Hikari: Rise Of The Weapons Master

"Let me introduce you guys to the last member of our team," Zack announced in a cheerful tone. "Please welcome Jules."

Jules raised his head and looked at the assembled people in front of him. They were Mia, Emma, Eva, Lisa, Hayden and at last Ken.

Jules could only gulp nervously as he turned @to look at Zack who still felt energized.

"Now that all of us are here, it's time for me to bring you up to speed with everything that is going on. Mana has just merged with the core of the Earth and the things that just happened are the reaction that the earth gave.

Our planet is not that compatible with mana and such disasters might become common. To counter these, we need technology and mana to merge to create a solution." Zack then paused as he looked at Eva, Mia, Lisa, and Jules.

The four of them could be considered the brain of the entire project and would be the ones focusing on it.

"Next thing we need is fighters and those who will make sure that nothing happens. That includes Me, Emma, Hayden, and Ken. Lisa will also help us in some situations. Since we are done with that, let's log into Hikari and gather at the capital.

We need to fortify our defenses as well as train Jules to reach at least level 50." Zack then took a deep breath as he remembered one more task that he had to do alone. 'I need to find the Phoenix too…'

The entire team nodded, Jules a bit slowly, before moving down to the basement.

Eva had somehow managed to install two more gaming pods as Ken and Jules both took out their VR glasses and placed them in the slot.

The entire party then sat in the gaming pods and started the 'game'.

Eva and Mia watched them go with a resigned expression before they decided to go ahead and console those who had managed to survive the incident.

'The end is near. Zack's I hope you manage to get your memories as well as unlock Chastiefol's true powers before a god manages to find us.' Mia prayed silently before leaving the room.

***

"Did we die and appear in heaven?" Lisa asked aloud as the group was currently standing in a beautiful place with a clear blue sky above their heads.

"This is not heaven. It's the prison of a god…" With his newly recovered memories, Zack also remembered Kai and Odin.

However, the things were too blurry and hazy to make sense of.

"Indeed, it's my prison. Hopefully, you don't mind this clean place." Kai's voice suddenly sounded from above as the god of timelines landed beside the group a moment later.

Out of all of them, only Ken and Jules had no idea who the young man in front of them was. They looked at Zack with confused eyes but the latter just shook his head.

[ I will explain everything later on. Just stay quiet and listen for the time being. ] He replied before turning his head to face Kai.

"So, why did we get summoned here?"

"If you don't want to die, being here is the second best thing you could do," Kai replied with a sad smile. "Due to the recent mana outbreak and the disaster on Earth, the gods have focused their eyes on Hikari or more specifically, all of you."

Silence followed Kai's words as Zack and Emma exchanged a look. Both of them knew that they would be targeted but they didn't expect the others to be roped in with them too.

"Why are all of them counted?"

"That you already know. You just have to think or rather, remember it." Kai replied before diverting Zack's attention. "Try summoning that Phoenix."

"Won't that do something to your prison?"

"The gods aren't that bothered to keep an eye on this place due to the latest chaos. Earth isn't the only place they are looking at."

Zack didn't say anything and summoned his golden spear before summoning the seventh form.

[ Error! ]

[ Guardian not found. ]

[ Calculating other options. ]

"And what is that supposed to do?" Zack asked while raising an eyebrow as he expected Kai to see the window too and the latter didn't disappoint.

"Just wait for it to load." He replied and a few minutes later, a new window popped open in front of Zack.

[ One optional method found. View? ]

"Is that a thing that you should ask?" Zack muttered before choosing yes as different words replaced the one on the screen in front of him.

[ Finding the Guardian: Due to the guardian being a Vermilion Phoenix, the rebirth guardian must be made contact with to summon the guardian.

Location: Earth. ]

After reading the entire thing, Zack glared at Kai.

"Do you think that the Earth is a small place? For all I know, he is at the bottom of the pacific ocean!"

"How did you guess that?" Kai asked with a surprised look as Zack looked baffled. "No, I am not joking in case you were about to ask that. The Phoenix has been forced to be reborn at the bottom of the pacific ocean or specifically, right below the Mariana trench."

"And you think I can get there?" Zack was trying to control himself from strangling the god in front of him.

Kai was giving him the answers one by one instead of telling him the entire thing.

"You can get there easily with an underwater breathing technique that you can create by practicing under a pool. Once that is done, you can share it with the others too."

"And what about the pressure and blindness that I might experience under the water?"

"Pressure? Your vitality makes your body exert a pressure that is strong enough to withstand five times the depth of the Mariana trench. As for light, I can help you with that as well."

Kai then moved forward and double-tapped Zack's head with his index finger before stepping back.

"Now, go create that skill and get your Phoenix back." He said aloud before sending the group back to Earth.

Kai then took a deep breath as he sat down. He felt a pain starting to rise near his abdomen as he grunted and laid down on the ground.

Despite how he had been holding himself for the past few minutes, he was dead tired and in pain after summoning all of them to his prison.

Kai was hoping to not summon anywhere in his prison for the next few weeks yet he couldn't allow his only hope to die, especially in a perfect timeline.

'Damn it. At this rate, I will fall from my rank of a god and might vanish…' Kai closed his eyes while trying to control his breathing.

He was not a person who ascended to the rank of a god from being a mortal. He had been born as a god which could be otherwise called 'born with a diamond spoon'.

However, his life was not at all easy and stress always seemed to be following. He might argue that his middle name was stress and overwork.

'Go on young one. I will keep protecting you no matter the cost. Maybe then, I will get to experience what others gods are terrified of.'