Chapter 339: Negotiating With God (3)

*On the other side*

Phineas POV

I crouch amid the chaos, frustration gnawing at me and eating me up from the inside. God's words echo in my mind, urging me to stay back and to hold my ground for now.

My sword clenched tightly in hand, I watch as the battle rages on, my instincts itching to join the fight. But the knowledge that a greater enemy awaits keeps me stuck in place as my superiors stopped me due to God's words, keeping me here a reluctant observer in the face of this turmoil.

The clash of steel and the cries of the wounded intensify, and I struggle to quell the impatience that burns within, I've never felt so helpless. God told me that my destiny was to help stop the calamity, I prayed everyday, and it was revealed to me that the calamity may be Perseus Silver, the man who possesses the power of the light bringer, though it was only a possibility, I was told to save my strength.

Every fiber of my being longs to charge into the fray, to unleash my strength and fight alongside my comrades, and yet the weight of my sword feels like an anchor, reminding me of my obedience to the divine command. It's maddening, this forced restraint while my allies spill their blood to enemies who go against our beliefs.

We didn't attack that cathedral, and despite managing to hold on thus far...we are losing, those heroes joined in against us. We've invited them many times to talk with us and maybe even possibly join us, but they called us a cult, and they accused us of racism.

They aren't wrong, our values are different from theirs, and many of us are still discriminating against the heroes that don't look like us, they excluded those heroes and called them lesser beings, it isn't right, but no matter how hard I tried, my allies don't back down from their beliefs, and we now earned hostility from the divine saviors.

The battlefield's chaos mirrors the turmoil within me, torn between my duty to obey and my desire to protect. As I stay hidden, the taste of frustration only grows stronger, a bitter reminder of the enemy I can't yet confront and the sacrifices demanded by this decision to abide by God's command.

A surge of anger rises, directed both at myself and the heavens above. How can I just watch as lives are lost, as hope dwindles on this battlefield? The urgency to act, to make a difference, claws at my mind like a relentless predator.

Yet, I cling to the words that resonated with such authority: 'Hold back, for your true enemy still awaits.' The ache in my muscles matches the ache in my heart as I resist the impulse to leap into the fray. I yearn for clarity, for the understanding that will justify this inaction. Until then, I remain hidden, a storm of frustration and determination churning within me.

What if Perseus isn't the calamity? What if I stayed away from the battlefield for nothing? God, I know that I shouldn't doubt you...but it's creeping in, and I can't stop it.

*****

*Present, on the cruise ship*

Perseus POV

After a short and wild back and forth between me and that old man, Dawn took me to the lounge's pantry and locked us in and tried to calm me down, because by arguing, we're lowering our chances.

We left Buddy with him, hoping that the cute guy and keep him company and maybe lower his stance a bit, but I also need the fox to calm me down.

Me? A calamity? Sure, why not. This guy, the supposed perfect being, made assumptions based on possibilities of what he's seen, if he's truly the Almighty or whatever, shouldn't he KNOW what's going to happen and resolve it beforehand with a perfect solution with 0 casualties?

I'm doing everyone's job here, the heroes are dumbasses, Lachlan's a bit of an asshole who plans on almost human extinction and human slavery, and yet the guy with a weird twisted sense of morals and justice is in the center doing everything.

"This is going nowhere as anyone expected." Dawn said

"No shit."

"You're not gonna stress eat because we're in the pantry, are you?"

"No, I got a physique to maintain."

"You can always run the calories off since you're like the real-life version of the Flash."

"Fair enough, hand me a chocolate bar."

She then searches through the pantry, got the whole box and we then sat on the floor while discussing our next course of action.

"...He doesn't need anything we offer, he's simply scared of the risk of you being the so-called calamity." Dawn said, "And the risk of bringing outside help made him even more scared."

"I can always offer a soul contract."

"No, he'll provide some loose terms and may find some loophole whenever he wants, can't risk it. Besides, he's right, we'll cause a lot of casualties and we'll care-well, you'll care less since you don't necessarily like this world."

"I'm not that heartless, but...he also doesn't seem convinced that the other Perseus will kill me if things go wrong, so we might wanna come up with a quick contingency plan against me since I apparently am the calamity."

"The simplest plan would be to convince him to give you some sort of test." Dawn suggested, "We can let him access your memories and assess you himself to see whether you are qualified to use the device."

"That's...invasion of privacy, but okay. I rather not have that."

"What choice do we have? Try and steal it from his dead corpse?"

"Well it's easier to wait for Cain to try and steal it and we'll then steal it from his hands. Look, I know we can convince him of this memory invasion plan, but I rather not have a guy peering through my life, I'm already as introverted as it is."

"If you let him do it, I'll have sex with you."

"No."

"I'll convince God to give you his blessing and make you stronger in exchange."

"Fine...you're disappointed that I rejected your advances, aren't you?"

"No need to point out the obvious, I'll have you twirling around my finger soon enough."