819 Side Chapter: Pride
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(Several Days Ago, right after Kireina won the war against Thanatos)
The Cursed Wastelands.
A vast deserted area within the Border Continent located in the south of the continent, covering hundreds of kilometers.
In here, only giant, monstrous beasts roam and fight for survival, and the wastelands are naturally enclosed from the rest of the continent through enormous mountain walls to the left and right, and the frozen sea to the front.
Such an arid and cold place would never be inhabited by any other being than gigantic creatures that devoured each other or ate the vast amount of ores that constantly grew in the underground or within the depths of the mountains due to the high quantities of miasma all over the area.
Due to the climate of this area and the monsters that roam it, explorations inside of this place had always failed, and only the Gods would be able to explore it fully, but even then, not many lived within this area inside of their Divine Realms, as those that preferred to hide would simply go to the Lower Realm instead.
However, against most expectations from mortals and even Gods, there was an enormous Kingdom that existed in the center of this area, its buildings were tremendously big, and so were its inhabitants.
Enormous, over 30 to 50 meters tall Giants whose skins were charcoal black, which were covered in golden tattoos.
Each giant had a beautiful, muscular body, showing that not a single one of them, not even the women slacked off, fighting for survival in this desolate land and hutting the monstrosities that roamed it as if they were mere prey to them.
Most of these giants had long, black, or white hair, however, what made them so different from other giants within the Realm of Vida was not their skin color nor their hair color, not even their natural golden tattoos that they possessed after birth.
But it was that they had a large, crimson eye in the middle of their head.
Not two eyes, but a single one.
They were a rare race of Giant Cyclops, whose species were classified as Giant Abyss Cyclops by the System.
Born thousands of years in the past, the Giant Abyss Cyclops exterminated all other races of Cyclops that once lived in this wasteland, becoming the dominating race above all others.
However, their origins were simple, as they were born from a single ancestor, who is still alive today.
Such ancestor was the son of an old and already exterminated race of Cyclops, the Copper Cyclops…
This man… was someone known as the Realm Menace of Pride.
An immensely strong warrior, unmatched since his birth.
And due to his nature, magic power, and evolutions, he had become virtually ageless, living as long as his entire race has lived, seeing many generations be born below his family.
He was thousands of years old… wise and strong, he reigned over his people with a fist of iron.
But deep inside, he was also dedicated to his descendants, and always seek their prosperity.
The enormous buildings towered into the dark heavens of the Cursed Wastelands, as thousands of Giant Abyss Cyclops walked around the busy streets of this enormous nation.
Little children ran around chasing each other, another group fought, preparing to become hunters, and others accompanied their parents to buy stuff in the large market.
People sold the meat that they hunt and the materials they harvested from mining the ground and the mountains, and although they were rather primitive compared to other races within this Realm, they lived honest and calm lives.
By living in an area filled with dangers everywhere, the Giant Abyss Cyclops forged strong bonds as a race, and disputes between people were often resolved by a fight, whichever won after would win the argument, and both would then become friends.
The Giant Abyss Cyclops were a race that treasured friendship and family, and also strength.
Those that were very strong were heard by the people, admired, and more.
And those that were weak were an incentive to grow stronger, never being left behind.
Although their birth rate was low, they were a prosperous race.
Within such a place, there was an enormous building, the largest of them all, resembling a tower that reached the heavens and even surpassed the clouds.
It was named the Tower of Pride, and this was where their ancestor and King lived with his immense family of descendants.
Anyone that had the privilege of visiting the tower of pride would be seen as someone important, such as a Hero, or even as a respected Hunter or Merchant.
Above this tower, on the last floor, a giant throne room was erected, where an enormous giant sat down over a throne.
His body was nothing but the entire representation of strength, muscles, and pride.
His entire body was covered in muscles, well-toned and as hard as the strongest of steels, his single crimson eye was flashing with a strong glowing red light, although there was a large scar on his face, which was kept by him as a prize of his victory over a battle that happened long ago…
His hands were enormous and filled with many scars, able to move mountains.
He had a bald head and a long white beard.
He wore simple, leather clothes, and some golden accessories around his arms.
There was a gigantic weapon at his side, a Heavenly-Rank Axe named the "World Splitter", which he only used when things got serious.
His entire aura exuded an air of greatness and immense oppression, his entire existence was the very definition of pride.
Glaring at anyone below him with an aura of superiority like no one else.
His name was Vretrion, the Realm Menace of Pride.
He glared at an entity below him.
Someone that should be above him, in fact.
But because of its height, it could only glance above his body to the entity that was Vretrion…
Was he really just a mortal?
This God often wondered this.
The answer was simple.
No.
"Of course he is not a mortal anymore… At some point, he already reached godhood without me noticing… Impressive… How did he even reach godhood without creating any catastrophe? …Or did he simply beat any Divine Trial so fast that it never showed up outside for too long for me to notice?" wondered this figure, who resembled a man whose body was divided in two, one was pure darkness, and the other was crimson light, with a single eye in the middle of his torso and a long, vertical mouth filled with sharp teeth that he kept hidden by wearing a simple dress.
He exuded the Divinity of a Rank 2 God.
But the monster in front of him…
He was above that already.
He sighed.
"Heh, I know you for so long since you were born, and yet by just looking at you I get surprised," sighed the God.
"Why?" asked the giant, Vretrion, with a carefree yet incredibly deep and manly voice, which resonated through the entire tower.
"When did you actually reached Living Deity Rank? I went to nap for a few thousand years and now you're Rank 3 God… Oh? Your divinity is not Pride? Is that why the world was not surprised when you become a God?" asked the God.
"Becoming a God…? Oh, you mean that strange divine power that flows through me? Yes, I was wondering what it truly meant. I believe I became like this around 1500 years ago. I think there was a big cloud that was throwing thunder above my Kingdom while I was sleeping, and I dissipated it with a swing of my axe while being half-sleep, after that, I felt a bit strange, but I just kept sleeping," said Vretrion.
"Y-You are really a monster… That was a Divine Trial, you know? So you leveled up to max level while sleeping?" asked the God.
"My children hunt to feed themselves, each time they hunt and pray, I acquired Experience Points. I did not need to hunt anymore to grow in strength, so I decided to sleep for a few hundred years, when I woke up, I was like this," said Vretrion.
"Indeed! You just… killed all the Divine Trials while being half-sleep?" asked the God.
"I think I remember jumping out of the tower every a few hundreds of years through my sleep. Usually when there was a strange climate change going on. Each time I only had to swing my axe one or two times to dissipate them… Were those things "Divine Trials"? How weak… And you Gods have to go through those things to become strong? I wonder why you are so weak then?" asked Vretrion with immense pride and boldness.
"No, you are just a monster… Those things are supposed to be hard! …Sigh. Good thing I am on your side, Vretrion…" sighed the God.
"Well, you are my major benefactor since my birth, turning against you would go against my own pride. Unless you asked me to beat you to death, I would not dare to do it, Khustia," said Vretrion rather expressionlessly.
"Haha, that's very reassuring… Anyways, it is nice that you finally woke up because there is a lot to do now… And no, you cannot keep slacking off through this, because it is an issue of the whole Realm… And well, I am sure that you would be interested…" said Khustia, the major benefactor of Vretrion who had accompanied him since he was a mere child, the Demon God of Abyssal Blight.
"Hm? Interested? Speak…" said Vretrion, as he felt a bit intrigued.
"You know that there is another Realm Menace in the Realm, right?" asked Vretrion.
"Why wouldn't I? I remember battling and killing some. But they never let me have their Sins…" sighed Vretrion.
Vretrion had fought other Realm Menaces that were not even registered in history before going to sleep, and although he had tried to absorb their Sins, it had become impossible for him to do so.
"Yeah, between some of the Gods you are secretly known as the Realm Menace Slayer, good thing you stopped doing that because that was the duty of the Heroes, not yours," sighed Khustia.
"Enough blabber, tell me who it is the one you want me to kill," said Vretrion.
"…Her name is Kireina, and well… She just has all Sins and Commandments," said Khustia.
"…What?" asked Vretrion, for the first time in thousands of years… he felt surprised!
"I am not joking. The announcement of her rise to godhood appeared just some hours ago… She is already a Living Deity… Her Divinities are all Sins and Heavenly Commandments. She somehow acquired all the Sins, devoured them, and raised them to godhood… And well, let me give you a bit of an update about her prophecies while you were slumbering," said Khustia, as he introduced Kireina in better detail to the giant cyclops.
Each Time Vretrion heard his patron God talk about her prophecies and everything that she had made through her short life, he grew more and more interested!
Vretrion felt awakened.
It was as if such an enemy… was made for him!
So many years he had been looking for a fitting rival!
Although he has not tried fighting Gods yet, he could already tell that they would only be pushovers, and the ones strong enough were not even in the Realm.
But Kireina…
Kireina…
Was someone that could indeed give him a challenge!
In fact, it could even defeat him!
"How did she did such things? I am… amazed. This is the first time in thousands of years that I believe that there could be something that could bring some excitement and exhilaration to my life!" said Vretrion.
"Well… the thing is, you can't go alone, we'll be joining other people… and Gods…" said Khustia.
"Other Gods? Hmph… Who?" asked Vretrion.
Flash.
Suddenly, another figure emerged at the side of Khustia, its power and aura surprising Vretrion a bit.
He was an enormous muscular man, covered in spartan clothes, with a prideful look on his eyes…
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Vretrion. I have heard a lot about you…" it said.
"You… what's your name?" asked Vretrion.
"Oh? My bad… I am Ares," said the figure.
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