NOVEL NEXT Chapter 257 – Scuffle
Nilier was flying through the air, high above the clouds, below the actual Sky, with the Tear right above her. She could have appeared exactly where her priests died, but somehow she was hesitant to do so. Traveling like this was a weak lie to herself, and she just wanted to think it through. Flying forward, her body suddenly flinched, feeling her third demigod's demise and seeing the same strange machine tearing him apart like nothing when she recollected her mark. Seeing the little people in Erza's last memory, she was not so sure anymore that it had to do anything with Athos, but she couldn't chase away the feeling he was somehow involved with this.
"And our feelings are not that inaccurate…." She murmured under her breath before quickly stopping as three people appeared in the distance, clearly waiting for her. "Now I am even more sure!" Nilier smiled as she took a deep breath, seeing the three immortals standing in her way.
"Where to?" Invictus asked, crossing his arms before his bare chest, only wearing loose, red trousers.
"Why should I explain myself to you?" Nilier retorted, wearing a long, green gown, stopping before them, only a few meters away, floating there gracefully.
"Because one of you rarely descends into the mortal realm!" Kaizer replied, standing next to his sister and brother. "Usually, you four remain in your own little dimensions."
"The only good thing about you all." Ophila snorted with intense animosity in her eyes.
"If you think the three of you are enough to kill me, you are gravely mistaken. Our fights before? Was nothing serious, only small plays because of boredom! You have no idea what we are capable of!" Nilier replied, now with a more aggressive tone than in any of their previous meetings.
"Same!" the siblings said in perfect synchronization.
"The fact that you are standing in my way can mean only one thing… you found him." Nilier looked into each of their eyes.
"Yes," Ophila answered after a short pause, finding it useless to lie about something like this before someone at her level. She would immediately notice a lie anyway. Nilier's gaze landed on her directly, watching her brown eyes without blinking, staying silent before slowly closing hers and taking a long, deep breath. When she reopened them, they were much calmer than before.
"Thought so. Then there is even more reason for me to go!"
"You won't!" Invictus roared, stepping forward, and the clouds below his feet dispersed immediately. His body's slight movement already blasted apart the clouds, evaporating every small water particle as fiery swirls appeared in their place. Now the group could see what was below them, revealing the endless sand dunes of the Western Desert.
The energy and force radiating from him turned Nilier's face more serious as she finally realized they were not joking. She never felt such strength coming from any of them, yet they did butt heads multiple times before.
"Calm down, boy!" Nilier said calmly, looking at the flames below them, extinguishing them, turning fire into water, forming a sudden rainfall above the desert.
"Let's do this! You are not backing out now... GRANDMA!" Invictus shouted in reply, punching forward, and the whole area was shaken up. A dark, huge red fist appeared as it swallowed Nilier's figure. It was made out of pure magma, flowing like syrup in the air. Invictus just kept his hand stretched out, casting a shadow on the landscape below, while Nilier was already above them, throwing a palm strike downwards. Only her small hand aimed at Invictus, but he felt like a giant was trying to squash him like an ant as the invisible force came pushing down on him.
"Hmf!" Ophila snorted, her hands already spread out, millions of tiny runes swirling around them as they disappeared in a blink, reappearing as a brightly shining formation above Invictus, blocking the Goddess's palm strike. The impact was sending wild shockwaves outwards, in every direction, clearing the Sky above the whole Western Desert. It kicked a monstrous amount of sand into the air, forming a dangerous sandstorm. Luckily nobody lived below them as their short exchanges' shockwaves would have already destroyed everything down below, changing the earth's surface along with it. Nilier was about to repeat her attack when from below her, from Invictus's magma hand's shadow, another hand reached upwards, grabbing onto Nilier's legs, pulling on her.
"You!" She shouted out, snapping her eyes towards Kaizer, but the shadowy hand slammed her downwards, creating explosions along the way as the Goddess slammed into the ground like a meteor. Her impact came with speed past the sound barrier, throwing sand into the air before its sound reached the trio. Her crash resulted in a few kilometers high mushroom cloud, blowing a tremendous amount of sand up to the Sky, looking like the end times had just arrived.
"Ophila!" Kaizer shouted as his sister was already writing in the air, looking like she had hundreds of arms at once. She was forming a giant energy box around the mushroom cloud, trapping the trio, and Nilier just now managed to fly out from the sandstorm she left behind with a frustrated look.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" She asked, gritting her teeth and watching them grin at her.
"We have been waiting for this for a long time, auntie!" Invictus licked his lips in answer.
"You are not as bad as the other three. Still…" Kaizer continued his brother's thoughts while his words were finished by Ophila.
"Still… you hurt our father's feelings and played a role in his death! You can't go unpunished!"
"You!" Nilier bit onto her lips, watching them with eyes that were trembling, but they couldn't really tell why.
"If you want out from this formation, you better make sure we spend enough energy to let you break it!" Ophila laughed the same way Ren usually did, and the trio's mocking expression reminded Nilier of a particular Mad God.
"So be it… I was already in a bad mood!" She laughed, letting out her frustration, shredding all pretenses as her green dress transformed around her. It transformed into a revealing, erotic armor, looking like snakes swirling around her legs, arms, breasts, and abdomen, barely covering her private parts. This sudden change surprised the three immortals, especially the sudden, wild aura coming from Nilier's eyes. Her hair quickly grew even longer before splitting, falling off, forming two long whips in her hand, leaving her with only a short bob cut. With one swing of them, even space was torn open for a brief moment, leaving pure blackness in the wake of it, destroying existence itself wherever it landed. "Come, let me teach you some manners that Athos failed to do!"
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Back in the forest, Ren met up with a caravan from Thunder Valley, led by a clearly upset Shaman and a child-like Rabout. He turned his head left and right while questions flew out of his mouth every second. They were transporting six huge tanks filled with metric tons of a strange, water-like liquid.
"Why the long face? Is it because of what I asked you to do?" Ren welcomed them, helping down Shaman from the main carriage.
"No." He answered immediately, pointing back at Rabout, who was already far away, rushing towards the ents, curious and ready to study them. "Him! He couldn't shut up for a moment throughout the way! He even wanted to study me as I slept!"
"Pft~" Ren held back a laugh, pretty unsuccessfully. "I thought you would be mad because I asked you to devise a countermeasure to your own weapon!"
"Nah…" He sighed, shaking his head with a relaxed look. "I knew it the day we made contact with the ents that this day will come! I once wanted to see the forest burn. I carried that weight long enough; I put it down then and there!"
"Good to hear!" She patted his arms with a friendly smile. "I guess you were successful in countering their flammable slime?" she looked behind him, watching the caravan as humans and chimps together started to prepare the tanks to be dismounted.
"Yes, it was easier than you would think! The hard part was to make enough for a trip!" he turned back, putting his hands on his waist. "These are just the emergency portion. The others are still making more and getting it ready to transport; only, we had no time to waste." he turned his voice serious.
"Pongo?" Ren asked, already having a guess.
"Yeah! She had a vision; you only have a few days from now on before the first wave arrives. She couldn't pinpoint the day, but it should be soon. Very soon."
"They are quick…." Ren murmured as she crossed his arms, already transmitting Pongo's words to Allfather. "Then this is really only an emergency solution."
"Yes. The usage is easy; it can be dissolved in water and then splashed on where that pesky greenish fire burns; it will put it out like normal."
"Water is no problem; I can form a storm and bring a tank up, mixing it with the clouds and letting the rain do its job," Ren said, scratching her chin.
"I thought about something like that." Shaman smiled a little, "But you need to be sure when it is used. We have six tanks; they could be used up easily in one battle if it is a large-scale one! I won't be able to bring you another batch until another week or two!"
"No worries!" Ren replied in a voice transmission, "I saw the ents' army… more trees decided they keep their corpses underground than not; their armies are troublingly big. I am talking about millions of undead. As I see it, there are more ents against Allfather than for him. I'll let their numbers dwindle a little. I want this forest united and not leave a potential backstabber behind! Be it either human or demon! So if their forces burn a little... In fact... I am counting on that."
"Devious!" Shaman smirked, "But this is why I like you!"
"Those who only play fair will be stabbed in the back one day!" She sighed softly, "I am more worried about the third party! Those foreign demigods and their origin! I want to settle this before they arrive; that could be devastating."
"I heard about it. The High Council already started expanding the underground portion of Thunder Valley, building potential shelters for the non-combatants."
"Hopefully, we won't become the next dwarfs~" Ren joked, looking towards the giant form of Allfather, further back, taking up much of the visible horizon.
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Deep underground, the trio of Sages were gathering in Otto's workshop before three hoisted-up Dreadnoughts. They were now only the torsos, missing their arms and legs, as behind them, on the ground, lay multiple different versions of appendages that could be installed and fitted on his inventions.
"Sadly, I couldn't get a third!" Otto sighed, but Marian just shook her head. It was already decided that she was going to stay back for now.
"It is better than having none! We now have two with an energy source that can be used for hours!"
"Agreed!" Luca nodded, "I'm already working on an efficient method to refuel it when depleted. This demigod 'cultivation' is nothing but energy refilling. Pathetic!"
"It is, but the resilience and power of their fleshly bodies are still admirable. Especially their teleportation skill! That was a welcomed surprise!" Otto laughed, watching his lovely walkers standing before them. "I'll install the chosen kits as you want. Then we are going to be ready to march to the surface."
"We already equipped the main battalion with V1 Power Armors." Luca reported, "I'll let my testing tool rest while we are away. I almost broke it!" He sighed with a smile. "It won't turn into humanoid form anymore, looking like a sad little kitten. Tsk-tsk…”
"I'll take care of it while you are away!" Marian chuckled, "I like animals! We don't have any underground besides some nasty-looking ones. I heard back in the days we used to keep them as pets! I always wanted to have one!"
"Feel free! I also plan to bring back more when we are done! We could build a zoo and let the others admire them!" Luca nodded rapidly.
"Good idea!" Otto clapped. "That way, they would also be made to remember that the surface belongs to us! Always had and always will be!"
