"Wh-WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" The Great constellation stomped her foot to the marble floor.
Sparks flew through the air as she got up, exuding power.
"No, no. Please, sit." Ruun retorted, waving his hand.
When he did it, the Great constellation shuddered, overwhelmed by what felt like an insurmountable weight over her shoulders.
She shrieked, but Ruun just ignored her.
"Kora, would you kindly gather the heroes' corpses, please?"
'So we traveled back in time, huh...' He thought, watching Kora work.
Kora always had a thing with death and pain.
Ever since Ruun met her, every time she helped him slay an Abyss' Beast, it would always be in the most gruesome, ruthless way.
Meanwhile, the Great Constellation kept shrieking, trying to break free from the invisible shackles that Ruun had put upon her.
"Will you be 'quiet'? Some people are trying to work, here..."
When Ruun emphasized the word, his eyes glowed in that bright, purple tone, and the Great Constellation just couldn't speak anymore.
The Great Constellation's face showed agony, confusion.
But even more than that.
It showed despair.
How come Ruun, her greatest nemesis, whom she had just imprisoned in the Abyss, be back just like that, as if nothing happened?
And what was that raw, silent power he exuded?
But what was even more surprising and shocking to her.
'What is that FUCKING GIRL DOING STILL ALIVE?!'
As Kora finished her job, Ruun looked at each one of the corpses, freshly dead, as if they died no less than five minutes ago.
"Fools."
And upon that statement, Ruun bit the tip of his thumb, and let his blood fall upon all the heroes but one.
The one he killed with his own hands.
The bloody marble floor shone with the magic circles beneath the corpses, and they began reanimating.
Blood flowed back to their veins, their wounds healed, and even their armors, once cracked and broken by Ruun's massive power, rejuvenated to their whole state.
One by one, the heroes opened their eyes and got up, startled.
"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"
"I thought we..."
But then, they all noticed Ruun in front of them.
And the Constellation, trapped on the throne.
"Wh-what're you..." The biggest of them, Gorkas, the warrior, asked, confused.
"What am I doing here?" Ruun retorted. "I came for your sorry asses. Also, there are some unfinished business I need to attend to, before I go back on vacation."
All heroes had their jaws dropped down low, without knowing what to do.
But their leader, a young man with clear blue eyes, named Revan, stared at Ruun, speaking.
"Was it... Did 'you' bring us back? What kind of trick is it?"
"Oh, my..." Ruun yawned, once again bored. "Don't you guys get tired of being manipulated? Is it so easy to get in your heads, that a fucking puny, minor deity, grants you some power, and you already go all the way thinking that you're the world's mightiest heroes? Give me a 'fucking' break!"
Ruun looked at each one of the heroes, and they all fell silent, feeling Ruun's grudge in his every word.
"Yes, I brought you back from the dead. But you know why? Because 'you', for once, couldn't see wrong from right, even if it stood tall, in front of your eyes." His eyes glowed with power and rage. "I didn't want to kill you. 'None' of you, but you had to fall under the Constellation's spell, and not resist it... But now you all died, and what's even more impressive, by 'your matron's hand'. Now I'm here to offer you a one-time deal, 'only'..."
The heroes heard Ruun's words, shocked.
But what was more shocking to them, was the emotion they felt underneath his grudge.
They were arrogant, easy to manipulate, they were humans, after all.
But they were neither deaf, nor blind.
And they understood that they had misjudged Ruun, in some manner.
And judging by how powerful Ruun felt to them, they knew there was going to be retribution.
"What is this offer?" Revan trembled, and he didn't know why.
"I'll give you power. 'Real' power, not this... Imitation. But I want one thing in return."
"What is it?" Gorkas retorted. "Did you become some kind of a demon, and want our souls in exchange for this power?"
"Souls?" Ruun ran his fingers across his hair and burst out in a wholehearted laughter. "I don't want these useless things that keep you existing. Souls... HA! I just want you to do what you do best."
"And what is it?" Revan asked back.
Ruun grinned, closing his eyes, and for a second, nothing happened.
But then, an enormous magic circle appeared beneath the heroes, and they all felt humongous power coursing through their veins.
It was like nothing they ever felt before.
It couldn't even be compared to the blessing that the Great Constellation granted them.
'He's right... It doesn't even compare to the Great Constellation's power...' Revan thought, taken aback.
And as the magic circle vanished, he got out of their way, and said.
"What is it that you do best?"
Revan shook his head in confirmation.
Ruun gestured with his hand, towards the Great Constellation, and with the most wicked grin, he said, releasing the weight over the Constellation and breaking her silence.
"Fight."
The heroes looked from Ruun to the Constellation, and then back to Ruun.
They knew she had killed them, which meant that she was evil, somehow.
But as all of them were too baffled to step forward, the first to move was Gorkas.
He was the last one to die, so he remembered the Constellation's final words to him.
'You already helped me trap Ruun in the Abyss, and now that he is out of the way, I am free to rule as I please.'
Gorkas knew that, even if Ruun wasn't a hero, he could end up not being the villain they all thought he was.
So he stepped forward, wielding his massive mace, and threw it right at the constellation's chest.
She tried to avoid it, but was taken aback, when she couldn't.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I sealed your powers, since you don't need them, after all. I mean, you always depend on brave, mighty heroes, to do your dirty work, right? Where are they now?" Ruun grinned, his eyes glowing with malice.
Gorkas' mace hit her dead on her chest, shattering Ruun's throne, and sending the minor deity flying, coughing golden icor, straight to the wall behind the throne.
The Great Constellation got up, panting heavily, able to do nothing but scream.
Because the other heroes were already swarming her with their attacks.