The Returning Guardian (4/4)
-The Present-
While Freyya's army marches across the land and begins to surround his palace, Das is watching them passively while standing atop his balcony.
Of course, he's not done with this world yet, so he needs to protect his palace, and the captive Haalfrin, who's being kept inside. Right now, Lareen's largest army of war golems is slowly filling up his palace – waiting for the final invasion.
Why is Das not wiping the Dead army all out by himself? The answer is simple. The Death Reaper isn't invincible when he's wearing his god-king Divinity; it's his Death god Divinity that can smash worlds apart.
Of course, since Das is literally on a planet, he knows that he'd get in a lot of trouble with the Death King if he were to put on his more powerful Divinity.
Plus, if he were to be killed while he's the god-king, then that Divinity would die, seeing as how god-king's aren't invincible. If he were to lose his god-king Divinity, then there'd really be nothing stopping Freyya from sweeping in and killing Haalfrin.
While Das is carefully watching the army of the Dead, he sees something rather strange going on with the enemy.
'An invisibility spell?' Das scoffs. 'They seriously trying to hide their army? Even if I can't see the army with my own eyes, I can feel the energy fluctuations. I know exactly where they are.'
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- The Far Future -
Deep in a grand, golden palace set aloft in the clouds, a great god-king dressed in gold and purple robes walks unaccompanied down a long hall.
This god is a Lord Imho'Reeth – the titular leader of all gods in the Living Realm. His realm reaches up into all but the most far away and isolated worlds, and all god-kings, in some way, pay taxes to him.
The only gods who dare defy him are those who've fallen into corruption and become demons. Even the dragons had obediently kept to their own corners… that is, until Drakavar showed up and riled them all up.
Right now, Lord Imho'Reeth is staring blankly at a wall… One might say that he's being a little weird with his strangely fixated gaze, but everyone knows that mere physical walls can't block his sight.
Indeed, Imho'Reeth is gazing out at something much further away. His vision reaches so far away that right now, he's looking at the approaching army of dragons.
'Hmm…,' he thinks carefully, 'The dragons have placed an invisibility spell around their armies… I wonder what they're trying to hide…'
Emperor Imho'Reeth then looks over and sees the innumerable divine hosts around him. 'Well, this place is the last stop before reaching Lord Mora's Domain. The dragons are coming here, so there must be something the serpent wants.'
He starts tapping his feet in anxiety. 'At least we managed to gather all our armies here… But I hope it'll be enough.'
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-The Present-
Just when Das is starting to think that nothing is going to go wrong with this upcoming battle, Haalfrin suddenly shows up, marching at the front gates to Das with an army of Arkin and Rehkin Dead behind him.
'What the-? How did Haalfrin get out of his room!?' Das nearly spits his tea out when he sees this. 'Is he standing at my gate because he's hoping to help Freyya's forces besiege me?'
All the Lareen citizens in the capitol are seeing Haalfrin's army show up, and they all have different reactions. Due to the soldiers of the Valor Hall all being thick with Death Aura, many of the citizens get scared, since they're unable to feel the difference between his army and Freyya's.
Other citizens, however, suddenly start to feel hopeful. They've grown up seeing pictures of the old Brancotte armor.
As for Haalfrin, who's at the front of the army? Due to Freyya giving him a youthful appearance earlier, nobody can recognize him.
Das, being their god-king, certainly can feel what the citizens are all clamoring about.
Feeling a little irritated at Haalfrin's unexpected interference, Das teleports down to the front gate, and he opens it for Haalfrin.
The god-king then stares down Haalfrin and all his captains who are standing behind him – Fisco, Kaalhyme, Laura, Kalastros… and all the others.
Das frowns, "What's this? Are you here to fight with your girlfriend?"
"You mean my wife?" Haalfrin frowns, then shakes his head, "No, I'm not fighting with her.
To this, Das just gives an 'I don't believe you' look, but he doesn't say anything.
Haalfrin looks at Das with a stony expression, then quickly glances to the sides to make sure everyone is watching him.
Some of the citizen bystanders had begun using recording magic to capture what he says. What's about to happen here was bound to be big news! Big news makes money!
Haalfrin slowly turns back to Das and says in a voice loud enough for the crowd of onlookers to hear, "I swore to protect this world since ancient times when I became a soldier of the Threshold. I'm here to report for duty. That is all."
Without waiting for Das's agreement, Haalfrin gets down on one knee and bows his head respectfully. He unsheathes his sword and holds it above his head as an offering to Das – an old Brancotte way of a foreign knight pledging allegiance.
The citizens watching from the side get really emotional hearing this. Some of the people filming actually are choking up, and their quiet sobbing can be heard in the recordings that will go viral all over the world in a few moments.
In this time of fear – when none of them dared to step out of their houses – when they all coward away and didn't dare too look the invaders in the eye…
Right now, Haalfrin and his men are the first and last people to personally step up and offer to help with the war.
Seeing a normal, mortal man step up and offer his life to their beloved god-king really means something.
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- The Far Future -
The Divine Emperor, Imho'Reeth, suddenly hears a commotion coming from his front gate, and he teleports atop the high walls.
Seeing who the guest is, the god-emperor immediately orders for the gates to be opened for this important man.
Imho'Reeth then teleports down to the front and personally sees the guest standing there with his arms behind his back.
But who is this guest that Lord Imho'Reeth is so careful around?
The stranger is a tall man with thick muscles, yet a lanky frame fit for flexibility. He has a metal wolf helm atop his head, long pointed ears at his sides, and most importantly, the very air he exhales is thick with Death Aura.
"G-general Haalfrin!" Imho'Reeth greets warily - and of course he's wary!
General Haalfrin had caused multiple disturbances across the universe right after he became a Death god, then he just disappeared! While General Haalfrin was still a young god, he was already the strongest warrior anyone knew of…
'He's a dog of the Death King,' Imho'Reeth wonders, 'so what's he doing here? I doubt the Denizens of the Death Realms cares that much for the living world… What's he here for?'
Haalfrin immediately gets on one knee, boys his head, unsheathes his sword, and holds his sword high above his head. "I'm here to off my support, and the support of my army."
General Haalfrin then turns his head to his captains behind him, "I command all the armies of the Death Realm at the King's behest. My King offers his full cooperation in defeating Elshirothe's armies."
Emperor Imho'Reeth immediately gets emotional.
All the champions and gods of the past… Every god and valiant warrior who dies winds up in General Haalfrin's army, one way or another.
Perhaps it's because Imho'Reeth is thinking of the many friends and subordinates that he's lost over the years… but it feels good that he'll get to fight alongside them, one final time.
Barely holding back his tears, Lord Imho'Reeth bends down and lifts General Haalfrin off his feet. "Rise. And… Thank you."
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-The Present-
While all the citizens of Lareen are happy about Haalfrin showing up with his captains, Das only narrows his eyes, clearly suspicious of Haalfrin's motives. 'This must be some sort of ploy in order to get Haalfrin killed in battle!'
Das's first instinct is to send Haalfrin away immediately. In fact, he would've done that without hesitation, had it not for the crowd of Lareen onlookers, all watching this touching scene play out.
Yes, now that Haalfrin had effectively publicized his support and passionately won the hearts of the people, Das finds himself in a difficult situation.
The gears turn furiously in Das's head…, 'I know that I'm only able to be a god-king on this world, which means I need the people's faith to sustain my powers…, and without my powers, Freyya's army of fanatics will be able to take Haalfrin away easily and kill him! If I kick out Haalfrin now, I'll upset my people, which would only injure their faith in me! This isn't a time for that!'
And so, realizing that he has no other choice, Das grits his teeth and puts on a fake smile. He bends down and lifts Haalfrin up from the ground.
Das isn't quite sure why, but he instinctually opened his mouth and blurts out, "Rise. And… Thank you."
…
"When one seeks to change the future, the future will reach back and change the present." These are the first cautionary words written in any spellbook containing instructions to cast a Mantling Ritual.
Indeed, the Laws of Fate may be vague, but that is one of the more clear rules the gods have learned.
And so, just as Emperor Imho'Reeth was glad to have Haalfrin fight for him, Das too slowly changes his mind as he goes back to his room and thinks about Haalfrin's proposition some more.
'That's right. It might be better for Haalfrin to be here with me. This way, Freyya won't be able to corner Haalfrin while he's out of eyesight. Sure, the two of them are probably planning something, but I'm confident I'll be able to deal with it.'
If it weren't for the Mantling Ritual, then Das probably wouldn't never been ok with this.