"Why should I be the one to escort them when you could have done it yourself?" Eldritch stated as he did not want to escort the others.
"If there was someone more competent then you would not have been chosen. Remember that it is you that will get more from this exchange." Toggua stated.
"Fine." Eldritch stated as he lifted his transformation and returned to his original form.
Eldritch looked at Adrian and the others with eyes of contempt as he was not able to finish them off. He wanted to kill all of them for making his job more difficult and not even entertaining him. Eldritch left without looking back as he disappeared in a beam of light.
Adrian and the others looked at the demigod before them as he was different than the rest they have encountered. Adrian knew that Toggua was indeed different if he was able to order Eldritch around like a lackey. He knew that Eldritch would not accept orders from just anyone and he learned the reason when he saw the soul inside of the mortal named Toggua.
Adrian's eyes could not believe that a soul that huge could fit inside of a mortal body. The soul inside of Toggua did not come from a human but a herculean monster that has the silhouette of a toad and a dragon combined. Adrian's eyes are even straining when staring at the soul as if he should not be using his sight.
"I have seen a soul like this before. It is the soul of a dark god." Adrian muttered which made Toggua smile.
"Correct! As expected of the Champion of the Twin Gods. The one who holds the boundary of the dead while the Envoy holds the boundary of the living." Toggua stated as he flew down.
Every one of them saw the demigod descend and held their breaths because his mere presence made everything heavy. Some of them could hardly breath when they should not need to breath. The sheer presence of the demigod before them means that he is cut different from the rest.
"He has the same presence as Old Man Pann when he becomes serious. Even I will not be able to escape when he is locked into me." Adrian thought as he looked towards his allies that almost look like they are about to pass out.
"So, you are the Champion of the Twin Gods, Equinox. As expected, you are different from the rest of them as you are already at the second stage of your Persona. Even when I am making my aura explode, you can still stand up straight without any shaking unlike your other friends. " Toggua stated.
"What do you want?" Adrian asked as he knew that demigods as powerful as Toggua could kill them in under a minute if he wanted to.
"I am sure that you already seen my soul. Can you guess what I am? If you guess correctly then I shall lower my presence so that your friends could breathe a bit better." Toggua stated.
"Do you actually believe him?" Levin Cloud stated as his face could be seen turning pale, but he is faring better than the others.
"Demigods might be arrogant in nature due to them standing at the peak of mortality but lying should always be something that they abhor. Demigods are beings that turn law into strength and strength into ideals. If they rely more on tricks, then they would become a god that will be associated with trickery instead of their own strength." Adrian stated as Pann once told him things about demigod level beings.
"Correct! As expected of the one being looked after the World Carer Pann. Then… do you know what I am?" Toggua asked as he smiled wide that it showed his sharp teeth that looked monstrous.
"I already have an inkling of what you are, but I did not think it was possible, but I have already met a Dark God that has the flesh of a mortal being. You are just the first one that I have seen that has the body of a human or something close to a human. That human body must have already morphed into a different being since your soul has been occupying it for quite some time already." Adrian stated which made Toggua laugh.
"As expected of the one that oversees death and a demon! You are correct! I am a dark god that has possessed the body or rather taken over the body of my own vessel." Toggua stated as he did decrease the pressure that his being bored on them.
"Still, I am wondering why you are helping the Distorted God Apophis in getting its vessel. You should know how powerful one becomes when a god could physically stay in the mortal realm. Do you think that you could defeat the Distorted God Apophis when it is equivalent to one of the twin gods when combined?" Adrian stated as he knew that dark gods do not like working or helping each other especially when it comes to ruling the world.
"Do you think that you could trick me into stopping the Followers of Apophis?" Toggua stated in a rather aggressive tone as he felt that he was being looked down upon.
"It seems that you are also thinking of devouring the Shadow of Apophis when it fuses with the vessel, but you are extremely naïve if you think that is what is going to happen. We have seen firsthand how the Distorted God Apophis itself could descend unto the world with the sacrifice of tens of humans.
Presenting the vessel would just make the Distorted God Apophis permanently descend unto the world. I should tell you that the only reason why it could not truly descend is due to the Western Continent Gods battling it every night. What do you think would happen when the Distorted God Apophis has a permanent residence in the mortal realm? Could you actually defeat it?" Adrian stated.
Adrian's statement is a mixture of his observations and guesses for the worst-case scenario. Even he does not want the Distorted God Apophis to descend and only have the Shadow of Apophis fuse with the vessel. That is Adrian's hope but even he started to believe the words coming out of his mouth.
Adrian firmly believed that the Distorted God Apophis would likely descend unto the mortal realm using the vessel. Sacrificing thousands of lives would not be difficult so that the Distorted God Apophis to descend permanently. Toggua looked at Adrian and his anger could be seen somewhat fizzling out as even he started to believe what the latter has told him.
"You cannot fool me! The Distorted God Apophis already told us that it would be its counterpart that will swallow the vessel. With that information, I would have the Followers of the Dark Gods defeat the vessel with the Shadow of Apophis and devour them to recover some of my strength." Toggua stated but even he could see that he is only saying that to himself so that he could really believe it.
"Are you actually stupid!?" Adrian suddenly stated which made Toggua angry.
A powerful surge of energy suddenly came crashing down upon the group when Adrian made the comment. It seems that Toggua is not someone that likes to be looked down upon, but Adrian really made a realization that what he said might be what comes to fruition. Gods should stay true to themselves which is why even they should not lie but Distorted Gods are different.
"You made a deal with a Distorted God! Not a Dark God or a god from this universe but someone corrupted by the Void. Do you really think that the Distorted God Apophis would stay true to its word when it is a snake?" Adrian stated with all his being as he kneeled down and spat out blood.
Toggua sensed that Adrian's words started to make sense and realized that everything that the latter said is extremely plausible. Dark Gods and Distorted Gods are different in nature with one another despite sometimes being grouped as the same. True to their name, Distorted Gods are gods that have been twisted by something.
Toggua also knew some Distorted Gods that ally themselves with the dark gods but even he stays away from them due to their nature. Godly beings that do not need to conform to what a god should be but still have the same or even more power than them. Toggua immediately took out a talisman that looks like a tablet with the mouth of a beast.
"Eldritch! Tell me what is happening?!" Toggua talked towards the tablet, but a reply only came though after a minute.
"The Followers of Apophis! They betrayed us. We were attacked at the harbor when we were about to depart. I am going after them!" Eldritch' frustrated tone could be heard as the mouth on the tablet moved.