"Well, I am quite perplexed that the old man doesn't know about your realm."
Nike scratched his chin while staring around the strange realm.
He was currently in his draconic form, his massive body surrounded by silver lightning.
Despite the destruction happening around him, his attention wasn't really on the demon beasts.
He was thinking.
Roar!
One of the demon beasts suddenly charged toward Nike.
Its massive fist was raised as it prepared to smash him into the ground.
Nike didn't even look at it.
His mind was still occupied with the strange information he had just discovered.
Why couldn't the old man find this realm?
The fist approached.
Closer.
Closer.
Nike continued thinking.
"Ohh, I see what is going on."
BAM!
The fist landed directly on Nike's body.
SPLASH!
Blood, goo, chunks of rock, and bits of flesh exploded in every direction.
The impact was so violent that the demon beast itself suffered from the collision.
A massive roar of pain erupted from its mouth.
"ROOOOOAR!"
Nike remained completely still.
Then his playful voice suddenly sounded from behind the wailing beast.
"Tsk~~~ here, let me help you with that."
KRAAKRA!
The demon beast's body suddenly twisted violently.
"ROOOOAR!"
Its limbs struggled.
STRUGGLE!
WIGGLE!
WHIMPER!
Nike casually manipulated the beast as though he were fixing some broken object.
"Now that's better."
The demon beast fell limp.
Nike looked toward the remaining beasts.
There were nineteen of them now.
The creatures surrounding him simultaneously opened their mouths.
ROOOOOOOOOAR!
A massive sound wave erupted.
The roar wasn't merely sound.
It carried an overwhelming intent.
A suppression powerful enough to crush the will of ordinary beings.
The air distorted.
The ground trembled.
The surrounding rocks shattered.
Nike stood within the center of it all.
"Hmmm..."
His silver eyes narrowed slightly.
"I see."
The pressure continued crashing against his body.
"No wonder the old man couldn't find this realm."
Nike smiled.
"But..."
His grin widened.
"Do you really think this is enough to stop me?"
The intent continued pounding against him.
ROAR!
BANG!
CRACK!
The overwhelming force finally pushed Nike downward.
His feet dug into the ground.
The earth beneath him cracked.
A small crater formed beneath his body.
Nike looked down.
Then he looked back toward the demon beasts.
"Talk about being foolish."
ROOOOOOOOAR!
A massive roar suddenly echoed throughout the entire realm.
Then...
Silence.
An eerie silence descended.
The kind of silence that only someone playing an uncanny horror game alone in an empty house would understand.
Nike's eyes moved around.
"Well..."
He smiled.
"Would you look at that?"
His eyes widened with amusement.
"Now a boss appears next?"
He paused.
"What a stamp—"
BOOOOOOM!
The ground suddenly shook.
RUMBLE!
RUMBLE!
Earthquakes spread throughout the realm.
Mountains trembled.
Rocks fell.
Thunder echoed through the sky.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The demon beasts began roaring.
From every direction, a massive tide of creatures appeared.
A stampede.
An endless wave of demon beasts.
Nike stood in the middle of it all.
His grin widened.
"Tsk~"
He looked around.
"Talk about perfect timing."
The stampede continued approaching.
Thousands of demon beasts charged toward him.
The ground shook beneath their combined weight.
"But I'm done playing around."
Nike's eyes glowed.
"Let's destroy this realm."
His silver lightning began becoming denser.
"Well, this realm was fun at least..."
He stretched out one hand.
"...but it ends here."
His voice suddenly thundered across the realm.
"SWOOOOOOORD..."
The lightning around his body exploded.
"COME!"
BOOOOOOOOM!
Silver bolts erupted from Nike's body.
His scales expanded rapidly.
The draconic scales covering his body became filled with silver lightning.
The energy became so intense that the surrounding space distorted.
FLASH!
The silver scales suddenly shot outward in every direction.
The nineteen demon beasts surrounding Nike didn't even have time to react.
BOOM!
Their bodies exploded.
Blood mist filled the air.
Chunks of flesh scattered across the ground.
Slimy, creepy goo splattered everywhere.
The stampede began slowing down.
The demon beasts stared toward the sky.
Silver sparks had strangely filled the entire heavens.
The creatures hesitated.
Then, from the highest mountain peak, something moved.
A being stood at the summit.
Its face resembled that of a human.
But its body...
Its body was more hideous than the nightmares of mortals.
The creature released a terrifying roar.
ROOOOOOOAR!
The slowed stampede suddenly erupted into rage.
The demon beasts charged toward Nike without hesitation.
The hideous creature leaped from the mountain.
Its body flew rapidly through the air.
Its human-like face displayed an expression of rage.
And panic.
It accelerated toward Nike.
But before it could reach him—
A crescent-shaped beam flashed across the realm.
SHING!
In a split second, the hideous beast disappeared.
The creature suddenly found itself somewhere completely different.
It stood within a realm filled with azure-dark flames.
Dozens of beings stood in a long, seemingly endless line.
The creature looked around in confusion.
It had no idea where it was.
Before it could make heads or tails of the situation, a demon with curved obsidian horns appeared beside it.
The demon looked at the creature with interest.
"Interesting."
He examined it.
"A Halfling appeared in this realm."
The creature didn't even have time to react.
The demon grabbed it.
"Follow me, kid."
He grinned.
"Let's do some blood tests."
The demon dragged the hideous creature away.
The creature was now known as a Halfling.
Earlier
"SWORD COME!"
FLASH!
Lightning illuminated the sky.
BOOOOM!
Thunder clapped across the heavens.
Crystdom
"Where did that child go to?"
Cronac looked around, clearly confused.
"Well, she is playing around."
Leonard casually flipped through the book in his hands.
"Not a big issue."
"You..."
Cronac's expression twitched.
Before he could say anything else—
BOOOOOOM!
Thunder clapped.
The entire Crystdom shook.
Cronac's expression changed.
"Come."
FLASH!
A massive bolt of lightning appeared in Cronac's left palm.
The lightning condensed.
Solidified.
And transformed into a hammer.
Yep.
The same hammer that brutally—
Ahem.
The hammer that greeted Nike warmly.
The handsome hammer that hugged him.
The almighty hammer.
The handsome of them all.
The hammer older than weapons themselves.
The universal smasher...
With a Y.
Cronac stared at the weapon.
"This is..."
He was stunned.
The hammer was buzzing uncontrollably.
Its power fluctuated violently.
Cronac's eyes narrowed.
Then suddenly—
A massive azure flame erupted beside him.
Raqual appeared.
"You noticed it too, Big Brother."
Raqual stretched out his hand.
A red scythe materialized within it.
The weapon was buzzing in exactly the same manner as Cronac's hammer.
Cronac stared at the scythe.
Then at the hammer.
"He is calling the sword."
Raqual nodded.
"Should we stop him?"
Cronac remained silent.
Then he shrugged.
"Sure."
He turned away.
"I saw nothing."
Raqual stared at him for a moment.
"Well, Cronac..."
Azure flames surrounded his body.
"See you next time."
WHOOSH!
Raqual shot away in a single direction.
Cronac blinked.
"Hmm?"
He watched Raqual disappear into the distance.
"Wait a minute."
His eyes narrowed.
He suddenly registered the direction Raqual had taken.
"Why didn't he just disappear?"
For a moment, Cronac remained confused.
Then his expression changed.
"Oh."
Splits of a Millisecond Later
Cronac appeared inside the watchtower.
He had an expectant expression on his face.
But the moment he arrived...
He froze.
His expression became perplexed.
Several gods were holding Raqual down.
Raqual looked like a raging bull.
His wings were spread.
His azure flames were burning violently.
His red scythe was still buzzing.
Cronac stared.
The gods stared at Cronac.
Raqual stared at Cronac.
Silence.
"Err..."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even Raqual stopped struggling.
Every god in the tower stared at Cronac with the same blank expression.
Cronac slowly looked around.
Then toward Raqual.
Then toward the gods restraining him.
Raqual was the first to break the silence.
"I think..."
He slowly narrowed his eyes.
"...we need to make sure he doesn't go."
Cronac's expression changed.
"Erm..."
Farat slowly approached him.
"Cronac..."
He forced a smile.
"Can you come over here for a second?"
Cronac took one look at the gods surrounding him.
Then another look at Raqual.
Then back at Farat.
"Actually..."
He slowly took a step backward.
"I think I'm okay over here."
The gods subtly moved closer.
Cronac took another step back.
His eyes narrowed.
"Why are you all surrounding me?"
Nobody answered.
Raqual continued staring at him.
Cronac's instincts suddenly screamed.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
"Can you guys calm down and tell me why you are all being creepy?"