.
Shocked to hear such words, Lagron immediately turned towards the War Titan and bellowed, “You want a fight?! Hah?! Is that it?!”
“I’d welcome the challenge of breaking your arrogance!” Nara replied and he began to surge with power and caused the inside of the house to shake violently while causing the wind to blow wildly around.
Lagron did the same and their combined releases of wind caused everything to become untidy in the house. Everyone watched got buffeted by the wild blowing wind as it threatened to tear the place apart. As the two squared off, they were surprised when their energies suddenly diminished and calmed the wind down.
“I’m the God of Energy and I’m capable of disabling the use of your energy releases to power up!” Engraut said in a firm voice with a serious expression on his face.
Lagron and Nara stared at him before saying, “So what?”
Engraut was taken aback as the two warriors turned back to face each other angrily before rushing forward to deliver fist blows at each other. Just as they reached each other and the fists were just about to make contact with each other, they heard the Phoenix Titan shout a technique name at them both.
“Movement Zone: Stop!”
Lakshman shouted the technique name while aiming his hand at them before activating it, immediately making both warriors freeze in mid-movement with their fists just centimeters from each other. He relaxed his hand and rested it at his side while glaring angrily at them both while Dominic stared in shock.
“I told you I’d freeze you guys and make you stay like this for an entire day if you made me angry! Now you’ve done it and so spend the rest of the day like this without food or drink!” Lakshman said furiously in a harsh mannerism that left a deep impact on everyone watching.
“Nara…” said Dominic slowly with a sigh while looking at his frozen friend. “I told you to be careful.”
Nara merely moved his eyes towards him helplessly as Dominic turned to Lakshman and asked, “Lakshman, I’m apologising on his behalf for his behaviour, so could you please release him?”
Lakshman shook his head and replied, “Sorry, Dom, but no. His behaviour, ever since meeting Lagron, has been atrocious and while I do understand how he felt about you being ignored, I don’t like the fact that he almost started a fight within my house! That’s an offense that I just can’t put down.”
“Mmm,” said Dominic slowly in understanding and made a sad face as he turned back to look at his frozen friend.
“Interesting,” said Amaranda telepathically in a curious voice while facing the frozen warriors before asking, “I don’t remember you using that technique before. When did you learn it?”
“I first used it on a demon when we were on our way to the Teleportation Zone on the Spirit Turtle,” replied Lakshman and Amaranda nodded her head in understanding.
Sevedant stared at the frozen warriors in the middle of the room and said, “Interesting. Facing technique. Very powerful. My guess.”
Ash, on the other hand, was utterly shocked upon glimpsing the two warriors being frozen before shutting her eyes closed once more. It dawned on her that he had the power to use that spell on him and did not, which stirred fear and confusion within her.
“Why didn’t you use it on me yesterday when I fought against you?” she asked him curiously.
“I probably could’ve after you turned Lagron into stone,” said Lakshman and he momentarily stared at her with a menacing expression on his face before he smiled and said, “but I didn’t because I just wanted to see what you could do and I had faith in Sevedant that his student would not be so bad.”
Ash opened her eyes momentarily and blinked at him in surprise before he pointed his hands to his eyes. Quickly realising her mistake, she immediately closed her eyes and made him sigh as he made a firm note in his mind to make a pair of glasses or a mask that would subdue the effects of her eyes.”
As the two warriors, stuck like solid statues, only managed to move their eyes to look around before Lagron, activating magic in his mind, spoke aloud telepathically, “Hey! Free me dammit!”
“Shut up!” Lakshman thundered in a powerful voice.
His rival was stunned by how the Phoenix Titan had quickly changed from a soft-hearted man to a merciless man, which was exactly what he was like in the ancient times. For the first time, in a while, he felt the same kind of fear he had felt so long ago gripping his chest of the sense that he might get destroyed.
Dominic, who had realised the God of Energy was just standing at the entrance, quickly went forward and greeted him by saying, “God of Energy! Please, come in! Take a seat!”
Engraut nodded approvingly and walked into the hall before taking a seat as he said, “Thank you. I see you’re a good friend of Lakshman.”
Dominic blinked in surprise and asked, “Why do you think so, sir?”
Engraut smiled and replied, “Only a true friend of the Phoenix Titan would be considerate like this.”
“Oh,” said Dominic and he grinned at the compliment he received while Lakshman smiled from the side.
Engraut turned towards Lakshman and said, “I’m amazed! You knew how to use the Movement Zone? That’s incredible! Makes me feel happy to see you reach the same level of power you once did back then.”
He clapped his hands towards Lakshman with genuine feelings behind them as he approved of freezing two troublesome people. Everyone else sat down and stared at him with looks of interest because he was an easy going of person than they imagined a god would be.
Lakshman smiled a little as he understood the ‘back then’ phrase and he replied, “Yes, but I need to reach higher. The present me isn’t strong enough to handle what’s to come.”
Engraut blinked in puzzlement at the Phoenix Titan’s words and he asked, “Handle what’s to come? What do you mean?”
The Phoenix Titan looked at the God of Energy for a moment in silence before sighing as he told the events with him and the Calamity Titan. Engraut silently listened intently with Lakshman’s explanation and when he finished speaking, the God of Energy remained silent for a moment while sitting in his chair.
“Mmm. The Calamity Titan made his move,” said Engraut quietly with a thoughtful expression on his face before he smiled and said, “To be honest, I didn’t expect this movement, but I can see where it’s headed towards.”
“Where it’s headed towards?” Lakshman asked while narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “Explain.”
Engraut nodded and smiled a little as asked, “Do you remember me of the eventuality of the Ancient Evil rising soon in the future?” When Lakshman nodded, Engraut smile widened and he said, “His actions are just another means that’ll lead to that eventuality.”
Lakshman was momentarily puzzled by his words as a certain doubt formed in his mind and he hesitantly asked, “You… don’t mean that he’s… trying to get the negative energy by starting this war?” Engraut simply smiled in confirmation and the Phoenix Titan looked shocked as he said, “That’s crazy! He wants to destroy all of us, so why would he bother to feed the negative energy to the Ancient Evil?”
“Oh, I think he’ll certainly destroy you all for opposing him but only after obtaining the amount of negative energy necessary to revive the Ancient Evil,” stated Engraut and Lakshman wore a dark expression on his face by this revelation.
He raised his hands and placed them on his forehead while muttering, “Why…? Why is he doing this…? I don’t understand… He’s my own brother and yet… he’s doing this… helping them… Why…?”
Engraut looked at him for a moment in silence before he said, “If I remember correctly, the Calamity Titan is the reincarnation of your brother, right?” As Lakshman nodded wordlessly in reply, Engraut nodded his head in understanding and muttered, “So, that’s what happened… It’s all starting to make sense now.”
“What makes sense?” Dominic asked while looking puzzled.
Engraut turned towards him and smiled darkly as he said, “Well, the Calamity Titan is actually not doing this wilfully, but he is doing this from motivation created by someone else.”
Dominic widened his eyes in surprise as Lakshman asked sharply, “He’s being controlled?!”
Engraut nodded silently in ascent and surprised both Dominic and Lakshman, including his wives, while the rest looked confused as they did not clearly understand the flow of their conversation.
“Who? Who’s the one that’s controlling him?!” Lakshman demanded sharply with a firm look on his face.
Engraut looked at him silently as if he was pondering about the answer before he lifted up a finger and said in a serious voice, “The one controlling your brother is… most likely… a god.”