1903 Real vs Copy

When he raised his head to look up, Russ had no idea what the bright light was. However, it was clear to him that this was bad news. The energy was so spread out and intense that the clouds had separated, which was enough to put him on edge.

This was why he quickly ran from the spot where he was, and as soon as he moved, the white light shot down from the sky and headed towards the ground, shrouding a wide area.

Turning around, Russ was blinded by the bright light and lifted his arm, covering his eyes. He had just escaped by the skin of his teeth. A few moments of silence prevailed, and a few moments later, the panicked shouts and cries echoed as the villagers were now terrified. They had already had an unusual experience and a fright for their life with the beast's appearance, and now there was this as well.

'This light, what is going on? Is it an ability, or is it an invasion of some sort? No, this all feels too foreign. Ever since I got involved with that god, strange things have been happening.' Russ frowned. He prepared himself for the worse.

Eventually, the bright light started to fade, and now in its place, was what looked like a giant bird. Although it was a bird, it was unlike Russ had ever seen before.

It stood on its two small legs. They were tiny compared to the rest of its body, which was quite thin but as large as a person. Its skin was dark blue, with strange black swirling patterns on its skin.

Unlike a normal bird, this one didn't have any feathers. Rather, it was more scaley, like a lizard, at least just from an initial look of it. Then there was its long tail and two wings.

On closer inspection, since there were no feathers on its wings, it made the wings look more like two large hands clawing inwards. In addition, there were five individual claws on both wing-like arms, and the same could be said for its tail.

Finally, there was its bird-like head, small in size but with a fin on the top like that of a shark, and a black mane around its neck. This was the only hairy bit on the bird which reminded Russ of the mane on a lion.

"Is it a beast?" A villager whispered in a trembling voice as they cowered behind a plant.

Immediately, the figure turned its head and stared at the person, a large woman, who had said those words.

"How dare you call me a beast?! I am Weet, a Celestial from a place far above any of you!" the bird declared.

Quite a crowd from the villagers had gathered at where the bright light had come, but at the same time, they were too afraid to come close. Instead, they all carefully watched, trembling and scared. They didn't understand what a Celestial was, and they were not curious enough to ask.

"You." Weet then turned to look at Russ. "You are the only one who is not scared of me. I guess it is a trait of who you are, a God Slayer."

"Should I be scared?" Russ replied. "I have lived this long, and I will continue to live. I am not worried."

The strange bird spoke without opening its mouth, yet everyone in the area could hear its laughter and the words it said.

"I like to do things the quick and easy way, so I hope you don't mind," Weet said in a low tone that rumbled the stomachs of those nearby. "It would be easy if you were to just kill yourself. That way, my task will be complete.

"However, I know you wouldn't simply comply, so, if you don't kill yourself within one minute, then everyone in the area will die."

It was clear to Russ that this beast, or Celestial as it called itself, was after him. Although he was unsure why this was, considering that he had managed to upset quite several people during his time, there were plenty of reasons for people to chase after him.

And this was not the first time someone had come after him. Russ lifted his head, and a smirk appeared on his face.

"You don't seem to know me very well, do you?" Russ asked. "You see, I think you have the wrong person. I don't care what you do to these people."

The words were said out loud, and the villagers that heard the man they knew as Dean say this were surprised.

"What do you mean, Dean?" the shaking woman asked from before. "Didn't you just save us from that beast before? Are you saying you're just going to let us kill these things?"

Suddenly, the woman stopped in her tracks after taking a few steps toward Russ. It wasn't because she was afraid but because her body had stopped listening to her, and her brain as well, as her head slid off from her body, and the strange bird, Celestial Weet, was right behind her.

"You have 30 seconds," Weet said.

The woman was dead. After her head rolled to the ground, the rest of her body also fell. The Celestial had moved and attacked in such a swift manner that Russ didn't even see it move.

'This will be a tough fight, maybe the first one since I went up against Quinn. But have I consumed enough nest crystals for my power to be what it was back then?' Russ wondered.

Seeing the dead body on the floor, the people started to panic. They were screaming at the top of their lungs as they ran about. Some tried to get as far away from the bird creature as possible, while others went back into their homes and the closest shops and boarded up for protection when they heard it speak once again.

"Time is over. I am not so sure if you are bluffing or not. You are a strange one. Celestials see lives as nothing because we see them come anew and be replaced all the time, but the ones below us see it differently. It's the first time I am meeting someone like you.

"Still, you could just be bluffing, so I should make sure, right? I don't like to go back on my words."

Weet flapped its wings and took up into the air. It came as a surprise because the wings were thick and looked heavy, yet Weet had no problem flying above the village.

It then looked down, and its eyes started to glow blue, like a mist floating off into the air.

"No one can hide from me." Weet crackled.

The swirling black patterns on its scales began to light up in a light blue colour, and then, small blue lasers shot off from its body.

There were hundreds of small lasers, and they were directed at everyone in the village, hitting them right through the head. Men, women, children all fell to the ground in seconds as the lasers went through their heads.

As Weet had declared, no one could hide as the laser beam attack went through the buildings and still managed to hit its target. In one move, everyone in the area was killed, just as Weet said. However, the results were different when a laser struck the primary target.

Just like the others, the laser had hit the man's head, but it soon started to flash, and before it could even reach Russ, his body disappeared and reappeared at a different spot this time.

Done with its attack, Weet landed back down on the ground.

"So you are still alive. I expected nothing less from a God Slayer."

Russ clenched his fist.

"I see, so you really did care for those people. It was a bluff, after all."

"You overestimate your threats," Russ said, lifting his head. "But you have ruined my hiding spot. Now because of you, I will have to start all over again, and for that, I will make you pay."

A blue mist started to emit from Russ's eyes and sporting out from his back all of a sudden were a pair of large thick wings that had five claws out the back of them.

They looked exactly like Weet, and even the Celestial seemed surprised upon seeing this.

——

While the fight was going on, someone was observing the battle from Celestial space.

"Russ…the fight with Quinn has made you grow leaps and bounds. You are strong in your own right, and I hope you won't need the help that is coming because it might not arrive in time."

*****

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