__________ POV Narration__________
Ashton decided to start getting closer to the Guardian.
He slowly, but cautiously approached the site of the explosion. Even with his Nen protecting all of his body, he could still feel new burns appearing all over his body.
But Ashton didn't let that deter him. He looked at the body of his former teacher with a strange smile.
The body was mostly a piece of charcoal now. There was not even a single sign of healing on it. It simply seemed to be surviving on the scraps of vitality that it had left.
Even with that little vitality, the guardian was able to blow all of the steam away with a single shout.
Ashton himself was somewhat horrified of the effects of his untested weapon. He was no stranger to explosions and strange abilities. But seeing this much destruction, seeing the sea get turned into steam in an instant was somewhat frightful.
"I guess you weren't expecting that, huh? I guess your civilization didn't get to evolve to this level before you wiped yourselves out..." Ashton spoke while staring at the remainder of the beast.
He was mostly speaking to the god inside the body. He had made quite a few realisations about the 'Gods'. To him, they were clearly humans, more clearly, they were a small group of humans that managed to reach a special state by cultivating energy that they had little understanding of.
By his hypothesis, they likely wiped themselves out. Well, the gods wiped the other humans in hopes to keep their authority and prevent any others from rising to that status.
Shakti was likely the energy they managed to cultivate. Ashton assumed it was similar to Nen, he actually thought that it was made to counter Nen. But they were, in fact, just coincidentally natural enemies.
The gods managed to wipe out any humans that had a chance to become Gods through the learning of Shakti. Then they proceeded to repopulate the world with beasts of their own.
Humans, however, hadn't actually died out. No, they were actually doing rather well for themselves. They even managed to harness an energy of their own.
At first, the gods paid little attention to the new human civilization. At least until they noticed that humans also had the ability to create life. That was when the gods decided to fully take out humanity once and for all.
And that was how everything started.
Ashton was actually right in his assumptions. His theory was merely based on his understanding of humans and the gods, coupled with the few insights that the 'Compendium of the Wild Hunt' was able to give him.
In the end, he managed to find the truth on his own. The Gods not refuting the fact that they were initially human certainly helped Ashton in making sure of the legitimacy of his theory.
'D-don't gloat too much... This little show of yours... Has greater ramifications than you think...' The god spoke inside Ashton's mind in a faint voice. It was clear that he was either tired beyond belief, or dying.
If Ashton was to hazard a guess, then it would be the first one. He knew that the gods were all basically beings made out of parasitic aura. They could steal and inhabit many bodies, they weren't affected by the death of the bodies they inhabited.
The only thing that might've brought the god in that state was the overuse of its life force. It's Shakti.
"Ramifications? Is it because that underwater temple was also destroyed? I guess that was inevitable though." Ashton said while he looked at the crater that was slowly being refilled with seawater.
The temperature was slowly going back to normal. At least on the surface. The bed of the sea was still made out of magma. And the sea itself was still boiling and steaming.
'The gateway was broken... Exactly as we planned it... Not the way I wanted it to though... We are now free... The rest have most likely already taken residence in beasts all over the world. Humanity is on its last breath.'
Ashton raised an eyebrow at what he was hearing.
'You won't be able to protect it all by yourself...' The god spoke with hatred and spite that few could claim to have ever felt in their lives.
But Ashton wasn't deterred at all.
"And who are you? How are you so bold to assume that I am the only thing protecting humanity now? Would I really be here if that was the case?" Ashton said with a large smile. Sure, his forests and his power was a huge part of the defence force of humanity.
But the strength of some individuals was already getting at levels that could rival and even exceed his former, human self.
That coupled with the fact that Ashton armed them all with appropriate Relics... Well, the war wasn't going to be as one-sided as the gods wanted it to be.
'Don't joke around... You know too well the limitations of a human body, why else would you have this form now? Any defence that a human can muster, our creations can break...' Still, the god remained deluded to the very end.
Ashton just shrugged his shoulders as the 'god' became completely silent. He spoke a few times, trying to get a reaction out of the being. But it was to no avail.
The old hunter didn't need another hint to figure out that the one he fought had most likely died. He didn't really need a notification on his phone to tell him that.
This also helped him realize a few things. Like the fact that the 'gods' had limited lifeforce. So they were killable. And, that they were, for some reason, unable to destroy the gateway that held them back for so long.
Ashton looked at the ruins that the Miniature Sun left behind.
The explosion itself wasn't all that large, he had made one similar in size when he was weaker, fighting the Ant King.
But the destruction caused by this one was going to be felt for a very long time. Something was for sure, a lot of rain was going to come because of that move.
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