BXBX NOVEL Chapter 31: I'll kill you first
[An unknown goddess is immersed in this sudden turn of events]
[The goddess of war is watching]
[The god of death is fascinated at this revelation]
[The goddess of chaos is watching]
One by one the pantheon started paying attention when Sol suddenly used the system again, and at the mercy of all these notifications were the elf and half-elf.
"The gods...?" Arla stared at her system window in disbelief. "Why are the gods suddenly watching us?"
[The Tarnished is annoyed]
"...What?"
[The tarnished has issued a warning to the gods to be mindful around lesser beings]
Arla snapped from her window to look at Sol again and saw him staring upward to the skies and shaking his fist comically. "What the devil is going on today?"
"Are the two of you..." Lyra was going to say something to Idria and Arla but suddenly felt a wave of divine power suppress her and then she too was caught in the wave of their attention.
[The entire pantheon of gods is watching the tarnished, challenges are being issued, fights are being declared, threats are being declared, the tarnished is under pressure]
"Fuck!" Sol snapped, and all of a sudden the pressure that was bearing down on everyone vanished. "I swear, I'll be breaking bones for days," Sol gritted his teeth and started grinding them as veins ran across his forehead. "You bastards," he mumbled.
"W-what was that?" Lyra was more shocked than the other two women when she asked, but when Arla opened her mouth to answer she remembered what started this in the first place, and sealed her lips again.
"I don't know, it must be an auspicious day, the heroes are journeying to their first battle, after all." She lied on the spot to save herself another bone-chilling stare from Sol, but it was Ikaris whose back was turned to them that started laughing while Sol straightened on his horse and took a calming breath.
{The goddess of chaos has issued a secret invitation, only you are aware of her presence}
Sol saw the suspicious window and furrowed his brows. Unlike the normal windows that were blue, or the divine windows that were yellow, this one was far more decorated, and crimson in colour.
{What do you want?} Sol stared ahead to seem less suspicious and respect the privacy.
{A meeting, dear Sol} She responded and he almost broke character when he realised that it was the goddess herself who spoke through the system, she had an alluring voice, calm as the oceans and as serene as the peak of the tallest mountains.
{I have no desire to fight you, not yet, but I am rather curious about the physical presence of the man who killed a god, all that delicious chaotic and foreign energy inside of you must be-}
{Your invitation has been rejected by the Tarnished} She saw the message and paused, shocked. {The Tarnished has no desire to associate himself with any other god}.
[Hm,] The goddess stood from her throne of swirling chaotic magic and stared through the window at Sol's head, at his smile.
She too like the Dr'ul had a head of red hair, but unlike Dr'ul who had glowing hair, hers was normal, what stood out were her eyes of pure darkness absorbing every bit of light that entered them, and a second pair of arms that limply swayed at her side.
[How dare he reject my good-willed invitation?] She clasped all four of her fists and stepped forward, grabbing the system window as of it was a TV. [I even went the extraile and spent points to purchase privacy rights!] She seemed on the verge of exploding with anger.
{The Tarnished only wishes to fight the gods of Arkadia, if you wish to converse, you must do so over an issued challenge}
[Are you mocking me?] She gave Sol a complicated smile, and Sol in return turned his gaze in her direction with a smile of his own. [This little bastard, do you think I need to challenge you to fight you?!]
[True Goddess Ikaris has caught wind of the failed attempt]
[The Tarnished is staring directly at you]
"Master, that one is quite strong," Ikaris Looked over the side of her carriage at Sol who was enjoying his provocation of the goddess of chaos.
[This little... This little!!] The goddess turned, punching the window and walking away. [Fuck it I am fascinated!] The goddess exclaimed in frustration.
[I have never descended the heavens, but for one such as you I will exempt myself of my pride and approach!]
She reached forward and grabbed the darkness of her throne room and tore it apart impatiently. [Just you wait, Sol Vestic!]
Back on Arkadia A day had already passed, the advance army had long left the comfort of the city and set up camp for the night several dozen kilometres away from Argom.
"This, it's actually happening huh?" Dina sat next to Arla, looking at the small multitude of soldiers that surrounded them, there were swordmen, knights, spearmen, mages, healers, and tankers, each category of soldier possessing no less than twenty individuals with the same skillset that had been tasked with assisting their hero of the same skill.
And then there were those who served under Ikaris and Lyra, mostly descended from some kind of great line or another, they were the strongest of the army, and they each possessed unique magic and special mana traits that could allow them to master and manipulate more than a few different types of magic.
"Have you lost your senses, hero?" Arla asked, placing a warm bowl of soup in Dina's lap and parting her shoulder.
"It has been happening for two and a half months now, I have drilled discipline into you regardless of your mental state, because you were too weak, within just another two days we will be at the borders of the Last remaining territory between Argom and The Demon Lord, we will fight, and some will die, if you run away from this responsibility you will likely be executed as any other soldier of the crown, regardless of your status as hero, do you understand?" Arla held the bowl a little closer to her nose.
"I... I'm not a soldier," Dina's hands shook as she thought of the impending. "I'm no hero-"
"For fuck's sake," Han kicked the bowl out of Dina's hand and grabbed on to her collars raising her to off her feet.
"You fucking coward, you've done nothing but mouth off repeatedly, talking shit and acting tough this entire time, you've never even seen a demon, and yet you've already given up on your life?" He chastised her loudly causing the other heros to turn and pay attention, as well as the soldiers.
"You won't even be on the front, your whole job is to cast shields and create long-distance spells from a protected area within the formation, if you're looking at safety, mages have it the easiest!"
"B-but-"
"If you fuck this up people are gonna die and you're gonna die as well, don't you want to live, Dina?"
"I do... but-"
"Do you want to live, Dina Levina!?" Han snapped at her, and she shrunk in his grasp and started crying.
"Han," Arla attempted to stop them, but It was Ikaris who blocked her with a serious expression. "Milady?"
"This is a matter amongst heroes, if Dina cannot shed her cowardice she will ruin her formation and cause the deaths of many, the demons we face are not weak, without cooperation they will exploit every crack.
"Answer me, do you want to live or not!?" Han snapped again, placing her to stand and summoning his sword at her neck.
"Back on earth, you were an impressive woman, you said what you wanted, and did what you wanted, everyone looked up to and listened to your words like some kind of god, but who would have imagined that you'd turn out to be such a waste of space?" Han inched his sword closer, bringing the encampment into total silence.
"I don't want to die..." Dina whimpered in his grasp.
"I didn't hear you!"
"I don't want to die here!" Dina screamed grabbing Han's hand and pushing him backwards so hard his feet slid across the ground and he went right through one of the campfires. "If...
If you're gonna try and kill me, if you're coming after my life then it no longer matters if you're an enemy or an ally, if you're a god or a demon, the Queen, or even my own father, I'll blow you into smithereens; I'm going to kill you first!" Dina summoned a great-fireball at the tip of her staff and started imbuing several different chaotic elements into it until it turned into a small glowing orb cackling with electric energy.
"That's it, right there!" Han folded his arms with a bright grin and watched as the orb thinned into a disk and she released it like a laser at him.
"Hup!" Bruce quickly intervened with his shield, blocking her attack and diverting it into the air before the force of the attack itself sent him flying across the camp leaving Eris to chase after him.
The thin laser-like attack continued into the clouds where everything went quiet before the clouds vanished when a massive cone-shaped explosion erupted with thunder and fire, sending sparks across the skies like fireworks.
"I'll kill you first!!" Dina snapped again attempting to create another attack but stopped when the camp erupted into cheers.
"Did you see that, Bruce has not lost footing, never, not even once, but she sent him flying with a cracked shield after just one attack!" Usami exclaimed running over to Dina and grabbing her arms with a bright grin. "You bitch, why have you been hiding your strength this whole time... you had me so worried!"
"What?" Arla stared at the trench Dina's attack had dug across the camp.
"Motivation comes in many forms." Sol had not even bothered to stand or get out of the way and was still eating. "Dina lacked imagination, so she only needed proper visualisation, she knows the basics and has a firm grasp of the intermediary and advanced spells as well," He looked up at the Half-elf as she began tearing up from shock and pride.
"You were a fine teacher, you just had a crappy student." Sol complimented her and then stood, looking toward the direction of Argom.
"It seems we have an uninvited guest,"