On his way to the shining Strongholds in the distance, while deep in thought, Leo was understandably shocked when he found one of them shake violently, before it's glow dimmed slightly.
At this point, he was close enough to see that it was the one that belong to the GodKing of War and Destruction, based on its colour and insignia.
Confused, he simply decided not to think about it, and continued on his journey.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the first Stronghold, which was that of the GodKing of Lightning.
Logically speaking, as he was 'recommended' by the GodKing of Death, he should head straight for the related Stronghold, but...
Leo held his freedom very dear to his heart.
As he stood before the enormous city flashing with lightning a few miles above his head, he was awed, but recovered a few seconds later.
{SPIRITUAL OVERLORD TECHNIQUE: Fire-Bird - Wings of Fire}
With a flash, a pair of wings, two meters long each, made of pure flames, appeared behind his back.
His muscles bulged as he leapt into the air.
*BOOM*
A one meter wide crater appeared in his original position, as he was already more than ten meters in the air. The flaming wings unfurled and Leo quickly increased in altitude.
Before long, he reached the same level as the Stronghold, but was confused by the pack of an entrance.
Thinking for a moment, he took out the pendant given by Lifeless and approached the Stronghold, braving the flashing bolts of lightning...
His deduction turned out to be spot on, as a bright flash was discharged from the pendant, triggering another from the Stronghold which instantly approached and swallowed him up.
[A/N: Just to be clear, the only reason why Leo needs the pendant to enter is because he doesn't have any Divine Essence of his own, as his power system is different.]
...
Divine blood stained the heavens, before being frozen in an eerie purple and shattering into nothingness.
Romani stood before the transformed Winter, one arm missing and his Divine Essence almost depleted.
A God does not tire, but Romani was panting.
Yes, he was panting!
The traces of fear that flashed in Romani's eyes from time to time were proof that even Gods could feel helpless.
The smile on Winter's face almost reached his ears, and traces of mental imbalance were periodically released.
Desperate, Romani activated his last resort.
The surrounding space shook as Romani burned the rest of his Divine Essence in a bid to perform long distance teleportation.
Winter raised his hand, but dropped it after a short pause.
`Not worth it...`
*CRACK*
A series of cracks could be heard as Romani disappeared entirely.
The smile on Winter's face gradually receded, as his expression became indifferent. He looked up, his eyes piercing an unimaginable distance, as he mouthed,
Anytime soon.
...
The discomfort receded.
Having experienced it once already, Leo could stabilize himself in the process of teleportation.
When he opened his eyes, he could see a dozen figures in archaic armor, wielding weapons, surrounding him.
"Welcome to the Lightning Abode of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The Sect Master requests your presence."
One of them said, his cold eyes staring at Leo through the helmet.
With narrowed eyes, Leo observed the figures around him, noting that they were all Divine Warlocks.
And there was something different about them...
The scent of war.
Proper, brutal, and neverending war.
These were proper warriors, and very elite at that.
Hesitating slightly, Leo nodded.
"Lead the way."
As the figures led him forward, he finally observed the surroundings, and the shock in his heart was indescribable.
He was in a dome-like structure which was notably very large, dozens of miles at the very least. He could see numerous simple buildings made of a stone like material, but they had on them carvings that depicted the majesty of Septum, the GodKing of Lightning.
The dome was a translucent glowing membrane, with a gigantic lightning shaped symbol on it. At the center of the Stronghold, a tower pierced into the sky, made of a membrane like material pulsating with a silvery white light.
On the way to the tower, Leo saw hundreds of fellow Warlocks, who were all at the Divine stage, and a few puppet-like creatures, who he guessed were helpers to the Warlocks.
A few minutes later, the group reached the tower, and Leo was surprised to see the leading figures walk throught the membrane-like walls like it was air. As he passed through it himself, he felt like he entered a bubble, a weird feeling washing through his body, and the sight before him distorted rapidly.
When he came to, he saw himself in an ordinary room, soldiers around him nowhere to be found. A middle aged man, and a young man, sat some distance away. When Leo recognized the young man, he went wide-eyed.
It was Armand!
And the aura coming from him was that of a peak Master Warlock.
Armand stared at him with a slight grievance, but with a nod from his father, he stood up and walked through the door of the the room, which was glowing with the same membrane-like material that made up the tower.
The middle aged man smiled at Leo, and pointed at the empty seat.
As Leo sat down, the man spoke;
`Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Leo.`
Leo narrowed his eyes, confirming the identity of the man before him, and feeling the waves of power rolling off him.
The strongest man below the heavens...
Shard Keraunos.
"Same here, Mr. Keraunos. I... would like to know the purpose for this meeting."
Keraunos smiled slightly,
`I noticed that you entered here with a GodKing's token, Sir Lifeless, I presume. And I realized that we were the same kind of person, only slightly different.`
Leo frowned, having a vague guess, but still asking,
"What type of person?"
Keraunos's reply confirmed his guess.
`The Chosen.`
***
A/N
Hey there.
Just saying, but Keraunos is more powerful than most of you presume.
The fact that his dialogue is enclosed in something other than parentheses means that he is at least on the level of a Minor God.