In Andohr's castle, the God of Time and Space was sitting on his throne alone as usual. Unlike any other day, Andohr had a grin plastered on his face. The reason for his unusual smile was the thing covered in gray cloth. Whatever was hiding beneath the cloth took almost half of the throne hall. Andohr would look tiny if he stood beside it. Looking at the cloth-covered object, Andohr waved his hand as a six feet circular mirror appeared and hovered in the air before him. Something created a few ripples in the mirror as though the glass had turned liquid. Andohr's hands glowed as he extended his hand toward the mirror. A bright light slowly flew out of his hand and landed on the mirror. Typically, a mirror would have reflected the bright beam of light but not this one. Instead of reflecting the light, the mirror absorbed the light. Soon, silhouettes appeared in the mirror. Gradually, the ripples in the mirror settled down, revealing the silhouette's figure.

The figure in the mirror had an eerie aura around him. He was inhumanly tall and had a busty build. Since the figure's head was covered in tentacle-like appendages, it was hard to tell whether the figure was male or female. But gender rarely bothered this figure. Something about the figure's eyes portrayed death. If the creepy death aura wasn't enough, the figure's eyes were gray as ashes, and the body was covered in soot-black fur.  The figure was the embodiment of death.contemporary romance

"Greetings, Andohr, the God of Time and Space. What a pleasant surprise." The figure talked in a demonic voice. If death had a voice, it would sound like the figure. Unlike the figure's words suggested, there was no delight or joy in seeing Andohr.

"Foucrux, the God of Necromancy," Andohr greeted Foucrux back, hiding the disgust in his eyes. Six thousand years ago, Andohr would have killed himself than to ask for Foucrux's help. Most of the gods treated Fourcrux and his brother with disdain, as they brought nothing but death and destruction everywhere.  Unlike the rest of the pantheon, Foucrux had fewer worshippers. No one in their right mind would worship the god of necromancy, which enabled mortals to reanimate the dead and spread plagues. Yet again, because of the Dark Lord, Andohr was forced to do something he hated the most. In this case, Andohr had to make a deal with Foucrux.

"How is the mortal universe treating you, Andohr? I heard mortals built countless temples to worship you," Foucrux's words and tone oozed with sarcasm.

Hearing such a lowly god mock him, Andohr's blood boiled to the point his eyes turned red. But Andohr took a deep breath to calm himself. Like it or not, Andohr needed Foucrux's help, and there was no point in fighting with him.

"I sense a powerful death aura around you, Andohr. Is that why you summoned me, using the stone of Hikar?" asked Foucrux as Andohr sighed. The stone of Hikar was a powerful artifact used to summon a god from the mortal realm. Before the Dark Lord locked the mortal realm and prevented Andohr from ascending to the god realm, contacting gods was as easy as snapping his fingers to Andohr. As the God of Time and Space, Andohr didn't have any need for artifacts to contact the gods in the god realm. Instead, he would just open up a portal and meet them in person.

But now, Andohr had to use the stone of Hikar to summon Foucrux. Unfortunately, he had to wait another hundred years to use the stone of Hikar again. Andohr hoped summoning Foucrux was worth using the stone. If anyone could help him with the object he found, it was Foucrux. Andohr could see Foucrux's eyes glistening with excitement.

"You are right to sense the death aura. Look what I found," Andohr said, rising from his throne. Then, he climbed down the stairs as the mirror followed him behind. Andohr reached the object and pulled down the cloth covering the object. After the cloth fell down, Foucrux saw a colossal head of a hydra. The mirror had to fly back to capture the entire head. Even after five thousand years, the silver scales still glistened in the light.

"That's the Dark Lord's hydra," Foucrux stuttered. He was completely stunned by the head. Five thousand years ago, the entire realm of gods felt the effects of the battle between Andohr and the Dark Lord. Even some of the powerful gods had to leave their dimensions and intervene in the battle, not to save or fight for Andohr but to prevent the realm of gods from getting obliterated by the Dark Lord.

The Dark Lord and his pet hydra terrorized the realm and almost succeeded in killing a fellow god. Thousands of divine beings lost their lives as collateral damage, and the damage to the realm still had remnants of their battle. No one thought a Hydra could become powerful enough to rival the most powerful gods, and for hundreds of years, everyone thought the hydra was unstoppable until fate played a cruel trick upon the Dark Lord and the hydra. Something happened between the two that resulted in them fighting to the death. Only a few gods knew the real reason why they fought each other, and Foucrux was not one of them.

The battle between the hydra and the Dark Lord lasted for two long weeks. It was Andohr who managed to teleport both of them to a separate dimension before they destroyed the mortal realm entirely. The gods had never witnessed such an intense battle between a god and a beast. At the end of their battle, the Dark Lord slew the hydra and emerged as the victor. Foucrux was fortunate enough to witness the death of a terrifying existence. He watched the light of life leave the hydra's eyes, and tears roll out from the Dark Lord's eyes.

"Vedora!" Andohr raised his voice as he burst into laughter.

"The Dark Lord's pet," Andohr's words echoed throughout the majestic throne hall.

"He thought resetting the mortal universe would erase his mistakes, humph," Andohr snickered. On the other hand, Foucrux narrowed his eyes. When it came to the Dark Lord, the entire god realm took a step back and analyzed everything. Every time they thought they outsmarted him, he pulled a surprise on them and made them pay.

Hence, Foucrux couldn't be as excited as Andohr.

"Are you sure whatever you're planning to do with this is a smart move?" asked Foucrux. Andohr's laugh faded away as he turned around.

"Do you think I am making a mistake?" Andohr creased his brows.

Fourcrux slowly shook his head,

"I am saying the Dark Lord doesn't make mistakes. How do you know that he didn't know Vedora's body would be spared from the array?" Foucrux asked Andohr. After the Dark Lord used the time array and locked the mortal realm, preventing the gods from entering it, many gods in the pantheon tried to break the array. However, they all failed and gave up. The only way to break the array was from within the mortal realm. In other words, only Andohr could break the Dark Lord's array and let the gods enter the mortal realm once again as they were used to.

"Hahahaha," Andohr chuckled.

"If he didn't make any mistakes, why did he use the time array to reset the entire universe? I can agree that he doesn't make little mistakes, but instead, he made a gigantic one, and you are looking at it," said Andohr.

"I am going to wake up to his worst nightmare. The last time they fought, this hydra almost killed him. This time, I will make sure it doesn't fail," Andohr patted the hydra head.

"I assume that's where I come in,"

Andohr nodded as Foucrix rubbed his clean-shaven chin for a brief moment.

"What's in it for me? If I want to help you take down the most insane and powerful god, you have to make it worth the risk. After all, we both know how far he would go to take down those who wronged him," Foucrux started the negotiation like a sly fox. Being a god didn't mean they all would be benevolent and merciful. Some of the gods made even the worst mortals look like magnanimous beings. There was a reason why the Dark Lord slew some of the gods and willed to wage war against the pantheon itself. He hated most of the gods to the core, and some gods would say he had all the right to hate them after what they did to him. The pantheon still believed some gods helped the Dark Lord achieve the things he did, but they found no traitors among them.

Foucrux's words didn't surprise Andohr at all. In fact, he expected the god of necromancy to ask something in return.

"You get to take the body of whoever falls in the battle. Hydra or the Dark Lord himself, you'll get to play with their bodies,"

Foucrux's eyes sparkled as he almost drooled. But the thought of the Dark Lord surviving the battle and coming after him made his body tremble in fear.

"But if the Dark Lord survived somehow-"

"He won't know you were involved. I know the drill. It's surprising how the gods have fallen, We used to fear no one," Andohr snickered.

"Lots of things have changed, Andohr. The realm of gods isn't what it used to be. You will know if you manage to break the Dark Lord's array," said Foucrux.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Andohr's voice turned grave and serious.

For a few moments, Foucrux didn't give Andohr any answer. Then, he took a deep breath and nodded.

"I will help you reanimate the hydra. But you need to find the entire body without missing a part. Also, as you know, I won't be able to use my power from here. So I will instruct you to conduct a ritual that mimics my powers and get what you want. It will take time though,"

"Trust me, I can be very patient," Andohr let out a murderous grin and turned his gaze back to the hydra head.

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