"I expected you are coming," Clyde said. He looked up to stare at Maethion. When he saw him, Clyde knew immediately that Maethion had not come to congratulate him on his return or ask about his condition.
Maethion stepped into the room with a sigh. Then he closed the door and locked it. He used his ability to seal all sounds in the room while they were talking.
"You fought with Goddess Pele?" Maethion asked straight to the point.
"Yes," Clyde answered simply. Then he looked away from Maethion to stare at his Inferno Blade again.
Something had changed about the sword. Clyde saw that the red blade was now a lighter color. Even when he's not channeling Mana, the sword seems to keep glowing even faintly.
Clyde wondered if the change in the blade had anything to do with what he had experienced earlier. Did the sword respond to his fire elemental power getting stronger after soaking in the pond? Or because he used it to fight with the Goddess Pele, so somehow the power of the Goddess affects it?
"Why are you so careless? Shouldn't you be doing it secretly?" Maethion asked. Annoyance was clear in his voice.
"I had no other choice. We were suddenly found out, and the Goddess sent her warriors," Clyde said.
"That shouldn't be possible. You can't be found out if you don't touch some kind of sacred place in that domain or are seen by the guards in that domain," Maethion said.
Clyde paused. He clearly remembered that he had taken a dip in the Goddess' pond.
"You didn't say we would be found out if we touched a sacred place," Clyde replied.
Maethion widened his eyes, staring at him with full disbelief. "You should already know about that without me having to say anything!"
Clyde didn't say anything this time. That made Maethion even more suspicious.
"What did you touch there?" asked Maethion.
"I was just trying out a sacred pond that happened to be there," Clyde replied.
Maethion almost strangled Clyde. He gritted his teeth and looked at Clyde with a look that could bore a hole in his head. But Maethion held back his anger before it overflowed.
"I'm almost certain that you touched the personal sacred spring of the Goddess Pele," Maethion said. "The sacred springs are an important place for her because there she can purify the bodies of creatures that will become her followers so they are more adept with Mana and the power of fire."
Clyde was still silent. But he realized that Maethion would soon conduct some kind of interrogation on him. So he put the Inferno Blade back into its scabbard and started listening.
"Why did you go to that pond? Did you touch the water?"
"Actually," Clyde said. "I brought Samuel and Leyan to bathe in the pond."
Maethion looked shocked again. However, he had expected that Clyde would do something like that. He just doesn't understand the reason.
"Why did you do that?" So Maethion asked.
"Me, Samuel, and Leyan got the power from the people Uriel sent to take the artifacts back then after killing them," Clyde replied. "It was the power of fire. So I thought that since we were about to go to the domain of the Goddess of Fire, I could strengthen the power within us."
Maethion frowned. "How did you know about that?"
Clyde shrugged. "Lucky guess. It turns out my guess is right. I got a notification that my power of fire has increased."
Maethion eyed Clyde for a good thirty seconds before finally averting his eyes. 'No matter what I do he won't tell the truth. But maybe he did tell the truth.'
"Is there any problem?" Clyde asked.
"The other Senior Councils feel that your actions were wrong. Saulo, the Senior Council who is a spy in the Goddess Pele's domain, immediately came here and reported it. He looks pretty pissed," Maethion replied.
"I will go there again to find the path."
Clyde's words made Maethion shake his head. "No. You can't go there anymore. It would be too risky since the Goddess already knows about you."
"Trust me. I know a way," Clyde said. "I will get the location of that path for you. So, please allow me to go there again. This time I'd better go alone."
After hearing his words, Maethion became suspicious of Clyde. He stared at him with narrowed eyes.
"What are you doing? Did you... talk to Goddess Pele?" Maethion asked.
Clyde took a moment to think. Then after thinking about it, he decided to tell part of the truth about what happened.
"Yes. We talked."
That was quite a surprising answer for Maethion.
"What did you talk to her about?" Maethion asked.I think you should take a look at
Clyde stared at him with determined eyes. "It's a secret. Sorry. But it was part of the deal between us."
The atmosphere in the room turned silent for about a minute. Maethion clearly didn't believe Clyde, and there was still a lot of suspicion. All of that was evident in his eyes.
Clyde also felt the bespectacled Elf's searching gaze. Feeling uncomfortable, finally Clyde said. "Don't worry. I'll come back and give you the location of the path."
"Did you make a deal by disclosing about this Fortress? And the existence of the Resistance?" Maethion asked sharply.
"No. I'm not going to do it. You have to trust me, Maethion. There are some things I can't honestly say, but I ask you to believe me." Clyde met Maethion's gaze with no less firm eyes. "I will not harm this Fortress. You can be assured about that."
Maethion shook his head. "I don't know how to handle you anymore. You won't say anything to me even though I always try to cover your ass from the other Senior Council."
Clyde felt some kind of sting in his heart. Maethion is right; he has done many things for him yet he still can't trust him.
"But," Maethion said. "I decided to believe in you. So, I will keep doing so."
Maethion left the room after saying that. Finally, Clyde was left alone with feelings of guilt due to the conversation earlier.
'Maybe I should say something to him?'
He shook his head. 'No. I don't know what will happen once I trust someone again.'
Clyde lay on his bed and stared out the window. The sky that was always night looked calm, like the water of the lake he used to meet with Maethion.
His eyes felt heavier. Clyde once again closed his eyes to speed up his healing process. After all, there was nothing he could do now, and could only wait for Hammer to complete the artifact.
~~~
"Should we spread the word about this?" God Kane asked.
Right now, he was in Goddess Pele's private room. The Goddess herself is now lying on her bed. The wound in her stomach has started to shrink and close but it's not perfect. There was still a large gaping hole in it but the wound was completely harmless.
"No. I won't let the other Celestials know that I was just defeated," Goddess Pele replied sharply.
"But... if indeed the being you speak of is that powerful, this could be a problem other than what was in the Far East," God Kane said.
Goddess Pele was silent and stared at the ceiling of her room. She still remembers well the time when she fought against Clyde. His power is completely different.
"We still don't know who he is or what their goals are. With such a strong being on the loose, the risk of something going wrong is very high," God Kane added again.
"But I don't think we'll get in trouble with him," Goddess Pele said.
"Why do you think so?"
Goddess Pele bit her lip, thinking. After thinking about that she said. "Me and him have made a deal."
"What kind of deal?"
"A secret deal," said Goddess Pele curtly. "I can't say that. But be sure he won't harm us."
'Hopefully.' Goddess Pele added in her heart.
"Alright, I trust you," God Kane decided not to ask again.
~~~
Time passed again. A week has passed since the incident. And after waiting anxiously for a long time, Goddess Pele got a telepathic call from Clyde.
'I'm going there now.'
Those words were enough to make Goddess Pele's body stiffen on her throne. She could no longer say anything and could only clench her teeth in anger.
Never had he imagined since the beginning of her creation, that he would end up taking orders from someone. But now, she had no choice but to respond to the call.
'Yes,' Goddess Pele responded telepathically to him.
Clyde appeared where he had appeared with the others. However, right now he came here alone. The place of his fight with Goddess Pele is still an arid and broken plain. As if just left like this without any intention to restore it.
Clyde saw a figure fly towards him with flames enveloping his body. Moments later she landed in front of him.
~~~
