The emperor was speaking privately with someone in his office. Their conversation couldn't be heard from outside the room. But judging by his reaction, it was probably some bad news.
He noticed someone peeking into the office. It was his daughter. A little girl around ten years old.
"Father?" She spoke then slowly approached him.
"Jezebel. What is it?"
"Why do you look so sad, father? Did something happen to mother?"
He faked a smile. "Nothing could get past you, huh."
"What happened to her? Is she alright."
"Tell me, do you know what she went to do there, at the capital of the Holy Kingdom?"
"People say that she went to pray at the grand temple."
"What do you think?"
"Since she only goes to other countries to prevent wars, there must have been an impending danger on the empire. She must've gone to prevent it and the facade about going to pray was only to keep her name and reputation great."
"What brings you to that conclusion?"
"The best way to manipulate the thoughts of a mass group is by the actions you do on the outside. Since she has been able to maintain her reputation since she got into power, there wasn't a single doubt about her."
"Go on."
"The empire is the strongest nation in the continent. Naturally, she only cares about it and would go to any lengths to keep her position as leader. This means that there was a threat to the empire there, though I don't know how she knew about it."
The emperor wore a proud smile. "You're as smart as ever, I see."
"You didn't answer my question."
He looked at the man he was originally speaking to. "Are there any who might have survived?" Jezebel's eyes widened.
"We're looking into it now. You'll be the first to hear the news."
"Father?" Her voice cracked. Her face was filled with sadness.
"I'm sorry, Jezebel. Your mother, is no longer with us." You could tell that it was painful for him to say this. He hugged his daughter and they cried together.
At this time, Mona was in a room of a fancy mansion. He looked around calmly then shut the door after ensuring he was alone.
His body grew weak. He dropped his magic staff and fell to the ground. Then he placed his hands over his chest and looked down with a frightened look. Sweat dripped from his face.
"What was that?" He remembered his encounter with me, how it all happened. "How could one person be so strong? Was he using magic? What kind of physical strength was that? Is he some kind of god? Why would someone like him be our enemy? We can't win against him."
"My lord." A voice called out to him from outside the room. "You have a visitor."
"Tell them I'm busy!"
"But sir…"
"We're an emissary sent here by the emperor." Another voice. "Your presence is required in the palace."
"What? What would the emperor want with me?"
"We cannot disclose that information in public. Please come with us."
'Why? Dammit!' He pulled himself together and opened the door. Then he walked out, accompanied by two men.
A few hours ago, the capital of the Holy Kingdom was completely on fire.
The people were panicking. Some were crushed by burning houses and buildings. Others burnt alive.
"We found it! Come on! Hurry!" An exit. A small gate that led to outside the city. A small group saw it and were planning to escape.
"There it is!" Another went to the city's teleportation circle. They wasted no time to stand on it. Then they waited for it to activate. But it didn't.
"Why isn't it activating?"
The others who were running out suddenly bumped into an invisible wall.
"What's happening? An invisible wall?"
"Everyone. Look up." A child told them. That entire time, they hadn't noticed.
"The smoke…"
"Don't tell me…"
It looked like the smoke wasn't rising. Like it was trapped by something. And it was slowly covering the city in darkness.
Those on the teleportation circle noticed it too. "Is that a…"
"Barrier?" Uzzaran asked me.
"Yes. There's a barrier covering the whole city."
"So that none could escape. I see."
I was standing on the edge of the city, close to the wall, waiting and watching.
"Isn't this a little excessive though?" Uzzaran asked me. "There are more efficient and painless ways of doing this."
"… Yes. Yes there are."
"You have reached the required amount." Clara said. I began walking away after she said that.
"You're leaving?"
"Yes. We're done here." As soon as I walked out of the barrier, which I did as if there was nothing there, I used a teleportation skill and disappeared.
The next day.
Some people were sent to investigate the city, how and why it all happened, if there were any survivors, and to recover as many bodies as possible.
Most of the fires were already out. The amount of smoke had also reduced. And the barrier was no longer there.
"How are the investigations going? Have you found anything?" The emperor asked a man who was kneeling before him in the throne room.
It turns out that the people being sent were from the empire. They used the teleportation circle to get there by connecting with that of the fallen city.
"It would seem that some tried to escape. There were a few bodies found right on top of the teleportation circle. The theory we have right now is that it was somehow deactivated. But since it's almost impossible to do so, and no evidence of this claim has been found, we're yet to confirm."
"Do you think that this was all caused by someone, or could it be a monster?" A guest who was present in the discussion asked.
"The likelihood of a monster attack is nearly none existent. If it was, then it had to have been extremely powerful. Something like that would've been noticed by neighboring cities. But it might have been an army from another nation."
"An army? That's absurd!"
"Think about it. Why else would her majesty, the empress go there herself?" The hall fell silent. The man realized the mistake he just did by mentioning her in front of the emperor and his daughter who sat next to him. "Please forgive my rudeness, your majesty."
The emperor looked at his daughter's disheartened expression. "Jezebel, you could leave if you want to. There's no need to stay here."
"I'm fine, father. This is the choice I myself made. I want to know everything." He understood his daughter and asked her no further questions, but continued talking with the man.
"We know that my wife would never leave the empire to go to another nation unless a war was about to happen. And, judging by the events that happened there, she was correct, to some extent. However, it wasn't caused by an army from another nation."
The people murmured amongst themselves, wondering and waiting in anticipation to know who it could have been.
He continued. "I believe the time has come for the public to know about the events that have been happening on the continent, and who is responsible for all of it."
Everyone silently listened. Their eyes widened in shock by what they heard. Even his daughter was puzzled.
"Hey, Nerezza. Where are we?" Uzzaran asked. I was standing in front of a cave and had looked at it for quite sometime.
"Master, I've been waiting." It was Grendel. He was told by Cassius to meet me there.
When I was talking to Cassius, I told him that he had more important things to do alongside Nirvana. So he should call Grendel and tell him to meet me there since I wasn't able to see him before I left.
It was the cave where Nirvana used to stay before we met. I found it to be the perfect spot for me since it was well hidden.
"Uzzaran, Grendel. Listen closely to what I'm about to tell you. And you, Grendel, I need you to tell the others what you'll hear."
"What is it?"
"I'm going to ascend."
Ascension. That's what this world calls it. When a man or any other being from the physical world becomes a god, their souls ascend to heaven. Hence the name, ascension.
"Ascend?" Uzzaran asked.
"Your going to ascend?" It seemed that they know what it is. That made my work of explaining it to them a lot easier.
"Yes."
"You're saying that you'll become a deity?"
"Yes. But I learnt of the circumstance that would hinder my actions once I became one."
Gods are extremely more powerful than humans or any beings in the world. To maintain the balance of power, a heavenly law was put to place to prevent gods from returning to the physical world. They are bound to heaven's domain, a section of heaven set aside for gods to reside. As a way to make up for this restriction placed on them, the domain is made in such a way that it brings to life absolutely any desire that the god wants. A limitless place where anything you could imagine is yours.
But I wasn't planning on staying there forever. I didn't want to get stuck there. Its practically the same thing as dying forever. So I needed another way to get out of there. And Clara gave me the solution I needed.
It turns out, only gods can enter heaven's domain. Normal spirits are rejected and forced out directly into the physical world as punishment for breaking that law.
When I first appeared before the goddess, I was in heaven's domain. And the way I was kicked out is the exact same way the spirits are. But one spirit isn't enough. I needed a lot for the hole to become big enough for myself to escape through.
The recommended amount by Clara was a staggering 200,000. And it can't be souls that are already wandering the physical world, because if they are, it means that they were already rejected from heaven and therefore couldn't return.
"I get it now." Uzzaran said. "That's why you attacked the city. That and the fact that they attacked us first."
"Yes. Now I'm here to do the final step. And that's why you're here, Grendel."
"Me?"
"Yes. Until the others return, I'm leaving my body for you to protect. Once they come, you could discuss amongst yourselves how to keep my body safe until I return."
"Your body?"
"You see, a physical body can't just enter heaven. Only my soul can. So I'll leave my body here, where it can be kept a secret and secured with ease. What do you plan to do, Uzzaran?"
"Just continue. I'll know what to do."
"Alright." We walked to a corner of the cave and I decided to make that the spot.
"Master. Are you sure about this?" Grendel asked worriedly.
"I wouldn't do it if I hadn't thought it through."
There was a point where I wondered how this idea came to my head. It doesn't make sense that I just came up with it. And the fact that its relatively easy to do. It didn't feel right. But I already started. Might as well continue to the end.
I stood there for a while thinking, this is it. How am I supposed to feel right now? If this doesn't work, I'm dead. But I'm not scared, nor am I confident.
The temperature in the cave suddenly dropped. Ice began to form around me. It slowly rose up my feet. Then extremely loud thunder could be heard from outside.
"Go look." I told Grendel. He quickly rushed out of the cave to see what was happening. Then he noticed the sudden darkness. He looked up in shock to the clouds that began forming from above the cave and kept spreading outwards. They were accompanied by thunder and golden lightning.
"Is this him? How is he doing this?"
The radius of the dark clouds kept increasing with no sign of slowing down. Eventually, they were above Nirvana and the others who were traveling together. They noticed something of about them.
"Is mana coming from those clouds?" Cassius asked.
"What's happening?" Nirvana was also confused. Both of them were riding on a large carriage being drawn by four snow wolves up to twice the size of a normal horse. Meanwhile Nephilim, who was walking at the back looked up in shock.
'I never thought I'll see this again.' He thought. 'How long has it been? I can't remember.' Nirvana looked at Nephilim with a serious expression. She seemed like she wanted to ask him a question, but kept quiet.
Now, the emperor had finished talking. He explained everything, from the destruction of the military kingdom, to the battle that the high priest had lost.
"There's no way."
"One person, did all of that?"
Even his daughter found it unbelievable.
"Announcing the arrival of Professor Mona from the Magic Academy!"
"Enter." The giant doors opened. The emperor had told them to announce his arrival as soon as they got there, even if it meant that they interrupted what he was doing.
He walked in and stood before his majesty. Then he knelt down.
"Praise his highness, the emperor of this great nation. I wish thee a long life of happiness and prosperity."
"That might be impossible... Tell me, you survived the attack on the capital of the holy kingdom yesterday, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"Let me guess, only one man was responsible for it, correct?" The old man was stunned.
"How did you know?"
"That confirms it." Those present began murmuring amongst themselves.
"One person? Are you kidding me? Is he some kind of devil? not even demon lords have ever done such things."
"What do we do now?" One of them asked.
The emperor didn't know how to answer and began panicking. His daughter noticed it and was about to talk when she got interrupted by loud thunder.
The light coming from the windows suddenly became darker. This puzzled the already terrified group of people. When they looked outside, there were clouds covering the whole sky.
"No. Its like that day. When he summoned the Heaven's Tower. This must be him again." The emperor said with a terrified face. Jezebel looked at his fearful father and became furious.
"Nerezza Vingar." She said to herself angrily. "This is all your fault. I'll make you pay!"
"No. That's impossible." Mona couldn't believe it.
"What is it?"
"Those clouds, they're emitting mana. Much more than a few months ago. This time, its easy to notice it."
"He's right." A noble agreed. "I can feel mana from it."
"Mana clouds?" Another noble thought curiously. Then he covered his mouth in shock. "Don't tell me. Someone is ascending!" As soon as he said this, it felt like time had stopped in the room.
The clouds had become much bigger at that time. They covered the sky in a seemingly endless darkness. And where it all began, a whole appeared where light sipped through onto the top of the cave.
A hole appeared right above me. At that point, almost my entire body was covered in ice. And when it finally covered it all the way up to my head, my soul left my body, literally.
I could see myself trapped in the ice even though I was above it, slowly floating up into the sky. I looked up into the beautiful light, it felt like someone was calling out to me. I felt light. That brief moment was spectacular.
Grendel saw me rising into the sky with a hopeful look.
"Be safe. I hope you return soon."
Nirvana and Cassius were still puzzled by the dark sky. they weren't close enough, so the couldn't see me.
"Should we return?" Cassius asked.
"No. Lets keep going."
"I concur." Nephilim agreed. So they continued onwards with their journey.
They had places to be, a plan for the future. The monsters were still restoring the broken city, though progress had been made.
The humans in the palace were scared and didn't know what to do. Jezebel was still filled with rage. The people in the streets, in their houses, in the forests and fields, they all looked up wondering what was happening.
And in the midst of all of them, they were there. Some were still a few months old, others were somehow already a few years old. Others had seen the cruelty of this world.
"Hey! Over here!" A man called out for help with lifting a piece of burnt wood that was on a little boy.
"There's no way. Is he alive?"
"I'll take him to the healers." The boy was carried in the man's arms.
He was also one of them. That makes three. The first was in Crinelis, the other Havvothj'air, this one the Holy Kingdom. They are the future. And I will be meeting them soon.
...
Now, the skies of the entire world were covered in darkness. Even in other continents. Heavy rainfall was pouring everywhere.
A man in a hood walked to a back ally in a modern city after confirming that no one was following. Once he got there, golden lightning came from his body, then he transformed into the lightning itself and joined the others in the clouds.
And, in a fancy mansion elsewhere, there were four girls, each with different colored hair. Blue, Purple, Pink, and white. That's how they addressed each other. And they all had an earring on their left ears with the character that means death.
"There's no way." Pink said while facing the pouring dark sky with closed eyes. "Are those Heaven's Gates?"
"Someone's ascending." White responded. Her eyes also remained closed. "After 15,000 years, someone else is ascending."
"Could it be the same one that killed black?" Blue asked.
"The Heaven's Favored." Purple.
"The prophecy is actually being fulfilled." Pink. "Are we going to sit by and watch?"
"Surely it'll affect us somehow." Purple again. "Let me go."
"No." White stopped her. "He's already gone into Heaven. The Gates are closed now. You know what happens if you touch closed gates. We'll wait. According to the prophecy, it'll take 15 years. We'll wait until then. Afterwards, you could go as you please, Purple."
"Roger that, big sis. We've waited all this time." A smile appeared on her face. "What's a couple of more years."
The golden lightning landed in a pure white room that looked completely empty. It took the form of a handsome man with 'Death Slayer' characters on his left earring and 'Angel' on his right.
"Goddess. Don't keep me waiting."
"You only just arrived, Michael. I was thinking if I should give you a surprise." Her voice echoed in the empty space.
"I don't care."
"Hmmm." Her smiling face appeared. And so did her entire body, sitting on a throne high up above him. " Even Though this is the first time we're meeting after so long, there's no need to be so modest in front of me."
"You flutter yourself."
"So then, what are you planning to do in this, situation."
"Isn't it obvious? We can't let him become a deity. He's already a death now that he killed one. I couldn't let such an evil creature call itself a god."
"Does that mean you'll tell Gabriel?"
"You know as well as I do that he won't do anything."
"Won't? Or can't?" He became angry after that comment. "He is the Heaven's Favored after all. And he's already in heaven. That means there's nothing we could do."
"Speak for yourself..."
"Ourself." He was even more angry.
"I'll send the judgment angels to interfere with the first trial. Two of them should be enough. Isn't that right, Uriel and Raphael." The environment changed when he said this. Objects began to appear. And the place looked like an unevenly lit church. The goddess was no longer there.
"The Heaven's Favored?" A woman's voice could be heard from the dark.
"Wouldn't that be tantamount to committing sin against heaven?" Another voice. It trembled a lot more than Michael's. Then a weird noise came from the dark, as if a creature was moving around. And a huge golden iris with a dark pupil glowed from the dark.
"Don't worry about that, Gabriel could speak up for us." Michael told them.
"Well, in that case,"
"It shall be done."
The goddess was in a white room by herself. She unconsciously stared while thinking.
'Looks like we'll be meeting soon. That is, of course, if you finish the trials. I'll wait. Patiently. Then we can have a nice long chat.'
Her mind thought one thing, her body did another. She hadn't noticed, how much she was trembling.