Netori: Reborn as the Human Aphrodisiac

Chapter 142: The Game of Muk'Bal!

In the Higher Planes, the Red Cloud Paradise, often hailed as the most mesmerizing of the surviving paradises, suffered a full-blown cataclysm. Torrential flames and collapsing meteors laying waste to the beauties of that ancient world.

As this went on, the Red God stood on top of a flaming altar, tied to golden chains that burned into his skin and smothered the deity in a smoke of his melting flesh. Five Red Dragons prostrated themselves at the Wrathful God's feet, each large enough to cover hills with their wingspan.

"There's no other way. Force a merger. Connect the Red Cloud Paradise to the Purple Dawn Continent and integrate it into our plane. Then I will use my Wrathful Incarnation to capture Mithras and turn him into our new Atlas.

That's the only way…to prevent the complete annihilation of the Red Cloud Paradise," Heruka whispered, his voice so weak and deflated that it seemed like the Red God could collapse at any time. And for good reasons. To save his paradise, Heruka had to substitute for the destroyed Atlas and create another Pyrogasmic Genesis.

But having suffered devastating losses and catastrophic injuries at Mithras' hands, the God of War was in no shape to substitute himself for the Atlas, much less create a new one.

And so, to save his paradise, Heruka had no other choice but to find another source of Pyrogasmic Genesis to support his world with:

Mithras' Solar Genesis!

Invade the Spiritual World and capture Mithras. That was the only way out. As Heruka's thoughts reached this point, the Wrathful God's mind drifted to memories of the Astral Paradise laid to waste by the Weaver's armies. Heruka remembered his role in that war, leading the Weaver's forces alongside Ahriman and Ananta…to surround and slay the Sun.

"I'm confused. Have I wronged you in any way? I created you. Groomed, fed, and nurtured you. Everything that you have stems from me. So why…why would you turn your back on me…betray me…for the Weaver?"

"Too much is as bad as not enough. Your light is too bright and suffocates my growth. With the Sun out of the picture, the Red God becomes the brightest. Why…would I not want you dead?

Big brother…I love you dearly. But the glory of my name…must outshine yours till the end of time!" That was Heruka's answer.

On that day, the Sun died and the Beast awoke, its primordial roar reducing the most radiant of paradises into ashes and dust. Heruka could never forget that day. The horror of the Beast's Right of Annihilation. How could he confront it? We've done this before. Even if you kill the Sun…you cannot slay the Beast.

But I have to try…and protect…my paradise!

With a guttural howl, the Red God forced open a portal in the void, connecting the crumbling Red Cloud Paradise to the Mortal Plane through a tyrannical feat of divine power.

"Go!" Heruka ordered, but as his armies were about to depart for the Mortal Plane, another rift opened in the Red Cloud Paradise, followed by tides of demonic energies that rolled into the Red God's domain, pervading the air and altering the world to turn that ancient paradise into a land of divine corruption.

Giant armored knights riding winged demonic beasts emerged from that rift, black and white halos floating above their heads as their eyes shone with infernal rays.

The moment those demonic titans arrived, Heruka's eyes stretched to the limit, and he shook left and right, fists clenching in frustration. The Red Dragons were no better, trembling and reeling back as a white-haired figure appeared in the heavens, hovering above the world with eyes that looked down on the entire universe.

"Ba'al…Agan?" The Red God blurted out, confused by the sudden appearance…of the demon race's strongest.

"Heruka…" Ba'al Agan whispered, causing the Red God's brain to buzz with the sound of a million flies. The moment next, Heruka puked green blood, the five Red Dragons at his feet bursting into powdered debris.

The Heavenly Demon had entered the scene.

"Ba'al Agan…are you mad? You…dare to take advantage of a Wrathful God's weakness and assault a Fundamental Principal?" Heruka gnawed his teeth in frustration, unable to comprehend why the Heavenly Demon was pulling this stunt.

"You forget your place. As an Idol of Vanity, I am also a Fundamental Principle—not underneath you in the hierarchy of lifeforms. And I am stronger. Much stronger. Injured or not, you were never my match.

Vritra at her peak was the only Wrathful God who could compete with me. So don't try to pin this L on the beatdown you got from my son-in-law. Makes you sound like a sore loser...and a baseborn mongrel," the Heavenly Demon said with a derisive sneer, showing the Red God no end of contempt.

"Your…son-in-law?"

"Naturally. Why do you think I'm wasting time with your bitch ass? I am a busy man with a busy schedule. If I'm taking the time of day to remind you your place in this world, it's because there's no way in hell…that I will allow your kind of scum to ruin my daughter's shot at happiness.

Mithras is my chosen son-in-law, anyone that wants to harm him must first go through Ba'al Agan…and the Legion of Heavenly Demons," Ba'al Again said, his declaration making Heruka and the deities of the Red Cloud Paradise blank out in shock.

---

"Damnnn!"

"The ass on that broad. It can't be natural!" Meanwhile, the Muk'Bal class' male students marveled at their new professor's assets, trying their best to not drool at Menaka's provocative curves.

The dragoness ignored the looks, maintaining a professional stance as she walked to the podium and set her books on her desk.

"Menaka di Tantares. Word is that just like Manu she was recommended by Grand Priestess Akamana. Her credentials, however, are the real deal. She is the founder of the House of Tantares, having established it 300 years ago with a group of orphans. That also makes her one of the original investors of the Jade-Faced Academy, where she served as the first Dean and Coach of the Sanctuary Team.

She has completed Seven Thesis at the very least and is rumored to have mastered all non-race specific Templar Skills in existence." A knowledgeable senior student explained, helping his classmates take the mettle of their new professor.

As for the student calling Manu by her first name, this was a bad habit that the male students had picked up on their own, desperate to create proximity with their supermodel of a professor.

The brothers of Mithras had started cracking down on that bad habit, often correcting the male students with fists and educational smackdowns. Not that it helped. The most stubborn of the bastards refused to stop, some hoping that if they kept calling Manu by her first name, maybe one day she'd warm up to them and blow them a kiss.

Maybe. We can hope, okay?

Menaka ignored the noise, sweeping the audience, but lingering on Ishtar with a warm and gentle smile. Ishtar winked at her mom, both acting so unprofessional that the audience soon noticed their exchange, whispers arising the moment next.

"Founded 100,000 years ago by a pact between the Weaver and Fylkir Hadubrangr, the Sanctuary is the largest treasure trove of the Spiritual World, a Holy Land with an infinity of resources and mystical treasures able to turn below-average warriors into generational powerhouses.

The Weaver created the Sanctuary to help the human race compete with monsters and Superior Beings. And so, from the dawn of time, men have crusaded through the Sanctuary, capturing its temples, altars, mausoleums and catacombs as they accumulated the treasures and boons that helped lift the human race above the tyranny of the Feathered Tribes.

They did all this…with the Game of Muk'Bal."

Menaka started, and in a whirl of red flames, summoned nine flaming constructs that aligned in what looked like a battle formation.

A Muk'Bal formation.

"Standard battles are not allowed in the Sanctuary. Any attempt at a standard confrontation will result in exile or extermination. There, the Game of Muk'Bal resolves all conflicts. So until you master that game, you have no hope of making meaningful gains in the Sanctuary.

Those are just facts," Menaka said, and clenched her right fist, causing the nine constructs to equip weapons and armors as they cast mantras and shifted positions.

"Four Line Guardians. Two Playmakers. Two Strikers. And one Center. During the offensive phase, the Center becomes the Antagonist, tasked to lead his team to slay the opposite team's Center, who plays the role of the Protagonist.

Only the Center can summon weapons and familiars to support himself and his Strikers during the offensive phase. Likewise, during the defensive round, the defensive team's Center is the only one who can summon spectral armors and benevolent spirits to protect his crew.

To avoid overwhelming you, I will explain the rules as we go through a proper match. But note that while the games we'll play in the Academy only carry minor risks of injury…" Here, Menaka paused, her eyes turning bone-chilling cold as she swept through the audience.

"In the Sanctuary…a Game of Muk'Bal...always ends in death."