FALSE GODS

07 Divine Intervention

Spiritually connected to the members, the Titanide heard Niobe's prayer for help and arrived in the crack of time. She surveyed the clearing with riveted attention.

Elektra's eyes were vortices of ghastly light. Streaks of blue-white sparks crackled throughout her body. She donned an armor of platinum-gold.

Right now, the titanide's hair was white as day. It almost stood on end, charged by the divine energy coursing through her body.

Elektra, having completed her survey of the situation, walked over to Niobe and placed a hand over the girl's head.

"I am here, child," she reassured her ward. "Your prayer was heard. You must fear no more."

Niobe started sobbing hysterically. "Your Providence, that thing killed Felix. Bit his head off like a monster! Its poison took my hands! I was helpless!"

"Justice will be served, my dear," Elektra said, interested neither in Niobe's bursting emotions nor in the dire situation. It seemed she wanted to wrap things up as soon as possible.

The titanide turned towards the lava golem. The latter took a step back, as if in apprehension. Then, as if a remote command came to it, the monster took off its rocky head and filled it with the red ooze. As a result, flames engulfed the head. The lava golem intended to throw it as a magma bomb.

Elektra sighed, as if this theatrical battle were a boring situation. She lazily raised a finger to the sky. Instantly, there was a loud celestial rumble in the absence of clouds again.

The golem pulled back its arm to throw the miasma bomb. It said, "False gods must—"

Crackle! Boom! A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, shattering its body into a million pieces. The explosion was so massive that it scorched half of the clearing, burning the grass into flat, black soot.

Elektra's overpowered lightning bolt clearly destroyed the lava golem. The miasma within it fell to the forest floor like a blob and escaped into the woods as if it had a life of its own.

Elektra turned towards the thankful Niobe and nodded idly. Loud voices could be heard from all directions. In no time, several pegasi landed in the clearing.

The area was swarming with gods. There were dozens of princeps, many priors, and even a prime. The location was intimated to them by Elektra, but they couldn't possibly travel at her lightning speed. Hence, the delay in arrival.

A group of healer priors urgently attended to Niobe, shearing off the miasma-affected flesh and administering her restorative draughts.

Realizing the danger was averted, Electra released her divine form. Her glowing white eyes returned to their normal green color. The crackling energy coursing through her dissipated, and the armor vanished with hollow cling-clangs.

Elektra's white hair descended from its flight and wrapped itself into a braided bun by itself. She was a giant of a woman, muscle-bound and powerfully built. The female titan towered over the rest of the gods, who looked like children in her presence.

Elektra walked towards the pile of shattered rocks that remained from the destroyed lava golem. She sniffed the air and waved a hand through nothing, as if feeling for an invisible entity.

God-prime Estevan approached Elektra. He was the prime of her House, her highest-ranking soldier. "Your Providence. Scouts have returned after a reconnaissance of the area."

"What did they find?" the titanide asked in boredom.

Estevan cleared his throat and spoke with a hint of fear. "It was a lava golem indeed, but not independent. There are signs that someone was controlling it remotely. It seems like a planned ambush."

Elektra scoffed. "The only problem with that theory is that Niobe and the recruit told nobody else where they were going. Anyway, did you find the culprit?"

"Apologies, Your Providence, but we lost his trail. I have sent out a search party. Err… We found this…"

Estevan handed her a vial. It was a sample of the miasma collected from Niobe. The titanide's eyes widened a bit, as if in recognition.

"This sludge seems to have a life of its own," the god-prime said. "I have never seen such a thing before—"

"It is corruption, Estevan," Elektra interrupted him sharply. "Corruption that has come seeping from the underworld after a century. This isn't a good sign…"

The titanide was over three hundred and fifty years old and had seen most of history unfold through her eyes. She sighed, suddenly nostalgic as a flood of memories from distant times washed over her.

Elektra's face hardened, and she turned to Estevan with purpose. "Send an urgent message to our naval fleet in the Gulf of Stratos!"

Estevan considered the order for a moment and then said, "The Gulf of Stratos… That is where the God-King has gone on a holiday…"

The titanide nodded. "It's an emergency! We need Marcus Petromax to return immediately!"