The Achievement Junkie

The moment Perchet entered the room, all shouts or celebration ceased. The entire room stared at the unexpected duo. Then Jack spoke, throwing everyone further out the loop.

"How did it go?"

The helmed swordsman shook his head as Perchet sighed, "We failed…"

"Why is Perchet here?" Eedaj asked, completely baffled for a moment. But before an answer came, his eyes widened even further beyond what he thought possible. The Mind God then closed his mouth and said nothing more as his strong mental fortitude was on the brink of collapsing.

"What is it?!" shouted Dragas, covered in cake. "It had better be good!"

Perchet spoke up, "We failed to help Kylon and were forced to change plans… I've now officially defected from the legendary gods."

"Seriously… Then--"

"I must humbly ask for your help to temporarily relocate my people," stated Perchet, finishing Moranti's immediate thought. "I'm sorry for ruining the festivities. We had no other choice."

"Is that true?" Jack turned to the swordsman, who nodded regretfully. "Then… Mother, would you mind if we--"

"Of course we can postpone drinking for this?!" Dragas made an immediate one-eighty in terms of attitude. "Karronteel will help too. Bring back as many flora and fauna samples as you can and I'll do my best to create a temporary home for you all."

"We greatly appreciate this." Perchet showed the couple a full bow. "Make sure there's enough room for two hundred and thirty-four Nocturnal Dragons, please."

"THAT MANY?!" Moranti shouted in amazement.

Nodding, Perchet replied, "Yes, that many. Despite common belief and what we've shown the world, my people have always been quite proliferous, just like our ancestors."

"What's this about Kylon?" asked Lunara, not forgetting about the woman who raised her.

Perchet took a deep breath before admitting, "We failed to correct her synthetic memories. It resulted in a clash where she fled and I received this."

The God of Sound opened the left side flap of his black robe, revealing his bare chest. Everyone was further shocked to see an electrically charged icicle jabbed to the side of Perchet's heart. "I've yet to remove it as that would cause scaring without proper healing. Dragas, would you mind?"

"You should've led with that! Are you insane?" Dragas hurried forward and immediately started examining the wound.

"Eedaj, would you mind sharing the location of my people with Moranti and, it was Karronteel, correct?"

As the young god nodded, Eedaj dropped his bewilderment and shared Perchet's thoughts with the two Spectral Dragon gods. Moranti then asked Jack, "Mind if we use the storehouse?"

"Go ahead… Use the third floor. It's low-lit and should be great for them as a temporary home…" Jack answered but was still focused on something else. Turning back to Perchet, Jack asked, "So… Do you think we can try something else?"

"Not that I can imagine, sadly," Perchet answered. "But I'm not the creative type, so I'll leave the distorting of possibility to the specialist."

Jack chuckled and sighed at the same time. "Everyone… We still can't kill Kylon, but we may have to fight her. If at all possible, knock her out or force her surrender."

"Thank you, Son."

"Of course, Mom," Jack smiled back to Lunara, trying to imagine what to do next. "For now… Let's continue the rest of the plan. We'll make everyone demigods and prepare for Earthen Keep immediately. Mother… You'll head out the day after tomorrow. You'll be able to heal Perchet and help us finish our medicine baths before you go."

Dragas nodded in response, fully focused on the serious wound in Perchet's chest.

"Go ahead. I'll handle the resurrection."

On Jack's order, Eedaj and Rikko both stepped forward. The fun-loving atmosphere was washed away and drowned out without fail. Both took a turn to step and stood unguarded before the swordsman, letting him swiftly run their hearts through for a quick, clean death. While Jack instantly revived them both, roaring energies of all colors exploded out of the swordsman to shock the entire room.

For the next couple of minutes, everyone watched as every color of the rainbow was absorbed into the mysterious swordsman. It was so distracting that Lunara had forgotten to make the others her demigods in the meantime.

Once the light show subsided, Jack reminded Lunara and five lv. 89 men stood before her.

Then, mid-operation, Perchet finally began to groan through his teeth. The Nocturnal Dragon clenched his convulsing muscles tightly as a bright mass of holy light exited Perchet's body. After the light left, Perchet was left with steady, slow breathing and a much lower level.

"You'll help him too, Mom."

"But--"

"Just because you can't immediately jump past lv. 99 doesn't mean helping more people would be a bad thing," reasoned Jack. "Plus, I'm curious what will happen. I wonder if it will put you closer to passing lv. 99 or if it does nothing at all. Either way, someone has to help him for now."

"Jack… What about--"

"Don't worry, Perchet. After all of this is over, I'll redo everyone's pledge. Okay?"

"Okay…" The former God of Sound sighed, letting his head drop and his eyes close.

One by one, Lunara made Kori, Choron, Guuro, Rikko, and Eedaj into demigods. Thanks to Kori's last ascension, Lunara was able to create more than one demigod without worry. Then, Lunara crouched beside Perchet and planted a morsel of divine energy in him as well. While Lunara helped thaw the wound and remove the icicle from Perchet's chest, Eedaj took out the remnants of a Storm Dragon god corpse for everyone's use. Even Perchet reached out and touched the dragon's tail to siphon some of the latent energy. Their week-long timer had officially begun.

"Dragov," Jack spoke up again. "Go to the third floor of the storehouse and help them create a gorge across the floor. Lunara will be there soon to create the river and waterfall."

"Of course!" The towering Centipede God took off and exited without looking back. He understood his duty and that this was the best thing he could offer at the moment.

Jack, on the other hand, was left with a lot to think about and a hand dragging down across his face.