Chapter 454 - Two Companions, More Rewards (1)

Back inside the domain...

Arnold's summons had finally returned after beating the crap out of Sonya and her team. Well, they didn't lay a hand on them, as Arnold had instructed them to, but since Natasha could control the paladins but not the vassals, she forced Sonya's own team to battle against her. Arnold ȧssumed it wouldn't have been a big issue for a vassal to handle a couple of paladins, but as his summons informed him, that did not seem to be the case at all.

Natasha informed him of how the battle went. She didn't know whether Sonya was hesitant to fight against her team, or was she just that weak without her team's support? No matter what the reason was, in their fight, the Paladins were victorious. However, since they were under Natasha's control, she not only took the scrolls from Sonya, she also took the scrolls from the paladins as payback.

Armold didn't mind this at all, after all, he didn't need them any longer as the next rounds were going to be duelling rounds. Thus the weaker everyone else was, the higher was his chance to win.

Natasha placed the four scrolls in front of him. Arnold stared at the scrolls with an indifferent look, before picking them up and handing two scrolls each to Tiamut and Talos. Everyone was wondering why Arnold gave the scroll to the two of them and not the others. The answer to their question was pretty simple.

He had selected Tiamut and Talos to be his companions for the final round of the war. Thus, since he had selected them, they would need to get stronger than they already were. These scrolls were just a step in that direction and the next step would be when the private dungeon opens up again. When that happens, only the three of them would enter the dungeon to maximise their strength to the best of their abilities. 

Arnold told the same to the rest of them and although they were a bit sad that they weren't chosen as his companions, they understood his decision. This was not a play date, the next round was actually going to be a war and Arnold wanted to have both Tiamut's brawn and Talos' brains to help him out.

Also, having Tiamut by his side would be an excellent way to show the gods,  whom they have been messing with till now. As for taking Talos, he wanted to show off how strong something created by a 'lowly mortal' could be. But he wasn't done yet. There was one more thing he could do to mock the gods, especially Zeus. 

"Talos, would you mind coming with me to the vault for a moment. There is someone I would like to resurrect." 

Tiamut looked at Talos and they both knew exactly the one Arnold was talking about. 

"Master, wouldn't it be a bit too much?" Talos asked him, "Angering the gods too much would be quite a dangerous move."

"Danger is fun ain't it? Now let's go."

***

Despite many attempts of Talos, both of them found themselves standing in front of the remnants of the olympian demigod, Hercules. Resurrecting Hercules was going to be a dangerous move indeed because no one would ever be able to predict what was going on inside his head. One moment, he could be friendly and the other he could be rushing to kill them.

Talos really didn't know what was going on in Arnold's head either. He was the one who had told them that resurrecting Hercules could be a dangerous move. But now he was the one telling him to resurrect that same person?

"Then, I shall begin now," Talos said before transforming into Jake, the necromancer. 

"Hold up! Take these first." Arnold handed Talos a couple of collars and suddenly everything made sense, "I just wanted to mess with you guys. I wasn't going to jump headfirst without an actual plan now, would I?"

There was a thing with the collar though, it would only take effect if someone willingly wore it by themselves. Nothing would happen if Arnold was to force the collar around Hercules' neck. But he already had a plan for that as well.

Talos nodded and went about doing his thing. A second later, Hercules was standing in front of them, hoping that he had been resurrected by his father and Arnold to be dead. However, the look on his face when he saw Arnold smiling in front of him was indescribable. 

"Ready to serve me yet?" Arnold smirked, "I told you I would turn you into my bit.ch, didn't I?"

"You ungrateful swine!" Hercules' thunderous voice echoed throughout the domain as he charged towards like a raging bull.

"Always the same thing..." Arnold mumbled before sidestepping out of his way.

The next moment he grabbed Hercules' head and slammed him on the ground. The next thing Hercules know, he was pinned to the ground with his arms hugging his back. It was clear as a day that Arnold had gained a considerable amount of strength from the last time they faced off each other.

"Why don't you idiots just listen to me?" Arnold shook his head, "Here you are, fighting with me in my domain, you do realise what I can do to you, don't you?"

"Your threats won't make me submit to you, mortal!"

"Well, then how about a deal? You know the way you are right now you would never be able to defeat me. Forget about me, you won't even be able to take down some of my weakest summons."

"..."

Hercules' silence spoke boundless words, and Arnold knew he was going in the right direction. He just had to keep pushing forward. 

"You want to defeat me, and I can give you the strength to do so." Arnold mumbled, "But I would only do so if you swear to help me out of a mess. However, if you don't help me out now, I'll send you back to hell and then no god would be able to resurrect you. The choice is yours."

Saying so, Arnold got off of the demigod and stepped back. Allowing Hercules to think with his pea brain was an important part of his plan. Arnold had touched a nerve while also giving Hercules a preview of what would happen if he did not obey him. But most importantly, Arnold had given the man an option to do what he couldn't before and defeat him. 

"I will... serve you, but only till we can duel to the death after you are done taking care of your problems!"

"Fine by me." Arnold smiled and waved Talos forward with the collars in his hands, "As a way to seal the deal, each one of us would have to wear this collar. If either one of us breaks the deal, we will be killed immediately."

"... okay."

Saying so, both the men took a collar in their hands, but little did Hercules knew his collar had been imbued with the enslavement charm while Arnold's collar was... just an ordinary collar. Hercules immediately wrapped it around his neck as the golden words flashed before Arnold's eyes.