It happened in the blink of the eye. In a blind rage, so pure, and overwhelming… The entire frontline, were bleeding out of their bodies, faces firmly slammed into the ground. Left barely alive. His eyes fell upon the rest of the attacking force… The mages, and healers among them.
Rivera created a barrier for everyone to take refuge under. However, to Shurry it might as well have been paper… He leaped directly towards the barrier, smashing right through it…
"WhAt!?" Riveria shrieked the moment before her vision went dark.
Shurry's hand covered her face, well, enough of it, and slammed her head into the ground. She was down for the count, even after receiving treatment she'd need time to recover. Getting slammed by a child like that… She was currently having nightmares.
He turned his gaze to others. The anger overwhelming him, he was about to erupt. It caused a brief moment where he couldn't move, and it was in this moment his tears caught up.
Seeing the situation was not something her children could handle any more, Freya walked up and tried charming Shurry. It failed from afar, so she moved closer… Failed. Odd? That's only happened once before? She got closer, and removed her glove. Caressing Shurry's cheek, staring deep into his eyes. It's still not working?
This feeling? I… I… HATE IT! Shurry slapped the goddess' hand away from him, and leaped back. "I WON'T BE SWAYED BY YOUR EVILUS TRICKERY! EVIL WOMAN!"
There was no longer anything that could really suppress him. Zeus came out of the house, and stood over his fallen child… "You did well, rest well Alraj. May your next life be a peaceful one."
Meteria rushed inside, and cried her heart out into a pillow. Why!? Alraj! Why! We were going to raise Bell together!
The sounds of crying finally woke Zald, he stirred, exhausted, still actively dying, weak, and had a killer headache. "What? I'm alive?" He slowly sat up, and looked around. "Alfia? Meteria too? So I'm home… Where's Alraj? He must have put in a ton of effort to bring us both back."
Meteria peeked up from her pillow. "He was just killed by the Freya & Loki familias… Right… In front of me…" She managed to answer in between twinges of sobbing… Then went back to full time sobbing… The pillow rapidly became more tear, than pillow.
"They did what?!" He coughed, black blood coming out spraying onto the carpet. "Damn it. If I'd woken sooner… He'd still be alive." I failed my seniors, and juniors… I'm a failure as a warrior… Zald stood up, resolving to move even if it felt like death, and went outside.
"Shurry? Zeus?"
"Uncle Zald?!" Shurry's expression twisted in confusion. One so great that it suppressed his fury. "Why are you like a walking corpse? Is it some kind of game you uncles like to play?" He asked, healing Zald full, and clear.
"I wish it were a game. This is real life…" He said walking closer, and took a knee, giving Shurry a hug. "I'm not good at these types of things… But, I'll do my best." He looked at Zeus. "Were we the only ones who came back?"
Zeus nodded, and pulled out from his pocket the necklace, he put it on Shurry… Shurry recognized it at once, and looked at both Zeus, and Zald… And he cried… His eyes narrowed, unwilling to accept it. His expression pleaded with the pair to tell him they were lying. Instead, all he got was confirmation.
"AUNTY LYCA!" He howled out his pain, yet it never seemed to dim.
A memory flashed in Shurry's mind:
"Aunty Lyca, what's this thing?"
"It's my mother's necklace."
"Really? Who's that? Where is she?"
"She's gone, died when I was young. I carry this with me everywhere I go. With it, I feel like she's always here with me." … "I hope she's proud of what I've become."
"I don't know. But I do know she loves you! All good mothers do!"
"You rascal. I don't have a child of my own to pass this along to. I'll give it to you, but not now. When the time comes, promise me you'll wear it with pride."
"Hmm? I promise!"
"Everyone's gone…" Shurry fell to his butt. "Those members of Evilus killed big brother too… Uncle Zald, can you teach them a lesson?!"
Zald's gaze shifted, looking at the brutality, he wasn't planning to do anything else, but that didn't matter. The gaze of a level 7 was enough to shatter people's spirits and make them faint. He smiled. "I think someone beat me to it. I doubt they'll forget this beating anytime soon." He stood up and offered a hand. "I know it's hard right now, but Alfia is in rough shape as well, that fairy you gave her was killed during the… event…"
Zeus pulled together Alraj's corpse, and brought it to a side building. Where he worked to build a coffin for him, by his own hands. It also hid the fact he too needed to shed a tear. "Watching his anguish… It's enough to bring a grand god like myself to tears."
"Agreed. I'm sorry things ended this way."
"It's not my life you've altered. But it has condemned an innocent young boy to a life without ever knowing his own father."
"I've prepared a place in a mountain village for you to live. And I'll have Hermes deliver some essential things to you on a regular basis…"
"You'd better, I may look calm right now, but I'm very much not okay."
"I'd like those two to collect the girl from the dungeon."
"Not now. Wait a year for this to blow over a bit. We stood tall for a thousand years. And even in our massively weakened state, they only just barely managed to kill one of my historically weaker children. I hope you have a plan… One that doesn't solely rely on the boy. That anguish, he could kill gods without a second thought…"
"Perhaps, that is the mindset required to gain the power needed to kill that thing? Astraea thinks so as well."
"We must call it then, It is officially a demi-god. Level 25 huh… Even Shurry in peak form would need help…"
"That is where Freya and Loki's children come in-"
"You can't possibly be that stupid. There's zero chance Shurry will ever fight side by side with the people who killed his big brother. Maybe if he was human, but that boy is an Alpha Werewolf. You remember what those were once capable of, right?"
"Indeed… I might have miscalculated a bit…"
"A bit? More like a lot. Try not to fuck it up any more than you have already."
…