39 Chapter 39: Slayer

__Next Morning__

Ryuu woke up with a scream. She had a nightmare, remembering the deaths of her friends.

"J-just a dream. It was just a dream." Ryuu wiped cold sweat from her brow.

"Ryuu, are you okay?" Lars who was watching over them so leaks won't happen asked.

"L-Lars? I'm fine." Ryuu was shaking in terror and Lars patted her on the back.

Not really caring about the very true stereotype of elves that they do not want strangers touching them.

"It's okay to be scared, be frustrated, to cry." Lars rubbed her back and Ryuu began crying.

"I couldn't do anything... They died in front of me... And because I went in without thinking, more of them died." Ryuu sobbed heavily.

She grabbed his shirt tightly as she poured out her heart and soul.

"They won't take it against you, Ryuu." Alise appeared and she smiled at her softly.

"Alise's right Ryuu, they'd just get angry if you blame yourself." Kaguya assured her and they hugged her.

"Stop the waterworks, Lion. You're alive, we're alive. That's good enough for them, I'd imagine." Lyra snorted.

"Everyone..." Ryuu held back her tears and Lars patted her head.

"Because they'd always have your back." Lars smiled at her and she nodded.

"Thank you." Ryuu returned a smile at him. "Hmmm, this makes me feel vexed." Ais commented on the side.

"Ahh, Ais. Did you make friends with everyone?" Lars asked her with a nervous smile.

"Un... But I don't like her for some reason." Ais pointed at Ryuu who was clinging to him.

"Why?" Ryuu asked and she didn't understand Ais' displeasure.

"I don't know..." She shook her head. "Silly Lion, it's because you're clinging to him like a koala." Kaguya teased her.

"Eh? Kyaaah!" Ryuu suddenly fell on her butt as she noticed the fact.

"Wow, elves really don't like getting touched by other people." Lars confirmed the stereotypes.

"N-no... It's not like that." Ryuu denied, but she didn't explain further.

"Umu, I am now satisfied." Ais got into a better mood.

"Okay, how about we go back to the surface?" Alise didn't want to worry Astraea.

"Yeah, we should also bury your friends. I have their remains with me." Lars revealed and the three members of the Astraea familia bowed at him.

"What? No need to be so formal, you guys will be my minions from now on after all." He laughed and they chuckled.

"And about Ais... Loki will get angry again, let her bust a vein. Though I would have to return you home personally." Lars rubbed his chin.

"Okay, Riveria will get worried." Ais didn't want to deal with Riveria.

"Come on, let's get going." Lars began their ascent to the surface.

__Stardust Garden__

Alise was nervous, rightfully so. She was terrified even. To tell her goddess that they were almost wiped out.

"Tell her everything, it will be for the best." Lars patted her back and she nodded slowly.

When they entered the living room, Astraea was waiting for them patiently there.

"Alise, you have been through a lot haven't you?" Astraea already felt their falna disappear.

She then hugged Alise who was in the front as she saw her expression.

"G-goddess... Astraea-sama." Alise began to cry and she understood what happened.

"Dear, oh dear... You must've experienced a lot." Astraea patted her hair gently.

She then captured them in a hug as well and they all broke down at their goddess' touch.

"We weren't able to save them." Alise's arm gripped Astraea's waist tightly.

She was the captain of the Astraea familia, but she couldn't do anything.

"You tried your best." Lars sighed and he thought that they did everything they could.

"But it wasn't enough." Kaguya bit her lip in frustration.

"Then level up, train, until nothing can stop you." Lars advised.

They didn't expect him to give advise that was so spartan.

"Yes, we definitely will..." Ryuu squinted her eyes. And she remembered something.

That abominable cat man from the Rudra familia.

Lars noticed her hatred. She was gnashing her teeth in rage.

'Ryuu is going to be like a rabid dog if we don't do anything about that.' Lars frowned.

"Ryuu, don't. I'll take care of this. Don't worry, they won't be able to do anything." Lars squinted his eyes.

"No! Let me do it!" Ryuu wanted to get revenge herself.

"Astraea, keep her in line yeah?" Lars waved at them and Ais followed him.

"Lion... We have to bury them first." Alise pointed at the black bags that suddenly appeared.

"That's right, please calm yourself Ryuu... And you children always did say that you wanted to be buried in Rivira." Astraea chuckled.

"Come on, let's prepare to take them to Rivira." Kaguya smiled softly at Ryuu.

The elf trembled at the sight of the black bags. She then slowly nodded, her mind distracted for now.

And Ais who was being escorted home, got curious about what he would do.

"I know that look... She wants murder, slaughter." Ais remembered Ryuu's expression.

And she would know, Riveria showed her that she made that kind of expression back then.

"Yeah, we can't let her do that. Gods go back to Tenkai. And she'd be identified. I don't know if they can contact Gekai." Lars squinted his eyes.

"What are you going to do then?" Ais tilted her head and he looked forward with an ice cold expression.

"Isn't it obvious? This world will see the birth of a godslayer."

Ais shuddered at his words, whimpering at his menacing aura that was filled with malice.

He wanted Rudra dead, and he'll make sure of it.

"Don't go overboard..." Ais tugged on his shirt softly.

"Yeah, return to the twilight manor. I have some unfinished business with the Rudra familia." Lars walked away.

When he arrived at the ruins of Orario, he let loose.

Blood red lines like circuits began to spread on his body. Originating from his chest.

The symbol of Superbia on his back glowed brightly. And along with it, the sin of Gula, Ira, Invidia, and Avaritia.

"Gods do not fear death. Thinking that they will return to the heavens." He donned his gauntlets.

Poisonous spines appeared on his back. Dripping with venom that only Airmid or elixirs can heal.

Crystal blades formed on his arms, his crimson scales were covered by the fur of barbarians.

Eyes opened on his cheeks. And a crimson horn sprouted from his head.

He looked like an abomination. An otherworldly being that even monsters would detest.

Lars sighed, showing his dagger-like teeth. The ground around him began to melt as his temperature increased.

Super heated steam escaped from his mouth. Like a nuclear reactor, his body was burning up tremendous amounts of energy.

"The first of many shall fall today. And the only thing they'll fear, is me." Lars took out Jura's half-eaten body from his inventory.

His palm went towards the falna on his back. And Rudra's Ichor sizzled.

Lars then sniffed the burnt Ichor and his eyes turned paper thin. "Found you~"

Releasing an inhuman roar that was heard all over Orario, the bustling city went truly silent for the first time in centuries.

"Ouranos! Permission to use my arcanum!" Hermes was already floating in the sky, trying to find the terrible monster that escaped.

"Granted." A voice resounded throughout Orario.

Hermes then disappeared like the flash as he tried to find the being that was about to unleash terror on Orario.

But no matter how hard he tried to look, he couldn't find it.

After a solid hour of running around, his mortal body got exhausted and he kneeled down on the ground.

"W-what was that? It was divine in nature... But much more twisted. Corrupted, chaotic." Hermes broke into a cold sweat.

__Ruins, Orario__

"It seems that the coast is clear." Lars who was hiding inside a pillar of stone, melted through it.

His body could feel it, every cell of his being sensed Hermes' arcanum die down.

So, the hunt continued. With breakneck speeds, he ran towards the ruins that contained the Rudra familia's remnants.

"Evilus... You'll all die here." Lars perched a pillar and his infrared vision saw everyone inside a seemingly abandoned building.

Lars leapt into the air. And when he dropped to the ground, crystal scythes, tusks, and spines erupted from the ground.

The adventurers of Rudra couldn't even scream as they all got skewered by them.

"W-wha?" A level 3 that was still barely alive saw something sinister walk up to them.

"Hmm? You're still alive? Then let's change that." The monstrosity slowly walked up to him.

His eyes widened in terror. He wanted to scream, but he was paralyzed in fear.

Lars opened his mouth and the adventurer finally was able to speak.

"No! Go away! Go away!" He screamed in pure terror.

But his head got crunched like a jawbreaker and Lars looked around to look for any survivors.

"I hoped for more live ones, it's such a shame." He started eating the Rudra familia one by one.

"W-what are you?" A tanned man with black hair was able to ask with a trembling voice.

"Rudra huh? Can't use your arcanum, can't you?" Lars gave him a twisted smile.

Arcanum can only be used in self defense. And Lars wasn't really targetting him, for now that is.

He was abusing the rules of the gods and Rudra was a sitting duck. Watching his familia get savored like fresh meat.

Quickening his pace, Lars finished up the remnants of the familia and Rudra's heart started to beat faster.

"Don't come near me, I'll use my arcanum! Don't you know who I am?" Rudra threatened him.

"Urgh!" Rudra suddenly felt multiple spines stab him from behind.

"Then use it, pussy." Lars' gauntlets tore his body apart.

Light started shining to the heavens and it was the signal that a god was returning to Tenkai.

"Oh no you don't." Tentacles appeared from Lars' shadow and they grabbed onto the pillar of light.

It then shattered and the form of Rudra that was made out of light was pulled down.

"The first of many, be a reminder to the heavens that gods are not infallible." Lars opened his maw.

The symbol of the deadly sins on his back glowing brightly. As he was about to commit deicide; the highest order of sin, blasphemy.

"I won't die here you monster!" Rudra pointed his arm at him and divine lightning hit Lars. Erasing almost half of his body immediately.

Lars vomitted blood at Rudra's face and the god screamed bloody murder at the poisonous blood of Typhon.

"You little shit..." Lars' eyes went bloodshot in rage as he moved towards him slowly.

And the god that has never experienced pain before couldn't even focus on the enemy in front of him.

Lars grabbed one of his arms and he pulled on them. "Die! You degenerate piece of shit!"

He started beating the shit out of Rudra with his own arm in pure rage.

"You can't! Kill me!" Rudra thought that he would just return to Tenkai and tell the gods that someone committed deicide.

Lars grabbed his remaining arm and kneed it upwards, snapping it in half.

"AHHHHH!" Rudra screamed in pain. But he wasn't able to speak much as Lars grabbed his neck.

"Let's test that theory, scum!" Lars stomped on his leg to anchor him to the ground and his fingers sunk into Rudra's flesh.

Screaming like a banshee, Rudra cried out in terror. But nobody was there to save him.

Lars took off his spine along with his head. And he started eating the slowly regenerating divine spirit.

Feasting on Rudra's divinity, Lars' body was filled with Ichor and strength.

His falna cannibalizing the fallen god into excelia.

And that's when the gods and goddesses of the world noticed.

The one who was going to return to tenkai was interrupted. And the divine spirit of the god did not return back.

"A... A god just died. A god's divine spirit was pulled back before getting to tenkai..." Hermes could feel his whole body tremble.

Something was out there. And it was capable of snuffing out divine spirits.

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Thank you for reading everyone, ciao.