The Achievement Junkie

"Where's Naparn?!"

Halmut's roar left everyone below astounded. The common citizens on the ground were blown away by the sudden disappearance of a holy god. As for the other holy gods, they had mixed feelings. Some were terrified and realized that any one of them could've been taken away while others were trying to imagine how Naparn had been abducted so silently.

"What did you do, Moranti?!" Halmut shouted, finally showing some true, unscripted rage.

Laughing, Moranti replied, "I didn't do anything. A colleague of mine simply asked if I could bring him here and make a scene. I had a feeling this would happen but he's the one who acted, not me. Apart from fighting you, I've done nothing."

"Then tell me, where is Naparn?!"

"How should I know? I wasn't even the one who transported them away. And knowing him, I'm sure my colleague covered his tracks. He finally found a chance at getting revenge so we can both be sure that interfering won't be easy," reasoned Moranti. "But even if we knew where they went, that doesn't change our situation."

Halmut roared again, "Out of my way Moranti! I must--"

"You'll leave all the others here unprotected?" questioned the Spectral Dragon, causing Halmut to pause his fury. "Sure, go ahead. I guess Naparn is worth the lives of some of these weaker gods."

Without waiting for Halmut's response, Moranti teleported away. He reappeared a couple of hundred meters above the spectating gods, letting spatial energy and purple flames coat his scythe. A simple swing of the elongated blade created a hundred-meter long attack that carved the sky and threatened the lives of the weaker gods below.

Lyrun had already prepared his defenses but he kept his barrier to himself. The Elven God wouldn't underestimate Moranti's attack and attempt to block it entirely. But he was confident in his ability to withstand the portion of energy targeting himself.

Grixor also defended himself, leaving the others without any aid of the defensive specialists.

However, Halmut rushed downward and tanked the giant slashing attack with the aid of his breath attack. The Sun God healed the minimal damage he took and frowned deeply at God of Space overhead.

"Moranti! Leave now or die forever!"

"Oh… That's quite the threat but can you back it up?" Moranti asked, already preparing another attack. "I've yet to meet anyone who could fulfill such a statement. Are you just mad that Skaryn likes me more as a companion than he ever did you?"

"Moranti…" Numerous energies danced around Halmut's body as he rushed Moranti. "Hurry up and die!"

"You'll have to catch me first!" laughed the God of Space.

Taking a more defensive tactic, Moranti teleported away from the Sun God. His figure reappeared high in the sky where they were dueling not long ago.

While Halmut chased after Moranti with mind-boggling speed, some of the other holy gods had other plans. They didn't like being used as a burden to Halmut and hated to be in a situation where they were clearly threatened.

Torian was the first to act. The Thundering God doused his body in lightning and wind energies, rocketing away from the scene. He planned to rush on Trodar, where he would either find Naparn or a weakened line of defense. But Torian's plans were dashed when Moranti suddenly appeared before him with a glowing, burning scythe.

"Get back!" Halmut ordered, rushing to intercept the attack while pushing his own man back toward the other holy gods. "I gave no order to leave! You'll all sit and wait for Moranti's death!"

"But your excellence--"

"I said wait!"

Torian said nothing more to complain. He obediently gathered with the other hoy gods, some of which were also returning as they had wanted to flee the scene as well.

Moranti laughed as some more small burns appeared on his scales. "You've trained your mutts well, Halmut. Whenever they dare acton their own, you give a holler and they're back to doing whatever you say."

"Enough of that! Just flee now or die, Moranti! I'm tired of your existence!" Halmut roared, combining his breath attack with the charge of his bladed scepter.

After slicing through the breath attack, Moranti's scythe collided with Halmut's scepter. Both found themselves in a gridlock of attacks.

"Your scythe is stronger… how so?" asked Halmut.

Moranti frowned, replying, "That's because of you…"

"Oh… You finally used your own kind as fuel for strength?"

"Wrong… The corpses of my people were used to strengthen me so that I could avenge them properly. Had you not slaughtered them, then maybe you'd actually kill me today," stated Moranti, still frowning.

Halmut nodded, "I see… At least you've still got the right mindset. Why side with the worthless neutral gods? Without you, they're nothing to fear, so why be a slave to their cause?"

"What I seek isn't power. I want vengeance first and power second," answered Moranti. "Sadly, I can't get those two things in that order. But siding with them has put me closer than ever to my goal. Siding with you would be the same as killing myself because you're too afraid of my ability to surpass you."

"That's a fair evaluation, but not completely true. Would I fear your potential to grow over the potential threat of the rampant neutral gods overall?" Halmut reasoned.

"Oh? Are you admitting you're afraid of Sterfen?"

"No!" shouted Halmut. "As a collective, are they not more of a nuisance than you've ever been? If we teamed up, then nothing could stop us, including Skaryn."

"I thought you took care of Skaryn? That's what you just announced to the world. So why plan something for his sake?" Moranti asked, making sure everyone spectating could hear him.

Halmut shook his head. "It's the best comparison I could imagine, but that doesn't mean he's a threat anymore."

"What? Are you implying that someone else will reach that same level?" Moranti asked, still speaking loudly.

Not answering, Halmut charged his breath attack at point-blank. He didn't want to offer the God of Space any more fuel to rile up the people, not after failing to sway Moranti yet again.