Chapter 57
Hina the High Priestess had decided it would be appropriate to host a party at the Sacred Temple, this gigantic greek-roman-style building was located in the middle of the city, rising up as tall and mighty as Zeus' temple, it had purple banners decorating the front with the symbol of a laurel etched in golden threats.
When the evening sun struck at just the right angle, the entire building seemed to radiate a holy aura. It was truly a beautiful sight to behold.
'...But this is a little bit too unnecessary.' Theodore thought uncomfortably as he watched his teammates hang out with the rest of the heroes, everyone on scene was invited to the celebration, so it became extremely lively within the temple. 'This doesn't seem appropriate…But I guess Hina does sort of own the place…'
He was standing in the farthest corner of the room at that moment, using his Demon Arts to conceal his presence from others, because of the cheery atmosphere, no one tried looking for him just yet. Theodore thought he should use this as an opportunity to be alone before he's eventually dragged out on stage.
'This is why I don't like parties…They're so…loud and annoying.' He took a sip from his bright red cup, tasting the sweetness of punch juice in his mouth. 'I would rather go hunt monsters…Heck, I would eat raw rats for a whole week if I must.'
It was weird, but Theodore had found out that raw meat didn't taste all that bad, it wasn't hard to guess that it was because of his non-human nature.
"Theodore."
"Wha—" His head instantly snapped towards the voice, out of everyone inside the temple, there's no mage strong enough to see through his illusions and he instantly became on guard when someone suddenly called his name.
It was a teenage boy, he had curly golden locks that flowed to his earlobes, his eyes were the same color as his hair, although looking closer, they seem to be giving off a soft glow. His clothings weren't anything special either, just a simple white t-shirt and jeans, covered by a brown trench coat that was way too big to fit his small stature, the boy was barely able to reach Theodore's shoulders.
At first, he was confused as to why this kid suddenly came up to him, but then he sensed something familiar about the teen. Frowning, he narrowed his eyes and asked. "...You're Asclepius, right?"
"Oh my! Your senses have gotten a lot keener!" Asclepius clasped his hands together and smiled brightly, like a proud parent being happy about their grown-up child. "Yessir! It's me, Asclepius—But I'll save us all the unnecessary chit-chat and get straight to the point."
"Straight to the point?"
The medicine god chuckled, hands still clasped together. "First of all…You absolutely rekt Zeus, I know he was in his possession form but you totally sent him back ashamed! Olympus became very lively because of you."
Theodore was just wondering what sort of method Zeus had used to descend onto earth, but it seemed that he just had a suitable meat suit candidate ready just like Ra.
"But that's why you need to be careful," Asclepius continued, his joyful tone suddenly turning dark. "You only took away twenty percent of Zeus' total strength, and Greek Gods have their way of getting a ton of devoted worshippers, it wouldn't take long until Zeus possesses another person and comes back for revenge."
"Ah that reminds me…" Theodore suddenly had a disturbing thought, his expression turning into a frown the moment it scraped through his mind. "What happened to the human? I killed Zeus but the body just—"
"Don't worry about that, once a god possesses the body for a certain amount of time, the soul disappears." Asclepius waved like he thought the topic didn't matter at all. "Most of them are crazed devotees…They're willing to commit suicide if it meant speeding up the possession process."
"There are such people…?"
"Of course, the gods have always been clever and cunning, they always find a way to cheat the system." Asclepius sighed before suddenly raising his hands up defensively, realizing that 'he' was also a god. "But um…I didn't take anyone's body to come here…I used spiritualization—My purpose is to send you a message so a physical body isn't needed."
Theodore was about to question why the god had chosen to wear a teenage boy's appearance, not to mention his shabby clothing, but he decided to focus on the other matter first. "So is there something else that you wanted to tell me?"
"Ah yes!" Asclepius snapped his fingers, his eyes widened slightly when he was reminded of what he wanted to say. "I suggest you travel to the divine world, you'll be facing a much more powerful version of Zeus but this way no innocent lives will be used for his descension."
Theodore stared blankly at Asclepius. "...Did you hear yourself speak? You want me to confront the King of Olympus directly?"
"I mean, aren't you a god now too? You basically robbed Apophis' title and powers. I always considered the Egyptians to be more powerful anyway because of their ancient history…"
"That doesn't mean I'm strong enough to go against someone with eons of experience."
Both of them became dead silent…
"But still!" Asclepius half-heartedly threw his hands around. "You could always try other strategies…! Like…Like recruiting other gods to fight with you!"
"And why would they cooperate with me?" His eye brows rose with contempt, getting annoyed that Asclepius was still trying to get him to fight a losing battle.
"Have you heard that the Olympians tried to turn on Zeus before? They failed! But if you were to show up…They'll surely help you for the sake of winning the throne!"
"You know, I've always wondered…" Theodore gave Asclepius a cold stare as he crossed his arms. "If you're so fixated on killing Zeus, why are you letting 'me' deal the finishing blow?"
"..." The medicine god didn't reply immediately. "I would…love to…but I'll be satisfied with just knowing that he's gone."
"Coward."
"What?"
"I said you're a coward." Theodore frowned. "You're scared of going up against your oppressor, you feared the power of the lightning, yet you still wanted Zeus dead. If you have the resolve to think about that, why not push a little further and go beyond just watching someone else get rid of him?"
"I—"
"Fine, I'll go to the divine world." Theodore lowered his arms and sighed, expression still stern as his golden eyes locked with Asclepius'. "But in return, you'll be the one to kill Zeus."
.
.
.
The medicine god had gone back to his realm right after and Theodore was left alone standing in the corner while thinking about his next plan of actions. '...Directly facing the gods…Man, what has all of this turned into…'
Getting Zeus out of the picture should be a priority at this current time, considering that Theodore had no idea where Ra had run to, it would be worse if the two gods managed to reunite again and cause more damage.
'While the humans were freed from Zeus' influence…The powers bestowed to them disappeared as well.'
Ra might use it to his advantage by sending a tide of monsters towards them, and since Theodore needed to go to the divine world, safety wouldn't be guaranteed for the people here.
'I'll need to leave this to Frey and my friends, but can they cover the entire city's ground?'
But Theodore still has a bunch of tricks up his sleeves.
'What if I use Caller of Ragnarok?'
He can command the monsters with that power, but it's supposed to be an area of effect combat skill, so he wasn't sure if they would still be in his control after a certain amount of time.
'Besides, the skill isn't strong enough to cover the entire world yet.'
He could try and use the Skill Points to level it up, but he wanted to think of a more surefire approach.
'This is annoying…Maybe the best way is to get rid of Zeus quickly and come back? I'm just being cautious anyway…Ra might not even think about sending monsters to us.'
But then again, unpredictability is a dangerous weapon.
Either way, Theodore decided that he could try and contact Apophis again, strategizing with someone who knew about his strengths and abilities would be better than going in blind. There were still a bunch of powers that he didn't know how to use.
'There might be something useful for this current situation.'
Theodore dismissed the cloaking spell and walked back into the party, throwing his empty cup into the nearest bin he could see and met up with his friends. "Merlin, Eugene, I got to talk to you for a second."
"Hm? What's up?" Merlin turned from the food table, still with a mouth full of fried chicken.
"My next plan…"
.
.
.
Eugene hummed with a frown, nodding along after Theodore had finished explaining to them about his plan. "It's a good idea to snub out the sprout before it can grow."
"So you're going to leave immediately?" Merlin looked disappointed, he glanced around the grand hall as if to say that Theo should stay for the sake of courtesy, after all, they'd gone out of their way to host a party for him.
"It's not like I wanted them to do all this," Theodore sighed. "Besides, it's an important matter, I can't let my guard down."
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Okay fine, but before that, you need to help me and Eugene absorb the stupid orb you gave us."
Theodore went quiet for a moment. "...Sure, I might be gone for a while anyway."
He gestured for the two of them to follow him, heading out of the main hall looking to find them a suitable place. Eventually, he picked an empty guest room not too far down the corridor.
When all of them were seated on the sofa, Merlin took out the status orb from a shoulder bag that he'd been carrying around, it was still giving off the eerie aura of the undead dragon. "This thing is creepy as hell…"
Theodore looked at the orb and scanned it with True Dragon Eyes.
<
'Show me the abilities that B rank awakens can take.'
With a single thought, another panel appeared in front of him, showing twelve skills that Merlin and Eugene could possibly consume.
<
"Hm…What sort of skills do you two want?" Theodore looked up from the screen. "There's a bunch of useful ones here but I need to know if both of you have something specific in mind."
Merlin looked off to the side as he thought about it for a moment. "To be honest, not really, as an archer all you really need is good accuracy and a good bow…All of which I already have."
"I don't know either," Eugene leaned back against the couch, crossing his arms. "The axe you gave me practically carried my B rank ass…I don't really need anything else, so just pick one out for me I guess."
"Yeah, I don't mind it either." Merlin nodded.
Theodore hummed before going back to the skill panel, since he was given the opportunity, he should pick the abilities that would match his friends' fighting style.
'Archers…they rely most on distance…' Theodore's eyes landed on a particular skill. 'If an opponent manages to close that distance, there's nothing an archer could do.'
< (Levels and rank have been reduced to fit the requirements.)
Lvl. 1
Rank: B+
Type: Active Skill
Requirement for Upgrade: Usage.
MP Cost: 20-150 MP.
Cooldown: Depends on application (2-180 seconds)
Description: Darkness responds to the user's commands, those with the Shadow Dominion skill can manipulate shadows. Depending on their mastery, this skill will either forever be stuck as a utility spell or become something powerful and sinister.
Bonus Effect: Increase resistance to darkness-based attacks. Gains additional stealth when in dark areas or when the skill is used. Decrease mana consumption when using darkness-based skills.>>
"Merlin, I'll let you have the Shadow Dominion skill."
"Eh? What does it do?" Merlin tilted his head curiously.
"I think you lack defensive skills, if someone manages to get close to you, you're practically dead. Shadow Dominion, if used correctly, can support you or become a backup attack."
"If you think I lack defenses…Why not choose something else?"
Theodore couldn't help but smile. "Because if you train Shadow Dominion to a certain point, I can teach you 'Shadow Warp'."
This instantly caught Merlin's attention, his eyes widened with both surprise and awe, his expression practically spoke for itself how excited he was. "Shadow Warp? That means I can potentially teleport? There's no way I'm not taking that!"
"Hey, what about me?" Eugene frantically pointed at himself, it seemed that he wanted something cool to use as well.
"For you, Eugene, I think Reaper's Gaze is perfect."
< (Levels and rank have been reduced to fit the requirements.)
Lvl. 1
Rank: B+
Type: Active Skill
Requirement for Upgrade: Defeating enemies using the skill.
MP Cost: 50 MP
Cooldown: 30 Seconds.
Description: The skill allows the user to see the best way to kill. It enhances the user's sight to an extreme degree that can help guide them to the opponent's weak spot, it appears in the form of dots and lines.
Bonus Effect: Reaper's Gaze makes the user sensitive to death of both the user themself or of their surroundings.>>
"You're a Beastman, practically one of the best fighting-type classes out of all that's known," Theodore began to explain his choice. "You have good attacking skills, decent defenses, and okay speed. But since I don't see anything that can increase your agility…I believe having something that allows you to be efficient in your hunt would be a good substitute."
"So what does Reaper's Gaze do exactly?" Eugene sounded excited, he already had his guess judging from the name, but he wanted to hear it from someone who could directly read the skill's description instead.
"It allows you to see the best path to kill something," Theodore replied. "It also enhances your senses, basically, if you feel malicious intent or danger, the skill will heighten your instincts."
Eugene placed a hand to his chin. "Combine that with my animal instinct, wouldn't that mean I can essentially predict attacks?"
"In theory, yes."
"That's awesome!" Eugene clasped his hands together. "So…How do we absorb the skill?"
Theodore moved the panel to the side of his vision before looking at his friends. "I'm not sure how humans consume status orbs…Because I just eat it."
"Then are we supposed to do the same?"
Theodore thought about it for a moment, he didn't know what would happen if he snapped the orb in half, and even if it didn't just disappear, having Merlin and Eugene eat something like that would be too risky.
But then he suddenly had an idea.
"Actually, here's a better plan," Theodore activated a Serpent's Arcane's spell and green smoke erupted from his hand before enveloping the entire orb.
[Your title as God of Chaos and Order has assisted you.]
[You have learned a Spell of the Gods: God's Blessing.]
[Serpent's Arcane: God's Blessing.]
Theodore subconsciously smiled, satisfied with the result. 'Since I absorbed Apophis' status, bestowing skills shouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities.'
He focused on controlling the spell and a magic circle each appeared in front of Merlin and Eugene, although it wasn't an ordinary circle, its emerald green outlines gleamed with divinity and the lines all connected themselves to form the shape of a serpent.
[You have consumed the Status Orb.]
[The Skill 'Shadow Dominion' has been bestowed to 'Merlin Everhart'.]
[The Skill 'Reaper's Gaze' has been bestowed to 'Eugene Brooks'.]
When those notifications ended, the orb in Theodore's hand broke apart before disappearing into dust along with the magic circles.
Merlin looked down at his hands before turning towards Eugene. "Do you feel different?"
The brunet scratched his head. "Well, not real—"
'!!!'
Both Theodore and Eugene both stood up just as the entire room began to shake violently, there were sounds of people screaming coming from outside. "...What's this eerie feeling?"
"Reaper's Gaze." Theodore replied as he moved towards the door, but then he would suddenly move back when it abruptly exploded off of its hinges.
When the smoke cleared, a tall muscular man stood in between the broken door frame, he was dressed as if he didn't know what clothes were with a tiger's hide draped across his shoulders and a dirty cloth substituting his pants, which were being held up by a make-shift belt made from fangs and carved-out bones, and his long brown hair was equally as messy as his choice of attire.
The man had his gigantic greatsword embedded into the ground in front of him as he stared at Theodore with his animal-like black eyes. "So you're the rumored Winter Frost Mage?"
< HP: 1,150,000/1,150,000
Status Condition: None.
Species: Awakened Human
Age: 34
Rank: S
Class: Berserker
Specialty: Heavy weaponry. Unparalleled attack prowess.
Equipment: Herculean Greatsword (A+).
Elements: [Can be unlocked through visual exposure.]
[There are other viewable information.]>>
"...Who are you?" Theodore stood on his guard, narrowing his eyes, he would have no problem defeating this person even if they're S rank, but since there'd been no announcements of an S rank awakened so far…
He could only guess that they're from Gabriel Griffin's S rank army.
'When I raided the building, there were only some A ranks…So I thought it was just some rumors.'
And judging by the fact that he could still hear the noise of battle in the distance, it seemed that Vincent wasn't the only person who'd crashed the party either.
"Me?" Vincent's lips curled up into a smirk, he plucked his weapon out of the ground before pointing it towards Theodore, declaring out loud in a Berserker-worthy voice. "I'm going to be the one to crush you!"