True Nature

The Nisekami [False Gods] are mortals who took on the divine powers of the gods who died at Ragnarok. They are generally weaker than the once living god whom their power is obtained. After a Nisekami dies, the divine powers don't vanish but get transferred to another, unless the Nisekami is killed by an immortal, another Nisekami, or a Tenso.

The immortals are the original and true gods; they are the gods who survived Ragnarok. The only way to kill an immortal is for another immortal to do the deed. No other way, if there is any, has been discovered.

"...Occasionally you will find a half-blood possessing the blood of a Nisekami, an immortal, or both, but that's a story for another day." Natoru said as he came to a halt In front of an iron door, he snapped his fingers and signalled Hubris to follow along as he walked right through the door.

They were now on an elevated platform. Hubris looked down; there were a bunch of men who were drinking and smoking.

"Who are they?" Hubris asked as he watched them from above, And what does this have to do with me?.

"That's Faas Abe, better known in the underworld [not the literal underworld, we would get there eventually] as the "smoking mirror." He is a famous drug dealer and trafficker.”

Natoru didn't need to point to the man he was talking about; Hubris was sure who their leader was. "He is a Nisekami who possesses the divinity of Tezcatlipoca, an Aztec god associated with smoking." Natoru continued.

"So what do you want me to do? "Go down there and sign a peace treaty or something like that, it would solve the balance thing, right?"

"You could try, but I highly doubt it would end well." Natoru said as he gestured in a punching motion, "You could try kicking his ass."

What is he telling a teenager to do?

"The bottom line is, make him stop doing what he does, ok?"

"I could try, but—huh?" It was sudden; Hubris felt nothing beneath him but air as he looked up to Natoru, who smiled back at him. He was falling.

"Do your best," Natoru said, waving a hand to Hubris before yelling, "THERE HE IS, THE SPY!"

Hubris fell ten metres till he met the ground. “It hurts like hell,” he said, holding his head as he stood up. “He actually pushed me.”

A Tenso’s body is naturally very much stronger than that of a normal human which is why Hubris didn’t die on impact, but the ground beneath him wasn’t spared.

He found himself face-to-face with a number of men who could pass off as thugs. The boss remained seated, but that alone was intimidating.

"I don't suppose there's any way we could talk this out, or someone's going to get hurt." Hubris said.

The men burst into laughter at Hubris's words; a man with dreadlocks stepped forward. “Oh really, and who’s going to get hurt?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Hubris said moving back, which made the men laugh again.

"Hey little man, why don't you let us break a few of your bones? Then we would let you run home." The man tried to reach for Hubris's neck, but his instinct kicked in. Hubris is a trained fighter, having gone to many combat lessons in his spare time and learnt many arts. He diverted the man’s hand, and Hubris then took the opportunity to roundhouse kick the man square in the face. It might not have looked like much, but it was enough to send the man flying. The other men stepped back a bit, confused by the sudden change of tide.

"I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to—" Hubris attempted to calm them, but there was no going back now.

The men all charged at Hubris, but like the first, they were all immobilised by Hubris on pure instinct as he read all their hazardous moves.

“I-I told them they would get hurt.” Hubris tried to appeal to the “smoking mirror” who was still seated. “So how about a peace treaty? I won’t mind—” he felt a sharp pain in his chest which made him lose his footing.

Fast Abe finally got up; he was of a height of about six feet and was well built. His fair skin showed his well-defined biceps; a large cigar was lit in his mouth. He spoke for the first time: "I’m guessing you aren’t human; I can sense it."

Not human? Hubris thought as he broke into a series of coughs, and that's when he noticed it.

The air looked clear, but it was filled with poisonous gas.

"But you forget, I am a god, a product of divinity; someone so below me such as yourself couldn't hope to match me." He looked down at Hubris. “Such is the appropriate gesture you should show towards a god.” Faas kicked Hubris in the face and stepped on him, showing superiority.

“That's a bad move, my guy,” Natoru, who was still watching on the platform, said, although no one heard him.

Hubris suddenly grabbed Faas’s leg and threw him across the room with little effort. His cigar got lost his lost in transit.

What's with this guy, Faas thought as he struggled to get up, visibly shocked as Hubris stood up.

"You would really compare me to someone as low as you?" Hubris' eyes are now glowing pure silver, and the air around him has shifted.

Faas backed away as Hubris walked towards him. "Ok, ok, I give in; I'll do anything you want." Throughout his lifetime, he had done many deals with many ruthless criminals, but never had felt this much fear before. He immediately knew he had made a mistake.

Hubris hadn’t made a move against him, but Faas’s instincts told him he didn’t want to know the outcome if he did.

Hubris walked towards Faas, who had a horrified look on his face as he backed away. “I said I would give in. Didn’t you hear?”

Hubris stopped. “Then kneel,” he said in a calm but commanding tone, his eyes still glowing silver.

“W-what?”

Hubris disappeared.

Faas wasn’t able to track him as Hubris moved with incredible speed, appearing behind Faas Abe and slamming his head into the ground.

“Did I stutter? I said kneel,” Hubris said.

Faas raised his head as blood dripped from his face. 'He'll kill me,' he thought, horrified, before dropping to the ground.

Hubris made another move for Faas’s head as he hadn’t obeyed his command, but his hand was suddenly grabbed.

“This is a little overkill, don’t you think?” Natoru said from behind Hubris.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try my best not to kill him.” 'Hubris', he said, turning to Natoru. “Now let go—”

Natoru flicked Hubris on the forehead.

“Ow!!!… What did you do that for?” Hubris said, visibly surprised. His eyes weren’t glowing anymore.

"I see you are back," Natoru said, letting go of Hubris’s arm. "I think he has had enough; I doubt he would go against you now."

Faas had earlier fallen unconscious right after Hubris slammed his head.

“I-I did it again, didn’t I?” Hubris said panicky.

“Well, that settles that. I’ll help you get better at your element from tomorrow.” Natoru suddenly started walking towards the exit, Hubris chased after him.

“Wait!!! Do you still want me in your group? You saw what I did back there, didn't you? I sometimes let my pride get the best of me.”

“I don’t see any problem in that; I think it’s cool actually.”

His remark caught Hubris off guard; the main reason he wants to become normal is to control his pride. It has always caused him nothing but trouble; this was the first time anyone had ever complimented him on it.

“Thanks,” he said in a small voice.

“What was that?” Natoru said,

“I said thanks. Are you deaf or something?” he shouted.

“Nah! I heard you the first time” Natoru smiled “You know what, let’s get takeout; it’s on me.”

“Takeout?”

“To celebrate you joining the team”

"Ok but aren't we forgetting something?"

"Nothing I can think of."

They left

***

Faas later woke up.

“I-I’m still alive.” He touched his body in surprise before looking around at his unconscious men.

“I should really find a new job.”

***

"We're back, and we bought takeout." Natoru announced, dropping it on the table, "Let’s have Hubris’s welcome party."

“Don’t come in suddenly shouting,” Trixie said.

After the party, Natoru showed Hubris to a hallway with different doors.

"These are the rooms; yours is that one," Hubris said, pointing to the closest one to the hall entrance. “I have taken the things from your apartment and arranged them in your room."

Hubris was startled. “You did what?"

“Don’t worry, I didn’t look into anything you had.”

“Like that’s the problem here.” Hubris gave a sigh of relief before entering the room; at least he has a bit of modesty.

Lying on the bed, Hubris wondered how his life had changed so much, from living in a one-room apartment to being part of a team that is supposed to restore balance to the world.

I still have to become normal somehow, Hubris thought to himself before he finally fell asleep; he wasn’t giving up.

***

"LET ME GO RIGHT NOW! LET ME GO, DAMMIT!"

It has been a week since Hubris joined the team. He had regular training with Natoru and was getting to feel pretty at home. He was woken up by the shouting of a boy from the living room.

He got out of bed and went outside to investigate.

When he got outside, what he saw left him speechless. There was a boy bound head to toe in one of the chairs.

He looked to be about seventeen with red spikey hair and red eyes. He had fair skin in contrast to his dark red hair, and he was also in his pyjamas.

"Good morning, Hubris, finally awake." Natoru said, greeting him like nothing weird seemed to be going on as he tightened the boy's restraints. "I'd like you to meet my grandson, Ciel."

Hubris wasn't left speechless by the fact that Trixie did not seem to care about what's going on, nor the fact that Natoru just kidnapped another innocent teenager; what truly left him speechless was that the boy was engulfed in flames from head to toe.