CHAPTER 92: | THE FIVE GOD'S PAST

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  The village of Olia lay nestled in the southernmost part of the Swiss Kingdom, just at the border of its ally, the Torren Kingdom.

  It sat near the slopes of Vista Mountain, a serene and beautiful peak that towered above the simple thatched homes below.

  From a distance, one particular house, made of clay and straw, could be seen.

  Its humble stillness was broken only by the piercing cries of newborns.

  Waa! Waa! Waa!

  Villagers had gathered in a solemn hush, their faces marked with pity as they watched through the open door of Intero's home.

  Inside, his wife lay still, having died from the loss of blood.

  Suddenly, Linda the wetnurse emerged, her gaze falling on the men who had gathered around the house with knives.

  "What are you fools loitering here?!"

  She shouted, her voice cutting through the quiet.

  Knowing Linda's temper, the men dispersed from the cottage.

  "Tch... damned witch!"

  Karl muttered in a whimper, but Linda with her sharp ears, heard the hushed voice and immediately furrowed her brows.

  "What did you say, you fool?! Repeat it, you hairless bastard?!"

  The villagers' gazes flickered from Karl's head, which was full of hair, to his groin.

  They then exchanged a glance as a cruel smirk spread across their faces.

  Mortified, Karl glared at them before kicking a pebble into the dust as he whined.

  "Damned hag!"

  Now free from the intrusive villagers, Linda looked down at the five newborns before her.

  She then gazed at their mother, Isza, biting her lip and shaking her head in pity.

  "Such a pity... that a young woman had to bear such a burden."

  Her eyes then widened as she gazed at the newborns again, taking in the small markings on each of their foreheads.

  "Hmm? A sigil of blessing?!"

  Lia, a young woman in her early twenties, exclaimed in amazement as the wetnurse Linda's nodded in confirmation.

  "Lia, wipe all of the five newborns' foreheads!"

  Lia gently nodded, then began to wipe me, Varuna, the eldest of the five newborns and the one who would later be known as the Demon God of Water.

  I gazed at Lia with fondness and smiled.

  "Madam Linda, did the baby just smile at me?!"

  Lia asked, her voice full of affection.

  She couldn't help but feel a special closeness to this young child.

  The wetnurse looked at me, Varuna, a rare smile gracing her face.

  "Yes, it did, Lia... it smiled at you."

  Lia smiled again and, with her face flushed, continued to wipe the child with the blue sigil who was later named Varuna.

  The scene faded, replaced by the warm, dim light of an oil lamp.

  "This reminds me of the day you were just born, darling... don't you agree?"

  Lia asked her husband, Varuna, with a foolish smile on her face as she gently wiped his back with a wet cloth.

  Varuna smiled in response.

  He turned his head, gazing at his wife's bare body before pulling her into a warm embrace.

  "It's been fourteen years... fourteen years since I've been born, and now I've become your husband."

  His voice was serene, almost cold, but Lia knew of his great affection.

  He had chosen her, an unmarried woman in her mid-thirties, over dozens of younger, more beautiful girls.

  The memory of him proposing under a peach tree, always made her feel embarrassed and grateful at the same time.

  The soft sound of lapping water echoed in the stillness as she looked into her young husband's deep blue eyes and smiled.

  "I-I am grateful that you chose me... a woman who's two times older than you, Varuna!"

  Varuna rested his head on her wet shoulder and looked toward the dimly glowing lamp, which lit the otherwise dark room.

  He muttered softly.

  "No... I am the one who should be grateful... that you, the most lovely woman that I've ever laid my eyes on, accepted me... a young man."

  Touched by his words, Lia gave a foolish smile.

  As she gently took an ornate brush by her lap, she began to comb his long, royal blue hair.

  A soft chuckle escaped her lips.

  "Fufu... then you need to be grateful to me forever for accepting a hopeless man such as you!"

  Varuna sighed, a fond smile playing on his face.

  "But shouldn't you be grateful to me instead? For accepting an old hag?"

  Lia's brows furrowed in mock seriousness, but she couldn't hide a giggle.

  "Don't twist my words, Varuna! It's you who should be grateful! Don't you see my plump figure or my beautiful face, that could ensnare any man?!"

  Varuna closed his eyes and stated plainly.

  "Oh, you mean your face full of freckles? Or your figure full of sagging folds?"

  Lia grabbed his shoulders and glared dead into his eyes, as a frightening smile spread across her face.

  "You dare...?! You dare to tell me that I'm ugly!"

  Varuna smiled gently, his eyes focused on her lips as he caressed her cheek.

  He then looked straight into her eyes and said.

  "I'm not saying you're ugly... I'm just stating how beautiful those folds on your stomach are and your freckles that looked like the stars in the night sky."

  Lia, overwhelmed by his praise, was dazed, but she quickly snapped out of it after Varuna's kiss.

  She couldn't believe that a young man who was still wet behind the ears was so surprisingly good at kissing.

  "Darling!"

  Lia gasped for breath as she and Varuna climbed Mount Istal for his appointment to become the chieftain.

  "You cold-blooded bastard...! How dare you leave your lovely wife behind gasping for her breath!"

  She whined.

  Varuna looked back at her and smiled.

  "Lia... do you want me to carry you?"

  Without waiting for her answer, he flicked his hand.

  The microscopic water in the atmosphere instantly heeded his command, coalescing into two water golems that carried Lia in the next second.

  "Lia, didn't you say you could climb this mountain without my help earlier? You bad liar~"

  Lia bit her lip, not wanting to lose the argument with her teasing husband.

  She crossed her arms cutely and retorted.

  "Then you should have stubbornly carried me earlier, even when I refused! Hmph!"

  Surtr turned his gaze to the couple, who were chattering like children, and sighed.

  "Haven't you two been married for a decade? Why are you always acting lovey-dovey like a newlywed couple?! And you, Varuna, let's hurry! Big Sister Edithe said that if we're late again this time, she'll kill us!"

  Varuna looked at Surtr for a moment, then sat down next to Lia and waved his hand in dismissal.

  "Then tell her to do her best, Surtr... since I don't have the heart to leave my beautiful wife in the middle of nowhere."

  Surtr glared at Varuna one last time and sighed in exasperation.

  "Suit yourself..."

  He stomped his feet on the ground, then leaped, vanishing from sight in the next second.

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  Lia, worried, tugged on Varuna's sleeves.

  "You should go, dear..."

  Varuna smiled, resting his head on her shoulder as he pointed at a raspberry bush.

  "What do you think of a raspberry, Lia?"

  Lia, completely forgetting Surtr's words, pondered for a moment and then smiled.

  "Hmm... I think a blueberry would taste better!"

  Varuna nodded, a subtle flick of his fingers summoning tiny, hovering blueberries that floated in the air, suspended by water.

  In the next second, they gathered in a bowl made entirely of water, which then instantly froze.

  He placed the icy bowl on his lap.

  Lia, amazed by Varuna's god-given abilities, closed her eyes as she opened her mouth.

  Varuna gently smiled and fed her one of the frozen berries.

  ?Lia bit the berry, then pushed her lips against Varuna's fingers as she ran her tongue over his hand and commented, her voice in a low drawl.

  "Haaa... your hands taste even better, darling."

  Varuna leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

  The kiss deepened as Lia closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck and pulling him closer.

  The crowd was in stunned silence, watching their soon-to-be chieftain openly kiss his wife in front of them.

  "Varuna!"

  An angry voice echoed, as Edithe shouted, enraged by her brother's actions.

  But, Varuna simply waved his hand at her, a clear signal to go away.

  Edithe gritted her teeth in disbelief, watching as Varuna embraced his wife even more intimately, biting her neck.

  Suddenly, water surrounded them, turning into a deep blue, frozen sphere that shielded them from prying eyes.

  "You damned bastard!"

  Edithe spat.

  Surtr just grabbed her shoulder to comfort her and shook his head.

  "Let that bastard be..."

  Hours passed as the appointment ceremony passed smoothly, with Varuna becoming the village chieftain and his wife becoming the chieftain's wife.

  A decade passed, and under Varuna's capable rule, the small settlement had blossomed into a bustling city.

  He was a smart and respected leader, his authority growing with every passing season.

  But all that mattered little now.

  Deep within a sanctuary, frozen by time, Varuna and his four siblings stood side by side.

  The air was a bone-chilling cold that seemed to hum with suppressed power.

  Their gazes were fixed on the supreme being before them, a humanoid with horns like an elk, golden scales on his skin, and eyes like the cosmos.

  They watched him gaze back with an almost perfect, arrogant boredom.

  "Why should we swear our fealty to you?"

  Varuna asked.

  His siblings nodded in agreement, and the man simply stared.

  "Do you even have a choice? I could destroy your village with a flick of my hand."

  Surtr's gaze turned molten hot.

  The temperature in the room instantly rose, making the air shimmer and the ornate decor melted into a molten heap.

  Surtr then shouted.

  "You dare to threaten us!"

  Izrael waved a hand, and the wind materialized into tangible swords, stopping just short of the man's neck.

  Izrael voice was cold.

  "How dare you threaten my siblings!"

  Varuna gaze was just as cold.

  He pointed an index finger at the man.

  "You're quite daring…"

  Edithe’s eyes turned a soft pink, filling the air with a misty hue. Below, the earth rumbled.

  It rose to form a giant stone greatsword as Tellus watched the man with a defiant look.

  All five siblings stared with killing intent.

  But the man simply widened his eyes.

  A mesmerizing golden pupil, a miniature galaxy, peered into their very essence.

  The cacophony of their spells shattered into a silent puff of dust, and a crushing weight descended on them.

  In the next second, they were all forced to their knees.

  The man stood, then gazed at Varuna.

  "Do you wish for the death of your wife? Or will you surrender?"

  Varuna looked at his siblings, their faces pale and full of fear.

  He saw the defiant rage in Surtr's eyes, the sorrow in Edithe's, and the quiet resignation in Izrael's.

  He looked at Tellus, who shook his head almost imperceptibly, a silent plea.

  Varuna's shoulders slumped.

  He let out a long, shuddering sigh, and then looked straight into the man's golden eyes.

  A smile, twisted and, stretched across his face.

  "I...I surrender."

  Varuna whispered, his words a bitter poison on his tongue.

  "Just please… don't threaten me with my wife."

  The man's face contorted into a twisted smile, as if Varuna's life now belonged to him.

  Elated by the answer, he shouted.

  "Then allow me, the God of the Dragons, to grant you eternal power!"

  Varuna closed his eyes as the dragon god extended his palm, then slashed it in the next moment.

  A thick, golden blood trickled down onto Varuna's hair, feeling like molten lead against his skin.

  He muttered.

  "Draconic Authority! That is the authority I will grant to you! Be elated, human, of my gift!"

  Varuna ignored the storm of voices tearing at his mind.

  “Brother, stop... please!”

  “Varuna, you damned bastard!”

  “No… don’t do this!”

  Silence pressed down through the link.

  When he opened his eyes, the warmth of his humanity was gone.

  They were now a deep sapphire blue with draconic slits at the center.

  His fangs were elongated, and he felt a small stump, the beginning of a horn, growing on his head.

  He gazed at his hands, which were now covered in scales, and sighed.

  Lowering his head until it met the ground, he swallowed his pride and kissed the feet of the dragon god.

  "I, Varuna, shall become your dog, oh master of the dragon. Command me, and it shall be done."

  The dragon god smiled, then turned and walked back to his throne, waving a hand.

  "You're all dismissed…"

  Varuna gritted his teeth and nodded, turning his back and walking away.

  His jaw was clenched so tightly that it bled.

  Izrael seized Varuna’s shoulder and smashed a fist across his brother’s face.

  Varuna didn’t flinch.

  He only flatly stared back.

  “Our life as little gods of that city is finished.”

  He spat, blood running from his lip.

  “You,... no, we..."

  He sighed, watching his siblings stiffen at his words.

  “We must abandon the thought of escape. That thing has already marked us.”

  Izrael looked away, then back again, shame twisting his facial features.

  His eyes blazed red with rage, the humiliation of their defeat carved into every line of his face.

  Izrael closed his eyes as he whispered.

  "I see…"

  All of them understood the man's power.

  They stood motionless, their faces expressionless.

  Varuna, the eldest, sighed.

  "You all will eventually surrender, so give up."

  Tellus gazed at his brother's pained face, then at his sister who was crying, and he sighed.

  "The era of us, the five gods, has ended…"

  Izrael looked at Tellus, then snorted.

  He couldn't believe that the dumbest of them all was now the most sensible.

  “Y-you’re right, Tellus…”

  “T-that’s why... you should be the one to... escape,”

  Edithe murmured, eyes never leaving his.

  Her smile was calm, almost serene, as she reached out to pat his head.

  Varuna shook his head and laughed, a sharp, mirthless sound that cut through the moment.

  "Sister, don't give Tellus the cruel hope that he could save us. That guy alone... c-could pulverize an entire kingdom with a single breath."

  Tellus shook his head, looking at his sister.

  "Sister… we all know it's hopeless… so please let us just reach a consensus and surrender peacefully."

  And just like that, they all surrendered.

  The next time they were summoned by the Dragon God in the Primordial Islands, the home of all dragons, Edithe walked through the vast hall of his sanctuary.

  She gazed at her brother, Varuna, whose face was now covered with scales.

  The stump of a horn had grown into a full, elk-like horn, colored in a deep, sapphire blue.

  His eyes, once human, were now a mesmerizing deep sapphire with slits at the center, beautiful and alien.

  Draconic wings extended from his back, and she realized that in a few more years, her handsome brother would become a full-fledged draconian.

  Varuna stopped, causing Edithe to stumble into his back.

  She was mesmerized by his transformation, the sight of him both magnificent and terrifying.

  Tellus helped her.

  "Sister, you should pay more attention to your surroundings."

  He said.

  Edithe nodded solemnly, gazing at Tellus, who was worried for her well-being.

  Izrael closed his eyes, then flicked his hand to get their attention.

  "Let us pay our respect to the gods of the dragon."

  He said.

  Varuna kneeled and bowed his head.

  His siblings followed, and even Surtr, who would rather die than surrender, kneeled and bowed.

  "We, the five gods, greet the Dragon God!"

  ?"Varuna, by the dragon god decree, you shall lead the four gods to the abyss and rule it under the banner of the Dragon Emperor."

  ?The dragon's voice was angelic and melodic as he gazed down at the kneeling figures with a smirk.

  With a casual lift of his foot, he pressed it down on Varuna's head, grinding his face into the ground.

  A collective gasp of shock escaped the siblings' lips.

  Surtr, unable to bear the insult, finally snapped.

  Edithe noticed the shift in the atmosphere tries to reach for his hand, but she grabbed nothing.

  Surtr reappeared in front of the young dragon, his hands covered in blood.

  He waved them, and the young dragon turned to dust from the heat of Surtr's rage.

  He then pointed at the figure on the throne and shouted with insanity.

  "YOU DAMNED DRAGON GOD OR WHATEVER YOU ARE! HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE THE PRIDE OF US, THE FIVE GODS! WE ARE GODS, NOT SOME FUCKING SERVANTS! WE MAY HAVE SURRENDERED, BUT DON'T DELUDE YOURSELF INTO THINKING WE ARE BELOW YOU MONGRELS!"

  The Dragon God's eyes perked up at Surtr's audacity.

  He smiled, pondering whether to kill him for killing his blood or reward him for his nerve.

  "Your name, was it Surtr?"

  The Dragon God asked.

  Surtr felt the pressure in the room shift, and in the next second, he was kneeling, his world turned white.

  He lifted his head to meet the Dragon God's eyes, which gleamed like the cosmos, clenching his teeth against the overwhelming authority that washed over him.

  "YES, I AM! SO WHAT OF IT! KILL ME! I AM SURTR, THE GIANT OF MUSPELHEIM!"

  His rage alone could burn the entire world.

  The Dragon God was amused by this display, a will that never breaks, even in the face of a supreme being.

  He tapped his finger on the gold-laden handrest of his throne, his finger digging deep into the ornate surface.

  Tap... Tap... Tap!

  He stopped, having come to a conclusion.

  His eyes turned into slits as he focused his gaze on Surtr, who was frozen by the overwhelming pressure.

  The Dragon God stopped, musing.

  He watched Surtr, who was trembling while staring straight at him.

  "Then I the dragon god shall reward you for having the guts to kill my young."

  Surtr gritted his teeth as he gazed at his siblings, who were trembling with rage, knowing their brother would die.

  But Surtr just smiled as he looked at the Dragon God, then shouted.

  "COME! KILL ME, GOD OF THE DRAGONS!"

  The Dragon God was amused by Surtr's response.

  He smiled, then vanished from the ornate throne in a split second and appeared in front of Surtr, grabbing his shoulder.

  "Impressive. To be able to resist my presence when none of your siblings could... I, Venus, the God of the Dragons, acknowledge you."

  Just like that, our life spiraled into a new, unending hell.

  The Dragon God trained us relentlessly for decades.

  My wife, Lia, was granted a prolonged life after I decided to make her my familiar.

  She was bound to me, and we were forever together.

  I loved her with all my heart, but tragedy struck.

  The empire we built in the abyss broke apart as Draconic Authority, that accursed authority the Dragon God gifted me, ran amok and thirsted for blood.

  Worst of all, it was at the time when she was with me in my own residence.

  'The outcome was... I killed her with my own hand...'

  A tearful scream tore from my throat.

  "W-wife! A-are you okay!"

  My hands, now draconic and covered in the scales of my accursed authority, were soaked with the blood of the woman I held so dearly.

  They were the very hands I had used to build an empire, and now they were soaked with her blood.

  Lia smiled weakly, gazing up at her ever-faithful husband, who was now crying in front of her.

  It was the first time she had ever seen him cry.

  She knew her husband had committed sins that he hated just so she could live peacefully.

  She knew that those very sins were eating at his sanity.

  "V-varuna... I-I... am... sorry... but please... ta... take... ca…"

  Her voice died down, and the room fell silent.

  Varuna gazed at the ornate ceiling, then at his child, Aubrey.

  He managed a smile, the same one he always wore, then closed his eyes.

  "A-aubrey... mommy and I... are just playing a game... so go now and hide... okay?"

  Aubrey nodded and sprinted across the hallways.

  Varuna clenched his teeth, opened his mouth, and tore Lia’s neck in a single bite as he cried.

  "I-I am sorry, dear! It's because of me accepting that accursed fate! Because of me, we couldn't live happily... please, God... heavens, please! Just please let my daughter live happily!"

  His muffled cries echoed throughout the hallway as the sound of tearing flesh echoed, followed by the sickening crunch of bones breaking.

  At that time, I was broken.

  I had lost the love of my life, and my mind weakened, letting the Draconic Authority run amok and control my body.

  I killed people, skinned them alive, and ate them with a fervent will.

  In my despair, my daughter, my cute and lovely daughter, was neglected.

  I regret not giving her any affection because of my loss.

  I regret not waking up a little earlier so that she could live, even if she was just a servant of the new emperor.

  But it was too late to regret it, for the prophesied savior was right in front of me, the god slayer.

  "You beast wearing the flesh of man! How dare you skin and eat people with your depraved authority! I, Ashin Sae Acoustine, the new emperor of the abyss, shall destroy you!"

  Varuna gazed at her with hollow eyes, then turned his head to his daughter's severed head, who wore a cold face, and he smiled.

  "It seems that my daughter has grown bigger... new emperor, was it?"

  He gazed at her, a young woman with gray hair and golden eyes, and smirked.

  "Allow me to tell you my story…"

  Varuna’s head was cut from his body, frozen.

  Ashin Sae Acoustine was just too much for him to handle, especially since he was now at the realm of the god.

  He looked at me, then smiled peacefully, as he looked tired.

  "That's my story, outsider... a story that is not depressing for others, but for me, it was hellish to not see my everything again…"

  Maybe give it a try? ??