Chapter 82: The Mastermind

  I woke up to a slight push and a young, feminine voice calling my name.

  “Aidan, wake up.”

  As I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the familiar grass field, Pix kneeling beside me, her eyes filled with worry.

  Balthor stood next to us, his gaze fixed forward, sharing Pix’s concern.

  I sat up, following his line of sight. There, Chronos stood with his arms crossed. But it was the figure before him that drew all the attention.

  Seated on a silver throne was a warrior gripping a spear. His bronze-plated armor gleamed under the sun of Chronos’ realm, the intricate carvings on the chest plate resembling coiling serpents. A red cloak hung over his broad shoulders, tattered at the edges as if it had seen countless battles. His short, spiky black hair framed a face lit with amusement. A golden helmet rested at the side of his throne, abandoned in favor of revealing his face to us fully.

  He grinned, clearly enjoying himself.

  Somehow, despite never seeing him take this form before, I knew exactly who he was – Dolos. This was likely his true form.

  Behind him, sitting on the grass, was a familiar figure - Goren. The sight of him only confirmed my suspicions.

  His eyes met mine, and he immediately scrambled to his feet, his face twisted with emotion. “I didn’t know, Spellsword! I swear I didn’t know what he did!”

  “Silence, traitor!” Dolos cut him off, still grinning as he lazily swung the dull end of his spear, smacking Goren on the head and sending him back to his knees. "In Sparta, we used to stone those who conspired with the enemy."

  “You won’t pull such nonsense in my realm!” Chronos snapped. He flicked his fingers, and in an instant, Dolos’ spear vanished.

  Dolos tilted his head, nodding slightly – almost as if impressed. Then, with a slow clap of his hands, the spear reappeared in his grasp. He turned his gaze toward Chronos, eyes filled with mockery.

  “Is it even still your realm?” He mused, spinning the spear lazily between his fingers. “The God of Time reduced to…this! Hell, I might just take this realm to myself after your inevitable loss.”

  “We won’t lose this world!” Chronos snapped, but almost immediately after, he coughed, staggering as the blight on his body suddenly spread further, dark veins creeping up his neck, reaching his cheeks.

  Dolos burst out laughing at the sight. “Magnificent! You’re that close to dying, aren’t you, you dirty bastard?”

  Chronos didn’t respond. He likely couldn’t. Balthor and Pix rushed to his side, steadying him as his body trembled under the strain.

  Pix turned to Dolos, fury burning in her tear-filled eyes. “I always thought you’d return! That you’d drop your revenge and come back to us! But I was wrong! You’re just a piece of shit, and I hope you die!”

  This only made Dolos laugh harder.

  “Oh, dear Pix, your squeaky little voice never fails to drive me mad...” He sighed theatrically before turning toward me. “Say it ain’t so, Aidan? Support a brother here. I know you thought so too.”

  “A brother?” I snapped. My blood boiled at the mere sight of him. I still couldn't see the entire picture, but it was clear as day – the real villain all along was Dolos. “You just judged my world to destruction, you son of a bitch!”

  Dolos let out an exaggerated gasp, clutching his chest in mock offence. Then, his gaze flicked to Goren, still kneeling beside him. “All thanks to this stupid Rogue of mine. Give him credit where it’s due.”

  Goren snapped his head up, his eyes wide with rage. “You bastard! Don’t get me involved in this! I had no idea what you were up to behind my back!”

  Dolos’ grin only widened. “Then you’re even dumber than I thought!” he laughed, shaking his head as if he found it all too entertaining.

  Then, his focus shifted back to Chronos. “Well, old friend, I hate being here more than I have to. Why did you summon me?”

  Chronos lifted his head, his pain evident, yet his gaze was resolute.

  “You know why. You cheated!” He growled, his voice strained. “You interfered directly! There was no way you could have tampered with the Millennium Prison without directly interfering! I already know Goren had nothing to do with this! You will be punished for this!"

  Dolos rolled his eyes, his amusement seemingly growing. “Oh, Chronos…You remember what I told you when I left, right?” His voice dropped to a near whisper. “That you would suffer for what you did.” He leaned forward in his silver throne, his grin stretching wider. “You crossed the only person in existence who knows your System. The rules. Their every little loophole. Everything about you, top to bottom. And now, here we are.”

  Chronos tensed, but he said nothing.

  Dolos chuckled, his tone turning gleeful. “You think I interfered directly? That I should get punished? Then why am I still alive? Hm?" He gestured broadly. “You always said that If we break the sacred laws of our little game with Erebus, we forfeit our lives. So tell me, old friend, if you're that sure I interfered directly – why am I still breathing?”

  Chronos had no response, and Dolos continued.

  “Because I broke no rules!” His gaze hardened, but it still held the same amusement. “These rules - they're vague, flawed, filled with cracks just waiting to be exploited. But you never cared about any of that. You just wanted to follow them blindly until the end of time. Me on the other hand? I learned them all. And I tested their limits. Thoroughly.” He tapped his temple mockingly. “Hell, I told you about some of the loopholes! But did you listen? No! So now, I used them against you.”

  He let out a sigh before tilting his head. “Never interfere directly..." He echoed the rule. "This entire game exists just because it was the agreement the higher deities had reached. They couldn't deny Erebus his purpose, so they agreed to allow humanity to fight for its existence with as little interference as possible from you, right?"

  He didn't wait for a response and continued. "And if you do interfere directly, Erebus gets a free reign to destroy the world..." Dolos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But what does interfering directly even means? What does this term encompass exactly, Chronos? Do you even know yourself? Well, I know, because that’s why you asked for my help. And I did my job perfectly, learning that it only applied to actual, physical interference in the mortal realm itself.”

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  His grin widened further as he saw Chronos’ confused and hurt look.

  “When Goren gave me the shard of the Darknessbound Core, I simply swapped it with a fake when he wasn’t looking.” Dolos shrugged, his tone almost casual. “Now, you would scream ‘that’s against the rules!’, but tell me – how is it any different from the little hints and clues you slip to your champions when they visit you here? How is it different from the subtle memories you leave them with to shape their future runs? You’ve been meddling since the beginning, old friend. You just refused to call it by its name. Do you know why it was possible? Why you never broke the rules either? Because our divine realms are out of the game's jurisdiction!"

  Dolos leaned back in his throne, his laughter ringing through the realm. “Sure, there are some restrictions - we can't do whatever we want even in our realms, but I'll never share those with you. I simply took your interferences a step further – manipulating an item my Champion carried. The same way you manipulate the minds of yours. And voila – no punishment.”

  Chronos shook his head, his expression a mix between anger and sorrow. “You’re lying! You never told me about any of it. If you did – I would’ve listened. That’s why I recruited you in the first place - to help me!”

  For a moment, silence fell over the realm. Then, as if something inside Dolos snapped, his face twisted into a manic grin, and he erupted into wild, unhinged laughter. He rocked back and forth in his throne, gripping the arms of it like he was barely holding himself.

  “That’s true! But it was so fun telling everyone that I did and tarnishing your reputation in the process!” he howled. “You remember who I am now, don’t you? I’m the God of Lies and Deception! I'll spare you the hows, but do you know why I chose this? Hah?! Because lies are the only thing humanity will never stop using! They will always deceive, they will always manipulate, and they will always believe the lie suits them best! And so, I will always have sustenance! I will never go hungry! I will always thrive!”

  “You bastard!” Goren snarled, launching himself at Dolos.

  Without even rising from his throne, Dolos simply lifted his foot and slammed it into Goren’s face, sending him crashing backward in pain.

  Balthor rushed to his side, helping him up.

  But Dolos wasn’t over. “Oh, but now I have to reveal my master plan to you, don’t I?” He grinned, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “Otherwise, how would I feel appreciated? You slowpokes would never figure it out unless I broke it down into the simplest terms, right?”

  I stepped in immediately. Recalling Erebus' words, the pieces connected in my mind. "You had gifted Spurius Axul magic!"

  Dolos clapped his hands theatrically. “Oh, my! Look at this!” He turned to Chronos. “Chronos, your Champion isn’t entirely useless after all! Aren’t you proud, old friend?”

  Then, he turned back to me. "Yes. I did. But I also made sure he did everything I asked him to. He built a tribe, a village, an entire faction – the Axul, as we fondly called them – all in preparation for the endgame.”

  He turned to Chronos. “While my old boss here was playing checkers – fighting his battles one world at a time – I was playing the long game. I learned something – there were early signs, subtle clues, that could predict which world would be Erebus’ next target. So, I acted first. Prepared the groundwork. Made sure the Darknessbound Core found its way into the hands of one Rohanus Kane – later known as Spurius Axul. So he and his people would prepare everything for Erebus' arrival.”

  My chest tightened, eyes wide in disbelief.

  Dolos grinned wider, reveling in our reaction. “And no!” He exclaimed, waving his finger like he was scolding Chronos. “This wasn’t direct interference either! Another loophole! As long as the world I was meddling in wasn’t under attack by Erebus at the time, I was free to do whatever I wanted.”

  Another loophole…

  But as the realization kept forming in my mind, I felt that some pieces were still missing.

  Why was Spurius Axul dead, then suddenly returned? To rape Gaelith’s mother? To kill General Kaelstrife and Major Nilson and plant the Gemstone Key for us to find and get marked?

  “Think further, Aidan. What’s still missing?” Dolos gloated, noticing the turmoil in my mind.

  And then – it all made sense.

  There were two of them.

  "Your shape shifting abilities..." I whispered, the words barely escaping my lips. “You were the other Spurius Axul...the one who reappeared years later!"

  Dolos’ grin stretched so wide it looked like his face might tear apart.

  Then, suddenly, he jumped from his throne, flipping through the air like an acrobat. He landed beside me, practically bouncing with excitement, running circles around me while clapping his hands together like a delighted child.

  “He got it! He got it!” he cheered, spinning like a man who had just won the grand prize, before he grabbed my shoulders.

  I shoved his hands off me, disgusted by his touch and display.

  But he just shrugged, unfazed, and in a blink of an eyes, he teleported back to his throne, lounging across it lazily.

  “You’re right.” His tone was proud. “My initial plan should’ve been enough. Lysandra would've finished what I had started with Rohanus. But Chronos' papa - the Creator - just had to intervene! He gifted you monkeys your precious little Core System - the one that can literally hold your hand and wipe your ass for you." He shook his head, mocking the System's design. "You never asked, but your HP is this. Consume this potion. Consume that potion. Soooo annoying!

  "Anyway, I'm getting off track. Suddenly, my precious Axul weren’t so special anymore. Suddenly, a useless fuck like Kaelstrife can bring a trained unit and wipe them all out."

  His expression shifted into mock frustration. “I had to plan for a failure. And I knew I had to do everything on my own. The only one who ever knew about my existence was Rohanus. But he was already dead at that point. I needed the Axul to keep playing their part in the plan despite the changes I was about to bring to it. So…I took his place.”

  The revelation only deepened in my mind as I understood something far greater.

  As if on cue, Dolos suddenly clapped his hands, and beside him, a chained figure materialized from thin air.

  Gaelith Alloraine.

  Bruised. Bleeding. On his knees. Unconscious.

  “Say hello to my bastard son!” Dolos declared, grabbing Gaelith’s jaw and lifting his face for all of us to see.

  Dolos grinned, flashing his teeth. “Well, he’s out cold for now. But don’t worry – I appreciate you playing with my kid, Aidan. He needed a friend.”

  “Dolos!” Chronos snapped, his voice thunderous despite the weakness that gripped him. “What is the meaning of this?! We are never to have children with mortals, regardless of our battle against Erebus!”

  But Dolos only chuckled. “Who said that? You and the vague rules again?” he sighed dramatically. “I thought about the best vessel for ol’ Erebus, and then it hit me – why not create a demigod for him? My own child? That way even if I end up failing initially, he would still be alive a thousand years later to serve his purpose. I mean, he should be as immortal as I am, right?"

  His grin widened as he slapped the unconscious Gaelith across the face.

  “But his whore mother affected his upbringing too much.” Dolos continued, his voice irritated. “She twisted his mind with things like ‘morals’ and ‘honor’. Poisoned him really. Thwarting all my plans. Lysandra did well to kill that bitch.” He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “The little prick was never on the same page with the Axul. But that doesn’t matter now. He will play his role – when I offer him to Erebus directly.”

  “You won’t!” I snapped, stepping forward.

  Then, Goren reacted. He lunged forward, grabbed Gaelith’s chains, and yanked at them with all his strength.

  “Wow.” Dolos said, his expression neutral as he clapped slowly. “Nice try, you idiots.” He snapped his fingers, and Gaelith disappeared. “Do you really think that if there was a slim chance for you to change things, I would’ve revealed my plan to you?”

  Chronos, still in pain, turned toward Dolos, his voice strained. “All of this…because of her? Because I let her die?”

  Dolos’ eyes flared, his playful demeanor gone instantly.

  “YES!” His voice shook the realm, reverberating through the very air around us. “OF COURSE IT IS!"

  His hands clenched around his spear, trembling with rage.

  “You know, for someone who’s spent eternity meddling with humans, you are absolute shit at understanding how we work!” Dolos spat. “You stripped me away from my family. You tore apart the only thing that ever mattered to me. And then, when I finally had another reason to live – you brushed me off and let Arabella die.”

  He let out a breath, his voice lowering into something cold. “Now suffer, Chronos. Suffer and die already! Hopefully, this will be your last battle. But even if it's not, and you somehow live to fight another one, know that I'd already prepared the groundwork for our next one. Perhaps some new Axul? Another demigod child? Who knows?"

  Then – he was gone.

  Vanishing in an instant, leaving behind nothing but chaos and unease.

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