“How do I kill a deity?”

  Luna's question hung in the air, creating a sinister type of silence as if she just tapped into a very delicate topic.

  Killing a deity wasn’t impossible. Storm Rider had killed two deities in her life. One was the ruler of Neptune and the other was an arrogant fool who mistook her humanity for weakness.

  That confirmed that deities were not unkillable. They could be killed, just like humans, like anything that lives.

  They had weaknesses and were flawed by nature. This meant that the moon goddess’s servant could also be killed. The Pantheon was no Everlight to begin with. Hence why Luna saw a chance of winning when a battle surfaced on the top floor.

  ‘I need to get to the prisoner. But first, I need to find the prison his in and avoid the Pantheon guarding. However, I should not underestimate someone with three eyes. I need to find a way of killing him should a fight break out between us.’

  Just then, Storm Rider scoffed.

  The flame dancing under the stone pan intensified reflecting the slight anger the Fire Keeper felt after hearing Luna’s question.

  She chortled and then broke into a weak laughter that bothered Luna. She shifted her focus away from what she was cooking and her crimson eyes met with Luna’s.

  They are cold and devoid of emotion. Yet, a boundless sea of power was sleeping in them.

  Then suddenly, a strong pressure that could bring down an army emerged from Storm Rider’s body.

  Luna, the target of this pressure, quickly froze and fell to her knees. Her eyes widened in horror as the air started to feel thin. She started choking as if someone was strangling her.

  She reached for Storm Rider with one hand while the other held her neck as if that would change anything. The vision in her eyes started blurring once her lungs started to collapse.

  While that happened, Storm Rider’s eyes hadn’t left her. She sighed with some disappointment. “You can’t withstand my true presence and you think you can kill a deity? Don’t be so pathetic Lunaris.”

  Storm then suppressed her presence once and the young woman lying on the floor gasped. This time, the cold air rushed into her mouth all the way down to her lungs.

  She relaxed as her chest started rising and falling steadily. She coughed, choking on her saliva while trying to get back up after that murder attempt.

  This was Storm Rider’s presence! How was it so suffocating?

  ‘Shit. I completely forgot that Storm Rider is someone who already transcended the nature of humans and achieved some form of immortality. She showed me so much humanity that I forgot that bit…damn it!’

  When she recovered, she sat on her knees and faced the Immortal Fire keeper. Her body was trembling after what just happened and her dark eyes were mirroring the desperation she felt.

  “I…I just don’t want to die. I thought there was a safer way through all this. My cowardly self thought we could wait for reinforcements and let the sorcerers handle the Pantheon. But then I wouldn’t get to engage with the prisoner. You’re helping because you want me to choose after learning the truth about the gods and my world. However, if I wait for the second army, I will be abandoning you, the mortal realm, and everyone I love.”

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  She spoke calmly even though she was still recovering from earlier. Her eyes were now sparkling as she remembered her entire journey as she tried her best to express her true self.

  The haunting fear of losing the people she cares about pained her chest more than she thought it would. And expressing herself made her feel all these emotions even more.

  “You see, before all of this, I spent two years crying about my fate. Calling the world unfair and cursing to it because I wasn’t like the rest. I saw myself as a failure for two whole years until I decided to take another try at life." A gentle smile appeared on her face. "To be honest, it hasn’t been all bad. I got my own apartment, my students don’t see me as a talentless freak of nature. My mother picked me as the next successor despite my faults. And finally, I got to fight alongside my sister. For once, everything seems to be going well. For once!”

  Suddenly her eyes became wet and salty tears started flowing down her cheeks. “I had the wrong idea about the outside world. Sure a few people judge me, but those are the minority.”

  Being open to someone who she had met only a few months ago wasn’t supposed to be the way. But since when were human relationships not complicated?

  Plus, Storm Rider often felt like someone who understood whatever she was going through.

  “Lord Storm Rider, you have restored the type of hope I thought I once lost a long time ago. I didn’t have dreams before stepping into this dungeon. But now, I just want to enjoy the time I have with the people I love and try to save them. I’m not making promises because no one is perfect. but if there is even a 0.000000001% chance that I can change things, then help me....please.”

  ‘I want to do my best.’

  She added while facing the ground. She couldn’t endure the embarrassment that came with crying in front of someone.

  Storm Rider remained silent. She maintained a dark expression as Luna broke down in front of her. Seeing this brought back memories she thought she buried deep in the corner of her mind.

  ‘This brat.’ Storm Rider cursed internally. She hated seeing Luna like this, in her most vulnerable state. If only she knew how much she reminded her of her younger self centuries ago.

  But, no matter how much she wanted to help Lunaris, there was nothing she could do.

  Right now, the young woman had nothing but potential. Her first gate wasn’t going to open anytime soon unless something changed. And even if it did succeed in the next days, she wouldn’t be able to use its power well.

  'Even her lineage isn't enough to bypass the rules of ascension.'

  “You can’t kill a deity…”

  Luna remained facing the black floor with saddened eyes. She squeezed her hands into fists and clenched them.

  She felt lost.

  However, Storm Rider wasn’t done talking yet. She smiled and added. “But I can.”

  Surprised, Luna looked up and faced the Fire Keeper. She was silent for a brief while before she opened her mouth.

  “I thought you can’t leave this place. You said this level is your prison. Is there a way you can leave this world without dying?”

  Like every being in this tower, guardians were also prisoners in a way despite having more freedom. The undead king was the guardian of the first floor and had authority over every cursed creature and the undead corpses of his people under his control. it was odd but not surprising that his consciousness was still in there despite having lived for centuries at this point.

  That was his freedom as a guardian, a consciousness. He got to see his realm get taken to the tower and considered a defected part of the divine realm. And to save what was left of his people, the Undead King had no choice but to obey and watch over Oblivion as the guardian.

  At least, that's what Luna had picked up.

  'If the Corruption couldn't be contained at the time, how many more places like this exist in the divine realm? Probably many considering this was just the first dungeon to ever descend on the mortal realm.'

  More were to come. Deadlier ones…because the divine realm was slowly coming down to consume the Mortal World.

  Soon, more gates were going to show up and more devils and cursed creatures will break through.

  “Well, that would’ve been the case if my second Aura didn’t exist.” Storm Rider winked as she turned the sizzling meat.

  Luna gasped.

  “My second domain is Omniscience. I can exist anywhere in this Tower at the same time.”

  ****

  The red desert was quiet. Its red-hot sun had just reached its peak and the whole landscape was now under the hot afternoon sun. The smell of rotten monster corpses had long disappeared and most of the creatures were hiding from its penetrating rays.

  The desert was in its normal state. Until suddenly, the world started to shift as a gateway connecting the tower to the mortal realm tore through the desert’s space while it fully opened.

  The gateway looked like a very large spherical light that cackled multicolored electric waves that turned the sand to glass once they came into contact.

  There was a powerful disturbance in the air before a large dragon appeared. Its massive size cast a massive shadow on the red sand as it flew over the sandy territory.

  The Dragon was covered in jade green scales and its eyes were brimming with great intelligence as it surveyed the entry point.

  On top of the dragon was a red-haired ascender, who was currently holding onto its scales with a frightened expression.

  The large being landed on the ground with incredible force and the Ascender on it finally got a chance to catch her breath. This was the first time traveling on a dragon, a sorcerer in fact.

  “There are no beasts in the vicinity. Give them the signal.”

  Hearing her words, the Dragon opened its maw and let out an earth-shattering roar that reached the other side of the gateway.

  The Ascender covered her ears as the dragon’s roar lasted. When the dragon stropped roaring, the gateway grew bigger and four powerful figures emerged from the other end of the gateway.

  One was a silver-haired woman with icy grey eyes. She was clad in silver armor and carried a thin sword that resembled a rapier.

  The other was a dark-haired man with sinister obsidian eyes in red and gold armor. He had a cape hanging on his back, a golden crown over his head, and carried no weapon.

  His smug expression said it all.

  The other was a blue-eyed man in a normal army uniform. He wore the same bored expression he carried every day, which had become part of his personality.

  And finally, next to him, was a woman in similar clothing wearing black shades. She was almost as pale as the silver-haired woman

  The powerhouses had arrived to lead one of humanity’s greatest conquests.

  And with them….

  Three hundred Ascenders entered the Crimson desert.