Chapter 441 Rushing to Jack“s Aid
"Oh, so he chose to kill Jack outright…" Halmut commented on the scene they were witnessing, smiling as he did so. "Not a bad tactic, considering his mismatch with Eedaj."
Sterfen remained silent. His heart was pounding as Tralbok avoided all of Eedaj's attacks. Witnessing Tralbok's charge on Jack almost made Sterfen's heart leap from his chest.
The four gods all watched as Tralbok used his time magic to avoid all attacks, even countering the darkness that tried to hide Jack. Tralbok's wind blade attack put a smile on Halmut's and Naparn's face while Sterfen watched in horror. Yet their view was destroyed with the second appearance of that dark orb, not letting them watch Jack be slaughtered.
"Oh, Eedaj ruined the fun…" mumbled Halmut.
After a few moments passed, Sterfen felt a fraction of relief but hid it from his face. When Tralbok rose up out of that massive orb of darkness, Sterfen could still sense his connection with Jack as the demigod Sterfen chose.
But the battle continued as Tralbok then targeted the nearby Lorwynn.
With his battle experience, Lorwynn put up a good fight, considering his mortality. It surprised Halmut to see that his former champion was so resilient and proud before Tralbok. When Lorwynn tried to attack Tralbok with himself as bait, it filled Halmut with pride for choosing such a great champion.
Lyrun did his best to hide the worry on his face. Knowing that Lorwynn had left the holy gods didn't anger or sadden Lyrun at all, but seeing Lorwynn confronted by a chaotic god was too much for Lyrun.
As Lorwynn's former master and the man who taught Lorwynn almost everything Lorwynn knew, it was hard for him to see Lorwynn be hurt so badly. Lyrun had never intended for Lorwynn to become the holy champion and risk his life as such, yet his disciple's abilities had attracted the eye of Halmut and forced Lyrun to hand him over.
When Lyrun had learned that Lorwynn was still alive and had abandoned the holy gods, he was relieved. Yet that moment of relief was momentary and soon crushed as Lyrun witness his former disciple be killed by Tralbok.
"At least he died proudly," stated Halmut, not caring what the others felt or realizing the feelings that Lyrun was hiding.
Staying his tongue, Lyrun hid his emotions while they watched Lorwynn's body fall.
They noticed that Lorwynn's body was caught and hurried toward those on the wall. Also, they noticed the two guild members rushing toward the Glacier Wyrm and the fallen Lorwynn.
"Oh… so he'll live…" Halmut clicked his tongue, dissatisfied to see Lorwynn's final moments tainted. "He should remain a corpse before we're forced to do the traitor in…"
But their attention was stolen again as Tralbok chose a new target.
All four of the gods were on the edge of their seats, some in excitement and others in worry. They spotted Tralbok's next target, putting a smile on Naparn's face.
"Not bad…" stated Halmut, starting to chuckle. "I guess he's trying to remove the potential threats before facing Eedaj. I wonder… Is he trying to save enough mana to use Moranti's scythe again, or does he just hate the weak Leisure Guild that much?"
However, their attention was stolen again when they spotted the hooded man rushing toward the evolving fox as well. When that man threw the small black fireball, all of them were speechless.
Finally, Sterfen loosed a sigh of relief while the three holy gods watched with mouths agape.
Seeing Kori appear to defend his son was too much for Naparn to take. He shouted, "That blasted fox dares leave isolation again?! I should've taken both of his arms!"
"So…" Halmut's eyes were sparkling in excitement. "He finally chooses to fight… Wait, did he just call that evolving fox his son?"
The leader of the holy gods looked away from the table, glaring at Naparn, who immediately silenced himself upon hearing Halmut's question.
"Naparn, would you mind telling me how the neutral champion gained Kori's son as his beast companion?" questioned Halmut. "Weren't you in charge of keeping watch over Kori's wife while she was apart from Kori? Why didn't you inform me that they had a child?"
Under Halmut's stare, the proud Molten God felt himself shrinking. "I… We made sure to watch them at all times."
"Then how did you not know about their child? And how did their child end up with them?!"
"That… Um…"
"Shhh!" Sterfen sounded out, intervening. "We finally get to see Kori go all out, so why not bicker and argue after I leave?"
Nodding Halmut returned his gaze to the viewing table. "Right… We'll discuss the topic thoroughly after our guest has left, won't we Naparn?"
The Molten God didn't respond. He only shrunk back in his chair to watch in silence.
*****
'Argyle! Argyle, are you alive!'
'Kaldor…' Argyle sighed as he replied. 'Both me and Jack are alive.'
'Good--'
'Send a high-level cleric or priest to Jack's office immediately!' shouted Argyle. 'Jack's unconscious but I think his body is worse off than it seems. Hurry!'
'Okay, I'll send someone.'
Finishing his conversation with Argyle, Kaldor looked to Hurmot beside him. "Hurmot, your daughter is a cleric, right?"
"Yes… why do ask?"
"Send her to Jack's Office right now." Kaldor explained, "I'm not sure how, but Jack and Argyle are there now and Jack needs a cleric immediately."
"Oh! Then we'll send a few priests along with Everla," replied Hurmot. The aging auction house owner mounted a Celestial Crane and the two flew off to the crowd still inside the Leisure Guild.
As they landed, Jack's party hurried over along with the nearby Celestial Crane members.
"What's happening? Is Jack okay?" Eliza asked, beating Maura and Daliea to the punch.
Hurmot nodded and looked to Everla, stating, "Jack's fine, but he needs medical attention immediately. He's with Argyle in Jack's office as we speak."
Not replying, all three of Jack's wives stored their beast companions and climbed onto Appa. They immediately took off, racing toward the main building near the front of the entrance. When they rushed to enter the main building, they spotted two men with levels higher than their own. None of them took those two men lightly as they dismounted Appa and brought out their beast companions yet again.
"State your business!" Daliea ordered as she activated her bloodline skill and transformed.
"Wait! We're not enemies!" one man shouted.
The other coughed and retrieved an emblem to show the three women.
At the same time, Hurmot, his daughter, and one of his managers rushed over on the backs of two Celestial Cranes. What they spotted the two men, Hurmot shouted, "What brings you councilmen here. Are you after a fight?"
"No… We're trying to learn what's going on," stated the second councilman holding the emblem. "We spoke with a crane before entering here. Are you needing any more assistance?"
Laughing, Hurmot shook his head. "Unless you want to fight the gods, I'd recommend you don't help us. Everything else is under control, apart from the battle deities."
"Then, was it also the guild that stopped the army outside the east wall?" the first councilman asked.
"What army?" Hurmot asked.
Seeing everyone's confused faces, the two councilmen didn't know what to say. The first councilman went on to explain, "According to the guards on duty, an army of more than ten thousand troops emerged from the distant woods. And they were all powerful foes too, over lv. 50.
"Yet, just before they reached the city walls, Tralon appeared. Without a word, Tralon took out a strange stone that started to glow before it broke. Then, he started to gather an unfathomable amount of spatial energy, all before he teleported away to the center of the army…" The first councilman paused for a moment, struggling to believe the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
"Then… spatial energy fell onto the entire army, shredding every warrior and mage in its ranks to nothing but scraps of flesh… None of the guards knew what to think, nor could they find Tralon anywhere."