A Guide to Kingdom Building

"Failure!" The god spatted. "You are a failure!" He shouted.

Arellin stood before the presence of the godly council, accused of his great sin-- ending an entire world.

"You have been reborn, 364 times. Throughout your lifetimes, you have managed to build kingdoms, kill demon lords and become the subject of legends!" The god stated, "Why would you fail this time? Why does it have to end like this for you?" He asked.

Arellin bit his lip hard. He didn't want to answer the question. He knew that his risky action would lead to summoning a world-eater.

But he did it anyway, for love.

"Speak, human!" The warrior god commanded, "We shall not waste this time with you if your actions wouldn't have tipped the balance," he said.

Arellin glared at all of them, the council of the heavenly deities, and uttered, "Balance?" Amused with the god's statement, he jeered at the council.

He then rhetorically spat, "You call this balance?" He pointed at the world being eaten by large cosmic tendrils. "You created us to do your bidding so we could wage war with one another!"contemporary romance

"You created us because you're too afraid to face them!" He spat, "Those cosmic entities, you are unable to beat them alone. That's why you made us!"

Dumbfounded with his answer, the council stood on their chairs shouting at him, jabbing words at him--cursing him for his audacity.

"You know why demon lords exist?" He asked the buzzing room, "Because they challenged your rules. The same you made them play with! The same rules I, in my 364 incarnations have to abide and maintain!" He smashed his hands on the marbled table in frustration.

"And for WHAT?! FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT!" He accused them all and spitted on the consecrated grounds of the godly realm, "You made us as your playthings because you are all weak without us praising you…" He maniacally laughed.

"And that weakness, it's what you're afraid of," he declared, "Because one day, when those cosmic anomalies come for you without our aid, you will all be devoured!" He laughed.

One of the gods approached the unhinged hero and smashed his head over the marbled table. The table broke into pieces but Arellin kept on laughing at them. He knows he can't die. He has the mark of the Ouroboros, etched into his soul. He cannot be destroyed, the gods can only seal him away for all eternity.

[ 'Ech amalaar, Mida Madeeram?!], "Is that the best you can do, Lord Madeeram?!" He spoke in the language of the people that worshipped the war god. [ Tayavaash, nrecemen arka fohlk!] "You are not worthy of your people's praises." He taunted.

The enraged god threw him across the hall where he landed and broke a pearl pillar. He coughed out blood, but he was still amused to see how petty these gods can go with a bit of insult.

"I-is this all?" He taunted some more.

Lord Madeeram leaped towards him, his hand flaming and about to cave his face in when the High Chancellor of the Council stopped him.

"Enough!" We have seen a lot of bloodsheds in one day," he commanded the livid god to calm down, "Lord Madeeram, take a seat. You there! Lord Andalos, pick that despicable man up and bring him over to me." He ordered.

"The poor Lord Andalos, guardian of the Celestial Gate…" he laughed, "Bark for me! Arf! Arf!" He mocked.

Lord Andalos walked towards him with disgust. He picked him up and threw him against the wall which got the poor Arellin stuck.

"Lord Andalos! Stop that at once!" The High Chancellor's voice boomed and shook the entire hall.

Lord Andalos bowed to pardon his act, "Pardon my audacity Lord High Chancellor, but this man's insults towards us have appalled me."

"You are correct to be appalled by this disgusting human's action," the High Chancellor sighed, "But we must finish this judgment at once! We have worlds to protect!" He said.

Lord Andalos bowed to him once more before setting his sights on the incapacitated hero. He held on Arellin by the shoulder and tried yanking him out of the wall, but he's stuck. He pulled again but to no avail.

"What is taking you so long, Lord Andalos?" Asked one of his peers, "Did guarding the Celestial Gate make you weak?" The jest elicited laughter from the other gods.

"No, my Lords," he said, "He is indeed stuck. I must tug him good."

He came closer to Arellin's ear, "Are you alright?" Lord Andalos whispered.

"What do you think?" Arellin asked, "You got me there hard, I was winded." He coughed.

"Sorry, take this." Andalos subtly handed him a dagger, "A final gift my dear friend for your great service." He whispered.

"Are you truly certain about this?" Arellin asked.

"Yes," the god answered, "Do you have a knockback spell?"

Arellin nodded.

"What is taking you so long?" the High Chancellor inquired.

"Truly High Chancellor, I hit him to the wall too much that he's stuck,"Andalos admitted as he tried and acted to pull Arellin out again.

"Could anyone of you help?" Lord Andalos asked the council.

Some of the bystanding gods sighed at how pathetic the Guardian of the Celestial Gate has become. Some of them rose from their seats and tried to help him. They approached them both not knowing what is coming for them.

"Okay, ready?" Andalos asked Arellin as the other gods approached them, "This is going to hurt, is it?" He asked.

"Yes, clench your jaw!" Arellin warned.

Lord Andalos took a deep breath and gave him the queue.

[ Dhuul' Lkut!] "Booming push" Arellin shouted.

A surge of heavy energy lashed towards the unwary gods throwing them across the hall. Andalos' distraction worked! Now, Arellin must get out of the council hall this instance. He needs to hastily reach the Celestial Gates where he can jump to a sealed gate that even the gods never dared to go.

He dragged his battered body out from the wall and cast spells on the astounded gods.

[ Leik 'Zhii] "speed boost"

[ Sinag] "Blinding light"

He ran out of the hall as the gods got distracted from his spell. He dashed his way into the whirling steps of Stars End and went hard left towards the Celestial Gates. He wasted no time in getting there and looked for the sealed gate of Calamatis.

Not a few minutes later, he found the gate. He used Lord Andalos' dagger to yank the lock and destroy the chains of the sealed gate. As the chains dropped, the gate slowly opened revealing the starry void beyond.

He took a step towards his freedom when suddenly, something began to wrap around his neck. He looked around and saw the High Chancellor subduing him with his stole. The vestment wrapped itself tighter on his neck, pulling him away from the opened gate.

"I knew you would come here!" The High Chancellor said as he tugged his vestment.

Suddenly the stole began to heat up. He felt his powers were being absorbed by the stole.

"You, Arellin Matrious!" The High Chancellor called out. "Shall be stripped of your powers and titles that you have gathered throughout your incarnations." He declared.

As his powers and abilities waned, his grip on the door weakened. His fingers slowly lost its strength and he was finally dragged away from it. The High Chancellor forcefully dragged Arellin towards him. His vision started to fade as the fabric tightened around his neck.

With the last of his abilities being leached from him, the arrogant High Chancellor called out to him once more.

"Arelin Matrious, I will take that mark off your soul and I will end you right here!" He declared. He summoned his spear and pointed at the fallen hero.

"You meet your last." The High Chancellor grinned as he attempted to impale Arellin.

Unfortunately for the High Chancellor, Arellin anticipated his sloppy move and dodged the spear. He swirled his way towards the god's foot and stabbed it with Lord Andalos' dagger. The High Chancellor screamed in agony and lost his grip on the stole. Finally, Arellin was able to free himself from the draining cloth.

He pulled the dagger out of the god's impaled foot. The High Chancellor writhed in pain, stumbling to the ground.

Arellin took this opening for him and ran back to the gate.

"YOU SHALL NOT ESCAPE OUR WRATH!" exclaimed the High Chancellor as he charged a ball of light aiming for the renegade.

But before he could release the deadly sphere, the dagger flew directly into his hand and pierced his palm. Arellin noticed it already and made sure to stop it before it struck him. The ball of energy exploded right in the god's face. Destroying him and the room they fought on.

The blast grew bigger and as for Arellin, he took the opportunity as he tried to ready and propelled himself out of the room.

"It's now or never."

It was a leap of faith and there's one thing he knew: starting his life in the new realm.

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