================================

Chapter 055: Nine Months

================================

It was easy to avoid detection in Alexandria. Siva quickly hid behind a Mini Realm and was about to blink his way towards the Mountain Temple when as soon as he took his first blink, formless power enveloped him and locked him in place.

"What the—"

The next instant, his vision blurred and before he knew what happened, he was already at the open square of the Temple, behind the imperial-robed Gabriel who's looking over the city at the edge of the cliff.

Siva didn't waste time and spoke out, "I'm sorry."

"Of course you are." Gabriel didn't turn his head at him and said with palpable acidity. "Whether you can control it or not, what's done is done. Is there a way for you to undone it?"

Siva's mind worked and he nodded, "We have an Artifact that might be able to do just that."

It was an empty reply. He himself knew it since Gabriel's sarcasm was hitting on his nerves the same way Gabriel was annoyed by his existence.

Gabriel looked at his side then turned his gaze back to the ever stretching city beneath the sea of fluffy white clouds.

"I know you're not an idiot but don't make me think you are. Who on their right mind will use a Divine Artifact just to correct a mortal's mistake, huh? Even I won't. It's just a waste of the item."

Siva felt his face twitch, "So you know about it?"

"Rather than knowing it per se, I heard it from her when she told you about it."

"So you've been eavesdropping on us all this time as well? You knew about the events in the planet, about the Church's attacks, and you didn't do a thing to help! If my brother—"

"—what of it? If I don't would I have known that I have been betrayed by your people and put the entire planet on the mercy of your kind? Just as you have every reason to hate everybody, I have every possible reason you can list to hate you and your kind! Especially you..."

Gabriel's voice had so much hate on them Siva got confused by it.

From Gabriel's words, it seems something huge had happened. Did something occur that he had to put it as if 'his kind' had done something to wrong the Terrans —to wrong he, himself?

He knew it as well. By 'your kind', Gabriel meant the [Players] —and by way of being betrayed, it means that a quest or a mission that Gabriel had issued had been used by the Players to instead defect to the side of the enemies.

This was bad news since it affected his plans.

But nonetheless, Siva came here not for any other reason but to ask Gabriel about his task. If there was a problem between them, he can just open them up some other time... but not today.

If they start their clash now, nothing will end.

There're still more pressing things to be finished before they could throw their pieces at each other.

"Did you always know?" he said angrily, burying his ego to make way for productive development.

Gabriel didn't look at him, as usual, making Siva think as if it was beneath Gabriel to even gaze at him —one of his considered enemies— and this made Siva's anger burn even more.

The matter about him 'slaughtering' his people in Alexandria was already forgotten.

"Know about what?" Gabriel feigned ignorance.

"The Church! The Vajra! VASUKI!!!" Siva yelled.

He couldn't control his anger rising in him. If he knew about Vasuki, why didn't he do something about it? Especially now that he's an Immortal.

"I don't know about Vasuki. But I do know that the Dragon controlling the monsters in Anazon was a Vajra... so I sent you there...... even if you hadn't slaughtered my people from a fit of anger, I still would have given you that task just because of your connection to their tribe, 56 years ago."

A pang of guilt hit Siva.

The way Gabriel had put it when he 'slaughtered' his people, it would seem that Siva had done it deliberately... as if...... it was some sort of natural occurrence when it was concerning Siva.

—all from Gabriel's tangible sarcasm on his voice.

And yet, remembering his own anger, Siva's fists balled and he huffed to contain his fury inside his chest.

Siva pants deep breaths for quite a while before he calmed down and spoke.

"It's done. I am in control of Anazon Forest. No monster will attack Maria as long as I am alive."

Gabriel turned his head aside again and spoke in a bland voice, "Are you a hundred percent sure?"

Siva balled his fists, "I am. The Vajra they treat as their Queen is now my retainer."

Gabriel went back to look at the city as if Siva was not worth paying too much time attending to. This made Siva grind his teeth in irritation.

When Gabriel didn't say a word, Siva opened his lips to ask something, "Do you know about any amulet that the Church is looking for in Maria?"

Gabriel this time turned to face him. Siva was also surprised when he saw the look of shock written on the Immortal's face.

"What about an amulet? How did you know about an amulet in Maria?"

Siva's shock deepened. It seems this is not one simple matter after all considering that there was a Priest like Kyle included on the search team.

"The Bloody Church followers I interrogated in Maria said they were tasked by Pope Ajora and Pontifex Balaam to search for the amulet passed down in the ruling family in Maria."

Gabriel remained silent.

Then, he raised his hand, snapped his fingers, and the two of them appeared next in Maria in a swirl. Instant Teleportation. Gabriel's gift.

They appeared in the city lord mansion, inside the office, just a few feet away from Siva's Mini Realm which only he —and possibly Gabriel, can feel the existence of.

It wasn't even a moment when they appeared that Gabriel snapped his fingers again and vanished.

Siva's Absolute Domain detected that Gabriel had appeared on the courtyard where he buried the remains of the dead City Lord.

"No..." Gabriel's pained voice rung as he knelt on the newly built grave.

Siva could feel his anguish and so left him alone.

After a few minutes, Gabriel stood up and with a snap of his fingers appeared next to Siva who's resting close-eyed into his chair.

"What else have they said?" he asked Siva.

"Nothing too useful." Siva shook his head, "They said that the Church has been searching for that amulet for many Cycles now and is one of their longest lasting tasks. After thousands of years, they finally got a lead that it was brought here in Maria and that it should have been passed down to the ruling family. That's it."

Gabriel closed his eyes and heaved a long sigh.

"It should be Gothel. She's part of The Church. I know now... I see. That's why she was searching for Rapunzel with that kind of vigor..."

(AN: related events narrated in Vol.3 Ch.24 - 27)

Siva took note of the names, not saying a word.

Gabriel sensed Siva's silence and explained to him, "There are three Gods of the Trinity. Yes?"

Siva blinked. What's the connection of this amulet story to the three of them? Still, he gave a nod.

Gabriel continued, "The God of Creation is titled as [The Brahma], my Teacher, Janus. He's given the authority to create and mold Fate that which binds the souls of this world..."

Siva knew it, of course, now that he remembers everything that had happened to him in the past, it would only be a surprise if he wasn't familiar in the story of how he became one of the Trinity.

"...and then there's the Goddess of Time, Terra, given the title of [The Vishnu], the preserver of all life across the universe, the one who resisted the corruption brought upon by Mefisto———"

"——and there's me, the God of Destruction." He didn't miss the chance to speak sarcastically.

"[Shiva]." Gabriel spoke with bland indifference while looking at him, "The end of everything..."

As powerful and scary his title was, Siva wasn't proud of it, though. If anything, he felt it was an irony and also a spit in the face. To end it all back then meant to in fact kill and destroy everything and everyone he knew and ever known.

It wasn't a good title.

"Cut the crap with the contraptions and go with your point..." Siva uttered, irritated by Gabriel's suspense.

"There are three tokens which represents the three divinities of the Trimurti. My teacher's token is the [Sword of Destiny] which I use as my personal item. Yours is your [God Slayer] which I'm pretty sure even you don't know where it is now... and for Terra... it was an amulet, a trinket of sorts... it was called the [Medallion of Time]."

Siva's heart palpitated and the lingering pain of on his head from his earlier fight was pushed out of his system in an instant.

"You mean to say, the Bloody Church is looking for my mother's Token of Divinity?"

"If what you said about their objective in Maria is true, then yes, they are looking for that item."

Siva clenched his fists and fell back on his chair.

"Those motherfuckers..."

"But I can assure you, unless they get me, and unless I allow it, they wouldn't be able to get that medallion no matter what."

Siva looked at him, "You're keeping it?"

"It was entrusted to me by its last keeper, the mother of the child whose name this city carry."

Gabriel said flatly.

Siva wanted to say more but he chose not to. If there's someone else other than him who could keep it safe, then it should be Gabriel.

Also, he felt a turbulent of emotions run into his chest now. Based on Gabriel's words, the Walled City of Maria... was named after the child of the last keeper of Terra's medallion.

But based on his knowledge, Maria was one of the oldest walled cities in Terroa.

If so, then it means that the Medallion's effect is somehow connected on how Gabriel had lived for so many years all this time. It prolongs one's life span indefinitely!

Just that alone could incite greed from every soul in Terroa, much less the Bloody Church.

"You've had it all along?" Siva asked Gabriel.

Gabriel looked at him without any change on his emotions and said, "Yes. But I already passed it on a successor."

"Who is it?"

"..."

"Who?"

"..."

"What, you're not going to tell me? How can I even protect that successor if I don't know who that person is?"

"You're not ready yet." Gabriel said and turned to face the window, "If you ascend to an Immortal, I can think about giving you a chance to meet the replacement Keeper of the Medallion."

Siva gnashed his teeth in irritation and it took him so much mental energy just to stop himself from attacking the man from behind him.

Yet, Gabriel didn't leave him blanked out.

"Know that she is someone connected to you by fate's design... not by the fate Teacher woven, but by fate the universe had decided."

Siva sensed something along those words. But before he could ask something, Gabriel turned to him and asked something else outside of their last topic of discussion.

"Are all the descendants... are all the ruling family members dead?"

It took Siva a few seconds to calm his nerves and answer him, "They escaped in Dakar. Only their father was left here to keep the Bloody Church away from searching for them."

"I see." Gabriel nodded and spread his Mana Sense that Siva felt like gentle warmth touching his soul... or whatever it is on his chest.

After a while, Gabriel heaved a long sigh.

"They okay?" asked Siva.

Gabriel nodded and then stared at him, narrowing his eyes and speaking, "Maria is not a place you can control. This is under the territory of The Union and their forces are already preparing to come here and stabilize the situation."

"I already sent the order for the Asgardians to return to Asgard."

"Then what that leaves you here, alone?"

Siva knew Gabriel already knew why he was still in this city. He didn't deny it. "I'm trying to collect resources that are lying after my struggle. I need them. Urgently."

"Hmph." Gabriel scoffed and Siva's face twitched but they didn't speak anything as they stared at each other. it was only after a while that Gabriel broke the silence. "At least the city and its people are safe. You have done your mission."

"I don't need any reward. Just don't block my way and we can treat each other as if we're air."

"Hmp. At least you still have your pride."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Then scram if you have nothing else to say."

"Actually, I do have something else to say."

When Gabriel dropped his sarcasm, Siva knew that whatever this last item is was serious.

"Nine months." Gabriel said.

"What?" Siva was confused. "What nine months?"

"In nine months' time, the Demon Armada will be coming here in Terroa."

Siva was silent... then he was shocked... then he staggered back, panted, and gasped... before he began to chase his breath from the astonishment.

"War..." Siva could only utter the word. "Is it really a total war this time?"

Gabriel also wore a face of helplessness.

"Trillions of demon units... eight Motherships..."

Gabriel doesn't have to elaborate to make Siva know the scale of the enemy's forces this time.

"Then why don't you tell the Terrans to prepare for war? It's only in nine months! Why didn't you tell them this sooner?"

"I already did." Gabriel faked a calm voice, "I've only seen the vision not too long ago. I've already told Gaia while you were in the Inner Continents so by now, information should already be being disseminated and the effects of this should be slowly being reflected more on each country's state of affairs."

If war is approaching, then they have to prepare for it as soon as possible.

Space battle would be impossible because they'd lose the suppression effect of the planet towards the demons, speeding their defeat since the outer space was the Demon Armada's territory.

With that number... if eight of those Motherships transform into their Colossi Forms and use their Shout Cannons simultaneously, it would only take them an entire day to obliterate every resistance in the surface of Terroa.

Thinking about it, experience made Siva think of what is the most optimal chance for them to bring survival to Terroa.

—they have to bring down those motherships before they could bring destruction to Terroa!

Weapons! We need weapons!

At least Siva knew what to prioritize within these nine months of in-game time. And so that leaves them the preparations for the rest of the Armada.

Even if they do take down the Motherships, there is still the Demon Army and they also had to make their preparations on facing them.

Defenses, training, conscription, resources, all kinds of supplies, manpower, and preparations...

They only have nine months to complete it all.

Siva didn't even question the legitimacy of this news for he found it senseless for Gabriel to even try to lie to him about it, not to mention that even if he didn't have the news, he would still be preparing for it because he knew that the Devil Gods are already aware that a Memory Crystal is being kept near him.

Sooner or later, the Demon Armada would have sent their forces in Terroa to take that Memory Crystal but knowing that Siva was serving like the guardian of that Universe Artifact, they would not send a group of weaklings just to be trashed.

"Nine months..." Siva held his head, massaging his face, and removing his mask. "I have to make my preparations." When he spoke to hear, he pull up his player panel and was just about to logout when he remembered something, "What are you going to do now? With your strength, you can be a threat to the Bloody Church. Shouldn't you be helping us clean up this mess at least?"

This is also something that makes Siva mad. The guy was strong enough to trash them, why isn't he helping?

"I can't." Gabriel said. "If I reveal my location, the Elders of the Bloody Church will gang up against me... or use my weaknesses to get their hands on the medallion. Since they were able to track down Rapunzel's family in Maria, it's safe to say that they already know that it was me who kept it safe all these years. I have to guard my people."

"So you're just going to hole yourself up in your place in The North?"

"What I do to keep my people safe is none of your business. Have I punished you harshly when you killed seven million of them?"

Siva clenched his fist and fell silent. Gabriel did–indeed–not punish him severely for it. Gabriel is, just like Siva, moving for his own self-interest. He was stumped for the proper words to counter his argument.

Also, there was another matter that Siva wanted Gabriel's help for... despite it having him swallow his pride and dignity.

Siva heaved long pants.

Gabriel just looked at him.

"I need your help." Siva said firmly. It took him so much courage and self-restraint to sound nicer.

"To find your brother?"

"Yes."

"He's in Dakar, central palace basement, there're four people guarding over him."

Siva's heart skipped many beats in excitement.

"Can you extract him?"

"I can't."

Siva's emerging smile broke into a dark frown.

"What's the price for your help?"

"Even if I owe you a favor, even if you can pay the price I say, I still can't extract him."

"Why?" Siva was almost yelling.

"Because of the Sword of Light..." Gabriel coolly said. "It has a natural Light Domain that counters my ability to warp space. All I can do is spread my Mana Sense and tell you that there are four people 'studying' your brother in the basement of the palace. It's not a dungeon, not even a lab, but it is both a secure place and a dangerous place for your brother. They aren't putting any tube on him but they are checking why he was in such a state. And the person carrying the Sword of Light is also there not leaving the area closest to your little brother."

Siva's breathing shortened again. His shoulder was heaving up and down.

"Who was it?" He asked, "Is it The Union?"

"Most likely, yes." Gabriel said and raised a hand, his fingers on the 'snapping motion' paused as he addressed Siva, "Now you got your answer as the reward. I've got my city safe and you've also avenged the murderers of my friend's progeny. I won't bother you again unless it's something very important for the larger picture."

Just as Gabriel finished speaking Siva yelled at the last moment, "Wait!"

"Is there something else you want? We don't owe each other anything. If you want to know more about your brother then go to Dakar yourself. I don't wanna be bothered by your issues. I have more pressing matters to fix."

"I have one last thing to ask."

"Ask. Don't waste my time." Gabriel's tone shows his impatience as he stared at Siva.

Siva straightened his back and spoke, "It's about the [Inventory Plus Ultra] you gave me... I want to know the limits of its uses."

Gabriel paused for a moment then said flatly, "My ability dwells in Spatial Manipulation but because of the Medallion of Time, I also mastered how to connect the Flow of Time into my Ability. There are no limits to its use, and the rules that can be applied are dependent on your imagination. But... there are indeed limitations to the requirements of spatial slots."