Chapter 10

Our world's chaos had turned the human realm upside down. The gods and goddesses could no longer control their emotions. So, manifestations began to appear all over the humans' world.

As trees would sprout in the middle of huts, the ground would open up, and strange animals would come forth, one bearing the head of a lion and the body of a lizard. Humans began birthing strange creatures they tossed into the evil forest. Arthy had told the human that though people feared for their lives, many remained hopeful that the weird things were a good sign of what the human was doing.

And though she wanted to take credit, it was all Anthuina and Jacilis. The bomb dropped; the betrayal that every god heard had put the gods even more against each other.

And though every being was calling on her to listen to her side of the story and lay to rest the accusations, she was stone-cold silent. Yet, even with tensions rising, the tournament had to continue. Otherwise, my people will be destroyed.

The next battle was decided, and the gods were even more disheartened. Most gods had given up hope and lounged in their domains. However, the other gods except Anthuina were present, and there was a hint of solidarity amongst them. Though most felt betrayed at the thought of Anthuina using them as pawns, they still stood by her.

Obviously, 'SHE' was more potent than Bathra, but it seemed like Bathra was controlling her to every other god. And even though most would call them friends, their relationship to the naked eye seemed more of master and slave.

Both goddesses were powerful. Most would say they carried the world on their shoulders. However, even when they were on opposite sides, no human was sure of victory until the last second.

Because of this, the human thought all gods would be there, but alas, only a few showed up.

Like Kiluaroth's battle, this started late. Time passed, and the human, almost asleep, felt a crackle of lighting, and a fissure in the sky signified the beginning.

Unlike her counterpart, Bathra was decked in complete battle armour. Decorated with swords, katanas and a bo staff, Bathra was ready for war. The quality of the armour was grade A and didn't look breathable, and easy to move in. It was so stiff and very bulky, but my thoughts proved irrelevant when she dropped into her famous fighting stance.

'SHE', on the other hand, was dressed in regular clothes and wielding a single small knife. She had chopped her hair very close to her head, but that was the only thing different in her looks. Her stance was of one who wasn't afraid of her opponent instead regarding Bathra in small light.

She inclined her head at us, looked at me before proceeding to nod in Arthy's direction.

What for, the human wondered. The answer would soon show itself as Bathra yelled out.

''Well, what are you waiting for? I thought you'd have started moving. Or is this a new trick to drop my defences and kill me? It wouldn't work. Come on, make a move already!''

The human was sure it was to assert her domination on the battlefield, make her the bigger woman, you know, but instead, she came off as a whiny brat. Someone afraid. We all saw her shaky legs.

''Tut, tut, tut,'' she said while shaking her hand leisurely.

''The first rule in combat is, whoever strikes first loses. Don't think I don't know what you're planning doll-face. We fought side by side and against each other. I'm not like those puny humans that you would bait into battle. When you're ready, I'll be right here, waiting patiently, to gut you and spray your innards round this field.''

Well, that got really dark all of a sudden. But as a general, a person who lead multiple mean to war and won on various occasions, she definitely knew what to say to push buttons. It was her statement that pushed Bathra over the edge.

With a war cry, she lunges from her position like a loaded spring. A second before her blade could strike dead centre in her heart, 'SHE' disappeared only to materialise in the air before dropkicking Bathra into the dirt.

'SHE' waited until Bathra could right herself before lunging at her and throwing her to the ground. This continued for a while, and with each lunge, strike and kick, the human could feel Arthy tensing. He was tense from the beginning, the human knew.

But as 'SHE' kept getting injured and progressively weaker, Arthy became so agitated, the human had to wrap her hands around him to keep Arthy in place.

The human wished for telepathic powers to know what was on his mind, but it seemed the battle had come to an end all too soon.

''Benauk!!!'', Arthy screams this name at the top of his voice, the gods around had to take several steps back.

The human still had her eyes focused on the match, or she would have missed the unbelievable switch that was flipped.

She or Benauk had gone from been beaten, pummelled to the ground and wiped out of existence to destroying Bathra. Bathra couldn't even move or fight back.

She had become a rag doll to be used. And before we knew it, she had fulfilled her promise, ripped out her innards and threw them around the field. It wasn't delightful looking as it was beautiful.

Silence, we were all stunned into silence. She had always looked beautiful in the blood of her enemies, which meant she was beautiful every time.

But today, doused in another god's blood, her whole being shone and glowed. The human would have thought Benuak's eyes would be trained on her comrade. But instead, her eyes were fixed on Arthy.

''Arthuila, you…you called my name?'' she said while crying.

Her sobs wrecked her body. Her frame was twitching with either the need to run to her brother or fall down in tears. Finally, Arthy decided for her. He ran towards her side clung to her body as both wept together.

The other gods, finally deciding they had seen enough vanished to prepare for the next battle; Lovina against Kasali.

Arthy and Benauk, as we now called her, had rekindled their relationship though they were on opposite sides. The human often had to wake up to the noises of their training sessions. She did participate in a few of them, but the end results were always the same; the human soaking in the hot springs in pain.

She realised that they genuinely were better apart, combined their powers were insane, completely off the charts. The human still couldn't keep up with Arthy alone, but she was completely knocked out of the ring with his sister. If they had been made as a whole being, they would have won and killed the human and dominated the entire thing. The gods would have had the humans wiped out of existence a long time ago.