A burst of energy woke Luke and Nyx up. Both of them turned their attention towards the source of the energy blast.
" Well, well, isn't she beautiful?"
" Yeah. But it's too much."
The phoenix, Sasha, was still floating in the sky with a powerful red energy covering her whole body. The other generals who were of low ranked had now stepped up to her. Some of them were willingly following Karl's orders but most of them were doing so because they received an order. Even though they didn't want to fight with Sasha and go against her they had no power to do so. After all their goddess had also claimed Karl as her new Saint.
The third General of the Army of Athena, named Marcus was standing next to Karl. He was one of the faithful followers of Temple of Athena. To him, there was nothing more evil than disobeying and betraying his goddess. Unlike Karl , he respected Sasha. He respected her strength. He respected her for bringing glory to Athena's faction. But it didn't mean he would take sides with her. He was a true believer of Athena.
Karl bellowed, " Get her down on her knees! All of you together!"
" As you wish, Lord Saint!" General Marcus slight bowed to Karl and he extended his hand. A blue coloured energy surrounded his hand and for a moment his hand disappeared. And the next moment he held a big axe with sharp two blades. A blue aura began to cover his body.
Similarly various different weapons appeared on the hands of the other soldiers who surrounded Sasha. All were bathing in blue coloured ancient energy; the cosmic energy of Athena, which could only be wielded by the chosen Athena.
" General Sasha, I know you are stronger than me. But I doubt if you can fight all of us together. Even though you have betrayed our temple and insulted her Majesty, as a warrior I would like to consider fairness. And this would be my last favour to you for what you have done to our temple for all these years."
" Bring it on, Marcus. Even though I don't want to fight with you, it seems it is unavoidable."
" Okay then."
With that Marcus's facial expressions began to change. His eyes became bright blue coloured and his muscles began to crackle with the insane amount of power he attracted to his body. Without a warning he flew towards Sasha at an insane speed, that even sonic booms appeared just a moment after his departure.
A sea of blue coloured rockets flashing towards an unmoving red sun. That was the view, which people who were watching from far away could see.
Sasha calmly swayed her peculiar spear as if she had nothing to worry about this. She closed her eyes for a moment and then she disappeared.
And then everyone witnessed a miracle that they didn't know they would able to see in their entire life time.
The Athena soldiers were flying at their best speed before her sudden disappearance. And just after her disappearance they felt as if they had suddenly become slow. They felt their body moving slowly and even their thought had become slow. It took some time for even General Marcus to get a grasp of what had happened. He didn't know how could she wield that power despite being a chosen of Athena.
How could she wield the power of Time?
Time was one of the most ancient rules of the universe. Unlike other powers time was dominant in almost everywhere. As an example think about water. When a chosen from the temple of Poseidon is in water, he was in his best condition. Why? It's because there is water! But what if he were to fight with someone in a desert where even finding a drop of water was almost impossible? He would surely become weak.
But time was everywhere. Anyone with the power to manipulate time was considered as a massive force.
That's the reason for her to remain calm under that great pressure. And when she used her power and moved, the onlookers saw it as if she just disappeared. That's how a normal person could grasp the power of time.
In a second, she went for each soldier one at a time and slashed one by one. Of course, she didn't kill them. She just wanted to make them not able to fight with her again for some time, until she complete her true target.
After another few milliseconds in normal time standards, she appeared in front of Marcus . She let out a soft sigh and slashed his both legs making him unable to stand up and fight. She broke all of their fighting spirits.
After that she retracted her domain. The domain where her authority over time prevailed.
" Holy shit!" People exclaimed.
" What was that? What just happened?"
" Is she even human? I mean how can a person move that fast?"
What the people outside Sasha's domain was completely different from the real deal.
They saw an abnormally speed Sasha moving around the Athena soldiers like a blast of red lightning, inflicting damage each and every one of them.
The whole fight continued only about two seconds.
" Monster- monster!! She is a monster! Everyone kill her!" Karl stuttered while unknowingly taking few steps back.
" You gave her the power of Time?" Nyx exclaimed.
" No, I didn't! It's her who awakened this power."
" The phoenix! It really suits all of her aspects."
Even though, Karl screamed no one got up to fight her again. Karl began to pant and everyone could see sweat pouring from his body. He was barely holding the iconic weapon, the Spear. It was really a shameful sight to see the former second general of Athena's army was shivering just after seeing Sasha beating a few hundred soldiers. Even a fool could see he was no leader. He was just a coward who depended on others to survive.
Sasha, began to step up. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she was powerful. This was her life long dream. She was so happy that she even wanted to fight with Athena.
" All this time, you were trying to back stab me. Even though, I did something for your own good, you just opposed me. Do you know why you are like this?"
" Don't come near me! Your Majesty, don't you think it's time for you to come out? Please help me!" Karl wailed.
" It's because you are just a coward kid who only knows how to envy others! I tolerated you for years, even after learning that I was just a prototype for you to become more powerful than me! Do you know why I did that? Why was I that much patient with you?"
" Oh please god help me!" Karl was now lying on the floor. Streams of tears flowed through his face.
" It's because I loved this place! I wanted my faction to be the strongest!" Sasha yelled.
" But you didn't help me. You always tried to destroy me. I have had enough! And now I'm going to be free from you!"
" Please, don't kill me! It was her! That damned bitch wanted you dead! So she lured you into a black zone just to kill you!"
Sasha stopped walking.
" Who are you talking about?"
After few rounds of heavy panting, he asked, " Will you let me go, if I tell you?"
" No, you will still die!" Sasha ruthlessly bellowed.
Karl looked down.
" Mmm, I see, that's what that old man was talking about. She is a damned whore, who sees us humans as her playthings." He murmured.
" Who is it?"
Karl looked up to face Sasha, and looked right at her eyes.
" It's the goddess whom you respected so much for your whole life! Yes she us that bitch, Athena!" He screamed and then began to laugh maniacally.
The whole area became silent. Everyone became shocked that no one had the ability to utter a word. Even Sasha was no exception. Even though she hated her for being a weak goddess, still she was there in her heart. These words were too much for her!
" You are lying!" She screamed.
" Huh? Do you think, I'm capable of dragging you to that damn forest and get you killed? You yourself know the answer!"
Sasha slowly began to understand everything. She remembered, how she was forced to investigate the black zone.
" We can't lose face, Sasha! Every base had sent investigation teams. Everyone has found something except us! You know what that means, right?"
That was what James said about that mission which appeared out of nowhere. She even wondered why she wasn't allowed to go with her hunting team.
Her face became distorted. Veins bulged on her forehead and dangerous red energy waves began to spread from her. Her eyes became red with crackling red energy.
And in the next moment her spear pierced through Karl's heart. And in the next moment she dragged it out of him.
The lifeless body of Karl fell on the floor with a loud thud.