Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 639: Secrets At The End Of The World

Helgaʼs Retelling:

It rests on a cruel plain. The city at the end of the world. Barren in all directions, with the edge of the world right by their necks. Many a great soldier marched from within those walls during the last holy war. Young, old, even the sick–no man nor a woman was spared service as their god wished to be a cruel tyrant of war. With no regard for the lives of his people, Chronos, the god of time, marched his army alongside ours.

At least Murdok had the decency to spare the maimed and the elderly, but that gorger of faith and power, he worked everyone, no matter their state of their bodies or their mind. In the end, however, even our side turned against him, and with nobody to take his side, Chronos was slain by a mortal man called Razor.

How did it occur? What manner of power did he possess to kill an immortal? Hells if I know, the gods held those secrets closer than their souls. Past that, the people of the city reunited under the rebellion leader. He helped Murok and Aphrodite, even the goddess of war and everyone who fought alongside us; however, as time went on, the walls of his city grew taller and taller.

Sitting atop a throne where once a god sat, the bearded old man gathered his men and holed up inside the city as a recluse at the end of the holy war. Murdok had died at the hands of the goddess of war, and the dispute between them had left Aphrodite too injured to do anything but rule the godless plain from her heavenly throne.

Years passed, and the ashen land healed, as did the goddessʼ injured soul. But in the end, that whore–while still caring for her young children, decided to sell her soul to the devil who was providing us with armaments during the war. When that news hit the ears of all the living warriors of the war, they all retreated to the city and possibly died of old age as time went on.

With the exception of the few cursed with immortality…of course.

I never cared for that city, but when I left that plain for a better place, I saw its walls being lined with cannons as tall as the gods themselves. Loaded with something stranger than fiction, they sucked the very land of its magic. Whatʼs even stranger is that they do not fire mana-powered shells, instead, itʼs something repulsive that shatters the very core of magic itself.

I once saw a mage being blown up to shred the moment he tried to use magic there, but that was at the end of my stay, and so even in my mind, a lot of questions remained. The people of that city were the ones who made the rifle for Nightsilverʼs companions, but these cannons and the ground itself were unlike anything Iʼd seen being used in the war.

If I had to bet, they could render even a godʼs flesh to batter sacks of meat. Of their immortality, however? I canʼt say if it could affect it at all. Which only makes me question it more, why make a weapon that could potentially kill a god but not end their immortality?

But enough with the speculations. Itʼs time to tell you about Nerva–at least what little I know myself. She was a daughter of Aphrodite, same as Athenia. They had different fathers, but in a sense, they were more alike than you would expect from gods. However, Nerva–she was much-much older, older than this world, and she perished long before any of us or any other god of the current age came into existence.

I do not know how, when or what, but what I do know is that deep within the mantle of Atlaris, her spine spirals around the world in a ball. Connected from the head to the tail, she is what all gods are fighting for. For without her, there is no world, and there are no people for them to rule over. What puzzles me still, though, is how she couldʼve existed in the first place and be alive if only in her death her body came to form into our world.

Chaʼyahh…gods and their mystic ways. Iʼve never been fond of them, even when I joined the army of Murdok, it was through fear and not worship.

Either way, now you know what I do. You might be wondering why I was hiding these things as such closely held secrets. Well, the answer isnʼt exactly simple, but to sum it up in a sentence.

”Ignorance is bliss, especially when the truth can make you question the reality that youʼre living in.” There was much I held still, but not because I wanted to hide things from him, but rather due to the lack of confirmation about the doubts that still linger in my mind, even after a thousand years from the holy war. ”Iʼm sure some man or woman in that same city can find a way to kill a god, but will they shoot us first and ask questions later? I doubt even Razor, even though itʼs his home, can make his way back into its walls without being shot at.”

Confused as any would be, Ravenʼs eyes lingered on nothing. The boyʼs mind was still split between accepting that our world lay on a dying corpse of a god, and that he or anyone else, still alive for that matter, was as blind as a mole to the cryptic works of the gods. I was no exception, of course–but Iʼve had enough years to work through those emotions and move on to more personal matters.

”Look…” Pulling him closer, I quickly wrapped my hands around his head. Nuzzling him against my heart, I took a deep breath and, for once, showed another man a notion of genuine intimacy beyond lust. ”We knew about Nerva, but as time went on, new gods erased her very existence from the pages of history.”

Brushing his hair to the back, I planted a long and hearty kiss on his forehead.

”Letʼs just cuddle for a while and then we can worry about what to do next…” As much as I hate to admit it, I was once again falling in love with a man.

ʼI might have to live another hundred years now, fucking damn it…ʼ

Note: Here, Raven is simply thinking about what to make of the situation and how that could help the party. But since the chapter is told through Helgaʼs eyes, she sees it as him being confused as it is the worldʼs one of the most well kept secret.

Note added later: My uncle who was in a coma for a while and hospitalized alongside my Grandad passed away last night and my grandad is expected to pass away soon as well. And because of it, I obviously canʼt work on chapters or anything for a while. Hopefully Iʼll be back by next month but thatʼs not exactly good news family wise so I donʼt really wanna promise anything. Hope you understand and Iʼll see you soon.