On their way out of town, they heard unnerving news. A dark god had been spotted nearby. As they approached the guildhall, the discussion continued.
"This is a big waste of time, and I will have no part in it."
"You said you would do any job. I highly doubt a dark god running rampant doesn't have a bounty. That makes this a job." He expected a snarky response, but her lips remained sealed. "Ah, your silence is truly golden."
They entered the guildhall and asked for details on the situation. Apparently, a god has been going around for quite a while abducting and killing children. The guild has put up plenty of quests, but everyone who went never came back. They were so desperate they even sent a request to the king of Dengal himself.
Ryuji had heard enough. He just had one question left. "Where is it?"
The hall master answered the question. "The god resides just a few hours down the road from here."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That close! We need to move out and take it down now!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Nobody here wants to risk their life for such a small amount of money."
Ryuji slammed his fist down so hard splinters flew from the desk. "Who cares about the money! This thing kills kids!"
"Look, we have confirmation that the sword saint herself is coming down here to slay it, so you don't need to be concerned about it."
Ryuji thought back and remembered what Rhea's original goal had been. She did say she was on her way to defeat a rogue god. 'Then that means Zephyr was just there by complete coincidence. What terrible luck!' He didn't have the balls to tell them she wasn't coming so he had to think of something else. "So, while we wait for a person who may take forever to come, more and more children die!"
Queen grasped his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw her shaking her head. "It's pointless Hero, everyone here is spineless."
Ryuji turned to look at the others who were in various other meetings or just relaxing around. 'I can't believe this!' He balled his fist before beseeching them. "Guys, I just need a few of you to come! You don't have to fight, but if those kids aren't dead yet, then we need someone to heal them and help them. I can't do that by myself!"
Unsure glances filled the room, but by the end of the wait, ten able-bodied men and women set out with Ryuji and Queen.
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The god had made its home in a local plain, and in a few short hours, they had arrived. The sight caused Ryujis's stomach to knot up and him to retch. Even Queen looked uneasy as they spotted the gods shrine. In the mostly empty field, there resided crudely shaped crosses. They numbered about 50, and each cross had a child strung up and nailed on it.
The god presiding over this torture was currently enjoying herself while mutilating one of the kids. His cries invaded their minds, and Ryuji rushed forward. The rest followed cautiously behind.
As he approached with ragged breathing and a look that could kill, the god focused on him. Her face was smeared with blood, and her hands were dyed a disgusting dark red. She wore what was essentially a black nightgown. Her purple eyes held no emotion but instead had an unsettling emptiness to them.
Ryuji put his hand on the hilt of his blade, ready to strike, and then he saw it. 'Jessy?' Behind the kneeling god was a crucifix, but the person on it was no child. Hanging on the crucifix was a blue-haired gunslinger. Breath was caught in his throat, and he felt like he would unleash his rage at any moment. "Get up and face your punishment, monster!"
The god looked up at him and sighed. She rose and stood about 190cm tall. "Are you here to slay me human?" A cold voice that could freeze blood solid permeated through the field.
"Y-yes." Ryuji's determination faltered, and his rage all but evaporated.
"Then, do it." She moved closer and closer to him.
The rage that was once there had been quickly replaced by dread. 'What the hell was I thinking when I said I would take this thing on?!' Ryuji had battle-hardened instincts from his many terrible encounters, and he knew that if he didn't run away right now that he would surely die.
"Well?" She was right next to his ear. Ryuji couldn't move a muscle.
"Who are you?"
"My name doesn't matter, but I am the god of pain."
"Why are you doing this?"
"I love letting others feel pain. I take children because pain is so new to them. That older one is only up there because she tried to stop me. Of course, she's only alive so that I may indulge in her pain at a later date."
Ryuji still felt like a statue. His fear wouldn't let him move an inch.
"How about you? Would you like to feel pain?" A single finger traced his cheek and then sliced it open. Blood trickled down his face and onto the ground. However, Ryuji still did not move. "How boring. If that's all you have to offer, then leave." She turned her back on Ryuji and walked back to her plaything lying on the ground. The little boy was still breathing, but the amount of blood he was losing frightened Ryuji.
'I'm hopeless! I…I…I am a coward!' As he lamented himself, Ryuji looked up to the gunslinger. The nails through her hands caused red streaks to form down her figure. Her signature cowboy hat was nowhere to be seen, and most of her outfit had been ripped apart. He saw tears flow down her cheeks and noticed a red patch in between her thighs. Ryuji's mind went blank as he pieced together what the god did to her.
'---------------' He felt sick. He felt anger. Then he noticed something else, Jessy was talking. She had been the whole time. Her voice was too quiet to hear, but he could her lips loud and clear. They read "Help me".
The god walking back did not notice the boy's anger, but it did notice a blade that almost lopped its head off. The god blocked the blade with a mana reinforced arm and was flung sideways a good twenty feet. Ryuji followed and now stood in front of the menace with his sword drawn.
The god had a slice on its forehead, and blood trickled down. The furious Ryuji faced down the unamused god while the spectators watched.
A flurry of swords accompanied. Ryuji swings were seemingly wild, but each slice was aimed at a vital point. The god blocked oncoming strikes with her resilient arms and nothing else. Ryuji still felt fear, but to his surprise, he was faster than this god.
"Lightning style final form: Raiden!" A lightning charged katana superheated by voltage surpassed sound and sliced two diagonal cuts down the god's shoulders. Sturdy as her skin might be, it relied on mana to do it. If Ryuji used mana enhanced attacks, he would still be able to cut.
The god seemed unfazed and begun an assault of her own. Ryuji dodged and weaved through punch after punch. He swung his sword in a reversal, and the god lost her left eye.
"Give it up! You're done!"
The monster stopped in her tracks. Her hand glided over the lost eye she once possessed "This pain… it's quite lovely! Would you like to feel lovely too?"
Ryuji had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as his legs began to shake. "Pain maxim!"
'What the hell did that d-' A fist connected with his jaw. A millisecond later, a crunch reverberated through his skull as the left side of his jaw shattered. He flew hundreds of feet back, rumbling and tumbling over the earth.
Ryuji's thoughts wavered, and all his brain projected was static. Then another punch and another and another. A volley of punches shattered his ribs. The trauma brought his mind back to reality. He felt the pain. He felt fear. His mind remembered the last time he was put in such a dangerous situation. A switch flipped inside his mind as he continued to be pummeled. This newfound feeling could only be described as Insanity.
A maddening smile spread across Ryuji's face as newfound power from critical flowed through his body. He felt happy, he felt like having fun, he felt nothing. "God slayer: Exodus." What Ryuji did can only be described as the first move in kendo. He raised his sword and swung it down with both hands. On its own, the movement wasn't that special but couple it with super strength and an influx of mana, then it becomes monstrous.
A rift formed in the ground underneath the blade. The rift grew and grew until it had almost reached the kids who were by now about a mile away from Ryuji. The god's arm faired no better than the ground. It had been severed and now lay twitching on the ground. Meanwhile, the backlash of such a powerful move ripped apart the muscles inside Ryuji's arms.
The god must have been in the same mindset as Ryuji as she didn't mind this development one bit. "Yes! Yes! More!" The god actually seemed rather delighted that her challenge was taken up with such vigor.
Queen, however, was mortified by the scene. Unlike the others, she had a skill named far sight allowing her to view the intricacies in the battle. While the others cheered for Ryuji, they could only see his figure and the attacks he made. "What is he?"
A fist made contact with Ryuji's good side of his jaw breaking it into pieces. This launched him into the air. Still, Ryuji smiled although now it looked like more of an involuntary action.
In the air, Ryuji kicked hard and sent himself spiraling downwards towards the god. She backed away, but Ryuji was faster. He landed then, kicked off the ground, and with a slice opened her belly.
The two kept attacking each other in a high-speed battle where instead of getting slower the longer it dragged on, it got faster. Both fighters drew on power gained from self-harm, and both showed no sign of reaching their limits.
Queen turned on the adventurers and screamed. "What are you doing! Get those kids down now!"
They complied, and the healer they brought along saw to the boy who was in critical conditions healing. Queen didn't dare look at the boy too closely to see what was wrong with him. She instead chose to keep an eye on the hero she worked for and waited for the conclusion.
The field now looked like a meteor shower had happened. Countless craters and break lines in the ground now populated the field.
Ryuji prepped his blade, but the constant bleeding of her stomach and arm gave the god another boost in strength. She lunged forward and punched his leg in the side. The tremendous force swept his leg up into the other one. Then they both broke into pieces, and Ryuji flew sideways with his head hitting the ground like he was a rock skipping across a pond.
For once, the god didn't follow up. Instead, she looked rather bored.
"I've had enough of this game. We will end it here and now." Light enveloped her one arm and she prepped it clutching her fist as tight as possible. Meanwhile, Ryuji stood his ground blade drawn and ready.
"Pain unload!" All of the god's pain manifested into her fist and she lunged forward throwing the atomic like weapon at Ryuji.
His thoughts left him as he knew he was about to die. Even his insanity had left him and then, he had nothing. He was nothing, he felt nothing. His life lost all meaning. All meaning except for one, a purpose, a reason to live. That reason was to kill. Ryuji thought of nothing but killing. He didn't think of his own possible demise or how others would feel. Not a single one of those thoughts crossed his mind. He thought only of killing the one before him.
As her fist drew closer, the god of pain felt something that she had long since forgotten after becoming a god. A feeling that we all have, no matter how big or small. No matter how strong or weak. She felt the fear of her impending death. But it was too late, she couldn't reverse the spell or shut it off. Once pain unload was activated, she had to disperse all the energy she gained from her pain.
Ryuji readied his blade and thrust it forward towards the center of the fist coming at him. "Death series: Torturous Dragon." A visage of a great dragon flew from the katana, and the blade buried itself deep into the fist. The fist didn't stop. It kept on going pushing Ryuji back. The fist gained more and more power. The more power she gained, the more Ryuji was pushed back and the deeper the blade embedded itself into her fist.
Magical strings of sharp wires spread from the blade and seeped their way into the skin of the god. Pain circulated through her, and the blade inched closer. The god could now see her own demise. Her fist would push the blade that now stood in front of her eyes straight through her head.
She could do nothing about this except watch as in the next moment, Ryuji held the blade firm and stood his ground instead of being pushed back. With a single thrust, the blade severed her life. Ryuji's arms lay at his sides, both of them broken from the shock.
On the verge of death, Ryuji limped back towards the crosses. He was battered beyond belief, but still, he walked.
'Save.'
As he walked, the others stood on and watched him, afraid to touch the man who slew a god. Queen, unlike the others, was not afraid because of what he did but because of what he had acted like while doing it. His insane eyes were still burned into her memory. Even more terrifying than that were his eyes in those final moments. Empty and soulless.
He made his way over to the healer and the young boy. "Whaths…. wrong?"
"The uh boy is in critical condition, and my healing isn't good enough to outpace his severe wounds."
Ryuji leaned down and touched the young child's face. "Sacred High Heal." With a smile on his face and innumerable broken bones, Ryuji passed out on the ground.
The healer looked at the healthy young boy and then back at the dying young man with confusion. An unusually high-strung Queen stomped over to him. "Why aren't you healing him!?"
"Uh… right sorry." The healer began casting spells on a fading Ryuji.
Queen tapped her foot while she watched him work. "Will he make it?"
"Long term? No. Short term? Definitely. My healing can stabilize him for at least a week. All he has to do is wake up within that time and heal himself."
With a sigh, Queen's tension faded. "Good." Queen lifted Ryuji and put him on her back. "We're going back. You follow and make sure he stays alive."
"Y-yes, ma'am."
"You better wake up fast. You worthless hero." An inaudible voice escaped her as she displayed her worries for the friend she carried.