Chapter 260.

  Avinash controls the lava within the volcano. The sorcerer dumped him into this volcano by teleporting him there without warning. His body repaired itself immediately, and soon afterward he modified his body even further so it stopped damaging him. The task was easier due to his natural mastery over fire.

  He molds the lava, turning it into a tiger made entirely of magma. He rode this tiger out of the volcano and looked at a clapping Samay.

  "Well done! No wonder you are the king. You have mastered the art of theatrics." She said to him.

  "Of course. A king merely doesn't need to be powerful. He should exercise that power, and demonstrate it on every chance he gets." He smirked at the thought. 'Too bad Porus is not here to see me now.'

  He shook his head to focus himself. "Anyway, you need to clear the situation for us. This reality melding is not a trivial problem. There is no way a sorcerer would take interest in it otherwise."

  "Haven't I told you already though?" Asked Samay.

  "That the problem is happening? Yes. But who or what is causing it, and who will be our opponents that you are making our preparations in such haste, you need to share that info with us." Explained Avinash.

  Samay smiled. "Sure. You all are ready anyway. I will tell you everything once you gather in the castle."

  "Speaking of which, tell me. How exactly did Hatori do? I can't imagine he took it well, being dumped into a volcano like this." Asked Avinash.

  "Well, he threw a hissy fit, to say the least." She said in reply.

  "Heh. I knew it." Avinash chuckled, and let the tiger made of magma dissolve. "What about others? Are they recovering well? Won't they have a relapse of this training?"

  "They will remember the pain, but they won't relapse. I accelerated their time so they could recover from the trauma of nearly getting killed repeatedly. Hatori and you are the only ones who did not need any help." Said Samay.

  "Figures. He might have thrown a hissy fit, but that guy is the only one who can compete with me when it comes to the matter of having a strong will." Said Avinash.

  Hatori arrived at his home, where Sushima served him some coconut juice. "What the hell? Since when did you start to act like that? This is my home; I can take the juice myself."

  "Yeah, but you barely stay here. It doesn't count. I am the man of this house now!" Declared Sushima.

  "Is that so, you young welp? How dare you overreach your position? Looks like a spanking lesson is in order." Said Hatori, while taking the large gulps of the coconut juice.

  "Dad, brother, stop acting like an anime father and son duo." Said Garuda from the other room. "That routine stopped being funny years ago."

  "Really? Then who was it reading some old manga instead of doing their work yesterday, hmm?" Asked Sushima. There was a strange quiet from the next room. "I thought so." He said loud enough to make sure that the voice reached Garuda.

  Hatori hears the growling of his son from the next room. "Really? Don't tell me he is so easily distracted?"

  "He isn't. He had just some free time. I collected that info to put him in his place to control his snobbery." Explained Sushima.

  "I see. So, how goes the business?" Asked Hatori.

  "Oh, it is going well. Most of our competitors are out, and survivors are acting like a bunch of pissants. It is truly a wonderful situation." Said Sushima with relish.

  "Don't you think that is rather excessive?" Asked Hatori.

  "Come on Dad, you might be happy freelancing. But I am not." Said Sushima.

  "Fine. Fine. Having your own ambitions is good. Just make sure that you don't lose yourself in the process." Said Hatori with caution.

  Sushima nodded. Then Hatori continues. "Anyway, I am here for a very important reason."

  "I see. I knew something was afoot. The king has locked everyone in the castle. There was a huge outcry about you causing problems until it was all cleared up." Said Sushima.

  "I know. I also recently picked up a fight with a sorcerer, and well, let's just say it was quite a humbling experience." Said Hatori.

  Sushima' looked at Hatori with wide eyes. "Why are you telling me this? I won't let you murder me!"

  "What? No! What the hell is wrong with you? You are my son. I think I can share anything with you, even if I lose." Said Hatori.

  "Oh, it's okay then." Said Sushima, calming down.

  "Besides, that whole incident resulted in a wonderful thing." Said Hatori, summoning the runic template he prepared in the home of Samay.

  "This is..." Said Sushima, looking at the floating symbols in front of him.

  He cannot make sense of them entirely. But he can tell the purpose of this framework. "I see you understood the usage of this framework. I suggest you use it for yourself, and prepare your siblings and make them also implement it on themselves as well."

  "Is the matter so serious?" Asked Sushima.

  Hatori hears two footsteps coming towards the room. "Yes. I want you to be able to take care of yourselves in case I am not around. You are already doing it, but extra measures do not hurt. Especially since Ahim is so young."

  The door opens, and Ravina and Daphne enter the room. "So. You think you won't be around. Is that it? And when were you going to tell us?"

  "I am not going anywhere. But dying is a real possibility." Said Hatori in reply.

  "As if. Speak clearly, what exactly is happening?" Demanded Ravina.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Even I don't have all the information. But it has to do with the duplicates of people appearing all over the world and causing problems." Said Hatori.

  "And you think you will be dragged into it?" Asked Daphne.

  "Unfortunately, I have been dragged into it already." Said Hatori.

  "No! Refuse. Don't you have enough already? Can't the king find someone else for this?" Asked Ravina.

  "That option is not on the table anymore." Said Hatori. "Besides, why are you angry? You can also use this template for yourselves as well." He pointed to the symbols still floating in front of them.

  "Looks like we need to keep you here by force. That is the only way to keep you safe now." Said Daphne.

  Then, both of them attacked Hatori. Sushima hightailed out of the room, as he wanted no part of it. The security of the house is activated, and they are all teleported into the sparring room to spare the rest of the house the damage.

  Once they are teleported to this room, Ravina and Daphne cut loose. They attacked Hatori with the combination of fire and wind, which he easily deflected. They bombarded his position with massive boulders, which he shattered in the air, and sent back in the return fire. Several steel chains sneak from behind to restrain him, But Hatori melted them all with the use of his own fire.

  He then took the initiative, appearing close to Ravina. He grabbed her head and channeled enough current through her body to lay her out for the rest of the fight. Daphne, having seen this, protected herself from the enchanted rubber. But that enchantment was overwhelmed, and she too lost consciousness.

  Once they regained consciousness, they saw Hatori sitting near them. "Have you gotten it out of your system?" He asked them.

  "There is no way we lost to you so badly." Said Daphne.

  "That is bullshit, that is what it is." Said Ravina.

  "Well then. Change it." Once again, the template Hatori prepared appears before them. "Use this for yourselves, and pick up the intensity of your training. That would be one less thing for me to worry about."

  Having pacified his partners, Hatori leaves the house. Before he left, he instructed all of them. "Do not share this with anyone else. There is no telling what other sorcerers might do, not to mention the mages who will happily kill you all if they could get even one rune from that framework."

  They have never faced something like this before, which is saying something. They have been involved in conflict of some kind since their childhood, and none of their experiences compare to getting killed repeatedly and yet coming back to life.

  Or is it nearly dying and then being healed up to their prime condition? Shin is not sure which one is it. But whatever it is, it is deeply painful and damaging to their spirit.

  Having death is a soothing option. There is an end to the suffering. After a certain threshold has been crossed, a person will turn off... Permanently.

  But when you don't have that option, you are essentially trapped, doomed to experience the tortuous pain without any end. "Does this happen to him?" Asked Shin, knowing that James was awake. He is helping him by playing some relaxing music so he can go to sleep properly.

  It also helps that the activity also helps him in getting back control over his nerves.

  "Absolutely." Said James with a croaking voice, having just woken up.

  Shin hands him some water, which he gulps down gratefully. "Why didn't he tell us?"

  "When would he do that? Besides, you do know what he is like." Said James.

  "Probably thought that we could do with the same suffering." Shin sighed.

  "Josh didn't help it either." Grumbled James. "Why couldn't he keep his mouth shut?"

  "Tell you what. I think we owe both of them a beating once we get out of here. What do you say?" Asked Shin.

  "I think you have a wonderful suggestion." Said James with a grin. "If we survive what is coming next, we might also try our luck on that bitch as well."

  "For that, you'll need to get in the line." Said Shin.

  "As if. You can deal with her once I am done with her." Said James.

  "No, I will be the first!" Said Shin.

  "Cutting in the line is impolite." Said James.

  When Samay walked in, she saw a fistfight breaking out between the two of them.

  The being paid attention to this insignificant rock once again, remembering how he crippled a child to ensure that the universe will not be thrown into chaos should he achieve his full potential. Despite his attempts to control the chaos, that is exactly what has happened.

  The foolish mortals on this rock have no idea of what is going on in the rest of the universe. Various powerful souls are appearing from other realities, and at most of the places they appear, no one is ready to handle their sudden attack.

  Just while he was beginning to gleam what goes on this planet, and how the chaos is being handled there, the planet goes obscure. It is as if he was watching the events of this small world on a television, and the signal stopped coming to the device, causing the screen to go blank.

  'It appears these ants are moving to challenge the might of gods once again.' He thought in annoyance.

  He is angry that every time he puts it in the council, his proposal of killing all the sorcerers has been rejected.

  He then looked at the collection of reality fragments. 'Looks like that wretch is collecting them quite fast.' He observed. 'I won't interfere for now. I will see how it turns out. Once the situation reaches a critical point, I will strike. With one blow, I will clean the universe of these ants and weaklings pretending to be gods.'

  'I, Ordo, will ensure that the child remains asleep forever, and the domination of gods is permanent.'

  here.