The Achievement Junkie

Pestro was losing his patience fighting Rikko. He wanted so bad to kill the goblin, but he was starting to believe that he would never get the chance to in a head-to-head match.

However, Rikko's trash talk was god-tier and drove the raging barbarian further into rage with each passing second.

What Pestro didn't know or suspect was that Eedaj had escaped from his fight against Tralbok and was waiting nearby. That was something that Rikko hid well by distracting Pestro with more witty, simple-minded banter.

Waiting at the tree line, Eedaj tried to think of how he could best use his surprise attack.

'Eedaj what take long?' Rikko asked. 'Use fire illusion. Together we rush Pestro.'

'But--'

'If Kori fight Tralbok, we need end Pestro fast. Rikko no want Tralbok save Pestro again.'

Agreeing with the goblin, Eedaj sighed before throwing a couple of invisible fireballs and casting invisibility on himself.

Like before, Pestro sensed the incoming invisible fireballs and slashed them apart. But Rikko slid past Pestro's defenses at the same time to lad a few quick blows.

Baffled, Pestro looked around for Eedaj but failed to find the Mind God. "Eedaj?! What are you--"

"Pay attention or Rikko kill Pestro!" Rikko snickered, slicing toward the Demon God's neck.

Not wanting to tank that targeted attack, Pestro stepped back and ceased his yelling. But there was no way that Pestro would forget about the unseeable threat looming around him. An invisible Eedaj with invisible fireballs was a terrifying support when combined with Rikko's fast jabs and stabs. Pestro realized that he had been trapped yet again and there was no escaping with Rikko running at top speed.

"Then just die!"

Pestro snarled as the black clouds over Gilga expanded to cover the northern forest. Hideous black lightning started to fall upon the battlefield, threatening both of Pestro's opponents.

Rikko didn't find it too difficult to deal with thanks to his overwhelming speed but Eedaj felt his mobility reduce drastically. Though he could remain invisible, now Eedaj couldn't run around the battlefield willy-nilly and attack from wherever he wanted. It worked well at minimizing Eedaj's potential threat while he remained invisible.

"Too slow!" Rikko chuckled, storing the halberd and retrieving his own two personal daggers. Lighting coat one blade and wind coat the other as the goblin started to get into a rhythm.

The Goblin God rushed again, not worried about Eedaj. He lunged at Pestro as fast as lightning with his electrified dagger.

Dodging the blow the best he could, Pestro defended with one of his swords while backstepping slightly. The Demon God prepared for the second attack that he was certain would follow.

And just as Pestro expected, Rikko threw another attack. Literally, he threw his knife mid-swing.

Pestro was baffled as the Goblin God threw the blade mid-swing to extend his range and land a blow. It meant giving up that dagger, but the dagger covered in wind kept its course and bore into Pestro's shoulder.

"See! Rikko kill Pestro if need," joked the goblin, tossing his second sword back and forth between his two hands.

Pestro grunted, acting like it was nothing as he resumed his barrage of sword attacks.

That attack didn't deal much damage but it was carefully lodged in Pestro's shoulder. And thanks to the jagged teeth on the back of the daggers, Pestro didn't want to remove the dagger without reason. Plus, by not removing it, Pestro kept Rikko from wielding both daggers and minimized the attacks that Rikko could make.

"Pestro want keep dagger?" Rikko frowned as he evaded the Demon God.

"That was nothing! Go ahead and try it again if you'd like!"

Pestro did his best to steer Rikko toward the strikes of lightning but failed as the nimble goblin managed to avoid each bolt raining down around him. It was impressive, even to Pestro.

All the while, Rikko smiled playfully. "Okay… But if Pestro want dagger, Rikko make Pestro pay…"

Not knowing what Rikko was planning now, Pestro kept his eyes peeled on the goblin. But by the time Pestro realized what Rikko was after, it was too late.

The knife in Pestro's shoulder suddenly heated up, becoming red-hot in less than a second. The aroma of sizzling flesh filled the air, causing Pestro and his sensitive nose to flinch back. But the knife started to turn around in Pestro's arm, tearing the Demon God's muscles and ligaments apart.

Finally, Pestro attempted to pull the blade out but it was ripped from his shoulder before he could grip the dagger.

Standing before him was Eedaj, now making himself visible with the red-hot dagger gripped in his flaming hand. A sight that left Pestro mortified, especially after he lost feeling in his right arm.

"See! Pestro always pay!" laughed Rikko, still resuming his attack. "Pestro die soon, so bye-bye!"

Rikko's dagger coated in lighting was thrust again and again, keeping Pestro on his toes as the hulking man escaped the attacks with scratches and cuts. The pacing of the fight was completely one-sided now. Pestro's momentum was completely overtaken.

Eedaj cooled down the knife and passed it back to Rikko, letting the tag team face the crippled Demon God full-force. Other than Eedaj's low mana, the two gods comboed well to keep Pestro on the ropes. They played with him, letting him evade killing blows with minor scratches.

"Too bad Pestro no fun… Rikko need end it now!"

With both daggers getting coated in lightning and wind, Pestro readied his one able arm and weapon to defend. As Rikko charged, Pestro tried to parry one blow and allow the second attack to hit Pestro's side, a place where the attack wouldn't cripple the Demon God further.

The parry was successful and Rikko's second attack was going as Pestro planned as well. But when a hand suddenly gripped Pestro's head all alarms went off as Pestro had experienced that same grip not too long ago.

"Eedaj--"

"Cerebral Collapse!"

"AAAAaaaaAAaaaahhHHHhh…"

Falling over, Pestro's body flopped and was left ragged. Pestro's mind was mostly intact but he couldn't feel his body at all. The only sensation that Pestro felt were his eyes and sliver of mobility with his mouth. All other hopes of movement were dashed as Pestro was hit for the second time by Eedaj's attack.

The false Eedaj behind Rikko faded as Eedaj no longer hid his true self, letting his real body become visible over Pestro.

Snickering and dancing, Rikko waltzed over and removed his dagger from Pestro's side, which Pestro couldn't even feel anymore. "See! Pestro pay for everything!"

"You… won't…"

"We'll get away with it," stated Eedaj, knowing exactly what Pestro wanted to say. "Tralbok is busy handling someone else at the moment, so don't expect him to show up again and reverse the situation."

"W-Who…" Pestro asked, trying to cling to some semblance of hope.

"Sadly for Tralbok, he chose the wrong person to target. Tralbok started to pick off people instead of facing me." Eedaj explained, "He tried to kill Jack but failed. Then, he managed to chase down and kill Lorwynn, but I believe he'll be back up soon thanks to the quick thinking of the guild. And finally, Tralbok targeted the Hell-flame Fox that happens to be Jack's companion. Would you like to guess the parent of that Hell-flame Fox?"

"... No… way…"

"Yes, way," continued Eedaj. "In fact, just before Tralbok could kill the young fox, Kori rushed out of the Leisure Guild to take Tralbok head-on. I guess he had snuck in as one of the new recruits to keep an eye on his son. He didn't plan to make a move though, as it would go against his contract with Halmut. But how could he watch his only son die before his eyes after losing his wife already?"

Pestro said nothing else. The Demon God closed his eyes and tried to take it all in while not offering Rikko any more satisfaction.