The Achievement Junkie

Eedaj saw Jack teleport away, but he was certain that Jack was in critical condition based on his prior physical state. There was no telling where Jack went but Eedaj was glad that he wasn't anywhere to be found.

Tralbok grew annoyed by the darkness and flew straight up. He escaped the shadowy world to gain a better view of the distant guild grounds.

Anger burned in Tralbok's eyes. As the God of Time, he was quite prideful and Tralbok refused to believe that a mortal could avoid death by Tralbok's own hands. Adding Eedaj's pestering only fueled his anger more. That's when he spotted Lorwynn just outside of the shadowy world and smiled.

Confused, Lorwynn tried to reevaluate what had just happened and why Jack had asked for help to escape if he could just teleport away.

'Lorwynn, run!'

Harkening to Eedaj's warning, Lorwynn took off without a second thought. With Tralbok on the loose, Lorwynn didn't dare to try and get targeted unnecessarily. But it was too late for that.

Lorwynn saw Tralbok trailing him and could only sigh. Not leaving anything to chance, Lorwynn covered himself in lightning energy and rocketed away at full speed.

Three mages were zipping through the skies, one after the other. Lorwynn had the lead with his lightning magic, but Tralbok was gaining on him with more powerful wind magic. And, at the rear, was Eedaj who was forcing himself to fly faster by wasting even more mana. It wasn't ideal, but it was all the Mind God could do to keep up.

"How about you join us!" Tralbok laughed, smiling at Lorwynn. "Come on! We can always use a man of your talents."

"No thanks! If even that simple-minded berserker left you behind, then you won't have anything to offer me," Lorwynn stated while sweating and flying away.

The two bantered for a bit as Tralbok was getting closer and closer to the former champion.

Then, Lorwynn abruptly changed course straight up.

Tralbok followed, not hesitating at all. Eedaj moved to do the same, but Lorwynn telepathically warned the Mind God, 'Watch out for my attack.'

After changing his course, the lightning energy around Lorwynn become more violent in nature. That violent nature called down another four pillars of lightning, aiming at the man just behind Lorwynn.

"Not bad…" Tralbok chuckled as the lighting was about to fall upon him

With another snap of his fingers, Tralbok elegantly appeared at the side of the lightning pillars. He would've closed the distance to Lorwynn but stopped after noticing Lorwynn being guarded on all sides by the lightning.

The second passed, as did the lightning.

Both Lorwynn and Tralbok were motionless for a fraction of a moment, no closer together than they were before.

"You're as crafty as Eedaj, I'll give you that. But can you evade my attack?"

In the same place where the lightning fell, Tralbok unleashed another tornado. He chuckled as Lorwynn was dragged into the buffeting winds. However, he soon frowned.

In order to force his way back out of the tornado, Lorwynn had retrieved a new staff, one that looked eerily similar to Lyrun's staff.

That particular staff was a legendary mock-up of Lyrun's staff and a weaker version. Its barrier wasn't strong enough to take a god's full attack head-on but the barrier lasted long enough for Lorwynn to struggle out of the tornado. By then, the barrier and mock staff broke in exchange for Lorwynn's freedom.

"Oh… You're pretty entertaining… Try this one!"

Tralbok attacked again, but this time with time magic. With Time Stop, the God of Time threw himself into Lorwynn. Just to mock the former champion, Tralbok appeared before Lorwynn as the spell wore off.

With Tralbok suddenly appearing in front of him, Lorwynn failed to avoid the god's grasp anymore.

"No!" Trailing behind with lesser flight magic, Eedaj finally arrived as Lorwynn's neck was gripped by Tralbok's hand. The Mind God was about to hurl more fireballs but hesitated to throw them after forming them.

"What? Are you afraid to fight me after I gained a meat shield?" Tralbok chuckled. "So, what should I do now?"

"Tralbok…" Eedaj bit his lip, struggling with what to say next.

"You already know that I won't give him up for anyone other than your precious champion. At the same time, I know that's never going to happen. With that being said, what else is there to consider?"

While Tralbok was stating his reasons for killing the former holy champion, Lorwynn was still not giving up.

Another pillar of lightning fell from the sky, one as large as all four of the previous pillars combined. And Tralbok and Lorwynn were in the direct center of the blast.

Lorwynn didn't hesitate to target himself at the chance of striking a god, an admirable quality.

Tralbok was taken aback. But he didn't flinch either. Tralbok stored his staff and snapped his fingers again. Then, he dragged Lorwynn aside and avoided the lighting like it was child's play.

Once the lightning passed, Eedaj watched as Tralbok placed his second hand over Lorwynn's chest, already knowing what came next.

Understanding the situation, Lorwynn groaned in pain with little to no mana left. With some leftover blood in his mouth, the former holy champion spitted in Tralbok's face, finally getting the God of Time to frown.

"You… What's the meaning of this?" Tralbok asked calmly yet coldly, gripping Lorwynn's neck tighter.

"If I can't wound your body… Then at least I can wound your pride…" Lorwynn stated with a smile. "Now I can say my attacks affected you in some way."

"Well… Since you're proud of your final moments, I won't ask for any final words."

A pulse of wind energy torn into Lorwynn's chest, shedding his lungs and heart in a single, messy blow. Bits of flesh sprayed out of Lorwynn's back as he spitted and coughed up even more blood onto Tralbok as his final attack on the god's pride.

Unhappy with the mess on his clothes, Tralbok scoffed and tossed Lorwynn's lifeless body aside.

The corpse fell undeterred from high above the battlefield.

Both Dragov and Dradich had almost finished the slaughter when they noticed the falling corpse. Dradich made sure to catch Lorwynn's body while Dragov finished the army in rage. The wyrm then hurried back toward the city wall, intent on searching if there were some means of resurrecting Lorwynn.

Motionless and speechless, Eedaj stared up at Tralbok. He couldn't do anything but attempt to contain Tralbok's speed, and Tralbok's use of time magic only added to the obscene difficulty.

Tralbok, on the other hand, wasn't focusing on Eedaj. The God of Time was looking around for his next victim. He understood that Eedaj could struggle in a fight, but Tralbok would rather watch Eedaj struggle even more while he picked off the most significant forces of the neutral gods.

"Hmm… Who's next?" Tralbok asked aloud, mocking Eedaj's ability to stop him. "Doesn't your hero have his own party? Oh, he has wives too…"

Eedaj remained quiet but it didn't stop Tralbok from spotting someone that made even Tralbok's eyes go wide. "That… Yes, that's who I'll kill next…"

Still reading Tralbok's mind, Eedaj turned around and took off for the west gate of the city. But Tralbok did so as well, gaining the lead this time. Not wanting to see this happen again, Eedaj shouted, "Bowzer! Run!"

But… the fox remained where he stood, howling in pain. While in the middle of evolving, how could Bowzer reply, let alone control himself?

"A much more compliant target…" Tralbok chuckled, gathering more wind around his hand yet again.

Throwing everything he had, Eedaj did his best to keep Tralbok occupied but utterly failed. He couldn't even touch the God of Time now that Tralbok was getting serious. Like moments before, Eedaj could only watch and shout as Tralbok threw another attack.

As the vicious wind blade sliced through the air, Bowzer howled. The Hell-flame Fox did his best to move aside but could only increase his flames as his evolution continued.

Those white flames burst with explosive force, turning half black and half white. Then, suddenly, pitch-black flames erupted, engulfing Bowzer's entire flame body as the wind blade also entered the hellfire.