Face to face with gods

I run up to the pillar of black smoke, ascending into the sky. As I look up, I can barely see the stars anymore.

(I’m running out of time.)

Killing Tanaka didn’t do anything to stop the curse.

(I have to find a way to stop this smoke from flowing.)

I try using blessings.

Hitting it with Dawn Flame, using fireballs, slashing with fire. I use Curse Cleanse, light blessings. I even try covering the ceiling with a shield, but the smoke just passes through the smallest gaps.

I try protections next.

Turning into my monster form I try using my claws and my teeth. I hit it with everything I got, but at the end it’s like I’m trying to grab smoke.

I’m getting desperate.

I try using both.

In my monster form I set my claws on fire and start attacking. It hurts but I bear with the pain. But even then, nothing I do is working.

“What do I do?”

I’m so close, but no matter what I do the black smoke keeps going up.

(Is there no way to suppress it?)

That’s it! Suppressing.

I revert back to my human form and place both my hands on the smoke. It feels extremely cold is hurting my hands.

I think back on my potential exam. The white crystal with the smoke inside.

I recall the warmth from when I use blessings and focus all my energy into the pillar. As I look inside of it I can see a light starting to shine.

I think about the protections and link myself to the pillar. The thermal shock I feel almost makes me pass out. I can see my breath in front of me, and the blood from my injuries starts to freeze.

I close my eyes and think about everything that has happened to me since arriving to this world. All the hardships, all the good, all the bad, all the people, all the loss.

But more importantly, I think about everything I want to happen in the future. I want to stay together with them, to eat together, to train together, to go on my date with Gora.

The faces of everyone appear clearly on my mind.

Steam starts to come out of my body. I stop shivering, my blood begins to melt.

Inside the pillar of smoke, a bright light keeps growing. I pour everything I have into it, and it shoots up towards the sky like a beacon. The smoke dissipates until it vanishes, and I’m consumed by the bright light that fill the entire cave.

I slowly open my eyes and find myself in a place I have never seen before. It looks like I’m high up in the sky. As I look down, the floor is transparent and bellow, I can see the beach with all the guild members fighting the slumberwalkers, except they are all standing still, like they are frozen in time. I can see a light inside everyone down there. The members glow orange, the monster glow purple, and even with everything stopped, these lights are flickering, moving like flames, almost like they are alive.

Looking ahead I can see Sonala with her figure made of light. Next to her there’s someone I never saw before, but although it is my first time seeing him I know who he is.

His figure is made up of a dark purple glow and just looking at him sends shivers down my spine.

“Umbravar.” I say.

“A mere mortal dares to address me.” His voice is raspy.

The fear I feel makes me want to run away, but at the same time it’s keeping me in place. My head screams in pain, like is going to split in two, unable to come to a decision between running and standing still.

“Don’t you talk to him like that!” Sonala speaks. “All things considered we managed to beat you fair and square.”

Hearing her voice calms me down and brings me back to my senses. The headache immediately stops.

Umbravat just quietly looks towards me.

“Wait, we beat him?” I ask.

“We sure did! Look up.” Sonala says.

Looking up I can the night sky again, the black has vanished, and the moon and the stars are in clear view once again.

“Now what?”

“Well, you finished your end of the deal. So now I can get you back home to your family to say goodbye!”

“But then what comes after? Wasn’t the deal to help stop Umbravar and save the world?.”

“Correct, and you did! Now that the soul Umbravar brought to this world is out of the picture things should go back to normal. No more people will be forced into becoming slumberwalkers and some of them will begin to awaken again.” Sonala says with a cheerful attitude.

“But that doesn’t change anything! We’re just back to how things were before. Slumberwalkers will still attack people, and the Resting Guild will still have to put them down! The people will still fear the night. I didn’t do anything at all!”

“So, you finally understand how meaningless this all is.” Umbravar speaks. “This game will never end. It will be forever stuck in this deadlock where no one takes another turn. It is better to simply let them all sink in darkness. That’s how they were before her foolish interference, this is the game should end.”

“You only say that because you tried to cheat and I caught you, if anything I should be the one to win after everything you tried to pull behind my back!”

Sonala and Umbravar continue to argue. Watching this display of two supposed gods makes me sick.

“You started this, Sonala. I never wanted to play, but you forced my hand.” Umbravar says

“If you don’t want to play then don’t play, you idiot!”

“STOP TREATING THIS LIKE A GAME!” I lose my patience.

Both stop their argument and look at me.

“This isn’t a game! They aren’t toys or pieces of a board game. These people are alive! And they are suffering. They don’t want keep fighting those who were once people they knew. You’re both ruining this world.”

“Even me!” Sonala sounds offended.

“Even you Sonala.”

“Do you have any idea who you’re talking to mortal? You better watch you tone.” Ubravar presence is almost crushing me. But I stand my ground.

“Or what?”

They both stare at me in silence. They can’t interfere, or the other will get the upper hand, and they understand that.

“Umbravar, you talk about how they are supposed to be, but they were only that destructive at the beginning because they thought they didn’t had another choice. But once they realized they could choose love instead of violence, you didn’t respect that. And you Sonala, I know how much you care about them. But if you keep trying to take care of them the way you’re doing, you’ll only keep feeding their anxieties. You held their hands so much, they fear their original forms. They idolized you, and once they thought you had abandoned them they just lost hope.”

Sonala and Ubravar look at each other but don’t say anything.

“You both want this to be your ideal world but right now both your presences are just ruining it. Both of you will end unhappy and they will just suffer.”

“So, what do you suggest we do?” Sonala asks

“Just leave. Stop interfering with this world. Let them return to their original forms and with all the knowledge they now have, let them decide their future. If they want to stop fighting, they will, if they want to kill each other, so be it.”

Both Gods begin to ponder about what to do next.

“I guess you are right Akihiko. We interfered too much. No other world has ever reach this sort of stalemate before. I will be removing my interferences and letting they decide.”

Sonala looks at Umbravar and waits for his response.

“And why would I do that? I couldn’t care less about the suffering of these mortals. I will have this world obey my bidding because I wish for it!”

(So much for that. I really thought I managed to talk two Gods out of conflict. Now what?)

“Then maybe is time for us to interfere.”

A voice I don’t recognize speaks behind me.

As I turn around, I see hundreds, if not thousands of purple figures looking at the three of us.

“We suffered for too long Umbravar, unable to fight back. But this time you put too much effort into fully cursing the world that you forgot to keep us in check.”

As I look below, the slumberwalkers have lost their inner light. Only the Guild members have them now.

(Are they all the souls under Umbravar influence?)

“And what do you expect to do? No amount of souls will ever manage to kill a God.”

“That may be true, but we can be sure to push you away so you can never interfere with this world again”

The souls of the slumberwalkers begin to move towards Ubravar. He swings his arm and pushes hundreds of them back. But hundreds more keep heading towards him. As much as he tries to fend them off, their numbers are too great for him to do anything with his powers limited.

The soul that was leading the charge approaches me.

“Thank you.”

“But what about the rest of you? Leaving your bodies like this, won’t you all die?”

“If it means finally being able to rest from this horrible nightmare and give all the ones back in the continent a chance to live without fear, then we’ll gladly do it.”

They all grab onto Umbravar and begin to push him always from the continent, away from this world. It doesn’t matter how hard he tries, he can’t fight back.

“Damn you mere mortals! Let go of me! HOW DARE YOU TREAT A GOD LIKE THIS!”

They keep pushing him far away until we can’t see or hear him anymore and only me and Sonala remain.

“I guess it’s settled then.” Sonala says “One final thing before I also take my leave. A deal is a deal after all.”

She touches my chest, and I start to float even higher into the sky.

“You will have one final choice Akihiko. As is said in the beginning, I can transport your soul to another time and place. So, if you want to return here, so all of these events can occur you know what you must do.”

As I float beyond the clouds my eyes get heavy, and I have trouble keeping myself awake.

“From the bottom of my heart. Thank you, Akihiko.”

I close my eyes and fall asleep, one final time.