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Chapter 1142  “-We don’t need a hero…”

 "What is it, Tharis?"

 "The whole marriage thing, don\'t think of like a burden. It\'s smoke and mirrors – it\'s my way of making my allegiance known. Besides," she stepped forward and smiled, "-I\'m not allowed to fall in love. Sounds childish, doesn\'t it?"

At that moment, a sinking sensation grabbed his stomach, \'-the way her gaze lowered, there\'s regret in her word. The goddess of Judgement is a leader by example, she can\'t be shone to have biases else the whole foundation breaks. Calling me to be her husband will cause a few problems in the short run – I guess in the long run, with the military might she excepts the Shadow Realm to bring, we might stand a chance.\'

 "Stop thinking of the possibilities," she added, casting a shaky gaze at the lass under the willow tree, "-you came with her, the lass sure is strong, I feel her power from here."

 "Tharis, tell me, what\'s your goal?"

 "To guarantee the survival of my people," she snapped, "-there\'s nothing more I\'d want than to safeguard what is here. We\'re a haven for the rejected. The wrongdoers can find a new chance in life… unlike the Hall of Rebirth, where judgment is placed upon one\'s soul and karma is evaluated for the future, we provide a more, you know, slightly linear judgment. You saw it with the father and son, and I\'m impressed, the proposition was spot on."

 "To safeguard your people and realm," he snuffed the cigarette, "-and me, I have to do what I must. I can\'t say I have things to protect anymore, the smiles I longed to see have long faded into the back of my memories. The people I know and care about are gone, perhaps dead. Time passes and its hand never stops. I\'m here to create a better place for the future to exist. I have shone the wrong in my ways, the childish ideals I harbored were, in the end, childish. If a better future can be made by destroying everything, such is what I shall do. I\'ll gladly become the one prophesied as the Bringer of Finality," he paused and looked, "-you know my purpose, I may very well decide to end your realm and countless others, with that possibility, will you still extend your hand?"

 "To be married?" she tilted her head, "-I was wrong to put such pressure on you and Syhton, I don\'t mind if we don\'t get married. It will get in the way, but I\'ll make it work somehow…"

 "No," he shook his head, "-feels like forever since someone spoke to me like this. Try as I may, I can\'t help but be touched by your words. It\'s truly something I cherish… I\'m of the cynical kind… yet, with all the danger signs going off in my head, I can\'t help but accept your hand. You understood the core of what had me stray, to protect her lifestyle as opposed to her life. A very simple idea… I could have never thought of it. Tharis, you have yourself a somewhat young husband," he placed his head over his palm and winked.

 "Don\'t," she muffled her chuckle, "-that pose isn\'t-…"

 "What, I thought I looked cute."

 "HA-HA!"

And that came to be the day Tharis and Staxius became engaged. In retrospect, it could be viewed as the day everything changed for the two of them. Before too long, as the expansive fingers of Artanos and the Heavenly council sought to conquer reality and stop the Destroyer, Tharis, and Staxius found something simpler, something childish and not worthy of the gods… they found friendship. Judgment\'s creed is based on realism, matters are viewed with logic and rational, such as Tharis\' thought process. Sprinkle friendship atop… a very idealist concept children based their world around… she found herself in a new world. As for Staxius, a cynical man built from experience and past events, putting his trust blindly into someone he just met… they both experienced novelty. Was it a curse, or a blessing in disguise, only time could tell.

Hephaestus held her cup to the sky, she chewed on sunflower seeds and passed less than stares around, \'-boring,\' she sipped, \'-joining Igna might not be such a good idea. Why did I have to fight with them…\'

Footsteps shook her line of thought, "-Hephaestus, I\'d like you to meet Tharis."

The goddess of judgment, known for her long silver hair, big black eyes, and the symbol of judgment fashioned like tribal marks over her face took a first glance and paused her rosy-colored lips. They pressed in a perpetual frown, not knowing when to smile or otherwise, her softly shaped nose and angular visage were quite the heartthrob for the gutsy, "Hephaestus, I heard quite a bit about you," she joined the table, "-tell me, why are you here?"

 "He brought me," she said.

 "Goddess, please don\'t play games with me," Tharis showed a bit of animosity, "-I hear from my associates you and the Olympian gods have had a falling out. Perhaps that is the reason why you joined with Staxius, yes?"

 "…"

 "I\'ll take the silence as a yes. Staxius, Hephaestus had a falling out with her brothers and sisters. It would seem the battle between you and Hermes might have enraged them. Also, you taking in Athena might have hammered the last nail in the coffin. I advise caution…"

 "Tharis," he slowed the table\'s energy, "-Hephaestus\'s family problem isn\'t of my concern, nor should it be yours. Who cares if she got in a fight with her family, she came to us and with us, I will find her abilities very much useful. Hephaestus, look at me," looked deeply into her soul, the firmness of his gaze, the confidence and conform found behind his bicolored pupils, she watched in awe, \'-the charm of the devil,\' Tharis gulped, \'-he\'s taken her heart and misconceptions like that. I didn\'t expect him to use good cop bad cop here… and to think,\' only a few minutes passed, the current plan was hatched on a shared cigarette, "-put doubt on her reason, I\'ll handle the rest," he spoke little but meant great.

 "It\'s true," she lowered her gaze, "-I fledge from mount Olympus. I couldn\'t look at them anymore. It was painful, and even so, you know why I left. I didn\'t want to be part of another war, I don\'t care, I don\'t want to make weapons anymore. I\'m done being the one responsible for taking the lives of others. Their memories, their past, the resentment, I feel it all, you know, each of those weapons is imbued with part of me. It\'s like I create extensions of my power for others to wield… it grants extraordinary powers but makes the wielder mad. Their targets become vindictive souls who haunt my dreams day in and day out," she exhaled, "-I had enough. This is why I don\'t pay attention to much around me, if I focus, I\'m sure ill see the souls of the dead, they writhe…"

Staxius held her hands and smiled, "-look around you, Hephaestus, this is the place where the demented are judged. And the one here is the Goddess of Judgment. It couldn\'t be a coincidence, could it?"

Tharis blinked at Staxius, \'-of course, it\'s not a coincidence. Did he know about her plight, did he know she\'d need to be saved before being useful? She has the curse of Attachment, those slain with her weapons are tied to her soul, they perpetually screech and attack the host… it\'s one of the worse curses a god, let alone a human, could endure. To think she might have lived thousands of years with such a burden… did the gods not see her woe?\'

 "They might have seen your troubles, even wanted to help, but in the end, chose not to. Such is the reality of the situation," he matched Tharis\' gaze then turned to Hephaestus, "-you have so much to do and such great potential is frightening. I give you my promise, Hephaestus, long as you\'re under my people\'s care, whether it\'s me or my trusted assistants, you will never have to forge another weapon again. Instead, why not use your skills to assist Ragno, more specifically, Lucifer\'s academy? A good craftsman is always needed. We don\'t need god-slaying weapons," he opened his palms and displayed the symbol of Death, "-no need for such trivial toys when I have this," he closed his palms and stared straight, "-join us and I guarantee you\'ll have a place to sleep and rest for however long the peace lasts."

 "I accept."

 \'Another one recruited. Hephaestus will come around. They\'ll make good use of her powers. Suppose it\'s time for me to leave, I\'ve stalled long enough,\' they returned to Ragno, where Staxius stood before the teleportation device with a weary Tharis and a half-asleep Hephaestus.

 "You look troubled?"

 "You think?" she panted, "-so many souls had to judge… there\' yet to go. Every court was overwhelmed, just how many people were killed using her weapons?"

 "I don\'t know," he shrugged, "-and I could care less."

 "Dumping the hard work onto someone else again?" heels clopped, "-master,"

 "If it\'s not my lovely secretary, Elixia."

She bowed, "-and presume you\'re headed to Draebala, at last?" her tone held his waste of time accountable.

 "No need for fake smiles," he winked, "-I know you want me out already, I had to settle matters."

 "Far warning," Yui followed behind Elixia\'s shadow, "-we don\'t know what the status of that realm is. Information\'s scarce, don\'t know if we\'ll be able to connect. I\'ll try my best on my end, you have to create a subspace for us to connect once you arrive, is that understood?"

 "Yes, yes, this is like the first time my mother sent me to the merchants," he shook his head, "-take care of Fae and Makina in my absence, understood?"

 "Yes, now, just go!"

 \'Honestly,\' he shook his head and stepped into the portal, \'-they could show a bit of compassion with me going away for god knows how long…\'

 "See you, master!" instead, everyone jovially gave their goodbyes.

A shot of intense energy blasted through his body. Reality faded for a minute. A chilling darkness wherein nothing mattered, no sense of touch, no sounds, no sight, just darkness without the simple chance of hope. "-Nothing is the end all be all," came said a whisper, the tranquility of the dark ocean cracked, ripples went around – the sound of water crashing, wind blowing – a deafening explosion,*bang,* he gasped and opened his eyes to a battlefield. Meteor crashed, trees and houses were on fire, and civilians ran. Dead bodies were thrown to the side, some crushed by buildings, others half-burn and some dismembered by vicious claws, the sight wasn\'t pleasant. Men in uniform held back the assault, the fire guns and cried out orders, "-DEFEND THE CIVILIANS!" they screamed, Staxius held behind a broken wall of the first floor of a shattered house, "-move along," they cried, guiding the few survivors, "-THEY\'RE COMING," a giant ball of red descended from the heavens, \'-oh god,\' Staxius barely reacted, the echo went across the province, a massive flash of red, an orb swallowing organic materials, turning the corpses and living beings into ash, the deafening explosion snuffed with a high-pitched inhale, \'-I barely survived,\' he coughed, the protection spell barely activated, part of his right hand turned to ash, \'-teleported me into a warzone. This place is worse than I thought,\' he tapped his earrings, no response, \'-the connection\'s lost. I\'m here on my own and I can\'t expect backup. If the connection isn\'t going through, there\'s no way anything else could come.\'

A scraping sound came from down below, he reached over and peeked through a missing brick in the wall, a man with one leg crawled his way through the carnage. Blood dripped, and he clawed on with staff, "-damned those gods," he clenched his fists, "-turning Draebala into a warzone again, how dare they," he fell, knocked over by the fragment of a frame. He turned and faced the bloodied sky, "-to the one able to stop this war, burn the whole fucking continent… leave no one of those Titans alive. We\'re living on the cusp of extinction… if nothing changes, we\'re doomed. We don\'t need a hero," he rose his hand, "-we need the Devil…"