Alex blinked in surprise when he finally learned exactly what was happening. "Is that true?" he couldn’t help but ask. "The Storm God is here?"

He remembered the half-naked man with the muscular build and blue hair from so long ago. While there were many gods, sages, and reverends present during the Alchemy tournament, it was him who had made the final decision to not only send Alex to Hell, but also do so while sealing away his Soul Space and Spiritual Sea.

Eventually, Alex had gotten himself free from those two seals, but during that time, both Godslayer and Midnight had come to succumb to the rampant Yellow Fog, leading to both of their deaths. What Alex had now was a combination of what remained of them. It was not the real thing.

And for that, Alex had a bone to pick with the Storm God.

However, this was too soon. He hadn’t even reached the Divine realm at all, so fighting someone that was not only in the Celestial realm, but was also a Half-God was simply out of the question.

"Why so suddenly?" Alex asked the group.

"Someone must have taken the message to him," Bladedance said. "I can’t imagine any other scenario."

Alex sighed a little. It had been a decade since he returned from the beast realms, so it wasn’t entirely a surprise that the Storm God may have heard about him.

"Shouldn’t I have stayed hidden?" he asked. "What exactly am I doing here?"

"I’m going to try to hide your aura so that he doesn’t realize that you’re a Half-God," the Sky God spoke directly into his mind. "That way, he will have no idea about the changes regarding you."

Alex hadn’t even begun to think about his status and what others learning it would mean for him. He was thankful that his master and Newheaven were thinking about it in his stead.

The Sky God gestured for him to sit on the large couch, with Bladedance sitting to his right and the Sky God sitting to his left. Then, mere minutes later, Alex could feel a change in the atmosphere surrounding him, as though two things clashed against each other, with each trying to take the upper hand.

It took him a while to even realize what it was that he was feeling.

’Axioms!’ he thought.

Unlike Bladedance, who made an effort to keep her Axiom suppressed in the presence of another Celestial, the Storm God openly let his Axiom affect everything in his surroundings. From what Alex could tell, the man didn’t force it upon anyone at all, but he also didn’t hold it back.

He was a storm himself.

A couple of figures walked in through the front door, at the front of which was the Storm God. The man stopped for a moment and looked at the group, his gaze coming to a stop on Alex.

A strange expression appeared on his face, and he made his way toward the couch, casually sitting down before the three of them.

Several people behind the Sky God bowed toward the Storm God, while the people that came with the Storm God bowed toward the Sky God. The two were far too big a figure for the group to be disrespectful despite their backings.

The Storm God glanced toward the Sky God, giving the briefest of nods. "Newheaven."

"Quickstorm."

The Storm God then turned toward Bladedance. "I had heard you were missing, Bladedance. I was told that you may have even died. I’m glad to see that you are alive and well."

"Thank you for your consideration, Storm God."

Then, the man’s nearly electric-blue eyes turned toward Alex. "And you..." he said, taking a moment to glare at him. "I would have never thought I would see you again, and yet somehow, you managed to get out of Hell."

Alex didn’t bow or greet the god. He simply kept staring. "As far as I remember, the prophecies never claimed that I would be stuck in Hell forever, did they? It is only natural that I would’ve made my way out."

The Storm God didn’t immediately say anything.

"Insolent!" a man behind the Storm God spoke out in a thunderous voice. "You will speak with respect when you’re in the—"

The Storm God raised his hand. "That’s alright, Thunderflash. He holds too much animosity toward me to act any other way. It would’ve been surprising instead if he had suddenly come around to speak any other way."

The Half-God then turned toward Alex. "What was it that you told me the last time around? ’Go screw yourself,’ was it?"

The various people in the surroundings who hadn’t been around to hear Alex say that were surprised to hear that. What was surprising wasn’t that Alex had said as such, but rather that he had lived to see another day.

Anyone in his place would’ve been blasted out of existence if they did so to the Storm God at any other time.

"Are you talking about the time right before you sent me to Hell and nearly ruined my life forever? That sounds about right."

Alex wasn’t sure where he was gaining so much confidence to trash-talk the Half-God, but he was happy to do so. Since he couldn’t fight directly, he could fight through words.

He had hopes that both the Sky God and his master would be enough deterrence for the Storm God to retaliate against him.

The Storm God’s expression didn’t change. He held a more or less expressionless face during the conversation entirely.

"I’m curious. How did you leave Hell?" he asked, turning toward Bladedance. "Did you help him by any chance?"

"I may have." Bladedance didn’t deny it.

"If you did, can you tell me why?" the Storm God asked.

"Why not? I saw no reason why he should’ve been in Hell."

The Storm God’s eyes narrowed. "Perhaps you didn’t know about him back then. But you should’ve heard about the prophecies by now. So, I want to ask the both of you, why haven’t you already dealt with him? Why is it that I am the only one who cares about the future of our people?"