The Achievement Junkie

"They're following orders. Remember, we're under Halmut, not the lead dragon of our race," Torian stated with a straight face and empty eyes. "Trust me, it will be best that you follow orders like them and then rejoin Kylon after the fact."

"Torian… What are your orders?" questioned Kylon, perplexed as to how Halmut managed to sway the three Flood Gods to not side with her.

"... We're to continue the attack, just as we had planned."

"But--"

"That's why you won't join the fight, Kylon," reasoned Tralbok. "So long as you and those seven don't join the fray, then you're not breaking your word. Just stay here with Grixor and his two underlings while we take care of business."

Torn, Kylon opened her mouth to shout, "This--"

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

A strange voice suddenly emerged from out of thin air, putting everyone on edge. All gods present armed themselves and prepared to strike but they saw no signs of another life form nearby.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

The same voice repeated itself, now echoing slowly for them all to hear and getting the newer gods to tense up.

"Show yourself, coward!" Tralbok shouted with wind blades at the ready.

Next, the voice laughed, "Coming from Halmut's voluntary lap dog, that means nothing…"

"You!"

"Now, are you sure you want to do that?"

That voice was strangely familiar yet unfamiliar. The legendary gods all thought the same thing, that the voice was being altered with magic.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" This time, the voice came from a clear direction. Everyone looked toward the exit covered in energy, spotting an illusory figure becoming visible. The sight startled some and riled up others even further.

"You dare threaten us!" Tyres shouted, leaping into action without hesitation. Lightning and wind poured over him as the Sword God charged one of the men he most despised due to recent events.

The man in a roxite helmet showed no emotion as he retrieved his rapier in silence. At that moment, the cooler-headed gods noticed that something was different. Tyres also noticed as he was a swordsman and could recognize the change in the wretched rapier he hated.

But then, the man vanished. Spatial energy covered him and seemingly shrunk him down until he was nonexistent. He then reappeared and was only caught by the muffled cry of a Quake Dragon God skewered through the throat. As the helmed swordsman retracted the blade, that was when the gods all recognized the strange feeling they had felt.

They originally thought it was merely the swordsman's new divine energy and weapon that was somehow, inexplicably upgraded. But seeing darkness oozing out of the Quake Dragon's fatal wound sent chills down their spines.

"Remember, as an ancient hero he has access to the same spells that many of us wield," Torian shouted, trying to calm everyone's mind before they hesitated or flinched. "It makes sense for him to wield four magic types if Jack can wield them all."

"Right…" Tralbok sighed, regaining full control of his mind.

Tyres said nothing, sharpening his gaze while focusing his fury to the point of being calm yet ultimately aware. Alcahain and the others present did the same.

The swordsman blinked away to reappear in front of the entrance again, a dozen meters away from the halted Sword God. Holding his rapier forward with no emotion, the man asked, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Not another word was said. Even Kylon, still braced against the ground, was speechless at the sight with conflicting emotions turbulent inside her.

Gradually swaying his head from one side to the other, the swordsman repeated, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

After a couple more seconds of thought and planning, Torian roared, "Get--"

The moment sound left Torian's windpipe, the swordsman made his nest move. However, it didn't involve spatial energy, or wind and lightning energies for that matter.

An eruption of darkness burst out of the helmed swordsman. Before Torian could finish his first word, everyone there was already being engulfed in complete darkness and the swordsman was nowhere to be found.

"Sillo!"

Upon hearing Torian's shout, the lone Mage God shrouded his surroundings in holy light. Now, a bubble of holy light grew and enveloped all of the legendary gods. But Sillo was dumbfounded to see that his holy light was unable to erase any more darkness. They could now see each other but a pitch-black quilt of darkness was still surrounding his abundant holy light.

Seeing the startlement in Sillo's face, Torian crept closer to the Mage God. "What's wrong?"

"This…" Sillo paused and swallowed the saliva lodged in his throat. As everyone got closer to him as the light source, Sillo stated, "This is Universe of Shadows…"

"Impossible!?" Tralbok barked.

"You know better, Tralbok! You know I'm right!"

"Calm down!" ordered Torian, glaring angrily at the jumpy God of Time. "Like I said, as an ancient hero, he has access to ancient spells like us. It makes sense for him to have something like this. All we need to do is overwhelm it, which is easy with all of us."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" the swordsman asked again, still out of sight.

"Would you rather release us? I'm sure Halmut could--"

"No lapdog is allowed to speak to me."

"You--"

"Aaaahhhhhhh…"

As Grixor groaned, everyone was startled again.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," stated Grixor, placing a hand over his bleeding shoulder. "He barely pierced me, so it's just a scratch."

"Grixor…" Torian was startled, not hiding the amazement on his face. The Thundering God glanced and noticed that Grixor was pushed back and Kylon was now free but still in shock. "Grixor… With a rapier, if he can puncture you, that means he can run you through…"

The thought left the gods trembling with chills. Grixor was speechless, struggling to think of a counter-argument to no avail.

"Let's hurry up and break through the spell!" shouted Tralbok, gathering wind energy like there was no tomorrow.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"