Chapter 145 - Tophet#4

AETHER'S POV:-

I look around to see those statue guys observing and analysing me with caution filled in their eyes.

"Who are you?" One of them asks as he takes out his blade and gets in a fighting position. The other one with a sword does the same, except he immediately jumps at me after getting into the fighting position. His expression is quite serious at the moment.

A smile forms on my face as I gather half of the power I used earlier and then once again flick on the forehead of the swordsman statue guy. He gets pushed back quite a distance, but it wasn't as bad as with the guy with the shield and spear whom I had 'flicked' a few moments earlier.

"My name is Morpehus. Nice to meet you too," I speak as I look at them before stopping time.

-Time Stop-

In the time stop I analyse each and everyone from the red-haired guy who looked really exhausted to the Dark Fairy who seems really tired. I saw the condition of the statue guy and also the dead guys a few metres away who were freshly killed. Understanding the situation completely, I sigh a bit before looking at those statue guys with emotionless eyes. 

'They are most probably advanced puppets,' I think as I once again reach closer to the head of the intact statue guy, the one with the dual swords, and draw another type of circle on his head. This type of circle is painful…no it will be much worse than that…so I normally avoid using this type of circle on the people I just met, but looking at the situation I believe it is pretty much okay to use this circle on him.

After drawing the circle, I observe the circle, working absolutely fine.

'Well, if this did not work, I would be needed to get serious with the situation, at least it is not up to that point yet,' I sigh as I check the surroundings once again before starting the time.

-Time Start-

-Bang

I see the guy I 'flicked' getting pushed back, trying to stand back up as he tries his best to secure his footing.

He looks at me with wide eyes as he is confused about what is going on here. His eyes seem to be trying their best to figure out who I am. The other guy on whom I drew a circle stopped moving all together as my circles completely bind his movement.

'Alright, onto the next move now,' I thought as I moved closer to the red-haired guy. He too seems to be vary of me, but I casually move closer to him and then stab him with my dagger.

His eyes opens wide at my actions and his friend's reaction are worth noting right now. They seem to be trying their best to not jump at me.

But then their eyes turn even more wide as they see their friend's life force getting back to normal as he heals at a rapid rate. The red-haired guy looks at me with a confused expression as he asks,

"What….do you want in exchange?" 

I observe him for a moment before speaking.

"Will you be my guide in this world?"

I then feel an arrow coming in my direction.

-Time Stop-

I take my dagger out and then break the arrow into pieces and see in the direction from where it was coming, only to find another statue guy making an angry but focused expression.

'Hmmm….' After pondering over it for a few moments, I jumped in that direction and arrived right in front of him. Using my dagger, I slashed his head and separated it from his body and then kicked the body as accurately as possible.

Then I jump back to my original place and then reach the red-haired guy. My eyes turn hazel as I activate my mana eyes.

Then I start the time once again…

-Time Start-

—

MARCEL'S POV:-

-Boom

My eyes reach the area from where a loud explosion came, only to find the whole place destroyed from a certain angle. 

'Just what?!!...' my eyes turn wide with shock before I look at the man in front of me once again. He was handsome…too handsome, in fact. With black hair and blue eyes, his dazzling face made him some sort of divine being. If not for his pathetic mana and lack of divinity, I would have taken him as another God. 

'Huh?!!!!!!!!!!' my eyes turn even more wide as I see what he was carrying in his hand. The bow Guardian's head??!!

Looking once again at that man in front of me, my mind started wondering and questioning for real…just who is he? A friend? A foe? No…he is new here…he does not know anything about this place or else he wouldn't have asked me to guide him through this place.

I gulped a bit before speaking.

"Okay. I will guide you. May I know your name, please?" 

He looks at me for a few moments before coming closer to me and asking,

"Have we met before?" 

'Huh?! Did I make a mistake trying to be more friendly than I should have been? Or should I have been friendly at all?' various thoughts crossed my mind, but before I could reach any conclusion, he answers,

"Morpheus. You can call me Morpheus. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

I look at him with a blank expression as I begin to answer him.

"My name is Marc-"

-Boom

I see another explosion occurring at a distance away and another part of the city getting destroyed completely. 

'Did he do something again?' I couldn't help but ask that question as I looked at him.

"Marc?!" He turns his head as he observes me with a finger on his chin.

"Marcel. My name is Marcel," I answer as sweat trickles down my forehead. 'Damn! Just what kind of monster am I talking to? And what's with this situation?' I was shaking from the inside. Currently I am just standing on my willpower alone. This is too pressuring for my brain to handle. Man! Even Gods aren't as scary as him, at least they finished what they tried to do without wasting any time.

"Nice name. Let's have a walk, shall we? Take me somewhere interesting, Mr. Marcel. I want to sightsee this place," he says with a smile that was anything but a happy smile and an expression that gave the coldest aura that I have ever felt in my entire life.

Just who…is he?

"O…kay…." I speak absentmindedly as I look at him. He then nods and speaks.

"Let's go then."

He looked at me for a few moments and I too kept looking at him before someone interrupted.

"Marcel…we shall start…the tour?"

I look at my right to see the Dark Fairy, who is keeping her calm to the best of her ability. I look at her before processing what she said and nodding at it slowly before a slightly worried expression forms on my face.

'Sightsee? This place….where…where should I take him? Damn…never thought all that running and mapping would come to help me this way…sightseeing huh?' a wry smile forms on my face as I chuckle a bit, washing my emotions away.

"Well, we were going to die, anyway. What's worse that could happen than what was going to happen to us, anyway? Can I ask you a question before starting the tour?"

I ask as I stand face to face with that…man in front of me. He smiles as he answers,

"Sure, go ahead."

"What is your purpose here?" I ask him with a serious face at which his smile slightly gets more humble, and he looks at me for a few moments before chuckling and speaking.

"I am here to understand…what a God is, and also, if they are worthy enough to be left alive," his eyes seem really…casual like that….the way he said…it's as if he is talking about doing something as trivial as eating or sleeping.

'That…was so cool!!!'  I rechecked his expression but only ended up being amazed as I looked at him.

'It does not seem like he is lying at all. Can he…really do it? I wonder…'

"Are you with the Gods?" I ask him in a low voice, but he still heard it despite being low and spoke with a casual look again,

"Those lowly beings? Nope! Not at all."

A smile creeps from down within me as I look at him. I don't know what happened. I honestly don't know what happened…but I am happy. I am happy and extremely glad to know that…

'The three Gods…might have really fucked themselves over by messing with the wrong guy.'

"Let me start with the God's Torture Chamber then, you will certainly love it." I speak as I look at him. He looks at me with a cool look before nodding and signalling me to move.

The Dark Fairy, Arlin and Ozlo, looks at me and I nod at them before all of us start to move towards the direction in which the God's Torture Chamber is. My eyes fall on the Guardian who is hesitating to make a move on us. The other Guardian is still frozen at the place where he was when Morpehus entered the area.

Looking at what had transpired in front of me and thinking about what was going to happen next, I could not help but think that,

'I guess…it was worth surviving after all.'