4 The King of the Gods and his Mission

"What's going on? Why am I still here?" Razaranje complained, still standing there in the open field. "I answered the prayer of these stupid mortals, what gives?"

"Lord Razaranje! That was amazing!" Oakina yelled as she launched herself at the god as he approached, embracing him tightly while her large chest pushed into his own chiseled abs. "We all owe you our lives! P-please, if there is anything that I could do for you…and I mean anything, ple—"

"Priestess, explain!" the god demanded, running a hand through his long grey hair. "I fulfilled the request that you summoned me for, yet I remain here in your realm."

"Believe me, we are all grateful for your assistance, My Lord," Oakina replied, with the soldiers nodding in agreement. "But the war is far from over, I'm afraid. That single group of Grovans that you vanquished is a drop in the bucket compared to their military might."

"Ah, I see. So your prayers will not have been answered until this war finally comes to an end," Raz thought out loud before snapping his fingers as he arrived at a solution. "Wait…you say that this war spans the entire continent? Well, what if I just destroyed the whole continent then? No continent, no more war! Problem solved."

"M-my lord?" the priestess stammered nervously.

"Very well, if this is what it takes," the god stated as he raised his arms with his palms open towards the sky, before turning to gorgeous, purple-robed woman next to him. "I do apologize, my dear, but at the very least, this war shall be over."

The ground began to shake, and the birds from the surrounding forests took flight, sensing impending danger. The soldiers looked to each other nervously, wondering if the destruction deity was just kidding. He wasn't. Preparing to launch himself into the air to obliterate the continent in its entirety below him, Raz crouched down and readied to jump, but before he could lift off, the world suddenly froze.

"What in the?" the god scoffed, the entire world seemingly having gone grey and frozen in time.

The birds were stopped mid-flight, and the Cloudians stared at him through their unmoving faces. Time now stood still, which perplexed Razaranje as only a god was capable of such a feat. A nervous feeling within his all-powerful body began to rise up, as he had a sneaking suspicion as to who might have done this.

"Razaranje, it's been a while," a loud, booming voice stated, followed by a brilliant portal of light opening there in the middle of the field.

Emerging from it was a tall man who was dressed in loose-fitting white clothes, the fabric pants flowing over his muscular legs and his shirt opened slightly to expose his wide chest. The white on his clothes was decorated with gold jewelry, and his thick, spiky brown hair and bearded goatee contrasted his light-tan skin. A crown of pure light hovered above his head, and his feet were adorned with simple brown sandals. By god standards, he dressed relatively modest, but his title demanded fear and respect from even the god of destruction.

"Lord Athelion, what brings you here?" Raz greeted as he fell to one knee, bowing his head before the king of the gods.

"Relax, buddy, I just came to check on you," Athelion explained in a calming, gentle voice. "Couldn't help but notice that you were about to destroy this whole continent, kill millions of mortals and all that."

"Uhhh yes, I honestly don't know why I ended up down here, but I was desperate," Razaranje explained, hanging his head before pointing towards Oakina. "This priestess here serves my temple, and she says that she prayed me down to help with their petty war. Well, I was going to end the war here and now by destroying the whole continent that its taking place on."

"My child, I know you're smarter than that," Athelion replied as he put a hand to the god's shoulder. "You know that destruction is but one half of the scale that is shared with creation. I'm not here to lecture you on what you should destroy, but I will say that you serve a greater purpose down here. I have a job for you."

"A job? What is it?" Raz asked. "I mean for years you never cared what we stopped meddling with the mortal world, why now?"

"That's where you come in. I need you to return balance to this world," Athelion replied with a smile. "This war and its effects are spreading out all across the mortal realm. I need you to put a stop to it before things get much worse."

"Why me?!" the god scoffed, almost laughing at the absurdity.

"I believe you're the right god for the job," the king of the heavens stated. "I'm not forbidding the use of your powers either. Just…use discretion. Don't blow up entire nations to end the war fast. Take your time."

"I can't believe this," Razaranje chuckled with a shake of his head. "I just want to be with my fiancé, why do I have to help these morons with anything?"

"You understand the nuances of destruction better than anyone, you know both sides to it," Athelion explained confidently as he stretched his arm, before turning to walk back into the light door. "I know you will not let me down. Oh, and as for how you got here, make sure you ask that cute little priestess about the 'passion gems'."

"The what?"

Instead of answering him, Athelion merely vanished into the light. Time resumed moments later, with the birds continuing on in flight and Oakina resuming her pleading.

"You're not serious, are you, Lord?" the brunette young woman asked, approaching the god and bowing repeatedly. "We're your servants now, please don't abandon us! E-especially me, I've devoted my whole life to—are you okay?"

Oakina had only now noticed that the god's expression had changed drastically. His teeth clenched, Raz's eye twitched as his hands trembled in frustration.

"What the hell, Athelion!?" the arrogant deity complained. "I have to bring balance to these feuding mortals without destroying them? You might as well be asking the god of gluttony to stop stuffing his face!"

"D-did something happen, My Lord?" the priestess asked nervously.

Clasping his hands together, Razaranje gave his head a little shake, before sucking in a long, deep breath through his nostrils. Slowly calming himself down, his expression returned to his calm, albeit conceited demeanor.

"It's nothing, but it looks like I'll be sticking around here for a while," the god replied, forcing a smile before looking towards the gnomish soldier. "So, short one, what happens now? Where do we go from here?"

"Uh well I honestly didn't think we'd survive this battle, so I'm not exactly sure," Silverbell replied with a chuckle. "I guess we'll march west towards the Fallavrokian border and see if we can procure some reinforcements. I doubt Cloud can spare any more troops, we'll probably have to combine with other units."

"Great…well, I'll be joining you then," Raz nodded, then turning to Oakina. "And you, my priestess, will have to be my guide, maybe get me up to speed in this world. I'll have to get a better sense of the politics."

"Of course, My Lord!" the buxom woman nodded excitedly, blushing returning to her face. "I'd be honored! I must say, your attitude has shifted so suddenly."

"As if I have a choice," the god thought to himself, again forcing a smile at the Cloudians.

"Well then, let us head back to camp to collect those who were supposed to evacuate, and then we can all move on to Fallavrok!" the gnome exclaimed, his face full of relief. "Let us proceed, men, for we have nothing to fear with a god walking amongst us!"

It took about an hour for the soldiers to return to camp and pick up those who weren't able to fight. The injured were loaded onto one of several wagons that the Cloudians had, as well as what remained of their supplies. Apart from a few others, most of the troops marched alongside the wagons, proceeding down another road that winded through the forest. Their dreary dove banner was flown proudly from the back of one of the wagons, the battle-weary warriors now able to fight another day thanks to the help of the unwilling deity, who now had a new lease on these mortals thanks to the king of the gods himself assigning him the job of bringing balance to the world. Still unsure of what that meant, Raz assumed it to mean that he had to basically stop the war.

"Oh, by the way, Oakina," the god asked as he walked alongside the priestess when the 4th army departed down the road. "What are the 'passion gems'? Do they sound familiar to you?"

Immediately, the gorgeous brunette hid her face in her hands, before trembling as she moved away from the muscular deity.

"Oh goodness…you're going to hate me,"