"Whether I do it now or in two hundred years, I will achieve my goal, though you are doomed to fail," Thal said with a smug smile.

He got off his chair and walked over to a nearby bookshelf, he scanned it for the previously mentioned book.

When he found it, he removed it from the shelf and blew the dust off its surface.

He glanced at the book's cover to confirm its identity before returning to the table and putting it down.

"You're lying," the witch said,

"Of course, I am the god of-" Thal was cut off by the witch, "No, I mean you're pretending you're not in a rush, if you have so much time to spare then why not wait for more capable mortals?" asked the witch.

Thal let out a sigh.

"You're quite perceptive..." he said reluctantly.

"No, you're just a bad liar..." she replied.

Thal cleared his throat.

"Anyway, let's cut to the chase, do you accept my help in defeating the demon kings?" Thal asked.

The room remained silent.

Darius scratched his fluffy head.

"If he was telling the truth... this would be our only shot..." Darius looked up to Thal.

"But there's no way he's being honest..." Darius said, standing up from his chair.

"I refuse," Darius said.

"We have no reason to trust you," the witch agreed.

Thal shrugged.

"Fair enough, if you ever change your mind just say so," Thal said with a smile as he snapped his fingers, revealing that Darius and the Witch stood at the entrance this whole time, across the room stood Darius' chair the and table on which lay the two books.

One book was red with a picture of a globe on the cover, the other one was black, with the word "INDEX" written in binary, not that Darius or the witch would know that.

Thal appeared outside the tower, making his way away from the mountain as he was suddenly stopped by an explosion of colour.

Waves of light that discoloured the world and inverted its colours spread throughout the world.

"Thal..." Magnus appeared beside him.

The god of time and the different timelines.

He looked like a mail-man dressed in khaki shorts and a short-sleeved brown shirt with a nametag.

"Gramps..." Thal crossed his arms.

"What brings you out here?" Thal asked.

Magnus looked at with a sorrowful look.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked,

Thal let out a sigh.

"It was naive to think I could get away with a secret plan when you're involved..." Thal laughed uncomfortably

The world was frozen in time, even the gods in the distance were affected by Magnus' ability.

"Yes, I am," Thal admitted.

Magnus took out his phone.

He tapped the buttons on it for a solid thirty seconds before turning the screen towards Thal.

"Should you choose to turn your back on the gods you will be forced to die alone," Magnus explained.

Thal read over the text.

"Tch, so what? You expect me to cry over you guys not attending my funeral?" Thal asked.

Magnus let out a sad smile, he put his phone away as he looked up into the sky.

"Why are you so desperate?" asked Magnus.

Thal placed his hands in his pockets.

"Because I'm a cold-hearted god," he explained.

"Life is worth nothing!" he added.

"Maybe you guys are still hoping our world will be brought back, but I don't see the point of terrorizing this one for the sake of one that was destroyed," Thal laughed.

"Who cares which colony of ants we use to boost our egos" he exclaimed.

"As if that asshole would bring it back..." Thal said forcing a smile as he gritted his teeth.

Magnus smiled.

"I see, well, then I guess I'll sit this one out..." Magnus said stretching his back and cracking his neck.

"Maybe I'll go for a jog or something," he thought aloud.

"Gramps..." Thal said surprised at the usually by-the-book god.

With a sorrowful glint in his eye, Magnus said his goodbye with a grin,

"Third times the charm!" he exclaimed before unfreezing time and appearing as one of the eleven nebulous figures in the sky.

"Third?" Thal thought before himself disappearing and appearing in the sky with the others.

Oscar looked to Thal,

"You're back..." he sighed.

"Yup..." Thal replied.

"I'll need you to drive an artist called Logan Silver insane, he needs to be slain by the hero of the north by next week at exactly midnight," he explained.

"Can you talk about something other than work?" asked Thal with a sigh.

Oscar looked at Thal in disgust.

"We're not here to mess around, we complete our end of the deal and-" Oscar was cut off by Nekraxx.

"And Lorb decided to give us back the old world?" Nekraxx asked.

Sicillus grinned as he looked down at the people below.

"Does it really matter? Ants are ants and gods are gods... I appreciate the change of scenery..." Sicillus mumbled.

All the gods looked at Sicillus with disgust.

"The soul of an ant, a tree and a god is one and the same, Sicillus," Nekraxx remarked aggressively.

Sicillus' grin turned to a frown.

"And the world is made from atoms, yet you drink wine not piss," he remarked with a look of disgust.

Oscar clapped his hands.

"Enough! We all agreed to the deal, what happens with this world is none of our concern once the deal is complete!" Oscar said looking at Sicillus specifically.

"Whatever..." Sicillus said, once more his face became a grin.

"I've always got my side project to look forward too..." he mumbled sending shivers down some of the god's back.

Melnym, the demon king of magic and its development looked down, their gaze remained fixated on a certain mage, an essential NPC by the name of Mattius.

"I think I should go check on him..." they said in a cold, hollow voice.

Thal's eyes moved to the god.

"Again?" he asked.

Melnym looked up to meet Thal's gaze.

"Of course... he is the most important essential NPC..." they repeated.

Thal scratched his head.

"Of course, but wouldn't your constant visits disrupt the development of their magic?" asked Thal.

"Doubt it..." Melnym replied.

"Hold on now... I think Thal has a point!" Oscar butted in.

"Of course you do..." all the gods except Thal, Magnus and Oscar mumbled.

"The world is delicate, we cannot mess it up!" Oscar exclaimed.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Fine..." Melnym relented.

Thal breathed a sigh of relief.