BXBX NOVEL Chapter 82: His One Wish.
"I lost that huh?" Sol flexed his arm in disappointment, having lost the tips of his fingers in the resulting explosion that was akin to a a star suddenly imploding, which had indeed shattered the dimension they were in revealing that they were somewhere on Arkadia.
Sorath in comparison had no injuries as she huffed and stood out of a hunch, but her hand did tremble a little.
[Impressive, utterly impressive!] Sorath cackled.
"Indeed," Sol fell into a fighting stance he had learned back on Atla. "Have you two made up your minds?" He asked, watching the air around them distort as they were being sealed again. "Have you figured it out yet?"
[Even as a demigod, he has the power to keep up with our divinity, it is truly frustrating,] Yama's third eye on his cheek opened, and his fists clenched. [How utterly shameful for us gods, I must stop this man from growing stronger.]
[Barrier has been reinforced]
"Stop me?" Sol snicklerd watching Nathanael try to discreetly flank him in his peripheral. "You can't ever stop me from growing stronger." He retorted. "You can only grow stronger with me-" Sol vanished from their sights catching Nathanael off-guard and smashing his face into the ground. "-or get left behind completely!"
[Ugah!!] The god of vengeance bent in pain when he felt his cranium under stress as Sol stepped in the back of his head driving his face further into the ground.
"I might smile all the time, but don't ever think for a second that I'm not taking you seriously, years of torment have made me bitter in the face of enemies, and as long as your hand is raised against me, that's exactly what you are, if you challenge me with half-resolves I'll drive you into the ground!" He growled before cocking his foot back and kicking the god in his ribcage folding him like a croissant as he was sent flying through the columns of rock, carving a path.
[... Then!] Yama stomped his left leg first and took a single leap, closing the distance between himself and Sol in the blink of an eye while Sorath followed for a quick flank. [I will drive my resolve into you!]
"Challenge accepted!!" Sol roared and arched as his and the god of strength's fists clashed resulting more fissions and cracks appearing across the space around them.
[I truly believe that you do not deserve this power, that it was wrongfully bestowed upon you by the system, and if challenging the gods makes you stronger, then I will do everything in my power to steal that right!]
"Prove your words, prove your metal!" Sol leaned his arm backwards and rested his foot on Yama's chest, pushing himself to the ground and dodging a beam of concentrated fire from Sorath at his side before grabbing the god of strength in a necklace and raising him off his legs.
"You have my word, if you can beat me, I'll stop fighting the gods!" Sol smashed him into the ground and kicked him toward Sorath.
The goddess of the sun started laughing again, Sol amazed her, not only was he able to copy her power but he was also strong enough to match and best the god of strength and perseverance.
[Tandava Karma!] Sorath cackled, and Sol narrowed his eyes at her.
'Tandava...?' He thought. 'A named technique, she's the first god I've heard have to summon their power through words...!!' before he could finish thinking his senses alerted him of danger, and a moment later he ducked as a raging furnace erupted from her mouth spanning the entirety of the dimension within a second and vanishing just as quickly.
"Holy shit, boss music started playing?" Sol heard drums beating around him, and saw the goddess of the sun strike a pose as the flames on her body subsided back into her skin and strange crests appeared on her flesh while her hair became pure fire.
[Sol Vestic, Godslayer, Psuedo-Demon, Demigod, let us see who's resolve burns brighter.] She struck another pose.
"That's weird," Sol commented as all the playfulness in his attitude dried up, similarly, Yama and Nathanael further away seemed wary of her. "Tandava, is the dance of a god from my realm, what are the odds of seeing it here?" He balled his fists and coated himself in a barrier of his own mana. "This is giving me flashbacks of Saat all over again."
[Your opponent is gaining strength...]
[Mana: 95%]
"Usami," Ikaris stared at the spear hero who was again sitting by herself and observing everyone else. "You are the most versed among us in earth's history and religion, does the term 'tandava karma' mean anything to you?"
"It's the dance of the strongest of the gods of a certain pantheon, a world-breaker." Usami raised a brow. "I'm not that versed in their culture, but I think it's associated with some kind of fiery apocalypse." Usami shrugged.
"Ugh," Ikaris flopped back on Dina's lap and sighed. "Sol dear, be careful."
"Did something happen between you two?" Usami asked after a bit of silence. "You used to call him master all the time, but I haven't heard you say it once in two days."
"It would be inappropriate to do so," Ikaris turned her gaze to her fellow hero again, and at that topic the others also started paying attention, save for Han and Bruce who seemed to disappear as much as Sol did these days and weren't even there for the debriefing.
"Inappropriate...?"
"Aye, I do love to refer to him as master, that word holds a special place in my heart and holds special meaning between us; and he still is my master of course, but," Ikaris blushed and sighed sweetly as she started squirming in Dina's lap, hiding her face and whispering. "If my child heard something so embarrassing how could I face them~?"
"."
"..."
"....."
"Eh?" Dina's expression turned from confusion to shock, and along with her Usami's jaws dropped, Eris choked on her snack, and Arla lost grip of the scroll in her hands while Sara blushed and held her cheeks having realised this before Ikaris even told her. "Wha- EH?" Dina stuttered again.
"Holy... Really!?" Eris jumped from her seat and landed before Ikaris who quickly buried her face in Dina's legs again squeaking with a shy nod.
"I can never call him master while bearing and raising his child, he is more than just master to me now." Ikaris shook and kicked with excitement.
She had monitored her body, after several attempts she was worried that she as a goddess in human form was incapable of bearing child, but the problem had lied within Sol's purely human DNA, however his transition into demi-godhood had smoothened that one bump, and after their night of intense pleasures, she was surprised when she checked after waking the following morning and found herself in the process of conception, she was too overjoyed to react, so her initial words were a very sweet "thank you".
"This is expected, I figured you were getting rawed down every single night you spent with him so I'm not that surprised." Usami chuckled, but her and the others still had very evident blushes and smiles on their faces as they stared at her.
"Gods..." Arla blushed the hardest. "I would die of joy," She sighed, walking over to Ikaris and resting her hand on her shoulder. "This explains your worry, and why you have been in such a good mood all day... I am happy for you," She smiled, and Ikaris turned to her with her lips upturned and her one eye still closed.
"Is it selfish of me to not want him to fight anymore?"
"Of course not, it is sensible, he is reckless sometimes." Arla smiled and then furrowed her brows. "Have you already told him?"
"I just found out, I have yet to muster the courage~!" Ikaris blushed again and dropped her face in Dina's lap once more.
"He has never made this known, but he is a very sentimental and soft hearted man, he has yearned for and cherished the thought for a long time now, and to make his wish come true has been my only desire..." She started crying against Dina sobering the mood as her sobs filled the tent.
"Ikaris..."
"I never considered the possibility of being infertile, but I was so afraid that I would not be able to fulfill his truest desires because of our incompatibility, it made me so bitter inside, the thought that... It was all he talked about and I wouldn't be able to grant him this one wish~!"
"It's okay," Dina lowered her hand on Ikaris's back and started caressing her gently, watching as her hair fluffed out and spread around her and her ears shimmered and grew taller. "Calm down."
"Wait, doesn't this mean you can no longer be a hero?"