Chapter 6: Before the Beginning

In this world, all kinds of races existed. Some were hidden from the world, secluded, living in their own world. While some never stopped flaunting their powers and showed the world what they could do. They could use magic. Magic had existed ever since the creation of this world, but some have recently learned a new technique called 'cultivation.'

After humans turned to gods for power and protection, the human race evolved and evolved.

Humans became strong, strong enough to even challenge the gods.

As time passed, decades after decades, centuries after centuries, millennia after millennia, humans did not need any blessings or protection from gods. Most humans stopped worshiping Gods and Angels, and demons were long forgotten-- they were extinct.

Demons were no more than a scary night story for kids, and they were treated as myths.

Humans survived and gained more and more power. Then, they started enslaving other races and called it revenge. They used the knowledge from different races and kept getting stronger and stronger. Sacrifices, rituals, forbidden magic, they did everything they could— to gain the power.

They were thirsty for power, and they wanted to rule not only the world but all the realms and heavens.

However, there were still some humans who worshipped the gods and asked for their forgiveness. But, gods had stopped answering their prayers.

There were many ways to gain power and fame. And one of the best was to become an adventurer. They could do quests and gain both power and money by exploring dungeons and labyrinths to find magic spells, artifacts, and relics.

One of the best and deadliest was Night-dungeon. It was a unique dungeon spawned every night before the full moon. But it only spawned at few dungeons over the entire continent.

It gave handsome rewards if it was cleared, but no one dared to go there because of the grave risk, and those who dared came back injured or nearly dead. There were some extremely strong who had cleared it centuries ago, but none could clear it now.

"Slow down a little, Brax," a female voice echoed in the forest.

A party of five was passing through the forest.

"We have to reach there before the night," reported Brax.

There are dungeons spread all over the world: different ranks, different dungeons, and different rewards. The classes were based on their tier and their level.

"Darius, say something to this idiot Brax," said Venus.

"But Brax is right," added Matt.

"Ah, come on! Hey Emilia, do something," Venus turned to Emilia.

The five party members were closer than friends and trusted each other more than themselves.

Brax was a young twenty-year-old man who was once a traveler and now an adventurer who works as an assassin. He had red hair, black eyes, slim body, just like how an average twenty years old should be.

Venus and Matt were a newly wedded couple who grew up together to become adventurers. Matt had black hair and black eyes, and Venus also had black hair and black eyes— just like Matt, but Venus had a birthmark on her nape. Venus was a mage, and Matt was a support.

Darius, the party leader. A handsome man who was pretty popular among adventurers and the first S- rank adventurer of the town they lived in. He had brown hair, a sturdy build, and looked like a true warrior.

Emilia was half-angel. No one knew how old she was and where did she come from. In the last great war, she fell to the town from the sky out of nowhere, and she was gravely injured, though a little of her soul was left. Finally, after hundreds of years, she slowly recovered, and she woke up some months ago, but she had lost most of her powers and memories.

The other angels granted her blessings, and now she was living an ordinary human life as a young girl. She had black hair, blue eyes and worked as a healer.

"How about we catch some rabbits on our way? We will be staying at the dungeon tonight," asked Darius.

"Eh? But we can find some monsters in the dungeon too", groaned Brax. He wanted to get to the dungeon as soon as possible.

"But they taste so bad," commented Venus.

"So we are now going rabbit hunting?" remarked Matt.

Darius glanced at Emilia, who was walking beside him, and asked quietly, "What about you, Emilia? We will do as you say."

Emilia's face flushed a little as she replied, "I don't know."

"But it will be a problem if you faint because of hunger," Darius held Emilia's hand and continued, "I am worried about you, you know?"

"I…" Emilia's face flushed more, and she stuttered as her words stuck in her mouth.

"Heh!" Venus smirked, "Stop flirting and just get married, you two."

Emilia pulled her hand back and tried to hide her face.

"Stop it, Venus. You are making her feel uncomfortable", Darius spoke.

"Aww, look at him. He is so in love."

This was venus' personality. She always teased everyone.

"Bleh," Brax started spatting.

"Look, even Brax is getting jealous," remarked Matt.

"I am not jealous!" Brax hissed.

"Ever since Matt and I got married, it feels like Brax has been keeping distance from us."

"That's not true."

"Are you sad thinking you don't have any girl who can fall for you?" questioned Venus.

"Yeah, right!" Brax shrugged his shoulders, "Who needs a girl anyway? I can just go to the brothels for my needs."

"You won't get pleasure in the brothel as you get with the girl you love," commented Matt.

"Think about it," Brax turned around.

He kept walking backward and said, "Even if I find a girl who is ready to serve me, she wouldn't be enough to satisfy me."

He spread his arms in the air and continued, "I need a harem. And no girl will agree for the harem."

"..." Venus.

"..." Matt.

"..." Emilia.

"..." Darius.

Everyone was silent after hearing that.

"What?" Brax questioned as he asked for an explanation.

"Nothing," answered Darius.

"But I can have a harem if I collect slaves," Brax turned back.

"There he goes again," muttered Venus.

As a traveler, Brax has traveled to many cities and countries and met all types of people.

"You know, Brax," Matt patted on Brax's shoulder and said, "This is why you don't have any girls."

"What?! Excuse me! You might not know, but when I was a traveler, I slept with a new girl daily," Brax retorted.

It was true that he met new girls every day, but he exaggerated about sleeping with them.

"Yeah, yeah. Spare us with your traveling story," Matt, on the other hand, was a normal man with no special quirks.

"I see some rabbits," stated Brax. He pointed his finger at the bushes around the edge on the left.

"Stop!" Darius exclaimed, "Keep quiet. We don't have time to fool around. Hunt all the rabbits in one hit."

Venus walked forward and stated, "Leave it to me."

She raised her hands in the air and said, "O, the Dragon God, grant me the power to burn."

"..." Matt stared at Venus and thought, 'She doesn't have any need to say these lines, and still, she tries to act cool. It's so lame and embarrassing.'

Venus took out her wand from her sleeves and swung it in the air. An enormous magic circle appeared in the sky and started launching fireballs at the rabbits. Sensing the danger, some rabbits tried to escape, but to no avail. The fireball followed them until they died.

Venus put her wand back in her sleeves haughtily and said, "It was easy."

"There was no need to use such a big attack to kill the weak monsters," said Darius.

"But I got them all, right?"

"You did, but we are supposed to save our mana for the dungeon expedition."

"It's fine. I can cultivate in the meantime."

"And who is going to protect you while you do that? Your husband?" commented Darius.

"Who else? A husband must protect his wife" Venus glanced at Matt, "Right?"

Matt rolled his eyes as he groaned and said, "Why not?"

They picked up the dead rabbits and peeled their skins.

"Since Venus burned them, we won't need to roast them," commented Brax.

After peeling their skins off, Matt put them in a bag.

Once they reached the dungeon entrance, they took out their weapons and started walking cautiously in a defensive mode.

Night-dungeon was a special dungeon spawned on every night before the full moon. No one dared to go there because of the heavy risk. One evening, a party of five members went on a night-dungeon. It didn't turn out well for any of them.

[Authors Note:- This introduction of the world at the start of the chapter shows how vastly this world had changed before Zeus got sealed and after his seal broke.]