BXBX NOVEL Chapter 62: Battleground of the Gods.
"Are you... Planning on disappearing again?" Eris approached, and with her came Arla and Dina. "I'm sorry to say this now of all times when it looks like you're sharing an intimate moment, but you can't go right now," She stared at Ikaris who slowly raised her head from Sol's chest and turned to look at them.
"Are you trying to order me around?" Ikaris asked as soon as her eyes landed on Eris.
"I'm not, I'm telling you that you can't leave right now, there's a lot we have to go over, and once we leave here we will be constantly engaging the demonkin until we're at the barrier, we need you, Ikaris,"
"Master Vestic, do you mind giving us a moment, please?" Arla spoke up, and while she was speaking Han and the others as well as the captains and a few other lieutenants and leaders came.
"Are you asking me to decide between master and-"
"Ikaris," Sol playfully dropped his palm on her head, silencing her with a smile. "I thought you said you wanted to save them." He argued, and Arla's eyes slowly widened while the others shared looks of confusion.
"What is your goal here, what does that free will of yours desire?" Sol asked, watching his goddess show confliction in her thoughts as she was forced to choose between him who needed no help, and the people who were in desperate need of saving.
"Master..." Ikaris held her head as her sigils pulsated across her skin. "I..." She breathed heavily and took deep breaths. "Ugh..." She held her head again when her confliction started becoming a headache.
"Why is it so hard for-" Dina tried speaking but Sol raised his hand toward her, silencing her too as his gaze stayed locked to Ikaris.
"Choose, Ikaris." Sol ordered her and she balled her fists and averted her gaze from him, biting her lip and cursing in her mind.
"I still want to... save them," Ikaris answered, as a trickle of sweat rolled down her cleavage. "I... want to be a hero."
"Is that your will?" Sol asked with a smile, and Ikaris looked up at him with expectant eyes, void of her usual cynicism and strong personality, she seemed apologetic.
"I'm sorry master, I chose something other than you for the first time," Tears appeared at the corners of her eyes, but Sol only smiled at her as he cupped her cheeks and kissed her.
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be sorry, it's not free will if you only do what I want," Sol took a step away from her and watched her slowly back away toward the others.
"I don't see what the big deal here is," Bruce had his brows raised to the clouds as he tried understanding what was happening.
"Shut up, don't ruin it." Usami elbowed him in his side.
"Thank you, for believing in me, master," Ikaris bowed to Sol smiling as his response had put her at ease that she had not made a mistake. "Thank you."
"Get going now, you have a world to save, Hero." Sol waved at her one last time before he turned his back and began walking in the opposite direction.
[True Goddess Ikaris vows to make you proud]
Sol saw the message and chuckled.
"I'm already beaming with pride, though." He smiled and looked at the challenges again as they continued to pour in.
[The god of stories has recorded this event as canon]
[The god of stories smiles fondly at proper character development]
[The goddess of love is in tears at this heartfelt moment]
"Stop it already." Sol grabbed one system window and smacked the others away with it, and then looked at it with a grin.
[Will you accept this challenge?]
[The god of speed is estatic and eager to prove himself to his pantheon]
"Ahem," Sol cleared his throat and tossed the window back into the air. "Wrong one," He chuckled.
[The god of speed is speechless]
"If it's not a fight, I'm not interested." Sol admitted as he vanished from the camp in an eruption of lightning, appearing a distance away with his full armour equipped and a half helmet covering his lower face with a large cape over his back and one shoulder.
[Will you accept this duel?]
[Accept] Sol nodded, and his vision blurred when he was whisked away by the system's power.
[The Tarnished has accepted the challenge of the Goddess of Sins, calculating venue, preparing rules, calculating appropriate rewards]
"I am excited," Sol had a monotonous stare as he checked his armour and patted his helmet, unlike the other gods, he was interested in the goddess of sins since first finding out about her existence.
"Usually gods are the opposite, but there is an entire god and religion dedicated to sin, that's interesting." He said again, kicking the small rocks beneath his feet as a portal appeared before him, he recognised this landscape, it was the first moon of Arkadia, D'ol; the battleground of the gods.
"The goddess of sins, we do not know a lot about her," Sara responded when sol had asked; it was a few days after the heroes were summoned, he came across her mention in a random book in the library under the castle.
"It is said that she uses some of the most bizarre divine magic of all the pantheon, unlike the other gods who specialize in a single field and are omnipotent, the goddess of sins has seven different personalities, seven different types of divine magic, and seven different faces for each of them."
"This has me way too excited," Sol's eyes turned and he smiled under the mask as he saw a foot exit the portal. "I can barely contain myself!" He exclaimed, summoning and slamming his Warhammer against the ground as the cape flew off his shoulders revealing the full detail of his golden armour with the crest of a dragon's skull on the back.
"Ugh, I was hoping you would choose someone else, challenging you was a pain in the ass~" A slender female stepped through the portal and it closed behind her.
[Saat: Goddess of sin]
Sol stared at her as the window briefly appeared and then vanished.
[Rule: Deadly force is encouraged, there is no penalty for killing each other]
[The duel does not stop until one party concedes or is incapable of fighting]
[Reward: The loser of the fight will become the permanent slave of the victor as their reward, rechallenges for their freedom are prohibited]
[What?] Dr'ul stared at the information in surprise. [That is asking too much!]
... [Outrage]
"How dare you!!?" Ikaris snapped when she was in the middle of the heroes' meeting frightening everyone when her magic vapourised the tent they were under and caught several other tents ablaze with white fire. "I won't accept this, you ...!" She ground her teeth and was on the verge of using her divinity when a notification popped up before her.
[The Godslayer alerts you to remain calm]
"Master," Ikaris withdrew her magic and stared at the notification.
"What the actual fuck is your problem!?" Dina screamed after almost suffering a heart-attack as her and the others were sent flying. "You nearly killed me!" Dina snapped again.
"Dina wait," Arla approached Ikaris first and grabbed her hands when she showed signs of losing control a second time.
"Ikaris, I do not know what is happening on your Master's end, but I know he is currently missing and that you two share a bond beyond space and time," Arla stared her in her eyes. "Whatever he's doing, he'll never lose, this is all a game for him, please keep that in mind."
Ikaris stared at Arla, and realised in an instant that this woman was still privy to her secrets despite having her memories erased, her expression turned from shock to hostility.
"I have many questions I wish to ask you, little elf-ling," Ikaris mumbled so just Atla could hear, and she reclined from before her with her head lowered and nodded, watching as Ikaris's feet made contact with the ground again.
"Naturally, I will answer truthfully," Arla raised her head with a nervous smile and waved her staff, putting out the fires and casting [restore] on the surroundings causing everything to revert back to their original position and appearances.
"What the hell was that?" Eris stepped in through the entrance staring at Ikaris worried. "You just exploded out of nowhere, I never thought you were so passionate about meat." She made mention of the last thing they had said before Ikaris snapped.
"Sorry," Ikaris took her seat around the table, closing one of her eyes again and resting her head with an exhausted expression as she watched through the system. "Please continue."
Renia who had been missing and recovering ever since she faced Ikaris was seated in the presence of the princess of Argom who was speaking in her left ear while she watched and listened with her right eye and ear. [I was going to ignore the details of this fight, but Saat went and made it personal, I don't think Ikaris will be willing to listen to reason if the demands are too outrageous.]
"Are you listening?" Darla asked.
"Ah-yes, my apologies princess, I understand that you want the very best choice of a mate for Ikaris, but I am afraid you have it all backwards."
"Backwards?" The princess raised a brow as she thought about Sol and frowned in disgust again.
"I do not believe so, that man is a stain on this castle and the Hero Ikaris, I need your help to get rid of him; The crimson household is famous for their powerhouses, and many eyewitness accounts state that you are on par with the heroes' strength, and that you are close to Sol Vestic, so it is not asking too much that you simply take him away, I do not care how, a spouse or a slave does not matter as long as you make it happen."
The princess was still up to her usual antics.