Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 678: The Curse Of An Elder God

Throughout the Athenian land, the people experienced burns on their hands and the back of their necks. Milder than a wax burn, yet leaving a scar that would need some time to heal. Their goddess had taken their suffering onto herself, for the true strength of the blow, if left to be suffered by the people, would’ve turned the kingdom into a burning inferno.

Instead, it only burned her. Even now, the flames didn’t relent. Her body was burning with a flame so strong that her fingers were welded to her throne, and yet Athenia, the goddess of life and death, swallowed that agony without so much as a word, much less a scream.

Being cooked alive with her skin getting darker as soon as her divinity was healing it, her melting eyes gazed at her idol in her church. It had burned to a crisp and yet held its metallic shape. The surface of the statue was peeling off like bark, and with Erika standing in front of it, her body being the most burned of the citizens, Athenia cast a holy spell to restore the entirety of Erika’s left body.

And with that done, she let go of the mirror and focused on herself.

’An elder god beside Nerva is still alive...’ The thought alone was terrifying, but the goddess of death would not relent. She’d steeled her resolve long ago, and no matter the enemy, no matter what happens to her flesh, there was nothing in this world that could make her back down.

The crackling of her bones and her bursting skin echoed throughout the emptiness of her prison. Dwelling deeper and deeper in thought, she swallowed the hurt, and instead of drawing away from the pain, she peered right into that sun. Chasing after the source of the magic, she used this as an opportunity to learn more about the enemy.

As she chased after the source of this destructive magic, she felt a strange draw like a mouse to cheese. Something was drawing her towards itself, and it quickly became clear that this lead was nothing but a mousetrap. Even so, she chased it further and further to its core, but then out of nowhere, the trap came crashing down over her head.

’As expected.’ Having already seen this outcome through her foresight, however, Athenia managed to escape with her psyche still unscathed. Opening her eyes, she felt the burning pain return to her core, slowly eating away at her flesh and trying to make its way to her soul. But the goddess wouldn’t budge from her throne, she wouldn’t move an inch in any shape or form, and most of all, she wouldn’t bow to no elder that wasn’t Murdok.

”Go ahead, do your worst. Show me what you’re capable of, you pathetic hermit! Show me that you’re not a coward hiding away in some corner of the world!” The flames burned even brighter to her agitation, but instead of a scream, Athenia chuckled. ”AhAhAHHA~ I’ve been through warmer winters than this! AHAHHA!”

Mocking the source of such great power, Athenia expected the flames to get even harsher, and did for a moment before something flashed before her eyes, and Razor appeared inside her prison for the second time. Staring at him, her confusion lay bare, and the demi-god knew better than to test the strength of an elder, especially when Athenia’s stubbornness could get herself killed.

”What are you doing here?” She asked, her body still ablaze.

Ignoring the question, Razor walked up her throne steps and took out his stopwatch. Pressing the button, he paused time–something he rarely enjoyed as it riled up the gods of each and every other dimension.

”I can’t interfere with mortal affairs but that doesn’t mean I can’t save your stubborn ass...” Staring at Athenia, he took out a blood potion made from his own half-gold, half-regular blood. Splashing its contents on Athenia, he made his way back down the steps and clicked the stopwatch again.

In no more than a second, the flames settled, and the curse was lifted. Another half-divinity clad the body of the goddess, and knowing what Razor could’ve done, she already knew what had happened. Frowning with scrunched lips, she complained.

”Don’t you ever do that again to me.”

”What? Save your life? You don’t have to ask me twice,” he responded, somehow just as frustrated as the goddess.

”I’ve spent nearly a thousand years trapped in a time spell, so if you dare do that again–”

”I won’t, now quit complaining and focus on your folks again. They need your help!” As disgruntled as he was at the moment from trying to babysit gods, Razor still would’ve preferred for Athenia to live the longest, as she was somehow the second least insane of the bunch.

”Why were you here anyway? I was gonna be fine,” Athenia complained some more.

”Maybe, but I couldn’t risk assuming that you would be. Not with how childish some of you can be.” Lifting his hand in front of his face, Razor conjured a seeing screen through which he marked his next destination. ”As for the elder god, even if you have any questions, I can’t answer them until I’m back in my home city.”

With lifted eyebrows, Athenia leaned forward while her body healed completely.

”And why is that?”

”I don’t wanna be turned away at the walls, that’s why,” Razor replied, lifting his head and looking at her with a forced smile.

Swiping at the conjured screen, Razor changed it to something else. The sight of two dragonesses appeared in front of him, and with a quick gesture, he brought Athenia’s attention to it.

”You wanna handle that? This might be your chance to win their mother’s favor, don’t you think?” Heeding his words, the goddess looked at the screen showing Stell and Tatiyana lying on the dark sand beach with one of their wings burnt to a crisp.

Clicking her tongue at the sight, she leaned back into her throne and decided to get to work before more tragedy occurred in her absence.

”Go then, I’ll handle what I need to.” With a nod, Razor disappeared as quickly as he’d come, leaving Athenia to heal the numerous injured people with her blessings.