Jericho The Game God

As Ariock slowly walked up the stairs to the fourth and final floor he cringed at the bloodl.u.s.t flowing around him.  Currently it would enough to make anyone below High B rank collapse

instantaneously upon contact.

Thankfully Ariock could be considered Z rank so it had little to no effect on him.

Moving on Ariock had finally reached the door to the final floor.

The door, like the stairs he used to reach it, was ancient, made of stone, and gradually falling apart. The years had clearly not been kind to this section of the temple. Which could be understood as most wouldn't be able to stand the terrifying amount of killing intent/bloodl.u.s.t coming from the other side of this door.

Sighing Ariock physically and mentally prepared himself for the upcoming fight, by popping his shoulders rather loudly and going into a slightly serious mentality.

' In all likelihood the "leader" of this little operation is behind this door, he/she is most definitely a mage, priest, or priestess. This is confirmed because those summoned warriors I fought (who, by the way were kinda weak) needed at the very least low S rank Magic reserves, which isn't something that can be gained easily. Not to mention the poorly hidden observation ball following me around, which just justifys my theory.'

Yes Ariock knew about the observation ball following him since the beginning, he just choose to simply ignore it. The reason being he wanted to show this leader want their dealing with.

' With those thoughts out of the way what should be my strategy? I can't go barging in like I normally do for a couple of reasons. One, I can't use high tier spells because I risk breaking Gora's seals, even though I could mostlikely fix them and possibly improve them it's too risky. Two, whoever is behind this is pretty powerful so with my current limitations I may need to use more power than I normally do, which, if I'm not careful may cause problems in the future. Three, their harnessing the powers of a high ranking goddess, enough said.'

Honestly speaking Ariock had only one choice lots and lots of improvisation.

(??? Pov)

She was angry, no, anger doesn't even start to describe the feeling that's slowly enveloping her at this moment. Absolute rage is a far more accurate representation.

However this rage and hatred wasn't her own, it's was Gora's. In fact she's normally a very calm and composed person. This was one of the main reasons why she was picked to carry out this large task, after all not just any one can resist the corrupting tendencies of Gora's energy.

It takes a calm mind and soul to be able to take in the energy of Gora without descending into madness, something she possessed, but she was reaching her limit. The rage induced energy was fluctuating at an increasingly fast pace making it very hard to keep up with.

If she wasn't careful with how she absorbed this energy it could corrupt her soul, which wasn't exactly on her bucket list of things to do in her life time.

The most effective course of action would be to expel the excess energy allowing her to get a better grip on herself, thus allowing her to continue without any fear. This however wasn't a good solution.

If she were to do that it most definitely would cause more harm than good, as the energy wouldn't just combine with the natural magic  the world generates automatically. Leaving it to aimlessly wonder until someone or something accidentally or purposely integrated it into themselves. This in it's self isn't bad for it happens quite a lot when Gods decide to use magic that isn't within mortal limits.

The energy for Gora isn't within the norm though. This energy shes currently  absorbing isn't magic but pure energy, which has a completely different effect.

The normal effect is that the person who absorbed the magic residue from the gods simply gets a small or large power boost depending on the amount of magic absorbed. With pure energy the effect is boosted and then some by a large margin.

If someone were to completely intergrate pure God energy not only would they get a boost far greater than normal, but would in a sense become the God or goddess them selves.

As a priestess of Xavi God of balance this wasn't something she would allow to happen, as it would quite literally break the balance of the world.

So the only other way that she could think of is to imbue her magic with the excess energy and use spells to lighten the lode. This was why she used the spell Warriors of rage. The amount of mana needed to use the spell was quite high perfect for expending extra mana.

She still had quite a bit left though, but she suspected that it would not last long. The green haired warrior she saw in her ball of observation is quite powerful, low-mid S rank if she had to guess from how easily he delt with her summons ( which each had an individual level of mid A rank).

She herself without the influence of Gora's energy was mid S rank when it came to magical energy alone and high A rank every where else, but with it she couldn't tell. Possibly High S rank reaching to low SS rank in magical energy, and most likely low S rank in all other areas.

She'd know soon however as an electrical ark of purple lightning blasted through the entrance to the room leaving only a cloud of dust and ash in its wake.

(3rd person)

As the dust/ash settled down the four eyed priestess saw a sight that would make even veteran adventures tremble in fear.

Ariock stood at his full height of six feet,  his reptilian eye glowed in a menacing neon green color while his other eye had turned an abyssal white. Black lightning cackled off of him in waves destroying anything in their path, meanwhile he himself emitted an aura of destruction that just screamed power. He held no weapons just black gloves with wholes for his fingers.

Currently the battle mage was observing his surroundings getting a layout of the place before the fight began. When he finally noticed Gora's seals he rose an eyebrow, before shaking his head and turning it towards the clearly surprised Priestess of Xavi with a glare.

"So your the one behind all this huh? Can't say I'm not surprised. It's not every day that a follower of Xavi uses the energy of Gora to destroy a city." he said with an angry/dissapointed expression.

The priestess now snapped out of her stupor attempted to respond but was beaten to it by Ariock.

"Before you respond let me just make one thing clear I have no problem killing a high ranking member of your religious group, and before you ask how I knew your high ranking let's just say I'm good at judging peoples power. Moving on I'll ask you a couple questions before we start fighting, you of course can decline them but I wouldn't suggest it. Then if you so wish I'll answer a few questions from you as well."

The reason behind Ariocks request was to by time to think up a strategy to deal with her effectively.

The priestess naturally saw through this but nodded to the request nonetheless. She wouldn't kick a gift in the mouth after all.

Nodding at Ariocks request the priestess began talking in a rather pleasant voice in Ariocks opinion.

"let us exchange names first, my name is Kumo Loyal follower of Xavi God of balance" she said with a respectful tone which caught Ariock off guard.

While curious why she took that specific tone of voice Ariock mentally shrugged it off before speaking his name in a similar tone.

"My name is Ariock loyal follower of Jericho God of snakes." he said.

The priestess gained a curious look on her face when she heard the name Jericho and his domain.

"Jericho God of snakes? Don't think I've heard of that one before." Kumo said curiously.

Ariock nodded in understanding.

"He's a fairly new God that popped up as of late." he said with a dismissive wave of the hand.

Kumo looked like she wanted to ask more but decided against it.

"Alright my turn, why are you planning on destroying the city of Sulcan? Don't try to lie either I'll know if you are." Ariock said with a stern stare.

Under Ariocks piercing stare Kumo felt helpless and somehow knew he wasn't bluffing. It was instinctual almost as if her very being told her not to lie to this man.

She trusted her instincts and decided to tell some of the reason.

"The city known as Sulcan is Breaking the balance of the world. If it is not taken care of then the after effects would be devastating." she said with confidence.

Starring at her for a second Ariock deducted she was telling the truth maby not all of it but the truth nonetheless.

"Sorry girly I can't allow that to happen that is my home you know." he said with a fake apologetic smile.

Hearing the young man call her girly caused her eye to twich in annoyance while a burst of rage coursed through her body, but she ignored it hoping that he didn't notice.

Ariock in fact did notice it and decided to keep that noted.

Knowing it was her turn Kumo asked one more question.

"What rank are you exactly? From what I can tell your at least low-Mid S Rank."

Ariock just Smiled and said" You'll find out eventually."

A tick mark appeared on Kumo's head at that remark.

"Fine then let's find out shall we?" She said while gripping her staff tightly, making it glow Scarlett.

"Ah, ah, ah, I still have one more question for ya." the hidden God said with a finger wag.

Kumo scoffed but allowed the green haired warrior to continue.

Ariock closed his eyes took a deep breath in and got ready to deliver a rant the likes of no one had ever seen.

" Why Gora specifically? Why her of all the other gods and goddess sealed throught the world? I get that she's a murder goddess and all that jazz but wouldn't someone like, I don't know, the sealed dragon of destruction Draci who was able to fight on even terms with the creator of this continent do better? Not to mention why'd you send out those parasites? They all but announced that you planned to destroy the city. Hell if you hadn't done that I probably wouldn't have been able to find you until it was to late! Also did you really have to activate the blood moon near you that's a dead give away that something fishy is going on here."

After Ariock was done with his rant he looked expectantly at Kumo, who was by the way looking slightly ashamed of herself.

(Kumo's pov)

'What in the name of Xavi is with this guy!' I mentally shouted as Ariock stared at me intently.

'Not only does he have the balls to call me me girly, but he not only figured out my plans with ease but had the gull to comment and complain about them! Who the hell does that!'

Ariock apparently.

Kumo was going to mentally rant further but was snapped out of it when on instinct she back flipped backwards (ten feet) to doge a small knife made of flames heading towards her foot.

After landing Kumo stared at the knife as it dispersed leaving nothing but the slightly burnt ground behind.

Knowing were it came from Kumo glared at Ariock who carried a teasing smirk on his face.

"What the hell! I was preparing an answer to your question, which by the way is more than one." she yelled.

Ariock just shook his head while putting on a face that said "really? How naive".

Seeing this Kumo was pissed and got ready to cast a spell to show him not to f.u.c.k with her.

However Ariock next words stopped her in her tracks.

" You should always be aware of your surroundings and never let your guard down. You disregarded both of those rules and spaced out in the middle of a dangerous situation. When I saw this I couldn't help but take advantage of it, I'm sure you would do the same."

Kumo looked at Ariock dumb founded.

'Who the hell is this guy? He makes me feel like he's a teacher and I'm a student who doesn't know even the basics of combat!'

In all of Kumo's life she had never experienced something or more accurately someone like Ariock. He was smart, strong, and experienced far more than herself. Not to mention the way he acted around her... Pissed her off to no end!

Kumo unconsciously gripped her staff tighter making it glow even brighter than before.

'No! Calm yourself Kumo you can't get angry or else the entire energy will consume you!'

Hearing herself she calmed down and readied herself.

Looking at Ariock she snarled in a deep bloodthirsty tone surprising Ariock.

"look here Ariock I won't be answering your questions instead I'll be beating you to the ground." she said much louder and far more feral than normal."