43 CHAPTER - 43 - HELLISH RIVER OF VERBRECHERVELT PORTITOR : PART ④

The person who stood before Alcesto, Vanzel and Deces, introduced himself as a Khaos god called Kharon. He was also know as the underworld boatman, or, Vebrechervelt Portitor.

As soon as Deces saw him, she started shaking in fear. She was the one who was standing nearest towards Kharon. He proceeded towards her slowly. As he reached, he asked her,

"Looks like you have made some friends, Deces, haven't you?"

She stood straightly and stuttered a little, but then she said,

"Y-yes and... These friends will help me in defeating Navertozwein! "

As Kharon heard her words, his lips stretched and he gave a menacing smile and said,

"Ho! So you want to defeat Navertozwein? You are weaker than me and... Navertozwein is much stronger than me. Do you really think you can defeat me? I will not ask you about Navertozwein..."

Deces asked,

"A-are you on his side?! "

After listening to her question, he stopped smiling and said with a serious tone,

"Of course not. But... You and your friends committed the sin of slaying Eris! And... For your information, we Khaos gods don't let anyone reduce our reputation. You are just a low level hellish god. That's why I have to perish you!"

When he was speaking with Deces, Vanzel, who was standing near Deces, observed him carefully. The stick which was in the hands of Kharon, started showing some weird signs. The top of the stick was somewhat transforming. The top of the stick, while being transformed, started looking like a blade. In a few seconds, it transformed completely into a sharp blade which was bent towards the right side which made its sharpest point facing a little towards the stick. It transformed completely into a scythe.

As soon as it transformed into the scythe, Kharon tried to attack Deces. He swung the scythe with his hand hoping that he would be able to slash Deces. But, his plan failed. When Vanzel saw Kharon's stick getting transformed into a scythe, in that instant, he rushed towards Deces at high speed. He pushed her away from the path of danger, or most likely, death. While pushing her away, Vanzel channeled his dark Gi in his left hand and created a dark sword. He directed the dark sword towards Kharon. The swords flew towards Kharon at immense speed. He defended himself by blocking the swords using his scythe. Kharon got startled when he saw a mortal being who was able to use dark Gi to the extent of almost causing harm to a Khaos god. He stepped back and wiped off sweat from his forehead. He calmed himself and started speaking with Vanzel,

"Please excuse my rude behaviour earlier. Looks like you have the mixed blood of a higher being and a human. But... It looks like that human was also something, am I right?"

Vanzel looked at his menacing smile. After observing him for a moment, he replied,

"Hmph! Do you want revenge from us? Or you are just an underling of Naverto-"

Before Vanzel could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Khaos.

"Please do not compare me to those low level hellish gods. I am a mid level hellish god which is equal to a high level Khaos god. There are also some high level hellish gods who are siding with Navertozwein for their own profit, but, it has nothing to do with us. We are attacking you because there is one rule which binds us Khaos gods together and it is, our minds are connected. We didn't wanted Eris to side with Navertozwein, but she did. And now, she is just an empty soul and it would take a million years for her to reincarnate again. Uh... Isn't it bad? I do not want to fight you guys, but I have to because of our connected mindset. If one higher level Khaos god dies, then other Khaos gods have to find the killer and punish him severely. Otherwise, we will continue to have those nightmares again and again... Its painful, you know?"

Alcesto, who was listening to the conversation between Vanzel and Kharon, interrupted them.

"Well then, it looks like that you are going to be a nuisance in our way. So, shouldn't we finish you right now?"

Kharon started smiling, and said in a friendly tone,

"Now, now. I don't have any intention of fighting. Even though I'm one of the four higher Khaos gods, I don't have any intention of fighting. I am just a boatman, who's job is to create a passage towards the underworld. Please forgive my rude behaviour earlier. I was lost with anger that's why I wanted to slash Ms. Deces."

Alcesto gulped, and then he asked him,

"W-what do you mean by 'creating a path towards underworld' ?"

Kharon, before speaking, started showing off his menacing smile once again,

"Yes. I will held a trial for you all. We Khaos gods have self respect and dignity, and that is the reason why I'm not ordered to kill you right away. If you succeed this trial, you will proceed towards the lower section of the underworld. There is a surprise waiting for you all."

Vanzel did all the necessary calculations to proceed his future plans. The result which he came to was, to go through the trial. He though to himself,

"This is a tough spot. I don't want to oppose these Khaos gods. I still don't know what might happen if I don't follow his procedures."

After thinking for a while, Vanzel said,

"All right. We accept to go through your trial. So... What is this surprise and trial you are talking about?"

"Ho! Do your teammates agree with your decision?"

Vanzel turned to look at Alcesto. Alcesto had a smile on his face. He eyes were filled with trust, trust on his party leader. Deces had no problem either. Instead, she was relieved. Her fear was reduced by watching Vanzel's bravery.

"Yes, they do."

Vanzel replied without hesitation.

Kharon stopped smiling and said in a normal tone,

"You asked for it, right? I am going to reveal the surprise. It's a tournament. You can also take your other teammates with you. The only thing that I know is, each one of you will fight in pairs. Pair of two humans will face one Khaos god. You can know the other rules when you get there."

Vanzel replied,

"I see. Now it's clear. But... What is this trial?"

Kharon replied with the same voice tone,

"I have the ability of extracting souls from a body. If we Khaos gods don't fight fair, then you guys will be mincemeat in a few seconds. You all have no choice other than fighting us. Even though I said that you all can participate in that tournament, only the three of you are going to complete the trial. If you all pass through the trial, then you all will be able to participate in the tournament. The trial would be a lot easier if all the eight of you participated, that is the sole purpose of dividing your team, Vanzel. After all that said, the trial is... "

____TO BE CONTINUED____