《The Gods Battle Royale》
Prologue
Being a God doesn¡¯t really mean much anymore, the Gods spent most of their day¡¯s people watching on Earth. Humanity doesn¡¯t even believe we exist. The strongest God that rules them all Zeus has forbidden interaction with Earth and just setting foot on the planet would cause great punishment for all Gods, this law happened after the Cuban Missile Crisis stirred by no other than Loki. Zeus decreed that one more mishap would cause banishment and loss of power.
Of course they didn¡¯t listen¡
It was year 2018 now, Gods and Goddesses secretly went to Earth intrigued by the acceleration of technology and culture. Zeus knew all, he watched as his children defied his law, he spent many years laying the foundations of their imprisonment.
Zeus sat on his throne in Olympus with a wooden box on his lap, he glared into the contents inside while flicking light from his finger creating life itself. The center of the box there is a yellow star with a planet floating near it, it was smaller than Earth but shared many similar features. The small blue planet had a moon as well. He viewed down on the habitants of this small planet, many different walks of life were there, motionless as if time was stopped, Zeus who was pleased with the creation of this new world, he then breathed into the box, in which his breath went into every lung of every creature on the planet, the planet began to spin and rotate around the star.
*
A God was spending his day in a park in Switzerland, enjoying the slight breeze on that summer day, like many other Gods, he broke the rule of living with the humans of Earth. Aeolus who was God of the Wind held that title without real meaning to it. Like most Gods, Aeolus never actually has to do anything, everything is self-regulated. With no need of a God to govern over every aspect of life, the Gods and Goddesses of the Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and so on just watch the mortals live their life while trying to entertain their own.
Aeolus was about to call it a day when he had an eerie feeling strike him, he put his hands through his black curly hair, giving the back of his head an itch. He heard the thunderbolt soaring through the winds aimed right at him, without enough time to react to the thunderbolt, it landed on him instantly teleporting his body to Olympus with the others.
My eyes opened, I viewed the great hall in Olympus, where it appeared over dozens of Gods were taken. The first thing noticeable were the deities outrage over what has happened.
¡°This is unacceptable! My concert is about to begin in thirty minutes, I can¡¯t stay any longer!¡± Apollo yelled.
Apollo who was trying to teleport out of the hall unable to do so, he began to walk out of the room, being stopped by an electrical force field created by Zeus. Apollo unable to speak because he was so furious just stood in the corner cringing his teeth, waiting for something to happen. He always was quite dramatic.
Near the stairs was a cage that Loki was kept in, his body posture as if he was bored, he sat in his cage with one arm keeping his head up, many deities stopped by the trickster God to get an insult in, none of us liked him very much.
Behind me were a couple of Norse Gods planning an assault on Zeus when he was to show, they lowered their voice when they noticed I was eavesdropping. The one handed God Tyr, and Thor glared at Aeolus with distrust in their eyes knowing he was a Greek.
I was a weaker deity compared to the others, I would never try to attack the almighty Zeus the ruler of all Gods, and he was the God of law and justice. Even the stronger Gods like Thor wouldn¡¯t last a second, which is why Zeus himself was the one to claim he was the ruler of all Gods, and even forcefully made all deities that went against him submissive thousands of years ago.
The grand door on top of the stairs opened, everyone watched intently for the God who is holding them against their will.
Zeus with Hera stepped out, staying on top of the platform on top of the stair case, the fierce look in his eyes and power emitting from him was enough to put fear in all of us deities, ceasing all attempts to fight back.
¡°There is a thing called rules that I put out. Did I not?¡± Zeus said rhetorically.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
Everyone was still quiet, afraid that the punishment would be more severe if they spoke.
¡°You will no longer be the Gods you were¡¡±
The phrase shocked all, many did not know that Zeus was able to do such a thing.
¡°Father how could this be? Taking away our power would be too much of a punishment for us visiting Earth.¡± Ares said.
The crowd got loud with their opinions as he ignored the question. Zeus waited for them to become silent again.
Zeus¡¯s fierce look now more gentle, his frown turning into a malicious smile.
¡°There will be a game!¡± He shouts.
The room now eager for him to finish.
¡°All your God powers stripped, you will still live an immortal life¡As long as you aren¡¯t killed of course.¡± Zeus finished with laughing.
Hermes walked from behind the door with a box for Zeus, he held it open as if everything was choreographed before.
Zeus began twirling his hands above his head creating electricity, the clouds in Olympus got dark, as he twirled his hands, this caused all the deities to fall to their knees draining the power from their bodies into Zeus¡¯s hands. Clouds turned white again as everyone laying on the ground got the energy back to stand.
I looked at my hands and saw the glow leave my body. I was human¡
Even Hercules and the Japanese deity Susanoo looked like ordinary humans.
Zeus stopped twirling his hands. He looked far more intimidating from the eyes of a human, he was blurry and bright, you couldn¡¯t make direct eye contact with him, it was as if you were to stare into the sun.
His voice shook the floor and was barely conceivable to our ears, we all had to earmuff our ears to avoid passing out ¡°The last five alive will be brought home with their powers returned.¡±
With that Zeus snapped his fingers turning all the former gods into lightning, they zoomed through the air into the wooden box in Hermes hands. Hermes closed the lid.
¡°Put the box in my chambers Hermes.¡±
¡°Yes my lord.¡± Hermes said and walked away.
¡°Are you sure this is the best action Zeus?¡± Hera said with a worried voice.
¡°There is just no way to govern all these children who think they are too good to follow the rule of law that I have established, this is the best answer that I can come up with to get things under control.¡± Zeus said with a light sigh at the end.
*
Aeolus found himself in an oval building, it looked old and Greek.
My head hurt quite a bit, I¡¯ve never felt such pain before. There was a piece of paper on the ground in front of him:
Rules of the Game
- You are unable to physically hurt anything.
- You will receive one Hero coin for a champion.
- With Olympus coins you can use it to gain buy armies, buy structures, and luxuries.
- Olympus coins are gained by how influential your kingdom is, income is received at home every month, the higher in rankings the higher amount of coin you receive. Killing another deity increases revenue of coin every week.
- Once only five deities are left, is when the game will end, see the rankings on the wall to see who is left alive.
- Once dead your soul will forever be crystalized for eternity, never to return to the living world.
- There is no time limit, you will not age.
After reading the small note I felt something I have never felt before¡fear for my life. I squeezed my hand and hit the ground with my fists in anger. That is when I noticed a coin on the ground next to the note. With a symbol of a heroic man on it.
This must be the Hero coin, Aeolus thought.
My head starts to become more rational, as I stare at all the names on the wall, many of whom are Gods of war. I don¡¯t socialize with many Gods of war, but I may be able to join with Athena, she is my best bet to get out of here alive.
Looking at all 58 names on the wall there is a number rank to the left of our name, every single one of us with a ¡°1.¡± It must be because we are all on even playing field right now. A little relief that the strength of the God has no effect here, we are all equally weak. As a God I would never be able to even compete.
I approached the table in the center of the room, there was a map of a continent with a symbol of a man blowing wind out of his mouth located south east on the continent, I suppose that¡¯s my symbol and it represented where I¡¯m located in the world. Next to the map is a leather book, on the front with bold font ¡°Olympus Coin Catalog¡± I opened the book to the first page, which was ¡°Recruit a Champion¡± the description for it is as follows:
A Champion is a natural habitant of the world; the habitant must also accept your offer for this to work. The Champion will receive your blessings and be bestowed power from their deity. The Champion will then be able to gain influence for said deity to gain rankings against the other deities. Once a Champion, they will be significantly stronger and will get stronger the more battles they fight. To use the Olympus Coin, you must give it to a habitant and ask to join your house.
As Aeolus analyzed the catalog, he noticed the names on the wall moved. No longer was everyone ranked 1. One name now was on top of the list¡it was Ares.
Of course he is already gaining influence, he probably loves this game! Aeolus thought.
This is not good, Ares will be relentless if he becomes powerful, he will destroy everything in opposition, which is why he exists, and he loves killing on the battlefield. He would not hesitate a second to end my life.
Now panicked Aeolus frantically grabbed the coin and a brown wool cloak on the ground, stumbling out the door and out into the new world.
Chapter 1
In a forest a young man waited patiently for a boar to walk by his hunting spot. A very aggressive breed was in the local area that the villagers wanted gone, and also he was quite hungry. A mercenary being as broke as he was would take any job at this point just to survive. The man had bait out with a rope trap for the boars, after hours of waiting the first boar was finally caught. Hanging by its foot by rope, the man came up and gently patted the boar that was frantically trying to escape.
¡°You¡¯re quite big, villagers will pay me well for you!¡± the man said with a grin.
At that moment I heard footsteps running fast in my direction. Reflexes kick in and before I knew it, my spear was already ready for whatever was coming. I steadied my breathing as the sound got louder.
A man shot out behind a bush running for his dear life, his face in panic.
¡°Run!!¡± he said as the man sped by.
¡°What are you doing?¡± I said, while being relieved that it wasn¡¯t another wild boar.
The man running didn¡¯t turn back as I heard a vibrating noise come toward me.
My heart dropped, it can only be one thing. A giant wasp was chasing him. I began stepping backward, the boar even more frantically was trying to swing out of the trap. Before I knew it, a giant wasp came in view, the name describes it perfectly, it was the same size as a grown man, with a piercing stinger that was ready to strike. I ran with my spear for dear life in the same direction as the stranger. Peeking behind my shoulder for a brief moment, my boar was getting eaten to bits by that monster.
Finally catching up with the man that ran past me, he was laying on the ground next to a tree catching his breath. His black curly hair had twigs in it, his clothes dirty, wheat colored skin, and piercing dark brown eyes, this man was definitely not from around here.
¡°Thanks for taking care of the wasp!¡± the man gleamed.
¡°Not really something I wanted to do¡it¡¯s pretty hard to have a wasp leave its nest to this distance.¡± I said.
¡°Well, I walked into some cave and all of a sudden there were about 20 of them on me!¡±
¡°Why in the hell would you disturb the nest?!¡±
¡°I was just wondering if someone was inside, I was scared there was no intelligent life here you see. Oh my name is Aeolus by the way.¡±
The man was speaking pure idiocy, it was hard to listen to him speak because I was so mad about the boar I loss, but my curiosity was piqued with his strangeness.
¡°Yeah¡the name is Henry. What kind of name is Aeolus? You just make that up? Sounds like an elf name, you don¡¯t really look like one.¡±
¡°You just say Elf? Oh my¡What have you gotten me into Zeus?¡± Aeolus laughed lightly while looking at the sky.
¡°Alright then¡You¡¯ll have to pay up for the boar I caught! I wasted hours waiting for that thing.¡±
Aeolus looked at me, looking at the spear in my hand at my feet to my head.
¡°Where is the town at?¡±
¡°The village is called Brine, it¡¯s just behind me about a 10 minute walk.¡±
¡°Are you a warrior?¡± he said.
¡°What is that supposed to mean?! I¡¯m a mercenary working in this village, helping with problems you know!¡±
He smiled a bit, and stood up and faced me.
¡°Henry¡you¡¯ll be the first to join my house! I¡¯ll give you this coin here if you join the House of Aeolus the God of the Wind!¡± he said proudly.
¡°Uhh¡yeah sure just hand it over then.¡±
Aeolus put out his hand suggesting he wanted a handshake, in it was something shiny, a gold coin! I grabbed his hand quick and took the transferred coin and stared at it. The coin had a head of a man on it; I¡¯ve never seen anything like it before. As soon as I turned the other side of it, it started cracking, eventually puffing into thin air without a trace.
¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± I yelled.
¡°Very interesting, I didn¡¯t know it would do that.¡± He said with an intrigued face.
¡°Just forget about it¡I¡¯m¡going to go back hunting, please leave before I lose my temper.¡±
¡°As you wish.¡± He bowed and smiled at me.
The uncoordinated man walked down the dirt trail toward Brine Village, a community of 200 people. Does this man really think he¡¯s the God of the Wind? I laughed to myself despite my frustration and walked off to a different trap I set up close by.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
*
The former God of the Wind had a lot of time to think during his walk to the Village. A month will be a long time to wait for Olympus Coins, and the first week will be very important to do well. Aeolus¡¯s stomach growled, he stopped walking.
¡°This is hunger?¡± I said out loud.
Astonished that I felt the basic needs of a human for the first time, my mind raced on how I will gain currency for food and other services. Temporarily I¡¯ll have to find a job, but what should I do? I can¡¯t fight, I¡¯ll have to find some sort of service job.
Aeolus reached Brine and saw the rows of wooden houses and stores, almost as if the town was hidden within the forest. A small river ran through part of the town, a small bridge went over it connecting to a different portion. Many people were walking about this fine afternoon, children chasing small critters. A very peaceful village.
In the town I received many odd looks, kids stopping and pointing directly at me to their friends, older citizens outside their home squinting their judgmental eyes at my direction. A few minutes of walking and I was stopped by the local authorities of the town. Two middle-aged men in front of me while a younger man watching me from behind.
¡°What¡¯s your business here in Brine stranger?¡± the one in front of me to the right said.
¡°Well, you see I¡¯m here to find a job¡±
The three town guards studied him further, looking at Aeolus¡¯s wooden sandals, strange clothes, and different accent.
¡°Ehh¡we do need a few bodies in this city for certain jobs, people are moving out and disappearing every week, I guess it wouldn¡¯t hurt to take in a newcomer. We got our eye on you though kid.¡± The older man said.
The three guards walked off, now uninterested in the young man. It¡¯s not a normal occurrence for a new person to come into this town. So many hostile creatures roam the forest that you need to have an armed escort if you leave the village. The growing force of the goblins a days walk away north of there also threatens the town, if the goblins strike the town then there would be a good chance this town wouldn¡¯t win.
After the conversation with the guards I heard a voice from a store, it was an older man, grey hair and a big beard, the man stood from his chair with a hunched back approaching me. He had a friendly grin with missing teeth, he also reeked of booze.
¡°I got a job for ya, come work at me store sellin me weapons and armor, if you¡¯re homeless I¡¯ll even give ya the 2nd floor room to board, also 5 copper coins a day. Not a bad deal if you ask me kid. This helps me out quite a bit so I can focus on my blacksmithin¡± The old man spoke as if he knew me for years.
¡°Yes of course!¡± I said, still not sure what value 5 copper is.
¡°My name¡¯s Chandler, yours?¡±
¡°The Wind G¡I mean Aeolus.¡±
¡°Strange name you got there, well I got somethings I need to work on, how about I show you everything inside the place. It¡¯s nothing much but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s better than outside. You can start work tomorrow, it¡¯ll be quite simple for a man like yourself.¡±
Aeolus and the man enter the building, after being shown around the place he was given a key and a blanket. When the old man left Aeolus was left to his thoughts, not the spacious mansion he owned in Palm Springs, he felt home sick from his paradise on Earth. For the remaining hours of light he began plans of upcoming weeks.
I was laying on my stomach on the wooden floor, writing on paper I found with a quell pen and inkhorn. Making some sort of goal sheet was imperative, I must make every moment matter this first month, getting as much Olympus Coins early will guarantee my safety for a little while at least, until I can find good allies. Supporting myself is important as well, buying a castle with the coins may be a priority before having an army. My advancement here really depends how much coin I get next week, I can quit working here and just full time scout the land, finding out who is friend and foe will be the priority in the coming months. I¡¯m not going to be so careless when picking friends from now on, for all I know that Henry guy is just a bum and taking my power without doing anything.
It was dark now, with no candle Aeolus stopped his planning and focused on getting rest for tomorrow¡¯s first day of work. He sighed at his current position and his foolish decision to throw away his coin on a random mercenary.
¡°Maybe it will all pan out well for me.¡± He said lightly before sleeping.
*
Henry was scouting a patrol of goblins four days after that fateful day he met Aeolus. The night sky was black with no stars, and a full moon. Laying his head close to the ground peeking over the edge of the cliff that he¡¯s on, Henry looked down at 5 goblins chatting around a small campfire cooking rabbits they hunted earlier. Behind Henry his partner Heldbeard, a middle aged dwarf with black hair and a beard, Heldbeard fought with two small axes in each hand. The dwarf man curious about the situation couldn¡¯t hold his voice for any longer.
¡°What¡¯s it lookin like laddy?¡± the dwarf said softly.
Henry cautiously crawled away from the edge and answered the dwarf.
¡°About 5 of them, not very strong looking ones, probably just a patrol.¡±
¡°I say we get Bronson and Peter over here, we can take them just us.¡±
Henry shook his head and agreed. They informed the other two members of the group hidden in the forest below. Henry and Heldbeard reached the others, they made a plan of ambush, it was nothing new for them, they¡¯ve worked as a team killing goblin patrols the last few months since it was dangerous to do alone. Bronson was a large man with a shield and sword, he was young but was a seasoned fighter, while Peter who had a bow and a knife was a thin average height man, but with enough time he could land any shot. Henry with his spear and shield, Heldbeard with his axes, it was a very formidable team. The group made their plan and preparations were made.
Waiting in a bush with Heldbeard by my side, we waited for Peter to be in position on the cliff I was just at. The plan was for Peter to snipe out one, then immediately Bronson was to charge from the rear. The goblins should be distracted enough for Heldbeard and I to kill them quick from behind. I waited until I saw Peter in place, watching him bring back his bow string aiming down at the goblins. Everything was going as plan until he missed. The arrow went way off, I heard Heldbeard shock in his movement near me. I looked back at Peter and he was falling off the cliff with a spear going through his back out his chest, with noises coming from above of multiple goblins. The goblin camp ahead of us were already alerted and ready to fight, everything is going wrong. Heldbeard our leader in panic yelled an order.
¡°Run! Meet at rendezvous point!¡±
Before I knew it the little dwarf was already gone, I saw Bronson run off in a different direction as well. I followed suit, about a 30 second sprint and my foot was caught on a tree root tripping me on the ground. Surrounded by torches and goblins, as I raised my head off the floor, it was over. A big goblin with a wooden club bashed me over the head.
Chapter 2
A human man was located at a much unfortunate place for anyone to be, inside a large goblin camp, he had brown hair shoulder length, brown eyes, and slightly above average height with light skin. The man was recently given a title by a certain God of the Wind that many people would be envious of¡Champion.
My eyes started fluttering open. I had a killer headache that gave me a hard time focusing on anything. At least there was a fire nearby keeping me warm, even tied up to this wooden pole wasn¡¯t as uncomfortable as you¡¯d think. Wait¡
A sudden realization hit Henry when his blurred vision cleared and he was looking out at a goblin camp, with hundreds of those green monsters lazing about as the sun was rising. Right next to him was a large bonfire and an older looking goblin with white hair chanting something into the fire. The hero was stripped naked, and didn¡¯t have any of his equipment. It wasn¡¯t long to figure out where it went, right next to him were his clothes scatted on the ground, while his leather armor, shield, and spear were on the guard close by. It did not fit him by no means, it looked goofy as he stood there sleeping while standing. The hero started to move violently trying to slip out of the knot, or break the pole itself that he was tied to, he had no luck. The elder goblin noticed and stopped his chant to walk over to the human man.
¡°Ooo look da big bad pinky is awake!¡±
The champion was shocked that this goblin could speak common, he¡¯s never heard them speak it before. Getting back to his senses, he spoke to the goblin elder.
¡°Hey I¡¯m Henry, it is good to meet you Mr. Goblin, you look big and powerful, and uhh¡Fierce! You think we can make some sort of an agreement to set me free? I¡¯m sure you are able to make decisions without telling these other dumb goblins right?¡±
The human spoke with as friendly and as simple as he could. It is known that goblins are quite egotistical, even though people usually can¡¯t understand them, they are very serious about their hierarchy and this guy has to be at the top.
¡°Gabtak took all pretty¡¯s away! What else to take?! Stupid dumb human!¡±
¡°I have¡ Tons of gold¡ Just not here. If you let me leave I¡¯ll bring it all right ba¡¡±
¡°No! NO! LIES! LIES! LIES! No one lies to Gabtak the Great! I am lie proof!¡±
The anger rose within the elder, which woke the guard near the hero. Confused he reacted by dropping his spear and shield. Feeling like he had to do something to make the boss happy again, he laid heavy punches into the champion¡¯s ribs.
The elder who was slightly pleased now walked over to a bucket nearby and put his hand in the bucket filled with blood. He proceeded to make a star on the ground while muttering to himself. When he finished he walked near the fire where he grabbed his staff.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The elder shouted in goblin tongue, which alerted six goblins close by to cut the ropes of the human. Henry scrambled but didn¡¯t put a lot of effort, that wasn¡¯t the ideal time to escape. He noticed the goblins felt weaker than usual when forcing him into the center of the star on the ground. Next he was surrounded on all sides by goblins with crude weapons making sure he doesn¡¯t try and exit it.
¡°Yes¡Yes¡You¡¯ll be a worthy sacrifice to the demon lord Balthazar! HAHAHA!¡±
Well this isn¡¯t good, the elder is a warlock. Henry eyed a goblin to the left of him who was picking his nose and quite weak looking compared to the others. He was going to be the route to escape until he noticed the warlock just happened to be standing right next to the fire. The warlock started chanting a spell.
It¡¯s not or never I suppose
The champion sprung forward a few feet towards the warlock, his hands were out in a attempt to push, before he even got a few yards to the warlock wind surged from Henry¡¯s hands. The wind pushed the warlock with such force that he flew through the fire and into the air 20 feet, until he landed in a pit with pikes in it. Impaling the Goblin elder known as Gabtak.
The human was stunned. He looked at his hands then at the destruction he just caused, the six goblins behind him had slacked jaws. It is only goblin instinct to run when their boss is killed in battle. Even more so because he used magic. Magic is extremely scary to goblins especially when it¡¯s pointed at them.
With that, everyone scattered. Seeing his moment, he ran to grab his clothes and his weapons. A horn was raised to rally all the goblins. Seeing the path of least resistance, it was north-west. It was the opposite direction of Brine¡Into the unknown frontier that humans haven¡¯t discovered yet.
There were a few groups of goblins on his escape out, it was easy to make them waiver then retreat with his new wind ability. Once one of the braver ones try to bum rush him he would just send him flying, which quickly ceased any other attempt from a goblin to touch him.
Once out of the main camp he started getting bombarded by arrows, goblins weren¡¯t the best marksman so it was easy to dodge, every once in a while he had to block it with his shield but that was simple enough.
Henry stopped running and did a light jog when he was no longer in sight of the goblin camp, he eventually went until he hit a maintained road out in the wilderness, this was unexpected, he had no clue there was any sort of civilization out here.
He finally got the chance to really think about what just happened, he was never that strong, fast, and he definitely never had magic before. At that moment it all clicked. That stranger, who he forgot the name of was actually a God, he even said he was the God of the Wind or something which makes sense that he now had the ability to shoot high powered wind out of his hands.
There was an overwhelming joy he felt when realizing the possibilities and potential his powers can grow to. He may even be able to find himself in a high ranking military position if he was to join the Alvin military, people with magic was a valuable thing, he could live a life of luxury with the amount of pay he¡¯d get.
After that thought Henry¡¯s smile slowly faded into a frown when he realized that he probably couldn¡¯t do the things he wanted because that God of the Wind will want something in return with all the power he gave him.
Chapter 3
Far west in a barren flat land a small army of monsters marched onto a God¡¯s temple, extremely overwhelmed the God was begging for his life inside his temple to the leader of the monster army¡who was indeed the biggest monster of them all.
Ahti the Finnish God stared out the door of his temple, the Water God too scared to confront Ares. Ahti looked like a runt version of Zeus, as if he was maybe a sibling, but without any of the intimidating features of him.
¡°Come on out Ahti! Come out so I can end that stupid pointless immortal life of yours.¡± Ares yelled outside Ahti¡¯s temple.
Ares was wearing the big shiny red armor that he always wore, he was large in every sense, but with the armor it made him appear much thicker than he really was. His eyes were glaring at the temple, with his arms crossed on his chest. Ares monster army he has collected were too fearful to get too close to him, never directly looking at him. He held a death stare and a twisted smile that was barely seen through his helmet.
The Minotaur was smashing Ahti¡¯s champion under his foot with its weight as the small man screamed out for his God to come out and save him. More and more monsters surrounded the temple in the barren wasteland.
Ahti with defeated small steps, went outside of his temple until he was a few feet in front of Ares, he went to his knees begging to spare his life.
¡°Please Ares! Mercy! I will¡I will¡join you! Yes, join you in anything. Please! Let me help you Ares!¡± He cried.
Ares looked at the pathetic God and ignored his pitiful plea. Unfortunately he isn¡¯t able to physical hurt anyone with the rules, these monsters don¡¯t know that, if they did they would probably kill him instantly, fear is what keeps these monsters from even thinking about it, as long as he has fear he has power. He did desperately wanted to kick him and shove a sword down his throat, but if he tried it his leg would just freeze before contact, out of his control.
¡°Look Ahti¡You¡¯re ranked 38th, you are nothing to me. You have poor judgement as well. Your champion¡look at him. He¡¯s like 5 foot. He¡¯s not even a dwarf, but I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s legally a midget. I really have no clue what you were thinking. He probably eats pizza with pineapple on it, weak genetics.¡±
Ahti looked to his right at his champion¡¯s face, still alive with blood coming out his eyes and mouth, he still had some energy in him trying to push the monster off, Minotaur still had his hoof on his guts, squishing his insides. Ares began to walk to his prized monster, as if showing off a new car to him.
¡°Now this¡THIS is power! He isn¡¯t no pineapple pizza type of guy; he¡¯s more of a meatlovers type.¡± He smiles
As if that was the signal for go, the Minotaur roared fiercely and took his other hoof smashing the followers head, then took steps toward the Water God. Grabbed his body by the torso as the God screamed, the Minotaur savored the flavor by licking his head before he took a bite. Chewing the head and then spitting it out.
The monsters watching the event let out audible ¡°Oh fuck¡¡± in their languages as the head rolled on the floor.
The former God¡¯s body started cracking and puffed away just like the Champion Coin, except this time into a purple crystal, inside you can see Ahti¡¯s soul trapped in it like a prison, after a few moments it shot into air and out of sight.
¡°Very interesting, so that¡¯s what happens when you die.¡±
Ares viewed the temple of his former opponent, the water banner turned into the red banner with the helmet of Ares on it, his symbol. Ares entered the room and saw the map. It now has two symbols on it, he now owns two temple locations, he put his hand on the map of his first location on the symbol. As light flashed around him he was back at his starting temple, inside the camp he built from the Olympus Coin income he received two days before. Ares viewed Ahti¡¯s name turn red and went off the list, Ares rank also went above Thor¡¯s and took his spot at rank 1.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
*
Cities in this new world had organized crime just like on Earth, in some ways you could say they are the ones that really run the city. One God knew all too well for he had his fun in the 1920s-1960¡¯s running the Italian mob in the United States. With his temple located not far in the outskirts of a city called Aldren.
This night the King of Aldren hosted the God, the King was fearful of the new crime boss, stories of his brutality over the city uniting all gangs under him. At the large banquet, the God sat at the King¡¯s table, most of the attendees sitting at the tables were nobles, but the real reason they became nobles because they ruled over the many gangs in the city. The God with his pale skin, black oily hair, and slightly red eyes kept the same half smile while he talked to the King, while every once in a while grabbing a comb to slick his hair back. The King was a middle-aged man, his hair thinning and overweight.
¡°Well Loki, I just felt I should welcome you to our great city formally, and that in the royal castle you will always be welcomed to visit.¡± King Fredrick said.
¡°Say, that is real nice of ya King. I gotta tell ya, I really like this city. Good place for a upstart like myself.¡± Loki said. He was very fond of sounding like an old mobster, even though it was somewhat stupid.
The King muffled his voice a little, as he leaned closer to the God, so others will not hear.
¡°I¡¯ll cut to the real reason I wanted to see you, I got most of this room on a pay roll not to cause problems for me, and I could give you quite a large fortune to do the same, make you a lord yourself.¡± The king whispered, with an assuring smile.
Loki started laughing very loud. Very prolonged laughing that caused everyone in the room to become silent while listening to him laugh. The King confused of his actions knew that Loki couldn¡¯t afford to do anything foolish to him, he would be killed instantly from all the guards he has surrounding the party.
¡°Don¡¯t pity me with your gold and titles. I don¡¯t require such things. You didn¡¯t stick to the program King! You were supposed to take my offer that I was going to give you, which was to shut up and let me take over! I¡¯m already tired of your boring games!¡±
Loki made a knife shape in his hand, and slid it near his throat, signaling a kill. The royal guards near the King thrusted there weapons toward Loki to kill the God. They were stopped by a Beastman that looked like a Panther standing on two legs, with Loki¡¯s magic the champion inherited, he was able to be invisible for about an hour at a time, long enough for him to enter the building and guard his God. The Panther with his two daggers sliced through the royal guards like butter. The crowd of nobles watched as the panther stepped behind the King, he was still sitting in his chair, all his royal guards killed. The rest of the normal guards did nothing but watched.
¡°What are you doing? Help me!¡± The King yelled.
The guards still did nothing. Loki started clapping his hands smiling at the crowd then to the King.
¡°You know how you said you got the goons of this town on a payroll? Me too. Same with most of your guards. See? This is my city now.¡±
The King realizing his certain doom looked behind him at the giant panther growling right behind him. He stood up trying to climb over the table away from him. The beast stabbed the back of the king¡¯s head through his mouth. Killing the once ruler of Aldren. Loki who had a toothpick started getting the pieces of chicken in his teeth from the dinner.
¡°Alright all you, get outta here!¡± Loki ordered.
The nobles, which most of them followers to Loki left the hall, some of Loki¡¯s guards stayed behind to clean up the dead bodies. The Beastman stayed as well.
¡°Fang¡±
¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Fang answered with a deep monotone voice that seemed to shake the air.
¡°I¡¯m not a bad dude right?¡±
¡°Ehh, not really my call to make boss.¡±
¡°Come on you can be honest with me, I can¡¯t be the bad bad guy right? Like there are totally worse ones out there than me, I just like having fun! Honest!¡±
¡°How am I suppose to know the other God¡¯s? Also I¡¯m not a good judge of character, I just stabbed this guy in the back of the head. That¡¯s some bad guy stuff right there. He¡¯s not even that bad of a King honestly, he lowered taxes quite a bit.¡± Fang walked off after that, he gets moody like that sometimes after he kills a bunch of people.
¡°¡¡±
Loki spent a good amount of time that night in the King¡¯s bedchamber banging the now widowed Queen, she wanted it of course, I¡¯m not that bad of a guy. After that, he spent some time thinking how he wants to go forward, and gave a good hard look at himself. He¡¯s tired of playing the villain, it¡¯s too predictable, I think it¡¯s time to switch it up and do a lot of good stuff, like be honest, people would be like ¡°whaaaaaa! He kept his word, no way!¡±. Ah yes, I can¡¯t wait to see their faces!
Chapter 4
It was only a few hours after that uneventful morning. Once on the trail I had no clue where it went, but if there¡¯s a trail then there must be some sort of civilization smarter than a goblins out here.
Henry was exhausted over the last few days, and he found out that spamming a bunch of magic spells in a short amount of time really makes you sleepy. Thinking he is probably in the clear from the goblins, he found a nice tree near the road to doze off for a bit.
The sound of horse hooves hitting the ground woke Henry out of his sleep, the horses carrying a wagon stopped, the small man sitting upfront observed the out of place human for a short while.
¡°Hey! Ye dead over there!?¡± The dwarf stood up and squinted to get a better look, the dwarf himself had a large red beard, pale skin, and a baldhead. He was only in his mid-twenties but he looked about 40.
Happy that he found someone that does not want to kill him. Henry stood and waved at the curious dwarf. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m alright, wouldn¡¯t mind some help though.¡±
¡°Well it wouldn¡¯t be in me nature to leave someone in need. My name¡¯s Strom Wildsteel, I¡¯m a merchant and delivering an order of apples to a dwarf city nearby.¡±
¡°Sure if you don¡¯t mind that I hitch a ride there, I can help out with the wildlife if we get attacked I guess. Once we get to this dwarf town maybe I can work something out to get back to my town.¡±
¡°Oh that isn¡¯t happening.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°This dwarf city I¡¯m talking about is Drak Vard, they have a strict dwarf only rule, they won¡¯t even allow gnomes in. You¡¯ll have to wait outside, if you want I can take you to a town a few days north, it¡¯s mostly elves there but they got humans and other stuff there that¡¯s allowed to enter.¡±
¡°Is there another way southeast toward Brine?¡±
¡°Not unless you want to be soup for the goblins there, too many of them to clear, darn shame the humans or dwarves don¡¯t take care of it.¡±
It wasn¡¯t really the answer Henry wanted to hear but he knew it wasn¡¯t going to be that easy to get back, the alternative according to the maps would be several months long journey, and it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be safe, since most of it is unexplored territory, well for Alvin people like myself. The best course of action would probably follow this dwarf around until we get to the elf village, then I can ask around to see if someone knows any hidden trails one can use to bypass the goblin horde.
The wagon occupied by the now two men went down the trail relatively undisturbed. Every once in awhile he saw bushes move nearby, and sounds of twigs breaking, but whatever it was obviously was not confident in confronting us. Strom looked quite uncomfortable during the trip, he kept staring blankly off in the distance and would just make horrible stomach noises.
¡°You hungry or something man?¡±
¡°Aye¡but nothing seems to fill me. I eat this jerky I got, apples, but it seems to do nothing. It just tastes like mush in my mouth. This flu or whatever I got is just awful, my skin is getting pale too!¡±
¡°Oh¡¡±
¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking; I¡¯m going to get you sick too! Well I hope not, I was around people the last few days before I met you and nothing happened. I think I know who did this though, a damn man in a cloak covering his face, he gave me this damn shiny gold coin that puffed like magic when I took it, all I had to do was agree to join his house whatever the hell that meant. I got mad shouting at him but he just ignored me while he took off into the forest, real son of a bitch that one. I was a little hesitant to pick you up but I can¡¯t let one bad thing mess me up when I meet anyone new out in the forest.¡±
¡°Strange you say that. I was given a gold coin from someone in the forest, it doesn¡¯t seem like the same guy. Same stuff with the house thing, he called himself a God though, but I got some nifty wind spells from it, and I¡¯m definitely much stronger.¡±
¡°What the hell!? I just got this stupid sickness from it, and you out here controlling the weather. Just my luck hahaha! Well there¡¯s the city entrance up ahead, you should stay put around here, I got some camping supplies in the back, go ahead and borrow it until I come back tomorrow, you should be alright out here, it¡¯s relatively safe within the mile of the gate.¡±
¡°Alright, thanks a lot Strom, really are a life saver, I¡¯ll have to repay you when I can.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine, I try and do good things to build up some good karma, the Gods have something cooking for me, so I¡¯m trying to be on their good side.¡± The dwarf winked at the man and set off to Drak Vard.
Things were safe the five days I stayed there, the problem was it was four days too long. Strom definitely wasn¡¯t going to come back.
Taking matters into his own hands Henry decided to go to the city, what¡¯s the worst they would do just say no? He doubted that the dwarf would just go off his word and leave him out there, also leaving a bunch of equipment with him seemed like something someone wouldn¡¯t do if they were trying to ditch him.
The trail started to gain an incline heading up the mountain, within view a large gate attached to the mountain was open, it was wide enough to have several wagons enter at a time and 50 feet high. As Henry got close, he noticed something was off.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
No one was here.
For a dwarf society that closed off relations with other races, they sure seemed open. The gate was wide open and not a soul was in sight, except a dark entrance. Henry stood outside for a few hours contemplating the outcome of leaving and surviving on his own in the untamed wilderness, or going into the shady dwarf city. He choose the latter.
With a torch that was part of the supplies Strom gave him, I went down the deep tunnel; it was dark at first, as the torches on the walls weren¡¯t lit in quite sometime. Leaving the tunnel a view of a town was off in the distance down a slope, everything was lit up by fire blazes on top of some buildings that never go out, it was a wide flat area filled with stone houses. It was surprising how numerous it was because from the outside it seemed like a ghost town, which with further investigation most recently became.
Henry walked the streets of what seemed to be a market place, there was papers on the ground, food carts destroyed, and most of all¡lots of blood.
There was obviously some sort of massacre here but there is no bodies in sight, it seemed like there was a monster attack. One that eats everything, and leaves nothing behind¡
The champion became a bit nauseous seeing all the blood and imagined the bloodbath that these monsters caused. He continued to walk down the streets looking for any signs of life.
¡°Hello! Anyone out there! I¡¯m friendly I won¡¯t hurt you! I just want to talk!¡± phrases he would say over the next ten minutes.
As much as Henry appears to be a lone wolf mercenary, he¡¯s always been far from it. He constantly goes out of his way to help out those in need, but usually isn¡¯t credit with anything if he does do something. Some would say he was even too passive, even in a horrible situation he would have a nonchalant attitude, which is probably why people don¡¯t take him very serious or find him dependable in dire situations.
He was going to do a few last calls before looting some homes for supplies for his next journey when he heard something quite disturbing.
*footsteps getting louder and louder*
Henry¡¯s instincts causing his feet to move on his own, he went inside a building and closed the door, moving a dresser behind the door, then moving up stairs on the flat roof peering over the ledge but staying hidden.
In the distance, he saw a herd of dwarfs running after what appears to be just a few dwarves. After a closer look, it was three males and a female running for their lives. Behind them was possibly a thousand zombie dwarves chasing them.
*RAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH*
¡°Oh fuck¡± after that deafening shout they gave this was something the human thought maybe he shouldn¡¯t give a helping hand, I mean I¡¯ll totally give out help to someone that doesn¡¯t have a full Army of the dead chasing them. He felt bad for those guys running but what could he do? So he just laid on his back and waited out until they passed, then he would sneak out.
Well that was the plan anyways. These assholes decided to enter the building right across from me.
The dwarves were on the roof of the building across from him, the building mirrored the one he was in. They apparently blocked off the entrance to the top floor quite well, it doesn¡¯t seem they will be able to break through it.
*Sigh* not that Henry wanted them to die, but if they were taken care of by these zombies then they would have probably moved on by now. He didn¡¯t want to be roped in with these guys so he crawled through the stairs so the dwarves across didn¡¯t see him. Last thing he needed was one of them to shout out at him and cause these zombies to focus on him. He¡¯ll just have to wait until they actually break through their barrier, there¡¯s no winning here.
18 days later.
A few droplets of water from Strom¡¯s canteen that he gave him touched his lips, it was half way empty now, dehydrated and weak he glared outside the window at the zombie apocalypse. He ran out of food completely now, he would be good for maybe a week. The dwarves across from him weren¡¯t so lucky, it appeared they had nothing from the start. After five days they killed one of the males, and ate him, not long after that they killed the female and ate her. Now there¡¯s just two male dwarves staring at each other over the last week.
A large bang happened which woke me up, it seems the zombies finally broke through the barrier to their house, and they were flooding the rooftop of the last two living dwarves of Drak Vard. Henry went back up to the roof where he was laying low staying out of sight, but he was close enough to hear speaking, it wasn¡¯t zombie talk either.
¡°That the last of them Strom?¡± a screechy voice from a man that had a bad hunch, he had some strange clothes, like he was some sort of forest person. He had face paint, leafs as clothes, and a crazy unnatural smile.
¡°Yes master.¡± A monotone voice replied. It was a voice that Henry recognized, it was Strom. He looked the same but he was a bit paler and he had dry blood all over his chin. It was at this moment that Strom started sniffing the air.
¡°Master. I smell a human nearby.¡±
¡°Oh really. Hahaha! Might as well grab one up, we¡¯re making great progress over this last month, I¡¯m ranked number 5 right now, I¡¯d love to pass up that pompous Athen¡ahhhhhh¡¡±
Henry threw his spear from his rooftop gliding straight through that man¡¯s chest, his body went lifeless as he dropped to the floor, soon after his body puffed away and turned into a purple crystal which shot up, it phased through the rock without even making a hole.
It was a risky move on Henry¡¯s part, there was a tale from a long time ago saying if you killed the necromancer controlling the dead it would kill all of them. Unfortunately that myth ended up not being true or that guy wasn¡¯t a necromancer. As all it caused was the zombies to wander off in all directions. They no longer had anyone in control so they were feral now. Strom on the other hand no longer had pale skin but a healthy tan, his clouded eyes gained color and he seemed to regain control.
¡°The hell happened?¡±
After saying that he was jumped by a dozen feral zombies chewing him limb to limb, it was quite disgusting to witness as his intestines were being thrown in the air as he screamed.
¡°What a fucking nightmare¡¡± Henry muttered to himself. He would have to wait awhile longer to try and make an escape. The streets were still just full of these zombies. Once you attract one they will all swarm, and with his current condition, he won¡¯t be able to outrun them.
4 days later.
At this point he just decided he¡¯ll just die here, his legs were too weak to move as he laid on his back on the roof, staring at the rock ceiling illuminated by the light from the magically produced flames of the bonfires. He was in and out of consciousness as he had a hard time having the energy to keep his eyes open, his mouth was dry and he knew he didn¡¯t have much longer left. At that moment, on day 22 of stuck on this roof he heard the noises of arrows flying through the air and men yelling.
¡°Fire! Spearmen get ready for the 10 coming up the rear, archers¡¯ fire at will in the back ranks!¡± A man shouted on a horse as a 100 human unit slaughtered zombies in efficient manner. They cleared the streets and when they reached near his building, Henry built up enough energy to shout out.
¡°I¡¯m up here damnit!¡±
Not long after the door to his building was kicked in. Some men in mail armor and a blue tabard picked him up. They brought him outside and was placed on a back of a horse carriage, with the God himself, Aeolus.