135 Troublesome...

The sky was clear, the ocean calm, and the wind blew gently. It was a stark contrast with how it had been an hour ago, where it looked as if the world was about the end.

Floating in the air, a bleeding figure stood there, quietly observing the place that had been once a mass of land, now just endless water.

Now, he was truly alone. No... perhaps that was wrong to say. He was not alone. There was someone else with him, congratulating him on his victory.

Looking up at the parting clouds, he could see the Sun shining with intensity above the Earth. However, it was not the one he loathed, but the one he loved.

He had done it. His fangs had finally broken the bars of his cell, opening a path for him to at least get half of his body out. Now calmer than before and knowing he won't be getting any more unpleasant visits, his mood brightened once more.

His wounds also started to heal not long after, although the pain remained. 'Last time I headbutt a meteor.' He thought while massaging his forehead. Speaking of which, he felt that it had all been too easy somewhat, but he attributed it to her will being weaker after all these years. After all, she normally could make another planet collide with the Earth if she so wanted. Just some meteors were child's play for her.

Speaking of which, it looked like that woman had left just as she used the remaining of her powers to use one of her Authorities.

A long sigh escaped his lips. Honestly, it all felt surreal. Everything seemed to be a work of fate, as much as he hated to say it. It was a coincidence after coincidence that every time ended in his favor. Saying he was a little creeped out would be putting it mildly. The black-haired man was always one to get the short-end of the stick in every situation, so he was not used to everything suddenly benefiting him one way or another, just by mentioning that he was originally a quasi-God of Love only to end up as a War God and the necessary evil in his Pantheon explained a lot of things.

As he said before, it was all too... coincidental. Many theories formed inside his mind about the reason behind all of this, but one stood among others, as ridiculous as it sounded. However, it was often that the wildest of theories were almost if not spot on.

His gaze focused everywhere and, at the same time, nowhere before speaking. "Is it because your son is in me? Or is it that you want me to finish him off? I never quite understood your relationship."

As expected, he didn't get an answer — not that he expected one to begin with —. "It doesn't matter. I will kill him all the same with or without your consent. I already have enough with a psychopathic counterpart and a clown who is the source of most of my recent problems living inside me. I don't need another one."

Most likely, it would be the most difficult fight he will face in a long while, but one he needed to fight nonetheless. He couldn't keep things as they were now. To call him a time bomb waiting to explode would not be false at all. So much so that his 'why troublesome things keep happening around me' meter was going through the roof.

'Haha, wait, wait! Don't go walking around and keeping all the fun for yourself. We made a deal. Remember? You get to fight Herakles, and I get to fight him. Besides, you are bound by your stupid principles, something I am not. Should you fight him haphazardly, we would both die.' A voice equal to his own came from within him, causing Seth to roll his eyes.

"So, you are awake? Hooray..." The Egyptian God rolled his eyes in exasperation. Why couldn't he have a moment to enjoy? Was that too much to ask?

'I see I am well-liked as ever, well, it does not matter. I just came to congratulate you? Us? Anyway, now that we are free from that curse, it is time to embark on our real quest.' The Chaotic aspect of him spoke with confidence, forgetting his 'holier than thou' attitude for a second to address important matters.

"My quest is to help humanity one time, while in the process, teaching them how to fly without the help of our kind. After that, it will be hunting time with the Egyptian Pantheon. I don't have any other ambitions at present." Seth said after giving one last glance at the Sun above, his wounds healing with the help of her light.

A dark chuckle escaped his counterpart's lips. "That is where you are wrong, other me. A quest is a final destination, not the road we traverse to reach it. Same as you, I have my own interests, but that doesn't mean it is my final goal. We both are the same at the same time we are different, but it is that similarity that allows me to know we want the same.'

"The Truth that Uncovers our Origin at the World's End..."

'...the place we all go when we ultimately perish. The same place that has all the answers everyone seeks. We have to go there. We MUST go there. There is no other way around it.' His tone left no room for refusal, something Chaos knew Seth would not do.

"We need more power to have the qualifications," Seth stated matter-of-factly. However, as a God, his options were limited to... unsavory means.

'Stealing Authorities, stealing Divine Weapons, assimilating other Gods; the means are endless.' He said, his voice growing lower with each word as if falling asleep.

"You know the consequences of doing something like that? We are already unstable. We don't need to add more to the list." The only answer he got was silence.

Sighing for the nth time, Seth shapeshifted again to return to the island. 'And to think we were once called The Lord of the Heavens. With a personality like that, I wonder where did that title come from.'

Shaking his head at the absurdity that was his current life, he flapped his wings before departing with a destination in mind. It wouldn't be much time until the Chaldeans arrived, after all.

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Seth arrived shortly at their current waiting place. No Harpy, Wyvern, or Roc impeded his flight for some reason, so he had an easy time making his way there. As he was nearing the island, he did not see Drake's ship, so it was pretty obvious they were not there yet, although it wouldn't be long for them to come. His sight — which wasn't the best at the moment — might not register them, but his Master-Servant contract sure did.

What he COULD sense were the three other Servants on the island. Atalanta was on one of the biggest trees near the shore, so she most likely spotted him already. David seemed to be fishing with a wooden bow he made himself. As for Medea, she seemed to be setting up a workshop to keep sustaining herself now that she was Masterless. That said, Seth doubted she would have luck, if any at all, doing so. Materials were not an easy thing to obtain here, and the Leylines sucked.

Her concerns were not something he would trouble with, though. He was not her Master anymore. With that in mind, he would wash his hands of her. She would return to the Throne Of Heroes after all of this ended anyway.

Once he finished localizing all their positions and that there didn't seem to be any trouble, he finally dived down and landed on the hot sands next to David. As soon as he did so, he reverted to his human form.

"You can give a warning if you are going to appear out of nowhere, did you know that? You almost gave me a heart attack. By the way, Medea already told us that she was successful in removing your curse, so I guess I must congratulate you." The green-haired man put a hand on Seth's shoulder with a small smile on his face. They might be on opposite sides regarding faith, but that didn't mean he didn't have empathy for others.

Although he felt a bit weird, Seth still gave him his thanks. However, he noticed David looking at him a bit weirdly, confusing the black-haired man a bit. "Is there a problem?"

Instead of answering, the King of Israel pointed at him, more precisely at his hair. Looking down, he saw how the tips had gone from black to red. 'Although that curse was not responsible for my tainting, it seemed to have returned my appearance to how it was before, if only slightly.'

The reason why his fire, as well as his hair, was black when it was supposed to be red was because of the same contract Medea tried to use Rule Breaker on first. Seth theorized they had mixed up somehow, causing the changes resulting from said contract to recede partially.

Well, at the end of the day, it didn't matter how he looked. That said, he still appreciated that he was one step closer to how he used to be—the original lord of the red land.

Shaking his head to clear his head, Seth responded to David. "Think nothing of it, just a side effect of the removal. It doesn't affect me in any way."

The green-haired man gave a nod of understanding. "That is good to know. So, now that you are somewhat healed, do you think we have better chances at them?"

Seth understood David was referring to his eyesight. To tell the truth, it did bother him as he could only see blurred images, and that was when he had the stupid glasses on. If he didn't, then he would only see shadows. However, at the end of the day, concerns were unnecessary. "Don't worry about it. I am essentially an Animal God. My sense of smell is always a better option than using my eyes. I wished the salt in the air didn't irritate my nose, though."

His words certainly reassured the Shepherd. They have decided on a plan, and if the pieces for it to work weren't there, he would get really anxious. "That's good. It would be best if you rested for now, nonetheless. I don't know how does your vessel work, but you can never say no to good sleep, especially now that is getting late."

In response, Seth just shrugged with a wry smile. "I don't mind, though; make sure to rest as well. We haven't entered a contract, so your Magical Energy is not endless. There is a limit to how much the World supplies you to act as a defender of the Singularity, after all."

Going by his estimations, the Chaldeans would arrive in a few hours at most. Getting a little rest wouldn't be much of a problem with that in mind. He could always wake up when they arrived anyway.

With nothing more to say, he turned around and left. They hadn't formed a Master-Servant contract yet because he needed as much Mana as possible to recover, but thanks to the events with the Ark, he did so earlier than expected. However, with the things that followed, they didn't have the time to make it. Still, he wouldn't be the one to propose the contract as he disliked the idea of basically asking someone to serve him.

As he was making his way over to the forest near the shore, David watched him without a change in his expression. He didn't say it to his face, but the green-haired man noticed a shift in his previous demeanor. It was difficult to explain, but it also was, by no means, a bad thing.

"It is useless and a fruitless effort for people to do battle while held captive by the grudges of their past. I am glad you understood that, or at least you started to understand it." Those were his final words before returning to his fishing.

Seth didn't say anything, he didn't stop moving, and he didn't show any signs of having heard him.

'Hatred that spans for thousands of years is not so easy to discard, sheep boy. First I will have to kill them, wait for them to revive, and then kill them again. Repeat the process until I get tired and then...just then I might consider putting them to rest for eternity... together with my grudges.'