Chapter 132: I Won't Let You Go
Mark's fist began to release electric bolts as he pulled it back and delivered a massive punch right into Charon's stomach!
Boom!
The punch struck true and Charon gasped for air as his rod fell off his hand! Charon took a step forward and slammed his forehead into Mark's temple! Mark's vision swam from the strike, but Mark already knew that it would hurt so it didn't make him pause. Instead, he reached up and grabbed Charon by the shirt before body-tossing him over his shoulder and into the water below!
Splash!!
"Buah!! What the hell do you think you are doing!? How dare you attack a god! Pass me that rod now!?"
Charon shouted in anger as he watched Mark pick up his rod. He tried to swim towards the boat, but Mark started to paddle the boat backward to prevent Charon from getting closer. Mark had a blank, apathetic look on his face as he watched Charon struggle to get closer, but he paddled away at just the right speed to prevent Charon from reaching the boat.
"I said stop this instant and come here!!"
"You attacked me and tried to push me into the Styx and now you're asking for help? Are you fucking mental?"
Charon clicked his tongue in irritation once Mark said this and Charon slapped away a soul that swam too close to him before he started speaking again.
"I did no such thing. I was simply moving my rod to the other side of the boat! You are the one that suddenly attacked me! Of course, I would defend myself!"
Mark hummed as he heard what Charon said and he slowly started to paddle further and further away. Mark did not know where he was going, but he was certain that Charon would not want to be left behind in the Styx. If Mark paddled long enough, then he would eventually reach a shore, but Charon would remain stuck in the middle of the Styx for the next hundred years.
That is not something anyone – god or man – would want.
"Wait!! I tried to attack you! But I was not going to leave you behind! I simply wished to test you!"
The look of disbelief on Mark's face immediately told Charon that Mark was not falling for the lie at all and Charon had to admit that it was a pretty stupid lie to tell. No one with half a brain cell would fall for that!
Mark did not even know how someone like this became a god in the first place. Mark knew that there were many sinister gods, even Sozin was sinister in his own humorous way. But not only was Charon twisted on the inside, he was also weak. Mark always thought of the gods as honorable beings of immense power. At least that was how Mark saw Sozin whenever he visited him.
But finding out that Charon was actually this pitiful made him doubt his initial judgment of the gods.
Mark should not have been shocked to learn that Charon was this untrustworthy. The entire reason why Charon was placed as the transporter of souls by the other gods is because there was literally nothing else that Charon could do in the realm of gods. He was too weak to control any other domain, so Hades placed him on the river Styx to give him purpose.
But Charon was a greedy bastard who wanted attention more than anything else. After Hades was killed by Thanatos, Charon started to lash out once more to grab the attention of the gods, but no matter what he did, they didn't even look in his direction. He thought that trapping Mark down here would finally draw their eyes toward him and give him more power.
Gods gain power by the belief that people place in them, so once the story of Charon trapping someone in the Styx spreads around, the people will fear him more and he will gain more power that way. That was what he believed. Charon didn't know that he was so weak that even if he gained ten times more followers, he would still be weaker than the weakest major god.
"… A god shouldn't lie so easily."
Mark spoke up from a good distance away while setting the rod down and looking down at Charon. Charon glared at Mark in anger. He tried his best to get rid of the stray souls that were gathering around him, but no matter how many times he slapped or pushed them away, they kept on trying to latch onto him!
Charon smacked a certain soul that was trying to grab his hand before turning to Mark and shouting angrily!
"Fine! Tell me what you want!"
Mark smiled.
"I want you to swear that you will not try to cause me any harm until you have dropped me off at the shore, and I want your blessing."
"What!? Do you understand what you're talking about!? Your patron god will have my head!"
Charon was not interested in having a tussle between gods at all! He knew that Mark must have a patron god that sent him down here to complete this test and for Mark to be as strong as he is, that god had to be extremely powerful. If Charon gave Mark his blessing, it would be like trying to stake a claim on Mark and that might bring the wrath of the Patron god down on Charon.
Charon was not going to do something so stupid.
Mark raised a brow as he heard what Charon said and he quickly sent a thought out to Sozin. Was it okay for him to get a blessing from Charon?
[Comment from GoG: It's fine. That useless sailor is so weak, it probably won't even make a difference at all.]
Sheesh. Mark didn't know which was worse, the fact that Sozin thought that Charon was weak or the fact that he called him a useless sailor. Mark knew that if Charon could see this message he would be having one hell of a fit! He would probably spit blood from anger.
"My patron god says you can bless me, so you have no choice. I want all your blessings, down to the very last drop of it."
Charon growled as he saw the coy grin on Mark's face and he thought about what Mark said. Charon knew that this was a bad situation. He was practically at the mercy of a mortal and if any of the lesser gods saw him like this, they would laugh at him for eternity.
Even though Charon was a god and he would not die in the Styx, he would still be trapped here for the next hundred years, and that was bad no matter how you look at it.
But on the other hand, Mark was a demigod blessed by one of the strongest gods up there. If Charon also blessed Mark, then all of Mark's deeds from now on would also be tied to Charon. Isn't that exactly what Charon wanted all along? He wanted his name to be spread among the humans, and what better way to spread his name than to use the popularity of a demigod blessed by one of the stronger gods?
Charon already had some blessed superhumans, but he didn't care about them. He could just give all his remaining blessings to Mark and forget about those people.
Charon turned to Mark again as his mind raced as he tried to decide if this was a good deal or not, and after some time, he finally budged.
"Fine! Fine! I swear by the Styx to get you to the shore without trying to hurt you and I'll give you the damn blessing! Now get me out of here!"
Rumble!
The Styx rumbled again as it registered Charon's words, and Mark felt pleased with himself as he finally got the stubborn god to agree.
Charon stretched his hand out, and Mark paddled closer and gave Charon the end of the rod to pull himself into the boat. Charon kicked a few stray souls that refused to let go of him, and he grumbled in annoyance as he sat down and grabbed the rod out of Mark's hand in irritation.
"Never touch this again."
Mark raised his hands in surrender as a small smile spread across his face. He apologized half-heartedly while trying not to laugh at the wet god trying to reprimand him.
Charon saw the smile and narrowed his eyes at Mark before he started to paddle the boat once more.
The two of them reached the shore on the other side of the river very quickly, and Charon docked the boat and released his rod as he stared at Mark with a critical gaze. Mark stayed silent with his arms folded across his chest as he waited for Charon to speak, and after some time, Charon finally said something.
"Do not bring shame to my name. Giving you the rest of my blessing will make you my champion as well. If you die, I promise to find your soul and throw it into the Styx myself. I will make sure you spend eternity being tormented in this river for staining my honor."
Mark nodded his head seriously, and Charon simply breathed out tiredly.
[The Guardian of Souls, Charon, is attempting to place a part of his divinity upon the user. Does the User wish to allow this? Yes/No]
Mark chose yes, and the system went blank for a few seconds.
[Recognizing Divinity.]
[Assimilating... Assimilating... Assimilating...]
[Converting to an Accessible form. Conversion successful.]
[Unpacking... 10%]
[Unpacking... 30%]
[Unpacking... 50%]
[Unpacking... 60%]
[Unpacking... 90%]
[Unpacking... 99%]
[Unpacking complete. The User has gained a new blessing from the god Charon.]