Chapter 3: Sealing the Evil God

Luke leaned heavily on his sword, gasping for air as he stared at the prone figure of the evil god. He wiped the sweat off his forehead as he pushed himself up.

“Is everyone alright?” he asked, looking back at his teammates.

The others were in various states of exhaustion, but none of them had serious injuries.

“Still breathing,” Dominik said in between gasps.

“I’m out of arrows, and my bow’s broken, but I’m alive,” Maison said, holding up the broken pieces of his bow.

“My daggers are completely ruined. It’ll be impossible to have them repaired,” Jackie said, staring at the shattered daggers in her hands.

“I’m fine. Let’s seal the evil god for good,” Ruthie said as she held the staff high above her.

Seeing that his comrades were safe and sound, Luke turned back to the evil god.

“This is it, evil god. It’s time for you to have your comeuppance,” Luke said, grinning triumphantly.

The evil god remained silent as the white glow of Ruthie’s staff grew brighter. Then it shot towards Luke’s back, catching him off guard. He was flung forward and landed on top of the evil god.

It took him a moment to recover from the shock.

“Ruthie, watch where you’re aiming,” he said as he moved to get away from the evil god before it could strike.

However, Luke didn’t get very far before he was stopped.

His entire body was wrapped in white chains, and no matter how he struggled, he couldn’t break free from them.

“Ruthie, something’s wrong. I think something went wrong with the sealing spell,” Luke said, panic creeping into his voice.

“No, it worked exactly as intended,” she said without a trace of emotion.

A cold chill slid down his spine. Luke forced his body to turn fully, ignoring how the chains dug into his body to stare at his comrades.

Not a single one looked panicked at the sight of him being chained up.

“Guys, this isn’t funny. Help me out of these chains,” he said, tugging on them.

“You’re right. It isn’t funny. This is the end,” Maison said.

Luke stared, unable to comprehend what was happening. More chains wrapped around him and the evil god as they watched coldly from the sidelines.

“You…are you guys betraying me?” he finally asked, not wanting to believe it.

“Luke, you were a great leader, but this is the end of the road for you,” Dominik said.

“Thank you for everything, leader. This is goodbye,” Jackie said.

It finally hit him that they were going to seal him along with the evil god, and he screamed, “You can’t do this to me! You can’t just seal me with the evil god! What will everyone think when you return without me?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Leave it to us, leader,” Maison said, not batting an eye.

Luke frantically clawed and threw his full weight against the chains, but it was like throwing an egg at a wall.

It had no effect.

Soon he was completely wrapped in white chains, unable to see anything beyond them. He yelled himself hoarse as the chains dragged him and the evil god to the space where they would be sealed together.

The group watched until the two disappeared, staring at the spot where Luke and the evil god had once stood. No one dared to speak and move, simply standing there like statues.

Finally, Dominik asked, “Did it work? Is it over?”

Ruthie nodded and said, “It’s done. They have both been sealed away.”

“How long will the seal last?” Jackie asked, putting away her broken daggers and collecting the shattered pieces on the floor.

“Hopefully, for eternity, but only Fidall knows,” Ruthie said.

“Good enough for me. Let’s get out of here. This place creeps me out,” Maison said.

The group wholeheartedly agreed and hurried off to return to the capital to report the good news and be hailed as heroes by the whole country.

As this was happening, Luke still fought against the chains despite knowing it was no use.

The chains hadn’t gotten any weaker since they first appeared. Even if he did somehow break free, he had no way of escaping that place.

However, he couldn’t think rationally.

All he could think about was getting out of the chains and chasing down his ex-comrades to demand an explanation for their actions.

How could they betray him like this? How could they seal him with the evil god without batting an eye?

He simply couldn’t accept it.

Unfortunately, the chains didn’t care what he thought and remained firm, refusing to let their tight grip on him loosen.

Suddenly, a dark chuckle bushed against his ear, making Luke freeze.

“You poor fool. You’ve been betrayed by your comrades. Now you’re stuck with me,” the evil god whispered into his ears.

Luke gritted his teeth, refusing to react.

“You said I would get my comeuppance, but what about you? Is this what they call karma?” the evil god asked.

“Shut up,” Luke barked.

It was silent.

Then a sharp pain tore through his back, and he screamed. Thrashing against the chains, he couldn’t escape the sensation of sharp claws digging into his back. After a couple of moments, the pain stopped. He gasped and coughed, trying to catch his breath.

“I suggest you speak to me with respect. After all, we’ll be trapped here for a long time,” the evil god said.

At those words, Luke whipped his head around to spot the evil god’s figure, but he couldn’t spot it anywhere.

Where had it gone? They were supposed to be trapped together, so how come he couldn’t find any traces of it anywhere?

As if reading his mind, the evil god said, “Do you really think that sealing spell is powerful enough to keep me from getting my dues from you?”

Pain coursed through his body again, tearing out another scream from his throat.

“Don’t worry. This is just the start. I’ll make sure to make our time together memorable,” the evil god said in between Luke’s agonizing screams.