Skoorn was inside his own dark realm, kneeling, holding the broken remains of his sword in his hands. Around him, complete darkness reigned, and anybody who would step into his 'home' would suffer the same punishment that Nilier had dealt to him. Complete blindness. Even as he tried to regenerate his eyeballs, the damage caused by another God was way more severe than anything else. For now, he had no other choice but to cover his empty, injured eye sockets with a blindfold, torn from his clothing, that was quickly soaked in his blood, turning crimson, flowing out from his eyesockets constantly.
Yet it was not what bothered Skoorn. He was used to being in the dark; it was more of a nuisance than a setback. What made him still boil with rage was what he held in his hand. Nothing worked, no matter what he did, what he tried, even trying and fusing it into his own flesh. He had worked on his weapon for over a million years now… and it was gone. Destroyed. Turned into scrap metal. The fresh soul in it, a hair away from awakening, was gone, broken like its blade.
He wanted to curse, but he found no more words to utter. Nothing could describe his feelings, so he only knelt there, gritting his teeth until his gums broke apart, spurting blood everywhere. For now, he tried to force his mind into calmness without much success. He knew if he left his realm like this, he would fall prey to any of the Immortals' plans. He had to calm down. Somehow. His thoughts, wandering to their predicament now, that their numbers had fallen and Athos just came back, already an Immortal… it just put him into an intensive rage once again. Why was it that whenever that man appeared, everything turned upside down?!
"Skoorn," the twins' somber voice arrived in his head.
"What now? You two have another genius plan?" He snorted in reply.
"We did not force you into it!" Alfina flared up, but her brother cut in before she could cuss him out.
"The Immortals are coming for you!" Oynega said, with a bit of worry in his voice.
"As for you too," Skoorn replied, not in the mood for their jokes.
"No, we mean it! They are literally coming. For. You! You need to leave from there!" Alfina shouted at him. "NOW!"
"Nonsense! They can't find this place, my sentries would be dead if they did, and I would have felt that!" He argued back vehemently.
"Your sentries are under the influence of your own rage! They left for the surface too! Damn it, we are not in the mood to play games! Come to us so we can defend against them! You are currently injured… you are the easiest prey amongst us three!" Oynega explained to him, trying to remain calm, but his voice showed him that he was quickly losing his patience.
"Prey? Me? Hmm, I'd like to see that!" Skoorn stood up, tossing away the broken hilt of his weapon, unable to hold it anymore without being reminded of the biggest failure of his life.
"Do you think Athos does not know where you are? Do you think Nilier did not tell him? Are you that naive? Ours at least defended by our biggest Sect! This is not the time to play around; one wrong move, and we lose!" Alfina pleaded, now with a tinge of fear in her voice.
"..."
"Skoorn, you are the strongest God; we are going to help you recover, replace your eyes, and then we can deal with what comes next. If we lose you, we will be defenseless!" Oynega continued, clearly sounding like a cry for help.
"I'll boobytrap my realm. Then come to you. Let them have a surprise…." Skoorn said before cutting the connection.
On the other hand, the twins let out a long breath, smiling at each other with a victorious grin.
"That damned idiot~" Oynega laughed.
"His pride was always his biggest weakness! We just have to butter up to him a little, play the defenseless kids, and he already feels in control!" Alfina giggled as she stuck her tongue out.
"So? Is everything ready?" Oynega looked at their hot spring, walking around it, but there was no way he would dip even his toe into it now.
"Yep!" Alfina stepped closer to it, taking a deep breath, just like when someone tried to enjoy the smell of her freshly brewed coffee. "No odor, no aura, no residue of the poison. The moment he submerges himself into it and starts absorbing the 'healing' properties, he will slowly fall into a dream-like state! We can gently tug at his soul, drawing it out~ Like a street performer playing a flute to a snake! Perfect!"
"I like it when you are this evil~" Oynega giggled, hugging his sister.
"Nobody can defend against the poison that affects the soul… especially not a brute like him! Let's play our roles of coward for now and have the last laugh!" she kissed his lips in a delighted mood.
"When we get it, we disappear for good~ We can afford to play the long game; time is on our side!"
…
….
…..
"LeiLei sent word!" Ren walked into her old disciples' room with an excited look. "The twins are luring Baldy into a trap!" she said as she explained everything Leinor had transmitted to her. Alfina and Oynage would never even expect a soul to be listening to their talks, and by now, everything was laid out before the Immortals.
"What should we do? Wait for them to prey upon Skoorn?" Kaizer asked, crossing his hands.
"I thought about that too." Ren nodded at him. "I came up with an idea so we can make sure all three are gone in one move!" She looked at them for a brief moment. "They told Skoorn we know where his place is at… because Nilier told me to. We can use that! I'll stage it, so they perceive the three of us approaching the sea. Invictus, you are going to be the bait!"
"As always!" He laughed, not minding her words at all.
"I know where the twins' layer is at! From Nilier's viewing pond, I sometimes watched them doing some really kinky stuff…." Ren murmured, biting onto her thumb, remembering the scenes, making the siblings just roll their eyes. "Anyway, the problem is, their main Sect, with around a million followers, is there too! So I'll need you to stage an attack on it!"
"No problem!" Invictus slapped his own chest. "I trained my people for this day!"
"Wouldn't they notice that something is wrong?" Ophila asked.
"Not if they took the bait! If we do it correctly, they are really going to think we know where Skoorn is, and Invictus is there to tie down the twins from going and lend a helping hand!" Kaizer explained to her.
"Yep!" Ren nodded with a grin. "Then we can sneak by the chaos. The bigger the scene you make, the better!" she said, looking into Invictus's eye. "Then we can lay down my own formation! I'll use my Soul Tearer formation and set it up on the biggest scale I can! Kaizer and Ophila will be the additional energy source, so it can truly pack a punch!"
"Am I a battery now?" the second brother chuckled. "Oh well!"
"I'm in!" Ophila nodded.
"The formation was originally developed to act against one soul… After my newest modifications, I will aim it against their whole cycle... It is hard to say how it will react. So our job will be to infuse so much energy into it that it damages their fake cycle as much as it can!" Ren explained with a heavy voice, "It may backfire! So don't take it lightly! We have to guide the chains to latch onto their cycle! LeiLei and the others will attack where the chains land and combine the two forces; One from the outside, one from the inside! It should be enough to tear it apart!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Ophila smiled, "When are we going?"
"Immediately! As soon as Invictus is ready to march, we will implement it! If we are lucky, Skoorn is going to die without a fight, and we only have to deal with the twins afterward! 4 against 2 should be good enough~."
"If they had no problem ganging up against you back then… and against their own teacher… they should have no grievances when fate delivers them their payback!" Invictus snorted, clearly ready to go already.
…
….
…..
In the realm of the twins, Skoorn only just has arrived. Stepping through their barrier and sinking his feet into the cold snow, he involuntarily shivered with his whole body, not because of the weather but because of the endless stream of souls swirling around the entire pocket realm. Even if he was not versed in how they worked, how to control and guide them, he felt their presence.
"Pathetic, isn't it?" Oynega walked up to him, "Before Nilier's mad suicide, this was twice its size!"
"If not more!" Alfina chimed in, "That bitch did not even consider the fact her explosion could have opened up a second Tear!"
"Drop the topic!" Skoorn growled at them like an injured beast.
"Sure, sure! Come!" Oynega said, shaking his head and leading Skoorn toward their hot spring.
Just before he could explain what he had to do when submerging himself into it, all three felt Invictus appearing and bringing his army with him. His voice was loud and rumbled through the region like an exploding volcano.
"Come out and fight! Let me experience if you are really the Gods of Life and Death!" He laughed with contempt in his voice.
He was standing in the air, floating before massive, white walls stretching for kilometers on end. Behind him, his most elite disciples were arriving, bringing their own disciples with them. On the ground, even more, appeared as they used the newly developed teleportation circles, summoning groups of people instantly. Soon the snowy fields were filled with people of fire, quite literally, as every step they took melted the snow around them. Before the army, there was a sect, making their home at the base of the mountain, devout followers of the twin Gods. Now the whole Sect was protected by a transparent, white shield, as hundreds of thousands of believers were kneeling, praying, supplying their own life to it. Their faces were plastered with apparent joy, knowing they would be reincarnated by their Gods even if they died.
Invictus shouted again before he punched out. A giant, flaming manifestation of his fist appeared, flying straight, quickly melting the snow around them, revealing the bare, rocky ground under them. Yet the formation still held out firmly after his punch connected to it. Even as thousands vomited blood, containing chunks of their inner organs as they fell to the side, dead, the protective formation was holding.
"Not bad!" Invictus snorted, clearly here to fight for real, "Attack!" He shouted as his own disciples, numbering in multiple hundreds of thousands by now, rushed forward, attacking, bombarding the formation with their own spells.
Aflina's and Oynega's orders were quick and straightforward. Hold the line until they finish their preparations. In reality, they had no mind to bother with their Sect, only using them to buy enough time to finish off Skoorn and go into hiding with their reincarnation cycle afterward.
"Seems like you were right…." Skoorn said, as his own senses were spreading outwards, even catching a glimpse of the rest of the Immortals leaving towards the sea.
What was happening now surprised the twins, but it did not show on their faces. Oynega even quipped at him quickly before he could change his mind.
"Of course! Lucky for you, you did not stay there! Now we wouldn't be able to help you!"
"Let's get on with this! If I recovered, we could use this chance to kill Invictus!"
"Sure!" Alfina and Oynega nodded immediately.
They quickly instructed him how to absorb the healing properties of their hot spring and led him into it. By then, Skoorn was already thinking about one thing only, recovering as fast as possible and killing Invictus. Shedding the blood of an Immortal was the only way his rage would be placated a little… only to never realize it in the end.
Skoorn was inside his own dark realm, kneeling, holding the broken remains of his sword in his hands. Around him, complete darkness reigned, and anybody who would step into his 'home' would suffer the same punishment that Nilier had dealt to him. Complete blindness. Even as he tried to regenerate his eyeballs, the damage caused by another God was way more severe than anything else. For now, he had no other choice but to cover his empty, injured eye sockets with a blindfold, torn from his clothing, that was quickly soaked in his blood, turning crimson, flowing out from his eyesockets constantly.
Yet it was not what bothered Skoorn. He was used to being in the dark; it was more of a nuisance than a setback. What made him still boil with rage was what he held in his hand. Nothing worked, no matter what he did, what he tried, even trying and fusing it into his own flesh. He had worked on his weapon for over a million years now… and it was gone. Destroyed. Turned into scrap metal. The fresh soul in it, a hair away from awakening, was gone, broken like its blade.
He wanted to curse, but he found no more words to utter. Nothing could describe his feelings, so he only knelt there, gritting his teeth until his gums broke apart, spurting blood everywhere. For now, he tried to force his mind into calmness without much success. He knew if he left his realm like this, he would fall prey to any of the Immortals' plans. He had to calm down. Somehow. His thoughts, wandering to their predicament now, that their numbers had fallen and Athos just came back, already an Immortal… it just put him into an intensive rage once again. Why was it that whenever that man appeared, everything turned upside down?!
"Skoorn," the twins' somber voice arrived in his head.
"What now? You two have another genius plan?" He snorted in reply.
"We did not force you into it!" Alfina flared up, but her brother cut in before she could cuss him out.
"The Immortals are coming for you!" Oynega said, with a bit of worry in his voice.
"As for you too," Skoorn replied, not in the mood for their jokes.
"No, we mean it! They are literally coming. For. You! You need to leave from there!" Alfina shouted at him. "NOW!"
"Nonsense! They can't find this place, my sentries would be dead if they did, and I would have felt that!" He argued back vehemently.
"Your sentries are under the influence of your own rage! They left for the surface too! Damn it, we are not in the mood to play games! Come to us so we can defend against them! You are currently injured… you are the easiest prey amongst us three!" Oynega explained to him, trying to remain calm, but his voice showed him that he was quickly losing his patience.
"Prey? Me? Hmm, I'd like to see that!" Skoorn stood up, tossing away the broken hilt of his weapon, unable to hold it anymore without being reminded of the biggest failure of his life.
"Do you think Athos does not know where you are? Do you think Nilier did not tell him? Are you that naive? Ours at least defended by our biggest Sect! This is not the time to play around; one wrong move, and we lose!" Alfina pleaded, now with a tinge of fear in her voice.
"..."
"Skoorn, you are the strongest God; we are going to help you recover, replace your eyes, and then we can deal with what comes next. If we lose you, we will be defenseless!" Oynega continued, clearly sounding like a cry for help.
"I'll boobytrap my realm. Then come to you. Let them have a surprise…." Skoorn said before cutting the connection.
On the other hand, the twins let out a long breath, smiling at each other with a victorious grin.
"That damned idiot~" Oynega laughed.
"His pride was always his biggest weakness! We just have to butter up to him a little, play the defenseless kids, and he already feels in control!" Alfina giggled as she stuck her tongue out.
"So? Is everything ready?" Oynega looked at their hot spring, walking around it, but there was no way he would dip even his toe into it now.
"Yep!" Alfina stepped closer to it, taking a deep breath, just like when someone tried to enjoy the smell of her freshly brewed coffee. "No odor, no aura, no residue of the poison. The moment he submerges himself into it and starts absorbing the 'healing' properties, he will slowly fall into a dream-like state! We can gently tug at his soul, drawing it out~ Like a street performer playing a flute to a snake! Perfect!"
"I like it when you are this evil~" Oynega giggled, hugging his sister.
"Nobody can defend against the poison that affects the soul… especially not a brute like him! Let's play our roles of coward for now and have the last laugh!" she kissed his lips in a delighted mood.
"When we get it, we disappear for good~ We can afford to play the long game; time is on our side!"
…
….
…..
"LeiLei sent word!" Ren walked into her old disciples' room with an excited look. "The twins are luring Baldy into a trap!" she said as she explained everything Leinor had transmitted to her. Alfina and Oynage would never even expect a soul to be listening to their talks, and by now, everything was laid out before the Immortals.
"What should we do? Wait for them to prey upon Skoorn?" Kaizer asked, crossing his hands.
"I thought about that too." Ren nodded at him. "I came up with an idea so we can make sure all three are gone in one move!" She looked at them for a brief moment. "They told Skoorn we know where his place is at… because Nilier told me to. We can use that! I'll stage it, so they perceive the three of us approaching the sea. Invictus, you are going to be the bait!"
"As always!" He laughed, not minding her words at all.
"I know where the twins' layer is at! From Nilier's viewing pond, I sometimes watched them doing some really kinky stuff…." Ren murmured, biting onto her thumb, remembering the scenes, making the siblings just roll their eyes. "Anyway, the problem is, their main Sect, with around a million followers, is there too! So I'll need you to stage an attack on it!"
"No problem!" Invictus slapped his own chest. "I trained my people for this day!"
"Wouldn't they notice that something is wrong?" Ophila asked.
"Not if they took the bait! If we do it correctly, they are really going to think we know where Skoorn is, and Invictus is there to tie down the twins from going and lend a helping hand!" Kaizer explained to her.
"Yep!" Ren nodded with a grin. "Then we can sneak by the chaos. The bigger the scene you make, the better!" she said, looking into Invictus's eye. "Then we can lay down my own formation! I'll use my Soul Tearer formation and set it up on the biggest scale I can! Kaizer and Ophila will be the additional energy source, so it can truly pack a punch!"
"Am I a battery now?" the second brother chuckled. "Oh well!"
"I'm in!" Ophila nodded.
"The formation was originally developed to act against one soul… After my newest modifications, I will aim it against their whole cycle... It is hard to say how it will react. So our job will be to infuse so much energy into it that it damages their fake cycle as much as it can!" Ren explained with a heavy voice, "It may backfire! So don't take it lightly! We have to guide the chains to latch onto their cycle! LeiLei and the others will attack where the chains land and combine the two forces; One from the outside, one from the inside! It should be enough to tear it apart!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Ophila smiled, "When are we going?"
"Immediately! As soon as Invictus is ready to march, we will implement it! If we are lucky, Skoorn is going to die without a fight, and we only have to deal with the twins afterward! 4 against 2 should be good enough~."
"If they had no problem ganging up against you back then… and against their own teacher… they should have no grievances when fate delivers them their payback!" Invictus snorted, clearly ready to go already.
…
….
…..
In the realm of the twins, Skoorn only just has arrived. Stepping through their barrier and sinking his feet into the cold snow, he involuntarily shivered with his whole body, not because of the weather but because of the endless stream of souls swirling around the entire pocket realm. Even if he was not versed in how they worked, how to control and guide them, he felt their presence.
"Pathetic, isn't it?" Oynega walked up to him, "Before Nilier's mad suicide, this was twice its size!"
"If not more!" Alfina chimed in, "That bitch did not even consider the fact her explosion could have opened up a second Tear!"
"Drop the topic!" Skoorn growled at them like an injured beast.
"Sure, sure! Come!" Oynega said, shaking his head and leading Skoorn toward their hot spring.
Just before he could explain what he had to do when submerging himself into it, all three felt Invictus appearing and bringing his army with him. His voice was loud and rumbled through the region like an exploding volcano.
"Come out and fight! Let me experience if you are really the Gods of Life and Death!" He laughed with contempt in his voice.
He was standing in the air, floating before massive, white walls stretching for kilometers on end. Behind him, his most elite disciples were arriving, bringing their own disciples with them. On the ground, even more, appeared as they used the newly developed teleportation circles, summoning groups of people instantly. Soon the snowy fields were filled with people of fire, quite literally, as every step they took melted the snow around them. Before the army, there was a sect, making their home at the base of the mountain, devout followers of the twin Gods. Now the whole Sect was protected by a transparent, white shield, as hundreds of thousands of believers were kneeling, praying, supplying their own life to it. Their faces were plastered with apparent joy, knowing they would be reincarnated by their Gods even if they died.
Invictus shouted again before he punched out. A giant, flaming manifestation of his fist appeared, flying straight, quickly melting the snow around them, revealing the bare, rocky ground under them. Yet the formation still held out firmly after his punch connected to it. Even as thousands vomited blood, containing chunks of their inner organs as they fell to the side, dead, the protective formation was holding.
"Not bad!" Invictus snorted, clearly here to fight for real, "Attack!" He shouted as his own disciples, numbering in multiple hundreds of thousands by now, rushed forward, attacking, bombarding the formation with their own spells.
Aflina's and Oynega's orders were quick and straightforward. Hold the line until they finish their preparations. In reality, they had no mind to bother with their Sect, only using them to buy enough time to finish off Skoorn and go into hiding with their reincarnation cycle afterward.
"Seems like you were right…." Skoorn said, as his own senses were spreading outwards, even catching a glimpse of the rest of the Immortals leaving towards the sea.
What was happening now surprised the twins, but it did not show on their faces. Oynega even quipped at him quickly before he could change his mind.
"Of course! Lucky for you, you did not stay there! Now we wouldn't be able to help you!"
"Let's get on with this! If I recovered, we could use this chance to kill Invictus!"
"Sure!" Alfina and Oynega nodded immediately.
They quickly instructed him how to absorb the healing properties of their hot spring and led him into it. By then, Skoorn was already thinking about one thing only, recovering as fast as possible and killing Invictus. Shedding the blood of an Immortal was the only way his rage would be placated a little… only to never realize it in the end.
