[You still need to be wary of the gods. At least the ones who are after you.]

'By gods, if you mean Hel and most of the Greek pantheon then yeah... I have to be careful from now on," Arnold mumbled as he opened a portal to the memorial island because that was the place Nina and his son Aiden lived now, "I think I should be able to take care of Hel with my current strength. Zeus and his lackeys, on the other hand, would be a problem. I know I'm not even near his level yet. Even if I was to use Devil's Rage, I don't think I'll be able to do much against him.'

​​

[You're right about that. That's why I recommend you to stay low and not cause unnecessary trouble for either of us.]

'Aye Aye, captain. Now go back to sleep, so hopefully, I can cheat and increase my level again.'

[Don't you dare.]

'You're no fun at all.'

[If it hadn't been for me, you would have been too dead to have fun either way.]

'Cold... that was cold.'

As soon as Arnold stepped out onto the adamantine mountain on Cetus' back, he was greeted by the brightest sun he had ever seen. But Arnold didn't mind the sun. In fact, he was happy when the weather complimented his mood. This happened a lot now since he had Shyok with him, who kept doing everything to please his new master.

The plaza on the memorial island was full of people as usual, with his automatons guiding everyone to different places. Watching the people from above made them look like tiny droplets hovering around each other. Arnold could feel their positive energy around him and he was sure Cetus could too.

The crowd had a life of its own. Their vibrant clothes shone in the morning light. People were running everywhere, chattering out loud, laughing and reminiscing about the past. The hustle and bustle of the island made Arnold feel like someone that he hadn't for a long time... He felt like a human. Not like the planet's saviour or anything like that. Just a normal guy with a family behind him.

"Not gonna lie, I love the calmness of this place." Nicole took a deep breath before stretching out, "Too bad I don't get to enjoy this view more often."

"I already told you, you're more than welcome to stay here with me and Nina." Arnold replied before closing the gateway to his domain after Talos followed them, "This could be your home too."

"It's not like I don't want to. But with you out of America and Johnny's retirement, I can't leave the country behind like that." Nicole smiled wanly.

"So it's true then. He is retiring... Man, I feel old now."

"Well, Johnny did say retirement had been on his mind for a while now. In his words, he had become a burden after the two of us 'outclassed' him. When he talked to Allen, those were his exact words, so don't blame me for talking behind the man's back. But yeah... he was an awesome partner to fight alongside with."

Arnold sat down on the edge of the cliff, and Nicole and Talos joined him. Things have been peaceful now. There were no abnormal dungeons were popping up, neither there were any hidden enemies for Arnold to hunt down. But he knew that the clock was ticking at this was only the silence before the storm.

A storm was coming their way and that storm would most probably wipe a lot of people off the planet. Arnold just hoped it wouldn't be someone he was close to because he had started liking the peace around him. But he also knew that if he wanted to protect this peace, he would have to be willing to use his weapons without any regret or hesitation. No matter who it was against.

Never in a million years had he thought he would become the protector of not only his family but of the entire fcking world. It felt unreal. The journey had been taxing, but if it wasn't for that journey, he wouldn't be where he was now and he wouldn't have what he had now.

"So how's the Emperor of Asia doing these days. I mean apart from dungeon hunting." Nicole asked her ever-busy brother, "It's a good thing that you're at least spending time with Nina and Aiden."

"First of all. I'm not the Emperor of Asia... Wait I have most of Europe under me as well. So except United Kingdom, Russia, India, South Korea, and Japan are just my allies. And the rest of them willingly joined the Empire because well, they wanted to get on my good side. Maybe they did so as a way to thank me after seeing how I took care of the terrorist organisations."

"Right... they had to join willingly after they became aware of what could happen when you let Scylla do whatever she wants. I'm still shocked that you actually did let her loose like that." Nicole might have been laughing it off right now, but back then even she was a bit scared when Scylla burned half of the middle-east on a whim.

But Nicole knew those terrorists deserved it. Those retarded basta*ds thought it would be easy to make Arnold do their bidding just because they kidnapped some of the Chinese citizens from Arnold's Eastern Imperial empire.

Well, it's safe to say they didn't who they were messing with. Arnold didn't even go to handle them personally. He just sent Scylla away with Yan and within a day... no more terrorists existed on the face of the planet.

But there was another reason for Arnold to send Yan along with Scylla. With Arnold's empire growing bigger and wider every day, he needed more soldiers and Yan gave him that. His attack on the terrorist group not only made the world a better place but also provided Arnold with some much-needed soldiers and workers. After all, ruling over half of the world's population wasn't an easy task. However, Arnold, his summons and his allies made it seem too easy.

"Mom and Dad would've been so proud of you if they were here... You made their dream come true." Nicole said as she hugged Arnold from the side, "You really made this planet a heaven, a true kingdom come for those who deserve it..."

***

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