"Are you sure it will work?" Moments before, Rick and the old voice were having a conversation about these lightning zombies.
[80% sure. The last time, the undead beasts we faced didn't have a dense concentration of lightning, but if it really is these little snakes the cause of the dead killing and infecting others. Then we can try to absorb or even transfer the black lighting somewhere else.]
Rick watched Lian be bitten by a little lightning snake and went into deep thought, suddenly he turned to Artemis.
"Do you have a bottle of glass? Or something like a container?"
"Huh? A container?" Artemis was confused for a moment, but then she searched her belongings and took a metal bottle and handed it over to him. She couldn't see the use Rick would have for it, yet there was no reason for her to not trust him.
"Thanks. Cover me, I will test something." She was about to nod when Roderick's figure vanished, Leaving her on the same spot. His figure shot through the air and flew to the center of the crater while she drew her bow and started shooting arrows at the zombies down below.
Opening the metal bottle, Roderick sucked in the black lightning from the surroundings and stored in on the bottle. Without the lightning inside their them, the bodies fell on the ground lifelessly. They may look like and act similar to how zombies would, but there was a particular difference.
"It worked. The dead are the marionettes and the lightning is the medium between the master and the puppet. Without the medium, we can stop these undead without losing any more people. The only problem is that we can't save those who already fell." Desping being happy his plan worked, it wasn't possible to forget the large number of people that died because of this attack.
After helping Lian, he reunited with Artemis and the latter was staring at Elijah with shock. Noticing her constant stare, his face blushed a little before he coughed and said in a low voice: "Artemis it worked! Let's go, we are just two, but we with this we can help everyone."
The island of Eden was in a state of emergency, other the elemental master and the military, the civilians were hiding in their residences. Most of the streets and roads across the city were empty. Hordes of mindless undeads sensed Roderick and Artemis presence and rushed over just to end up collapsing on the cold floor.
Lightning Overflow! Swift Wind Boots! Both travelled at incredible high speeds from one street to the other exterminate the undead creatures in the streets and buildings. The farms, the market and the other buildings in the southern sector were quickly cleaned. They just finished cleaning the airport when Rick was cleaning the bloodstains on his shirt while feeling depressed.
All those people may have been dead, but they were still humans. If it was a big bad guy or somebody aiming their weapon at him, he would feel nothing from killing this person. But most of the people here were innocent bystanders, who did nothing other than being infected by the death hazard lightning.
"Big bro Roderick, we have cleaned the southern sector. We should move to the other sectors a bit faster."
"I know, just give a few second of silence to those who died. They deserve it." Artemis said nothing, merely nodded and stood by his side in silence. Unlike Roderick, she was brought up at the guardians' headquarters; therefore, it can be said that she has not much understanding of human interactions.
They barely left the airport when the building they were inside moments ago shook with the entire island as a sound like thunder rumbled in the air as a figure as tall as a mass was sent flying upside-down.
"Mister Ares!" "Uncle Ares!" They only had time to see a huge lightning bold smack Ares down. Luckily Rick could see with his energetic eyes that the lightning could penetrate the former's defense. A lightning Element King really lived up to its name. Even being with powers related to lightning, he was sure if he could handle that attack.
"What should we do!" At that moment he felt a freezing cold down his spine as his face darkened. He yelled to the old voice who nothing said other than a snort. Rick also felt something was wrong and his eyes locked on the ocean where he felt signatures of energy far away, moving towards the western sector, then his eyes went back to his dad and the others trying to hold the vessel of the lightning spirit. Artemis was looking at the sky with a grave expression and her hands held tight on her bow. Both of them really wanted to help, but they slowly calmed down when reason came to them. They were too weak. A fight of this level is to much for them, but again, none of the four elemental kings in the sky could counter that guy and could only be on the receiving end.
[Brat, stay calm. Everything is happening too fast, yet something feels strange. The last time we saw it, they couldn't find a compatible vessel for the power. Yet less than half a year later they attack us like this.]
"Then what should we do?!" Artemis gave a scared lead to the side when hearing Rick's sudden shout. Then she turned to give him a resentful stare.
[Well, I can offer two choices. One is where you can take this little girl and ran away. I believe those alchemist won't dare to wipe out the last hope of mankind and will keep at least a half of the population alive.]
Just from his words, Roderick understood his intention. Running away, they could spend a few years training before coming back for revenge. Despite the huge amount of losses they would face, he could take a few more people with him to live with the demons for a while before taking the island back. It was a valid choice, yet he could not bring himself to accept it and asked with a sour voice: "Then what is the second choice?"
[Using a bit of my remaining will, I'll be going to awake a temporary boost of power within you.A talent most gods and their offspring would have, Inborn Divine Strength. It won't be as great as the real Divine Strength, but it will give you enough power to face a few elemental kings by yourself. However, there will be a price to pay.]
The old voice, then explained slowly the complications as well as the pros and cons of the two methods. Unlike the first choice, this one would give him better results without having to sacrifice others. The problem was the price he had to pay. Moments later, he's dropped his shoulders. There was no other choice, only he was responsible for himself. He had no right of deciding the destiny of others so why should he run away? He wasn't a coward.
"I accept. What is the price for the second choice?"
A voice resounded in his mind like a whisper and his expression paled. He already knew it would be something out of the ordinary, and it was like he expected. Scratching his left eye, Rick saw a flash of white light before he felt his eye burning.
"Arrg!" Roderick felt so much pain his complexion turned ashen and blood flowed his his eyes and nose. His expression was dark and his left eye melted under that extreme light. Artemis screamed in horror when seeing his eye melting and rushed forward only to feel an oppressive force block her way.
In a few seconds, his left eye was nothing but an abyss filled with darkness while his right eye was filled with a radiant blue lightning.
Inborn Divine Strenght! Every sign that could show he was alive was abruptly extinguished and his breath could not be felt. An instant later, an intense aura burst forth like a dormant volcano that finally woke up after several millennia. Lightning and Thunder surrounded his body and left in a flash, his muscles grew together with the great power he felt within his body.
In that instant, flashes passed before his eyes. Clouds, tempests, giant creatures in the hundreds running over mountains and seas towards him only to be struck dead by the huge thunder clouds in the sky. With a wave of his hand, the sky would shatter under the resounding thunder and he would continue to stand above the heavens and the earth. He was a God!