Mad God – Reborn

The frenzy from before, the initially screaming, which was sometimes followed by manic laughter, had finally settled down, and Athos managed to take a deep breath. He couldn't remember when he felt so much at once, but it was already something that was barely present, like a memory of a dream.

"Haaah... It's good to be back!" he said, sighing deeply, "I will never go back that way... Whatever I will feel, I will make sure I experience it openly." Making a simple wov, his red eyes then turned toward the body now sitting a few steps away.

He knew that by now, it was just a hollow shell with a massive, gaping hole in its chest, where the Demigod Crystal once was. Without it, though, the freezing aura had receded greatly as there was no actual drive remaining inside of it, for the body to start consuming the world's energies again. But that didn't mean its powers were wholly gone; around the body, the air was still cold, so much so that any mortal or even weaker cultivators would simply freeze to death when they got closer, their lifeforce siphoned away by the original abilities of his body.

"You shouldn't exist..." He said with a soft sigh while he stepped closer and reached out, his fingers brushing against his own cheek. "Tsk... Cold bastard." His lips twitched faintly, wanting to smile, but abandoning the idea midway through it, "Time to bury you. Go... have your rest."

As he took a deep breath, he could feel his now transformed crystal, which also held his soul, respond to his thoughts. He could not only feel the world's energies, but he also immediately knew he could freely access them and transform them as he wished. It only took him a few seconds to get a grip of his new abilities and to flick a finger, watching as the soil crack apart and the mud start growing towards the sky in a long, straight line.

"Rise!" he said dramatically, clearly enjoying the feeling, and, following his voice, stone from beneath the ground surged up, obeying his will.

Soon, layers of bedrock surfaced from the crack, folding over one another, shaping themselves into a clear structure as massive slabs got locked into place. Where he needed to, the rocks were filed away and shaped perfectly so that a massive, wide foundation would appear as soon as possible. Then, more began slapping down onto it, landing on it with a thud. From afar, it looked like an invisible hand was building something from blocks he was ripping out of the earth. He didn't even need to move his arms; it was enough that his eyes followed every movement, and the land obeyed his thoughts, executing his wish to the last letter.

"Interesting." He muttered as the first level was formed, already building the second rose atop it, forming a pagoda pretty quickly. "Is this power... infinite?"

He asked himself, and while building, he felt the energies around himself... No. This wasn't an infinite feeling, but it was... refilling? Why did it feel like he still had trouble accessing it? Even if it didn't look like it now, how the pagoda was quickly taking shape from nothing... He was now sure that the world's energy was less accessible than it should be.

"Why...? Am I too weak...? Not used to it yet?" He murmured, giving himself one possibility to think over.

Shaking those thoughts away for now, when his pagoda was done, he stepped forward and grabbed his old body by the arm and dragged it across the stone foundation. The now hollow shell didn't even react, just kept sitting, its feet scraping against the ground. Inside, he set it down, taking one last look, before simply patting his head and coming out, one hand raised towards the sky.

When he did so, lightning came down, even if there were no clouds on this bright summer day; it still happened, gathering in his palm, before he used it to stab into the ground. The moment the electric pillars he summoned had sunk down, the pagoda began sinking too, following the lightning, disappearing underground, level by level, until it was no longer visible at all.

"Hmm..." He stood there, watching the disturbed earth, "I can mold the ground, call lightning if I want, but... Can I move the rivers, too?"

His question was answered in the next hour as he managed to carve out a part of the massive river, cutting the land apart, flooding the spot where his now-buried mausoleum was. Satisfied with his newfound abilities and with the resting place of his old self, he didn't even hesitate, simply took a step, and disappeared.

If previously people found him walking fast, this time, nobody could even perceive him. Each step took him across the world, at least, it felt like that as the land blurred around him, and when he finally slowed down, he was already somewhere he couldn't recognize.

"Hah!" He laughed as a permanent grin was now stuck across his face. "This is... I need to learn to control this, or I will walk straight into a mountain."

Humming, he vanished again and almost proved himself right as he reappeared atop a cliff overlooking an endless forest. Then again, he took another step, wanting to go even faster... He found himself standing in the middle of a desert. He no longer cared where he went; he just did it again and again, popping in and out of places, sometimes scaring people when an unknown figure appeared in their homes, bursting through their walls.

"—ridiculous!" Someone cried out, and Athos just echoed the sentiment, laughing, already gone, "This is amazing!"

As he was doing it, going from place to place, what he failed to perceive, preoccupied with himself, was that a figure was following him, dressed in green, watching curiously. Of course, she was there from the birth of the pagoda, watching him with surprise, because neither she nor her siblings had mastered accessing the world's energies so quickly... They needed years to be as quick about it as this new... God was. And unlike him, they had a teacher, too. How... How was he doing it? Was it because...?

"You really are strange..." She muttered to herself, her eyes never really leaving him.

She was lost in her thoughts, barely noticing that the 'newborn' now suddenly stopped. He did so hurriedly, coming to a halt in mid-air, looking around with furrowed brows... What was happening? It seemed like he sensed something, but what? She couldn't feel anything out of place, which meant...

“…!” The Goddess's eyes went wide at once, but it was too late. He was already behind her, with a hand moving forward, aiming to grab her shoulders. "Don't you dare touch me!" She yelled out and reacted on instinct at once.

Her body looked like it was made of water, bending away at an impossible angle as his fingers grazed her body, missing it. Then, her hand snapped out, quickly catching his wrist, redirecting the force as her leg swept low, aiming to make him regret trying to touch her without permission.

But... She missed. She was shocked because the answer was simple, and the man jumped, yanking his hand free as he flipped backward, landing lightly on thin air just a few steps away, his red eyes locked onto her.

"Hmmm... Nice." He muttered, then looked down at his hand, watching the fingerprints on his wrist, feeling it tingle, "Strong grip you got there, girlie! Who are you...?"

"Hmph! I am Nilier, that's all you need to know!" She said in a bossy voice as she straightened up, watching him grin.

"Nilier, huh? Well, I'm Athos." He nodded, measuring her with his eyes, making Nilier's face suddenly turn red, not really liking the feeling she got... Did he feel the same way? That's why he noticed her. As she was thinking of that, she noticed how his crimson eyes sharpened, looking at her unblinkingly, "Hmmm… You kept up with me, you were even faster... Which means, you are a... God? Goddess...? Are you a girl?"

"Of course I am, what question is even that?!" She yelled at him, getting super annoyed that he was linking her to the twins! She wasn't... she wasn't a degenerate! Nilier only missed the fact that Athos had no knowledge of the other Gods, but that didn't matter for now.

"So, Goddess… Got it. That means then that..." A grin spread across his face, and Nilier didn't like the feeling she was getting from him; it was too... Unrestrained. "You can answer my questions!"

"Questions?" She repeated, exhaling in relief, "Haaah, yeah, yeah... I think I can."

"Okay, let's start it! What are you?" he asked immediately, stepping closer, appearing right before her. Too close! Way too close! But he was already asking more questions, making Nilier feel his breath land on her face. "Who are you? Where did you come from? Are there more of you? How long have you been watching me? Did you see that thing I did with the—" He gestured vaguely behind him. "—the whole… ripping myself open thing?"

His eyes were practically shining now... and she felt herself getting lost in them. What... what was up with this man?! He wasn't... He wasn't like the Skoorn, and Alfina... or Oynega, depending on which of them played the boy in what century. Thinking about it, she realized she didn't really interact with anyone besides them... She only knew her siblings and her Master, who was now... gone.

"Hello?" Athos asked, reaching out, knocking on her forehead, jolting Nilier back to the present, "Anybody home?"

"Don't touch me!" She screamed at him again, trying to gain a distance, but he kept up with her, watching her legs move and... copying?! He was getting better with his movements, easily tracking her every movement.

"Why not?" He asked as if it were the most trivial thing, "You have a phobia of it or something? Wait... you hate men? Sorry about that."

"I don't hate men, just touching someone else out of the blue is rude! You are a horrible creature, Athos! And you call yourself a man?!"

"Ooooh! I see." He hummed, nodding, arms crossed, yet his feet kept moving, and following Nilier, no matter where she traveled or flashed away, he was there, keeping up without issue. "Sorry about that, I got overwhelmed. You see, I wasn't really feeling much in the past, so touch feels super nice. I won't do it again, pinky promise, hm?" He offered, reaching out with a hand, his pinky finger raised.

"I said, no touching!" Nilier yelled at him, making Athos tilt his head.

"I know, but now I'm asking. You know... permission and stuff. No good? It's not like I'm asking to take a bath with me... Unless you want. I wonder if it still works down there..."

"SHUT UP!" Nilier screamed, and suddenly, his retreat turned into an attack, her white leg shooting out under her robes, aiming to kick off his head from his neck.

"Whoa! Fast!" Athos yelled, raising a hand, unable to dodge, only to block. Yet, the moment he did so, his fingers ran across her skin, making Nilier shiver, quickly pulling it back, only to follow up with a whip-like swipe, but her hands were caught by Athos again, pulling her closer.

"NoooOooooO!" She screamed, and a kind of power erupted from inside of her that was unlike anything Athos had felt before.

It was like invisible hands grabbing him from all directions as a flashing light blinded him, pushing him away with such force, his body was on the verge of blowing apart... but he withstood it. Looking around, his clothes were burnt away, his skin glowing from the heat, and, as far as he could tell, he had traveled who knows how far from that... attack. It hurt... but he was recovering at an alarming rate, a few seconds later, even his clothes reforming around his body.

"Nilier..." He muttered, trying to find her, but the woman's aura had gone. "Gods... eh? Well then... You can't hide from me! I have so many questions! Niliiieeeeer!" He yelled, his voice traveling around the world as he began flying, "Where are you?! Hey! Come out and play! Pleeeeease?! We still have a pinky promise to seal!"