Pride didn't hold back on his back attack. The impact was so powerful that Hope lost control over the confinement barrier he trapped Fear and Wrath in. The barrier vanished. Fear and Wrath lunged forward once they did.
Wrath sent a torrent of chaotic energies at the two G.o.ddesses from the opposite team. Serenity and Love had been taken by surprise. They didn't expect things would turn out like this and they didn't know what to make of the fact that Pride was backstabbing their leader. All they could respond with was defend themselves when Wrath's chaotic energy came a.s.sailing.
Pride didn't stop after that one attack. He continued to unleash one catastrophic energy after another. He was trying to keep Hope from taking any action.
"Enough…!!!" Hope bellowed. His voice created a shockwave that would have shattered mountains.
The shockwave managed to blast Pride away. However, the disruption that he caused allowed Fear to approach. Fear took out a small orb that seemed insignificant. He shoved this...o...b..at Hope when Hope was repelling Pride.
Hope didn't think much of this. He was about to turn back to deal with Fear but he felt a strange force trying to drill into his body.
He looked down and saw the orb that Fear had shoved onto him was burrowing its way into his armor. He couldn't believe the sight. He couldn't believe there was anything that could pierce his divine armor.
Yet, this...o...b..didn't just drill its way into his armor. It even pierced Hope's body behind the armor.
"Fear…! What did you–ARRGGHH…!!!"
A deluge of energy burst through the wound. The energy created a colorful stream that swept everything it pa.s.sed through. The clouds where this energy swept past were seemingly disintegrated, reshaped, and recreated in a chaotic sequence. The other G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses stopped their fight and erected protective barriers when this energy washed over them.
Hope finally managed to stop the energy stream from leaking out of him. Yet, he could feel that whatever was inside him was still doing its damage.
"Fe… Fear…! What have you done…?!!" Hope bellowed.
"What I have wanted to do for a very long time," Fear answered. "Taking you out of the equation!"
Hope looked back. His eyes bored into Pride. Pride's face was not seen behind that void of his helmet, but Hope could see the uneasiness within Pride.
"Pride… Brother…! How could you…!! Why…?!"
"… Because you are too stubborn. I know that even if you know the truth. You won't embrace it."
"Truth? What are you talking about?" Serenity asked. "How can you turn on us?!"
"Hmph! You, pitiful good G.o.ds, are truly clueless," Wrath mocked. "No wonder that man come to us with the truth instead of your lots."
"What do you mean?" Love asked.
Instead of answering, Wrath turned to Pride instead. "Since they were once your comrades, you tell them, Pride."
It took Pride a few breaths before he spoke again, "Our world is fake, and so are we. We are fake G.o.ds!"
"What are you talking about…?" Serenity asked.
"This world is created to be an entertainment for those outworlders. Our creator, the one you revered so. Or more correctly, creators, are a group of outworlders who made this world. All the rules that we are told to abide by, are the rules this so-called creator instilled in us. We are no more than their playthings!"
"Blasphemy! You have lost your mind, Pride…," Hope uttered. He was in much pain. He was still fighting the energy that ravaged his inside.
"Hahaha!" Fear laughed. "As I have expected. Even after the truth is presented, you still won't accept it. Do you not realize by now how this world favors those outworlders so? How they got everything so easy when the natives of this world had to struggle so hard to get the same things? How the rules we have been made to obey are simply helping them further during their time in this world."
Serenity and Love were silent hearing Fear. Hope turned back to Pride with a glare. "This…?! This nonsense is what you betray your brother for?"
"I… I refuse to abide by the creator's rules anymore!" Pride exclaimed. "We are never brothers. This is just what the creator makes us believe. I will be my own G.o.d from now on. I am Pride! I will not follow anyone's rules. Not the creator. Not you…"
"You, traitor…!!" Hope roared and lashed out with a powerful discharge of energy. However, he found that the power he unleashed was much weaker compared to his usual power. Thus, Pride was able to resist the force.
Fear didn't stay still, once he saw Hope take action, he also attacked. Serenity, Love, and Wrath didn't stay still. The sky was soon filled with explosive energies that would have ravaged the land if they were fighting down there.
*
"That is the sign," Strah said. Even from so far away, they could see the disturbance in the direction where the G.o.ds had flown to. He then gave the others to everyone, "Attack!"
The cultists started rushing forward again. The Primordial Hydra took the first strike by firing its Penta-elemental breaths from its five heads.
The five elemental beams shot at Eoranth who stood in the cultists' way. Eoranth had been watching them so he noticed their sudden movement. A shield formed by multiple runic symbols appeared before him and the five elemental beams crashed into it.
The five elemental beams were unable to pierce the shield, but their force was so great that a being as heavy as Eoranth also get pushed back. Eoranth's feet skid against the ground as he tried to resist the force.
The hydra finally ended his breath. As it did, Eoranth lunged forward while firing his soul breath in a wide arc.
The cultists had been advancing in a circling path. They were not suicidal enough to go through where Eoranth was standing. Yet, the Soul Breath still decimated some of them.
The cultists were not his main target. The hydra was. So, Eoranth ignored them for now and dashed directly for the Hydra. The hydra didn't show any sign of falling back. It also ran forward. Its heavy body soon collided with Eoranth's.
Eoranth might appear bigger because of his height, but the Primordial Hydra had a larger ma.s.s and was thus heavier. Even so, it was the hydra who was knocked a couple of steps back.
When Eoranth was about to push forward. Vekja appeared over one of the hydra's heads. They slashed their large scythe in the air, which produced a giant black scythe image that cut down at Eoranth.
A loud metallic sound was heard when this giant black scythe hit Eoranth's hard scales. The attack failed to pierce Eoranth's defense but it stopped the dragon's advance.
Eoranth growled. His body glowed. It was his buff skill, soul wrath. He didn't plan on wasting much time fighting the opponents here.