Theodore and his friends had been walking for quite a while now, they were around half an hour away from finally stepping out of Delphi Forest's bounds.
"Feels like forever…It's hot as hell too." Merlin complained for the fifth time as he pulled on the collar of his shirt.
"Well, technically hell isn't this hot." Eugene shrugged, seemingly unaffected by the forest's hot weather. "We've been there before, so you should know."
"I know, I know…" Merlin sighed. "Still…Theo, are we close to the exit? Everywhere I turn my head it's just tree after tree…"
Theodore looked at the ginger. "Close, maybe thirty minutes or so if we keep up the pace."
"Ah…! Thirty minutes!? I don't think I can walk for another ten!"
But before another word was spoken, Theodore's eyes suddenly widened and every hair on his body stood on end. Instinctively, he edged his body to the side just as something small and sharp flew past him before embedding itself into a tree.
"Who's there!" Theodore shouted, causing his two friends to take out their weapons even though they couldn't feel that anyone was within their vicinity.
"So you dodged that?" A woman's voice sounded out as another dagger flew towards Theodore, who simply turned his body again and avoided the attack. "You're better than you look."
"Why are you suddenly attacking…?"
"No one should be in this forest." A male's voice spoke as a silhouette flew out of the bushes in front of Theodore, it came straight at him at an abnormal speed that even he couldn't see, though his body moved on reflex and he put his arms up to block the incoming man.
'BANG!'
The sounds of one extremely durable object against another sounded throughout the woods. Theodore narrowed his eyes in annoyance, a fully-armored man was pushing against him with nothing but his braced arms, his face was the only thing that was exposed through his thick armor. "...Paladin?"
< HP: 800,000/800,000 Status Condition: None. Healthy. Species: Awakened Human Age: 23 Rank: A+ Class: Paladin Specialty: Nicknamed the ‘Wall of Humanity’, has immense defenses of both magical and physical attacks. Equipment: Ramirez Specialty [Extra Info Available] Elements: None. [There are other viewable information.]>> Paul's eyebrows knitted themselves into a confused frown, he gritted his teeth and pushed his arms further into Theodore's, but it didn't budge one bit. "...Who are you? How can you block my attack?" "Why do I have to answer you?" Theodore ducked underneath Paul, causing the paladin to lose balance due to his own force; it gave Theo the chance to sweep his legs before rolling to the side and letting physics do the work. All of this happened in a single second, and before Paul could even realize that he was falling, his mouth was already full of dirt. Merlin and Eugene looked at each other for a moment before turning their attention to Theodore. "Seems like you don't need—" The redhead didn't get the chance to finish speaking since something suddenly hit him from behind, he stumbled forward and fell face-first to the ground and Eugene would follow soon after. "Your teammates are down, give up." Frey spoke as he held out his sword, eyes sparkling literally with tiny bolts of lightning, he pointed a finger towards the two fallen men and suddenly a band of electricity wrapped around them, binding their bodies to the ground. Eugene gritted his teeth and glared angrily at the swordsman. "Sneak attacks? Not very chivalrous of you!" He tried to struggle out of the trap however he would only be met with a fierce shock, causing him to cry out in agony. "I don't advise you to move too much, they'll increase their voltage the harder you resist." Theodore's eyes moved from the paladin on the ground to the magic swordsman by his friends, his expression unreadable. 'Why is he so calm?' Frey couldn't help but wonder, though he didn't have time to think about it much since Theodore began to speak while putting one foot onto Paul's back, preventing him from moving any further. "Why aren't we supposed to be here, exactly?" "Don't you know?" Frey replied, a little frustrated that Paul was taken hostage, but then again, it was only fair. "America is now the Greeks and the Egyptians' territory, we do as they say and they'll lend us strength to fight these monsters." "What does that have to do with us being in Delphi Forest?" Theodore hid his frustrations, letting his voice sound neutral. "The Delphi is controlled by Zeus, and it's his order not to let any humans wander into this place until we can find and eliminate the Chaos Apostle." "...Chaos Apostle?" "How can you not know who that is?" Frey was starting to get suspicious, he frowned but otherwise continued speaking, thinking that maybe the three of them were lost in Delphi way before the gods had come. "He's an evil serpent trying to destroy the gods, if he succeeds, we'll once again have to fight those monsters without any help." 'Lies on top of lies…' Theodore thought that he should play along for the time being, learning more about the current situation is top priority. "And he's in Delphi? Me and my friends have been stuck here for awhile, we've never seen such a thing." "..." Frey went quiet and stared coldly at Theodore, it was then that he realized his mistakes. [Frey Windell is using the skill 'Eyes of Truth' on you.] [He has confirmed your words to be 'FALSE'.] 'Sh*t.' "...You're the serpent, aren't you?" When Theodore didn't reply back, Frey turned towards Merlin and Eugene before raising his sword. "So you two must be his lackies, I'll get rid of you first." "Watch out!" Lola suddenly ran out from behind a tree and created a barrier for Frey, if she hadn't been quick on her feet, Theodore's spell 'Venom Blast' would've hit him right in the head. "Die!" Suddenly, Gwen the assassin jumped down from another tree behind Theodore and attempted to stab him in the neck, but that move proved to be futile since the dagger in her hand instantly broke upon contact with his skin. "What…How?" "I get that a lot." Theodore turned and extended one hand towards the girl. [Freeze.] A simple spell from a stupidly overpowered ice magic, Frozen Disaster, in an instant, ice began rising from underneath Gwen's feet and froze her in place, the ice moved upwards and encased her entirely in ice before she could even let out a scream in shock. The rest of the group was shocked by how easily an A+ rank assassin was taken out, Paul felt both fear and anger but chose to remain still underneath Theodore's feet. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Frey glanced behind him and saw Lola shaking in her spot as she clutched her staff tightly to her chest. He turned back towards Theodore and stood his ground, holding his sword out defensively as he tried to hide his fear with a straight face, he looked at the frozen Gwen and asked. "Did…You kill her?" "She's alive," Theodore replied. "If you're willing to listen to me, I'll let both of them go." He applied more pressure onto Paul and immediately got a pained cry out of him, the paladin squeezed both his eyes and hands shut as he fought through the pain of having his spine slowly being crushed. "...Why should I? Other than saving my own friends." "First of all, if you're thinking of using 'my' friends as hostage, I'll immediately kill yours," Theodore said and everyone at the scene could instantly tell that he was being serious. "Second, the main villain of this story isn't me, it's Zeus and Ra. I'm here to save all of you." "Save us?" Frey huffed in disbelief. "A serpent of chaos? You aren't even showing your true form, how can I be sure that you have nothing to hide?" "You haven't seen it first hand, so I get where you're coming from." Theodore shrugged, still remaining calm despite the fact that their conversation didn't seem to be going very well. "But haven't you wondered? Why couldn't the gods just get rid of the monsters themselves?" "They can't, there are limitations." "So you know about that? Why? Is it because you're Zeus' little boy? Apostle of Lightning." Frey's eyes widened almost instantly, his mouth slightly fell agap. "How did you—" "That doesn't matter," Theodore cut him off. "I just want to say that they totally can get rid of the gate creatures if they want to, after all, they're the ones who summoned them in the first place." "Don't listen to him, Frey!" It seemed that Lola finally had the courage to speak up, she glared at Theodore though still slightly shaking. "He's probably trying to manipulate us." "This is difficult…" Theodore sighed. "Look, all I can say is that you should trust me more than some gods that are feeding off of you guys' faith, but I can't exactly prove my own words now, can I?" "What's your endgame here, serpent?" Frey tightened the grip on his sword. "Theodore." "What?" Frey frowned. "That's my name, Theodore, Theodore Varon, so stop calling me—“ "Wait," The swordsman slowly lowered his sword. "Varon? You mean…Theodore Varon…The Winter Frost mage?" Theodore raised an eyebrow in surprise. "...You know me?" "Of course I do!" Frey fully lowered his sword now, much to Lola's confusion and worry as she expressed it all in her dumbfounded expression. "You're the greatest ice mage in the world! And still are, by the way, no one has managed to top your skills so far. But you're supposed to be dead though?" "Frey, it must be a trick." Lola stepped forward. "It's not." Merlin looked up at Frey desperately, the position that he was lying in wasn’t comfortable. "I'm Merlin Everhart, and from what I know…I don't think the government has listed me as deceased yet." "Merlin Everhart?" Frey blinked. "Oh! You're the archer that's always with Theodore, right?" "Yes!" Merlin eagerly nodded. "Now can we all be cool and sit and talk or something?" . . . Theodore had never thought that his fame in his past life could come in handy in this lifetime, he once thought that being famous wasn't that important, but now he might have to think otherwise. "So…" Frey took his eyes off of Gwen, who was being tended to by Lola, while Theodore had already healed the assassin's frostbites, the shivering cold was still there and Lola was hugging her friend to keep her warm while the rest of them started a fire for her. "You're saying that the gods are bad?" "Yes." Merlin nodded, replying instead of his friend. "It's crazy…a ridiculous plot only found in some third-rate novels…but it's true, the monsters and everything that's happened are the results of some gods arguing with each other." "And Theodore's the Chaos Apostle trying to stop them." "Yes." Paul scoffed with a roll of his eyes, with his Paladin skills, he easily recovered from the slight injury Theodore had inflicted. "It sounds ridiculous…But we saw mister esteemed ice mage's strength, it shouldn't be far from the truth." "A+ rank is supposed to be the highest known…" Frey nodded. "To think that a supposed B rank mage could defeat two A+ ranks in an instant…May I ask what rank you are, Theodore?" "...Incalculable." "Incalculable?" Theodore shrugged. "That's what Apophis said." He replied, referring to Apophis as the System, he'd already told the 'Zeus Elite Followers' the basics of what they needed to know about the gods and him. "To be exact…I just assumed that it's incalculable, she blanked it out." "Blanked…it out?" "Never mind," Theodore waved, as if dismissing the topic. "We should focus on the matter at hand, Frey, where's Zeus right now?" "He's back at Olympus, I haven't been able to contact him ever since he gave me the mission to kill you three days ago." Frey looked down onto the burning campfire. "Still, do we even stand a chance against a god? We're struggling with just monsters…" "You guys aren't fighting, I am." Theodore tilted his head. "I just need your help getting to the two gods, and once this is over, I can probably get rid of the monsters too." "You can do that?" Merlin asked. "Possibly." Theodore shrugged. "It's a high possibility…even if I can't do it I can still get Apophis to fix it." "Okay," Frey nodded, looking up at Theodore with eyes filled with resolve. "I trust you, you've helped humanity before and I'm sure—" "Wait," Lola protested. "How can we be sure that it's really Theodore Varon?" "Ask something that only he would know?" Theodore replied. "Okay, your father's name." Lola asked. "Lawrence Varon, ex-soldier and…deceased." "He's just missing though?" "No, deceased, I was there when he died." "Ah…S-sorry to hear that…" Lola thought of another question. "What's your favorite spell? From when you were supposedly alive." "...A reporter named John Johnson from the Daily Papers asked me this," The reporter's name was very memorable so it was hard for Theodore to forget it. "It was Devouring Frost." "Was?" Frey interrupted with a frown. "You have a new favorite spell?" "It's called Doom Desire." "..." Frey straightened his back, slightly taken back by the spell's name. "That sounds…evil." "Well, I can destroy a good chunk of this forest with just its half-stage, so I guess it is?" "What—" "That's not important right now, Frey!" Lola interrupted and took Theodore's attention back to her as she asked him another question. "What school did you go to before Stella Academy?" "Rosewood High." Theodore smiled. "Same as you, Lola Lyz." Lola smiled back, ignoring everyone's surprised look and disbelieved expressions. "...I was doubting that it was you at first…since you were supposed to have green eyes, not gold." "Things have changed as I grew stronger." Theodore shrugged. "Wait, wait, wait!" Merlin got up from the floor and dashed towards Theodore from across the campfire. "You…That's Lola Lyz!?" "Hi Merlin," Lola smiled at him. Lola Lyz, she was once a regular quiet girl at Rosewood High who would often hang out with Theodore and Merlin, the three of them had met during their first group assignment and got to know that Lola wasn't a book to judge by its cover. She's not only caring and kind, but also knowledgeable and strong. "You know them, Lola?" Gwen looked up dazely from her friend's embrace. "...You know the dude who tried to freeze me alive?" Lola let out a giggle. "No time for jokes, Gwen, just get some rest before you catch a cold." "So…Guess this proves your identity then?" Frey glanced at Paul, who'd been quiet this entire time. "What do you think?" "I trust you, Frey, so I'll trust your decision too." Paul nodded at the swordsman, giving him a soft smile and a thumbs up too. "Okay, that's good to hear," Frey nodded at his friend before turning to Theodore. "I have an idea that might get Zeus to show himself, though there is a chance that it would fail." "What is it?" Theodore raised his eyebrows with curiosity, there weren't many things in this world that could impress a god, after all. Frey leaned forward. "So here's the plan…" . . . White marble rose into multiple pillars supporting the roof of a Greek-style temple, built atop of a grand staircase replacing the once glorious building of the Statue of Liberty, though it was already broken down from the first fight with monsters, taking such a symbol down to build something completely new was hard for the citizens, but they still abide by the gods' requests. Bound by lightning chains, Theodore was pushed forward by Frey while the others followed suit, his friends were also tied up by their wrists and their weapons were confiscated by Paul, who was holding onto them as they made their way further into the temple. [The Skill 'Lord of Souls' has peered into Frey Windell's soul] [His intentions are confirmed as 'TRUTH'] Theodore had already checked for any signs of betrayal, and so far things have been going well. Frey pushed him into a grand hall, walls coated in pure white with the base of the pillars encased in glittering gold, in front of them was a marble statue of a bearded man with a loose cloth covering his lower half. 'Zues.' "Zeus!" Frey shouted the god's name, throwing Theodore to the ground. "I've bought the Serpent for your judgment!" The grand hall's circular perimeter conflicted with the temple's rectangular shape, though somehow the gaps between the pillars still managed to show the endless ocean outside. Suddenly, despite all the rules of physics, lightning flashed within the building and struck a few meters in front of Zeus' statue. Then an identical man stood from where the bolt had hit. He had long gray hair with a laurel crown resting around his head, his electrifying blue eyes brought out his wrinkled yet sterned features and he was wearing a white toga with a golden belt around his waist. [Frey Windell…Wasn't the order to eliminate the Serpent?] "Oh Great King of the Sky!" Frey gave Zeus a bow. "We have tried, however, our weapons cannot pierce the Apostle's scales, we've only managed to bind him to this form." [Hm…?] Zeus looked down onto Theodore, who stared back with a look of defiance. [Very well, while it is not what I've asked, this will suffice.] A lightning bolt appeared in the god's hand, it was about as long as a spear, but a thousand times more terrifying, it let out sparks as Zeus raised the weapon above his head. [Your reign of terror ends here.] "Mine? Aren't you a delusional one?" Theodore scoffed. Taken aback by his snarky remark, Zues lowered his lightning bolt, but before he could speak, Theodore's body began to shift. The lightning chains broke with almost no effort, and in mere seconds, a gigantic snake appeared in place of where a human was supposed to be, the serpent's entire figure was big enough to wrap around the entire chamber, blocking any possible escape route. [You false kings should perish!]