A Guide to Kingdom Building - Chapter 161

“Come on, pick one!” Smiled the deity, “Actually, take it all!” He nodded to convince Adaloun.

Adaloun didn’t move nor attempted to show interest at the deity’s offer. Zaduriel raised his eyebrow at him and was visibly annoyed by his unwillingness to take his offer.

“Does this not suffice you?” The deity asked with an obviously annoyed tone. “I did say I could give you more. What do you need? Oh, please do tell!” He tried encouraging him to tell him what he really wanted.

Adaloun shook his head. He wanted nothing to do with him nor the other gods. That’s what he wanted, a life without an interruption from the self-proclaimed divines. He stood in between the wall of sand and the floating weapons, unmoving and unyielding to the god’s temptations.

Zaduriel sighed and snapped his fingers once again, but instead of shifting their scene from the current venue, it simply buried the weapons in front of him into the sand. His blades sunk down the pearly white sands and faded from existence as fast it showed up.

“Would ruling the entire world be enough for you?” Asked the deity.

Adaloun still wasn’t answering his question. He knew that infuriating the god might just give him some insight as to what he truly was and his motivation as to why he was very insistent of him becoming his champion.

“I have ruled more than 300 plus worlds before. What made you think that ruling this world would make me be interested with your offer?” Adaloun said as he continuously annoyed the deity to trigger him to show his real intentions towards him.

“300 plus lifetimes of being abused by the gods of your old realm!” Zaduriel pointed out. “Let’s not make this conversation again, Adaloun, it’s very tiring! But I will give it gander right now. So, tell me how you were treated by your gods? Were they benevolent to you? ‘Fraid not!” He laughed.

Adaloun knew Zaduriel was just mocking him out of his naivety towards the deities of his previous life. He knew that this god was trying to sell himself and promise him sweet nothings the same way that the previous gods did.

At his point, he’s not sure whether this deity was simply playing dumb to entertain himself or he’s just that dense to use the same tactics the previous gods did. He wondered if this god had a champion before seeking him out. He wasn’t living up to the standard of the only other deity he knew and even then, he still doesn’t want to get his name entangled with Oyue how much more this one?

“They weren’t as benevolent as they thought they were.” Adaloun sighed. “But what makes you different from them? What does it pay to get your benevolence?!”

“Weren’t you listening earlier?!” Zaduriel voice rose, it looked like his temper was already starting to flare. “I said, you only have to be my justice to do—”

“Do your bidding.” Adaloun interrupted. “Does that involve killing a someone, a something or an entire race?! Because that’s exactly how they asked me for my loyalty and undying devotion to them! Is that what you want me to do?!” He gave the god a stern look.

Zaduriel didn’t appreciate his tone and the way he spoke to him. Adaloun could see it in his eyes the burning rage. But something wasn’t making any sense, he could feel it but still couldn’t identify what it was. Nonetheless he took that opportunity to listen to the so-called god’s response.

“You…do…not interrupt…a god when…talking!” Zaduriel gave him a stern warning. “You do know that I could end you right here and then. I would suggest you to be respectful to me while you’re still in my good graces!” His mouth contorted into a sneer.

Adaloun stared at him straight in the eyes once more, and that’s when the god finally exploded.

“You dare stare at me?!” His voice rumbled the dark room. “I am a god! You should prostrate before me!” He growled at him as the pressure from the room felt too suffocating already.

Adaloun knew that he had already struck a chord against the god. He knew it was a risk for him to fight him but something deep inside him seemed to doubt the god’s authenticity. It was not a whisper from a deity, it wasn’t something he figured out the first time they met, but it was something else. It felt like this being, his soul was telling him who the figure truly was. He was still not sure if that were truly the case, but his whole being was telling him otherwise.

“Tell me, truly,” Adaloun calmly said as he tried his best to deal with the crushing pressure trying to overwhelm him. “Are you even worthy enough for me to ser—I mean help you?” He tried pressing his luck even more.

“Impertinent creature! You are nothing but filth!” Zaduriel spat. “I AM A GOD!”

The god pointed his finger towards him and suddenly he fell into his knees. The overwhelming pressure was about to get to him, but he was just too stubborn and too bitter about dealing with deities that he just wanted to disempower them and tip them off their highchairs.

“YOU ARE NO GOD OF MINE!” Adaloun spewed back at him. “I SERVE NO GOD! I AM MY OWN MASTER!” He flipped his middle finger on him.

“YOU, STUPID PIECE OF FILTH!” Zaduriel’s voice cracked the walls of the room. “I SHALL END YOU HERE! I will leave not even your soul! I shall end your cycle once and for all! I will make a new soul out of yours and make it my own justice!”

The pressure was crushing Adaloun. He prostrated on the ground spewing blood from his mouth as he was slowly being flattened. He could hear some of his bones started moving elsewhere from where they were in his body. He was running out of air and yet, he still refused to die.

With only his will, he defied the god’s power and tried his best to get up. He had faced some of the cruelest deities in his lifetimes before and this one cannot even hold a candle against them. Zaduriel was too weak, he couldn’t even kill him instantly even with the current abilities he had, even if he was only a shadow of his former self.

He pushed himself up, withstanding a pressure that felt like a giant stepping on him. “Is that the best that you can do?!” He felt his left arm broke as he tried to raise his body from the cold black floor.

“Fool!” Zaduriel pointed the ceiling on top of Adaloun and was about to topple it down on him when suddenly, out from nowhere an arrow struck the god.

Zaduriel had no time to react to such a swift arrow that pierced his left shoulder. The god stared in shock as another gleaming arrow went pass his cheek leaving it to bleed on his face.

“AAGGHHH!!!” Zaduriel’s voice echoed as he wail in agony on the arrow lodged in his shoulder.

The pressure finally stopped as the distracted god cowered back at the threat of the unseen attacker. Adaloun was finally able to get back on his feet with a smirk on his face.

“I see that you bleed.” He spat a dollop of his own blood and approached the god who stumbled down on the floor writhing in pain.