Xiao Bai fitted right in with the group and they celebrated all night with a sumptuous meal cooked by Rahz that despite not having done it in a while he had not lost his touch. The atmosphere was amazing and it was filled with stories about Helgahval and even though Xiao had already lived through them via Rahz, they gave a different feeling when they were told by his new family.
The group didn't sleep at all and just had Elune used Cure Poison on them to expel the alcohol while they packed up the tents before heading back to the temple. The progress towards the Tempering War was going smoothly and the team was getting stronger and stronger as time went by.
Gilgamesh was still around and by now most of the team members knew of his existence and valued his opinion a lot, "Kid! Make sure to rest in the temple for at least another 4 months before training in energy manipulation. I can feel the anomalies in your soul and in Xiao as well, I guess the ritual was one with the highest level of assimilation but once you both are healed it should be very beneficial for both of you".
Rahz looked at Elune and nodded to Gilgamesh in acknowledgement, if there was anybody in the group that knew about souls it was the old Witch Doctor. Rahz knew that he needed to rest but he didn't think that even Energy Manipulation was a No No if he wanted to go back to the state before the contract.
The only good new were that he could concentrate in the theory and research of the Demonic Transformation and be ready to acquire it once he was healed.
Liz opened the portal to the temple but just before the first person cross over to the temple, both Djinn that were suppose to look after Riddick release their aura and launched 2 Chaos Fire spheres that had energy spinning around a core spun like an atom and immediately jump backwards.
MU HAHA DIE!!!
CHAOS NOVA
It was all over, the devastation the two level 40 spells could achieved was outside the scope of what anybody in the team could handle.
"I knew that we couldn't trust them" Said Jazz while releasing his Stone Skin
"YOU DARE TO DEFIED MY UNCLE AND HURT MY FRIENDS…" Screamed Riddick while trying to transform to receive the 2 blast but it was too late. Nobody was prepared for it and they were heading towards the center of the camp and with the Blast radius of a level 40 spell there was nowhere to run.
Everyone present saw their lives flash before their eyes but before the spheres could explode on the floor multiples snakes of thunder came from different locations and every lightning snake brought with it a piece of armor that when they joined together made up a creature that had the shape of a mummy but was made out of lightning.
There were runes all over the Mummy's armor and when it received the two Chaos Novas it quickly absorbed them. The moment the armor finished absorbing all the energy of the spells it quickly broke apart and all the armor pieces appeared in a circle around the two Djinn that didn't have time to react before massive lightning snakes came from all directions and passed through their bodies disintegrating even their souls.
BUZZZ!
The team's pupils contracted as the hair on their skin stood up by the shear power they could feel coming from the lightning. It all happened really fast and after the Djinn were annihilated the Armor reconstructed itself and stood floating in the air while they could see the lightning running through his body.
There was a bandage on his face but it seem that it was there for the benefit of others and not because that was his face. The Lightning Creature floated in the air towards the group but it stop 20 ft away and asked with a very ethereal voice that was almost drown by the buzzing sound coming from the lightning surging in his body, "Are you O.K Lord Riddick?"
Riddick's Jaw was still wide opened and he could only nod towards his savior that didn't move from his spot due to being afraid of hurting them with his Aura.
"I am Lord Annihilus servant, Djinn are very evil creatures that love eating and torturing the souls of others. They usually won't disobey an order from the supreme elder but everything is possible if the prize is high enough and in their eyes the soul of your sworn brother is a treasure worth staking their lives to get. Now if you would excuse me there is a little mouse that requires my attention"
Buzzz!!! Woosh!
The armor broke apart and the lightning snakes disperse leaving just the burnt earth underneath his feet.
100 miles away, a creature that seem to be just a gigantic eye and teeth floated in sky looking at the scene with expectancy but as he saw the lightning creature appeared he quickly close his eyes and activated an invisibility spell while saying to himself, "He didn't see me… He didn't see me" over and over again.
It was wishful thinking but when Annihilus servant was about engage the Eye, it disappeared from the area without leaving a single trace.
"Hmmm… I guess that narrows it down". Said the Lightning servant while observing the space in front of him.
In a cave in mount doom, the Eye looking demon was hit in the back of the head and his eye sprung open while he shouted, "Please don't Kill me, I was just passing by".
"WTF are you saying"
The Eye looked around and saw a familiar face and using one of his tentacles wiped the sweat coming down from his forehead.
"Man I.. I thought... I was a goner"
Sneered
"You might still be, Lord Barash wants to see you"
The happiness of being saved quickly drained from his body while his tentacles droop to the floor as he left the cave towards Lord Barash's Castle.
In the Westside of the Abyss Rahz and the others were equally depressed, they were almost killed without the chance to defend themselves. The Level of the Djinn were equal to the maximum level allowed in the Temperin War and that put into perspective even more the danger they would be in.
It was time to train and get stronger inside the temple and for Riddick to evolve into the Third Tier, the war was the grind stone in which to sharpen their combat prowess for when the true test against the Dragonkin arrived.
The team arrived at the Vengeance Chamber of the temple and with serious expressions in their faces started to train while Rahz worked on his Physical body and the research of his demonic transformation.
Day after Day he trained in the arena where he fought just using his physical body against Riddick and his friend, the half giant. The Abyssal chamber was also participating in the War and was sending a large group to represent their style and defend the temple;s reputation.
Rahz's body was a weapon in itself, his bones were as strong as Mithril weapons and his skin was stronger than a beast of the same level. Rahz started in the arena against one individual but as the time went by, he need it more people to make him go all out, teams of people gathered and challenge him but thanks to all the rewards from the realm even chaos fire of the Third Tier was only able to leave minor burns that were quickly healed by Remulos.
The true test was against Riddick in his true form, no matter how he tried he couldn't even move him from his position. The problem they observed was that in his true form the shear size left Riddick expose to attacks from multiple sides. It was really difficult to penetrate Riddicks skin but as the saying goes a million ants could take down an elephant.
Thanks to the sparring, 4 months of soul healing came and went by in the blink of an eye and by now the battle proficiency of the temple had increased multiple times and what was even more amazing was that Rahz student experiment was a success. The 15 students he took under his wing during the recruitment event had been able to manipulate their energy to reinforce their bodies and were now working on Emission.
Throughout the whole process Apocalypse had been really dedicated to their growth and this came with an unexpected reward for Rahz who was able to achieve level 32 thanks to the reward given by the Realm of Elysian for developing warriors outside the influence of the Gods.