The Achievement Junkie

Chapter 511 Return With a Deity“s Corpse

As Moranti reappeared within their strategy room, he waved his arm to open a rift. To the surprise of the gods present, Sterfen calmly walked through the rift, completely drenched. And behind Sterfen was the lifeless husk of the former Molten God.

They already knew that Sterfen wouldn’t have tagged along with Moranti without good reason, but such a fast outcome was more than startling. Witnessing the deep cut across Sterfen’s chest only made them more curious as Sterfen had returned soaked from head to toe, not helping such a serious injury.

Adding the corpse to the surprise was beyond jarring. Not only was that once the second strongest holy god and the fourth-strongest overall, but Naparn’s body was riddled with cuts, gashes, torn flesh, broken joints, and more.

While Lunara immediately threw her arms around Sterfen, Dragas and Guuro both started to use holy magic to heal the gaping wound.

Trying to find the right words, Jin was taken aback. "Sterfen... How did..."

"I caught him off guard," replied Sterfen, not avoiding an explanation. "Moranti clashed with Halmut and created the perfect distraction. During one of their clashes of vibrant energies, I used a spell scroll to carry Naparn away. It allowed me to cripple him early on and the rest of the fight was his struggle to survive. Also... I wasn’t about to let the man get off so easily for all the trouble he caused my family."

Everyone’s hearts felt a bit more at ease but it didn’t change the fact that Sterfen had killed the man currently regarded as the third strongest in the world, only behind Halmut and Moranti. It only added to the mystery that was Sterfen’s strength.

"You’re as reckless as ever..." Lunara mumbled, rubbing her hand across Sterfen’s newly-healed chest.

Chuckling, Sterfen leaned in to steal a quick kiss. "For you, this is the least I could do."

"Save the pillow talk for later," Jin laughed. "Sterfen, you’ve got to tell me more! How did you do it? And why are you soaked?"

"We fought over the remains of Kustram so I felt it would be best for us to fight underwater. That way his strength was greatly depleted," answered Sterfen.

"So you caught him with a surprise attack and forced him into his most unfavorable environment. Very calculated... Befitting of the man once regarded as the Assassin God," stated Eedaj, praising Sterfen with a smile.

Choron added, "As expected of my rival!"

Sterfen sighed and waved everyone’s comments away. "It’s only logical that I won. For now, let me rest. It’s not like I escaped unscathed, you know."

"Then allow me..." Lunara let her husband lean into her as they walked off.

"I’ve already looted him of his storage, wings, tail, and claws. Can you dispose of the rest, Moranti?"

Sterfen’s parting comment sent shivers down everyone’s spine. It went to show just how calculating and meticulous Sterfen could get both in and out of battle.

Moranti chuckled. While the others were in awe of Sterfen’s feat, Moranti covered the husk in a thick layer of spatial energy. He sensed something strange about the corpse, something that he hadn’t expected. The God of Space said nothing about his discovery to those present but hurried to eviscerate and decimate Naparn’s broken corpse until there was nothing left. Quite a simple task, given the corpse’s condition.

"I’ll take my leave next. There’s something I need to do. If you need me, you know how to reach me," Moranti stated, stepping out of the room with a casual wave.

Everyone else was still rattled. They had just discovered that the holy gods made their public appearance and were curious as to what would happen next. But when Moranti and Sterfen both agreed to crash the party, the others didn’t know what to think apart from letting them go. Since Moranti and Sterfen had both proven themselves to be the most capable of the neutral gods, how could the object?

"Eedaj, do you think it happened just as Sterfen said?" Jin asked, hoping the Mind God had the chance to sense otherwise.

Shrugging, Eedaj replied, "I have no clue. But it would make sense. That scenario sounds to be a perfect assassination attempt, which is Sterfen’s specialty. Given that Sterfen never leaves things to chance, it’s hard to imagine that his battle with Naparn happened any other way."

Unsatisfied with that answer, Jin leaned forward from his seat. Propping his head up with his arm, Jin shared a question with everyone, "How strong do you think Sterfen really is?"

"I have no clue. Not do I need to know, exactly," stated Eedaj. "Maybe a time will come that we’ll come to learn the truth but for now that information is unnecessary for us."

Dragas nodded, agreeing with Eedaj but still pondering Jin’s question at heart.

Guuro chimed in, asking, "And what about Halmut? He wouldn’t let us get away with that so easily, would he?"

Eedaj shook his head. "I doubt that. He may come here to collect the corpse or attempt some sort of revenge in the near future. But I highly doubt he will allow us to kill his strongest subordinate without facing any repercussions. However, it was a good move on Sterfen’s part to take Naparn out. Moranti is a decent deterrent against Halmut at the moment so dealing with Naparn now was a great move.

"What I wonder is how the corpse was so easily destroyed..." Eedaj added his final thought, catching the others off guard.

"What do you mean?" Jin asked.

Guuro answered, "You mean the remnant energy in Naparn’s body, right?"

Nodding, Eedaj replied, "We already know that after a god is killed there’s a vast amount of remnant energy left behind, so much that it takes a week for it to fade. Damaging a corpse is one thing but to destroy that energy as well is something incredibly difficult. Yet Moranti did it with ease moments ago."

Shifting their awe from Sterfen to Moranti, the other gods began to wonder just how powerful the lv. 97 dragon could be.