"Uh huh… *snap*,"
He snapped both of his fingers, causing everything around me to freeze. The bubbling and burning of incense, the cawing of birds and creaking of crickets, and most importantly, the shaking of Wu.
"Now, let's have an undisturbed conversation. You are an anomaly in my domain of time. You interfered with my domain of space by fusing two skills together… way before mana could fully assimilate into the world, but I forgive you just this once. I'm a very forgiving god," He smiled but then chuckled lightly before creaking open his lips again. "I'm just kidding… I'm just a lazy god with an unsurmountable amount of power… it's truly pitiful," He smiled even wider.
"So you want to know why I'm in this timeline, correct?"
"Of course."
I was a bit suspicious, as why would he ever ask me such a thing if he was so powerful? Couldn't he just immediately tell by looking at certain things or even just seeing my soul, which I assume has been tampered with by Ares?
Then should I start off with a lie? But that would be really risky… although if he knew why I was here, he would no doubt try to ask Ares about this… possibly ruining this juicy quest for me.
I've been slowly diminishing in terms of skill with my spear, so this is the best quest I could ever ask for… I won't let some random god take it away so easily.
"Then, to tell you the truth, the full and honest truth, I just appeared here one day. I remember what I was doing before, but it was mostly just a random transportation."
His golden pupils shimmered, narrowing down on me, trying to tell if I was lying, but even though I could completely cover up a lie, I still mixed in tons of truth… just not all of it.
"Well, it seems like you aren't lying, but I do hope you know that staying here will cause trouble for me-"
VWOOM
A massive beam of light shot towards me from a small white portal just above my head, yet even though it was right there, practically pressed up against my skull, I was able to narrowly dodge it with my insane and very inhumane reflexes.
"Kekekekeke… You're quite bold for a mere copy," The man in front of me cackled, his tongue practically hanging out of his mouth while his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
A third eye appeared in the middle of his pale white forehead, causing a wave of negative emotions to rush through me.
I attempted to suppress them, but they were too strong. They clouded my mind, my vision, my hearing, my smell, and my senses. All of my senses had been overwhelmed almost instantaneously.
"I was just playing around, Warlock of Blood. I know who you are… I know exactly who you are. I mean, you've explained practically every detail about your life to me… in one of your alternate timelines, you became my apostle. Not the idiot Ares or that bitch of a goddess… you chose the correct god to worship and serve."
"What… do you want?" I choked on my words as a crushing pressure attempted to snap my trachea in half.
"Serve me once again. Become my apostle, and you will be granted complete control over time and space." The man smiled viciously as if the lies being filtered through his teeth weren't obvious enough to me.
"I thought… you already… had one of me? Why would you need another one?"
"Oh? Well, if you really wanted to know… that all happens in the future. All of that happens after this singular meeting. I know what the various outcomes are, but every. Single. One. Of. Them… leads to you becoming my apostle."
"Then I decline," I smiled at the man smiling back at me.
"That's exactly what I thought you'd say… now, please excuse me."
The man then disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if he had been erased from existence instantaneously, only leaving behind a salty stench of ruptured space crawling deep into my nostrils.
"Like I would become your apostle…." I coughed, heaving for air as I lay on my back, watching Wu immediately come sprinting over to me.
"How the fuck did you not die… I really thought he would kill you," Wu angrily gritted her teeth, but upon looking down at me, her expression softened, and she brought me in for a long and warm hug.
Bzzzzt
[You have received a foreign God Quest]
[Requester Name: Athena]
[A few gods angrily look down at you]
[A few gods smile maliciously at your next decision]
.
.
[You have received the God Quest: Slaughter]
[Description: You have received a God Quest from Athena. Prove yourself that attachments are worthless and slaughter the Apostle of Zeus. Once you have finished ridding his name from this world, you will be granted the same reward.]
[Reward: [Skill Book - Four Flying Spear Arts of Lu Bu] | [Demonic Trait Enchantment] | [God-Killing Enchanctment]
[Penalty Upon Failure: Destruction of Soul]
[Time Left: One Month]
.
"Orion? What's wrong? Orion? Orion?! ORION! WHAT'S WRONG!"
And just like that, I collapsed from exhaustion, my head swirling with so many things that keeping track of everything made my head throb with pain.
…
"I'm sorry… I'm so, so, so sorry… please f-forgive me," I sobbed as the torrential downpour of rain stained the muddy field we were in.
Wu looked at me from afar, her pupils dilated with fear and anger, both coursing through her veins, paralyzing her in place with conflicting emotions.
The corpse held in my arms, still shimmering with flashes of lightning, somehow raised a hand towards my face, the man's eyes sparking with life for just a split second.
Despite the gaping holes blown through his torso and left part of his head, he still managed to speak a few words that made tears flow from my eyes.
It had been forever since I cried… and here I was, sobbing and crying.
"I… trusted you… and loved you… like a son… I'm sorry."
…
"*gasp*... Huff… huff… huff… huff… huff… What… why am I crying… and why am I sweating so hard?"
RECENTLY UPDATES
