Chapter 325 - The Only One

"I'm truly sorry…"

The words spoken were heartfelt. But Ara wouldn't accept more apologies from her father. Each and every one of them made mistakes – her too. She would not let Alistair take all the blame for himself.

"It's alright father – er brother…"Ara corrected herself. She should get used to calling Alistair brother again. "I won't have you apologizing to me again after this. Things passed. For this fiasco that spanned millennia, we all need to take responsibility. It's not like one of us meant for bad things to happen. We all had the same goal – and that is to end the curse. Let's not dwell anymore in the past."

Silence greeted her profound words for several seconds. They were surprised – but it was a pleasant kind of surprise.

"Wow! That was some very good words princess.  Nobody could have said it better," Gin commented proudly.

In all honesty, aside from Ara, herself, nobody could speak this kind of words. After all, Perun was the one who broke her soul into pieces, while Kresnik forgot about her and married another mortal which he still couldn't accept that he did. Only Alencica was the one who had the right to tell them to forgive and to forget.

"You've grown up," Alistair said afterwards with a fond smile as he patted her on the head once more, and Ara grinned.

"Well, my soul's technically more than a thousand years old. I'm like an old lady now," she replied cheekily which made Ryuu suddenly look depressed and Gin laughed. "What's the matter?" she asked, confused.

She reached out to take her husband's hand and gave him a squeeze. "What's wrong?" she asked again, and Gin's laughter increased.

"I'm…"Ryuu tried to answer but clamped his mouth shut instead, looking upset.

"You are?" she prompted, and it was Gin who explained.

"Ryuu's upset because he was reminded of how old he is," the Wind God said.

Oh…

Well, Kresnik was only a hundred years or so younger than Perun and Stribog. It was the reason why his relationship with Alencica wouldn't have materialized if the latter hadn't pursued him stubbornly until he gave in and fell in love with her as well.

Yes, it was Heaven's beloved Princess who chased after the Flame God relentlessly until he gave up running away from her.

Gin's eyes glinted with evil mirth as he turned to his best friend and snickered. "Ah don't worry Ryuu, at least Ara's already more than a thousand years old."

Alistair sighed and signaled for Ivan to stop his brother. Ivan took his cue and grinned at Stribog.

"But at least Ali's old enough. Gin's wife is still only twenty-two in human years," the Emperor of Kres said, making Ryuu look smug as he too remembered this fact.

"Cradle snatcher," the Koutaishidenka told Gin who just realized this thing as well.

"Ya!"Kazehaya placed his hands on his ċhėst exaggeratedly, looking totally shocked. He sputtered for a while as if to deny it, but his twin decided to end the banter there.

"Enough," Alistair said and everyone stopped. "I will greet my sister-in-law later," he told Gin who nodded happily, before turning his attention back to his daughter.

"Do you already know what needs to be done to end the curse?" he asked her softly and Ara shrugged.

"More or less. They told me Czernobog's main body and soul needed to be killed to render the piece of him within me harmless."

She had already discussed this with Ryuu in passing. Although still not in detail, she at least already understood the gist.

"Actually, you are the only one who could kill Czernobog," Alistair informed her which made her confused.

"I'm… the only one?" She couldn't believe it. "Why? How?"

Perun was the most powerful deity; ergo, he was the King of Heaven. His might was followed by Kresnik, her husband, and then Stribog. Czernobog, the Black God was even weaker than Kupala, a minor Deity of Water who was twentieth in the ranking of power.  

"You must be wondering why, since we're all stronger than him," Alistair stated.  

Of course, she wanted to agree, and so, she nodded. Only Ivan who was a demigod was a little less strong than Czernobog, technically, even if he had a lot of Divine Inheritance from both Kresnik and Stribog.

"It's because Czernobog's power is special," Alistair informed her. "He could turn his body into an intangible entity like a ghost. No matter how you try to kill him, you couldn't touch him at all. It's why instead of totally finishing him during the first Immortal War, I sealed him away."

Oh…

"He's like a ghost when he's terribly weakened. You could not hurt someone you couldn't even touch," Ryuu said with obvious frustration.

Well, he wasn't the only one feeling upset. All three deities who reigned supreme in the Celestial Plane felt bitter about the fact that none of them could kill their enemy. If they could, things wouldn't come to this situation. But alas, as Ara had said earlier, there's no point dwelling in the past. They should focus their energy at present and so they could end the tragic cycle finally.

"If you can't kill him, what made you think I can? Even if I'm also a demigod, I am handicapped. Ivan can even kill me in under five minutes."

Ara's voice sounded worried and all men could understand her concern. It was a legitimate and understandable question. Because of the piece of Czernobog's soul attached to her, she did not inherit Perun's powers.

"Well…" Alistair wanted to explain but couldn't find the words that he thought would put his child at ease. It's because regardless of how he told her the reason, it was still highly dangerous for his taste.

Gin sensed his twin's dilemma again and decided to be the one to tell Ara.

"It's because there's no other choice. You are the only one who can touch Czernobog…"