"Hurry, we'll be late for the meeting."
'Meeting?' thought Mora.
"Relax, I'm done."
'That's...the woman's voice.'
"The army may already be marching, I can't relax."
'That's Kioku.'
"With the few we have here I doubt we can handle five hundred demons let alone ten thousand."
'An army? Demons?' thought Mora. 'What's happening? Where are we? Who are we fighting?'
"Let's go."
'Don't go! I want to fight too.'
Click...
Mora tried to move but his body wouldn't listen, he felt weak. He slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a low ceiling, he tried to move again but the effort was pointless.
'This must be what it feels like to die.'
He thought back to the conversation he heard earlier. He was sure two of the three voices he heard belonged to Kioku and the woman they saved from the demon but the final one that spoke was unfamiliar.
'Again, I'm too weak to do anything and others fight in my place,' thought Mora bitterly.
'I want to make a difference, I want to help, but so far I've been a liability, to Kioku, to Master Longwang and...,'
'To mother,' Mora closed his eyes in defeat, remembering the day she sacrificed herself to save him.
'I want to keep that promise, but that belief you had in me, I don't think I have that same belief.'
Mora opened his eyes and nearly screamed, standing over him was a cloaked old man. The man put his hand on Mora's chest and with a flash of red light, the two disappeared.
♤♤♤
Inside the City Guard Headquarters.....
The room was uncomfortably small for the six of them. Kioku was squeezed between Zeru and Soyin on a small bench, on the other side on a similar bench, Doran was squeezed between Iplis and Laske.
"Lets begin the meeting," said Doran.
"Before we start I have a question," said Kioku with gritted teeth.
"What?"
"How fucking poor is this city?" Asked Kioku.
"I'll have to be frank, your headquarters is shit."
"Forgive me your highness, unlike the Shadow Realm, we don't have infinite funds," responded Doran coldly.
"Yet you have the funds to spend all day at the brothel?" Asked Kioku angrily.
"That is irrelevant to this meeting!" Shouted Doran, his face was slightly red.
"Let's hurry up and start this thing before it turns into a bloodbath," said Zeru with a sigh.
"Aww, I wanted to see who would win though," said Soyin with fake sadness.
"There's no point of this meeting in the first place," Doran said.
"My brother came back with his delusions of a demon army approaching and you all take it as the truth."
"I've told you at least ten times you big oaf, we heard it straight from their mouths, they are coming and we must prepare," said Laske angrily.
"Its bull I say, I should believe that you suddenly understood the devil's tongue now?"
"Its the truth."
Everyone turned to Soyin, he did not have his usual mischievous look. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a scroll and handed it to Doran.
"That came from Master Nero this morning, the enemy number is not ten thousand."
"How many then?" Asked Zeru.
"Twenty thousand."
Everyone exchanged grave looks as Doran unrolled and read the scroll. He seemed to age ten years the more he read and when he raised his head, his look was solemn.
"They will arrive in a days time, Elder Nero says that his forces are holding back seven thousand of them. Even so, we barely have enough people to fight thirteen thousand demons."
A deep silence filled the small room, Iplis looked at the dark expressions on everyone's faces and realised they were about to give up.
"We can't be disheartened, if we play our cards right we might stand a chance," says Iplis loudly. The rest of the group looked at her with something that looked like pity.
"The chances of victory are-," began Kioku.
"WE CAN'T JUST GIVE UP!" Shouted Iplis shocking everyone.
"There are people here and in Asgard who we need to protect, we can't allow Nitram to have his way."
She turned faced Kioku and Soyin with anger in her eyes.
"Aren't you two Godslayers, powerful humans capable of killing gods and higher beings. Yet here you are cowering just because the enemy has more numbers than you, you're just a bunch of cow-,"
"Enough."
Soyin spoke quietly but his presence had turned deadly serious, he coldly stared at Iplis and pulled out another scroll.
"These are instructions from Elder Nero to me that might give us a chance in battle."
"What do they say?" Asked everyone else simultaneously.
"These instructions are only for me and Kioku, everyone else clear out I need to brief him."
"You can't chase me from my own office."
"We also need to hear these instructions and see how they'll benefit us in battle."
"If I'm risking my life I need to know."
Soyin stood abruptly and faced Laske, Doran and Iplis with an angry look. His eyes glowed gold and turned to slits that narrowed dangerously, a faint fiery aura emanated from him.
"Out."
Laske, Iplis and Zeru stood immediately and made for the door. Doran remained looking deeply into Soyin's eyes, the two had a silent argument which Soyin won and soon only he and Kioku remained.
"So what are these instructions?" Asked Kioku curiously.
"That you must come up with a plan," replied Soyin with a sigh.
"That's it?" Kioku asked in a furious voice, he didn't know Soyin's master but he was clearly a madman.
"You have the teachings of Hakai, one of the smartest beings in existence, this should be an easy task for you."
"Those were my masters words," Soyin shrugged as he sat back down, even he was taken aback by his masters instructions.
"But the enemy numbers thirteen thousand!" Shouted Kioku angrily.
"I'm just the messenger."
"Its only been five days since I left yet I'm already having headaches like this," Kioku groaned and closed his eyes to think.
'From my own investigations I found out Doran has five hundred men at his disposal who all seem to be stronger than the average demon. If we ask the citizens to help then that brings our number to at most a thousand....'
'Soyin, Doran, Zeru and I all can take on two hundred demons each and with Iplis supporting everyone we should be able to hold out but somethings missing, something to guarantee our victory, damn it if only...'
"Your strength could increase in a short amount period of time?" Asked Soyin out of no where.
"How did-," began Kioku.
"Master said your train of thought might lead to that conclusion so he told me to release the first Rin seal."
"Rin seal?
"When a Godslayer is born their Rin is locked away with three seals, The Oath Seal, The Promise Seal and the killing Seal."
"Removing each seal causes an increase in power and upon removal of all three one becomes a true Godslayer, however," Soyin spoke in a dark tone, causing the atmosphere on the room to change.
"There's a downside isn't there?" Kioku asked, he had sensed the Soyin's change in tone, whatever the downside was, it was clearly major.
Soyin held out his hand, blazing hot flames erupted from his palm and shaped into a large number nine that floated in the air.
"In exchange for the power to kill gods, Godslayers must suffer nine great losses in their life time."
"What do you mean nine great losses?"
"The losses can be anything, a loved one, a close friend, a big battle, a power, a body part, anything. Just know walking this path comes with a cost," said Soyin solemnly.
"You said it could be anything," Kioku said slowly. "So if I take this power the possibility of me failing my mission and losing this war is high right?"
"Yes it is but if you don't take this power, you will forever remain weak and your chances of succeeding are zero."
Soyin's eyes blazed with golden light, a fiery gold aura erupted from him causing the temperature in the room to increase. Kioku felt his legs grow weak under the pressure and stared wide eyed at his power.
"So, Will you embark on the path of opposing the creators?"
♤♤♤
"Elder Nero, the army is approaching."
A hooded figure spoke to a tall bold elderly man with a long beard and sharp red eyes. The man wore white robes and white boots and at his back, a strange symbol could be seen on his robes.
The man stood on a hill overlooking a dense cluster of trees and in the distance, a dust cloud was rising. Next to the man lied a sleeping Mora who floated in mid air.
"Prepare the men."
The man's voice was ancient and domineering, it commanded an authority that one could not oppose. The hooded figure nodded and disappeared into the shadows, leaving the man looking at the horizon.
A strong wind blew causing the man's robs to flutter, the man raised his head and gazed at the numerous stars with a solemn expression.
"The future being clouded can only mean one thing," said the man slowly. He looked down at Mora and sighed before looking back at the nearing dust cloud.
"You must prepare young one, a new era comes and with it a greater disaster."