The Achievement Junkie

"Holy gods turned what?" Jack asked.

"While you were in the dungeon, a lot has taken place," stated Daruun. "To put everything briefly, I'll list the events and their significances. First off, two wars broke out that resulted in Reinolt and Aazoon both vanishing from the world map."

"What?!"

"Don't worry, your friends interfered and created much more desirable outcomes," corrected Daruun. "Both fights occurred at the same time, splitting your friends and the gods into two fronts. It was in Reinolt that Jin was overwhelmed by Grixor and captured. But in Aazoon, Sterfen killed Sybin as well. Apart from the killing of two Flood Dragons and three Magma Dragons, Rikko also stole Naparn's sword with your father's help.

"These two battles ended in favor of the Leisure Guild but Moranti and Sterfen both visited Olympic Chateau to trade Sybin's corpse and Naparn's sword for Jin. However, knowing that Halmut never liked to be on the losing end of an exchange, Jin took the initiative to kill himself while also attempting to stab Halmut in the heart," Daruun added, shocking Jack and Duorda. "Though Jin failed to do much to Halmut, Jin did manage to keep Halmut from getting Jin's storage or any EXP from killing the samurai.

Taking a moment to mentally digest those events, Jack stammered, "That's…"

"That was the first event. And it ended in the trade being successful and Jin's revival at lv. 89 and Sybin's revival at lv. 93."

"Huh? But how can--"

"The reason a god isn't revived to their former level is due to the lack of pure cosmic energy after their revival. Halmut substituted that cosmic energy using some of the stimulants he had on hand," explained Daruun.

"But this shouldn't have been done. Sure, it allows her to be revived to her former level, but it also makes her strength more shallow than ever before. By now, I'm sure she's felt the difference in her current mana capacity and her mana capacity before her death. Sybin is silent about it but she can tell that her body's vitality and mana are almost foreign. She doesn't know this, but that means of resurrection can result in her body becoming unrevivable, even to a mortal level."

"So, there's no way to revive a god or, better put, a cosmician?" asked Jack, somewhat unsettled to learn that.

Daruun nodded slightly. "There is, but it either takes a powerful cosmician specialized in resurrection, or some incredibly rare items or rituals. On Kartonia, only Duorda can do that but the ritual isn't immediate. It can take days to properly revive a cosmician. Now, if Duorda still had his previous strength, that would be a different story."

Jack blinked as Daruun continued and smiled wide, "Before I assigned Duorda to Kartonia, I had to reduce his strength and then place a limiter within his body. This wasn't too difficult as he's a construct and it allowed me to place a highly experienced, former cosmician as a gauge for a successor."

"How many stars did he have before?" Jack asked, catching on that Duorda should've been a one-star. The hero had thought it was weird that, compared to Daruun being a six-star, Duorda had served Daruun while being so weak, at least till now.

"I was a four-star!" Duorda boomed and puffed out his ribcage. "You should feel honored to have faced me and won, though your tactics weren't exactly honorable."

"Hey, all that matters is that I beat you," Jack argued.

"Calm down, Jack. You won, fair and square. In reality, victory is victory, no matter how you earned it. Some paths to victory may eventually come with consequences, such as Halmut's fight against Skaryn, but their victory can't be discounted either," stated Daruun.

"By the way, what exactly did Skaryn do to Halmut at the end?"

"Oh, that? It's a seal that Skaryn developed but wasn't allowed to utilize outside of certain circumstances," answered Daruun. "But those circumstances were met during the fight, so I don't blame Skaryn for using such a dirty trick. In fact, I appreciate what he's done."

"But--"

"Jack, you know that Halmut's body doesn't process raw cosmic energy as it should, thanks to his use of faux-ore. But does that explain his lack of pressure for five hundred years?" asked Daruun.

"I thought that had something to do with Halmut's injury and the threat that Moranti posed," reasoned Jack.

"True, those two factors played a part. But neither was the key factor. The most underlying reason for Halmut's absence was that hidden seal placed over Halmut. It's something he doesn't want anyone to know about." Daruun explained, "Think of it this way. It was during the Godly War that it was most likely for other gods to gain EXP, right? But how would Halmut feel if he lost the ability to absorb EXP and cosmic energy altogether?"

"No… You mean…"

Nodding, Daruun continued, "Yes, that's exactly it. Skaryn failed to seal Halmut's mana and strength but Skaryn succeeded in sealing Halmut's future. Of course, Jewel and Gem Inc have ways to remove the seal but they currently have no one able to physically visit Halmut. To do that, they would need to send a three-star, which would draw far too much unwanted attention within your precinct and zone."

"Then Halmut has to leave Kartonia to get healed but can't leave until he becomes a two-star, which is impossible given his circumstances. And Halmut was afraid that someone else might pass him should they manage to kill other gods as Halmut had originally planned," deduced Jack.

"Correct," Daruun agreed. "But that doesn't mean Halmut has no chance to leave the planet. There's a good chance that Gem Inc will make such a move in the future. But to do that, they need to finish dealing with other issues that we've forced Gem Inc into. Though I can't outright remove them, they're not the only ones that know how to take advantage of the system."

"So I need to get things done in Kartonia before Gem Inc finally arrives to take Halmut away?"

"Not only Halmut but all of the Legendary Gods, which is what Halmut is now calling himself and his subordinate gods," added Daruun. "You and the others are now known as the Leisure Gods, a name that Halmut has given you."