"Avaros, rise." A mysterious dark voice echoed around him, its power forcing Avaros to awaken from his slumber, and yet he was not in the garden where he fell.
Instead, he found himself in what looked like an endless expanse of white stone and chalk, ground that was scarred by what looked like a bloody battle. Distant echoes of clashing blades could be heard, broken weapons and armor surrounded them as far as the eye could see.
Lakes of blood stretched before his eyes, and the stench of decay and iron filled the air.
In the middle of the expanse was a grand golden throne; on it sat a gigantic dark humanoid, its form letting out a dark mist around it.
The being's eyes were golden in color, and its skin seemed more like armor than anything resembling actual skin.
Avaros knew who this was, he had been visited by this being before.
Before a second through, he dropped on his knees.
"Lord Chrunus! You have answered my prayers!" Avaros spoke with joy; he had not been blessed with the presence of Chrunus in so long, and now, when he needed him the most, he was allowed an audience.
However, just as he was about to beg for a way to get rid of Aurelia and the mysterious Paladin, Chrunus spoke, his voice cracking the very earth around Avaros.
"I hear your thoughts, I hear your fears, I hear your anxiety. Priest Avaros," Chrunus almost sounded... Sympathetic, as much as a god beyond mortal comprehension could be.
"And yet, I cannot see the source of your fear. What happened, speak!" Chrunus demanded, and god's form shuddered.
"Yes... My foolish daughter..." Just as Avaros started to speak, he was interrupted by Chrunus.
"I care not for your family problems, what troubles you so. I am sure it's not only that girl of yours." Chrunus spoke plainly, and yet each word shook Avaros to his very core.
Avaros bowed his head deeper. "Yes, Lord Chrunus. It is a strange man that she was able to entrap."
"A strange man, you say..." Chrunus looked confused, yet his godly form did not display any emotion.
"Yes, Powerful enough to turn my elite guard into dust..." Avaros spoke, his pride shattered as he recalled the throne room massacre.
"Is he a threat to my plans?" Chrunus spoke, his voice carrying displeasure.
Avaros girtted his teeth. If he said something that Chrunus disliked, his life would have ended in an instant. "Yes... He is a greater threat than Demi Human empire..."
"A threat... A threat you are incapable of stopping on your own?" Chrunus asked, his tone growing more condescending and irritated.
Avaros dared not speak as Chrunus rose from his throne, his gigantic form making him feel like an ant before a mountain, the dark mist god's body produced threatening to choke him.
"You as my priest should know well that I do not tolerate weakness. You wish to enter my domain after your mortal life has ended, do you not?" Chrunus questioned in such a way that it sounded more like an order.
"Of course, lord Chrunus, that is my deepest wish!" Avaros answered as sincerely as possible.
"And yet you fainted at the sight of slightly more than average powerful demi-humans?" Chrunus asked once again, his massive form shrinking to match the size of Avaros.
Despite the god's form being smaller, his presence was as oppressive as before.
He dared not gaze upon god's form; after all, the way his patron spoke made him seem like he was angry.
"My lord, it was purely shock! It shan't happen again, I swear!" Avaros pushed his head into the ground. he knew that Chrunus despised weakness, and Avaros showed it.
"Good. It better not. For your own good." Chrunus spoke dismissively.
"However, I cannot ignore a major threat as you described him; not even my eyes could follow him, but you can look at him. You will be my eyes this time around." Chrunus slowly approached Avaros.
Avaros couldn't help but tremble; his god was the most powerful of them all, and so he was to be treated with the utmost reverence.
"You are my priest; you are perfect vessel of my will," Chrunus spoke coldly.
Avaros did not like these words; to become a vessel of Chrunus was to lose your whole being.
While he did hate Aurelia and her new consort, he valued his own life.
'And yet I can't refuse...' Avaros knew he couldn't refuse; Chrunus was someone he couldn't and would never dare to oppose.
Chrunus looked at him, his unblinking eyes making him shake from fear.
"I will grant you a blessing, a blessing that will allow you to defend my interests in the mortal world," Chrunus spoke, his voice distant and uninterested.
Chrunus did not care about mortals, but for a mortal to be powerful enough to hide from his gaze, it was unacceptable.
Chrunus placed his dark hand onto Avaros, and with a single word, he used a privileged apex skill,[Ascension].
The dark energy coalesced around Avaros, his form consumed in the same mist that surrounded Chrunus.
The body of Avaros cracked and repaired itself; the pain the king experienced could only be described as hellish.
Avaros felt himself being Burned, Frozen, and Bled Dry.
He felt himself squeezed like a lemon and flattened under a heavy boulder.
All of it happened in a moment; after a single moment of agony, Avaros rose up, his elderly form regained the vigor of youth, and his whole body crackled with godly energy.
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An honor granted to a mortal king, a power to take what rightfully belongs to him, a power to secure interests of Chrunus on the mortal world.
'With this... I can end both that Paladin and Aurelia!' Avaros rejoiced; he had been scared that Chrunus would take his body; however, the fear was unfounded.
He had nothing to fear now; he was an Apostle of Chrunus, and he was unstopable. The strength of his youth returned, and he was filled with more power than ever before.
"Avaros, you will be one of my messengers. First order, go and end the threat. And after your service, if you prove yourself, you may even have a place in my dream." Chrunus spoke as the entire world turned into dark mist, sending Avaros into an awakened state.
"Do not fail me, mortal." Avaros heard the voice of Chrunus as his eyes fluttered open.