Ank

“She will kill you all”, Tezmont said, as he continued to assault Taffy. “Do you really thing this monster here cars about you two? Because she doesn’t: you two are just pawns on her game. Pieces to do her dirty job, and get disposed of in the end! She founded your entire guild of wanna-be-heroes for this purpose.”

“Lies!”, Kon screamed from behind golden bars. “The guild was founded to fight the incoming threat that the Cult of the Unborn Star is trying to summon into this world!”

“Yes, that is true”, the deity shrugged, unbothered. “Like I said: do her dirty job. What do you think will come for you all next, then?”, Once the 1st Guild Master wasn’t able to answer, Tezmont continued: “She will dispose of you… And reap her sweat, sweat [EXP] bags, so she can finally achieve her ultimate and true goal, which isn’t saving the world, Kon”, turning his disgusting smile to us, twins, he added: “I’m not lying, and I can prove i-”

“[Heat Beam]”, I shot one of the fire mage’s spells against the enemy; I had finally managed to get back up and move through the pressure of the terrifying aura keeping us, twins, down. Of course, the weak attack didn’t even manage to dirty the enemy’s clothes, much less deal any real damage. But it did took away his confidant, annoying smile.

“Shut up already”, Hunah said, stepping beside me. “We don’t give a fuck about what you have to say, didn’t you notice already?”

“…She’ll kill you all, how can you not comprehend such a simple thing?”, Tezmont spat the words as venom.

“We don’t like you selfish [Gods], but we like Taffy, even if she doesn’t feel the same. How can you not comprehend such a simple thing?”, I talked back, and though my fighting strength wasn’t a match for the deity’s own power, I didn’t stay behind him even a bit when it came to comebacks, and I talked with even more repugnance in my voice than him.

“Ank, Hunah…”, Taffy said, covering her mouth with shaking hands, as tears started to run down her closed eyes. The enemy suddenly pulled away his offending hand, and looked a tad concerned.

“You-!”, Tezmont started, tightening his fists, but was interrupted by Kon’s father, who stared at us, twins, with wide and surprised eyes:

“You will die if you don’t do as Tezmont says, you know that, right?”

“…Our parents, friends, neighbors, and everyone that we knew of was killed by the [Gods]. Even [Party] members we made along the way. We’re not suicidal, but… if the only option that allows us to continue to survive is to inflict the same suffering we felt on others, to ally with the deities, then we’d rather fight to our last breath, even with no chances of winning”, I explained, straightening myself to my full height and staring the [Level: 112.082] [God] in the eyes; the 1st Guild Master’s father looked in shock at us.

“Why the surprise?”, Hunah asked the tired-looking man. “Kon and Ur passed through a similar experience, didn’t they?”

Then throwing glances left and right, to a moved Taffy, and the flabbergasted father of the 1st Guild Master, Tezmont stepped forward, and brandished a hand hastily:

“ENOUGH! I was kind enough to allow you two to rethink your stupid decisions but this chit-chat had gone far enough”, he pointed the palm of his hand toward us, twins, and a dark circle of mist spiraled beneath our feet. Tezmont threw a last nervous glance at the elder people that surrounded us, adventurers, before concluding: “This is a portal to a [Pocket Dimension] made by the collective efforts of all the deities under my control… which means, that thousands of revenge-seeking [Gods] are waiting for you in there, and, even if you kill some, I have many more divine underlings that will be immediately teleported to this [Pocket Dimension] as soon as the number fall under 5.000 of your enemies. And, of course, you won’t be able to get out before makings this number fall to 0, the same way they need to kill you two”, He threw a quick glance at Taffy, before adding: “Ah~ But don’t worry: I won’t send my strongest underlings to crush you two down from the beginning, and the time inside this pocket dimension has been stopped, so you won't feel hunger, thirst or sleep while inside of it, so it won’t be ‘unfair’”, as the older adventurer didn’t react, Tezmont smiled, and concluded: “Now, have the deity massacre you seem to enjoy so much!”, the black mist started to swirl and involve Hunah and I.

“ANK! HUNAH!”, Kon shouted from inside his cage.

“STOP!”, Ur shouted beside her younger brother.

The tired-looking parent of the siblings simply looked away from us, embarrassed, hands tightened into fists, shaking.

“…I- I wish you luck”, Taffy told us.

Just as darkness was about to completely devour us, twins, I smirked. I couldn’t simply go and let those guys behind, so concerned, while our enemy displayed the largest victory smile I’ve seen:

“What are you so emotional about?” As there was a pause, no one exactly knowing how to react to my words, I explained: “To lock down thousands of [Gods] in a single place, without giving them any chance to escape, and allowing Hunah and I to fight day and night without the need for a pause… That’s exactly what we wanted.”

“VUSH!”, the shadows rushed up; one moment I was observing the hopeful face of my friends and companions and the anger Tezmont displayed, and in another, I was at the bottom of some rocky valley.

Weirdly pillar-shaped mountains, all around Hunah and I, grew so tall they pierced the clouds, and the only vegetation, beyond the one on the bottom of the valley my twin sister and I awaited, grew from crevices and bumps onto these mountains. Perched in these same crevices and bumps, and on the trees that grew from them, smiling, arrogant [Gods]. Thousands of them.