Chapter 241 - Man on the Wall

The platform moved closer to the temple.

While Crimson immersed himself with the structural beauty of the building, the Mech God didn't have the same pleasure of doing so. He set down the platform at the entrance of the temple. From there, he walked forward with an air of caution around him.

Battle hammer in hand, the Mech God threw it with great force. Crimson didn't expect the god to do such a thing, especially considering how heavy the hammer really was.

Nevertheless, the battle hammer hit a panel on the wall. The result of which slowly made the doors to the temple open.

"Keep your head on straight, kid," the Mech God said to Crimson, without even so much as looking back. He then extended his arm and recalled the battle hammer to his hands.

Crimson, meanwhile, could only swallow a mouthful of dry saliva. From where he was standing, a sense of omen came from behind the doors — from inside the temple. The Mech God seemed entirely unfazed, though, but Crimson could feel the dread through his bones.

The Mech God then gently placed his hammer to the side. He freed up his other hand to press on the exquisite-looking brace on his forearm. The Mech God carried out a series of taps in a particular order, something the likes of Crimson couldn't understand.

As soon as the god finished, though, a small dome of light appeared. With the Mech God at the center, Crimson took this chance to jump into the circle as well. He followed his instincts, much to the god's expectations.

Grabbing the battle hammer, the Mech God and Crimson proceeded to walk into the temple. They had Rynold with them, of course, but his incapacitation didn't really give him much of a voice.

The three of them entered through the massive stone doors and soon descended into the temple. For a building of this size to have an underground level was more than expected. That said, the temple didn't seem to have much of anything from the inside.

From Crimson's point of view, this place seemed nothing more than a death box. The design felt cold to the touch with no source of heat whatsoever. Nothing about this place felt alive to him. So much so that the ominous atmosphere thickened as they descended.

Luckily for him, the atmosphere was tolerable. Whether it was thanks to the Mech God's doing or not, Crimson handled it relatively well. He was a bit uncomfortable, sure. But he couldn't imagine what it would be like without the protective dome.

'No wonder he didn't want me to come with him.'

Crimson focused on his thoughts as the Mech God looked straight at where they were going. The expression on his face conveyed extreme amounts of seriousness.

Continuing their descent, the area around them became darker and darker. There was no telling how deep this place really was as the journey seemed endless. Their destination was nowhere in sight.

As the minutes went by, their eventual descent came to a halt. The Mech God was first to realize this and held his hand out, signaling Crimson to prepare for anything. Even though this temple was of his own, there was no telling what had happened to it. The temple was deep under the ocean floor, after all, and decades had gone by since the last time the Mech God stepped foot in it.

That said, the Mech God walked into the room at the end of the stairs first.

Gripping the handle of his battle hammer, the Mech God appeared unfazed. He had no reason to be scared, with him being a god and all. Even so, he was still serious, devoting his attention to what was inside.

With each careful step, the Mech God made sure of his surroundings. He kept a watchful eye on what was in front of him while making sure that Crimson and Rynold weren't out of line. No matter how nervous Crimson was, the three of them progressed into the temple without any obstruction.

But then, something went by the Mech God's senses that urged them to a stop. The god's eyes narrowed as he sought to find out what it was. The subtlety of the occurrence was undeniable. And, the Mech God knew whatever it was, he couldn't ignore.

To be safe, the Mech God sent a bolt of crackling electricity to the end of the hallway the three of them headed in. The luminescence it provided gave a short glimpse as to what was ahead. Unfortunately, the whole thing was cut short.

As if the darkness had consumed it, the bolt quickly disappeared not too far from where the Mech God stood. It was much worse than he thought.

That said, the Mech God telepathically commanded his shoulder guards to leave his body. The armor was none other than Mechs, reshaping into their robotic forms.

Without sending a single command to either of them, the Mechs left to do their master's bidding. The two of them separated and hovered beside the god.

Armed for whatever was ahead, the Mech God walked forward at the same pace as before. There was no reason for him to shy away now. But, he was still cautious all the same. To which, both Crimson and Rynold followed behind him.

The corrupting darkness before them started clawing at the dome of light. It flickered ever so often, but not so much that it would break. And, with the drones' support, the shield maintained its integrity as the three of them kept going.

It didn't take them very long to reach the very end of the hallway. But, the difference in the pressure Crimson felt was several more times as heavy when he got there.

He couldn't describe it. The feeling of overwhelming pressure felt as if he sunk to the deepest depths of the ocean. Crimson found it ridiculous, to the point of outright insanity. The moment he stepped foot there felt like someone was suffocating the air out of him.

Despite all that, the Mech God was still unaffected. He didn't care for the overwhelming pressure. The god's face remained as calm and deadly serious as before. The Mech God then raised his battle hammer and swung it at the wall at the end of the hallway.

Boom!

Like an explosion, the battle hammer slammed against the wall. However, instead of making a hole, the wall opened like a door. They swung open with immense force, causing Crimson to lower his center of gravity. It was unexpected, to say the least.

Be that as it might, the Mech God moved to the room behind the wall. He didn't bother to wait for Crimson as the latter hurriedly caught up to him. It was only then that Crimson realized the Mech God's level-headedness was waning. The reason of which stood behind the wall.

"Call them off," the Mech God looked at the only person that was in the room before any of them. "You're not going to pull anything off with those things. So. Call. Them. Off."

"I have no reason to follow you," the person responded, with an astonishingly hoarse robotic voice, "You have no hold over me. And, from where I'm, heh, standing, it seems like you need my help."

Chained to the wall, the person 'standing' before them mocked the god. He then looked over to Crimson, eyes full of greed. Doing so sent chills down Crimson's spine.

"No hold over you? Really? You are living in a prison that I built. I literally have a hold over you. Your life is in the palm of my hand. You know that, right?"

"In that case, why haven't you destroyed me?"

"..."

"The decades-old question. And, after all this time, it appears that you still have yet to find an answer, eh? I know that if you could, you would've destroyed me already. Ah, it seems that you have yet to get rid of your soft spot..., Father."

As the conversation panned out, Crimson was at the side, watching the ordeal come to pass. That said, he wasn't all that surprised to learn about this. The two had history, that much was clear, but it didn't really give him any reason to believe they had a father-son relationship.

Then again, it wasn't all that unbelievable.

"Don't call me that," the Mech God answered, his tone subtly defeated, "I'm not your father."

"You created me, no? You put all your efforts into making this shackled body of mine. And, you made sure that your creation was, by all means, alive. If these facts don't constitute as you being my father, then smite me to kingdom come."

The moment he stopped talking, the Mech God's battle hammer suddenly whirred to life. In the following split-second, the Mech God then lifted it with little to no effort. From there, he threw it at the shackled body on the wall. The impact of which was much like the one before.

"Let's make one thing extremely clear," the Mech God then raised his hand and recalled his hammer. He walked forward in an ominous and threatening manner, "I am not your father. I will never be your father. Don't flatter yourself thinking of it that way. I haven't gotten around to destroying you because you are of some use to me."

Bang! Bang!

Two more hits landed directly on the man's chest. The Mech God didn't bother holding back his swings at all. But, even so, the damage of the blows didn't even faze the shackled person.

As the Mech God steadied his hammer to his side, the man's expression visibly darkened. The only thing that Crimson saw in his face was a white, devilish smile. The man then burst out laughing, cackling in his mechanical voice.

"Seeing your face like that," the man said after he finished talking, "Definitely worth it. After all this time, I still know what to say to piss you off. How pathetic, coming from a god!"

Having heard that, the Mech God placed his hammer to the side and looked over to Rynold. Seeing the loss of his sense of self, the Mech God could only shake his head as he turned back to the man on the wall.

"Tell me what I need to know."

"About that?" the man referred to Rynold, who seemed oddly spaced out despite all that happened. "You came all the way here to ask me what's wrong with this human? You're going out on a limb for a mortal? Really?"

"My reasons should be of no concern to the likes of you," the Mech God's eyes narrowed, threatening the opposing party, "Tell me what I need to know. Now."

"Or else what? You'll lock me away again? You're offering me nothing in exchange for my services. No, you're offering me less than nothing."

"And so?" The Mech God raised a brow as he antagonized the man, "On what grounds do you deserve any favors? The genocide? The extinction of an entire race whose corpses you used to wipe your own ass? Tell me again, who's the captured one here?"

The man fell silent after the Mech God reestablished the terms of the argument.

"If you want something in exchange, then fine," the Mech God grabbed his hammer and pointed it to the man, "Tell me what I need to know, or I'll crush your skull into dust."

"Or, you know, you could let me eat him."

Crimson took a step back, afraid that he was going to be eaten by this strange man. He didn't want to be done in like that, of course. Being eaten was a sad way to go.

"You want to eat his curse?" the Mech God raised a brow, skeptical if that was the right way to go, "You're sure about that?"

"It's not a curse," the man rebutted, "It's more of your goody-goody magic. And, I'm hungry. You haven't let me eat for decades now."