Headed by a Snake

Chapter 896 Power & Responsibility

?"Aaanyroad," The Thunder God groaned.

He pointed a curiously aggressive palm towards Tycondrius, "The spear is mine, mortal!"

Tycon's gaze lazily drifted to the sea god's trident in his right hand.

He briefly considered arguing.

...Yet, he was repulsed by the thought of entertaining a fool.

He briefly considered inquiring honestly. It was, admittedly, a conundrum how a god of thunder and lightning could possibly lay claim to a possession of a dead water god.

However... that seemed to be troublesome.

Tycon chose to ignore him.

"Stop ignoring me!" The Thunder God shouted.

"Hey, we killed the sea god," Krysaos raised his hand. "That means his stuff belongs to us. Ain't that right, Hades?"

"That's wrong!" Bleated the Thunder God.

"No, that's... that's how it goes," The comically oversized orc patted the Thunder God's back in apology, "It be how it be."

"And... and--" the Thunder God's eyes widened in realization, "YOUUU! You ABSORBED THE SEA GOD'S POWER?!?!"

...Hades sucked in air through his teeth and crossed his arms.

Tycon, through his superhuman levels of concentration and will, managed to hide his contempt for the Thunder God's stupidity.

Such a fact was... p a i n f u l l y . obvious.

The sea god's corpse was bereft of divine power. Even after Krysaos' power was sealed, he struggled to reign in the aura of a Fourth-Circle caster. Such was well beyond the limits a regular human could withstand.

Suddenly, the Thunder God prostrated himself, "SEA GOD, PLEASE!! Relinquish thy spear to me!"

If he were anyone else, Tycon would have been concerned by the crack of his knees upon the deck.

"What the f--" Krysaos nearly fell off of his seat, "WhhhAT? The sea god is dead! We just--"

"Long live the Sea God," Tycon shrugged.

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. It was the only way he could hide his disappointment for yet another fool revealing himself.

He was glad he had ordered Wroe to keep to himself. Of course, from the sounds of it, the blue-haired glutton was shoveling food down his throat, magnificently appearing foolish anyroad.

The Captain's eyes widened for a moment... then narrowed with understanding, "Oh, f*ck me."

"A-anything but that!" The Thunder God looked up, his eyes unsteady and uncertain, "Anything else, Sea God! But... but I need that spear!"

"That's not what I-- ah, whatever," Krysaos sighed.

"You sure?" Hades pursed his lips, "Bet you never got sucked off by a god before."

Tycon began massaging the bridge of his nose.

"Gentlemen!" His voice was firm, commanding the attention of his peers.

"In the interest of expediting the process, I propose we forego the bartering of sexual favors.

"You!" He shouted, "Thunder God!!"

"Hhh-yesssss!!" The blonde fellow squeaked.

"I advise you..." Tycon took a breath, "to show your sincerity."

The Thunder God looked troubled... but nodded slowly, "I... cede to your wis--"

"And you!" Tycon turned, "Sea God!!"

Krysaos shrank back momentarily, before regaining himself, "W-what's up, LT?"

"I'm sure you will not oppose an equivalent exchange for... the magical fork the Thunder God seeks."

"Y-yeah, that's... that sounds..." Krysaos furrowed his brows.

He held out his hand towards the Thunder God, "Hold on... you got a thing stronger than what I got?"

"I can be the judge of that," Hades grinned. "Whip out your things right now, both of you."

Tycon slammed the end of the sea god's trident on the deck. The beached ship shook... the waters rumbling beneath it.

"Enough," He glared. "The Sea God speaks of god-artifacts... not genitalia."

O' Tycon, great leader of Sol Invictus. It was he and he alone bearing the weight of maturity amongst the gaggle of god-beings in his midst.

Such power. Such responsibility.

It pained him greatly.

"Yeah. That's right," Krysaos frowned. "You got uh... a dirty f*ckin' mind, Death God."

"Ey, f*ck you," Hades laughed, "So do you!"

"Psssh, yeah, haha. Yeah, I do."

"Krysaos," Tycon raised his voice, "you will be using the Heart of the Ocean. I guarantee Mina's potential will surpass... *this* thing's usefulness in as little as a few moons."

It was... admittedly a hypothesis based more on faith than empirical evidence. However, considering the Captain's nature, it behooved him to remain faithful to Mina as both a weapon and a loyal subordinate.

Krysaos' eyes hardened, "Yeah... you're right."

"I'm always right," Tycon crossed his arms.

"Hades," Krysaos clapped the orc at the elbow, "Can you take us back?"

"Yeh," Hades nodded. "Sit tight, boys. One ?Mass Teleport? comin' right up!"

"H-hey!" Tarquin Wroe forcibly swallowed the rest of his meal before hurrying to enter the Formation Circle, "Don't forget about me!"

Tycon steepled his fingers in front of his mouth in thought. He couldn't be certain how much time had elapsed on the surface Realm.

He was concerned about the fate of Mina. It was quite possible that she'd expired in the few bells they'd been fighting.

Then, it was paramount to confirm the safety of the crew of the Neptune's Revenge.

In particular, he wanted to check on Elle and Coraline.

While the two were not weaker than their peers, any injury to the Elven Arcanist, he had to explain to the Sapphire Tower.

Concerning Elle... he was entitled to worry for his lover's wellbeing.

Though he was confident in the crew's training, superior firepower, and ability to outmaneuver their opponents... a single Martialist with sufficient strength could inflict an unacceptable amount of casualties.

Tycon and Krysaos had defeated the heroine of the Hidden Lake sect's younger generation as well as their Divine Guardian Beast... but such sects often had one or more Elders ascended beyond humanity.

And finally... Tycon needed to find the man once known as Barza Keith, the Lone Shadowdark... he who called himself King.

It was uncertain what part he played in the attack on Mina.

Tycon hoped... that no more blood needed to be spilled.

However, he would not shy away from it.

Krysaos was effectively half-step Sky-Rank... but he needed to rest for his body to process his new power.

It was up to Tycon, Wroe, and potentially Hades to protect the interests of the crew... and to seek justice, if need be.

"Oy!" A certain god screamed, "Are you guys still ignoring me!?"