Minutes ticked by. The Human God had not shown any movement, simply staring up at the ominous chains that now crisscrossed the sky.

“Human God, Anren.” The Northern Demigod drawled, as he reappeared on the spot. “Do you still remember me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. The only thing I recognise is that power of yours. Am I to understand that Hereward is going to move against me?” The Human God’s wings quivered slightly. “Or is this your personal endeavour? Regardless, your sin of challenging me is heavy.”

“Sin? You speak of yourself as a judge, as an arbiter. But you’re just a mass of power given sentience and form,” replied the Demigod. “Don’t make me laugh. You, like the other Bounded Presences, have no conception of what being alive means. And yet you presume to pass judgement on us, using rules and words so arbitrary that distort the basic sensibilities of life itself!”

“I see that some of the Summoned have managed to sway you, if you are already casting aspersions on your creator.” The divine presence flickered. “And to think that you would even cooperate with the World’s Blight to restrain me so. But make no mistake — the Demon God’s help will still not allow you to overcome me.”

“Is that so?” The Northern Demigod laughed. “I, Hawking, seem to be breaking a lot of records today — let the world remember me as the first person to challenge the Human God in over a hundred thousand years!”

Grey power exploded out from around Demigod Hawking, coalescing around his drawn sword. The murky mass of power pulsed thrice, and each time that happened, the murkiness that surrounded the demigod’s sword became clearer, to the point that his immediate surroundings were quivering from the translucent might by the end of the last pulse.

Small rays of light leaked out of the Human God’s body, in a fashion that reminded Gaius of a vintage light bulb that had been mostly covered by masking tape. It was indeed an apt metaphor — Gaius could feel a malicious will pressing down directly on the Human God, on the body that he was currently possessing. Or else, without such a suppression, it was entirely possible that no one could have approached him without taking any damage at all.

The Human God was clearly trying to overcome the restraints that was continuing to weaken him, and given enough time, he would have succeeded.

But his enemy wasn’t going to give him a chance to recover. Gaius trembled as Demigod Hawking locked blades with the avatar of the Human God, the shockwave of their blows destroying even more of the beleaguered Centoria. The mighty presence that emanated from the Human God weakened further as another cluster of red chains fell from the sky, and the Northern Demigod struck out rapidly, taking advantage of this sudden weakness.

His sword carved out afterimages that were too many to count, generating sparks where blade met blade. Gaius narrowed his eyes at the sight — both fighters were slashing out at a speed comparable to his peak on Earth…when he was holding a dagger or a knife. There was an intrinsic difference between using a sword and a knife, and one of them was that flicking your wrist while holding a sword was in no way comparable to doing so with a knife.

But the two combatants were slashing and parrying with rather large movements with a speed that he couldn’t fathom. And yet, for all their strength, Gaius couldn’t sense the one thing that made two fighters facing off against each other so much more deadlier.

The intent to kill, or in other words, ferocity.

The Northern Demigod, Hawking, was attacking with a calm state of mind, but there was something absent from his strikes. Such a feeling was also present for the Human God, whose eyes were simply tracking the incoming strikes and parring them, but it was even more pronounced.

Gaius could understand why — after all, the Human God’s real body wasn’t threatened, and more importantly, the myth was wary of a sudden attack by his demonic counterpart. It was a reasonable assumption to make, given the trap that had been laid out for him. As for the Northern Demigod, the utmost belief that victory was at hand meant that he wasn’t particularly desperate to kill his enemy — why not just wait it out? The longer the fight went on, the weaker the Human God would be…and when the Descent was finally cancelled, all that would be left was a crippled semi-divinity from the Holy Temple.

Demigod Hawking had the advantage of time.

The Human God Anren wasn’t particularly threatened, either. Gaius had the feeling that even if the body he was occupying died at the hands of the Northern Demigod, nothing would happen.

Nexus had laid it out, after all. It had all but implied that Gaius himself must do the killing. The little boy didn’t understand why that had to be the case, but his entire experience in Orb so far had been so far off the beaten path, that Gaius didn’t really want to think about it anymore.

But the absence of ferocity, of self-preservation, was something the little lecturer could use to his advantage. Taking out the Auspices of Concealment, he placed it on his face and tried to imagine the scariest, scarred face he’d seen back on Earth. It was a man who had suffered fourth-degree burns on his face in the Afghanistan War, who had then left his home country and wandered as an assassin for hire in the two decades before his death.

Gaius had worked with the man a few times, and when he meant business, he would dispense with a face mask altogether. Few things sapped the will to live from other people faster than a man who went through a war and survived it.

Metal shattered as the two swords slammed into each other, sending shards of gold and metal soaring into the sky. Demigod Hawking spared a glance at his broken sword, and then let the hilt in his hand fall into the ground.

“My weapon in exchange for an illusory weapon conjured by a great god,” muttered the Northern Demigod. “A worthy trade, in my opinion. I’ll have it affixed on the entrance of Centoria’s palace after the North annexes this gaudy place.”

“Mere taunts won’t disturb me, little Demigod.”

“Is that so?” The Northern Demigod replied. “Well, after I capture this Demigod you’re possessing, I’ll make sure to hang it up on the entrance too. Naked and alive. I wonder how you’re going to feel about that, hmm?”

Gaius, who had transformed his face and was already crawling closer to the conversing duo, stopped for a moment when he heard Demigod Hawking’s words. The little boy had the feeling that if anyone could see his facial expression now, a heart attack or stroke would follow swiftly.

Nexus had explained to him a rough outline of the plan. The Demigod Hawking would taunt three times, and the third time would almost certainly trigger an all-out attack from the Human God. The little boy checked his equipment once again, his muscles tensing up to prepare for his first true assassination on Orb proper.