Chapter 764: 'We're the same.'

A golden stump rose and bloomed into radiant foliage. Darkness cast upon the land seemed to nullify, the wounded scattered beyond the reach of help were cocooned into healing pods. "I'm on the sidelines today," remarked Lilith. 

'What does she mean?' he glanced to her stead, she had found a cozy little boulder to sit against, "-Gophy, Intherna, Miira, take them out quickly, I want to go home."

"Yeah, yeah," sighed Miira, "-we'll do what we can," the jade-rimmed urn of various designs and symbols shrunk to a puff of smoke. Yonder, Lord Exia and his servants watched. Gophy pointed at the cube and snapped. The difference in height crumbled in a bellowing boom – flight magic toggled.

"Igna Haggard," spoke the leader, "-who are you, truly?"

"No one special," he smugly smiled, the four goddesses loomed in his shadow, "-a man of many contacts," he rose his signet ring, *Upon the authority granted by the ring dominance, I, King of Monster, order all who lives the shadows, cower underground, hide behind tree lines, and up in the sky, show thineself to thy monarch. Time is nigh, I decree, what I deem to be a threat is to be viewed without mercy,* the jewel gleamed, *-Damnation.* Land within the border of Mantia cracked, humanoids figures clawed – countless shadows of flying beasts circled, a dust storm rose in from east and west. Advancement of the opposing army halted.

"Lord Exia, give us the order," said the swordsman of his group, "-I will make sure they never live to see another day."

"Clam it Alexia," said a soothing yet imposing voice, "-we shan't move into their field easily," he laughed, threw his robe backward, and exposed a secondary staff, "-here present, the staff of reckoning. I must credit thee, Igna Haggard, thou art the first whomst I've deemed necessary to use all my power against."

"I kindly take the words," added he sarcastically, "-thing is," he jumped back a little, "-don't ignore my companions. They'll handle the battle from here on."

"Over here," waved Lilith,"-I've saved a seat," she said unphased at the potential world-ending enemy.

Red, blonde, and black, each threw meaning full glances and accepted the offer.

"Don't care who you are," said Intherna, her whole body enveloped into flames, "-the strong decide the outcome, right?" a push raptured the ground. 

"They come and go," exhaled Gophy, "-what I love is destruction," orbs of black encircled the enemy, "-do me a favor, die."

"There they go being uncouth," reprimanded Miira with a slight nod of the head.

"Miira, you can't speak for much," commented Igna.

"Whatever do you mean, master?" she nonchalantly had grabbed the swordsman Alexia and repeatedly pounded his visage. Her fist and arms scaled in shades of green and purple. Hit after hit after hit after hit, the bludgeoned expression drew its last breath, "-farewell," a mild strength punch splattered the man's visage across the mosaic-colored ground. Two of the three who didn't attack previously were teleported onto stakes within Mantia. She blew, the straw caught fire in a very lazy manner, the motion of the flames wasn't fluid, instead, it alternated between two still frames taken from an illustration of a fire. The smoke rose in small increments, childish as the drawing seemed, the heat was true, their exposed feet charred, the skin crinkled – they screamed, 

"LET US GO!"

"WE HAVEN'T SINNED."

"MERCY, PLEASE!"

"Weakling," she stood arms crossed dawning the phoenix robe, "-if thee wish for mercy, ask thy master to beg."

The wedding-dressed lunatic and her companion, the twin-tailed lady bearing dirtied makeup, ran across the realm of death, they lured Gophy in, or so they thought.

"Shall we end the game of cat and mouse?" Gophy snarled at the leader.

"Lord Exia, the battle is over. The World tree's infiltrated thy realm – the Queen of Demon is known for her beauty and irrefutable strength. The more the battle prolongs, the worse tis going to get."

"Master," said the pink-haired cross of a man and woman, "-what should we do?" he sniffled,"-our companions are hurt…"

The overall energy changed, those beaten revived; a slash chipped Miira's nails, the bloodied face healed. Next, Intherna and her 'barbecue' screams turned laughter, the hotter it grew, the colder they dropped, and lastly, Gophy, who had walked into the opponent's realm brazenly, "-FOOL!" said the pink-haired man, "-you really think we'll be outdone by such low tier attacks. We serve the ruler of death, tis assured we are blessed to never die."

"Foolishness, summoning four companions won't help protect the town against my minion," the staff glowed, this time, the array of spells faced horizontally against the wall, "-the greater picture," commented he, "-you lost track of the greater picture. I've won."

'And we've won,' smirked Gophy, "-Exia," she proclaimed, "-what will it be," *BANG,* the pink-haired man fell, "-MY LEGS," he cried forgetting to alter the voice for one lesser manly, "-WHAT HAVE YOU DONE."

A shadow leaped into the realm of death, pure white fur stood on a somber-colored cloud, "-the bigger picture," said Igna atop Fenrir, "-Lord Exia," wings sprouted, the hair swapped into white lined with red, "-seems to me, brute strength is thy only redeeming quality."

"How are you able to move freely inside my realm?" he side-glanced. 

"Look around," feet touched the ground, "-remember Lilith?" they looked into her direction where she waved back joyfully, "-the world tree is potentially the worse spell she could have conjured. Know why?" he leaned closer, "-it can control the very essence of mana, therefore, everything. The Realm of Death's graciously filled my realm. The stronger the foundation, the greater the power my companions are to release." Time resumed into a brutal reality, one by one, the servants were killed coldly in a demeaning manner, "-don't count on immortality," the bodyless head of Alexia landed with a few rolls. 'Score,' cheered Miira in the distance.

"IGNA HAGGARD!" the true power unleashed; "-YOU WILL DIE!" the dormant army roared into life.

"Wrong," he halted the classic burst of power, "-no power boost here, Exia. You're a transmigrated soul from another world, aren't you? Let me guess, the granted boons blinded sided thee. Mistake, damn fool, the land is home to many beings beyond thy comprehension. The mantle of death thee proclaimed," Igna grasped the skeleton shoulder, "-belongs to me." 

'I'm sure my army is strong to fight,' he didn't yield, opting to look to the undead, '-the more they die, the more they swarm the attackers…' 

"Realized it, haven't you?" interjected Igna, "-your army's being held by mine." Mantia fully circled the Realm of Death, the resultant bubble of energy exploded, terminating Lord Exia's realm. The water-like nontangible entity swarmed in where they stood. Fallen bodies of his comrades washed at his feet. "-When you can't fight, prepare aces. You lost, no, forget that, you were destroyed. Since thee have the blessing from an angel of death, the killing will be pointless. I hope the lesson is learned, do not ever try to swim into calm water, for you see, the calm waters are often the hardest to keep afloat."

"My comrades," he dropped to his knees, "-what have-"

"Don't blame me, blame thineself. You're weak…"

"Y-you're w-weak too," he mumbled.

"I know," he laughed,"-the reason why I give up easily," he jumped to the Goddesses' side, "-I appreciate the help, thank you very much." 

"No worries," they said entering the respective portals, "-later, the pounding was fun."

*Realm Release,* plants regained their color as did the sky. The attacking undead army crumbled, on that day, many of the adventurers who had witnessed the exchange would speak of beings equal to gods. 

Bit by bit, the skeleton projection faded into a frail display of a young adult, "-don't look at me," he said hidden under the now oversized robe, "-please don't." 

"Mind answering a few questions?" he casually lit a cigar. Fenrir's wolf form returned to humans and proceeded to sniff the area for survivors.

"What?" 

"You heard me," he grabbed the attacker and pulled under a tree, "-the battle's over. You lost," he puffed, "-and companions were killed because of it," *Blood-Arts: Bloody Mary,* threads of crimson gathered into a thick juicy apple, "-they were strong, very strong, I can tell from the extracted blood," he showcased the fruit.

"Where are their bodies?"

"Here," *crunch,* "-in this apple," he ate.

"I don't understand, why aren't you going to kill me?"

"Are you that daft?" he sat, "-death chose thee for a reason, and I don't want to undermine the decision."

"Y-yeah."

"Good, we're the same. I wield the Death Element." 

"No, I didn't sense any similar auras…" 

"Don't sweat the details. Why and who sent you here?"

"I don't know, I died and was reincarnated into an empty room. God asked me if I wanted to go to heaven or become someone powerful and strong. I chose the latter, look at me, tis how looked before I died, a frail man in a frail body. I wanted to run around the fields and make friends… Draebala, I was reincarnated into hell. Every day was a struggle, I fought, tried to get strong, and awakened my abilities, I made friends along the way and began building a realm from what my god had offered." 

"Continue."

"I- what?"

"How did it end to now?"

"The god told me to invade this universe and capture their leaders. Our universe is on the verge of collapse, we need to harness the true mana…"

"Wrong, you were played a fool. Our universes are one of the same, there's no such thing as a true aura. Most likely, they sent thee to wreak chaos," he rose, "-nothing much I want from you, kid. Here," he held out a hand, "-I'll send you to Draebala."

"No, I don't care, I'll stay here if I need to. I don't want to return to that shitty realm…" 

"Persistent. If you wish to die, be my guest. Personally, I'd love to avenge the death of my comrades if I were in thy shoes. They played us for fools, sent us to fight an unknown realm, sounds like a bad idea to me." 

Confusion spawned many emotions, '-take the bait,' puffed Igna silently.

"Revenge," *thud* a nauseating aura dropped from his chest, "-I want revenge, kill them, kill them all…" 

'Is that how I look to people?' said a frown.

"Made up thy mind?

"Yes," he rose to his feet, the wimpish body hid under a stern projection, "-I'll get my revenge," roared the Undead King. 

"So, you shall," a portal bid the man adieu. 

'Done,' he toppled, the cigar fell, '-he took the bait, the blame lies on whoever used him. Nothing equals a little manipulation here and there. If not for Lilith's tree, I don't know how we would have won. I bluffed, and bluffed, tis not even funny. If he had chosen to launch the spells, the wall and all in its path would have been decimated. Miira's Urn and the barrier couldn't have protected such a large object. Battle of the realms, first time for everything. Death can't have a realm – then we have Exia, he summoned a 'borrowed' domain, the energy I sensed was the death element alright. Are there more angels of death throughout the multiverse or not.'

*Incoming call: Leonard.*

"Hello?" he answered.

"Where are you?" screamed a female voice. 

"Jen," replied gently, "-where's Leonard, get him on the phone."

"No, I need answers," the voice shook, "-what happened to the presence we felt, I swear I thought the world would have ended."

"The weather was bad, to begin with," shuffles changed hands,

"-Are you there?" asked Leonard.

"Obviously, have preparations been readied?"

"Yes, and I have the green light from the military. The second contact should be near the border."

"I'll take it from here," *Call ended.* 'Handle one problem and another spring up.' 

"No survivors," said Fenrir telepathically.

"Right, follow me, we're headed to the south." 'What will the tower have in store for us?' he wondered with a slight grin.