Gambit Of The Living Weapon

She was still under the effect of Xadi"s upgraded tracking spell that was keeping her imprisoned and unable to return to her physical body.

Not too long ago she received a visit from the three G.o.ds that were competing to see who would be the ruler of the divine deities.

The G.o.ds that ruled the east, west, and south, all took turns visiting Evlin and keeping her company in this place as if they had picked numbers and were waiting in line to talk to her. And right now, she just received another guest, another figure who looked just like her previous visitors.

"North..."

"..."

Evlin was at a loss of words. She was allied with West, just befriended with South, and declared war against East. But she had no idea what her relations.h.i.+p with North was supposed to be.

Each G.o.d had some kind of goal that more or less would force them to cross paths with her in one way or another. East wanted Evlin off her back, West wanted to hire her as a hitman and South wanted her to clean up his house.

What could the G.o.d of the north possibly want from her? They had absolutely no history together.

"..."

North continued to stare at her which made Evlin start to feel a little uncomfortable. She had come to the a.s.sumption that the older-looking G.o.ds were mostly people she wanted to avoid while the younger-looking ones were at least tolerable. North looked like he was about as old as East, something around thirty-five or thirty-six, but since he was a G.o.d he probably was more around thirty-thousand.

"Huh..."

"..."

Evlin deduced that there was no way this conversation would end up in a positive note for her so she tried to ditch the man in a white robe altogether.

"Anyway... I"m just... Gonna go to that white corner over there if you don"t mind... Seeya."

She turned around and started to walk away from him but before she realized, North was already in front of her.

"Gaahh!! Jesus, you"re fast for such a big guy!"

"..."

North remained silent as he continued to stare at her. She waved her hand to his face trying to see if he would blink but there was no reaction. She then tried to side-step left and right but he continued to follow her with his eyes.

"... Oooooook....."

"..."

She turned around and started to run as fast as she could to get as far away from him as possible. She kept moving her legs with all her strength to try and get away from him, but, just like before, he appeared in front of her in a matter of seconds.

She was so surprised by seeing him come out of nowhere that almost tripped during her sprint.

"Ugh... Seriously...?"

"..."

She decided to finally give up avoiding him and chose to listen to what he had to say.

"Ok, fine! You win! Tell me what you want with me!"

"..."

"What will it be this time? You want me to kill demons for you? Want to use my magic to build a giant church in your name? You wanna hire me to take your dog for a walk?"

"..."

North still did not say a word and simply observed as Evlin crossed her arms while she continued to complain at him.

"Come on!! Just go ahead and say what you wanna use me for... That"s what everyone else keeps doing it anyway..."

"..."

"What... We doing charades or something? Am I supposed to guess what you will try to ask of me?"

"... How did you get here...?"

"... Eh...?"

North finally spoke his first words towards Evlin. His voice was deep and heavy despite him possessing such a gentle face above his well-built body.

"What do you mean? I"m here because some weirdo trapped me in my sleep."

"That"s not what I mean..."

North rested his chin on his fingers and started to crouch so he would match Evlin"s height. He was looking at her very similar to how East was not too long ago, as if she was some kind of puzzle he was trying to figure it out.

"You somehow managed to attract the attention of all the other G.o.ds to yourself..."

"... Yeah... You guys need to find better hobbies if I am the most interesting thing to keep you all busy with..."

"But why...? You"re just a human from another world... There have been many like you in the past... But only you managed to make it so far... You don"t even have a blessing or a curse... What makes you so special?"

"Eh...? Why do I have to be special...?"

"I told you... Every single G.o.d has their eyes on you... You changed the whole outcome of the game..."

"... Really...?"

"You don"t even realize it yourself. All of the G.o.ds, all of the champions, all of the most powerful demons and demon-slayers were all reunited in one place... All because of you..."

"Err, no... I"m pretty sure East started this whole thing..."

"East might have set up the stage, but you are the big star. It"s not just the four of us... All of the other minor G.o.ds are watching you and making bets on the outcome of this battle."

"... Wait, what...? I"m in a reality show?? "

"You are about to start a battle with the residents of the demon kingdom and the servants of the competing G.o.ds... n.o.body knows what"s going to happen..."

"Is that so...? And what about you? Where are your bets at?"

"I"m betting on my own champion of course... I"m placing all my hopes so she can bring glory to my name."

"Your champion...?"

"The human girl know as Mia. You met her before."

"What!!?? Mia is your champion???"

"Indeed! So much spirit and energy. How could I not allow her to fight for me?"

"... Oh, Lord... What is it with people with tons of power making the most idiotic decisions...? Mia is a b.l.o.o.d.y psychopath! She"s not going to bring you glory, shes going to bring you a decapitated head on a platter!!"

"As long as it is a demon head she can bring as many as she wants. Her fighting spirit will not lose to anyone."

"Ugh... I am not mentally prepared to speak with four G.o.ds in a row... I need to sit down..."

"I apologize for bothering you... I let my curiosity take the best of me..."

"Di- Did you just apologized to me?? Wow... That"s so rare..."

"But I must say... I don"t think you will win in the end..."

"..."

Evlin took a deep breath to prepare herself for the lecture she was about to receive and looked at North.

"And that would be because...?"

"No matter how much you try to act as a group... At the end of the day, you were the centerpiece of your team... Without you, they can"t do anything."

"... What are you talking about..."

"Do you remember what state your group was when you last saw them?"

"Huh... Gustav was right by my side and Ash was fighting a horse demon... And I think the others were still inside the mountain..."

"A lot of time has pa.s.sed since them. They all reunited and were almost completely destroyed without you."

Cold sweat dripped from Evlin"s face as she heard that. Her heart started to beat faster and her hands began to shake.

"What are you talking about...? What happened to my friends? What happened to my sister? What did East do???"

"Not East... You!"

"What...?"

"You have been trying to carry your entire team on your shoulders this whole time. You became stronger as you continued to grow and kept facing many powerful opponents... But your team simply remained the same."

"That"s not true! I wasn"t carrying my team, I was just leading them. The leader is supposed to do most of the work."

"Incorrect. The leader is supposed to spread the work. He realizes what his teammates are the best at and focuses on giving them the appropriate job to ease his own burden."

"But... I do that too! I know that my friends are capable and rely on them during our missions too!"

"Is that so? Then... Is it not true that you are always rus.h.i.+ng first into battle without thinking and simply relying on them only after you realize when there is something you can"t do?"

"..."

"You"re still thinking like a servant... You are their queen! Command them! Don"t run in front of them, order them to charge before you!"

"Eh...?"

"My champion always acts like a queen! She knows that everyone around her is beneath her! Even though she is partners with East"s champion, she still uses him as a tool and not as an equal."

Evlin finally got what North was trying to say. She was the leader of the group but she was still acting like a soldier and not as a commander. She would rather take the fight all for herself rather than risking anyone getting hurt in her place. Just like she couldn"t bear the idea of letting Ashley going alone inside the tunnel. She wanted to stay by her side and keep her safe. She doesn"t trust her team enough to let them go on their own.

That being said, she still didn"t want to be like Ria, the girl who just kept laying against a tree while watching Marcus fight against Evlin on his own. On the other hand, she also didn"t want to be like Marcus who was so full of himself that he would think the only company he needed was some annoying immortal girl and kept acting all by himself all the time without relying on anyone.

"I think I get what you"re saying... But I don"t feel that trying to have everyone doing everything for me is the best choice for me..."

"I see... You still suffer from your old trauma..."

"My old trauma...?"

"The life with your caretaker..."

"My life with Dalla...?"

"You are afraid of going back to that feeling of uselessness... You are afraid of letting people act for you... Because you think you will return to being someone who can"t do anything by herself..."

"..."

"That is why you try so hard to be good at everything... The leader, the warrior, the healer, the defender... You keep trying to play the game on every single position, and end up losing focus of what your role even is."

"..."

"Evlin the human... Tell me... What is your role?"

"My role...?"

"Your role in this war that it"s about to come... Your role in this story involving so many G.o.ds, demons, and humans... What is the part that you will be playing?"

"...I- I don"t know... This isn"t the kind of thing I think about on a daily basis..."

"Then I suggest you start doing it soon... Your actions moved many pieces on this board. The outcome of this battle will be remembered for ages... You better think about how you want the world to remember you!"

"..."

"I look forward to what will be the answer you will arrive at... The image of you clas.h.i.+ng against my champion... That will be a battle for the history books!"

"Me? Fighting with Mia??"

"Who else would it be?"

"I don"t know... Everyone else? She"s the only one in that group who shouldn"t have a grudge with me."

"You say that, but aren"t you also in the same situation with East?"

"!!!"

"A fight is not engraved in legends for the reasons as to why it started... It"s engraved for how pa.s.sionate both sides fight for their desire to win."

"... The pa.s.sion to win...?"

"The living weapon"s kid wants to ease his inner pain, the storm mage wants revenge and the slayers want to fight for glory and be remembered as heroes... But my champion only desires one thing... Victory! She fights for the taste of defeating her opponents!"

"... ... ... Are we... Talking about the same person...? Are you sure you"re not speaking about another two-hundred-year-old girl who"s following another kid that can turn into a sword as well?"

"... It was nice meeting you Evlin the human... Until we meet again..."

North started to fade away and disappeared completely leaving Evlin once again by herself on the white void.

"..."

Evlin had a lot to take in from that conversation with North. East wanted to threaten her, West wanted to cry on her shoulder and South just wanted some company. But North looked like he wanted to teach Evlin the meaning of life just so she could grow up a bit and become a worthy opponent for Mia.

"... I"m so tired..."

Evlin was drained from her conversations with all the G.o.ds and just wanted a little moment to herself while waiting for her friends to free her. But as she thought about it, she remembered what North said about how they seemed to be in grave danger without her.

She didn"t have all the details but she knew that they needed her. She should be out there protecting them, making sure they"re safe. But as she started to feel that way, North"s words began to ring above her head. "You are afraid of letting people act for you..." was what he said.

She pondered about that while laying on the floor and made her resolve.

"I"ll trust in them... They can do it... They can do it... They can do it..."