Chapter 287 - The Surface

"Take that you pervert!"

Mercury was hit square in the jaw and sent flying backward by a brawny looking man in leather armor, Mercury was annoyed, he had thought he could find some clothes by sneaking around in the back alleys but he had been dragged out of an ally by some rough looking men before he had the chance to find some clothes, he had never felt so humiliated in his new life, so of course he got angry and was about to stand up when he suddenly put to much force on his injured leg and stumbled back down again, the rough-looking men let out laughs before one of them spoke

"Let's beat up this pervert!"

Just as Mercury was about to circulate his mana to kill these fools a shout stopped the rough-looking people in their tracks

"Stop right this instance!"

A woman in some black of uniform pushed her way through the crowds, she frowned when she saw Mercury and her frown deepened when she saw his injured leg

"Come on Molly, we're just teaching this pervert a lesson"

Molly took off her jacket and handed it to Mercury to cover himself with before she spoke

"Is this what proud hunters do, ganging up on an injured man?"

The hunters paused before they suddenly looked embarrassed until one of them spoke up

"So what if he's injured, running around butt naked in the middle of the night? He's obviously a danger to the town!"

The other hunters agreed before the previous hunter continued

"Say what, why don't you move and we'll rid the town of a pervert right now? We'll do you a favor Molly!"

Mercury watched with a sense of dread, he didn't dread dying, he dreaded having to kill these people if they threatened him more, so he stood up and stomped the ground with his uninjured leg making the earth shift and sunk under the feet of the hunters before it carved inwards around their legs squeezing them tightly locking them in place, the hunters were shocked, so were Molly that looked at Mercury as if she had seen a monster before she stammered

"C-Chantless magic?"

Mercury ignored her and instead walked up to one of the hunters, the one that had been most outspoken about 'getting rid of him' and gave him a smile before he hit him square in the jaw knocking him out, along with a few teeth then he turned to Molly the only one that had been adamant about helping him and asked

"Do you perhaps know where I can get some clothes?"

Molly was still a little shocked about his display of power and therefore gave a nod

"Yes, please follow me this way"

Mercury limped after her leaving the hunters knees deep in the earth, soon he found himself inside the guild building where he was shown to a room out back, he then traded Molly her jacket back for some cheap clothes which he wore while Molly stood with her back turned, after getting dressed he quickly thanked her

"Thank you miss, you are the most generous person I have met in my life"

Molly turned around and saw him dressed and gave a smile

"Surely you must be joking… Anyway I'll just take it as a compliment"

The two of them shared a rather awkward silent moment before Molly continued speaking

"Anyway, can you tell me what you were doing running around the town naked?"

"I… Would rather not, it's a very embarrassing story…"

"I see, in that case, pretend that I didn't ask…"

"On another note… Can you give me some directions to the temple? I am meeting a friend there"

Molly gave a smile

"Sure"

Mercury limped down the empty streets trying his best to ignore his injured right leg, soon he found what looked like a concrete bunker with a start above the only entrance

'Must be the temple…'

Mercury limped into the temple and looked around, the inside was lit with a soft white light that seemed to not have a source as it left no shadows in the room

'Weird…'

When he walked in the person standing behind the counter looked over at him, it was a priest wearing white priest like clothes, he gave a thin smile and asked

"Are you here for a prayer room?"

Mercury didn't know what a prayer room was but he figured it would help him come in contact with Party so he gave a nod

"Please follow me then"

"Sure, lead the way"

Mercury followed the priest down some stairs and soon he found himself in a long hallway where the priest led him to one of the doors and opened it for Mercury before he gestured for him to step inside as he spoke

"Don't touch the avatar"

"....Sure thing"

Leaving those words the priest closed the door behind Mercury, Mercury looked around inside the prayer room, in the middle of the room stood a pedestal with a clear crystal ball on top of it, behind it opposite the door was an altar was some kind of doll lay, the doll was dressed in priest-like clothes and had neutral features making it difficult to discern its intended gender

'That must be the avatar… Wonder what it's for?'

Mercury looked around the room but didn't find anything else so he walked up to the crystal ball and looked into it for sometime before he reached out and put his hand on top of it before it suddenly lit up causing him to flinch and pull his hand back, then a cold metallic voice sounded out inside the small prayer room

[SUBJECT NUMBER: 5 CONFIRMED, REQUEST DESCEND Y/N?]

"Erm… Yes?"

[REQUEST CONFIRMED, POWERING UP ISOLATION BARRIER…]

A soft hum was heard as Mercury suddenly wasn't able to sense what was outside of the room, it was like the small prayer room suddenly got cut off from the rest of the world

[ISOLATION BARRIER STATUS: HOLDING STEADY… DIALLING ARCHANGEL #27… DIALLING COMPLETE, REQUEST CONFIRMED, STARTING DESCEND…]

Mercury suddenly shuddered as a formless pressure descended into the avatar that lay on the altar, the lifeless avatar twitched slightly before it suddenly opened its eyes that shone with a purple light in the room before the avatar sat up and looked over at Mercury

[Hello Mercury, long time no see~]

Mercury recognized the voice that spoke and gave a smile as he greeted Party

"Hey Party"

The avatar showed a smile before it floated off the altar and landed in front of Mercury and gave a spin as it asked

[So how do you like these avatars? Cute right?~]

Mercury gave a smile

"Yeah they are very cute"

[Compared to you~ Wearing those dirty rags, very unbefitting of a mighty living god~]

"Come on now… I got from a person that helped me out, don't call them dirty please…"

The avatar gave a giggle as it floated up and waved its hand, summoning a couch out of thin air before it gestured for Mercury to sit down

[Come sit down Mercury~]

"Sure…"

Mercury sat down on the couch finding it very comfy to sit in, then the avatar sat down next to him and kicked its legs back and forth as it looked up at him with a smile

[So how's the surface~?]

Mercury gave a groan before he leaned back in the couch and started complaining

"Awful actually, the first people I met called me a pervert and wanted to kill me off, saying that they were doing the city a favor or some such…"

[How awful~ So? Did you end them?]

"No… I knocked out a few teeth though"

[Well well, how bold of you~ Did you give them free head pats too?~]

"Come on now, tone it down a bit… I am not a murderer"

[It's not murder, you are a might living god for fucks sake~ They are mere mortals~]

"You sure got a mouth on you… Awful arrogant too"

[Well I am a mighty archangel~]

Mercury gave a sigh and patted the avatar on the head

"That you are…"

The avatar narrowed its eyes like a kitten being petted behind its ear, Mercury half expected Party to start purring any moment, but instead, she waved her hand and made a table appear out of thin air, then she waved her hand again and a silver star necklace appeared on the table, the silver star had 13 points and was hollowed out with a black string going through it, Mercury picked it up and examined it, he could feel that it wasn't made out of silver or any kind of metal he could absorb

"What's this?"

[Something that will make the mortals be warier of you~ It's a necklace of the apostle~]

"I see… Well thanks, Party"

[You're welcome Mercury~]

Mercury put the necklace of the apostle around his neck before he put the silver star under his clothes and patted it twice

[Oh right, you are going to need this too~]

The avatar waved its hand again and a small leather pouch landed on the table with a satisfying 'cling' Mercury picked up the pouch and opened it before he pulled the contents out into his hand, it was 10 small silver coins, he quickly put the coin back into the pouch and thanked Party

"Thanks, I'll make them count"

[You are welcome once again Mercury~ Now those are silver coins and each of them are worth 100 cel so you have 1000 cel in total now~]

"I see… What other coins are there?"

[Bronze coins which are worth 10 cel, silver coins which are worth 100, small gold coins which are worth 1.000, big gold coins which are worth 10.000 and finally platinum coins which are worth 100.000~]

"Okay… I got it"