Sam looked at the statue that is now in ruins.
He is stunned. He couldn't understand what is happening. He looked at the priest and asked.
"What happened?"
The priest is fearful as he could sense Sam's aura is very deadly at the moment.
"I… I don't know. This has never happened before."
"Are there no records about this kind of scenario?"
"N.. No never happened."
Sam looked frustrated. He doesn't know how these statue things work, but one thing he is sure is that the statue is the only medium that could call up on Zeus and without any medium, it is impossible to get in touch with any god.
He took a deep breath and asked.
"Is there another Olympian organization nearby?"
"Yes, there is to the north. You would be able to reach there in half an hour."
"That's good to know. Thank you."
Sam walked out the clan grounds and dragged Dayus along with him. He cut the traveling time in half with the harbinger. For the first time, Dayus experienced what it feels like to be hung upside down in the air while traveling at supersonic speed.
He felt like a rag stuck to a flying beast. Fluttering like crazy.
He pleaded Sam to let him go many times. But he wasn't able to convince him of course. After a few attempts, he refrained from asking. And he didn't even dare to use threats. He knows for sure that Sam is on the edge. He might taste something really bitter if he pissed him off even more.
Just presence is now enough to make him feel afraid.
Sam reached the next clan and went into the temple. He did the ritual again. But to his surprise, this statue also collapsed.
Dayus is also shocked. If one statue collapsing is considered to be a coincidence, the second one cannot be brushed off just like that.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtSam knew that something is happening here making him unable to contact the Olympian gods. He sat down crosslegged and tried to organize his thoughts.
He took a few deep breaths and finally opened his eyes.
"Lucifer. I need to talk to you. Come out now."
His voice is calm, cold and determined.
Time stopped. Dayus looked around in shock as Lucifer appeared in front of them. That charming smile still evident on his face.
He looked at Sam and Dayus and spoke.
"How can I help you?"
"An answer would be nice. Why am I unable to contact the gods?"
"Oh, I forgot to mention, but I assumed you already knew, it is impossible to contact any gods involved in the game unless some very special circumstances arise."
"What is considered to be a special circumstance?"
Sam asked in a very calm tone. The temperature of his tone seemed to have gone colder.
"At least not this."
Sam looked at Lucifer without saying anything for a moment. He now understood what Lucifer was doing. He now understood the character of the devil why Lucifer is considered one.
In more ways than one, he is very much better than most of the gods. Particularly, he never really hid his true nature. He didn't really hide behind a false façade.
It is just that the way he acted, it is very hard for a normal person to understand his true personality.
The ways speak, the way interacts, everything is a game for him. He uses all of his words, thoughts and actions as moves in this game. And the goal of the game is to satiate his amusement. Putting people in different scenarios and trying to see if their true nature will flare up or not.
And if it does what is their true nature?
Now Sam is thrown into a pickle. He doesn't know how his students and Sirona are doing. If he didn't know their situation, he would have smoothly gone through this round of competition, without much resistance.
And he is playing it so smoothly with no regard to the consequences. Now Lucifer added something into the mix. Something that will mess up the plans even more to see a much better show.
That might be the only reason he did this to Sam. Now Sam is in a situation where he has to ask for Lucifer's help. There is no other way out. And lucifer made sure that Sam would have to ask for his help by not revealing that he cannot contact other gods.
He made sure to say that only after Sam wasted time.
"What do you want?"
Sam directly asked.
Lucifer smiled and said.
"I can give you the information about the situation of your students and your friend. I can even help you resolve whatever problem they are facing. But in return, I would like you to do something for me."
"What would that be? How long can you ensure the safety of my students and my friend?"
"That is up for negotiation. It depends on what you can do for me?"
"What do you want me to do then? Just tell me."
"I want you to do something spectacular in this round. Make me entertained. If you agree to this deal, I will protect your students until this mission is over and depending on how spectacular your performance is I will extend the protection to your students."
"Extend? How long? Will you extend until this whole game's fiasco is over?"
"Depends on how well you perform. Yes. I might even protect them all the way until you become a god yourself."
"What are the conditions?"
"There are not many. Only one. From now onwards, every three hours, the location of Maya will be delivered to the heads of all the twenty-five families involved in this war. And they will also know how many kids are there in Maya's hands.
Of course, to make it more interesting, I will make it so that not all of them will get the information. Every three hours a batch of five families will get the info and after three hours, the second batch will get the information.
I want to see how these clans will react and how it will impact you.
And how will play all of this out of course, I am going to give new missions to other players as well."
"Why are you doing this?"
Sam asked calmly.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Come on, you must have already understood why I am doing this. It's because the game is getting boring. From my original estimation, you should have taken at least three days to get one child. But you already have three in your possession.
And from the looks of it, you will have the other four within no time.
So, I wanted to make it more fun. More engaging and a lot less boring.
There is no other reason apart from that."
Sam chuckled at this.
"All to satisfy your amusement. You are not that different from other gods."
"I am very different. I might be doing this for my amusement just like them. But I don't hide behind some high ground and think that I am doing this as a favor for you.
I am telling you to your face that I am doing this for my own amusement and I am not lying or manipulating you in any form.
I am saying as it is and you can accept or reject it."
Sam just smirked at this.
"I will accept the deal. But show me proof that the students are okay."
"Of course, it is a given."
Lucifer waved his hand and showed the screen. He could see that Sirona and the kids are cornered, they are using everything in their power to block the powerful opponents. Sam could easily guess why they are so cornered.
Because there are over half a dozen peak-stage Astral Plane cultivators trying to deal with her.
And the region they are currently in, the strongest is supposed to be the Late stage of Astral Plane's consummate cultivator. Sirona is at the middle stage of Astral Plane Consummation.
She underestimated the situation a bit and didn't bring out the ultimate cards with her.
She is being outclassed and outnumbered at the same time and he is sure if the kids weren't there, she would have fled the situation easily.
As he assessed the situation, all of a sudden three more people emerged from the shadows and instantly killed two of the six attackers. It was in one swift action. They are dead just like that and the remaining three were next to follow.
Sam nodded and then turned to Lucifer.
"I accept the deal. However, I want to know if you are up for another condition from my side."
"Come on Sam. Don't tell me, you are backing down now."
"Of course, I am not that stupid. Since you want to be amused and entertained, my condition will actually appeal to you."
"Now I am interested. Sure, I am open to such suggestions. What do you have in mind?"