—Cole POV—
As Orsted and Nanahoshi were on their way toward the Guild Hall, based on their current pathing, I decided to intercept them before they arrived. Not wanting the muscle-brained idiot to scare my daughters, it was best to resolve any potential disputes far away from them. Asking Leviathan and Serafall to watch over them for a little bit, I said I had to step away for a bit. Sensing that something was wrong, Leviathan grabbed my coat and looked me in the eyes.
“Everything is fine, just taking care of a minor problem.”, I told her, telepathically.
“You think this is my first time having someone try and mislead me?”, Leviathan remarked, with a scowl, “What is going on?”
“As I said, I am just taking care of a minor problem. One of the few remaining deities of this world is currently heading for this Guild Hall, they will be here in about twenty minutes. To avoid scaring Eri and Lily, I am going to meet him and resolve any potential issues before they arise.”, I informed her, “Satisfied now?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were not pulling a Lilith on me, and making me babysit while you went off to have fun.”, Leviathan replied, with a playful smile, “Happy Hunting.”
Patting her shoulder, I left the group and headed toward the main entrance. Pushing through the afternoon rush of adventurers coming to turn in quests I took the main road down toward the port. Casting a spell to dull my presence among the bustling crowd, Orsted and Nanahoshi soon came into view. Watching them survey their surroundings, I assumed they already knew I was there and were trying to make me believe they could not sense my presence. Deciding to play it safe, since Orsted was liable to start swinging his blade around with raw abandonment, I reached out to both of them via telepathy to safeguard the public
“What brings the Dragon God Orsted to West Port? Are you here to have a chat with me, or are you going to resort to violence like you normally do?”, I inquired, waiting for the two of them to stare right at me.
Immediate moving to press their backs to each other, they began surveying the surrounding area for me. Believing that they were still bluffing, I began to slowly encircle them ready to counter any attacks they would try and surprise me with. After circling them a few times like a shark, my initial assumption began to fall apart as they never once made eye contact with me.
‘Wait, Orsted cannot pinpoint my exact location?’, I thought, looking at him from only a few feet away, ‘Every divine entity should be able to sense other divine entities, why is he unable to do it?’
Unable to pinpoint where I was in the crowd or surrounding area, Nanahoshi began to panic as clenched her fists tightly. Unnerved by no follow-up statement or attack from me, eventually, her nerves got the better of her.
“Where is he!?”, Nanahoshi whispered, beginning to look around frantically, “I cannot see him anywhere!”
“He must be using magic to hide among the crowd.”, Orsted commented, moving to cast a spell to blast those nearby away to give them both space to move, “Stay close to me.”
“Wait!”, Nanahoshi shouted, noticing a light beginning to form in Orsted’s hand, “You cannot do that!! These are innocent people!”
Seeing early signs of his magic activating, I immediately cast Absolute Cancel to destroy the spell. Feeling his spell crumble apart in his hands, Orsted understood magic would be ineffective against me. Switching to his preferred method of fighting, a sword, Orsted reached under his coat and pulled a black blade out. Launching myself forward, I seized his wrist and with a small amount of force made him drop the blade to the ground.
“There you are!”, Orsted roared, trying to break free of my grip.
“You are proving to be no different than that rat bastard Hitogami. Both of you seemingly care little about innocent bystanders that happen to get in your way.”, I remarked, generating a Gigawatt Blade and pressing it against his throat, “Stand down and be civil, the alternative is me sending you back into the reincarnation cycle.”
“Where the hell did you come from?!”, Nanahoshi gasped, “How did you get so close without either of us realizing it!?”
“What is going to be Orsted?”, I pressed him, “I am not a patient man, make your decision!”
Conceding that he had been out maneuvered, Orsted relented and calmly let his arms drop to his side. Pulling his sword to me with magnetism, I handed it back to him so he could sheath it. Once he had done so, I offered him my hand and introduced myself.
“My name is Cole Bolt, God of Destruction, Nightmares, and Deceit.”, I informed him, “I am a deity from another world who is on a journey with a dear friend of mine named Ciri. Neither of us means any harm, but I am well aware of your tendency to strike first and ask questions later. Apologies for the rough greetings…”
“Yes, it is…”, Nanahoshi said, glaring at Orsted, “You promised me you would try talking to him first, but you immediately went on the attack! Do you realize how many innocent people could have died if Cole did not stop your attacks!”
“I was unsure if he was friend or foe so the best option was to fight.”, Orsted countered, unwilling to yield that point, “While I understand your desire for peace, most powerful entities in this world do not share your sentiments. They will readily kill one another if it means gaining fame, fortune, and women.”
Nodding my head in agreement, I told Nanahoshi that it was the same in every world I had visited. If you did not possess power, fame, or fortune…anything you tried to do for the betterment of the masses almost always fell onto the cutting room floor.
“You mentioned you are on a journey with this Ciri, what sort of journey is it?”, Orsted inquired, trying to understand our reasoning for being here.
“Ciri is being pursued by a dangerous group of Elves called the Aen Elle. They possess the power to traverse the infinite planes of existence and wish to use the bloodline she carries to further increase their power. We are working together to destroy them before they can further harm the worlds she has tread upon already…they have wiped out several hundred universes thus far in pursuit of her.”, I told them, “As for me, I am hunting a group of rouge gods that killed my children and grandchildren. I have already killed three of them, I know where another is, but the last two are still in hiding from me. Have you encountered any other gods besides me?”
“Not to my knowledge, you are the first deity I have encountered in several hundred years.”, Orsted stated, “That said, if they passed through Hitogami’s realm I would not have noticed them. He would be the only one who could tell you if he had encountered anyone out there.”
“I understand, I will have to interrogate him myself then for this information.”, I said, “Thank you for the information. If you have nothing else, I will return to my group.”
“Ahem!”, Nanahoshi coughed, elbowing Orsted, “You need powerful allies to help kill Hitogami, that is what you told me. You cannot get stronger than a deity that can jump between the world, why not party up with him and kill Hitogami?”
Glancing over to me, I gave him a shrug and stated that I was not opposed to joining forces to speed things up. Telling him that I had two things to take care of before we could go after Hitogami, I informed him what we were currently up to.
“I am fine with the terms.”, Orsted agreed, “Escorting them to the Beast Territory and defeating the Teleport Labyrinth will not take too long.”
Shaking hands on it, I motioned for the two of them to follow me to the Guild Hall where everyone was relaxing.
—3rd Person POV—
“Those bastards brought that monster straight to me!!”, Hitogami screamed, watching Cole and Orsted shake hands through the eyes of a passerby.
Unlike Orsted, who did not fully understand how to use his Divine Senses, Hitogami could see the Abomination in Sheep's Clothing Cole was. From the moment Cole arrived in this world, he hoped and prayed Cole would simply leave him be and carry on with his journey. After watching him mercilessly kill his puppet Darius and now join Orsted, Hitogami knew he was living on borrowed time now.
‘I have to get Cole to leave!’, Hitogami thought, trying to brainstorm options.
Moving his sight toward the Adventurer’s Guild Hall where his group was, he noticed Eri and Lily sitting there. Sensing his presence on them, Hitogami attempted to enter their minds but was instantly knocked away with a powerful blow directed at his soul. Wheezing from the pain, he fell to his knees realizing the flaw in his judgement.
‘They are probably his daughters…’, Hitogami groaned, ‘It makes sense for him to have protections in place on them. Fuck!’
Stumbling to his feet again, Hitogami surveyed other potential options to sway Cole to leave. Leviathan and Serafall were Devils so he had no sway over them, Ghislaine was a Beastman so she could not help him, and Ciri had her protections up which left only one person…Hilda. Knowing that she was important to Cole, Hitogami felt she could persuade the man to leave if she became intimate with him. Knowing full well that it would take only a small push, given how fragile she was after everything that had happened, he decided to make his move now before it was too late.
—Cole POV—
As Orsted and Nanahoshi were on their way toward the Guild Hall, based on their current pathing, I decided to intercept them before they arrived. Not wanting the muscle-brained idiot to scare my daughters, it was best to resolve any potential disputes far away from them. Asking Leviathan and Serafall to watch over them for a little bit, I said I had to step away for a bit. Sensing that something was wrong, Leviathan grabbed my coat and looked me in the eyes.
“Everything is fine, just taking care of a minor problem.”, I told her, telepathically.
“You think this is my first time having someone try and mislead me?”, Leviathan remarked, with a scowl, “What is going on?”
“As I said, I am just taking care of a minor problem. One of the few remaining deities of this world is currently heading for this Guild Hall, they will be here in about twenty minutes. To avoid scaring Eri and Lily, I am going to meet him and resolve any potential issues before they arise.”, I informed her, “Satisfied now?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were not pulling a Lilith on me, and making me babysit while you went off to have fun.”, Leviathan replied, with a playful smile, “Happy Hunting.”
Patting her shoulder, I left the group and headed toward the main entrance. Pushing through the afternoon rush of adventurers coming to turn in quests I took the main road down toward the port. Casting a spell to dull my presence among the bustling crowd, Orsted and Nanahoshi soon came into view. Watching them survey their surroundings, I assumed they already knew I was there and were trying to make me believe they could not sense my presence. Deciding to play it safe, since Orsted was liable to start swinging his blade around with raw abandonment, I reached out to both of them via telepathy to safeguard the public
“What brings the Dragon God Orsted to West Port? Are you here to have a chat with me, or are you going to resort to violence like you normally do?”, I inquired, waiting for the two of them to stare right at me.
Immediate moving to press their backs to each other, they began surveying the surrounding area for me. Believing that they were still bluffing, I began to slowly encircle them ready to counter any attacks they would try and surprise me with. After circling them a few times like a shark, my initial assumption began to fall apart as they never once made eye contact with me.
‘Wait, Orsted cannot pinpoint my exact location?’, I thought, looking at him from only a few feet away, ‘Every divine entity should be able to sense other divine entities, why is he unable to do it?’
Unable to pinpoint where I was in the crowd or surrounding area, Nanahoshi began to panic as clenched her fists tightly. Unnerved by no follow-up statement or attack from me, eventually, her nerves got the better of her.
“Where is he!?”, Nanahoshi whispered, beginning to look around frantically, “I cannot see him anywhere!”
“He must be using magic to hide among the crowd.”, Orsted commented, moving to cast a spell to blast those nearby away to give them both space to move, “Stay close to me.”
“Wait!”, Nanahoshi shouted, noticing a light beginning to form in Orsted’s hand, “You cannot do that!! These are innocent people!”
Seeing early signs of his magic activating, I immediately cast Absolute Cancel to destroy the spell. Feeling his spell crumble apart in his hands, Orsted understood magic would be ineffective against me. Switching to his preferred method of fighting, a sword, Orsted reached under his coat and pulled a black blade out. Launching myself forward, I seized his wrist and with a small amount of force made him drop the blade to the ground.
“There you are!”, Orsted roared, trying to break free of my grip.
“You are proving to be no different than that rat bastard Hitogami. Both of you seemingly care little about innocent bystanders that happen to get in your way.”, I remarked, generating a Gigawatt Blade and pressing it against his throat, “Stand down and be civil, the alternative is me sending you back into the reincarnation cycle.”
“Where the hell did you come from?!”, Nanahoshi gasped, “How did you get so close without either of us realizing it!?”
“What is going to be Orsted?”, I pressed him, “I am not a patient man, make your decision!”
Conceding that he had been out maneuvered, Orsted relented and calmly let his arms drop to his side. Pulling his sword to me with magnetism, I handed it back to him so he could sheath it. Once he had done so, I offered him my hand and introduced myself.
“My name is Cole Bolt, God of Destruction, Nightmares, and Deceit.”, I informed him, “I am a deity from another world who is on a journey with a dear friend of mine named Ciri. Neither of us means any harm, but I am well aware of your tendency to strike first and ask questions later. Apologies for the rough greetings…”
“Yes, it is…”, Nanahoshi said, glaring at Orsted, “You promised me you would try talking to him first, but you immediately went on the attack! Do you realize how many innocent people could have died if Cole did not stop your attacks!”
“I was unsure if he was friend or foe so the best option was to fight.”, Orsted countered, unwilling to yield that point, “While I understand your desire for peace, most powerful entities in this world do not share your sentiments. They will readily kill one another if it means gaining fame, fortune, and women.”
Nodding my head in agreement, I told Nanahoshi that it was the same in every world I had visited. If you did not possess power, fame, or fortune…anything you tried to do for the betterment of the masses almost always fell onto the cutting room floor.
“You mentioned you are on a journey with this Ciri, what sort of journey is it?”, Orsted inquired, trying to understand our reasoning for being here.
“Ciri is being pursued by a dangerous group of Elves called the Aen Elle. They possess the power to traverse the infinite planes of existence and wish to use the bloodline she carries to further increase their power. We are working together to destroy them before they can further harm the worlds she has tread upon already…they have wiped out several hundred universes thus far in pursuit of her.”, I told them, “As for me, I am hunting a group of rouge gods that killed my children and grandchildren. I have already killed three of them, I know where another is, but the last two are still in hiding from me. Have you encountered any other gods besides me?”
“Not to my knowledge, you are the first deity I have encountered in several hundred years.”, Orsted stated, “That said, if they passed through Hitogami’s realm I would not have noticed them. He would be the only one who could tell you if he had encountered anyone out there.”
“I understand, I will have to interrogate him myself then for this information.”, I said, “Thank you for the information. If you have nothing else, I will return to my group.”
“Ahem!”, Nanahoshi coughed, elbowing Orsted, “You need powerful allies to help kill Hitogami, that is what you told me. You cannot get stronger than a deity that can jump between the world, why not party up with him and kill Hitogami?”
Glancing over to me, I gave him a shrug and stated that I was not opposed to joining forces to speed things up. Telling him that I had two things to take care of before we could go after Hitogami, I informed him what we were currently up to.
“I am fine with the terms.”, Orsted agreed, “Escorting them to the Beast Territory and defeating the Teleport Labyrinth will not take too long.”
Shaking hands on it, I motioned for the two of them to follow me to the Guild Hall where everyone was relaxing.
—3rd Person POV—
“Those bastards brought that monster straight to me!!”, Hitogami screamed, watching Cole and Orsted shake hands through the eyes of a passerby.
Unlike Orsted, who did not fully understand how to use his Divine Senses, Hitogami could see the Abomination in Sheep's Clothing Cole was. From the moment Cole arrived in this world, he hoped and prayed Cole would simply leave him be and carry on with his journey. After watching him mercilessly kill his puppet Darius and now join Orsted, Hitogami knew he was living on borrowed time now.
‘I have to get Cole to leave!’, Hitogami thought, trying to brainstorm options.
Moving his sight toward the Adventurer’s Guild Hall where his group was, he noticed Eri and Lily sitting there. Sensing his presence on them, Hitogami attempted to enter their minds but was instantly knocked away with a powerful blow directed at his soul. Wheezing from the pain, he fell to his knees realizing the flaw in his judgement.
‘They are probably his daughters…’, Hitogami groaned, ‘It makes sense for him to have protections in place on them. Fuck!’
Stumbling to his feet again, Hitogami surveyed other potential options to sway Cole to leave. Leviathan and Serafall were Devils so he had no sway over them, Ghislaine was a Beastman so she could not help him, and Ciri had her protections up which left only one person…Hilda. Knowing that she was important to Cole, Hitogami felt she could persuade the man to leave if she became intimate with him. Knowing full well that it would take only a small push, given how fragile she was after everything that had happened, he decided to make his move now before it was too late.
