"What happened here?" Nina mumbled.

Even though she was the one standing closest to Arnold, things happened rather quickly, she could barely register anything. Arnold had randomly punched the air and the next thing she knew... The black lizardman, the foe not even the strongest of Arnold's summons could destroy, was dead. And all it took was a punch. 

Nina loved this guy with all her heart. But at times like these, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Just what kind of monster did she give her heart to? 

Arnold only got like this once in a while, but she was growing increasingly concerned about him. Somehow she felt he wasn't the same weird and happy guy he once was. 

"I killed a sneaky bastard. That's all." Arnold mumbled, kicking Grock's corpse in the void before closing it, "Nearly everyone has evacuated. We should leave as wel-"

Before Arnold could complete what he was saying, a blinding burst of light erupted out of nowhere, followed by a deafening explosion. The confused mob looked at each other. To their horror... They could see right through each other. As if all of them were wearing some kind of x-ray goggles. Some could even see the blood flowing inside them, as well as their organs. Arnold and Nina were no exception. 

It seemed only Arnold knew what was happening. Devon had tricked him. Even when he was defeated... He tricked Arnold. It was true there was a countdown of five minutes before the nuclear bomb would go off. Arnold thought it would take five minutes from when Devon confessed about his doomsday plan. When in reality, Devon had already activated it a couple of minutes prior to confessing to Arnold. 

'That son of a bitch Devon!'

Arnold thought before quickly undoing his cloak and wrapping it tightly around Nina. He wouldn't let the woman he loved get caught in his mess. Nina knew exactly what Arnold was doing, and started to resist. They both loved each other, and so were ready to die to protect each other. But Arnold was firm about it. He was stronger. He could survive things she couldn't. Thus, rather than starting a debate, he quickly knocked her out before throwing her over his shoulder. 

"This is no place for you to die..." He mumbled. 

He was quite confident in his survival, thanks to his passive ability, 'sacred protection'. The ability which would protect him from certain death once. But had a cooldown period of a week. As for dealing with the radiation... He hadn't thought about that yet. 

Then he quickly closed the travel portal. He felt sorry for the ones standing in front of the travel portal, but he couldn't risk millions of lives on the other side of the portal. They were doomed... Or so they thought.

The next second, he opened another portal leading to his domain and let everyone fall in. His secret wasn't as important as their lives. Moreover, he could alter their memories with Amanda's help once everything was stable. So it was all good. 

Next, he made a run for the void himself. With an unconscious Nina slung over his shoulder. He instructed his summons to jump in as well, although they weren't his priority at the moment. They could resurrect, he couldn't. Asterios was closer to the portal than him, so with all his might, Arnold threw Nina towards him. Asterios, reluctantly jumped into the portal while holding Nina in his arms. 

Asterios, despite being a warmonger, was aware of his master's love for the human female. Thus, he jumped in to save the lady first. As powerful as the void domain ability was, like every other skill, it too had a drawback. And in this case, the drawback was that Arnold could only open one portal leading to his void at one time. And the portal he had opened to save the people was quite a distance from where he was. 

He activated 'Rapid flash', and closed the distance pretty much in an instant. However, even though the portal was within his reach, it hadn't felt so far away before... He was a second too late. The blast had hit him. 

Immediately after, bursts of hellish fire descended upon the swamps. The flames... The explosion... The heat... Tore the swamps down like it had a personal vendetta against it. Following it, a huge cloud of smoke and dust shrouded the sky. The sky had turned colourless and shapeless. The next moment, the smoke came crashing down on Arnold as his ears kept buzzing continuously. His HP plummeted down like never before. Notifications kept popping up in front but Arnold didn't care. 

Arnold knew what was coming next. Even in his pained state, the safety of the rest took priority to him. Thus he closed the portal, which was way out of his reach now. He left his life at the mercy of destiny. If he was supposed to live on, he would. And if he wasn't, he wouldn't. It was for destiny to decide, not him. 

'Maybe I should have saved myself first...' Arnold smiled wanly, while his body kept spouting blood at an alarming rate. 

Just as he had predicted... The neutron blast hit him again. There was no way for him to prepare for the impact as he couldn't see what was coming for him. His body was lifted high by the neutron blast wave. For a moment he felt weightless, and then the wave propelled him back brutally. Slamming down so hard, he felt all of the bones in his body crack simultaneously. His mouth had turned into a broken faucet, spewing blood everywhere. 

Arnold couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Everything went blurry, as he was thrown into a dream-like state.

****

Meanwhile in Shiva's domain... 

"Things were supposed to be... Different." Shiva mumbled. A frown was clearly visible on his face. 

Lady Parvati was by his side, like a devoted wife. To her, Shiva had always been a happy man. Seeing him frown like that, immediately made her rush to comfort the life of her life. 

"What's wrong, my love?" She asked, gently caressing Shiva's broad shoulders. 

"He was supposed to lose her... To lose everyone there." Suddenly, his frown was replaced by genuine happiness, "But that stubborn mortal changed his destiny."

Shiva didn't mention it, but Arnold's compassion for Nina and the rest of the humans made quite an impression on him. It was a weird feeling, even for a Godly being like him, but Arnold somehow reminded him of his early days as a higher God. The times where he was carefree and madly in love. If Shiva had been a mortal like Arnold, as well as trapped in the same situation, he too would've saved the others first. Or at least tried to. 

"I refuse to believe he's as stubborn as you are." Lady Parvati chuckled while Shiva simply shrugged his shoulders, "What would happen to him now?"

"He changed the outcome that I had in my mind. In other words... He changed destiny, no matter how small and insignificant that change might've been. Consider it the butterfly effect. No matter how small the change is, it could affect the future in innumerable ways." Shiva smiled once again, "From this moment on, whatever happens to him will happen as a consequence of his choices. No more shall he be bounded to his destiny."

"But, if he does as he pleases, wouldn't it affect your plans?"

"I've grown quite fond of this mortal. He reminds me of myself in a weird manner. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't face hardships just because he changed destiny. Who knows, maybe his future would be more painful to him than the one I had in mind?"