"He, ascended?" Nirvana couldn't believe it.
Grendel didn't inform her about it when she went to the empire. He considered it as something that needed to be discussed face to face.
"Is that what he meant by leaving for a while?"
She seemed quite upset about it. But most of all, she was confused.
Him even thinking about becoming a god should be something that they should have sat through for months, even years just thinking about it.
Yet he just suddenly said that he'll be leaving for a while without telling anyone why or where he's going. It just didn't sound right to her.
"That's not the only thing that's making my head roll. We're talking about becoming a deity."
According to what they know, gods can't even get out of heaven. Becoming one is the same thing as dying.
"Let's not even get started on the heavenly trials. Will he be able to complete them?"
"Doesn't he only need to complete one trial?" Cassius asked.
"I'm not sure. I never really cared about it enough to ask lord Brime."
Not only her, but all four of them were never interested in heavenly power. The monarch beast raised them to never crave power.
They probably had a lot of questions. Who would they ask though? There was no one to give them answers. So they had to drop the topic.
"Let's discuss something else." Nirvana started. "Now that our master is gone and we're still recovering from the attack, it wouldn't really be the best idea to keep living the way we are."
She was referring to their conflict with the humans. At that time, they were too vulnerable to keep it up.
Not only that, but they weren't sure if the humans had a hero. The only threat that humans posed to them were heroes. And they were not up for it.
So they decided to take advantage of how weak they made them. Nearly half the continent had been destroyed and taken over by monsters. Every attempt they've made to fight back has either failed or had catastrophic results.
They needed a way to stop, or at least, pause the battles.
There was one easy solution that benefited both sides. And Nirvana did not waste it.
One thing bothered her though.
"What happened to the human?"
"He's with Nephilim. Don't know where they went." Grendel answered her.
He didn't know that they were currently at what they labelled as a dungeon, where they kept the high priest.
"Immortality, huh." Nephilim was curious.
It's been almost two weeks since their master brought him there. Though he hadn't been injured or anything, his condition didn't look too good.
His bones were showing, his skin got pale and wrinkly, he could barely move.
"So, let me get this straight." another man who was standing together with Nephilim while looking at the priest started.
"He was given... immortality, only to be caged up for all his life, and to keep him alive, you give him a single potato everyday and a cup of water every two days? Why?"
"No one knows why the master is doing this to him. But if you think about it, it has to be painful, at least, for a human."
For a few seconds, they quietly stared at him.
"I wonder how the people are taking his disappearance."
"They'll find me."
Nephilim didn't say a word.
"It won't be long. They'll come. Not just themselves, but with heroes. Not one. Not three. Not ten. Hundreds." Then he laughed hysterically.
"It won't be long for us, but it will be for you. Hope you have the patience."
They walked away, leaving the priest alone in his cell. He watched them walking away with an expressionless face, and dead eyes.
...
Word of the agreement made in the empire with the monsters reached the other nations, and they were not happy about it.
We're talking about something that affects all of mankind on the continent. He made the decision that affects everyone on the continent, all by himself and the people of the empire.
They were communicating with him through magic crystals, all connected in one network. Though the leaders of the other nations didn't sound quite happy with what he did, none had the guts to raise their voice to the emperor.
Not only that, but they also understood his situation.
The monsters suddenly appeared in the capital asking for peace, the exact thing the people wanted.
What if he asked for them to wait for him to discuss with other leaders? They would've ruined the one and maybe only opportunity for peace.
Still, the agreement was not in their favour at all, and it made them really upset.
It was too late though. Nothing could be changed.
"One thing's bothering me though." One of the people in the crystal network said. "What compelled them to ask for peace?"
"Could it be, that they became weak? The attack from the high priest must've at least had an affect on them, right?"
"That could be it. Their vulnerable."
"Does that mean that this might be our chance to attack?"
"Attack with what? Soldiers? We'd still loose. What we need are heroes. And we don't have any of those, unless you count the rogue hero. But she disappeared."
"How long will the agreement last for?"
"There was no specified duration." The emperor answered. "All we can do is hope that they were saying the truth when they assured us that we'll be informed early enough about it."
There was silence. They are the people that the general public look up to for a solution to this massive problem. And all they have as hope are words of assurance from a monster.
The shame they felt at that moment about their weakness even though they are literal kings was taking a toll on them.
"Enough about this. There's another thing we need to discuss. I'll be blunt... I have reason to believe that someone ascended."
"I agree."
"Who could it be?"
While the others discussed, the emperor was completely silent, not even listening to what they were saying.
Once they noticed this, an idea of who it was came to their minds, and all they heard to do was confirm it.
"Earlier today," the emperor started, "I received a letter from the nation of monsters. There were a number of topics written on it, one of them being the demand for the release of all demi human slaves."
"What caught my attention was something else written on it. To put it simply, they confirmed my suspicion."
The man that ascended, was Nerezza Vingar, their enemy.
...
In a real dungeon, that was extremely dark and almost completely silent, walls made of crumbling bricks covered in old dried up blood, a man's footsteps echoed through the long tunnels.
On the other end, monster like noises could be heard, but the monster itself was barely visible.
It sounded like it was chewing on something meaty. Although the chewing noises were loud, it also sounded like it was eating slowly, almost like it was just a person.
Then sunlight came through holes on the ceiling. Although the holes were little, they were just big enough for the monster to be seen.
The man continued to approach it calmly. He even began to eerily hum a song with a beautiful voice.
He wore a cowboy like hat, and his skin looked pale, almost dead. But his face wasn't visible in the dark.
The monster was around the size of a human but on all fours. In fact, it looked more like a naked human than a monster. It was thin and just horrific in general.
Now it had gotten bright enough, thanks to the clouds clearing up, for its meal to be visible.
Another man, most likely an adventurer judging from his attire, was lying dead in front of it. The monster was sticking its head in his torso and eating his organs.
Then it turned around and faced the other man who was approaching it.
It had long black hair on its head and it's face was covered in blood.
The man stopped walking after he got close enough to the point that the monster began to growl at him.
Now it looked more like a demon than a monster.
It attacked the man by trying to jump him. While it was mid air, there was a loud bang and the head of the creature exploded.
The man was holding a long barrel shotgun pointing at the already dead monster. Then he shot it again and again.
"Can't believe whatever this thing is was higher than me in ranking." He said. "What have I being doing with my life?"
*Sigh* "No matter. Now he'll finally accept me as one of the five."
He looked up into the light from the ceiling. His face was now clearly visible.
He looked old and wrinkly. But the contrast of the skin on his face and on his hands and neck looked different. Almost like he was wearing someone else's face.
A wide smile appeared on his face.
"Don't worry, my lord! I'll be the one to bring you back myself!"
...
In an old familiar castle, where the demons stay, the cloaked being was talking to a female looking demon. The demon actually looked and talked more like a succubus.
"The monsters and the humans have made peace. And, though it may be short lived, it hinders our progress." He said.
"I have an idea of what we could do."
"I believe we're thinking the same thinking. All we have to do is ruin the relationship between the two. I'll leave that job to the five."
"It shall be done."