Hero Helping... Again? (3)

Edited by Kuro and Lille

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethenea, the Goddess of Love and Fertility, shook her head and gave a sad smile. Her voice was soft and quiet, so everyone stopped talking just to hear her speak. "It's more than just hero helping though. In this world, the Demon King is born out of resentment from a Fallen God. One of our own, the God of Death and Dreams, couldn't stand the way the humans treated one another and other races. He hated their greed for power, fame, and money. Many people died senselessly, and he was the one in charge of making sure that they would be able to reincarnate peacefully…

"However, he was too kind to the poor souls that came to him. He couldn't understand why people treated life so carelessly and so cruelly. After thousands of years, his resentment grew and grew until it consumed him, turning him into a Fallen God. His only wish was to rid the world of intelligent beings so that the world could start anew, and then hopefully, he wouldn't have to greet so many pitiful and lost souls.

"That's how these Demon Kings are born. They are the personified resentment that he harbors in his heart… Usually, bestowing a Hero with divine power can let them easily fight the Demon King, but this time, the Hero is not strong enough and the world will end…

"We want you to free him of that resentment and save this world alongside the Hero. We can't do that ourselves because we can't interfere with the ways of the world, but you can. You are a foreign entity, so you should be able to harbor the power of the heavens."

Everyone was surprised to hear her talk so much, but for the Gods, it made sense. The God of Death and Dreams was once her lover…

Grey couldn't help but ask, "What's the difference between Divine and Heavenly power?" Wasn't it the same thing?

Wyrmis answered this question.

"Divine power can be given to humans. It allows them to wield a small portion of power that resembles our power. Think of it as a very diluted version of it. It's safe for humans and won't cause any adverse side effects. It can be used to defeat the Demon King and his minions or to heal comrades. As for heavenly power, it's basically being given the power of the Gods, undiluted of course. We will only temporarily give it to you though… You will use that to purify the Fallen God and help us bring him back to the divine realm."

"Also, only the Hero can kill the Demon King and vice versa."

That made sense to Grey…

"Just to clarify, you want me to not only help the Hero defeat the Demon King with this Heavenly power, but you also want me to purify the Fallen God? In exchange, you will make sure I survive and give me something that will help me defeat the Villain System?"

"That's correct."

All the Gods nodded.

"Alright, I can help, but there are no promises to me succeeding."

"Of course, of course. You aren't the first Host to lose, but please try to win this time. If you don't, everyone will perish, ceasing to exist…"

That was a lot on his shoulders but it was nothing new. He and System 225 were already shouldering the fate of all the souls in the UniOrb. Gods included. This was nothing to him.

"Don't worry, I will do my best."

After agreeing to help the Gods, he talked with them, until he had to go back to Ren's body…

*****

When Grey woke up again, he was still in the torture room. He almost forgot he was in there.

"Oh, you woke up," That familiar sultry voice whispered into his ear again, "You were only out for a few minutes. I thought I would have to drag your dead body out of the room."

Grey finally lifted his head and looked at the masked man who was slightly bent toward him. He could not see anything past the mask, but he felt the man had a huge grin on his face.

"Oh, to finally grace me with your face, I feel honored," The Masked man said sarcastically.

Grey almost rolled his eyes. He just stared blankly, feeling the slow changes occurring in his body. He was given special blessings by each of the Gods so that his body would get used to the heavenly power. By the time the Hero comes, his body will be used to the heavenly power.

"It seems you don't want to scream or talk. How unfortunate. If you beg, I can give you the antidote for the poison I just used. Aren't you uncomfortable?"

He honestly got used to the pain, so it didn't matter to Grey if he got the antidote or not.

"You aren't fun at all… Well, I got enough data, so here." The man poured the antidote on Grey's skin without warning. It healed but still left scars on his legs.

The man didn't say anything else. He just unlocked the chains and picked Grey up by his shirt collar. He seemed annoyed with Grey's lack of fear toward him.

Once in the room, Grey was tossed inside with no regard and the door was quickly shut. At least he was thrown in the direction of his dirty mat.

His legs were still hurting, so he crawled on the dirty floor to his mat that was right next to Vincent. Surprisingly, Vincent was awake.

"Vincent… are you feeling a little better?" Grey whispered as he sat next to him.

Vincent couldn't move his body well, but he managed to utter an answer, "Hmm… little bit." Meaning he was still in pain but at least he was awake.

"Have some water." He created some water with magic and gently brought it close to Vincent's mouth.

He didn't know how long he was gone, but staying hydrated was more important when sick.

Vincent greedily drank the water that Grey gave to him. It was as if he was dehydrated for days.

After he was done drinking, it seemed like he was feeling a bit better. Grey also created more water to give to the other children. He didn't move, so the kids were a bit shocked to see a bubble of water floating in front of them. They knew it was Ren giving them water, so they drank it without any reserves.

Grey was debating if he should also take out food from his System space for everyone to eat. He was hungry and he was sure everyone else was hungry, but he didn't know if they would be suspicious of him taking food out of nowhere… Would it really be okay?

He decided to take out dried meats and fruits. He didn't know what excuse to make about it, he just didn't want anyone to starve.

"Vincent, take this food. You have to get better." Since Vincent was the closest, Grey decided to go to him first with food.

He brought the food to Vincent's mouth, hoping that he would be able to eat. Even though it was dried meat, it was actually tender. It wasn't the melt-in-your-mouth kind of tender, but it was tender enough that it was comfortable to eat.

Vincent was able to keep it in his mouth and soften it. To him, it was the tastiest thing he had ever tasted. He didn't know where Grey got it, but he wanted more.

"Take some of this too." It was dried vegetables and fruits. It was put into a very condensed cube but it had everything they needed in terms of nutrition.

The cube didn't taste as good as the dried meat, but it wasn't the end of the world. Vincent felt content and full, so he softly thanked Grey and went back to sleep. His body still had a lot of fighting to do.

The other children saw Grey eating and looked over at him with expectant eyes.

In the end, he fed the kids the same amount he fed Vincent. He had a lot of food, so they could spend years in this basement, so he didn't ration the food, he just knew they wouldn't be able to stomach a lot from the years of malnutrition. He had to go slow or they would get sick.

After feeding the other children, Grey laid down to rest. His body was tired. He couldn't do much but at least he let everyone live another day…