Chapter 2: Facing the Evil God

The group waited patiently, and their patience was rewarded as the gate abruptly swung open to let them in. Jackie stood on the other side and gave them a wave.

“A piece of cake,” she said, puffing out her chest.

As the group entered, Luke said, “Great job. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

“Of course not. What kind of thief gets caught so easily, especially by a bunch of measly monsters?” Jackie said, turning her head up in annoyance.

“Just checking. I’m not doubting your skill. I was just worried you won’t be in top condition when facing the evil god,” Luke said.

“Don’t worry. He won’t see me coming,” she said haughtily.

“I’m not sure about that,” Maison teased.

In retaliation, she elbowed him hard in the side. He hissed and rubbed his side as he shot a look at her.

“Okay, guys. That’s enough. We need to stay focused. We’re now in the heart of the evil god’s territory. We can’t let our guard down,” Luke said.

As if summoned, a shadow out of nowhere covered them. They glanced up in time to see a monster fall from the sky towards them. The group scattered with Jackie grabbing Ruthie by the waist so she could remain focused on casting the sealing spell.

It crashed into the ground, kicking up dust and dirt everywhere. Chunks of the ground were sent flying, nearly hitting the group.

When the dust cleared, they finally got a good look at the monster.

This new monster was easily bigger than all the other ones they had encountered so far. It easily towered over even the castle. Just one step from it could easily crush them underfoot, but none of them were scared.

The group shared a glance and immediately lunged forward to deal with the monster.

Fists, swords, daggers, and arrows slammed into the monster. Some of the blows were strong enough to draw blood while others didn’t seem to have any effect. That didn’t stop the group from continuously bombarding the monster with attacks.

It roared, lashing out at them, but it was far too slow to stop them.

After taking several more blows without being unable to land any, the monster let out a furious roar before swinging widely at them. They easily dodged the strikes, but the monster didn’t seem to care about collateral damage and continued to lash out blindly.

The castle walls collapsed underneath its rage, and the ground cracked beneath them.

“Watch out. Be careful not to fall,” Luke barked as he weaved around the forming cracks.

“You don’t need to tell us twice,” Maison said as he unleashed another flurry of arrows.

Jackie latched onto the monster’s leg and climbed up the creature like a spider. The monster didn’t seem to notice until she reached its shoulder and met it face to face.

By then, it was too late.

She lunged forward and stabbed her daggers into its eye. The monster roared in pain, flailing and trying to hit her, but she escaped unscathed.

Taking advantage of the monster’s distraction, Dominik rushed forward and crashed into the monster’s legs. Caught off guard, it stumbled back a couple paces before falling onto its back. It crashed hard into the castle behind it, sending rubble flying.

The group hurriedly ducked out of the way to avoid being crushed by the flying pieces. When the dust cleared, they saw that the monster was lying in a daze.

None of them wasted any time to climb the monster’s body and rain down a flurry of attacks.

Soon the monster took its last breath, giving them a chance to catch their breath. The group stared down at the monster’s body, their chests heaving from the effort.

“The evil god really had a trick up his sleeve,” Luke said, wiping the sweat off his face.

“Do you think this was his final trump card?” Dominik asked.

“Who knows. We’d have to enter the castle to find out,” Jackie said as she twirled her daggers.

“So, leader, what do you think? Should we proceed or wait?” Maison asked.

All eyes turned to Luke, who considered the situation carefully.

“We should take a moment to recover our energy before continuing. We must have dealt a huge blow to the evil god, so it shouldn’t be able to send more monsters after us. It’s likely the next thing we encounter is the evil god himself,” he said.

A complicated look flashed across everyone else’s faces before Maison said, “That’s fine with me. I want to retrieve some of my arrows. They should still be good enough for facing the evil god.”

“Did you seriously run out of arrows?” Jackie demanded.

“It can’t be helped. I could only carry so many arrows. Besides, we haven’t been able to restock in a while. The previous towns were like dozens of miles away,” Maison said, raising his hands in mock surrender.

She shot him a disgusted look as he went off to retrieve any usable arrows.

“I’ll help,” Dominik offered, chasing after Maison.

“I’m sorry that I haven’t been much help,” Ruthie said, hanging her head.

“It’s not your fault. The sealing spell is necessary against the evil god. We won’t stand a chance against him without your help,” Luke said.

She didn’t say anything, keeping her head lowered. After the group had recovered enough, they stepped further into the destroyed castle.

Fortunately, they didn’t encounter any more monsters along the way.

It really seemed that the giant monster that they had fought had been the evil god’s last resort. Without it, there was nothing left standing between them and the evil god.

Soon they found themselves standing before an imposing door with a sinister aura emanating from it. The group shared a glance and nodded before Luke stepped forward and pushed the door open. A terrifying presence washed over them, sending chills down their spines.

Inside stood a shadowy humanoid figure with seemingly no other features and a creepy feeling to it.

It was without a doubt the evil god.

Luke raised his sword and declared, “This is the end, evil god Bydos. It’s time to end your reign of terror for good.”