Trickster Wukong

-RUMBLE!!!

"I knew it, we're going to die!"

The pillar the small group stood upon shook violently as they struggled to regain their balance.

'Damnit, what now?'

Illian scanned his surroundings with an urgent expression. 

He was prepared for everything outside Tartarus to be unexpected and unknown territory, but he didn't think they'd meet an obstacle so quickly.

"I guess this is something you didn't prepare for." 

Kronos commented, causing a vein to bulge on Illian's forehead.

"I don't suppose your prophecy foretold what's going on right now?" 

Illian asked, looking back at the old man who was sitting casually.

"I don't need a prophecy to know. You didn't expect to leisurely leave Tartarus without going through the proper procedure, did you?"

Illian furrowed his eyebrows as he heard this, looking over to Grimnar.

"Don't look at me. Other than some guy who travels in a boat over the river, I didn't know anything. I've never left Tartarus." He yelled, holding Ruyi tightly.

-BOOM!!!

-ROAR!!!

Something exploded from within the River as the water shot into the air, reaching so high it almost soaked the small group.

But despite the river combusting so violently, it created tsunamis that went on for miles; that wasn't what Illian and the others were looking at.

No, instead, it was the giant dragon-like creature that appeared from under, with white scales and fangs to indicate its reptilian nature.

With its ice blue eyes, all eight heads connected to one body turned their gaze to Illian, their white fur atop their head waving in the air as their very glare seemed as though it could pierce flesh.

"Hydra, the Gatekeeper of Tartarus," Kronos mentioned, he too staring at the Hydra.

Grimnar fell into a slight coma as no words left his mouth, his eyes shaking as if his subconscious was afraid to gaze at the Hydra.

However, despite the Hydra's terrifying size, Ruyi currently travelled higher, allowing for some sense to return to Grimnar.

"Quick, get us out of here like you did with Brontes." Grimnar pleaded, his heart threatening to stop as he witnessed the Hydra's heads pulling back.

"The Hydra will shoot us out of the air if…"

Kronos paused as he looked to Illian, only to see the boy…frozen.

It wasn't like Grimnar who was petrified with fear. No, this was different.

Illian's eyes were widened, his Golden pupils practically glistening with his expression straight.

"Are you listening to me?!" Grimnar yelled but was ignored.

'What's…happening?'

Illian seemed to be in his own world, everything around him being ignored as he only processed a single thing. 

The beast before him.

'It's that feeling again…'

Rapidly beating heart, sweaty hands and weak knees. 

It was the same symptoms as usual, only every time he experienced it, it felt a little stronger.

It started in the hall with the students, then with the Minotaur and Brontes. It was happening again.

Every time, it felt as though it would worsen, and…no, that wasn't right.

"Shrink." He mumbled.

-VWIP!!!

'It's not becoming stronger…I'm becoming weaker to it.'

And this time, Illian could feel he was losing himself to it.

"Wh-...What the hell!!!"

Grimnar screamed, realising they were all now falling toward the Hydra.

But Illian couldn't hear this.

Instead, his body stood upright as he fell, his cape, clothes and hair all flailing through the heavy air but failed to snap him out of his trance.

His eyes stayed wide, locked onto the Hydra as his tail grabbed his staff from the air.

-ROAR!!!

The Hydra flicked its heads back, each head roaring and shooting out a blue beam of pure energy, crackling with energy, its mere shockwaves causing the river to fall into a frenzy, each head's beam conjoining into one.

But it was meaningless.

Illian's lips were the only thing to move as words that were impossible to hear amid the chaos escaped from them while his tail aimed his staff.

"Expand."

-BOOM!!!!!!

Ruyi grew in size in the blink of an eye, seemingly dissipating the beams out of existence as it failed to put up a fight.

The black pillar stretched through the air crashing into the Hydra's gut as the beast smashed its back into the earth below the water.

"W-Wha…"

Grimnar stammered as he briefly forgot the fact he was plummeting to his death, his eyes so wide they threatened to pop out his skull.

-SCREEE!!!

The Hydra's roars of fury turned to squeals of agony that rang through the Underworld as specks of a blue liquid escaped its lips.

Simultaneously, the water of the river continued reaching upward due to the weight that had struck it, almost as if it were scurrying away.

"Expand." 

-BOOOOOM!!!

The Hydra completely disappeared under Ruyi as the black staff grew to sizes resembling a fairly sized island, the ground crumbling under the weight, the Hydra's shrieks growing more desperate.

Illian held his pale hand over the tip of Ruyi that loomed before him, his expression never changing despite losing complete sight of the Hydra.

It wasn't until a slight lift to the corner of his lips that almost seemed subconscious.

-SHHHH

A shiver ran down Illian's spine as he snapped his head back, his eyes locked on an old man staring at him, same coloured eyes, glaring with wide and almost dangerous eyes.

"Snap out of it!" 

Illian then turned his head to the green man with tusks, a desperate expression painted on his face as he stared at Illian.

'Shit.'

Illian quickly regained his bearings, scanning his surroundings and seeing the water all around them, almost as if it were a cage as they quickly neared solid ground.

"Ruyi!"

-VWIP!!!

The staff shrank, revealing the dark abyss it left in the ground. 

But Illian didn't have any time to bask in this sight as he waved his hand, Ruyi flicking at an angle to the pointed direction.

"Expand!"

-VUAM!!!

Ruyi pierced through the wall of luminescent water, growing to sizes that weren't quite as absurd as previously, but large enough for the small group to land on it, sliding atop its side.

'If my aim was right, we should be heading toward…'

As Illian thought this, they passed the waterfall, allowing him to regain his vision and witness the dull and grey land in the distance, approaching quickly.

'Asphodel.'

He finished, preparing to brace himself for the rough landing. 

-THUD

In the next second, his feet hit the ground as they reached land quicker than he thought.

"AGHHHH!"

Illian's tail casually grabbed Grimnar before he hit the ground, pulling him to the side and letting go.

Though Illian expected him to begin screaming, contrary to his thoughts, Grimnar foamed from his mouth as lay motionless.

'Ah, I prefer this version of him.'

-THUD

Illian briefly looked back, seeing the old man on his feet, standing silently.

'Before…his look.'

Illian still remembered it. 

The look that made every cell in his body scream as if his latent survival instincts kicked in.

He felt it was…

'Fitting. Fitting for who I expected him to be.'

He thought, inwardly grinning. 

'So, I was right. This calmness of his is an act. But why? And what made him slip up?'

Illian didn't know how to feel about this information. 

Maybe relieved everything was as he expected.

But this question was answered by his body as his heart couldn't help but beat quicker upon realising it was a tenth of Kronos' self that made him feel like that.

"Why did you do it? We could have escaped without engaging." Kronos spoke in his usual weak and hoarse tone.

Illian slowly turned back as he came face to face with the old man.

"Why, you ask? Because…I could." Illian replied, his lips moving without much thought.

"You were once a ruler. Have you ever felt it? The urge to act because you simply had the power to."

"Knowing there's another way, you act just so the whole world can know of your power…that you're better."

"It's…addicting, isn't it?" 

These words came straight from within Illian. They were so transparent that some words even surprised him.

"An Overlord. It's a name given to a tyrant who uses these powers for selfish means." 

Illian heard this, slightly nodding as he agreed.

"So I'm an Overlord? I like the sound of it…"

"But that feeling is what sets one apart." 

Illian perked his head up as he paused.

"That feeling to dominate and stand at the top. It's what separates one from being a tyrant like an Overlord."

"Rather, if one lives long enough, this feeling to conquer…" 

Kronos raised his bony hands, his tone growing more intense as if he were nostalgic and speaking from experience, soon clenching it into a fist.

"Will transform them into a King." 

'A King…'

Illian stared. 

'Is that what it is? What it means to stand at the top.'

Illian soon grinned as he looked to the side, staring into something that had appeared a while ago.

'Maybe it's a good thing.'

[The first half of the second fragment is shaking violently.]

"What's…happening? Where are we?" 

Grimnar mumbled, rubbing his head as he started to wake.

As he said this, Illian also decided to have a look around.

'The fields of Asphodel.'

Illian thought, looking around at the grey ground and seemingly empty piece of land.

Well, not exactly empty.

Only now did Illian notice the transparent blue figures, trodding aimlessly with a straight expression.

They had the features and outline of a human but clearly lacked the cognitive function of one.

'If I remember correctly, Demter described this place as somewhere forgotten souls are sent.'

Souls which made no significant impact in life were left to wander aimlessly for eternity.

To an extent, it sounded even worse than Tartarus to Illian.

'Speaking of Tartarus…'

Illian looked back. They'd finally left.

Tartarus was the furthest from the Palace, meaning the distance they had to travel now wouldn't be much.

The different locations in the Underworld formed a T shape.

Tartarus, Asphodel and the Palace aligned in that order.

On the right side of the Palace was Elysium, home to heroes, a heaven of sorts.

On the left was the Isle of the Blessed, home to…

'Ultimate heroes? To be honest, I only understood it as Heaven on steroids.'

Demeter explained it as a place which could only be achieved once someone chose to be reincarnated three times, attaining the status of hero in each one.

"What now?" Kronos asked, to which Illian exhaled, taking a seat on the ground.

"Now is the last time we get to prepare." Slightly looking back, Illian's eyes brisked over Grimnar, looming extra long on Kronos.

"To finalise our plans and make peace with the fact we might never see the light of day again."

He then looked back, looking into the distance as if he were seeing something beyond the darkness.

"Because our next stop will be the Palace."