Speed Is King

A swirl of energy appeared at Baltamiros' fingertips. And from that swirl of energy, the images of all that Elliot held dear in his heart could be seen.

As Ganruk had mentioned, they were all held in stasis, frozen and completely unmoving.

Elliot glanced at the swirling energy in slight surprise before frowning lightly.

"I am a God beyond any and all the gods in existence. As I have said before, my power exceeds all the other gods - combined. Take this gift from me as a form of goodwill. I have nothing but plans to help you and to prosper you." Baltamiros said with a chuckle.

And after he said those words, the stasis that was upon every single one of those Elliot held dear suddenly broke.

"What?! WHO DESTROYED MY STASIS TRAP!! WHO? SHOW YO- eh? Perfect unraveling? Ah. Uhm. Hemmm. No need to show yourself. No need! No need!! Hahaha! Don't mind me. I'll be on my way then. Hahaha! Hahaha!!" Ganruk's voice thundered out of the sky loudly.

He then scampered away like a rat running away from a grinning cat.

"Don't kill him. He's mine." Elliot said mildly before Baltamiros could respond to Ganruk's shout.

"Sure. Small issue. How's that? All your loved ones are safe. Earth is safe from the higher planes. Your universe has stabilized, your realm has stabilized, and your multiverse is probably fine too. You have nothing in this corner of the Planes to tie you down. You're free to become my Apostle in the higher planes." Baltamiros said while smiling at Elliot.

"Jessica Sands is still not saved. Did you not see her when you save my loved ones?" Elliot asked curiously.

"Jessica Sands?" Baltamiros frowned. "I sense no such person in your future fate. Let me check your past… Ah. Jessica Sands… Interesting." Baltamiros said even as a small frown appeared in his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Elliot frowned deeply.

"Let me find out where she is…" Baltamiros said softly.

"Hmmm." Elliot said as worry flashed in his heart.

"There she is. Like you, she had attracted the attention of a being in the higher planes. But unlike you, the being she attracted wasn't some petty low leveled warrior. She is with… Patriarch Shallow Moon, Clan Leader of the Shallow Moon Clan." Baltamiros said with a deep sigh.

Elliot remained silent.

He did not like the sense of trouble that Baltamiros was showing in his tone of voice.

"The Shallow Moon Clan is one of the top clans serving the God of Greed, Maruk. And as gods go, Maruk is one of the most powerful with believers EVERYWHERE. As such, the Shallow Moon Clan is extremely powerful as well." Baltamiros continued.

"Aren't you THE most powerful god? That doesn't sound like a problem that THE most powerful god has to worry about." Elliot said with a cold smile.

"I can deal with a hundred Maruks for breakfast lunch and dinner." Baltamiros shrugged before looking at Elliot levelly. "But why should I?"

"Because as I said, you'll get a fellow hunter. I won't be your Apostle, but I will eventually be your partner. You'll only stand to gain." Elliot stuck to his guns stubbornly.

"Hahahaha! You will never reach my level. I doubt you can even reach the level of a normal god. In fact, I doubt you will even reach the level of Patriarch Shallow Moon!" Baltamiros laughed out loud.

"Try me. Let me go through rebirth and let me power up with the bare minimum guidance from you. I will kill that Patriarch Shallow Moon and rescue Jessica Sands. If I can do that, I would have proven to you that I can do what you deem is impossible, right? And if I can do that, then I can eventually be your partner." Elliot pressed.

"There are many different levels of impossible." Baltamiros chuckled. "It is impossible for a rat to kill a lion. It is also impossible for a rat to destroy the sun. But the first impossibility can be overcome with a minor miracle, while the second can never be overcome, even with the help of the craziest miracle."

"A virus is so small that it is completely invisible to the eye. But applied in the right situation, it could influence events that can destroy even the sun. There is no such thing as impossible." Elliot said calmly and confidently.

"You're extremely confident. I like that. Fine, let's do as you say. I have waited for a million years to get to this point. I can wait a couple more decades for a good seed like you. Better to start the first of my apostles with a strong one." Baltamiros laughed again and finally agreed.

He waved his hand and sent a mysterious power flowing into Elliot's body where it instantly started to grind it down into particles from within.

The pain was horrendously excruciating.

But Elliot merely smiled at Baltamiros.

"I owe you one. You won't regret it. And I do not intend to kill that bastard of a Patriarch in two decades. I will kill him in two years." Elliot said right before his body crumpled and melted into a small puddle.

Baltamiros shook his head in amazement.

For one thing, claiming that he would kill one of the top patriarchs under one of the strongest gods in two years was nothing short of a declaration of insanity. He might as well say that he was a certified madman.

And for another, Elliot was still speaking right up to the moment where his body melted. He could not imagine just how much pain Elliot was experiencing as he said those words.

His organs, his bones were all in the process of being reborn!

He looked at the puddle of blood that was bubbling and slowly ridding itself of impurities before coming together to reproduce the most perfect body currently in existence, and suddenly felt a surge of admiration for the young man.

Driven by impulse, Baltamiros took out a supremely tiny drop of his liquified power, somewhere around a billionth of a drop, and dripped it into the puddle of blood.

"I don't know why I am doing this." Baltamiros sighed. "Sentimental old bastard."