Collateral Damage

As the planet spun around at intense speeds, the terrifying effects were felt by all inhabitants alike.

Holding onto any wall, fence or even the ground as the light of the stars spiraled in the sky because of the high rotational speed of the planet, the villagers tried not to be flung away by the horrific display of Seth's awakening from miles away.

Grabbing onto their children, tears from utter fear flowed through the eyes of the villagers as the feeling of death knocking their door struck them more and more by the second.

By the time everything came to a stand still and the light of the parent star illuminated the planet once again, the villagers that hadn't completely collapsed or had been flung away to nearby trees or walls had their hands joined to pray for their own safety and well being.

It was at this moment that their belief in God had truly been shaken. No one in their entire mortal lifespan could've even thought of witnessing such immense power that could even shake a planet this fast.

"Is this how we would really end...? Has God truly left us to die...? Is this the conclusion we get for what all we had done to worship him...? Were we all doomed from the start because of our deeds...? Were we betrayed into annihilating ourselves until this very day...?", Such thoughts that once would've been blasphemous had now struck the minds of many villagers alike out of the shock and peril created from the situation.

Nonetheless, there were still some who got really angry about the shaking belief in God that the village had. This resulted in inciting some violence between the groups whose faith had been struck for good and the groups whose faith remained the same.

"How dare you question God!? If it weren't for your sorry blasphemous asses that slacked off from sending those military goons away, God's wrath wouldn't fall upon us!" A bunch of aggressors raged upon the sentiment of heresy.

"What do you mean 'question' God? Have you no shame? Have you got no idea of the sacrifices we did in his name? Have you not seen what just happened here? Do you still believe in him?

Have you got any idea how many of our children were lost in this same God's name? In no time, we'd be all alone and old here. This is no God's work. This is not God's will. IT IS THE WILL OF THE DEVIL!" The group of those who resisted religious sentiments, now responded.

Just then came Lisa running into the village to stop the crowds from fighting as she screamed, "STOP IT! HOW ARE YOU GUYS FIGHTING AT A TIME LIKE THIS WHEN WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE?? CAN WE NOT GET TOGETHER FOR ONCE TO FACE THIS ATROCITY BOLDLY INSTEAD OF HEARTLESSLY HURTING EACH OTHER"

Having been lectured by someone as young as her made the crowds immediately understand what was at stake but despite that, many chose to not do anything about it and went inside their homes along with their leftover children.

"Wait! Why are you all leaving!?" Lisa exclaimed.

"Sorry, but while we don't wish to spend the last of our moments fighting each other, we certainly don't want to jump into a suicide mission just because our time is limited. You should go home too kid." A lot of the crowd spoke up before ultimately continuing to leave.

As most of the crowd had left, Lisa stood there alone with tears in her eyes. Her lips could only mumble a single word. It was cowardly. It was the cowardice of the village that ultimately put them into danger once again. First, their stance in leaving everything to God, and now, them choosing to not do anything about it because of realizing that God was never there to help them in the first place.

Meanwhile, on top of the mountains...

"Who are you...?" Akselfer spoke up to the mysterious entity that stood before him, Seth.

"My my, you truly have no shame. But what was I even expecting from a reptilian such as yourself claiming to be a God. You're just as vile and feral as a run of the mill leviathan. Don't you know that it is only appropriate to introduce yourself before asking someone you're clearly beneath about their status?" Seth replies, lowering his eyes towards Akselfer with a cold stare on his face and his mouth in such a shape that it reeked of utter disappointment.

Akselfer stood speechless still, which prompted Seth to speak himself again with a sigh.

"You are truly squandering the remainder of time you have to live, lizard face. Your lack of manners astounds me. You dare stand speechless against me when I, someone clearly above you, ordered you to introduce yourself?

I may be patient today because I've come out alive in the open after eons upon eons of being shackled but even I cannot excuse such neglect. You're not going to get any more chances out of me. Your death is imminent and you're only making your clock tick faster." Seth continues speaking in a condescending manner.

"A-Are you Seth...?" Akselfer asks after gathering every ounce of courage he had left in him.

"Back with the disrespectful attitude. Did I not just tell you mere seconds ago to introduce yourself before asking me any questions? Whatever, since you're gonna die anyways, I might as well answer the question you asked me in such a hesitant manner. Yes, I am Seth. The traitor of the divine." Seth replies to Akselfer, who was paralyzed in fear, with an annoyed expression.

"B-but, how can that be!? You were supposed to be dead!!" Akselfer exclaims with an awkward expression of being frightened to the core.

"Ah you just don't get it. You truly have the brain of a beast. Incapable of intricate thought processes. And yet you call yourself God? Count me even more disappointed than I was mere moments ago.

However, to answer your question, I hope you have a sliver of literacy inside that tiny brain of yours. Since you state you're a God, I'm sure you must be aware of this dialect. Although, the saying may be outdated now...

Bebocevahe asib anab amene afob Badoga arob asihe alegeniso, Alicehabemi adenab Ahetes, aneheti atahate anubebeliceved asib anab amene afob Badoga alemisebic" Seth cleared out the concerns Akselfer had, while also making his disappointment even clearer by reciting an ancient verse that roughly translated to: 'Whoever is an enemy of God or his messengers, Michael and Seth, are the enemies of God himself'

Without a second to waste, the gulping Akselfer, frightened to the core, ran as fast as he could from the site of Seth's awakening. Much to his dismay, as the loud terrifying sound of Seth's laughter got closer and closer to him, Seth let out a scream, "CELESTIAL SPEAR!", which set out a spear made of purple light out of nowhere from the sky and towards Akselfer.

Upon landing, it had torn Akselfer's arm apart yet for some reason, Seth stood just a few meters away from him with a comically confused expression on his face while also grabbing Akselfer by the collar, so as to not have him escape one more time.

"You really are an arrogant green animal. Although, I'm really surprised that my Celestial Spear didn't erase you from existence upon contact. Looks like I am not at full power just yet. Regardless, I should be strong enough to get rid of you with no extra effort.

It seems you, despite being a giant lizard, cannot recover your limb after that attack. Which just gives me even more incentive to tear your organs one by one just like that. I'm going to enjoy this considering how rude you've been in my divine presence, scum." Seth noticeably offends Akselfer with his absurd way of speech.

In mere instants upon finishing his next speech, Seth spun the heavy beast, Akselfer, into the air and threw him at unprecedented speeds towards the other side of the forest, several hundred miles away from where they both initially were and dashes in front of him right before Akselfer could even land onto the ground, only to kick him in the face and into a muddy swamp.

"AHAHAHA!! I told you I'm going to enjoy this, you green-scaled freak. You're now right where you belong with the other crocodiles." Seth's offensive humor continued while Akselfer tried crawling out of the swamp in the state of utter humiliation.

"And now..." Seth says the last of his words as he raises his hands into the air and continues, "CELESTIAL SPEAR!"

Before he could even land the move, Akselfer, in a fit of rage spat acid onto Seth's face which rendered him blind for a few moments and allowed Akselfer to get as far away as he can from Seth, but with his rage continuing to grow from Seth's endless insults and his eyes red in fury, he dashed into the sky, raised his first and screamed, "CONCEPT CANCELLATION: THE GOD CANNOT BE STOPPED!! SOARING FIST OF THE DRAGON!!"

Having been covered in fire throughout his body upon screaming the chant, he charged onto the blinded Seth who couldn't even get an instant of time to process Akselfer's next move and got hit by the flaming reptilian God and all his pent up aggression, which ended up landing several burns onto his body, burnt the clothes of his upper body to crisp and sent him flying through the forest, crashing into tens of trees.

With smoke all over the place, Akselfer stood boldly this time looking for where Seth had been flung to while screaming, "COME ON OUT SETH! I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE OR WERE, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY SPITTING ONTO THE PRIDE OF THE PRYERS, THE PRYER GOD AKSELFER, LIKE THAT! I'LL KILL YOU WHILE YOU'RE STILL WEAK IN THAT CHILD'S BODY! YOU HEAR ME!?"

Coughing in the smoke of consequences, his eyes all red from the acid that Akselfer's mouth spewed out, burns all over his chest, Seth stood up using every ounce of strength he had left, startled by the unexpected amount of damage that blow had done to him.

"How could this be!? Wait, I get it... This brat is still too young to possess. This body is incapable of harnessing my true essence at its current strength. I don't think I'm at even 1% of my full strength judging by how weak that celestial spear was. And with the durability of a child, it's clear why I couldn't sustain the injury.

Not to mention that dinosaur-faced maniac claiming to be God has quite the efficiency in use of the divine cancellation of mortal concepts that he is bestowed with. It seems it's power is to go 100% in a certain direction with no conceivable way in being 'stopped', hence why, even a powerful blocking stance like mine failed to prevail...

This would all be so much easier had this brat not been so weak... For now, as much as I hate it, it's a situation that would only result in the death of this vessel and an unprecedented delay in my plans... I think I have enough time left in possessing this child to just heal his injuries and get a good amount of distance between me and that snake-look alike…" Seth's conflicting thoughts rage on in his head due to the grave misfortune his pride led him to.

After healing his injuries, to conceal the presence of his binding energy from the various enemies like Akselfer who would be aching to take his vessel's life, Seth was left distraught for a moment.

"Ugh, this first reawakening after so many eons has been nothing but a hassle. Fine, looks like I have to make another big gamble... With the amount of energy I need to heal the injuries this boy's body had succumbed to and to conceal my presence from the endless pit of enemies I made during the holy war of divine succession... If I lay dormant for four years in exchange, by the next divine cycle, this body should be adapted enough to my essence to bring out at least 50% of my true strength by the next awakening... Hehehe... Then this universe shall know the one who rules all..."

Seth's monologue had come to an abrupt end as his consciousness fled in no time while Tommy's consciousness was instantaneously recovered on the spot, only to be found immediately by a raging Akselfer who was ready to attack and kill him, but thankfully, by then, before the claws of vicious divine Pryer could impale the mentally vulnerable Tommy, Takeda and Oli had come to the rescue.

Unsheathing his sword out faster than Akselfer could blink, waves of green acid followed and swirled across Akselfer as Takeda brought out his Imaginary Power immediately without even requiring a chant.

However, unsurprisingly, Akselfer just laughed it out by swimming into the waves of the toxic acid tornado without taking any sort of damage or burns to his body.

"What do you humans take me for!? This is nothing! The Pryer species is NATIVE to such an environment. This is what we call a casual stroll!" Akselfer spoke up maniacally while continuing to swim through the tornado of literal acid like nothing.

Much to Akselfer's surprise though, while Tommy was still paralyzed in shock due to his mental well-being not being at its best, Takeda and Oli in contrast were just smiling with their arms folded.

"You don't seem to be very aware of the fact that you're in a sea of concentrated acid with tons of Hydrogen ions in it, that is swirling into the air in a clockwise current are you?" Oli speaks up while fixing the position of his glasses.

"What are you yapping about you brat!? Not like it matters! Soon, you'll both be my dinner!" Akselfer taunts Oli with a childishly curious expression on his face as if he was genuinely willing to know more about such modern scientific terminology.

"Oh it will matter to you though soon enough! And let me tell you this for a fact! You're going back home with an empty stomach!! So since you're in the last moments of enjoying swimming in that acid, I'll do you a favor and give you a hint at what's about to come! Have you heard of the concept of electric conduction?" Oli speaks up with a smug face while flicking his fingers into Akselfer's direction as he reaches the last of his words, before sending a shockwave of electric current right at him which furiously electrocutes him and makes him scream in pain.

Flickering with electric sparks and azure light into the sea of emerald acid, using the last of his strength, once again, Akselfer screamed, "CONCEPT CANCELLATION, THE GOD SHALL NOT BE STOPPED!! FIST OF THE SOARING DRAGON!!"

With repeatedly extinguishing fire all over his body due to being in a sea of swirling acid, Akselfer flew as fast as he could to escape the electrifying vortex, but much to his dismay, his power of not being able to be stopped, only worked in one direction at a time and he was far too drained out to change his direction fast enough to make a complete escape.

Taking a deadly gamble, he decided to swirl counterclockwise to the swirling sea of acid and led the current to the perpetrators of the attack. The counterclockwise spin, combined with the piercing force of Akselfer's divine blessing, set the stage for an inescapable route where the perpetrators of the very attack on Akselfer were about to be hot by their own attack coming right at them along with a furious Akselfer who had lost all sanity during all these events.

Unable to subside his own Imaginary Power due to the divine influence of the counter-clockwise swirls on his own technique, Takeda used over half his supply of binding energy to redirect the attack away from Oli and Tommy by throwing his large sword onto the electrifying tsunami, jumping on top of it and surfing it to crash it into the nearest mountain.

Unfortunately for him, due to his sword being made out of steel, his body was constantly being electrified as well which only made things worse when having to collide the tsunami with the nearby mountain.

The electrically charged nature of the acidified tsunami, combined with the sheer momentum of its collision with the mountain, made an explosion which could be called as strong as a nuclear weapon. Dissipating everything within 60 miles with a strong shockwave, Akselfer and Takeda, two of the most damaged figures out of this ordeal were sent flying far away into opposite directions.

In midst of the explosion, to protect the then paralyzed Tommy from the impact of the shockwave, as well as the various flying trees that were being sent his way, Oli, not paying any heed to his own safety, first threw Tommy out of the shockwave zone, far away, and onto a safe empty ground.

Unfortunately, Oli, unable to escape this madness, got hit by tens of trees and his body got smashed onto the ground by them in the meantime.

When all this was over, an extremely weak Akselfer regained consciousness and slowly attempted to walk away before anyone could get him while he's still weak and permanently amputated thanks to Seth.

Meanwhile, Tommy, who was freed from the shackles of his mental shock was met by another tragedy immediately. He couldn't recall what had even happened and found himself on an empty ground while being surrounded by a mostly weeded out forest.

Taking a few steps into the abyss, he found Takeda who was at the last of his breath with his body smashed under rocks, coughing from the smoke of the very recent impact. It was a miracle he had even survived. Wasting no time, a worried Tommy ran into his direction to throw away the rocks on top of his body with tears dripping out of his eyes like a raincloud had just exploded instead of dripping water into the ground.

Having regained some of his eyesight back, upon seeing Tommy, the first thing he did was to pat him on the head, then put his hand on his shoulder while exclaiming, "Tommy, I'll be fine... You should look for your brother... By the looks of it... He might have also been crushed under the rubble... He needs your help the most right now, go!"

Upon hearing what Takeda said, Tommy grew even more terrified and ran screaming Oli's name into the forest. Looking everywhere for almost half an hour, he finally found Oli struggling to push his body out of the rubble of the trees it got under.

Carefully, without hesitating, Tommy threw those giant logs of wood like they were nothing off of Oli's body and took his face onto his lap while patting his cheek in an attempt to try and wake him up. Fortunately, Oli regained consciousness in no time.

"Big bro... I'm glad you're safe..." Said Oli before falling unconscious again much to Tommy's dismay, who carried him on his back and hurried to the village as soon as he could while screaming for help.

Despite everyone standing there and looking at Tommy's pitiful condition, due to their cowardice and superstitious nature, nobody stood to help him, but then, from the crowd, emerged Lisa who held his hand and screamed for him to run immediately with her to her grandfather's place before things got worse.

Upon reaching the mansion, Tommy informed the servants there of Takeda's whereabouts and within a few hours, he was retrieved alive as well.

After hours of first aid being performed on Takeda and Oli, Tommy just stood in the rain that had just come, with no end to the tears in his eyes. From a distance, Lisa could finally empathize with the sadness Tommy had been feeling but couldn't get herself to reach out to him just yet.

After another few hours, when they still weren't awake, Tommy just sat next to Oli while patting his head. Just then, having gained enough courage, Lisa had finally reached out to Tommy with some soft drinks and snacks.

Sitting next to him, Tommy thanked her, to which she replied, "Your Welcome", followed by saying, "I'm sorry I was mean to you yesterday... I didn't know you had lost your parents too... And now I know you were just trying to help me... I just didn't take a hint..."

"It's fine... As long as you know what's better for yourself... If anything, I should be the one apologizing... If it weren't for me, this mess wouldn't have happened... If it weren't for me... Everyone would probably be better off..." Tommy replied to her with a frown as well as his noticeably dead expression having returned to his face.

"Don't say that! If it weren't for you, I would've died two days ago! You do help people! I'm sure those two feel the same! It's time you also learn a lesson that you can't just save everyone you know!" Lisa replied with a pout on her face.

Nodding with the same dead expression, Tommy took a look at Oli's face again and continued, "I know... But today, I put my own brother's life in danger... So what if I can't save everyone... If I can't even save my own last family, what good am I...? He's the only family I have left... It's just been the two of us for the last year and a half... I don't care who dies if he's fine in the end... But I couldn't even accomplish that... How would I even face my mother's memory like this..."

Hearing his inner thoughts, Lisa was left speechless but still replied saying, "I can only give you words but I guess only you can be the one to decide how to feel better about yourself in the end... So I'll just let you be for sometime... Take some rest... We've all seen enough... Good night!"

Taking a leave, Tommy still sat next to Oli and ended up falling asleep on his chair until the dawn of the next day when Oli had finally woken up, healthy as ever, much to Tommy's surprise on waking up himself.

"I'm so glad you're okay!!" Tommy exclaimed while giving his brother a hug so tight that it noticeably choked Oli but he still responded to Tommy's affection with a hug just as tight in return.

"I'm glad you're good too... I was so scared yesterday... I thought I wouldn't make it but you saved me again like I saved you this time, so that makes us even! Right?!" Oli replies with an awkward smile.

"Heh, there's no being even between brothers Oli, we're the only family we've got. And I don't intend to lose that bond." Tommy replied with the peering blue light of positivity having returned to his eyes upon seeing Oli so cheerful.

With Oli nodding, the two then head to Takeda's room who seems to be recovering slower due to face-tanking the explosion he did yesterday, but to their surprise, a lot of his scars had subsided too.

"Heh, surprised at my recovery? That's simply the way of the samurai! We can't be down for too long!" Takeda replies while flexing his muscular arm out, upon seeing which, Tommy and Oli were left impressed.

With Takeda being asked to take a rest again by the doctor though, Tommy and Oli had to leave the room. On their way, Oli asked Tommy what happened yesterday that left him standing still, to which Tommy replied saying, "I don't know myself... One moment I was raging, the other, I zoned out and found myself waking up on the empty ground between the weeded trees from the explosion..."

Leaving Oli still confused about the matter, he then asked what happened to Akselfer, to which Tommy replied his body was never found, hinting at him returning as soon as he had recovered.

Seeing the concerned look on Oli's face, to make the environment feel more encouraging, despite being terrified of the future himself, with a smug face, Tommy spoke up saying, "Next time, we'll win, just you wait. That freak will only be squandering the remainder of his days trying to recover, only to lose to us! Luckily, the cameras installed on Mr. Takeda's uniform had been left unharmed! Seeing from the footage, I think I know just the maneuver we'll need to win! Are you ready to train Oli? Because we've got no time to waste!!"

Upon seeing Tommy's facade of enthusiasm, Oli also felt fired and replied saying, "HELL YEAH I AM!"

From a distance yet again, Lisa stood admiring their mutual spirit of brotherhood.

To be continued in chapter - 20...