The Road Not Taken IV

"As my name proclaims, I, Sarpanit, hereby convene this king's assembly." Sarpanit clapped her hands and six thrones rose from the ground behind each individual within the bubble. "Acting as the lawman, it is within my power to grant protection to the first party… your true name, gentleman?"

"Irwin Bellios."

"I hereby grant protection to Irwin Bellios from any harm by the other parties within, lest my domain shatters and my true form ceases to exist." Sarpanit nodded solemnly at Irwin before gazing at his husband. "I hereby grant protection to Marduk, King of the Gods, from any harm by the other parties within, lest my domain shatter and my true form ceases to exist."

Irwin felt a shimmer of a ghost pass through his body once Sarpanit granted her protection. It felt ticklish.

"Oh, nice. Thank you for the guarantee." Irwin gazed briefly at Mamu and Ninsar, who had been tied-up in their respective thrones, before turning his attention to King Marduk. "Shall I state my terms?"

"Do so, but know that we have the right to refuse should your terms prove to be… less than ideal," King Marduk warned. "And, yes, our refusal means your death."

"Fine by me. So, before we start, let me preface that any deal we agree on will be secured by an oath. I have three created by Sanctus, a god of–"

"We know." Marduk waved off Irwin's words. "We also know that you are protected by the great goddess Ereshkigal, one reason as to why we are betraying our allies for you."

"Good to know." Irwin unconsciously rubbed his chest, feeling the amulet hanging within. "Let's start…"

Irwin was glad to brandish his negotiating skill, but as far as he was concerned, he had the couple in the bag the moment they turned on the remaining Sassuratu. They were considered being the king of the godly pantheon and, while that term may not be as grand to their group as those of the Aesirs and the Olympians, he could tell that Marduk held his title in high honor.

It was apparent, ten minutes into the negotiations, that their alliance with the Nintur–and, subsequently, that of the Sassuratu–were but a last-ditch effort not to be hunted down by humans or the Otherworlders.

Seeing that they were technically the King and queen of the Gods, it had humbled them to see their brethren be helpless against the onslaught of human weaponry with their primary fear of being put down by the legendary Colt.

Irwin told them that he knew of the Colt's origin, number of bullets, and its current owner, backing his proposal on the fact that he could, at any time, gather the weapon and kill them.

Still, nobility was in their blood and they wanted no less than the life of aristocracy in their terms. Irwin had to offer one full castle just so he could place them in Austria and, while that was great in eliminating the need to employ people to prevent its disrepair, he feared that he was being too lenient to the two.

Luckily, Irwin convinced the couple to recruit other pagans under their command. He structured it like a pyramid scheme–a term both of them were not familiar from–with more recruits equaling more resources for them to divvy up; said resources, of course, did not have a command on how to be distributed.

Sarpanit wanted to include the inductions of alchemists to their personal staff, citing three of them to be important in her skincare. Irwin wanted to argue, but given that they were essentially allowing him to place hunters within their home and be trained to be alchemist from creatures who created them in the first place, he accepted the demand.

Unlike Sarpanit's egregious demands or Marduk's shopping spree–costing Irwin seven hundred credits this month alone–Sirrush kept silent throughout the ordeal, only nodding at his master's words when his name came up.

By the end of the negotiations, Marduk and Sarpanit settled on becoming caretakers for Gliemdrick Castle with special orders to reach out to their pagan contacts and recruit them under the guise of preemptive defense against the war of Heaven and Hell.

But before they could sign the deal and let Irwin handle the next phase of his plans, there was still the issue of worship that they needed to solve.

"Convicts?" Sarpanit tilted her head. "Just any convicts?"

"No. Maximum security convicts. Rapists, cult leaders, serial killers, hardened gangsters, hitmen, and the likes. People who won't even see the light of day, that kind of convicts." Irwin clarified. "Why? Do they not… taste good? Is that even a thing?"

"No, all humans taste the same, albeit those who worship us have a… grander taste than normal." She looked at her husband for a moment. "That's why we prefer sacrifices that have been indoctrinated since birth."

"Alright. I'll start hitting up our contacts in the French mob. I hear they know someone who has access to Russian black sites." Irwin checked food off the list, not the slightest bit unperturbed about the discussion; a fact Marduk was quick to point out.

"I must say that I applaud your moral flexibility. Selling out your kin to gain an upper hand? We have taught you well." Marduk complimented.

Irwin resisted the urge to scoff, merely placing a gratified smile on his face. "It's not like I'm giving you innocent people. These people are as worse as the monsters we face every day except we can't kill them willy-nilly because of human rights. Since they're too dangerous to be kept alive, I figured… why not give them another purpose in life?"

Irwin stood up from his seat and dusted off his suit jacket before taking out three golden scrolls from his spatial bangle. "Now, if you'll just sign and drop your blood here."

The couple had no qualms about the contract, yet still read it thoroughly before dropping their blood. Delight swelled within Irwin as soon as the golden clasp wrapped around their wrists, now having four pagan deities under his command.

"Thank you. Gordon is upstairs, ready to drive you to the airfield."

King Marduk whistled for the monster hybrid to follow him as he passed by the sisters.

"What about a snack on our way out?" Sarpanit asked with a smile.

"Tell him that there's a forged court order in my silver briefcase, just add in the prisoner number and fake name." Irwin once again resisted the urge to scoff. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a goddess to kill."

The bony pillar monsters didn't attack the three pagan gods as they left the bubble, allowing them to enter the elevator so much as a hassle. Marduk kicked the bag outside of the elevator, which frustrated Irwin as he didn't know if that would set off the Soul Bomb–it did not.

Irwin merely stood in front of Mamu and Ninsar, waiting until the elevator reached the ground floor before stabbing both of them with an Angel Blade in the chest. It won't kill them, but the wound would be enough to incapacitate them as he removed the rope around their bodies.

He removed the gag from Ninsar's mouth and slapped her in the face. "Tell you mutts to back off when I exit the bubble. Any hostile movements and I kill you and your sister, then Nintur will truly be dead."

"Return!" Ninsar barked hoarsely, glaring fiercely at Irwin. "What are you gonna do to us, witch?"

He grabbed both of them by their leg and dragged them out of the bubble as he explained his plan.

"Easy. I'm going to dessicate you of your energy and revive Nintur."

"What?" Ninsar was evidently confused. Befuddled, even, by his words. She gazed at her sister before turning back to Irwin. "I don't understand. Why–"

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to." Irwin said, "Besides, you should be happy… After all, I'm fulfilling your ultimate plan."