Chapter 160: Tenebrus et Lux

The horned god met him at the center of a dark lit room while smiling at him and clapping his hands in disbelief. Adaloun was smart enough not to come any closer to the dangerous deity. He witnessed firsthand how this twisted god fashioned himself like the gods he knew before.

His egotistical ways struck a nerve with him. His fake benevolence was only rivalled by his belief that he was the most powerful deity in the world. But even that claim proved to be nothing more than a hoax to boost his already shattered ego.

The horned god's smile quickly turned into a sour grin and finally stopped his annoying clap. "Welcome to my humble abode!" He spread his arms and turned around in delight. "Do you like it?" He asked.

Adaloun hated every minute of his stay with Oyue, but his loathing towards this other one was encompassing. At least Oyue respected his silence and would often just sigh at his stubbornness. But this one would demand his attention, like a child looking to please his father. However, this one is a diety, an egotistical megalomaniac of a god.

He looked around and obviously wasn't impress with the darkness of the room. There was nothing to see. Nothing for his eyes to behold unlike the galactic pathway or the tunnel full of horrors he had seen a few moments prior. But he took a gander at the situation and commented anyway.

"A nice place, Zaduriel!" He said as he shook his head. "Quite the—"

"Hahaha," the horned god frantically laughed. "Liar! You're a liar!" He pointed at him with a grimace on his face.

Adaloun shrugged and chose not to answer or defend himself from the allegation, after all it was true. He obviously lied in front of a deity's face without thinking about the dire consequence from doing so. It was a dumb move, for sure, but he has doubts about this so-called deity.

He was powerful in every single way and yet he couldn't feel a certain something coming from him. As the deities' dog for more than 300 lifetimes in his past life, he could easily tell the difference between their auras.

The gods as they have this aura that could draw you into them naturally. There was reverence in their presence, authority in their voice and an indescribable feeling that he feels every time he would encounter them. Out of all the fear and wonders he tried showing him, Adaloun felt none of this sensation he used to feel if it were Oyue or the gods' he worked with in the past. Nevertheless, Adaloun was sill vigilant against the deity just in case he had some underhand tactics in store for him.

"Pardon me, then." Adaloun said as he gripped the scimitar firmly in his hand. "I am not accustomed to such beauty that you define it to be."

"Bah! Arellin, I do not strike you as a man of artistry, but I suppose you're right." The horned god crossed his arms and snapped his fingers. "How about this one? No? This one? Too shabby for your taste?" Zaduriel kept on snapping his fingers while the room kept on changing its appearance, from a dense forest to a serene isle in the middle of a river.

The deity was flaunting his terra-shifting ability on him. It was one of the ways the so-called deity would've devised in order for him to look powerful. But Adaloun was already seeing some signs of the deity's fragile self. After a few encounters with the horned one, it looked like Oyue was saying the truth after all.

"It's too overwhelming, really." He sighed. "Couldn't you just pick a good one?" He asked the god who seemed to have been waiting for his reaction.

"A good one, huh?" The god pouted and nodded. "I know just the thing…oohhh…you will like it!" He snapped his fingers.

To Adaloun's surprise, he was shown the picturesque view of his original world. The fine white sands of the shore that laid rest along the blanket of beautiful azure waters came into his sights again.

"Come on, feel the sand in your hands," Zaduriel took some sand in his hands and rubbed it against his fingers. "Even in this world, we can never find a sand as fine as this!" He exclaimed as he let the grains of sand drop from his fingers.

"Why did you bring me here?" Adaloun asked as he approached the deity. "Why here?"

Zaduriel smiled as he saw him approaching him, "Ohh…so now you approach me?!" He grinned. "Are you going to slash me with that sword?" He mockingly asked.

"Only if you give me a reason to—" Adaloun answered.

"It's not that I am afraid of that blade," The horned god pointed out. "I might hurt you if you do."

"Then, what's your point of calling me out here if you're only bound to hurt me?" Adaloun stood still and fearlessly looked at him straight in the eyes.

The horned god seemingly averted his gaze and approached him. "You really have your way with that stare." He said. "It's infuria—ahem…it's quite something. I was hoping that you would work for me."

"Work for you?" Just as what Adaloun suspected. The deity was trying his best to allure him, to get his trust and become his dog. "Like a lap dog?"

"Lap dog?! Of course not!" Zaduriel shook his head. "You'll be my…justice! My sword and shield! The hand—"

"I get the idea," Adaloun interrupted. "But it's a no." He shook his head and tried to walk away.

"Oooohh…no…you're not going anywhere." Zaduriel snapped his fingers and a wall of sand appeared to stop Adaloun from going away.

Adaloun looked at him annoyed. He raised his blade and tried slashing the sand wall in front of him but to no avail. He tried hitting it harder and harder, but the sand would only slough off and get replaced by a new batch.

"Tsk…tsk…that won't do you any good." Zaduriel shook his head. "Actually, that weapon is too blunt to penetrate my magic. No surprise there, that was made by a weak god!" He arrogantly stated as he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, the small dent from the wall of sand shaped itself into a hand and grab the scimitar away from him.

"You don't need that garbage!" Zaduriel said. "If you will say yes to my offer, I can give you these and more!" He smiled at him.

The sand swirled behind Adaloun. The violent spiraling sand opted him to squint as he tried to look back at the commotion behind him. It took a mere fraction of a moment for everything to settle down and when it did, Adaloun was surprised to see his weapons. The odd-looking gladius and the dwarven blade he's friend Ghwynmyr created for him.

"Ohh…these are yours, right?" The god smiled. "Of course, it is! But I won't give these to you as bland weapons. I can enchant them to anyway you like. Just say yes and I can even give you more!" His words whispered on Adaloun's ears.

Adaloun looked at the blades as it slowly transformed to something more sophisticated and more beautiful than what they already were, but he still wasn't convinced. He still doesn't trust the horned god.