“Well, this is definitely not a prank.” Runfar muttered.

Everyone in the mansion were frozen in motion, just a minute ago they were moving around, doing their chores, but now, their bodies were standing still, like objects suspended in air mid-action. It was bizarre to say the least, one maid had jumped up after ending up spilling tea, but now she looked like she was floating in air, with her skirt flapping up like a giant jellyfish.

Runfar proceeded to tap Landon’s back, yep, he still was flesh and blood, he didn’t get petrified or anything. Same was true for the others. They were simply frozen in time. Runfar was worried that they might have been poisoned without them knowing, causing everyone to freeze in place. Luckily, that did not seem to be the case.

“I have seen this before….is it Master Olim, perhaps?”

Primary Deity of Death, Olim, by taking advantage of death that occurred nearby, he could pull someone into his separate dimension for brief amount of time, but since in his dimension time did not exist, everyone would appear to be suspended in time.

“No, merely an angel who wanted to pay you a visit.” A familiar masculine voice sounded out.

A figure of a white winged angel wearing a mask on the top half of his face appeared from within the wall of the mansion. His white hair seemed to be floating along with his levitating body. He was wearing grey and silver clothing, consisting of a suit, pants, and a jacket with a cloak behind it that matched well with his generally pure white composition.

“Long time no see, Nur Finnerman, or should I say, Dark Lord?”

He obviously knew what Dark Lord was up to until this point.

“Mrakus!”

Dark Lord took out the crystal dagger from his belt, fully prepared to kill the intruder before him.

“No need to be alarmed, I am not your enemy.” Mrakus said calmly, without a fear of being killed on the spot

“Oh yeah? How much of a fool do you think I am? I know you are working for Chronos, reporting to her every move I make. Morphus told me what happens to angels who encounter gods, either end up serving gods as Secondary Deities or end up destroyed. You can stop time and you don’t seem to be worried about being hunted down. Mrakus, you are Chronos’s slave, aren’t you?”

“Morphus?! You met Morphus? How did you…” Mrakus stopped himself mid-sentence. “I see…I see…”

“So it is true then. Just as I thought.”

“About time you noticed.” Mrakus shrugged. “While, yes, I am one of the many Secondary Deities serving Chronos, I am not here under her orders; to be perfectly frank, just the opposite is the case.”

“Opposite you say?”

“I am here on my own agenda.”

“And I should believe you why?”

“Because as far as Chronos knows, you are currently leading a miserable existence as one of the inmates in a remote prison on a deserted island, unable to die due to your curse, but unable to move away because the prison’s near unbreakable cells.”

“What?!”

Is he joking? It had to be a joke of some kind, sounds too ludicrous to believe….

“But she is under an idea that you had not given up yet, so she is bidding her time until you surrender all hope.”

Dark Lord now understood; Mrakus was the one supplying her information; essentially he controlled what she knew or didn’t know. And now, he essentially verified that Chronos was not watching over him, at least right now.

“So the one she tasked with keeping an eye on me was you. Why would she go to such indirect measures? Why didn’t she watch over me herself?”

“Originally, she did, using her crystal orb, but once your soul ended up being stained by dragon blood; the connection was disrupted. As Primary Goddess of Time, she cannot waste her time just to torment one of her many victims, other gods, especially Solaris, wouldn’t be pleased if she is not diligent with her duties.”

Solaris, the King of Gods, apparently he outranked Chronos and every other deity, making him the only one the gods answered to. Funnily enough, when Dark Lord once encountered him during the Banquet, he did not seem to be such a bad guy….

“Wait, you said, one of her many victims? So I am not the only one she has cursed?”

“By far not. You are not the first or the last one she had cursed.”

Dark Lord was now alarmed, if there were others, what happened to them? What did future have in store for those who were cursed by Chronos?

“What happened to the others who were cursed like me?”

Dark Lord couldn’t help but ask.

“A very good question, rather than describe it in words, I suppose it would be best for me to show you.”

With a snap of his fingers, a large circular disk of light appeared out of nowhere, moving towards Dark Lord it stopped right beside him, now it was reflecting what was within it.

Images started appearing within it, images that were not reflections of what was in front of it, nay, it was a mirror that reflected another realm.

Within the large mirror of light, Dark Lord saw countless bodies, each one now assimilated into the surroundings. One of the bodies was covered in vines; one seemed to be turned to stone from neck down. Another one was floating like corpse on top of water. Their bodies had seemingly had become one with the objects surrounding them, almost to the point of fusing together into a bizarre whole.

The bodies were everywhere, like flowers decorating the fields, each motionless, but instead of flowers, there were corpses, corpses that still were breathing.

“If you were wondering, they are alive, in the most technical sense.” Mrakus verified Dark Lord’s suspicion.

“These are…”

“Chronos’s garden gnomes, as she calls them. Each one is a mortal that displeased her in the past, now they are paying the price.”

“What happened to them? Did she poison them? Paralyzed them?”

“No. Like I said, physically there is nothing wrong with them, however, as far as their minds, consciousness, personality, and awareness are concerned, they are vegetables.”

Dark Lord was speechless at that statement.

Mrakus continued.

“Each one was cursed with either the Present, the Future, or like yourself, with the Past. In time, the curse led them to the depth of despair, broke them on every turn, forced them to live when they would rather die, making them keep suffering endlessly, until they reached the final breaking point, and their minds were irreparably shattered. Chronos has all the time in the world; she can wait for hundred years before the curse robs her victim of his mind, leaving him an empty shell. And when they become a mere empty vessel without intellect, she takes them and adds them to her personal collection. And as you can see, the collection is quite large, but she is looking forward to adding more.”

Dark Lord felt dread pass through his spine. So this is the fate Chronos intended for him, the reason she threw him into this place, to suffer till he breaks. And then turn him into a decoration for her twisted sense of art.

“I am here to prevent that from happening, of course.”

Mrakus approached Dark Lord and beckoned to the crystal dagger.

“I see you followed my instructions and retrieved the crystal dagger, well done.”

“It is very useful, cuts through anything like it’s made of butter.”

“Indeed, but that is merely a part of the crystal dagger’s power. As I mentioned before, it is one of the few things that can kill a deity, regardless of power, but there is another, hidden usage of the crystal dagger I wish to teach you. It is called Looting and Bestowing. Using the Crystal dagger, you can steal blessings from demi-gods and transfer them to others. However, be warned, blessings are seeds given by gods, those who have nurtured them have far stronger blessings. They are not easy to handle.”

“Blessings can be stolen? How is that possible?”

“Crystal dagger is the answer. Originally from my realm, world of angels, a branch of a Mother Tree that fell on this world as a shooting star, then molded into a crystal dagger you see before you. It is a conduit of power, capable of absorbing and redirecting any type of energy at will of the user. If you stab a demi-god with the Crystal dagger on the spot of the body where the blessing is located, and utter the command ‘Kuat Endi Meniki’, the crystal dagger will absorb the demi-god’s blessing into itself. After that, place the blade of the dagger upon the one you wish to bestow the blessing, and then utter the command ‘Kuat Endi Seniki’, the power of the blessing will find a new host.”

“Kuat Endi Meniki and Kuat Endi Seniki.” Dark Lord repeated.

“Exactly. I figured you would need this piece of information if you hope to have any chance of beating humanity.”

So this way, he could steal power of a demi-god? Dark Lord wondered, whether the same method would work on a deity….

“Sounds very useful, thank you.”

“Chronos will not involve herself unless something drastic occurs, forcing her to interfere, until then, you can do what you wish to do without worrying about her, at least for now.”

“Yes.”

“However, I must say, I am impressed, of the three cursed mortals within the Holy City, you are the only one who is actively trying to fight it, the other two pretty much gave up; one wastes himself one alcohol, while the other routinely commits suicide just for kicks.”

“There are two others within Holy City, cursed like me?”

“Yep, one cursed with Future, while the other is cursed with Present.”

Now that was surprising, so he was not the only one within Holy City who bore such a heavy burden, if possible, Dark Lord would want to meet these people.

“Humanity, demi-gods, and deities are powerful adversaries, are you sure you wish to oppose them?”

“The alternative is ending up a vegetable, so I would rather go down fighting.”

“Well said. Now then, until our next meeting, Dark Lord.” Mrakus snapped his fingers. In an instant, he was gone.

Everyone within the mansion started moving, but ironically, Runfar stood still, thinking deeply of the revelations Mrakus had bestowed upon him.

There were two more just like him. He had wanted to meet them, people who could understand his pains.

But the thing that made Dark Lord’s cause seem not so hopeless was the crystal dagger’s Looting and Bestowing ability.

Now to find the demi-gods to test it upon….