Chapter 188: Summoning the Sun!
Bandel Blue raced through the dense expanse leading to the Sun Temple, his breath sharp, his mind clouded with worry. Every stride propelled him closer, his thoughts churning like a storm. The temple was still a few hundred meters away, but he felt the heat of the impending chaos as if it were already upon him.
His mind circled back to Tessa. From the brief moments he had spent with her, back on Earth when she was still conscious, he had gleaned a stubbornness in her—a quiet defiance that could shake the foundations of authority. There was something about her that transcended ordinary mortals, a natural air of royalty that dared to challenge even the gods. But that trait, admirable as it was, placed her in unspeakable danger now.
The lesser gods that lurked within the Kaelrian planet were volatile, their tempers as fickle as the wind. They would not hesitate to obliterate anyone who dared cross them, especially someone bold enough to resist their will. His heart clenched. Tessa wasn't one to kneel or cower, and that kind of bravery, here, could cost her life.
The sun above shimmered, and then, it moved.
Bandel skidded to a halt, his eyes snapping to the sky. A ripple spread across the heavens as though reality itself had bent under a celestial force. The sun split into two. One half remained suspended, and the other shot toward the Sun Temple, dragging a fiery tail of radiance.
"No," Bandel whispered, dread tightening his chest. "It can't be..."
The light grew brighter, its intensity bathing the world in a golden blaze. Bandel staggered back, his mind racing. He had seen this before. Centuries ago. He was among the few still alive who remembered that fateful event. His body shuddered as the memories clawed their way back—an ancient summons, a terrible reckoning.
"Someone is summoning Solaris?!" His voice broke as he shouted into the empty air. His disbelief was tinged with anger. "Who is stupid enough to summon Solaris? Do you all have a death wish?"
His words echoed into the void, unanswered, but the sinking realization hit him like a hammer. His thoughts scrambled, and then they aligned.
Tessa.
"Shit!" The curse tore from his lips.
Without hesitation, Bandel surged forward, tripling his speed. The world blurred around him, his singular focus driving him faster than he'd ever moved before. He could feel the shift in the air, the pressure mounting, the heat intensifying as the temple drew nearer.
If Solaris had been summoned, there was no telling what would happen next. Summoning the Sun God wasn't merely dangerous—it was suicidal. For a god of Solaris' magnitude, the reasons for summoning had to be not just significant but world-shaking. Anything less would invite wrath on a scale that could erase the summoner and anyone foolish enough to be near.
Bandel's heart pounded in sync with his frantic steps. The golden horizon ahead blazed brighter, and he could hear faint tremors rippling through the earth as the celestial being's descent neared its crescendo.
"Tessa..." he whispered, his voice filled with both desperation and determination. "Hold on. I'm coming."
The temple loomed in the distance, its grand spires piercing the heavens like a challenge to the gods themselves. Yet now, those majestic towers quivered under an unseen force, trembling as though in reverence—or fear. Bandel Blue pushed forward, his every step fueled by urgency. He couldn't afford to stop. Not now. Not when the air itself felt alive with dread, a storm of divine power crackling in the distance.
As the temple gates came into view, the crowd parted instinctively, driven by an ancient instinct to flee yet rooted by the weight of awe. There, at the heart of it all, stood Solaris.
He wasn't merely present—he commanded existence itself. The golden light of his form defied comprehension, a halo of radiance that seemed to bend reality around him. His presence was not something one saw but felt, a pressure on the soul that left no room for doubt. He was otherworldly, a being beyond thought or reason, and to stand before him was to challenge the very fabric of mortality.
Bandel's heart clenched as he met Solaris's gaze, two suns blazing in the god's eyes, each promising annihilation to any who dared displease him. Time was slipping through his fingers, but Bandel knew one thing with clarity: whatever awaited within that temple, it would alter the course of destiny itself.
Solaris's voice tore through the air like the eruption of a dying star, each word a cataclysm in its own right. "WHY WAS I SUMMONED? AND YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON—OTHERWISE, NONE OF YOU WILL LEAVE HERE ALIVE!"
The sheer force of his proclamation sent shockwaves through the temple, rattling its ancient foundations. The crowd recoiled, trembling, their cries stifled by the oppressive weight of his wrath.
Dzek, caught in the god's scorching gaze, stood frozen. His legs shook violently, and his garments betrayed his fear as they darkened with spreading dampness. He had begun to wet himself, his body succumbing to the primal terror that Solaris embodied. The heat radiating from the god felt like it would burn him alive even from a distance.
Solaris raised his hand, fingers glowing with an incandescent fury that promised annihilation. The crowd erupted into chaos, screams and pleas filling the air as they scrambled to escape the impending doom.
But before Solaris could unleash his wrath, a voice cut through the cacophony—a desperate, commanding shout.
"Lord Solaris!" Bandel Blue's voice rang out, clear and resolute.
The crowd stilled instantly, parting like water before him. All eyes turned to the figure charging forward, unyielding in the face of divine fury. Bandel's boldness was a beacon in the chaos, a thread of hope clinging to the unraveling fabric of the moment.
Solaris's burning gaze shifted, his hand halting mid-motion. The world seemed to hold its breath as Bandel Blue stood before him, defiance and urgency etched into every line of his being.
The crowd was utterly compliant, driven by desperation and fear. They didn't care who had spoken or stepped forward; all that mattered was the faint hope that someone—anyone—might end their ordeal and save them from impending doom.
King Rhopgin, once a figure of authority, had long crumbled into a trembling husk of himself. Against other lesser gods, he might have dared to muster some semblance of resistance, clinging to pride and bravado. But against Solaris, such thoughts were suicidal. The mere presence of the sun god stripped him of any delusions of strength, reducing him to a pitiful, quaking shadow.
Amidst the chaos, Tessa heard the familiar voice cutting through the oppressive atmosphere. Her heart leapt, and a smile tugged at her lips. Turning swiftly toward the sound, she raised her hand high and shouted, "Here!" Her voice carried a mixture of relief and determination as she tried to get Bandel Blue's attention.
The crowd instinctively continued to move aside, to clear his path, their hope now pinned on the one bold enough to face the wrath of Solaris.
After what felt like an eternity, Bandel Blue finally closed the distance to where Solaris stood, his arrival met with a collective gasp from the crowd.
"Isn't that... the Blue Kaelrian god?" someone whispered, their voice trembling with both awe and disbelief.
"He vanished without a trace years ago. Some say he fled to Earth," another murmured.
"I thought he was dead!" a third voice chimed in, tinged with equal parts relief and unease. "This god... he was once as terrifying as Solaris, even though he's a lesser god."
"But what's he doing here now?"
"I'll never forget the tales of his exploits," an older man muttered, his eyes wide with recollection. "The Blue Kaelrian god—fearless, unstoppable... inevitable."
The murmurs spread like wildfire, rippling through the crowd as recognition dawned upon them. Eyes darted nervously between Solaris and Bandel Blue, the weight of their shared presence pressing down like a storm about to break.
The tension in the air grew thicker, the crowd's murmurs mixing with anticipation and fear as they watched the fabled god take his place before the wrathful Solaris.
Before anyone could utter another word, Bandel Blue's piercing gaze landed on King Rhopgin. The weight of it alone was enough to silence the blustering monarch. Bandel's voice, calm but unyielding, cut through the tension. "What happened here?"
For a fleeting moment, King Rhopgin's pride flared. After all, they were both lesser gods—equals by status, if not reputation. Why should he bow to Bandel's demands? But then his gaze shifted to Solaris, who loomed like an impending cataclysm. Rhopgin's fleeting defiance crumbled as he realized the consequences of provoking the higher god's ire. One wrong move could mean total obliteration.