That is a God

In a single instant, everything is changed. The mood of the tavern celebration turns into a frightful panic, as a single bolt of lightning from seemingly nowhere strikes the roof of a house and sets it on fire.

A slow calm laugh is heard from overhead. “A celebration? Without me?”

As the crowds disperse and people begin fleeing from their homes into the nearby woods for shelter, the solitary figure floating in the sky becomes easier to spot. It is a man with glowing white eyes, a thick gray beard, and no hair. He’s fat, wearing white shaman robes, large blue beads across his torso, and two silver bracelets. “Is this a Mad God?” Narco whispers in shock.

The four of them huddle beneath the tavern’s canopy as another bolt of lighting is launched. This time an entire house is destroyed and reduced to rubble. Narco worries if people are in there, but has no time to check it out.

The man continues to float over the town as people are running beneath him. He starts descending slightly. Guards have been dispatched, but even they seem hesitant to try and apprehend him. He takes a swig from his gourd. “Ah, refreshing.” He then throws it at the chapel and shoots lightning at the gourd, causing a massive explosion. Narco looks on, horrified at what just happened.

Without thinking, Narco runs past the Mad God and to the chapel. He stops in front of where it used to be. Nothing could survive that blast as nothing was left behind. He slowly sifts through the debris, but there isn’t a trace of the priest left.

The God’s bare feet finally touch the ground, and he starts to walk with a drunken aimlessness. His movements are unchallenged, even though he is encircled by the guards of the town. Then he stops and smiles. “So many friendly silver men have come to greet me.” He raises his hands above his head, and the guards move in closer. He then starts to twirl his hands in circular movements, causing a current of electricity to start to form. He utters “Jupiter’s Ring,” and throws the electricity around himself, electrocuting every guard that surrounds him.

Narco stands back up, and starts to walk toward the square where this God is destroying everything. Before he says anything, a voice comes from in front of the God.

“I am Mira, the hero of this village. Thank you for revealing your true face. I must demand you leave now.” It is a brunette elf in holy robes, the very same that threatened Narco. She’s holding a staff now instead of a dagger.

The God squints at Mira. “Wha? True face? And what’s this about you being a hero? You can’t stop me.” The God does a hand gesture to gloat, but almost stumbles over. He then pats the side of his outfit. “Hey wait, did you steal my gourd? No one steals my gourd. At least, no one lives after stealing my gourd.” He extends both his hands, and begins charging up an attack unlike any he’s unleashed thus far.

Mira holds her ground, unwavering in her conviction. She casts a ward on herself, though she knows it won’t be enough to stop the incoming attack in the slightest. The light emanating from between his arms is getting brighter. Something clicks inside Narco’s head, and he mutters beneath his breath “Jupiter.”

In an instant, he equips the amulet of Durlon, and sprints to Mira. The God shouts his attack. “Jupiter’s Cannon!” The attack is released, and could easily cut a ravine through a town. As the dust settles, everyone is shocked to see that he and Mira are unscathed. From the damage on the ground, it looks like the blast stopped just short of Narco. The amulet turns to dust. The people who were running stopped and looked at him in awe. His friends have some idea of what just happened based on the disintegrating amulet. However, Mira and the God are both confused.

“Well this is embarrassing.” The God laughs at himself. “I swear I thought the fight would be over. I guess I released Jupiter’s Cannon too early.” He tosses a small bolt at him which is easily deflected by Mira’s ward. “Honestly, I thought I could last longer. My mother always said to not count your eggs in one basket.”

Seeing Narco in action and the weakened attacks of the God, Free Stuff activates his class ability of werewolf berserker. He hides behind a wall so the God doesn’t see him transform, then he emerges as an orcish werewolf and lunges at the God. In his berserking state, his attacks are fast, but inaccurate. While the wide swings would land on any normal target, the drunken God dodges each swing with an inhuman flexibility and speed.

“Aww, the puppy wants to play. A level one puppy, so cute.” No attacks of Free Stuff are landing. While he is entertaining the God, GG finally digs deep enough in her pouch and pulls out her starting grimoire. When she opens it, all the spells are auto translated via the HUD, and she can easily cast any as long as she is holding her grimoire and open on the page the spell is located. She flips through her book, but none of her spells possess the necessary firepower to threaten this monster. She finds one that she hopes might support Free Stuff’s plans.

Gambit is watching all this unfold, analyzing the God for his weaknesses. Besides Narco, he is the only one who realizes the name of the weapon the God is using.

With the exception of Free Stuff who is busy, the party communicates with just their eyes. A single knowing glance informs all of them of the plan. Wait for an opening, then rush him all at once.

Free Stuff has been distracting the God for a minute now, and realizes his teammates must be waiting on him to create the opening for an attack. He wonders how much the God knows about werewolves, about this world, about what his only options are. Free Stuff immediately stops and lets off a roar attack. This should stun the God based on a calculation that weighs both their stats against each other. His teammates don’t know how much time he bought, but they plan to make the most of it. GG immediately cast a spell of Slowness on the God. Narco unsheathes his sword and leaps the entire distance between him and the God. Free Stuff goes for a slashing strike. Gambit uses his Shadowborn racial ability to put a minor curse on the God.

It is a barrage of attacks, but it isn’t enough. The slowness and the curse both hit the target. Unbeknownst to the team, the God has a stun resistance and a speed boost ability. As Free Stuff goes in for a slash, within less than a second, the God immediately climbs over him, and positions himself to be crouching on his back. He then propels himself upward and off of Free Stuff which punches him like a pinball into the ground. Using his propulsion from Free Stuff, he uppercuts Narco.

Even though all his attacks were without magic or a weapon, they did deal a fair bit of damage. In addition, the pair remain on the ground, struggling due to the strikes against their heads. The impacts triggered a dizziness status effect and potentially even concussions.

The God laughs again, looking at Mira who still holds a defensive stance. “Level one trash. Is this your town’s defense Mira? Are you going to do any better?”

Mira tightens her grip on her staff. “I don’t care what it takes. I will defeat you.”

The God sticks out his tongue and visibly chews on it in a mocking manner. “Bleh, bleh, bleh, bleh, bleh. Heroes are all talk.” The God stops and examines Mira for a moment. “Wait a minute. Those robes. I know those robes. I get it now.” He continues to use his hands while he talks. “You’re with the Sunshine Church, right? I bet you’re furious over what she did to that town. What was it again, Flosolis? I-”

Mira’s fears leave her body. In an instant, she’s become someone else entirely. Her left hand falls to her side, as she wields her staff with purpose in her right.

“What’s the matter? Giving up on defense already?” The God prattles on, but Mira doesn’t care.

“You talk a lot. A God needn’t that many words to have their feelings known.” Mira grabs her staff again with both hands, but instead of holding it like a shield, she aims it as a weapon. “Let me show you the pinnacle of my faith.” For a single second, the world awaited. The God, the townspeople, even the wind, it all falls silent as if just so her voice could be heard. “Ray of Eradication.”

Not a sliver of time is spared. Immediately, with zero build up, the staff glows orange and releases a beam of light that burns a clean line past the gates of the town. Mira falls to her knees exhausted. “The master technique of the sunshine church, a month’s worth of sunlight stored and fired in one single blast: the ray of eradication.”

“It really is impressive.” Mira’s face contorts with shock as the God appears behind her. “All that power sure would have killed me. But like, you know how fast I am. Did you really think your master technique would land?”

Mira struggles to move after the attack. “But it was instantaneous.”

“I guess instantaneous doesn’t mean what it used to.” The God pats her head. “Good effort kid. For impressing me, I’ll tell you a secret. When your sisters at the church told you the spell was instantaneous, they probably meant in the hands of a master whose acquired abilities to speed up casting times. Sure, it's fast on its own, but completely dodgeable by my standards. Five of my friends might have struggled I guess, so maybe it was just a bad match up on your part.” The God shrugs impassionately.

The dizziness begins to wear off, allowing Free Stuff and Narco to rise to their feet.

The God sighs, a bit annoyed. “Look, as much as I’d love going through this village and using my fists to reduce the population one by one, I’m going to have to ask you to take a number. That shot earlier was supposed to put a hole in the village, and you there didn’t let me. Whatever cheats you did, I don’t think it's going to work next time.” The God blitzes back to the entrance, then starts to walk out casually. “So I guess this is goodbye for now.” He waves.

“Wait!” Narco stands firm with his sword drawn. “What is your name?”

“I guess you can call me Jupiter. Till we meet again.” The God blitzes away before Narco can ask any more questions.

The townspeople slowly come back and circle around the square. Mira, Narco, Free Stuff, and GG are all celebrated as heroes who stood up to Jupiter. As a reward, a feast is to be held in their honor, and they are to be given proper equipment and free lodging while they stay.