The blue glowing butterflies soared through the portal connecting to the space in which the Nine Pillars of Power are training in. After exiting through the portal, the butterflies gathered together and formed into a single being called Engruat, the God of Energy.

“Wow…” Engruat said, speaking in a quiet voice while looking around in amazement.

He was standing on white marble floor that seemed to glow a little with the path stretching before him like some sort of bridge. In the distance, he could see an island like shape that the bridge was connected to. Everything else outside the bridge and island was covered in clouds with a blue background. To him, it felt like they were high up in the sky and going over to lean over the edge, he confirmed it as he could not see nor sense the existence of a ground.

“I see. We’re floating in the middle of nowhere surrounded by empty space,” he muttered before releasing what he said and amended by saying, “Well, surrounded by clouds and blue sky.” His statement caused him to chuckle and ask, “Seriously? Did the one who envisioned this world get mixed up with the details of what a space should look like?”

“I environed a floating fortress,” said a familiar moody voice from behind.

Engruat jumped in surprise and turned around to see the Death Titan, Sevedant, standing before him while wearing black cloak covering his body with a red smiling mark of a white mask where his face was. The God of Energy was momentarily taken aback as he could not understand how Sevedant snuck up on him when he should have sensed his approach.

“H-How did heck?” Engraut finally asked, looking at him in wonder. “How did you get here? I didn’t even sense you.”

Sevedant remained silent for a moment before replying, “I’m Death Titan. Not traceable. Not touchable. Undetectable.”

Those short words made Engraut smile in amusement and ask, “You’re strong. Very strong as to evade the tracing power of me, the God of Energy.” He narrowed his eyes shrewdly and asked, “Why don’t you challenge a god? Not me. Maybe the God of Freedom? You could defeat him and be rewarded with the same gifts as Lakshman. What say you?”

“Not interested,” replied Sevedant automatically, causing Engruat to look crestfallen. Before the God of Energy could ask ‘why,’ Sevedant responded by saying, “I live in present. My focus. Future. I will improve. Alone. I will live. Myself.”

Engraut smirked and said, “That’s the very definition of ‘being a loner.’ You’re crazy.”

“I heard. Used to it. Anything new?” Sevedant replied, and he seemed to be finding humour to Engruat’s words.

That unexpected reply stunned Engruat briefly before he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I got nothing.” Accepting his reply, Sevedant merely asked, “See Lucky?” When Engruat nodded his head, Sevedant extended a bone hand from under his cloak and pointed towards the island while saying, “There. Follow.”

Without another word, he transformed into black ball of mist that radiated energy before flying speedily towards the island. Engraut widened his eyes in shock as he saw a technique similar to his own before shrugging his shoulders. He automatically accepted it as something natural because Sevedant was a Death Titan and beings possess that title are those with power levels that can reach the gods.

Transforming instantly in numerous fluttering blue glowing butterflies of energy, they soared quickly in the direction that Sevedant flew towards. It took him a few seconds before reaching a spot next to the solidified form of the Death Titan before he regained his physical form. That was the first time he noticed that he was standing at the top of a very large arena, and at the bottom of the arena stood the rest of the Nine Pillars of Power.

* Lagron, the Dragon Titan

* Amaranda Lefrity, the Magic Titan

* Dominic Rutherford, the Sword Titan

* Nara Simhara, the War Titan

* Ash, the Demon Titan

* Tempest, the Storm Titan

* Azar, the Sun Titan

They were sitting down on the seats near the open are and were breathing quickly as if they just had an intense training session.

“They’re all here,” he said and smiled pleasantly.

Lagron, upon hearing the voice and recognising it, turned towards them and narrowed his eyes instantly with an unpleasant look on his face.

“Oh. It’s you,” said Lagron, not bothering to greet the god whom he disliked from the very first time. “How unpleasant of you to show yourself here.”

Engraut raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked, “Could I ask for some show of respect, please? I am a god after all.”

The arrogant dragon warrior snorted in disdain and replied, “I don’t care about gods, and you aren’t my friend, so I don’t care about my attitude towards you. Deal with it.”

Engruat closed his eyes and sighed wearily as he suddenly felt really tired from the radiating arrogance of the Dragon Titan. At that moment, he was distracted by the voice of two women greeting him more pleasantly than the dragon warrior.

“Hello, Engruat. Nice to see you here,” said Ash, who was wearing a mask over her eyes as an item that was meant to suppress her ability to transform men into stone.

“My greeting to the God of Energy,” said Amaranda, speaking in a very respectful manner and bowing her head deeply towards him.

“Ah,” began Engruat, his spirits raising once again in joy, “I’m happy to be spoken to by two lovely women.”

His remark made the girls smile and made Dominic chuckle before he bowed his head to Engruat and said, “Don’t mind him, Engraut.”

“Yeah. That dragon’s a little stupid and ignorant of proper mannerism, towards a high and mighty being like you, Engruat,” said Nara, bowing to the God of Energy before giving a side long glance at Lagron.

The Dragon Titan snorted loudly and replied, “Funny how that’s coming from a wild beast.”

“Says the ignorant dragon with a lack of common sense,” replied Nara scathingly.

“Oh. Oh. Oh. Nice replying coming from a meat head.”

“An expected statement from a brainless brute.”

“Oh yeah? Shouldn’t that be you, Mister Good-For-Nothing-Except-Destruction Eastman?”

“Well, at least I’m a gentleman compared to a walking disaster!”

“Oh…! So, the mutt head wants a fight!” Lagron cracked his fingers and glared fiercely at Nara.

“Of course. That way, I can beat some sense into you, fool,” replied Nara, also cracking his fingers as he readied himself for battle.

As sparked flew between the two, Dominic suddenly got in between them with his hands held to either side and shouted, “Enough! We don’t need comrades hurting each other!”

While Dominic was concentrating on calming down the dragon and the beast, Tempest, the Water Spirit and Azar, the Fire Spirit, were watching the scene with great interest. The only two women in the group sighed deeply and looked in annoyance at them for the disturbance they are, once again, causing to them.

Engraut chuckled, and he walked over to the two Spirits, who both bowed simultaneously upon seeing him walk towards them.

“You may rise your head,” said Engraut genially, making the two straighten up and smiled respectfully at him. He proceeded to ask them, “How are you doing? How’s your training?”

“I am doing fine, sir!” Tempest replied firmly, his smile radiating with confidence.

“The training with the Phoenix Titan was intense and bizarre,” replied Azar, a frown form on his face. “

He chuckled lightly and smiled in relief. His blissful feelings suddenly changed when he noticed something different about the whole picture. Opening his eyes a bit, he glanced around in search of someone important and finally came to the realisation that they were not there.

Surprised, he turned towards Sevedant, who was silently staring at the arguing figures of Lagron and Nara, and asked, “What the?! Where’s Lakshman?”

While being completely silent, Sevedant slowly turned to face him and at the same slow pace, he extended his skeleton hand from out of his cloak and pointed towards the clouds. Engraut turned and stared at the clouds briefly before turning back to face the Death Titan as if the black warrior was pulling a prank on him.

“I asked you where he is; not show me—!”

He faltered as the Death Titan merely waved his hand in a gesture to clear something away and as he did, the God of Energy suddenly sensed an enormous power emanating from somewhere behind him. Quickly turning around, he witnessed a large area of clouds parting from somewhere outside the arena to reveal a bright glowing spherical ball.

“The sun?!” Engraut exclaimed, widening his eyes in surprise upon seeing the huge glowing ball in the distance. “What’s it doing here so close to—?!” He faltered once again as his reflexive words made him become aware of something about the glowing object and it made him frown as he said, “No! That’s not the sun! It’s too… unnatural!”

“Correct,” said Sevedant, who appeared standing next to him.

Engrant looked at him, and then back at the spherical glowing ball of light that was like a miniature sun. As he focused on it, his eyes sharpened when he noticed that the fire was wild and fierce, but it was somehow being contained in some kind of barrier.

“What is that…? The fire keeps fluctuating wildly, and it looks so coarse, and that barrier… It’s almost like—,” he asked slowly as realisation dawned on him.

“—Barrier Encased Fire,” finished Sevedant, who had second guessed the word the god was about to say.

The God of Energy nodded, and he activated his Energy Sight that greyed out everything and enabled him to see through the energy sphere. As his vision penetrated into the depths of the embers, his eyes shot up in horror upon discovering the presence of someone inside it. They appeared to be seated in a sage like way with their eyes closed with their hands clasped together in front of them.

Stolen story; please report.

“I-Is Lakshman inside that fire?!”

“Indeed. Phoenix Fury. Surrounds him. Using Burning Spirit. Keeps him safe. Keeps him warm. Good for meditation.”

“Meditation?” Engruat asked, catching the word and realising its implication. “From what I can see, it looks like he’s in deep meditation inside that sphere. That mean he’s meditating inside the furiously burning flames while making sure the fire doesn’t escape from encasing barrier he’s constructed around himself?” Shocked at his revelation, he exclaimed, “He’s insane to be doing this! What in the world got into him?!”

Sevedant did not reply and simply stared at the burning spherical ball that glowed like a miniature sun.

Engruat turned back and looking hopeful, he called to the sphere, “Lakshman! It’s me, Engruat! Come out here please. I have something to talk to you about.”

There was silence for a few seconds as the God of Energy waited patiently for a reply. Soon, as the silence stretched, he came to the realisation that he was not going to come out of it. Feeling a little bit annoyed, he extended his hand towards it and exerted his energy so that the fire gets dispersed and the magic is destroyed.

For a moment, he felt something bend to his will as the barrier seemed to go out of shape when, in the next moment, the barrier returned to its former shape and his hand got stung in the process. He was momentarily stunned by the unexpected result in his failure to destroy it. Once again, he repeated the same attempt and was thwarted again as his hand stung painfully after the barrier brought itself back to its firm form with strong force.

“Ah… What is he…?” he asked, unsure about what was happening.

“Didn’t work did it, and you call yourself a god?”

Engraut rolled his eyes in exasperation as he turned around to see the Dragon Titan standing next to Sevedant with a bemused look on his face. It seemed like his argument with Nara was over as the War Titan and the Sword Titan were talking about something behind their back.

He was about ask when Lagron predicted his question and spoke first by saying, “He’s stopped training almost a month ago and kept himself inside that ball of fire to improve his mind or something.” As Engruat looked towards the fire, Lagron smirked and said, “He’s daring, though. If one wrong mistake, or if he got distracted for even a second, he would lose control over the barrier and the fire would explode, resulting in him getting badly hurt.”

“I noticed that,” said Engruat quietly, making a rarely seen frowning face. “I understand that he’s doing all of it to strengthen his mind.”

It looked like he had become serious because he narrowed his eyes with a serious look on his face and extended his hand firmly towards the fire. In an instant, the energy barrier went out of shape and seemed to be slowly disappearing, but it was not easy. At that very moment, it began trying to go back to its normal shape, but Engraut did not let it happen.

Beginning to use his godly powers, he used an immense amount of energy to collapse the barrier and destroy the fires before it could harm Lakshman. Standing behind him, Lagron made a slightly impressed look on his face as he watched the God of Energy use his might.

Finally, several tense seconds later, the Engruat succeeded in decimating the barrier and the fires at the same time. As they flowed into the wind, Lakshman appeared into full view sitting with his legs crossed beneath while hovering in mid-air. Engraut sighed deeply in relief as sweat slowly formed on his body, making Lagron look more impressed than before.

“You did good for a god who lacks battle strength,” said Lagron with a smile, showing his secret humour side.

This time, it was Engraut’s turn to snort in exaggeration and say, “Whatever. At least I got some workout from doing that after spending so many centuries spying and keeping track of the things.”

“Stalker,” said Sevedant in a voice void of emotion.

“Hey! I’m a God of Energy, and I got the right to keep track of things!” Engruat rebutted with a concerned look on his face.

“That sounds like a lame excuse to me,” said Lagron with a merciless grin on his face.

Engruat stared at the Dragon Titan for a moment before saying, “whatever,” before turning back to face Lakshman. While he was talking to the both of them, the Phoenix Titan relaxed his legs and flew over to them before landing on his feet. He met the God of Energy’s gaze with a pleasant smile that showed only the tiniest bit of annoyance.

“Hello, Engruat. Nice to see you again after a year of absence,” greeted Lakshman pleasantly.

“Yeah. Of course. I can’t constantly come since I have other duties too and other worlds to visit,” replied Engruat with a smile of his own. He immediately became serious and asked, “Why were you training in such intensity? Lagron even said you stopped training for a month to train like this. Why?”

Lakshman looked at Lagron, who immediately shrugged his shoulders to indicate that he told him. Chuckling, he looked back at the God of Energy and replied, “I’m sorry, Engruat. I realised that I cannot become any stronger than I have right now, and unfortunately, I also am unable to reach my next and final level of power. I know it exists, I can feel it inside of me, but I just don’t know… That’s why, if I couldn’t become stronger, than I should at least strengthen my mind.”

Engruat laughed and said, “That’s a bit stretching the intensity of a meditation training that one does. You know that.”

The Phoenix Titan nodded and replied, “Of course, but there’s no choice because I’m dealing with the Calamity Titan here. I’ve already made up my mind that he is stronger than me and could completely overwhelm me. That’s why I decided I need more than strength; I need the power of my mind.”

While saying that, he tapped the side of his head with his forefinger to indicate his reasoning. Engraut looked impressed for only a moment before he narrowed his eyes as a question suddenly sprung up in his mind.

“That’s great and all. I can see you and everyone else have been training rigorously for the last two years, but tell me something, Lakshman. How many times have you visit your family? How often did you go and play with your newly born children? Oh, I know you had children! I can sense there were nine small energies that resembled your energy signature,” he said and added the last statement when Lakshman looked surprised.

Lakshman remained silent as he thought about the response to which he should give to the god standing before him.

“I visited them a few months ago when my wives gave them birth and that’s about it,” he replied meekly.

Engruat narrowed his eyes, and his eyes kept twitching in annoyance as he asked, “You’re not serious? They’re your family, Lakshman. They’re your children. If you don’t bother to spend time with them, you’ll never earn the ‘Dad of the Year’ award. I think you know what I’m talking about here.”

The Phoenix Titan blinked in surprise and laughed lightly, causing Engruat to frown in surprise.

“Engruat, I am doing this for my children,” he replied and when the God of Energy did not seem to understand, he elaborated by saying, “Up until now, I’ve been fighting for the world, and for myself to not regret it, but ever since my wives gave birth to my children, all of that flew out the window. It’s about my family; it’s about my children. I have to ensure their safety. I have to guarantee it.

So, I can’t waste a single day of training when I have opponents that will destroy the world whenever they like. Being weak then and cursing myself won’t solve problems. It also leaves with the utter regret of not being able to help my family and secure my children’s future. After all, I only have one chance, and I can’t waste it.”

He finally smiled sadly and said, “The ‘Dad of the Year’ title does sound rewarding, but I’m willing to let it go for giving my family and children a better tomorrow. Even if my children come to hate my decision today, I will gladly accept their hate and welcome it as a form of joy to see them living in peace.”

These powerful emotional words made an impact on the God of Energy, who stood there staring at him in awe. Behind him, Lagron smirked and looked away, but secretly, he was jealous of his rival’s determination. Even in his lifetime of reincarnating and marrying over and over again, he never once bothered about his children or their future. He wanted them to be self-dependent like him and develop their own skills to survive on their own. So, it emotionally moved him, but he chose to keep himself composed and act like he was not impressed at all.

“Self-sacrifice. Necessary?” Sevedant asked after a few seconds of pause.

Lakshman looked at him and replied, “Sevedant, death always awaits anyone, but what matters is the result of one’s actions before their road ends. I have the power within me to make the change, and I will make it happen. If not, if don’t take action today, then karma will catch up and gravely injure the future generations. I can’t let it happen.”

While Sevedant nodded in understanding, Engraut, who had remained silent up till then, finally opened his mouth and said, “You’ve really changed after your children were born. I mean, you had this self-sacrificing attitude from the beginning, but now it seems it’s stronger now that you have a family to protect and lead. I’m impressed.”

As Lakshman smiled in joy, Engraut grew concerned and asked, “What about your allies though?” The Phoenix Titan was monetarily surprised as Engruat continued to say, “Right now, your allies are engaged in battle with the enemies that threaten your world. They are fighting desperately to buy enough time for the Nine Pillars of Power to go out and save them. Even as we speak, a terrible destructive energy signature looms over your allies. They will crumble like ashes and will be destroyed in the onslaught of the monster unleashed by your enemy.”

These words kept Lakshman silent and made the God of Energy ask, “You thought a great deal about your family and children, but what about your allies? They are fighting to protect the same world as you, but here you are spending away precious time to meditate.” The Phoenix Titan opened his mouth to speak, but Engruat held up a hand to stop him and said, “I’m not blaming you, nor am I criticising you. I’m just asking you… are you doing justice to your allies? Are you doing justice to your people? Are you doing justice to your world? Are you?!”

The last word was a shout that rang in the surrounding area that was filled with silence as every member of the Nine Pillars of Power stared at them both. Engruat stood there and stared with extreme seriousness at Lakshman, who stood there and stared back in surprise.

He began explaining about the things happening outside like Venezuela requested of him to pass onto Lakshman. The Phoenix Titan listened in silence for several second seconds until the explanation came to an end before closing his eyes as if he was contemplating.

“I understand and it seems we don’t have much time,” said Lakshman, and he in turn formed a serious expression on his face. He turned to them and said in a powerful voice, “Nine Pillars of Power! The time has arrived for us to return and give misery to the enemies that are causing our people, and our allies pain and suffering!”

“Don’t bark orders at me, idiot,” replied Lagron automatically with an arrogant expression on his face.

Lakshman, instantly, flared up at him and said in a sharp voice, “Lagron, we don’t have the time to deal with your stupidity! Get your act together, or else I’ll freeze you here and leave you here for all eternity! Do you understand?!”

His shocking statement made Lagron realise his rival was in a very serious mood and decided to follow his orders.

“Fine,” he said, a hint of unwillingness in his voice.

“Great,” said Lakshman, and he turned on others while asking, “How about the rest of you? Any questions? Any doubts?”

Amaranda and Ash shook their heads while Dominic and Nara smiled at him in acceptance as the War Titan cracked his fingers in anticipation. Tempest and Azar were the same as they shook their heads and smiled at him. Lakshman looked around at them with a momentary seriousness before smiling in relief.

Turning to face the Death Titan, he ordered him by saying, “Sevedant. Open the entrance way for us to leave.”

“Yes,” replied Sevedant, and he transformed into black ball before soaring towards the portal.

He soon began heading towards it with the rest following behind him as he began giving out orders to them all.

“Amaranda,” said Lakshman, turning towards the Magic Titan and asked, “Gather as much information about our enemies and allies’ number. Also check the danger our allies are facing and relay that information to Dom, Nara and Lagron.”

“Of course,” she replied in ascent.

“You three,” said Lakshman, glancing sideways at Dominic, Nara and Lagron. “When Amaranda gives you the details, immediately head over to our allies that are most in danger.”

Dominic said, “Yeah,” and Nara said, “Got it,” while Lagron merely nodded without saying a word.

“What about me and Sevedant?” Ash asked as she walked behind him. “Should we assist the angels or stay here and protect the main battleground?”

Lakshman thought for a moment before he replied, “You’re right, but the angels won’t treat you well because of who you are and neither can Sevedant.” He looked at Dominic and asked, “Dom, head over to the Heaven Continent and assist the Angels.”

“Sure!” Dominic replied firmly with a confident look on his face.

“Sevedant, head over to the battlefield near the Floria Kingdom and assist our allies,” said Lakshman, issuing orders to the Death Titan.

“Will do,” replied Sevedant in a monotone voice.

Lakshman nodded at all of them and said, “With that, your orders are given for now. I’ll stay in contact with Amaranda and decide how things are going before contacting the rest of you. Got it?”

As the members of the Nine Pillars of Power replied their ascent in unison, Engraut smiled while walking beside Lakshman and said, “Good leadership.”

“It’s thanks to your timely arrival that I can do this much at least,” replied Lakshman with a satisfactory smile.

“Yeah, but what will you do in the meantime?”

“I will need to meet with the other kingdom kings and reassure them by my presence,” said Lakshman as he faced towards the front with a determined look on his face. “It’s time we fight back the enemy with force!”