33 Chapter 33

"Cough cough damnit." Max said as he slowly forced his body to get up.

"You alright kid?" The same woman who cast the spell asked Max.

When he looked at the owner of the voice, he saw a beautiful woman with locks of curly raven black hair falling in cascade on her shoulders. Her face was very pale, triangular in shape with a slightly receded chin. Her eyes were cold and sparkling with a remarkable violet penetrating gaze. On her long and slender neck hung a black marigold with a star made of obsidian sparkling with a multitude of tiny diamonds embedded in it. (A/N: A jade beauty for short.)

"Yeah I'm fi-" Max was about to say when he was cut off.

"Then go back into the fight, there are other cultists who needs to be culled." She said haughtily.

"Well, that was rude." Max said but still did as she said.

Vincent and Derek were on their last legs. Their bodies were riddled with wounds on top of wounds. Medb was also showing signs of exhaustion but she wasn't as urgent as the others.

'She can handle herself.' Max shrugged and went on to help Vincent and Derek. Those cultists weren't as much trouble as the spearman and were quickly killed.

"Wrought Iron! Thank the gods!" Vincent was relieved upon seeing Max and slightly relaxed his guard which almost became his doom if not for a projected sword plunging deep into throat of his assailant.

"Be careful!" Max admonished.

"My bad!" Vincent said. 'Now I know why I was stuck as an accountant in the guild.' He thought.

'Now he knows why he was stuck as an accountant in the guild.' Max thought as he projected His bow and faced off the archer who was dodging his arrows nimbly.

He continued approaching his target while shooting arrows and swords.

The archer didn't have anywhere left to run, so she ditched her bow and grabbed her short swords from her back.

'Tch. This one is temporary too.' Max thought as he laid his eyes on the short swords.

Their blades clashed while spreading sparks everywhere.

The cultist woman was trying to gain the upper hand but was slowly being pushed back by the onslaught of Max's blows.

She couldn't get the rhythm of her opponent and that almost became her doom if not for the white gooish substance that landed close to them.

Max noticed the substance at the same time as the cultist and retreated just in time before he got caught in the explosion.

*Boom!*

"Ahahaha!" The maniacal laugh of the man named Deidara was heard once again. And when the smoke dispersed, Max saw that all the cultists were now standing on top of a gigantic clay bird-like creature. "A pity we needed to make this short but I need to display my art somewhere else! I left you a gift though!" He said as he brought his hands up. "Let there be light!"

The next thing Max saw was Bilbo rushing towards him anxiously, and the woman uttering some words in a language he couldn't understand.

*Boom!!*

Then everything went black.

——<>——

"Hmh" Max slowly came back to his senses when he heard an ethereal voice.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake."

He opened his eyes and saw himself in a throne room of sorts with eight pillars erected in place to hold the massive dome.

Nearly everything looked metallic silver with some reds and blacks mixed in.

Then he turned his sight towards where the voice came from. First thing he noticed was a throne of swords in the same color scheme as the rest of the hall, metallic silver. On it sat the figure of a humanoid Entity with no visible features except for a mouth, seemingly smiling on him.

Max was tongue tied, he couldn't utter a word, a million thoughts went through his mind, but he couldn't even speak any of them.

Thankfully he didn't have to as the Entity spoke with the same ethereal tone; "I offer you an accord."

——<>——

"He's waking up."

"Hgh"

Max woke up 'once again', but this time, he wasn't in a throne room of sorts. He tried to get up but was stopped by Bilbo.

"Easy there kiddo. You got banged up really bad there. Luckily I made it in time." Bilbo said.

"Thank you." Max replied with gratitude then saw Medb sitting by herself in the corner, while biting her nails, muttering something to herself almost inaudibly.

"…ously what's… at bitc…ng here?"

"She's been like that ever since we got here." Bilbo said after noticing Max looking at Medb.

They were in a part of the forest, away from the peeping eyes. Vincent and Derek were similarly bandaged and were sleeping a little bit of distance away from Max.

"What happened back there? Who were those guys?" Max asked.

"…they *sigh* what do you know about the gods and history?" Bilbo asked after a heavy sigh.

"Hmm except for their authorities, nothing much.

The Paragon; God of Craftsmanship, Protection, Well-Earned luck.

Rhongomyniad; Goddess of Benevolence, Order, Luck.

Meridia; Goddess of Sun, Light, Dawn.

Mehrunes Dagon; God of Destruction, Calamity, Chaos.

Molag Bal; God of Corruption, Domination, Undeath.

Mephala, Goddess of Secret Plots of Murder, Sex, Darkness.

Azura; Goddess of Dusk, Night, Stars.

Sheogorath; God of Madness, Arts…and Cats

Akatosh; God of Dragons, Magic, Time

Dibella; Goddess of Beauty, Fertility, Agriculture

Talos; God of War, Wisdom, Sky.

Hircine; God of Hunt, Animals, Sports" Max said. (A/N: There might be some tweaks and additions further along the story.)

"That's right. Now, where do they reside?"

"In Oblivion."

Oblivion was the reverse side of the world. And that's where the gods resided. Each god had a plane and their believers would end up in their planes after their death.

"Do you know why, with all their powers, they can not interact with the mortal world directly?" Bilbo asked.

"No."

"Many eons before, the gods walked on the land. They gave their wisdom to the humans. It was all good at the beginning until Molag Bal couldn't hold his urges and tried to turn every living being into undeath with the collaboration of a few gods. The mortals were on the brink of extinction, until The Paragon sealed the gates of the Mortal World and the Reverse Side shut. From then on the gods couldn't exert any direct power onto the Mortal World."

"The Paragon had that much power? 'He' is foremost The God of Craftsmanship after all." Max questioned.

"Yes, that's correct. But why do you think he has Silver Throne in 'His' honorable name?" Bilbo asked with mysteriousness.

"Why?"

"Because he was the First-Born of the Golden Throne, The Primordial One. The One True Creator, The Godhead. Followed by 'His' brother, The Bronze Throne, Molag Bal. But anyways, that's not the point." He said and continued, "Ever since the gates closed, The Gods' influence on our world diminished significantly. Some tried to find ways to infiltrate our world once again but The Paragon's seal still holds strong to this day… but it doesn't mean they gave up. *sigh*" Bilbo released a deep sigh as the wrinkles on his face became much more pronounced in an instant.

He took a puff of his pipe, and then continued, "Before I met the friends who became my partners for the rest of my life, I used to be a member of the Mythic Dawn." He said with sadness visible in his voice. "I was a thief. And I was damn good at it. One day, they came to me with a offer. I didn't know back then, they told me it was an ordinary amulet. I sneaked into the emperor's palace and stole it. It was much later I learned that it was the key." Then he turned to Max and looked at him deeply.

"It was the key to open a gateway for their god, The God of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon to descend upon the mortal world." Regret filled his voice. "I tried to steal it back but I couldn't. I could only escape with my tail tucked between my legs. They haven't attempted the summoning yet, which means they don't have all the necessary materials required for the ritual." He said with some hope in his voice.

"They didn't send anyone too high ranked. Deidara is within my capabilities, I hope. Which means the wish granting artifact isn't that high ranked on their list, maybe they don't place too much importance on it. But it'd be bad if they get their hands on it. You guys return, I'll be staying here. It'll be dangerous for you." He added lastly.

"…" Max was silent throughout Bilbo's monologue. He had multiple thoughts racing though his mind. Then, he softly spoke; "Hey Bilbo."

"What?"

"What if, I mean if, you had a wish. Something you really wanted, and there was hope of it coming true. You had a clue. But then you learned that it wasn't possible at the moment and if you did nothing, it would never come true. And the only way of realizing it went through servitude for who knows how long, would you accept?" He stared deeply into Bilbo's eyes.

"I-" Bilbo was about to reply when Max cut him off.

"You know what? Forget it. I'm coming with you." He said as he slowly got up. His wounds were hurting but not that much.

"Hey hey hey easy there kid! Your wounds will open up." Bilbo tried to stop Max but he was unsuccessful.

"Don't worry old man. Steel is my body." He said as he fully got up. "Now, what do we do? Oh, Medb, are you with us by the way?" Max asked as he remembered Medb who was still muttering something to herself.

When she heard Max, she stopped biting her nails and looked over, "What?"

*Sigh* "We're gonna find the hoard." He said after realizing she didn't listen to any of the stuff that was said.

"Hey-!" Bilbo tried to intercept but was blocked by Max.

"The hoard? Of course I'm in!" She said with mild anger in her voice.

"Good, now point to somewhere on the map." Max said as he unrolled the map on the ground.

"What are you doing? Whatever you tried to do didn't work last time, remember?" Bilbo said.

"Yeah. It was warning us to return which we didn't pay any heed. Now that we're in deep shit, it should work this time." Max replied as he waited for Medb.

"I'm not sure what your purpose here is but meh." She shrugged as he pointed at a random spot.

It was quite close to where they were. "A few hours should be enough." Max said.

"I don't know what games you're playing here but you're not coming with me kids. I won't allow it." Bilbo said while crossing his arms.

"*Sigh* Just let us help old man. Let me handle the others while you focus on the maniac. I won't throw myself into much danger I promise. What's the worst that can happen?" He said.

Bilbo went silent for a few moments and stared into Max's eyes then heaved a sigh. "Fine. Do what you want."

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

The tlot Phickens!

*Sniff *Sniff what's that? Is that the smell of sweet freedom? Ha! That's right! It's freedom!

A longer chapter as promised. Let me know your thoughts.

I believe we'll finish this arc in two chapters, hopefully.

Throw them stones if you enjoy the story and keep my motivation going!