The Achievement Junkie

Chapter 431 Tralbok“s Worries

Leaning forward while supporting his arms with his knees, Tralbok stared anxiously into a looking glass.

The looking glass was larger than his palm with gold trim around it. The god had his fingers tightly wrapped around the edges of the mirror. It was how Tralbok was constantly monitoring Pestro and the reason for his anxiety.

Before everything had begun, Tralbok verified that Pestro was indeed on his way to Trodar. But the frustrated look on Pestro’s face led Tralbok to inspect the Crooked Mountains, the place Pestro had been searching for clues on Choron.

What Tralbok found there was more than he wanted to know.

He spotted Rikko walking toward a goblin settlement alongside a human man that shouldn’t have been in the Crooked Mountains.

Finding Jack there had started to create the anxiety that was now in full bloom for Tralbok.

The acting leader of the chaotic gods was torn as to allow the weaker gods to watch the battle alongside him, especially since it might negatively affect their already terrible morale to see Tralbok’s great stress. With that in mind, Tralbok holed himself up and used a smaller looking glass to watch the battle personally.

It all started well until the Draconic Centipede arrived and formed a perimeter around the invading army. That was enough to greatly dishearten Tralbok, so Hadurt’s appearance was equivalent to a punch in the gut. Then, for some reason, Pestro’s fury spiked and the Demon God cursed Rikko. It perplexed Tralbok until Pestro retrieved a black greatsword instead of his halberd.

No one else understood what had really happened, but Tralbok figured out the truth.

Tralbok assumed that Pestro did something to anger Rikko, which was very easy to do with Pestro’s temper and Rikko’s personality. That must have led to Rikko somehow duping Pestro and stealing the demonic halberd without Pestro knowing any better.

And though Pestro had a higher level than Eedaj, it didn’t mean that the fight would be easy. Eedaj was unique and targeted his opponents’ minds. Under the right circumstances, Eedaj just needed a single moment of opportunity to end the battle with Pestro. So Pestro losing his Halberd was a huge disadvantage, forcing the Demon God on an uphill battle.

Then, while Pestro was gradually falling deeper and deeper into his emotions to rage against Eedaj, Tralbok walked with hesitation. Tralbok knew that Eedaj was just trying to create an opportunity to act.

Finally, the final nail in the coffin that drove Tralbok’s anxiousness to new heights was Jack’s sudden arrival on the city wall.

Knowing that something was wrong, Tralbok left his personal quarters and rushed through the caverns of their headquarters. He ran at full speed, not wanting to waste a single second.

Not even a minute later, Tralbok arrived before an ordinary-looking door. His hand hesitated to grab the door handle. But then, Tralbok saw Jack summon a Spectral Dragon. That incident through Tralbok’s mind into a minefield of worries. It was enough stress to convince Tralbok to open the door.

"Oh... Tralbok? What are you on about now?"

Putin gon a confident face, Tralbok stared Moranti in the eyes. "I need you to send me to Trodar."

"What?" Moranti started to laugh. "No, seriously, why are you here?"

Repeating himself, Tralbok stated, "I need you to send me to Trodar, now!"

"Not happening," stated Moranti, understanding that Tralbok was serious for some reason.

"You have no choice!"

"Of course I have a choice, give me one reason why I should do it?" asked Moranti.

"You’re torture will be lessened. Also, we’ll bring you better foo."

"Nah, that doesn’t matter to me," replied Moranti, not caring.

"Then what will it take for me to get to Trodar?" Tralbok questioned, still eyeing the casual Moranti.

A slight smile crept onto Moranti’s face. "How about I go to Trodar?"

"No!" Tralbok instantly answered, "You’re a loose cannon that willingly kills his fellow gods. Why on earth should we--"

"Because, based on the level of your false bravado, someone important to the syndicate might die soon," reasoned Moranti. "Why shouldn’t I just let them die? Isn’t that better for me in the long run?"

"But--"

"Just because I have the ability to send you there doesn’t mean I will!" shouted Moranti, not letting Tralbok get a word in edgewise. "I want these shackles and chains released. That’s the only thing I long for. Unless that’s involved, then I don’t care who dies. I’d rather see the entire faction fall before I help you out more."

"Then I should kill you now!"

"Can you?" Moranti asked, confidently smiling. "You’ve only restricted my movement, not my abilities. The reason I haven’t killed you lot is because I’d be left alone in shackles with no one to free me, waiting for Halmut to take my head."

Then--"

"And don’t even mention the contract until I can see it. Skaryn still has those, only he’s sealed away and unable to enforce them," stated Moranti. "Until he’s freed, you have no way of punishing me for anything I do, even if I killed you."

Tralbok didn’t hide his rage from Moranti, showing his hatred with every fiber of the god’s being.

"Oh! So it’s Pestro you’re worried about." Moranti caught a glimpse of the looking glass in Tralbok’s hand. "How about this? You’ll set me free and I won’t target the chaotic gods until the holy gods are out of the picture. I’ll even save Pestro from his fight with Eedaj."

"I’m not worried about--"

"If you’re not worried about Eedaj, then something else must have you worried. Come on Tralbok, share the news," prodded Moranti. "If Pestro’s up against the neutral gods and you’re worried about him, then I’d be double worried. Those guys are so unpredictable it’s amazing! There’s no telling what they can and can’t do, regardless of their shortage of numbers."

Frowning back at Moranti, Tralbok said nothing. He only looked into the looking glass.

"Tralbok? Traaaaaaal..." Moranti called Tralbok by his former nickname, pestering Tralbok until he responded.

But, out of the blue, Tralbok flinched and his eye twitched. Glued to the looking glass, Tralbok was further startled by another development from the Leisure Guild.

Moranti noticed the change in attitude and checked the looking glass as well.

Bursting into laughter, Moranti’s voice filled the room and the nearby caverns, "They even got your precious champion?! And that hideous fool’s weapon? Amazing! Simply amazing!

"How about we watch closely as your little syndicate gets trashed and Pestro gets himself killed," chuckled Moranti.

Tralbok grunted and rushed away from Moranti, leaving the room fuming mad.

*****

With his back against a tree, Lorwynn lounged in the shade. He was patiently waiting outside of Olympic Chateau’s barrier. Remaining invisible was easy for him as that area had little to no natural predators. Almost all beasts were terrified of the Holy Gods and wouldn’t dare get too close to Olympic Chateau.

"Lorwynn, you there?"

Hearing Sterfen’s voice, Lorwynn smiled and took out his contact crystal. "Yeah, are you all done?"

"You can go on without me," replied Sterfen, catching Lorwynn off guard. "I’m speaking with the head honcho right now so I’ll be able to figure a way out."

"The... You’re meeting with Halmut?!"

"Calm down, kid. I’ll explain my antics later but, for now, you should head back to the guild."

"Sterfen, how can you--"

"Lorwynn, hurry back to the Leisure Guild. Use the teleportation scroll," stated Sterfen.

Startled to see how insistent Sterfen was, Lorwynn sighed, "I... Okay, but don’t blame me if you can’t get out."

"Just go. The guild’s under attack and could use you right now."

Hearing that, Lorwynn didn’t say another word. Instead, he replaced the contact crystal in his hand with a spell scroll. That scroll was quickly unfurled and activated. Lorwynn was carried away in a flash of light, leaving Sterfen alone inside Olympic Chateau.