Chapter 74

The impact was jarring, and Theodore felt something in his chest break. Blood trickled from his mouth as searing pain spread throughout his upper body. He glanced at his incapacitated hands and saw tight golden chains constricting his wrists. Panic washed over him as he tried to wriggle free, but the enchanted shackles held firm, refusing to yield to his desperate struggles.

[Warning! The Scales of Balance is tilting towards 'Order'!]

[The Scales of Balance expresses concern over the Executioner of the Wicked's whereabouts.]

[The Judge of Fire believes the Executioner and the Heathen are on Earth.]

[The Sky of the Divine worries about the Scales of Balance's destruction.]

"HAHAHAHA!" Ra bursted into a fit of laughter as a smirk crept up his lips. His triumphant eyes glared at Theodore with its unsettling gleam. The grip around his wrist constricted even more to the point that he couldn't contain his pained cries. He had no choice but to let go of the Void Blade, the sounds of cracking bones rang out from his dominant hand, the relentless vice of the chains pressured him further despite already ridding him of his weapon. "I didn't expect that to work out so well! You are such a fool, serpent. You had all that power, all that strength to kill me, and yet you failed because of your own pride."

Theodore gritted his teeth in frustration. He tried struggling out of the chains once more, but to no avail. His efforts only caused them to tighten further, foiling his attempts at escape. Trying to break them using his serpent form, his plans failed when he realized the chains' mysterious force prevented him from shifting.

"Stop struggling already." Ra stomped down on his head with no remorse, his grin grew wider at the sight of his enemy finally groveling before him. "I happened to acquire these chains from Asgard after managing to break out half of Jörmungandr's divinity. I believe they're called 'Chains of Destiny'. Even that world-ending snake couldn't break through, so I don't think that you could either."

'F*ck.' Theodore could feel his strength leaving him as the seconds passed. No one from the divine world could see what was going on, and they could no longer enter because he'd already filled the capacity with Thoth and Osiris.

He thought he could win with the many abilities that he'd gained. Summoning Fenrir might've been helpful, or perhaps he should've used Equality to gain the upper hand. But instead he opted for a swiffer solution: Kill Ra with the power of chaos.

Reducing the sun god to ashes sounded easy in theory, he simply needed to find the right moment to close in the distance and struck him once with the Void Blade itself. Somehow he'd failed such a simple task. Was he too prideful? Reckless? There were probably hundreds of skill and spell combinations that would have granted him a safe victory, and yet he chose one that's risky with many variables.

'What's wrong with me?' He thought his journey of wrecking everything in his path had made him lax. Foolish. Careless. What was the point of beating himself up in this situation anyway?

[The Effect of the Title 'Odds Conqueror' has activated!]

'Oh?'

[You have temporarily gained the Personal Attribute 'Idol's Voice'!]

'What the f*ck.'

He didn't even bother looking at its description. It was over, the Chains of Destiny was virtually indestructible, if it could easily be broken by chaos, it would've disintegrated the moment he tried to escape.

[Brother!] Ian's voice sounded in his head. Hearing the anxiety and fear in his tone made his chest tightened. He failed. What would happen to the Void Blade after it's fallen into Ra's hands? [Get a grip, Theo! You can still use 'Divine Outlaw'!]

'Divine Outlaw…?'

It hadn't been long since Theodore was lost in his train of thought, Ra was still laughing to himself and spitting out insults while slowly putting pressure on his head. He wanted to rip out his tongue, but he held back his anger and focused on coming up with a plan.

'What's next after I get out?' Heal himself and then pick up the Void Blade, but what about after that? He could only use Divine Outlaw once and he wasn't sure if Ra could simply reuse the Chains of Destiny to bind him again.

'Too risky.' Never again. He wasn't going to gamble on luck. Could he simply seal Ra's powers? That wasn't how the skill works. It would only ignore his actions, but not allow him to do anything he could ever wish for.

'Ian.'

[Yes?]

'...Can 'Divine Outlaw' be used to make a wish?'

[A…A wish?]

'To the divine world…I have a wish.'

[The Sky of the Divine worriedly looks down on its Executioner.]

'Can you just kill Ra? Or seal his powers, anything!'

[No, brother.] Ian answered instead. [If you ask for a wish, that already counts as breaking the rules, you cannot ask the divine world to break another rule for you.]

'I figured…then.' Theodore glared up at Ra. It was something the sun god didn't expect and he subconsciously flinched.

"Still have the strength to struggle?" Ra chuckled, however he couldn't hide the nervousness in his voice behind a smirk.

'Divine world, for my wish…As per my duty as your Executioner. Please rewrite my destiny.'

[Huh!? Brother what do you—]

[The Sky of the Divine shall grant the Demon God of Eternity's wish.]

Ra's eyes suddenly widened and he took a step back from Theodore. "What did you do?"

He didn't even do anything to stop Theodore from grabbing onto the Void Blade with his remaining hand. There was an unfamiliar power surrounding him. Its outside appearance seemed to be Chaos, but the feeling radiated from it was entirely different.

It was the divine world's authority, something that Ra had felt often prickling him behind his neck.

"You…!"

[Lawless World.]

Before Ra could get another word out, the space around them abruptly distorted the wrapped abnormally. It was as if the world was being scrunched up like paper between someone's hands. Not a scream could be heard as Ra and Theodore disappeared from the battlefield.

No, they vanished from the world altogether.

[The influence of 'Order' has been lifted!]

['Balance' is restored!]

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"Look! That boat is falling!"

The voice of a frantic male awakened caught everyone else's attention. Ra's proud and mighty solar barque lost its light and was falling down onto the ground below it.

Osiris and Thoth were helping Anubis regain his footing, the god of death now had a more solid and complete appearance. His tanned, muscular body was exposed through dark fabric and gold embroidery. He had the distinctive head of a jackal, and his black obsidian-like eyes looked as dead as the domain he'd came from.

"I'm…sorry. I am terribly sorry to all of you." Anubis croaked with a tired voice. He looked at the humans and the two gods beside him.

"It's fine, Anubis. You weren't in control of yourself." Osiris tried to reassure the god with a light smile.

"I…This would not have happened if I were stronger. I could not even defend the palace…"

"Look on the bright side, friend." Thoth swept his gaze across the calm battlefield before him. It was like watching a fierce storm swept past by. "You did not hurt anyone badly…I hoped."

"How…How did you bring me back to my senses?" Anubis attempted to change the subject.

"Ah! We planned to incapacitate you until Ra's dealt with. It seems that the serpent god succeeded." Thoth explained.

"Serpent god? You mean Apophis?"

"No," Osiris smiled and spoke as if he was talking about his own flesh and blood. "He's a newborn god, Apophis' son, Theodore."

Anubis' eyes went wide. "Son? She has a son?"

"Haha, you had a similar reaction as me when I first heard." The king of duat's smile grew. "But…It's truly a shame…Our own king, a god of order, had fallen so far that someone who was once our enemy needed to take the side of justice."

"I must thank him as well then," Anubis' gaze averted to the floor like he was ashamed of himself. "Where is he right now?"

Thoth looked around. "...Uh, I don't see him anywhere either—Ah!"

Mammon had returned to his humanoid form and was watching as the Egyptian soldiers and the undead monsters slowly disintegrated into dust, whisking away with the wind as if they weren't there in the first place. He was standing alongside Asmodeus, Eugene, and Merlin as the gods approached them.

"You mortals must be his friends," Osiris greeted them with a smile, catching their attention. "Have you seen Theodore?"

"No, I thought he was with you guys." Merlin turned towards the battlefield covered in frost, but there was no sight of his best friend anywhere. His eyes instantly widened as he realized Theodore was gone. "Where…What happened to him?"

[He…] Hermes spoke from the shining star above. Nervousness was clearly hinted at by the way his voice slightly shook. [I'm sorry, we were focused on the other humans to notice what was going on…But I saw at the last second that he disappeared along with Ra.]

[He seemed to have been bound by the Chains of Destiny.] Athena was expectedly reserved.

"Chains of Destiny?" Thoth didn't believe what he'd just heard. "That's…Only Asgard and Eden have access to such a powerful instrument. How did Ra come to possess it?"

[Most likely from Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent.] Athena replied.

"Then…What happened to Theodore?" Asmodeus' expression turned dark. She seemed to be holding herself back, but she was shaking so much that it became noticeable.

When no one spoke, Asmodeus suddenly lost her footing and stumbled, Mammon was fast enough to grab her by the arm and prevent her from falling. "Lust! There's no way Pride would die that easily, calm down!"

"I…But we don't even know for sure if he's okay…" Asmodeus' words plunged everyone into silence yet again.

But what broke the uncomfortable quiet wasn't any of them within the group.

[The Sky of the Divine urges the King of Duat, Hound of Duat, and Informant of Scorching Heaven to return to the divine realm.]

"What was that?" Mammon frowned at the sky. The 'voice' of heaven doesn't portray its words directly, but instead those it wants to commune with would understand its intentions the moment it 'spoke'.

"...The divine world wants us to return…that means Theodore is no longer using his powers to keep us here." Osiris waved his hand and a portal appeared behind him.

But before the three gods could leave, Merlin spoke up. "Does, does the divine world know where Theodore is?"

[The Sky of the Divine reassures that its Executioner is safe.]

[However, the Sky of the Divine cannot give a forthright answer as to when the Executioner would return.]

"...So we just have to wait?" Merlin bit his lips in displeasure. He didn't like the idea of anxiously sitting around while his friends' whereabouts were unknown. But at least he could feel slightly more at ease knowing that he was 'safe'.

"...I'm sorry." Anubis looked at the ground. "I can only wish that he returns to you safely."

[The Sky of the Divine looks at the three gods.]

"We must leave now." A slight shock from the ground sent an eerie sense of unease down the spines. It was as if the human world was screaming for them to leave. Complying with the warning, the gods walked through the portal, disappearing along with it the moment everyone got through.

"Theo…" Asmodeus looked back towards the frosted arena. The ice had just started to melt, but the cold still lingered. It showed how powerful Theodore truly was, even though he wasn't there to manage the domain, the undying ice still clung on to whatever life that remained.

"Let's just wait…He will be back." Eugene looked down at Merlin, his towering wolf form no longer radiating the power of a god. Trying to reassure him, he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure Theodore would find a way back eventually, didn't he return from death once?"

"Yeah…" Merlin forced a smile. "Yeah, he'll be back."

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Theodore stood face to face with Ra in a field of pure darkness. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls were infinitely large, and it was difficult to grasp the width and length of this space. 'Lawless World', one of the Void Blade's skills that he once used as a container. 'I used it to hold the excess divine power from the other gods.'

Even as they stood, he could feel the flow of celestial energy hovering around them. 'Good.' He smirked at Ra, the sun god seemingly hesitant to make his move in an unknown environment.

"...What did you do?" Ra's voice was low and quiet, it would've been difficult to hear if not because of the absolute silence around them. Theodore could even detect the soft thumping of his own heart beat.

"Haha," A broken laugh escaped his smiling lips, the simple act of breathing sent jolts of pain throughout his chest. Several broken bones moved with each of his excessive actions, but yet he spoke anyway. "You said you'll take me down with you…But now it's the other way around. Ra, both of us are stuck here now."

Ra didn't look like he believed him. The sun god gritted his teeth and extended out one hand, preparing to use magic. "If this is your personal domain, then I simply need to kill you. Those chains are still suppressing your abilities, I'm sure."

He wasn't wrong, the Chains of Destiny were still coiled around his limbs and neck, however the suffocating force it once exerted had dissipated entirely. Ra's control over them was undone the moment he stepped into the Lawless World.

Despite that, Theodore remained smiling. "Yeah, but you can't use your powers here either."

Ra's eyes went wide, and as if to prove Theodore's words, the moment he tried to conjure a magic circle, nothing but sparks of divinity flickered on his palms. "...How did you—"

"The Chains of Destiny suppresses my powers, but not the Void Blade's." Theodore held out the sword in front of him, the movement made his chest ache, but he ignored the pain and continued. "I just made a…sincere wish to the divine world, that's all."

"Wish?" Ra once again didn't believe him. He took a few steps back while his eyes cautiously fixated on the weapon. Every god knew that the divine world was fair and just, asking for it to give a god something they desire was simply impossible.

"...A dying wish, you could say." Theodore chuckled. Why was he telling this to Ra? He still had his pride after all, and he wouldn't be satisfied if his opponent died without knowing how he outsmarted them. How would that make for a satisfying revenge? "The Chains of Destiny bind one to their fate, but what was mine? An uncertain variable like me had no fixed future, so I simply asked for a change under the guise of giving me a mission as the Executioner. I will be fighting you here for the rest of eternity…Although—"

He knew his wish was a gamble, changing one's destiny was certainly something the divine world cannot do, but at the same time, this can be seen as the Executioner simply fulfilling his duties. It was most likely one of the only few loopholes he could've used.

Theodore flicked his sword and deflected a soft fireball to the side. His authority over the Lawless World didn't seem to be perfect, since Ra still managed to gather up his powers and create a spell despite his best attempts to suppress them. "—That depends on who kills who first."

"Then I will kill you!" Ra's aura burst outwards, its strength had been significantly weakened, but with Theodore injured and bound by the Chains of Destiny, that amount of power could be enough to take him down.

Not like Theodore would yield without a fight. He adjusted his grip on the Void Blade as Ra sent flaming whips towards him.

With just a few side steps, they all missed their targets and allowed Theodore to close in the distance between them. His leap of faith sent a near unbearable pain coursing through his upper body, but he gritted his teeth and delivered a horizontal slash to Ra's chest.

The sun god was in a much better condition than him, and the cut was too shallow to do any real damage. He retaliated with a blast of fire which was met with another swing of the sword.

"F*ck." Theodore flinched from the sudden jabbing pain in his chest. The Chains of Destiny would nullify his abilities until he met certain conditions—his fate, but at the moment, he had no idea what it was. The split second that he lost his footing, Ra took advantage of it to the fullest and sent several searing spears towards him.

'TUCK!'

He wasn't entirely powerless, the Lawless World was his to command, that meant he could virtually do anything within this space. The spears found themselves stuck inside a wall made from darkness, its slight purple hue giving it a contrast to the rest of the pitch black space around it. 'Dark Veil', at the very least he could mimic his own skills.

[Brother, you need to be mindful of the chaotic energy.]

The Lawless World exerted its authority through the use of chaotic energy. Theodore was currently using the ones stored within him, but the moment that runs out, he would need to resort to drastic measures to keep the Lawless World itself active.

He needed to continue his bluffings, that was the only way to win with his current condition. The spells he would choose to replicate needed to be simple yet effective, using anything belonging to Chaos would certainly consume a large amount of energy. 'I only have the ones I took from Jörmungandr.'

A losing battle, Theodore had forgotten what it felt like to struggle so much, but at the same time, it was as if he's at home.

'Ah, how familiar,' As the thoughts of a certain rainy day crossed his mind, a spark of flames caught his attention. The attack connected with the blunt side of his sword, it caused another searing pain in his chest, but for some reason, a chuckle escaped his lips.

"...Did you go mad from pain?" Ra gave him a look of contempt while firing another flaming spear.

It didn't get anywhere near him as Theodore simply sliced it in half with one swift swing. If Ra hadn't mentioned it, he probably wouldn't have realized that he was smiling.

"If that's enough to make me lose my mind, how would I still be fine after experiencing death once?" With another laugh, Theodore rushed at Ra with his sword ready for a wide horizontal arch. "No, I wouldn't be able to get my revenge like that, would I?"