Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 372.6- Traveling Paradise

Traveling through heaven, Elysium would meet many enemies.

“Gah!! Dammit!” shouted Chernobog with several cuts and punctures all around his body.

“Hm.” Elysium swipes his star-touched spear. “I will be off now. If you meet Vritra, tell him if he attacks, I will make sure heaven loses a god.”

“Hah.” Vesta lets out an exasperated breath. “If they try again, just kill them. I would think they had better brains to fight you.”

“Heh!” Chernobog smirks. "Aww~ are you afraid to kill a god?”

“Naw.” Elysium lightly smiles. “For you and all of the Evilus gods, I hold no hesitation. Sadly, the current conditions of heaven have saved your life, piece of shit.”

Some were of no issue.

“Huff!! Huff!! Huff!! Let’s go again!" Vritra shouted, ecstatic, covered in their ichor. “I haven’t had this much fun in forever!"

“How you survived my attack back in the Nascent of Gods is something praiseworthy,” Elysium said with a calm face. “Let me try it again. This time, it’ll be better.”

Most proved to be a significant challenge.

"My, oh my,” Said a blue-skinned goddess with multiple arms. “So this is the power of Elpis huh? Get up, Elysium. Show me you live up to the title Kali gave you, White-Clothed Destruction.”

“Hmm!!” Elysium gets back on his feet. “Very well, Shiva! But that was not Elpis! This!! CRACK!!!!!” An ocean of power crashes down on Shiva. “This is a taste of Elpis!"

“HAHAHA!!!” She laughed as she crumbled to her knees. She was smiling at how powerful and destructive Elpis was. “YES!! THIS!!!” She defiantly rose against the shower of thunder. “COME!! HUSBAND OF THE HUNTRESS! SHOW ME WHY ARTEMIS LOVES YOU!!!”

'This is only 2% of its power. I don’t wanna destroy this realm or heaven.' Elysium thought.

Of course, on his long journey, he would meet some very nice people.

“Thank you for listening to me,” said a soldier from Israfan as he disappeared.

“Haa…” Elysium lets out a breath of relief.

“You are doing good, Elysium.” Said a handsome god with brown skin adorned in pure black jewelry.

“Thank you, Krishna... I think I can go a bit longer today.”

And he would meet very horrible people.

CRACK!!!!!

BWOO-SLURP!!!

“Nyarlathotep!!!” Elysium roared. “Give Proanthos back!"

“Ba-Ka-Fu-Wa!!!” Nyarlathotep laughed in four different ways, with some tentacles holding Proanthos.

“Why can’t you be as chill as Cthulhu huh!! He just sleeps and swims!"

“Because! I know fun! I know what makes a human go, ‘Well gee whillikers, that’s a war crime!’ and the others don’t!”

“How the fuck are you not permanently in Solipsism?"

“It’s because they're like Eris and Sun Wukong, but it’s just petty shit!" Proanthos shouted within one of their several hundred tentacles. “Let me go, or else I will fucking burn your ass!"

“Ba-Ka-Fu-Wa!! That bad apple and monkey are small fries, ya hear! I’m in the big timez! The big league! My plans go beyond the realms of comprehension that not even Ananke or Chronos could fathom, even if they go all out with their powers together!"

“It’s 'cause they're easy! All you do is fuck around or cause slight annoyance! Like the time you moved Demeter’s farm one inch every day!”

“I’ll slit your fucking throat you blue-haired cunt!" A twisting divinity covered the Crawling Chaos.

“Then I suggest you let her go.” Elysium had already drawn his spear.

“Well… I always wanted to have a taste of paradise♪” Nyarlathotep encases Vesta into their body.

“You fucking punk ass—” Vesta shouted before her voice was cut off.

“You're gonna have to penetrate me if you're going to want your blue flower.” Nyarlathotep’s tentacles, along with several other appendages, begin to rise and blanket the area. “And yes, I meant both metaphorically and sexually.” Their twisted divinity sharpened like a needle, covering their method of attack.

“Gross.”

But most of all, he would meet those he would call teachers and mentors more often than not.

“Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!” Elysium lay on the ground, beaten and dirty.

“Huff!! Huff!! Huff!!” Laying opposite him was a deity who looked like a humanoid monkey with gray hair on the sides, covered in ornate iron, gold, and fur armor with a flowing red cape and gilded circlet. “Oy, Elly.”

“What is it, Sun?”

“Wanna go again?” Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow. “But no cheating using Elpis?”

“Says the guy who used his clones to jump me.”

“Says the guy who used his thunder.”

“Says the guy who used their staff.”

“Says the guy who grabbed my tail.”

“Says the guy who punched my knee out of nowhere.”

“What? You don’t like Charley horses?”

“How about you two stop and rest?” Proanthos said, leaning over them.

“Did you make those peach dumplings?” Sun Wukong asked.

“I did.”

“Elly, I bet you my share if you can beat me to it!" He immediately rolled to the side, jumped back onto his feet, and ran.

“You fucking cheater!" Elysium gets up and gives chase.

And so did Elysium’s journey, journeying to new places and meeting new people.

Elysium journeyed to other worlds, the Conceptual Rings, and interacted with other people.

"Leave," said a Korean man with an army of shadows behind him.

“Well, aren’t you hostile?” Elysium said, eating some food with Proanthos. “We just came here to eat with a nice view."

Currently, they are at Iguazú Falls, which borders Argentina and Brazil. They made some chairs and a table with food they bought from the world they were visiting.

“What is up with these worlds?” said Proanthos, taking a quick bite of her food. “This is like the 673rd world where there are gates and hunters with the strongest guy being some form of necromancer, or from an Asian country?”

“Yeah, I bet he’s also a bit of a cheeky bastard when it comes to money because his mom is in the hospital for some ultra-rare disease or something. Like, does South Korea not have universal healthcare?” Elysium added.

“No, we don’t!" The Korean man shouted. “We have to cover 20% of the medical treatments!"

“Hey, I learned something new!” Elysium looked at Proanthos.

“Hm! Another day better!”

They both reached over with their drinks and bumped their drinks.

“I thought you said you were some great god!” The Korean man shouted.

“Uh, not all gods are all-knowing. Besides, the creator god of your world fucking got killed by their creations!” Elysium retorted.

“I do not know why you are here, but I will defend my home. I am the Shadow Mon—"

“That’s nice. You should go back then.” Elysium rolled his eyes, cutting them off. He flicked his finger, and the man was gone, returned home. “Hm. He had cool shadows. Hey Pro, do you think I should make shadow helpers or something for my domain?”

“Hmm…” Proanthos rubs her chin. “I feel like they would not have as much mobility as you would expect. Hecton and Fafnir are fast, but they can only move through shadows or darkness. So is your domain going to just be darkness?”

“Naw… We need to put a pin on those things to work on. Having more hands will be nice. Oh! How would you feel if I created more spirits?”

“If you want, but are they just gonna help you run your domain?”

“Hmmm… I have an idea! How do you feel about the name The Knights of Elysium?”

“Ooh! That has a nice ring to it!”

“Hm! Hm!” Elysium nods his head excitedly. “And I know who to get!”

“Get?”

“Yup!”

They both disappear from the world after finishing their meal.

He went into worlds of grim darkness.

“Hello!” Elysium waved at a god.

That god was a tall, broad, and muscular humanoid in a suit of brass and black iron armor. Its appearance oozed a baroque style. It was as imposing and brutal as it was impressive. He even sits upon a throne of brass with countless skulls of various species. Next to him was a great two-handed sword. The sword, despite how rusty it looked, had an unparalleled edge. Even as it rested by its owner's side, it was still cutting whatever came near it.

Around them could only be described as a massive, massive pit of glorious violence.

“Elysium, why are we here?” Proanthos said, uncomfortable with the amount of violence that is in this god's domain. “Even Khaos said this section of Conceptual Rings are dangerous, even for you!”

The domain could only be described as a paradise for all things violent and bloody. Everything is fighting something—man against daemons, lighting against volcanoes. Mountains of skulls that reach past the red skies, pools of blood, and viscera as far as the eye can see. But most of all, it was rage, fury, and wrath incarnate that would put most gods of war to shame and wish to partake in this glory.

“Well, I was curious. Plus, this place is pretty metal! Hey, is Ronald Reagan here? I just wanna talk to him."

The god speaks up.

“You. What brings another god to my realm?”

His voice held a cold fury as if they were restraining their anger and attacking them.

“Oh well, I was exploring this Conceptual Ring, and I felt this massive power, and so I thought, man, I kinda wanna see who this is."

“I ask you; do you wish to duel me?” The god, underneath his armor, peers at Elysium.

They could feel a great power coming from Elysium, a power that intrigued, if not attracted, the god. A war god. They could feel Elysium’s authority over combat.

“Well yeah. You look to be a rather powerful god who has seen their fair share of fights.” A start-touched spear comes from his body to form a bident with the shape of a pentagon. “So you wanna have a little fun?”

Even under all of his armor, all who gazed at the god could see his smile. It brimmed with a savage lust for combat. Yet this smile was even more twisted.

As much as the god loved battle and the flow of blood, he was a surprisingly honorable warrior. For one to come up to him and even suggest a fight, well, it excited him, especially if that person was another god who came before him with such simplicity.

“I am Khorne!" He grabbed his two-handed sword and detached himself from his brass throne. “What is your name, war god?" His bloodlust blanketed the area in a blood-red filter; his bloodlust was tangible enough to bite it.

“Hey, I can do that as well!"

A red film was placed on top of an already red area.

“Hahaha!!” Khorne laughed. Elysium was making their domain even better. “Tell me your name!"

The daemons of their domain got even more angry and violent.

“I am Elysium! The God of Nascent!" Elysium grows in size to match Khorne. “Oh, before we fight, do you mind if I let my knights fight your strongest?”

Khorne didn’t even hesitate to give his answer.

“Go on ahead!" He grabbed his greatsword with his other hand and held it aloft. “The more blood, the better!"

“Thank you very much! Pro get inside! I don’t want you to get hurt! Knights!! Time to get experience!"

The two gods reeled their weapons back, and, with godly strength, their weapons clashed with world-shattering, space-rending delight.

■̶̢̫̽̀͠■̷̦̄͘͝■̶̥̀̊ͅ■̷̩̼͓͗͌■̸͙̔■̷̭̍̊■̴̗̱̰̃̽■̶̺̰͉̾̿̂■̸̩͎̅̾̕■̸̱̦̀̓̊■̸̥̑̀̚■̸̹̲̥̒͂■̵̹̐■̸͚͒̂͐■̴̲͚̆̐̽■̴̙͑■̸̡̗̰̉■̶̛̞̓͐?̷̖̯̃͝?̷̨̛̅́͜?̷͓̱͍̕

The sound of their weapons clashing made an unbelievable sound. Proanthos hid within Elysium so as to not have her mind burst. That said, it cannot be said for the subjects of Khorne, who all exploded into blood, their bodies ripped into fibers from their simple greeting.

After that initial clash, tears opened up around the area, spilling over the daemon of Khorne. From Elysium, his knights sprung forth, ready to fight.

The duel snowballed into a full-on war that spread outside Khorne’s domain and into the others. It grew so much with so much conflict among the denizens of the place called the Immaterium that the battle was called The Festival of Hell.

Unfortunately, the festival would not last as three of the other gods pulled back their forces as some things were happening outside of the Immaterium that would affect the conditions of the world apart from their domains.

Elysium remained in that world for a while, even though he took notice of all the commotion in this world of grim dark and found fascinating people. One such individual, along with their legion, caught his eye, and Elysium gave them an offer that they willingly took.

He went to world's to learn how to manage the realm he was going to create.

“Hm, hm. I see,” Elysium said, taking notes. “Can I ask why you use paper? With your godly power, can’t you simplify it?” He asked the god he was learning from.

“Gods do not have perfect memory. Especially the gods of this Conceptual Ring.” Said Hades, a tall, hulking god with gray skin and long, wavy black hair with decadent red robes.

“That is why I keep my memories backed up on these pills.” He took it out and showed some star-touched pills that were like small marbles. “They are my memories of when I was mortal. I do not wish to forget my loved ones. So when I return, I will remember their faces, voices, touch, and love.”

“Aww!” said Hades’s wife, Persephone, a woman with fair skin, green eyes, and pale blonde hair. Her attire was one befitting the queen of the underworld. She matched her husband well. “It is a shame you didn’t want to go and talk with the Artemis of this world. Zagreus mentioned you married your world’s Artemis.”

“Yeah um… Well, I’m my Artemis’s Orion. I do not wanna test my chances that this world's Artemis won’t shoot me in the head, or Apollo, or something. Yeah, I prefer not to cause trouble.”

“You will do well managing an underworld, Elysium.” Hades nodded. “Come, let's continue.”

Splash!

The sound of water echoed throughout the home.

“Guess Zagreus died again,” Elysium said.

DASH!

DASH!

DASH!

DASH!

Coming up to Elysium was Hades’ son, Zagreus.

“Hey there, Elysium!” he said, smiling ear to ear.

Zagreus had heterochromia with green and red eyes, both from his parents. His attire also matched well with his parents, but the most notable feature was his fire-licked feet.

“Sup. What killed you this time?” Elysium asked.

“Ah, it was Lernie this time. Those Pacts of Punishment are rough.”

“Hm.” Hades lightly smirked.

“Anyway. I went ahead and contacted Artemis for you!”

“… What?” Elysium felt a shiver run down his back. “You WHAT!?”

“Well, you never seem to stop talking about your wife, so I thought maybe the Artemis of this world could ease some of your woes?”

“Is this because Laelaps bit you? I told you, don’t mess with her!”

“No, of course not! It was my mistake. I just thought maybe you two could help one another out."

“You know she is Artemis, right? I doubt the most famed virgin goddess Artemis would react kindly to the man who married another world’s Artemis, right? Like I don’t—I—Proanthos!" Elysium quickly moved. “We gotta go!”

“Hold on a second! Hypnos is giving me pointers!” She shouted from the foyer.

“We… ugh.” His shoulders drooped. “Never mind!” He turned to look back. “No point in running from Artemis. If I left, she would just either give chase or hold a grudge. Neither are good options—!?” Elysium quickly turned its head. “… She’s here.”

“Impossible!” Hades proclaimed. "Boy!" he exclaimed, turning to face his son. “When did you contact her?”

“Uhh… Three minutes ago?” Zagreus said.

He went to worlds where their god was unavailable.

"No goodbyes?"

Elysium kneels before the god of the world that he is in.

That god was humanoid in physique, with slicked-back dark hair, oval eyes, and very thin eyebrows. His eyes are very unusual, each having four black irises. He does not have any arms or legs. They are sealed within an unusual barrier that is suspended by four wires in a large, elegant room.

“Paying your last respects, huh?" said Ichibei, a large man with the appearance of a monk with a bald head, red eyes, bushy eyebrows, and a long black beard. He wore traditional Japanese attire with large red prayer beads around his neck.

“He is far kinder than what one would expect.” Elysium stands up. “The Soul King, ■■■■■■■. Having this level of prescience truly does have that effect on you. To let yourself succumb to being a tool and forgoing your agency for the thing you love.”

He turns to see Ichibei.

“Has the God of Nascent experienced the same blessing as him?” He said it in a jolly tone. “If he—”

“No. I won’t be a replacement. In all of my time here, the Soul King has only spoken to me once, and it was a selfless request.” Elysium reached into their star-touched clothes and took out a large capsule. “It will activate when the time for it to be used comes. Take care, Ichibei; you are very good at names!” Elysium smiled, and his veil-like mantle covered him. “Tell the other royal guards I am thankful for the knowledge and gifts they imparted to this vagabond god.”

Then he was gone.

Ichibei stood there for a second. He glanced at the capsule, and the smallest of smiles appeared on his face.

“… Hm.” Ichibei looks at the Soul King. “I feel that you miss him already."

Ichibei suddenly looks to his left to see a green, cloud-shaped flowers in a pot.

“I guess he left you a gift. Very well, I’ll have these planted.”

He went to worlds where that god was dead.

“Well, this is something, huh? The King of the Forest was a baby robot, huh?” Elysium said, looking at a baby robot wrapped up in a crib.

(Yes,) said a machine in medieval armor.

“The little king, Immanuel, was it?” Proanthos asked for confirmation.

(Yes, our king.) Another robot knight answered.

(Lord Elysium. Can you make our king big?) asked another.

“Well, sure. I see no problem with—”

(Danger! Danger!)

Running up, waving their stubby arms around, was another machine in armor.

(An intruder has invaded the kingdom!)

They all look at Elysium.

(Help! Help! Help!) They all began to try to grab onto Elysium to plead for help.

“It’s alright little ones.” Elysium patted their heads. They all calmed down. “Do not worry; your people are safe.” He waved his hand and all the people of the kingdom appeared within the room.

(??) Several of the machines looked around confused, but the second they saw Elysium, they raised their hands in joy.

(Lord Elysium! Lord Elysium!) They all quickly gathered around Elysium. (Thank you! Thank you!)

“It’s going to be alright.” He assured them. "Proanthos, do you mind keeping watch?”

“No problem.” She nods. “I am enough for whatever comes here.”

“How fortunate. My knights are sparing one another right now.” Elysium phases through the robots and walks through the doorway.

He walks through the hallways of the castle. He knows what is coming, and his abilities make it easy for him. The second he stepped onto the bridge that led to the Royal Chambers, the invader showed up.

Clack!

Landing before him was an android. They raised their head, but the second they saw Elysium, their bodies reacted.

Kneel!

When she landed before Elysium, her eyes widened. She knelt immediately. Her programming immediately made her kneel before the human before her; at least that is what her programming told her.

“What is your name?”

“I… am A2. I ask you, why is a human here of all places?" Her model was female, with long white hair, cold blue eyes, and threadbare attire. Even with old clothing hanging off her, Elysium was taken aback by how well-created this android was. "Were you not all on the moon?”

“A2, huh? It’s a nice name.” Elysium said it earnestly. “Oh, and I am not human, per se.”

“?” A2 was confused. “You are not? Then why is my programming making me kneel?”

“Ah well, I am a god of humanity, so that could be it.”

“A god?”

“Yes. You can stand up. No need to keep kneeling.”

A2 stands back on her two feet. Looking at him now, emotions that never were in her came to be.

“W-what is this feeling?” She felt her body get warmer. “Did my body have this function?”

“I guess that’s how it is in this world.” Elysium walked up to her. “Even artificial life will walk down the same path as its creators.”

“I—why are you here in this castle of machines?” She shouted.

“I came because they prayed.”

“… What?”

“Yes. Prayer. They prayed that their little king would grow up. So I answered. If you behave and do not kill any of them, you can watch. Do you promise? You really have nothing to lose.”

"And what if I decide to fight you?”

“Hm.” Elysium lightly smiles. "You're walking down the steps of evolution and you want to slit God's throat, huh? Lovely! You cannot be human if you do not have the freedom to do something really dumb! Yes, to be human, you must go against nature itself and shape it with your own hands.”

A2 was, well, it smothered her with several kinds of emotions towards Elysium.

“Then I have a chance?”

“No. You do not.” Elysium turned back and walked back to the royal chamber. “You can try to attack me, but it will not end well for you."

A2 weighed her chances and found them not worth the risk. His words held authority over her.

(Let’s see if they are a god, as he says he is.) A2 thought.

He met a god but no world.

“01000100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01111001 00100000 01101111 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101001 01100100 01100101 01100001 00100111 01110011 00100000 01000101 01101100 01111001 01110011 01101001 01110101 01101101 00111111”

“Yeah, for one you should you know make a language and give yourself a name,” Elysium said to the god in their empty world.

“01001000 01101101 01101101 00101110 00101110 00101110 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01111001 00100000 01110011 01110101 01100111 01100111 01100101 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01101110 01100001 01101101 01100101 00111111”

The god had no body, no sense of identity. When Elysium arrived, he found the world rather interesting.

“Look, I don’t know; all I do know is that you do not wanna make your world in this specific location.”

“01001001 00100000 01110000 01101001 01100011 01101011 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101111 01100011 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100011 01100001 01110101 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110010 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 01110100 01100101 01110010 01110011 01100101 01100011 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01010100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01010011 01110000 01100001 01100011 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01100101 01101110 00100001”

“I know what is gonna happen, and it’s not going to look pretty, so uh… hah. Do you want me to help you lessen those effects? Like, maybe make a worldwide system or something to help you manage the world? Given how there are no laws yet created, you can really do have the whole sandbox to yourself.”

“01001111 01101111 01101000 00100001 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110011 01100101 01100101 00100001 00100000 01010110 01100101 01110010 01111001 00100000 01110100 01110010 01110101 01100101 00100001 00100000 01001111 01101000 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101001 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101101 01100001 01111001 01100010 01100101 00100000 01100011 01110101 01110010 01100010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110010 01101001 01100110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01000010 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01001111 01100010 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01010101 01101110 01101001 01110110 01100101 01110010 01110011 01100101 01110011 00111111 00100000 01010000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00111111”

“… Ugh. I’ll connect it to one! You will need to be very careful, got it?"

“01010000 01110010 01101111 01101101 01101001 01110011 01100101 00100001”

“I want you to say it, not in binary! If you really want not to be bored, you gotta seal away some of your power. Trust me, you will feel better.”

“Alright.” They said with a stiff, robotic voice. “I have come up with a name as well.”

“Oh? What is it?” Elysium was a bit excited about what name they picked.

"I have picked the name Veldanava! The stories you told have inspired me."

“Well, I’m glad I can help. So, shall we get started?”

“Oh, before we start, do you wish for a place within my—”

“You don’t need to concern yourself with me. I am just a vagabond, traveling and learning. Besides, this is your world. I should not have a part in it.”

“… Very well.” Veldanava then made themselves a plain body.

Elysium helped the newly named creator god, Veldanava, start their world.

He even met gods who didn’t have enough time.

“This world certainly is something,” Elysium said upon a bluish cloud. “Thanks for gifting me a piece of your ride, Maitreya. Oort will be happy about that”

Flying next to him was the Supreme God of this world.

He was a young-looking man with dark, spiky brown hair kept in a low ponytail; he had a gray jeogori and jeans.

“I thought I said you could just call me Jin?” He said this while riding on his white cloud. “I am surprised you made that cloud even better than my own. And again sorry for accidently damaging it, our spar went a little to far."

"It's fine, really. Things like these happen. As for the cloud making well I am a god of skies, thunder, lightning, and more stuff; that’s too long to say. Anyway, thanks for letting me help and test out my device.”

“Hm!” He nods with a bright smile. “Not at all. I learned a great deal from you as well. I have a better grasp and use of what I can really do. You really do live up to the name Avalokiteśvara.”

“I think that’s too much of a grand title for me; I'm a bit undeserving of it.”

“Then you will grow into it. You have the observation thing down. You even helped many civilizations as we traveled together.”

“Yes… There is one world I wish I could find.”

“Your home world, right? The world you were first born into?”

“Yes… It’s like trying to find a specific needle in a haystack full of infinite near-identical needles.”

“One day you will find it. I know you—”

Bwoosh!!

A blue flame covered Elysium.

“Oh.” Elysium looked at his hands and body to find he was engulfed in the blue flame. “Well, speak of the devil.”

“Something came up?” Jin asked.

“Yeah. My journey has finally come to an unexpected end for now. My wives and children are waiting.” He stands up with a warm, bright smile. “May we meet again, Jin Mori.” He extends his hand.

Jin stands up as well and shakes his hand.

“Until next time, my good friend.” He smiles as brightly as Elysium before they return their hands back to their sides.

The bluish cloud enters Elysium’s mantle as it wraps around him.

“Do try and be in your adoptive kid's life, by the way. They don’t stay kids for long.”

With his final words, Elysium hurries back to the world he calls home.

“… Hm.” Jin closes his eyes for a while before opening them back again. “You are right.” He then takes out an odd device. “But there is still work to be done, and with your help, I can spend more time with them.”

He then takes off at blinding speed.

Blink!

Elysium opens his eyes from the sea his mortal self died in.

‘Oh? I guess I popped out here with all my spilled blood. Hmm!! After so long, I can’t wait! Oh, I should make an appearance! The world has gone out of its way to greet me.’

He made himself an adequate body to leave the sea and step upon land.